Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon Volume 7 -A Chapter 6

Here I am

Right and left

I will give you them both

…What is with those arms?

Point Allocation (Small Animals)

Tenzou observed their surroundings at a few steps away from Masazumi.

He was focused on Sviet Rus's response to the Logismoi Oplo being presented. Honjou s.h.i.+genaga looked around much like he did, but…

She adjusted her sungla.s.ses to hide her eyes, but the sense he got from her was…

…She is on the lookout for anyone trying anything.

Satomi Yos.h.i.+yasu was unfazed, perhaps because she had seen them already. Or because she knew she had helped earn these.

Similarly, Mogami Yos.h.i.+aki hid her mouth behind her fan, but there was obvious antic.i.p.ation in her eyes. She was interested in seeing what would happen next.

In that case, thought Tenzou as he looked to someone else.

Houjou Genan had his eyes closed and a bitter smile on his lips. As if…

Scarred: "The Houjou Representative looks like he's laughing at himself."

10ZO: "You think so too, Mary-dono?"

Scarred: "Y-you do too, Master Tenzou!?"

Behind him, he heard cries of "ohhh" and "kyahhh" from the girls, but he knew turning around to look would be too dangerous.

…Regardless.

He set optical reflection on a sign frame and added a glossy affect to reflect the scene behind him.

The narrow frame showed Mary shaking her head with her hands on her cheeks and the girls surrounding her and cheering her on.

Tenzou had a thought when he saw the surprised blush and smile on Mary's face.

…If such a short exchange can inspire that much emotion, we need to speak more often.

Of course, Mary still would not look right at him.

He would likely have to wait until she had calmed down some. Besides, they already lived in the same room. This inability to look him in the eye would not last long. Probably. Hopefully. If it does, my life will probably become h.e.l.l, but I guess it's still better than being ignored. But…

10ZO: "Masazumi-dono."

Vice President: "Yes. Based on Houjou Genan's reaction, Houjou and Mouri must have already agreed to this."

Tonbokiri: "Does that mean our two victories at the Siege of Odawara were meaningless?"

Marube-ya: "Eh!? So our n.o.ble noodle-maker sacrifice was for nothing!?"

Wors.h.i.+per: "Sacrifice? Didn't you just lose and make things more difficult for us?"

Marube-ya: "Oh, to h.e.l.l with you! You're not supposed to tell the truth!! And just so you know, I'm in the process of seeing if there's any way of getting rid of this with money! See? I'm staying positive!"

10ZO: "How much money do you have on hand?"

Marube-ya: "Well! Since the Public Morals Committee Head froze our account, 130 yen!"

Novice: "Why not sell your shop? That's got to be worth something, right?"

Marube-ya: "Whaaaat!? No one can transfer the money to us with our account frozen. And do you have any idea how much time all the processing would take? The noodle-maker would happen first."

Novice: "M-maybe don't be so hostile when you need help!?"

Our merchant and his aide are too quick to throw out their dignity.

At any rate, Masazumi viewed the Logismoi Oplo containers and spoke.

Vice President: "Mouri is not that naïve. …They are a great western power, so they would have made us make up for our losses to keep the promise we made before the battle. If we had not had enough wins, they would have demanded more rights from us and demonstrated that Mouri is superior to Musas.h.i.+."

Novice: "Correct. If they're looking ahead to the Peace of Westphalia, they would want to establish a hierarchy of nations while focus is on Kantou."

When Masazumi agreed with that, Tenzou realized what the Punishment of Houjou had been all about.

…That really was a kind of "war".

Now he understood why Mogami had been the first to descend from their diplomatic s.h.i.+p.

Musas.h.i.+ had only achieved that victory and this situation because of Mogami and Satomi.

The fox and the dog had done well.

…Come to think of it, we also have a wolf, Uqui-dono is a dragon, and there's the Suzaku, so we have an awful lot of animals. But I guess covering the entire zodiac would be hoping for too much.

But Tenzou had another thought about Genan's self-deprecating smile.

The expression was gone now, but the old man had likely meant it as a "Did you see that?"

Genan must have predicted this situation. According to the Testament, Houjou Genan had served the Houjou clan across three generations, so that expression must have come from the experience that had provided.

In that case, thought Tenzou.

10ZO: "Masazumi-dono, I see no problem with accepting the Logismoi Oplo. Horizon-dono, I recommend retrieving them quickly."

Yos.h.i.+yasu saw Musas.h.i.+'s princess step out from the Musas.h.i.+ group to approach the Mouri group.

She crouched down and kept looking to either side while jogging toward Mouri.

…Why is she sneaking?

As Yos.h.i.+yasu had feared, the Musas.h.i.+ princess placed her hands on the Logismoi Oplo containers in front of the Mouri group and…

While averting her gaze, she quickly opened the containers and immediately shoved the contents into the storage s.p.a.ce behind her.

Mouri Terumoto responded to the action.

"Hey."

"Hm? Do you need something?"

"Hold on there. What did you just do?"

"Nothing at all."

"No, wait. Could you show me what you have behind you?"

"No, no, no. You do not have the authority."

"Just let me see what you've got there."

"Are you a shoplifter and a security guard!?"

When everyone shouted that, Musas.h.i.+'s princess looked around and then waved her hands side to side.

"No, you misunderstand. The secret ultimate weapons known as the Logismoi Oplo may almost never come in handy, but they are very effective as political bargaining chips. After all, they are well-known for being ineffective as weapons."

"Master Munes.h.i.+ge! Master Munes.h.i.+ge! You don't have to add a Munes.h.i.+ge Ranking for each weapon on your site!"

Glad I'm not them.

But Musas.h.i.+'s princess glanced back at her storage s.p.a.ce as she continued.

"So I was thinking it would be dangerous to let anyone see the Logismoi Oplo being handed over."

"Ohhh. Horizon, I appreciate the thought, but could you maybe act more like a national representative?"

"Judge. Understood, Masazumi-sama."

Musas.h.i.+'s princess raised her right hand toward Mouri Terumoto.

"I have taken your vainglory and pride."

"Testament. That sounds pretty crazy when you say it out loud."

"Now, if you will fill out this receipt."

"Hold on."

Terumoto glared at Musas.h.i.+'s princess as she pulled a parchment receipt from her storage s.p.a.ce.

"Fill in the 'recipient' box with 'Horizon Ariadust' and the 'item name' box with 'Logismoi Oplo x2'. Oh, and I will provide an invoice for the same items, so please keep it on file."

Yos.h.i.+yasu watched Terumoto's glaring intensify as she filled out the form as asked.

Asama: "Terumoto-san is surprisingly responsible about these things."

Me: "Huh? We got the Logismoi Oplo back!? h.e.l.l yeah!"

Silver Wolf: "So, um, we did get them back, but what is the situation now?"

Uqui: "Can't you see? Mouri Terumoto is filling out a receipt for Horizon."

Silver Wolf: "Please! Can't someone explain this in an understandable fas.h.i.+on!?"

Wise Sister: "Calm down, Mitotsudaira! As far as I can see, this is nothing more than Mouri Terumoto filling out a receipt for Horizon!"

Silver Wolf: "Tomoooo!"

Asama: "Um, calm down, Mito. …Now, Kimi, you need to be more accurate or you'll confuse Mito. So, um, just look, Mito. Horizon just handed an invoice to Terumoto-san."

Silver Wolf: "This doesn't make any sense!"

Why would you expect sense around here? wondered Yos.h.i.+yasu.

…But this means two Logismoi Oplo have been returned to Musas.h.i.+.

They now had a total of six. Which left…

Vice President: "Akedia, gluttony, and l.u.s.t."

Yos.h.i.+yasu saw the Musas.h.i.+ Vice President give a quick nod to Mouri Terumoto.

"The Apocalypse situation has s.h.i.+fted much further in Musas.h.i.+'s favor," she said. "But that isn't all. Right, Mouri Terumoto?"

Terumoto did not hide what she thought.

She spread her mouth horizontally and felt her lips bending into a smile, but she did not stop it.

She looked straight ahead to the Musas.h.i.+ Vice President.

…This girl!

Ever since the Siege of Odawara, this girl had never let up. She refused to go along with what Terumoto wanted.

She always read between the lines, figured out what was really going on, and ensured her side's safety throughout.

She might look like an ally, but she was behaving a lot like an enemy.

Where had she learned to be so cautious?

There must have been a time when that girl had hid herself, observed the other person's behavior, and acted accordingly.

…In my case, it was my life in the reservation.

What had made this girl like this?

"n.o.bu-tan! n.o.bu-tan! It looks like Masazumi-kun is negotiating with the national representatives on Tama, so should we really be having a karaoke tournament here!?"

"Koni-tan, you fool! We already gathered all the information necessary for that meeting and submitted it to the committees! The rest depends on Masazumi. …But not to worry. I made sure to give her the sensibilities and everything else she needs to be a politician!"

"n.o.bu-tan! That actually sounds really cool!"

"Judge! I must always maintain my dignity and presence as her father. Unfortunately, that meant I could never actually communicate with her. The other day, I invited her to go see the kid's kabuki show 'Yos.h.i.+tsune's Kicka.s.s Fund-Raising Fighters', but she declined and said I did not have to force myself. …Is.h.i.+kawa, I gave that ticket to you! Get over here for a second!"

"n.o.bu-tan! n.o.bu-tan! You should really consider the timing of these things!"

Terumoto recalled that the Musas.h.i.+ Vice President's father was on Musas.h.i.+'s Provisional Council. He must have trained her to be like this.

She had lived in Mikawa before moving to Musas.h.i.+ and becoming Vice President, so she probably had a strongly Far Eastern point of view. However…

…Did she learn how powerful nations do things at England and Magdeburg?

Also, added Terumoto.

There was a somewhat troublesome thing about the Musas.h.i.+ Vice President.

…She's really acclimated herself to Musas.h.i.+'s weirdness.

Flat Va.s.sal: "V-Vice President! I think the Mouri Representative is giving you an extremely suspicious look."

Vice President: "Wait, what? Did I do something?"

Gold Mar: "Hm, I think you're good, Seijun."

Vice President: "Really, Naito?"

Gold Mar: "Yeah. Everyone's done something or other without realizing it, so this is normal."

Vice President: "That's not good at all!"

Mar-Ga: "Don't be silly. It happens all the time. Y'know, like suddenly finding you've finished a storyboard or drawn more pages than planned."

Hori-ko: "Anyway, the receipt I was given checks out, so the retrieval was a success. I suppose I will activate them and incorporate them into my system real quick on the way back. I want to get to sleep as soon as I can."

Me: "Is it just me or is their value plummeting?"

Tachibana Wife: "Master Munes.h.i.+ge! Master Munes.h.i.+ge! They were very valuable back when it was just Lype Katathlipse! So just think of it as the relative value as they grow in number!"

It can't be fun being one of the original owners, thought Masazumi without taking her eyes off of Mouri Terumoto.

"From Mouri's perspective, I imagine returning the Logismoi Oplo was part of the post-battle negotiation."

But there was something more.

Houjou Genan knew that, hence the self-deprecation.

If returning the Logismoi Oplo was all there was, he would have had no reason to smile like that. He would only have smiled bitterly in order to say "it's over".

But since he had shown self-deprecation…

…They have some other silly thing to do.

Even after returning the Logismoi Oplo, there was still something worth laughing at themselves over.

What was that?

…I'm betting it has to do with that.

A mystery diplomatic s.h.i.+p was landing beyond the Mouri one.

Mouri had two other s.h.i.+ps which were landing over there, but that was likely to prevent Musas.h.i.+ from seeing the mystery s.h.i.+p. Or…

Tonbokiri: "They are making sure that s.h.i.+p cannot escape."

Mar-Ga: "All the windows you might be able to see inside are covered with curtains."

Wise Sister: "We need to buy some thick curtains too."

Asama: "Oh, you're right."

Almost Everyone: "…"

Asama: "Eh!? No, um, I didn't mean anything weird. I just meant privacy for, um…no, I mean to prevent fires!"

Me: "I mean, I don't want to be peeped on either. I sometimes work on new material at home."

Asama: "Right!? Right!?"

Me: "Yeah. Also, I sometimes get really fired up when playing p.o.r.n games at night."

Hori-ko: "It would seem I need to give your room a thorough destroying from time to time."

Mar-Ga: "Anyway, let's just a.s.sume they're busy playing p.o.r.n games in that s.h.i.+p."

That was an awful conclusion to reach.

But if they were preventing anyone from seeing inside, they must really not want anyone to know what nation they were from.

…And they're waiting until after the meeting.

That meant Terumoto's plan and Genan's self-deprecation were both about something after the meeting. In that case, Mouri would not be the center of the discussion.

Masazumi turned to face the person she needed to speak with now. That meant looking away from Terumoto.

"Come on out. I know you can hear this."

She spoke to…

"Negotiator Ootani Yos.h.i.+tsugu. Let's hear what you have to say about the end of the Siege of Odawara."

Asama opened a targeting spell around her.

The foundation was built on Branch and Leaf Connection, the targeting spiritual protection spell created to defend the Ariake. A hemispherical ether turret was displayed overhead like a compa.s.s and it spun around.

"Heh heh heh. Asama! Who are you planning to shoot!? Looks like you're aimed at…zooooooom in! Oh, dear! That's Mito's b.o.o.bs! Are you trying to blast an air hole in them so they get even smaller!? Are you sure you should do that!?"

"Mito, you deal with Kimi."

"Tomo! I'll admit that reaction is new, but it doesn't solve anything!"

That was true, but what else could she do? Also, she was not using this to shoot someone this time.

"Ah, there he is!"

Branch and Leaf Connection's crosshairs aligned at a position just above eye level in the southeastern sky.

The target was approximately 3km away.

The anti-virus protection the Asama Shrine had built seemed to be working because Ootani was all the way out there.

The half a celestial sphere opened around Asama was targeting something in the distance.

…An M.H.R.R. Catholic-style sign frame.

Once she had it targeted, she opened a telescope sight. She then displayed an enlarged version of the image above the entire meeting s.p.a.ce like it was a ceiling painting.

There was some static in the image, but it definitely showed Ootani.

But something was off about him in that Catholic sign frame.

"Why is he so beat up?"

"I dunno." Masazumi tilted and scratched her head before asking a question of the image overhead. "Hey, Ootani, aren't you kind of beat up? Did you even partic.i.p.ate in the Siege of Odawara?"

"Not to worry! I merely happened across an unexpected foe a few hours ago."

"Okay, I won't worry about it."

"W-wait! Don't you want to hear my tale of derring-do!? Telling and listening to war stories is an honor for warriors, is it not!? Actually, you're just ignoring me, aren't you!? Aren't you!?"

"No, I'm listening, I'm listening. So what'd you say?"

Masazumi could be pretty cruel. But then she pointed up at the overhead sign frame and looked back at Asama.

"Asama, can you not put it overhead? My neck is getting tired."

"Okay, I'll put it below us."

"Heh heh. Asama? Won't that give him a low angle view?"

"Hmm." Asama spent around two seconds thinking about how the sign frame worked. "Then I'll double it so the image is below and the camera is above."

Setting it up was simple enough. This created a greater processing load, but she could fix that by tr.i.m.m.i.n.g the FPS by 2 or 3. So she did so.

"How about this?"

She placed the image of Ootani below them so the various national representatives were surrounding it.

"Ah, what is going on!?" said Ootani. "I am up here, but I can see myself down there!"

"Don't worry about it, Ootani. Your viewpoint's the same, so you can look down on us all you want."

"I see… Wait, but now I can only see the tops of your heads because you're all looking down!"

"Ootani, let's not be selfish."

"I-I don't like the pity in your voice! Or the way you're looking down as you say it!"

He was an incredibly well made virus, but Asama felt like this kind of defeated the purpose.

At any rate, Masazumi raised her right hand. She stuck her right arm out to the side and she pointed to the sky with the white glove on her raised right forearm.

"Ootani. How did Houjou do at the Siege of Odawara? We can start with that." She inhaled. "And, Ootani, listen carefully. Whatever your answer, we will find a way to pursue you. So give us your a.s.sessment of the Punishment of Houjou with that in mind."

She said it.

And she looked up so suddenly she seemed to shatter the atmosphere. She was looking at Ootani. And at Has.h.i.+ba who she knew had to be watching too.

She was making sure her words reached Has.h.i.+ba and she clenched her raised right hand.

"Listen."

"Well? Can you hear me, Has.h.i.+ba? Is this reaching you, P.A. Oda? There's still a lot we don't know and you might be snickering at our ignorance, but we will still use the world's current rules to pursue you. So use your interpretations, Has.h.i.+ba. If you don't want us on your tail, then use your interpretations and use the 'proper' distortions of forced Testament compliance to endure our attacks. …We welcome it. After all, we have an idiot on our side and everyone who supports us has changed or is changing. At the very least, we are not alone. We won't let any of us be alone, so we will continue forward in search of something. That is what we and our nation will do. If we're missing anything, we will accept something to fill that gap. The borderline of universal acceptance is plenty large, so all we need to do is continue forward.

"What stands in our way? You.

"So make your decision, Has.h.i.+ba and P.A. Oda. We will simply grant the history you have forced on us all. If you will force the rules of the Testament onto the world and its nations and if you will bet people's lives on the result, we will give you the history you want.

"Listen up, world. If there are sacrifices on the path ahead and you are being forced to make those sacrifices, then call us. We have proven and will continue to prove that no interpretation or coercion can stand in our way."

Masazumi did not take a breath after she finished.

She held her breath for a few seconds before slowly inhaling.

Meanwhile, only silence surrounded her. However…

…This is a gamble.

That divine transmission must have reached P.A. Oda. And the representatives here would have sent it to their nations. That was especially important when it came to Hexagone Française. And…

Musas.h.i.+: "Tomoe Gozen-sama of the M.H.R.R. Protestants has sent word that she received that divine transmission. Over."

That was enough.

This was the turning point leading to the end of the Thirty Years' War.

But unlike the Age of the G.o.ds described in the Testament, the M.H.R.R. Catholics, who included Has.h.i.+ba, had not lost their national strength. So the other nations feared their interpretive "defeat" and revenge.

The European nations in particular would be reliant on Hexagone Française.

And the result of the flooding of Paris would have only strengthened that reliance.

So it would be dangerous to just let the Kantou Liberation happen. Mouri and Hexagone Française would increase their international reputation and Musas.h.i.+ could be limited to Kantou, or at best nowhere west of the Tokai region, in order to provide a.s.sistance.

…So we need to announce our hostile stance against Has.h.i.+ba before the Kantou Liberation.

The flooding of Paris had been good PR for Hexagone Française, but it helped Musas.h.i.+ too.

It had proven that Has.h.i.+ba and M.H.R.R. were not unbeatable.

So it would seem more plausible that Musas.h.i.+ could do it too. And…

"How about it?"

The world's nations now had two options. When considering their opposition to M.H.R.R. and Has.h.i.+ba, they could either rely on Hexagone Française or join with Musas.h.i.+.

Silver Wolf: "You completely caught them off guard, Masazumi. You lured the nations in, had them open their divine transmission lines, gathered every other nation's attention, and then proclaimed your intent to oppose Has.h.i.+ba and fight yet another war."

Vice President: "Yes, well, this seemed like the best time."

"True," agreed Naruze on a divine transmission.

Mar-Ga: "The top trending terms on the European network are 'Musas.h.i.+', 'warmonger', and 'invasion of Europe'. The threads are exploding."

10ZO: "If everyone is focused on that, why is 'That Ninja General 7312' still getting so much attention on the Musas.h.i.+ network? Are the Musas.h.i.+ residents numb to it by now?"

Hori-ko: "Envy of others is more popular than war. …Oh, is that a victory for me since I control envy? I must do my best to avoid getting a big head about it."

Vice President: "Dammit! It doesn't bother me! I won't let it bother me!"

No, that was not the issue.

For one thing, they could not wait until after the Kantou Liberation to challenge Has.h.i.+ba.

She more or less knew what was going to happen now.

And this had to be the best time to make a move against Has.h.i.+ba. So…

Vice President: "Listen, everyone. We might be losing to Crossunite in Musas.h.i.+, but we're doing pretty well in the rest of the world. Not that that's a good thing exactly."

Uqui: "Masazumi, shouldn't you calm down some? Yes, just like use."

Vice President: "No, all of you are just crazy."

"But wait," said Masazumi.

Vice President: "Has.h.i.+ba probably hopes to get summer break started. They want to intervene in the Kantou Liberation and begin summer break with as little damage to their own forces as possible."

Laborer: "How can you be so sure? Help me understand."

Yeah, I guess a lot of our people wouldn't understand what I'm talking about… thought Masazumi while mentally looking down at the floor. But her response was simple.

Vice President: "P.A. Oda will start working on the Honnouji Incident during or immediately after summer break, so Has.h.i.+ba will not hesitate to use their Great Return here. And they will try to keep their losses to a minimum in Kantou."

Do you understand?

Vice President: "During summer break, any history recreations not contained to your own nation are generally banned. Anything that involves another nation is usually delayed until after summer break. So to put it another way…"

Masazumi explained.

Vice President: "If the Honnouji Incident is recreated during or immediately after summer break, P.A. Oda can safely end it, hand things over to the next generation, and fight against Europe and the other nations with a new system at the start of the second term."

So that's it, thought Yos.h.i.+yasu as she came to understand what everyone was doing here.

…We can a.s.sume P.A. Oda will begin a new system during summer break.

That would be a threat to the nearby nations and Kantou as a whole.

Of course, this had been fairly predictable, so those nations would have been completing crucial history recreations in advance to avoid the threat.

But it felt more real now that all the pieces had been gathered.

The plan was to pursue Has.h.i.+ba and P.A. Oda in order to wear down their national strength. However…

Righteousness: "At this rate, just as we begin our pursuit in earnest, P.A. Oda will use the break to establish their new system and sweep across Europe and other areas."

Vice President: "Yes. However the Kantou Liberation ends, it will not do any direct damage to P.A. Oda. So if Has.h.i.+ba is worried about anything, it would be the loss of officers and skilled fighters from Oda."

"Judge," agreed Yos.h.i.+yasu as she came to understand something else.

This was why Has.h.i.+ba had sent a novice like Kani to the Siege of Odawara.

She had also heard Ikeda Terumasa had started rebuilding the s.h.i.+rasagi Castle in the mountains of west Kantou.

…They're raising their next generation to be immediately useful after the break.

In that case, began Yos.h.i.+yasu in her heart.

Righteousness: "This would be the time to say this."

They could not wait until after the Kantou Liberation to challenge Has.h.i.+ba.

Afterwards, Has.h.i.+ba could just claim they were beginning summer break and build themselves back up from there.

If P.A. Oda said there were no more history recreations to be fulfilled at the moment, they could declare their territory inviolable and guarantee a new invasion under a new system after the break.

So it had to be now.

Righteousness: "Understood."

Yos.h.i.+yasu recalled what Musas.h.i.+'s Vice President had said in the bathhouse earlier.

…Musas.h.i.+ might not be able to take part in the Kantou Liberation.

She knew what that must have meant.

Righteousness: "If Has.h.i.+ba wants to arrive in time for the Kantou Liberation, rus.h.i.+ng to Kantou is not their only option. They can force us into a history recreation and wear down our forces before the Kantou Liberation. With fewer forces, the Liberation would take longer and they could make it in time."

And she knew what the Musas.h.i.+ Vice President must be thinking.

Righteousness: "Musas.h.i.+ plans to use that in order to start a history recreation when they try to start summer break. Also…"

She also knew how they would do that.

Righteousness: "Musas.h.i.+ intends to intervene in the Honnouji Incident, don't you?"

Uqui: "So that's it. Now I see what Masazumi wants to do."

Masazumi nodded at Urquiaga's comment.

Vice President: "It feels like this took forever to explain, but there you have it."

"I see," said Urquiaga. And…

Uqui: "Hey, everyone! Masazumi says she wants us to go without a summer break."

Almost Everyone: "Ehhhhhhhhhh!?"

Vice President: "Hey, wait!"

After shouting in text form, the idiot physically ran over. He was pale, soaked with a cold sweat, and holding his shoulders.

"are you serious, Seijun!? This is summer break we're talking about! That's the season of the beach, swimsuits, and wardrobe malfunctions! Oh, but don't expect any of that last one from me, okay? …Anyway, why would you tear down all of my fun plans for summer break!?"

"Well, doesn't that describe the way things are in your house nowadays?"

Asama and Mitotsudaira tensed at that and the idiot sister placed a hand on their shoulders.

But the idiot raised his hands toward the heavens.

"Swimsuits look completely different inside and outside the house! Horizon's swimsuit is an old lady one mom bought her so it has impenetrable old lady defenses, but I just know Asama and Nate's will look completely different when they're wet and with the sun s.h.i.+ning on them."

"W-wait, Toori-kun. I'm not that defenseless, am I?"

All the other girls refused to look Asama in the eye. "Huh!?" stammered the shrine maiden before she grabbed the wolf's shoulders and shook her. "Mito! You have something to say too, don't you!?"

"No, um, I've kind of decided to expedite my schedule when it comes to having my king compliment my swimsuit…"

"Resist! Show a bit more resistance, Mito!"

"Fat chance of that," muttered the others. Then the idiot said more while entirely oblivious to Horizon cracking her neck behind him.

"Listen, Seijun! I'm talking about the beach! Swimsuits! Regular clothing that's skimpier than normal! I'm talking about summer festivals, playing in the river together, and study sessions where your hands end up touching! I believe we should focus on those things when we make our plans here. After all, the psychological liberation is so much greater when it's summer break! But wait there's more! Act now and-…"

Horizon sent her right knuckle into the idiot's temple.

He slowly collapsed to the side and Horizon raised her right hand.

"I apologize, Masazumi-sama. If I let him continue, I was afraid he would steal my infomercial gag."

So would she have let him continue if not for that? But Masazumi had a thought as she watched Horizon pick the idiot up by the collar and Asama and Mitotsudaira quickly run over.

…Summer break is important, isn't it?

"Well, I guess that's fine."

Mar-Ga: "Wait just a second. I think we need to know what you were planning for the break."

Vice President: "Nothing really. I generally spend summer break at the school library looking through the books."

"Wow…" said everyone in shock.

Wise Sister: "Heh heh. Now I see why you would use your authority as Vice President to establish a Summer Break Extermination Committee."

Gold Mar: "No one every invited you to go play with them?"

Vice President: "No, I always have work and errands to run, so it was never worth it."

"Hmm," groaned Masazumi.

Vice President: "But I'm fine with that, so I don't really care."

Mar-Ga: "Wait. Even if we do respect your individuality, are you planning to apply that to everyone in Musas.h.i.+? You can't do that."

That was fair enough.

Vice President: "Then what? Do we force everyone to have fun during summer break? …Ookubo."

NagayStable: "Ugh, what a pain. Let's just say not having fun gets the death penalty."

CAN: "Milady! You can't be so careless just because today has been a rough day!"

It sounded like a novel new regulation was in the works, but this opposite extreme would be a problem too.

"Anyway," said Masazumi while holding out her hands to stop the others.

Vice President: "Let's respect everyone's summer break. But the world is still in motion, so it will depend on that."

"Hmm," groaned the others with their arms crossed. That felt like a dangerous sight, but…

"Here it comes."

Masazumi saw Ootani moving on the targeting sign frame opened on the deck.

He had a small sign frame opened by his hands and he turned to face them. His oversized head stared at them with the hollow eyes below his ether helmet.

"We have made a decision. First of all, I will make a ruling on the Siege of Odawara."

Everyone tensed as Ootani's voice rang out.

"I have decided that the Siege of Odawara is not yet over. After all, Date partic.i.p.ated, but their Chancellor Masamune has not completed her late arrival."

He held his small sword in front of him like a staff.

"The Keichou Campaign must wait until Date Masamune has arrived and the Siege of Odawara is complete."