Horizon:Volume 9A Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Overeating Doll in Gion

Crash

Point Allocation (Ah!)

●

Juana heard quiet groans coming from the Musashi group.

She wasn’t sure why that was, but she was happy the food was actually what she had said it would be.

That meant she was in control here.

In her relief, she had one thing to say.

“I think the idea of Musashi hiring us as mercenaries would be impossible.”

It was an extremely effective idea. The Musashi Vice President nodded when she looked her in the eye, so she must have been confident in it as well. But…

“Currently, Tres España would be able to accept that job under those conditions alone.”

Meaning…

“That is a good deal. Yes.”

●

Me: “Okay, everyone! No making fun of Masazumi-sensei for being so confident in her terrible idea! Even Masazumi-sensei makes mistakes sometimes! And this just happens to be one of those times!”

Vice President: “O-oh, shut up! And is she really turning down the whole deal!? Why would she do that!?”

Unturning: “This has proven the fortune-telling properties of curry, hasn’t it?”

Horizey: “Oh, Masazumi-sama, Asama-sama? Do you have a moment?”

●

Asama was admiring the subtle flavor of the chawanmushi when Horizon suddenly asked for her attention.

Just as she turned around to see what this was about, Horizon raised her right forearm and opened her mouth wide.

“I’m not tirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrred! I’m not sorryyyyyyyyyyyyyy!”

With a wholly unexpected shout, Horizon’s upper body crashed loudly down onto the table.

Asama stood up, ignoring the disturbed Tres España group.

…Um, I think I know what this is.

She stood next to Horizon and checked to find several cross-torii sign frames opened around Horizon.

Yes, I was right. Asama propped Horizon up in a sitting position, but…

Asama: “She’s started her sleep time for the Logismoi Oplo initialization and rebuilding.”

Vice President: “For Stithos Porneia?”

Masazumi’s question led Asama to notice the unusual quantity of sign frames.

She had Horizon’s permission to monitor this process, so she ran a search.

Asama: “She’s also running Pheugos Gastrimargia we got at Nördlingen. But that one has been running in pieces for a while now, so it looks like this sleep time was mostly triggered by Porneia.”

Silver Wolf: “Why was that one run in pieces?”

Asama: “Maybe that’s more efficient?”

But no, that wasn’t it. The Logismoi Oplo installation progress bar on Horizon’s sign frames was rapidly filling.

…What is this?

She recalled how Horizon’s system for installing the Logismoi Oplo had clearly required less sleep time with each consecutive one.

Stithos Porneia was being installed far faster than the previous ones. How did that work?

Asama: “The previous Logismoi Oplo were installed all at once, which only gave the installation OS a single instance of experience for each one. But by installing Gastrimargia in pieces, the OS received multiple instances of installation experience, which has sped up the installation of Porneia.”

“Makes sense,” said Naomasa.

Smoking Girl: “When installing each piece, the OS must have built and tested a different installation processing algorithm. Think of it like dividing your forces into a few different teams and having each team attack Gastrimargia separately to figure out the best way to install it.”

Novice: “How advanced is this OS…?”

Smoking Girl: “You say that, but we do the same thing. When working toward a large goal, we don’t try to do it all at once – we try to complete the smaller objectives that lead up to the overall goal. I don’t know if this was conscious or not on Horizon’s part, but something inside her decided sleeping for long periods was inefficient and the OS found a more efficient solution while listening to what Asama-chi had to say.”

That was probably it. And while Horizon leaned back in her chair…

“Zzzzggggzzzzgzgzgzgzgzzgg!”

Gold Mar: “Is she snoring or grinding her teeth?”

Asama: “Maybe her posture is the problem.”

But her upper body couldn’t stay balanced, so it would either flop down onto the table or lean back in the chair.

While Asama tried to figure out what to do, the arms detached, checked side to side, and then propped up their master.

“Are you alright?” asked Asama.

The arms turned her way and nodded with their wrists.

Apparently they were. Which was good enough for Asama. There was still some occasional snoring, but how deep was Horizon’s sleep during this process? She couldn’t quite remember.

And why was the Tres España group glaring at them with lips pursed?

Masazumi spoke up to smooth things over.

“I ask that you pay a lot of attention to this. As much attention as you can. Got that?”

Are you trying to gather their attention, Masazumi?

●

Masazumi thought to herself with an air of “anyway”.

…What was wrong with our earlier offer?

Tres España had a war with Hexagone Française coming up, so they had an urgent need for a supply line and for safe travel between the west and east. After all, the new school term had started and the nations could resume their international history recreations.

Hexagone Française could launch a war against Tres España tomorrow – or even today.

Masazumi knew why it hadn’t happened yet.

…Because the Honnouji Incident is stopping them.

But that would mean, she thought, Tres España’s situation is all the more dangerous.

“You have it good, don’t you?”

“In what way?”

“How do you plan to return to Tres España from here?”

It was a simple question but a useful one.

The Tres España Vice President finally gave an answer.

“If we focus on safety and travel through Shikoku as your mercenaries, it should take around 6 hours one way. With only high-speed ships, it should take less than 4 hours.”

“And if you don’t travel through Shikoku?”

Masazumi saw the Tres España Vice President smile a bit when asked that.

“In that case,” she said. “Tres España’s main fleet will stay put back home and abandon us.”

●

Juana made this decision after realizing a certain fact.

Musashi was using the mercenary offer and trade with Shikoku as a tool to negotiate with them. That would ensure Tres España’s safety during the Honnouji Incident and help establish friendly relations between the two of them down the line.

But Juana realized they were not looking beyond that when it came to Tres España.

…Their discussion begins and ends with Honnouji and the trade afterwards.

Which meant Musashi was not seeing something else.

Juana: “I do not think Musashi is giving any thought to what Tres España will try to do after Honnouji.”

BA3: “You think so too, Ju? I was thinking the same thing.”

The support of the 2nd Special Duty Officer made the decision all the easier.

Tres España had to take a certain stance with Musashi here. So when using their Kyou rules…

“We can agree to a mercenary contract with Musashi.”

That was a complete rejection of everything they had been discussing.

●

Juana saw the entire Musashi group – including the arms – look to their Vice President.

After a pause, the Vice President noticed their gazes.

“Wh-why are you all looking at me!? Keep looking! Take a good, long look!”

Apparently they were using their Kyou rules with each other too.

●

Me: “And with that, Seijun-kun is a big, fat loserrrrrrrrr!”

Unturning: “What happened to knowing a lot about that region?”

Scarred: “Don’t be so mean, everyone. She only made a slight misunderstanding. Like Master Neshinbara does. Isn’t that right, Masazumi-sama?”

Vice President: “I know you’re trying to help, but you are not helping!”

Novice: “Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Now do you understand the excruciating hellfire I must suffer on a daily basis!? It’s what you deserve! I’m so happy to have someone who understands me!”

Gold Mar: “Why would anyone want to understand that?”

Flat Vassal: “So they just rejected everything all over again, didn’t they? After rejecting that stuff about safe travel the Vice President was talking about.”

Asama: “But why reject it all when there are other advantages? That is, even if the safe travel really isn’t useful to them. Yes.”

Vice President: “Fine, see if I care that they rejected my idea! Dammit! Goddammit!”

●

Oh, no, thought Masazumi. I’m being targeted by a group far more frightening than our enemy.

…Our class does not hold back.

But that meant she could do the same thing, so was it a win-win arrangement? No, I suppose not.

Tres España had said they could send an escort fleet from their homeland to provide them with safe travel. It turned the idea on its head, but it was doable.

…Taking on Tres España’s main fleet would be too great a risk even for the other powerful nations.

Masazumi’s mistake had come from thinking about things in terms of the Musashi. That was her story, anyway.

“Now, then.”

She slapped her cheeks once to refocus herself. She had something to think about now.

Vice President: “Asama is correct that our offer has other advantages. So why do you think Tres España fully rejected the mercenary idea?”

Art-Ga: “Maybe you overlooked something important again?”

Vice President: “That ‘again’ was not necessary!”

Circle Be: “I’d like to get my opinion in before Seijun makes this anymore uncomfortable. I think Tres España would benefit from trade with Shikoku. Because once their war with Hexagone Française begins, England will ally with France and they’ll be in serious trouble. Spain mainly deals in woolen goods and ceramics, but they need someone to sell those things to and someone willing to sell them the food they need.”

So…

Circle Be: “To make a long story short, it would benefit them greatly to build up food reserves now.”

Vice President: “So hypothetically speaking…”

Masazumi tried asking an expert.

Vice President: “What would happen if Musashi supplied Tres España during their war with Hexagone Française?”

Worshiper: “It wouldn’t accomplish much other than improve our reputation.”

Ohiroshiki set down his bowl of chawanmushi to speak.

Worshiper: “The Musashi can transport a large city’s worth of supplies as a trade ship, but we’re still only talking about a city. We can’t hold enough to fully support a large nation. Also, the Musashi is meant to trade while traveling around the Far East, so if we concentrated on a single nation, it would likely damage the Far Eastern economy.

“Conversely, the transport ships ordinarily used for trade can transport far less than the Musashi, but they can supply an entire nation with their numbers and regular visits. If Tres España wants to build up their reserves, they could receive far more using Shikoku and Tres España transport ships than if they relied on the Musashi alone. It would be safer too.”

Nagaya-Stable: “Here, I’ll send you the numbers proving it.”

The document from Ookubo compared how much the Musashi could carry against the amount of trade needed to support a city with a population of 20 thousand. It went on to determine how many cities the Musashi could support in that way.

The numbers indicated that the Musashi would be inadequate once the number of cities reached the 6-8 range. The document gave a range because of seasonal differences and the different routes the Musashi could use to reach Tres España. The biggest loss came from taking the route from England.

…England can’t provide any food, so we would only be carrying steel, fuel, and things like that.

Masazumi thought back on when they were in England before the Armada battle.

Vice President: “Which regions of Tres España are busy with trade right now?”

Circle Be: “They know they have to fight France, so probably all of them will be busy right up to the last second. They have a lot of cities centered on Shimonoseki, so they should have well over the number of 20-thousand-population cities mentioned in that document. So I expect they’re already gathering reserves with more transport power than the Musashi could provide.”

“Judge,” someone replied from outside: the Tachibana Wife.

Tachibana Wife: “Tres España excels at expansion into the ocean, so they have a lot of major cities on the coast or alongside large rivers. Their focus on decentralization and privatization has allowed their satellite cities and cities ruled by regional governors to develop and grow in number.”

Vice President: “So even if the Musashi did provide trade, we would only be giving some extra help on top of that, if not just doing what they could have done on their own.”

Flat Vassal: “But at the same time, doesn’t this mean the Musashi is valuable as a way of providing nearly eight cities’ worth of supplies all at once?”

I see, thought Masazumi, but not because she had never looked into this before.

There was no need to look into it because she had asked the committees to provide a report on what was likely to happen in Europe, especially following the Honnouji Incident.

But Tres España was acting more quickly than that report had predicted.

That meant they had some kind of plan.

●

That’s it, thought Masazumi. Tres España was a large nation. And they would have had plenty of time to think over things during summer break.

She had been astonished by Tres España’s planning abilities in the past.

Their Chancellor and Vice President were both the plotting type. Plus, their entire nation trusted them and had come together to rebuild. The power of their king would fall as their decentralization grew, yet they seemed to have grown stronger after losing the Armada battle. That was because the people supported their nation’s actions.

…In that case…

The people were the source of Tres España’s power. But those people needed a stable source of food and other necessities.

Vice President: “But at the same time, Tres España will be enemies with England and Hexagone Française again soon.”

Nagaya-Stable: “Do you know why Hexagone Française hired us at Nördlingen and did the Protestant’s a favor even after they defended against M.H.R.R. at Paris? After the break, they have to fight a two-front war against M.H.R.R. and Tres España during the second term. That’s also why they wanted to be on good terms with Sanuki.”

“Right,” agreed Masazumi before arriving at a realization.

Vice President: “Do you think Hexagone Française can monopolize trade with Sanuki?”

Nagaya-Stable: “I’m sure they’ll leave enough for their previous connections and for Musashi.”

That was basically a yes. So…

Vice President: “Is it possible Tres España wouldn’t gain that much even if they stayed in Shikoku?”

Everyone looked her way when they heard that.

Art-Ga: “Didn’t someone just act all smug about how the most important thing about Tres España going to Shikoku was their ability to trade with Shikoku?”

She’d done it again.

●

Juana saw the entire Musashi group – including the arms – looking at their Vice President.

Eventually, the Vice President noticed them.

“Wh-why are you all looking at me again!? Keep looking! Take a good, long look!”

Was this a running gag in that joke-obsessed warrior nation?

●

Me: “And with that, Seijun-kun is again a big, fat loserrrrrrr!”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. That’s two Ls! The first one was a single L! This one is a double L! And the next one will be a trupple L!”

Asama: “Um, Kimi. We already know you’re an idiot, so please calm down.”

Unturning: “But, in all serious, what happened to knowing a lot about that region?”

Scarred: “Don’t be so mean, everyone. Everyone has a bad day from time to time. Like Master Neshinbara does. Isn’t that right, Masazumi-sama?”

Vice President: “Your help still isn’t helping!”

Novice: “I’d like to know how many versions of this unhelpful help are related to me!”

Gold Mar: “I have a feeling you’d want to die if you knew the answer.”

Silver Wolf: “Anyway, Shikoku is right in front of Hexagone Française. It also borders K.P.A. Italia, but Tres España would still have a hard time of it if Hexagone Française took control of Sanuki, since that’s one of the bigger locations for a base.”

Circle Be: “If that happened, couldn’t Shikoku defiantly strengthen their trade in Matsuyama or Iyo to the west and trade with Tres España from there?”

Vice President: “Tres España’s Far Eastern side already goes there to trade with Shikoku, so that is probably what would happen. So I was thinking they could expand on that if they worked as our mercenaries.”

Masazumi had Tsukinowa quickly open a map of Shikoku.

Matsuyama and Iyo were on the northwest end and Sanuki was near the northeast end.

Worshiper: “When focused on food trade, Sanuki produces and stockpiles a lot of wheat since they need to make so much udon. However…”

Ohiroshiki added a line connecting Sanuki with Iyo and Matsuyama on the map.

Worshiper: “There is no set trade route here. And even if there was, it would be managed by Hashiba since they conquered Shikoku, but no east-west trade route has been established along the northern coast of Shikoku. That makes it difficult for Sanuki to share their plentiful food reserves.”

Vice President: “That’s the problem with the Far East’s Warring States period. Europe had its merchant guilds, but the Far East’s commerce leagues weren’t very well developed.”

“So,” she said.

Vice President: “If Musashi were to stop at Sanuki, Tres España could act as our mercenaries and travel the line between Shimonoseki, Matsuyama/Iyo, and Sanuki. That would probably create the beginnings of a trade route and I wouldn’t have thought Tres España would turn down an opportunity like that.”

Silver Wolf: “In other words…it looks like Tres España is choosing to ‘hide out at home’ for some reason?”

Mitotsudaira was right. Every nation was on the move and Tres España had to deal with both Hexagone Française and England, but they weren’t even considering a way of securing a trade route.

…They must already have a plan ready.

Their Vice President probably even had a rough budget calculated out.

Flat Vassal: “Do you think Hexagone Française and England know that Tres España has a plan in the works?”

Silver Wolf: “Since they will be enemies during the second term, both sides will be doing their best to keep their information from each other. And even without that, international history recreations weren’t allowed during the break. It would be silly to think any nation didn’t use that time for planning.”

Vice President: “Right. And we know more or less what Hexagone Française is planning.”

Unturning: “Why do we know that?”

Still Got It: “My, my! Information leaks are such frightening things!”

Silver Wolf: “Says the source of the leak!”

And we’ve leaked things back them, now that I think about it.

But after their time at the candy house, they knew Hexagone Française was on their side.

…Then there’s the other nation Tres España has to watch out for.

Vice President: “Does anyone know what’s going on in England these days?”

●

Mary had been following the goings-on in England as best she could.

And even if she hadn’t been, she received periodic divine mails from Milton and the others. But instead of private messages, those were starting to be official messages published by Oxford’s Liaison Committee and the Committee HQ communications officials, generally indicating England’s position regarding some other nation.

That meant she still had some value to England as a name inheritor.

…Which means I need to be careful about opposing England in any way.

She had defected and given up her inherited name for the time being, but if she did oppose England, it could act as a barrier to her returning at a later date. The messages were probably part of her sister, Jonson, and the others being careful about that. She appreciated their concern and, if it could help determine Musashi’s overall policy, all the better.

She gave Tenzou a nod before answering.

Scarred: “Ever since the Armada battle, England has been strengthening their ties to the Protestants in Holland and elsewhere. They have also been maintaining diplomatic relations with Hexagone Française.”

Art-Ga: “A simple explanation is a wonderful thing.”

Novice: “M-mine are for experts only! Of course they’re going to be a little more complicated!”

Four Eyes: “You do realize you’re the only ‘expert’ in your brand of nonsense, don’t you? Oh, but if you don’t, that means even you are a beginner in your nonsense. Thank you, Toussaint. I’m on the verge of coming up with a good line.”

If this would help Shakespeare’s writing, then this was culturally relevant too. Another thing to be happy about.

But with the second term starting, England had to be searching for something more to do.

Scarred: “Before Elizabeth’s age – which would be when my name’s origin was still alive – England worked with Tres España to hold Hexagone Française in check. England’s policy in every age is to never make an enemy of all their trade partners and to always preserve their supply routes.”

Mary’s sister was great at navigating that balancing act and it was convenient for both sides if England remained “neutral” among the European nations.

Meanwhile, Tres España’s only obvious external threats were neighboring Hexagone Française and England. This was partially because it was located out on the edge of Europe, but…

Scarred: “Tres España will be hindered by the fact that they got involved in the fight over control of Europe and worked with M.H.R.R.”

Uqui: “They probably never imagined the power of the great ruler who once controlled so much of Europe would decline so much in the Protestant Reformation. As a result, the territory Tres España held on the north coast of M.H.R.R. declared independence as Holland and now they have to deal with Hexagone Française.”

Silver Wolf: “Since Tres España is located on the edge of Europe, if Hexagone Française and England turn on them, they will effectively be cut off from their European trade routes, won’t they?”

Flat Vassal: “After the Armada battle, a new trend rises to prominence: pirates running rampant on the ocean and England’s privateers specifically targeting Tres Españan ships.”

“In that case,” said Mary.

Scarred: “Because England needs to cooperate with Hexagone Française, I expect they will choose to follow their history recreation.”

Which led to another conclusion.

Scarred: “I expect Tres España will choose a path outside the history recreation or outside the usual way of following it.”

●

Juana realized the Musashi group had entered a long period of thought like her side had earlier.

…They are a perceptive bunch.

This was her first time facing them at a meeting like this. Their previous meetings – both near England and more recently at Kyou – had been battles.

Now she finally had a chance to speak with them, but it reminded her what Velázquez said about fighting them at England.

Juana: “The Secretary said they can turn anything into their ally.”

Flores: “But there’s nothing here that can be their ally.”

“Testament,” replied Juana. Then she opened a cadena firma and spoke to all the others.

Juana: “We need to establish our relationship with Musashi now. We need to keep an appropriate distance between us since we don’t know what our future holds. That should be best for now.”

●

Masazumi considered the issue.

Vice President: “All of this is so strange.”

Unturning: “Yes, I am seeing a lot of strange things here…”

What was that “…” supposed to mean? Regardless…

Silver Wolf: “Masazumi, could you just tell us what’s so strange?”

Probably a good idea, she thought.

Vice President: “If anything, we’re more on Hexagone Française and England’s side. We’ve met with Hexagone Française on several occasions, not to mention traveling there. For England, we have Mary with us and we basically have an alliance with them. Meanwhile, Tres España is more our enemy than anything. We’ve fought them several times and this is our first meeting with them.”

But…

Vice President: “Even if this was mostly happenstance, I have to wonder why the Tres Españan Vice President set up this meeting at all. And why she doesn’t want to make it official.”

Gold Mar: “Oh.”

Vice President: “ ‘Oh’ what, Naito?”

Naito placed the lid on her chawanmushi bowl before answering.

Gold Mar: “I can think of one reason for a meeting like this.”

Vice President: “Yes?”

“Judge,” replied Naito.

Gold Mar: “What if it’s too keep something hidden and prevent us from looking into it?”

●

…Huh!?

Why would you hold a meeting to keep something hidden?

Gold Mar: “I get the feeling that wasn’t their original intention. But after assessing something about us, I feel like they decided to keep whatever it is hidden.”

Vice President: “The way they’ve rejected everything we’ve suggested does give that feeling, doesn’t it?”

Could that be it? What if that was the truth behind this meeting? But before Masazumi could pursue that thought further, the Tres Españan Vice President opened her mouth.

“I do not want to start on the main topic of this meeting, so shall we continue?”

…Why now!?

Art-Ga: “Oof. Out of time. If only you weren’t so slow, Masazumi.”

Vice President: “A-and all of your cannibalism doesn’t count!?”

Asama: “Um, Masazumi, this isn’t going to alter reality, so shouldn’t you pay attention?”

That was true, but it didn’t mean Masazumi had to like it.

“As I am sure you will not agree, in our current situation, wouldn’t Tres España be better off receiving P.A. Oda’s help to support Musashi’s actions?”

In other words…

“How about we not go to war?”

●

Gold Mar: “Has she gone crazy? Didn’t Seijun threaten her earlier to show her that isn’t an option?”

No, thought Asama. She wasn’t an expert on diplomacy, but…

Asama: “I think this is a bluff. But we are short on time too, so we have to play along with the bluff.”

That thought was interrupted by more from the Tres Españan Vice President.

“Of course, this war will be Musashi’s responsibility. …And this is not based on the Kyou rules.”

…Eh?

“You aren’t using the Kyou rules?”

“Testament,” she nodded. “Your Vicereine required us to use the Kyou rules earlier, but she has essentially left the meeting. Thus, we are no longer required to follow those rules.”

So…

“You said repeatedly that we should go to war, didn’t you, Musashi Vice President? I am now saying that we will do just that. And if anything happens to us here, you are the ones who requested this first. We are only defending ourselves.”

The instant she said that, a wind blew in. It was strong enough to set the jinmaku flapping.

Asama knew what this wind meant. It contained a salty scent, which could only mean…

Tachibana Wife: “The Tres Españan fleet is preparing to take off! And they are aiming their cannons horizontally!”

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