Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon Vol 3 Chapter 90

Now

What to do?

Point Allocation (Come)

This really takes me back, thought Tos.h.i.+e as he commanded the Sunomata in the sky above Mikawa’s bay.

He never fought in aerial battles, but he was still quite attached to this s.h.i.+p. He had helped build the s.h.i.+p in enemy territory for the history recreation to make a name for Has.h.i.+ba.

…Wasn’t that because our enemy, Saitou, had set up a barrier for anti-air defense?

As a part of the history recreation an actual castle on the ground would have worked just as well.

By using prefabricated parts, they could have had giants and demonic long lived carry in the pieces and set it up in only four hours.

But either due to the Musas.h.i.+’s influence on the current age or to show off the Far East’s aerial s.h.i.+p technology, having an aerial s.h.i.+p for a castle was a sort of status symbol in the Far East.

So as rare as it was for her to do so, Has.h.i.+ba had insisted on building a s.h.i.+p.

And she had been the one to put in the most effort.

She had worked hard to gather the personnel and materials needed to build Sunomata Castle quickly enough to warrant the name “One Night Castle”.

At the time, aerial s.h.i.+ps had taken months to build, but she had used cloth-covered logs to build something that would at least float.

…That was really more of an aerial raft than a s.h.i.+p.

But she had indeed built it in a single day.

When it had appeared floating above enemy territory, most of the enemy had laughed and called it a piece of junk, but no one in the Oda clan had laughed. Building an aerial s.h.i.+p in a night meant they could immediately send a surprise attack fleet into enemy territory as long as they had the personnel and supplies needed to surpa.s.s the enemy’s anti-air barriers.

“Ever since then, s.h.i.+bata took a real liking to Has.h.i.+ba.”

The Sunomata had bordered the Nagara River, so Tos.h.i.+e himself had sent supplies downstream on rafts for Has.h.i.+ba to collect.

There had been weak points in Has.h.i.+ba’s design, so he and Narimasa had guided the reinforcing parts down the river.

Has.h.i.+ba still talked about it and tried to repay them even though she had already helped them countless times. Still, she insisted that she could never fully repay them because they had supported her when a single mistake would have ended everything for her.

It was all so nostalgic.

This s.h.i.+p had been the starting point for the Oda clan’s current cooperative spirit.

The exterior had completely changed and it was now a proper high-speed striking s.h.i.+p instead of a mere raft, but it still contained traces of its original form.

“Now, fire.”

It had not originally had cannons, so they had used personal anti-air cannons and spells. At the time, they had laughed at how they were all commanders and yet were stuck acting like common soldiers on that s.h.i.+p.

“How about we circle around above them?”

It would have stalled out back then, but…

“Let’s go!”

Those two words alone were the same.

“It’s so light!”

From Okutama’s surface, Yos.h.i.+yasu watched the enemy flip through the sky.

The Sunomata seemed to fly freely around the Musas.h.i.+ rather than through the sky. It was powered by the ghost s.h.i.+p which borrowed the Musas.h.i.+’s speed, so it could fly up, down, far, close, front, or back.

Its cannons fired homing shots. That homing ability was weakened by their speedy flight, so its aim was careless.

But few of the sh.e.l.ls missed. Because the careless trajectories were hard to predict, they struck the Musas.h.i.+ and sent gravity barrier light scattering everywhere.

…If only I could send out Righteousness!

She could not because the Musas.h.i.+ was flying so quickly. She technically could send it out, but a G.o.d of War could not sustain this speed as long as the ma.s.sive s.h.i.+p. Flying alongside the Musas.h.i.+ would drain her fuel and send her cras.h.i.+ng to the ground in just a few minutes. Righteousness also needed some repairs, so she had left it in Musas.h.i.+no’s maintenance hangar and made her way up to Okutama’s surface.

“I thought I could get some information if I visited the academy.”

On the way, she had spotted a few people on the floor. They had not fainted from injuries. Most of them were ether-related non-humans who had grown faint from the strange ether disturbance.

…Is that the tingling I felt when we pa.s.sed over Mikawa’s bay?

The ether disturbance caused by the loss of Mikawa was still strong. It had even delayed and slowed down the Musas.h.i.+.

The sh.e.l.lfire had not let up.

A gravity barrier shattered overhead and sh.e.l.l shrapnel fell on the city with dry metallic sounds.

“Is there any anti-air equipment around here?”

She looked around and spotted two people approaching. Looking back, she saw a pure pair of huge b.r.e.a.s.t.s and a wicked pair of huge b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

“The shrine maiden and the dancer?”

“Eh? Oh, um, yes, I suppose you could say that.”

“Where are you two going?”

“Heh heh. Long-eared flat girl, do you really not know? Now, tell me the answer!”

“You can ignore that idiot, okay? We’re on our way to the academy. What about you?”

“I was headed to the academy too. I wanted some information and I’d heard your vice president had gone there.”

“Then let’s hurry.”

The shrine maiden pointed forward, so the three of them started jogging.

The sh.e.l.lfire continued and light was shattering in the sky both horizontally and vertically from them. Those fragments illuminated Yos.h.i.+yasu as she ran.

“About this sh.e.l.lfire… There’s an enemy fleet pursuing us from behind, isn’t there?”

“Yes, but the enemy is out of time. After all…”

Once the shrine maiden said that, a ma.s.sive amount of light rose from the earth far beyond the opposite coast and stabbed into the sky.

The light was as bright as midday and it revealed the shape of the landscape.

More than one pillar of light rose toward the heavens. Several dozen of them surged upwards like a reverse waterfall.

“That’s about thirty kilometers away… Is that anti-air fire from Qing-Takeda and Lady Yos.h.i.+tsune’s heavy mechanical cavalry unit!?”

The shrine maiden explained what was about to happen.

“If we reach that point, the Battle of Mikatagahara begins. Everyone else will be kept out, so what will the Sunomata do? After all,” she said. “I’m sure P.A. Oda will do something about it.”

Tos.h.i.+e gave a single instruction from the Sunomata’s deck.

“Continue firing. Use the cannons more than the ghost s.h.i.+p and continue targeting the opened hull instead of the surface area.”

He opened a lernen figur and faced forward.

The light rising toward the heavens from far beyond the opposite coast of Mikawa’s bay was already vanis.h.i.+ng.

But Qing-Takeda’s main fighting force was definitely there.

That anti-air fire had been enough to pierce the sky and light up the earth. Tos.h.i.+e knew perfectly well why they had shown off that firepower.

…They’re warning away P.A. Oda for the history recreation of the Battle of Mikatagahara.

“And also warning us about the Battle of Nagas.h.i.+no which begins the fall of the Takeda clan.”

Oda’s musket unit was supposed to destroy Takeda’s cavalry force and P.A. Oda intended to recreate that using the sh.e.l.lfire of an aerial fleet. That was why they had strengthened their aerial forces and used Lake Biwa’s stealth dock to its fullest. But…

“It’s true Takeda’s cavalry soldiers were armed with guns, but turning that into anti-air cannons is quite the interpretation.”

Qing-Takeda was not going to go down easily.

Just in case, Tos.h.i.+e positioned the Sunomata above the Musas.h.i.+ to use it as a s.h.i.+eld.

Below, the ocean was coming to an end as they moved from Mikawa to Suruga.

There was land below, more ocean to the right, and…

…Qing-Takeda straight ahead.

Ma.s.sive bonfires and countless giant figures were visible in the depths of the distant darkness. Those heavy mechanical horse gunners were the history recreation of Takeda’s gun-wielding cavalry.

They were definitely intended for the Battle of Nagas.h.i.+no.

“And they’re starting by seeing how I will react.”

Tos.h.i.+e spoke into his lernen figur.

“Qing-Takeda! This is M.H.R.R Treasurer Maeda Tos.h.i.+e aka Wallenstein representing both P.A. Oda and M.H.R.R.! I am currently pursuing the Musas.h.i.+ in the Sunomata, so cease your attack!”

“He wants us to stop? Who does that kid Maeda think he’s talking to?”

Yos.h.i.+tsune looked up at the silhouette of the Musas.h.i.+ visible in the western sky.

The right of the Satou Brothers behind her called the Sunomata with a sign frame.

“P.A Oda s.h.i.+p, you are about to interfere in Qing-Takeda’s Far Eastern history recreation. In other words…”

“Satou, send this to Musas.h.i.+ too. …Oh, and show a little more spirit when you tell him.”

On Yos.h.i.+tsune’s instructions, the Satou Brothers exchanged a glance and began anew.

“Aiyaaaaahhhh! P.! A.! Odaaaaaa! s.h.i.+p! You arrrrrrrrrrrrreeee! Hiyaaaahhhhh!”

“You’ll burst a blood vessel if you force yourself.”

The Satou Brothers clearly wanted to say something, but Yos.h.i.+tsune ignored them and crossed her legs on top of s.h.i.+zuka’s fuel tank. She then looked low in the sky ahead.

“Hey, Maeda. You’re getting in the way of the history recreation, so get lost.”

She received a response via the Satou Brothers.

“But Lady Yos.h.i.+tsune…”

“What kind of fool speaks to me without introducing himself?”

“My apologies. I am honored to you would speak with me. I am M.H.R.R. Treas-…”

“I hate long introductions.”

“Then I will send it all to one of your people afterwards.”

“Very good.”

Yos.h.i.+tsune smiled a little.

“I’ll hear you out since you went along with that,” she said. “Do you want the Musas.h.i.+ that badly?”

Her question received an immediate response.

“No,” he denied. “The Musas.h.i.+ has threatened M.H.R.R.’s history recreation. We wanted to avoid any external influences when M.H.R.R. is in such a complicated situation, but they went against our wishes by traveling through our territory. Therefore,” said Tos.h.i.+e. “We will punish the Musas.h.i.+ for interfering with the history recreation.”

Tos.h.i.+e said more from the Sunomata.

“The M.H.R.R. Catholics would like temporary permission to enter Qing-Takeda’s airs.p.a.ce to punish the Musas.h.i.+. This is to settle the history recreation of Magdeburg, so it has higher priority than the Battle of Mikatagahara.”

“And if I say no?”

“Then…the Testament Union will likely punish Qing-Takeda.”

“I see,” said Yos.h.i.+tsune with a hand on her chin.

She thought to herself with a nasal “hmm”, and…

“Well, in that case…”

At that point, the Satou Brothers held out a new sign frame from behind her. This one displayed Musas.h.i.+’s vice president.

“Wait! This is Musas.h.i.+ Vice President Honda Masazumi! I would like to say something concerning that reasoning!”

The night wind washed across a hill.

It was a rough, stormy wind. It heavily shook the tree branches and blew the clouds through the sky.

The clouds covering the night sky had opened, bringing the moon into view and covering the hill in clear light.

Several large s.h.i.+ps and countless figures could be seen on the moonlit hill.

They were Hexagone Française’s aerial fleet, the Magdeburg transport s.h.i.+p, and their crews.

But another figure stood on the hill’s slope some distance away from them all.

It was the Reine des Garous.

She was looking at two signe cadre displaying the information Mouri-01 had sent her from Hexagone Française’s flags.h.i.+p, the Pension Versailles. The larger one was a map containing the positions of the Has.h.i.+ba and M.H.R.R Catholic s.h.i.+ps in M.H.R.R. or the Seto Inland Sea plus some other predictions.

“This is the predicted distribution of the P.A. Oda aerial forces within P.A. Oda territory. There are a lot of un.o.bservable regions inside P.A. Oda, so we can only predict based on the information gathered elsewhere.”

“They really have moved toward Qing-Takeda, haven’t they?”

“I would like your opinion. Especially concerning this doc.u.ment sent from K.P.A. Italia.”

“Yes.”

The Reine des Garous looked to the other signe cadre which displayed a doc.u.ment signed by a woman.

“They must be plotting something to send a secret letter only to the Tsirhc Testament Union nations.”

With that said, the Reine des Garous looked eastward. She narrowed her eyes into the dark night.

“The Musas.h.i.+ is in trouble.”

“You think so too?”

A voice reached her from the top of the hill. She turned around and found Tomoe Gozen standing in the windy gra.s.s. The woman’s arms were crossed as she too faced east.

“That idiot Yos.h.i.+tsune is in trouble too…but this isn’t easy. This is going to demonstrate that siding with the Musas.h.i.+ will make an enemy of someone truly formidable.”

“Testament.”

The Reine des Garous nodded and gave a few instructions while noting how little practice she had typing on a keyboard.

“Mouri-01, I think we will soon need a signed doc.u.ment from Louis Exiv and Mouri Terumoto. There’s somewhere I want to contact in a hurry.”

“Testament. Where is that?”

“Somewhere that used to be your enemy.”

After sending a quick write-up of her plan, the Reine des Garous looked east again.

“I just hope we make it in time!”

Masazumi began her negotiations on the bridge in front of the academy.

Based on what she had heard from the divine transmission relayed by Yos.h.i.+tsune, Maeda Tos.h.i.+e was trying to demonstrate his justification for attacking them.

…If I don’t interfere, our position will only grow worse!

Sh.e.l.ls dropped, impacts rang out, and countless lights scattered through the sky. They were not up against a large-scale fleet or a large s.h.i.+p, but the Sunomata was using a ghost s.h.i.+p to constantly pursue them.

The attacks themselves were not the biggest problem.

…As long as we’re under attack, Has.h.i.+ba still has us caught in a state of combat!

Masazumi knew that, as long as this battle continued, the Has.h.i.+ba forces would continue pursuing the Musas.h.i.+ even if they escaped to Kantou. It would all be in the name of an “unavoidable movement of the battlefield” while punis.h.i.+ng them for interfering with Magdeburg’s history recreation.

They could even accuse Musas.h.i.+ of dragging other nations into the battle to a.s.sist their escape.

Masazumi needed to avoid that.

After all, Tos.h.i.+e had claimed Musas.h.i.+ was threatening M.H.R.R.’s history recreation, but…

“Has.h.i.+ba is trying to blame us for their attack and pursuit! And all while completely disregarding our point of view!”

She could not let them use the history recreation as a s.h.i.+eld.

If the history recreation was threatened, all of the Testament Union nations would join M.H.R.R. and Has.h.i.+ba in opposing them. So…

“I insist you hear me out!”