Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon

Volume 8B, Chapter 29: Officers on the Forefront

Oh

I actually

Wasn’t thinking anything

Point Allocation (Good to Look Thoughtful)

After “Musashi” led her to the bottom of the stairs, Ranmaru moved off on her own.

The ship had more than one P.A. Oda embassy building, but she was staying at the one on Tama.

“Yasuke-sama,” she said while walking through the nature park on the starboard side. “The internal investigation and warning are complete, so it is time we left.”

A figure appeared from her shadow where it intersected with the shadows of the trees behind her.

The massive form covered in black armor was a half-dragon.

He had small wings and was specialized for ground combat. He stood more than 2.5m tall, yet he slipped out of her small shadow to stand behind her.

“Ranmaru-kun.”

“Yes?”

“I apologize. They noticed me, didn’t they?”

“Your Shadow Walking is a trait of the shadow walking half-dragon species, so it is not your fault. When I turned around to leave, Musashi’s 1st and 5th Special Duty Officers approached because they feared you would attack from my shadow.”

“Testament.” He pointed above his head where an insha kotob floated. “The local shrine sends these out to support life on the Musashi, but it popped up after I emerged from your shadow. I switched it off earlier, but it reappears when I adjust my presence.”

“We have no intention of causing trouble, but I see it would be risky if we did.”

“It’s not fair they don’t display these for the residents.”

“Don’t get too upset. We are effectively outsiders here.” Ranmaru came to a sudden stop. “Is that the famous Remorse Way memorial?”

She looked to her right where a stone memorial was half buried in the summer greenery.

It bore the name Horizon along with a bit more text.

Yasuke scratched his head and looked that way as well.

“Oh.” He pointed at the memorial. “I remember the kawaraban newscasters making a huge deal about it during the reporting on the Battle of Mikawa. Something about the bond between the Musashi Chancellor and the Ariadust Princess. They also said a ghost would appear nearby.”

“As none of the Musashi tourist information mentions the ghost, I have determined that is something the reporters invented on the spot. A shame this will not give us a better story to bring back with us. But while we are here…”

Ranmaru struck an expressionless pose with the memorial behind her and Yasuke snapped a photo with his insha kotob.

She checked the photo and applied a filter for her facial complexion.

“Now we can send this to our master and the others. As our scheduled check-in.”

“Shouldn’t you be taking this more seriously?”

“Spend enough time as an automaton and you master most everything, so only these trivial matters still hold any value.” She looked to the memorial sitting in the shadows of the trees. “But I have determined this is strange.”

“In what way?”

“Shaja,” she responded. “I have seen this many times over the years, but why do people have so much trouble settling on a single meaning for the things they create?”

Ranmaru explained herself.

“I can guess that memorial applied pressure to everything the Musashi Chancellor did.”

But…

“His life has moved beyond that point, so he does not even consider it worth removing. In fact, he likely considers it part of what pushed him to do what he did at the Battle of Mikawa. It is a reminder to never allow something like that to happen again.”

“Probably so, yeah.”

“Why is that?” she asked without looking back.

Yasuke tilted his head.

“Why is what?”

“That memorial exists because Horizon Ariadust was considered dead at the time. Why has its meaning and its psychological effect changed more than once within the same person?”

This puzzled her.

“Someone’s death is a single fact, so how can people gain more than one thing from it? And how can its influence on them change over time?”

“Would my answer even be useful?”

“I have been asking this same question of the people near me for a very long time so I can pool all of their answers for reference, but I have not received a new answer for the past 200 years. …So what is your answer, Yasuke-sama?”

“Hmm.” He placed a hand on his chin. “That memorial is frozen in time at the point that she was considered dead, right?”

“But the survivors are not frozen in time and their environment changes. As the gap between the environment in the memorial’s time and the environment in the current time grows larger, people view it from a different perspective and their opinion changes. Is that what you are trying to say?”

“Incredible, Ranmaru-kun! You really were listening to me for once!”

“For reference, your response is the same as 27% of respondents. And the more you speak, the more your answer overlaps with past ones, so think of this as gauging the depth of your answer, not categorizing it.”

Ranmaru then turned around and resumed walking.

Yasuke made sure to bow toward the memorial before doing the same.

“Oops. Paying respects is pretty meaningless with a memorial for someone who isn’t dead, huh?”

“Even outside unnecessary actions such as that, you non-automatons are such a pain to deal with and never play fair.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Automatons generally accept all things as a single fact. We can perceive things as patterns as a precaution against a great variety of things, but we cannot use that to determine which of the facts are most convenient. In the worst case, we can even corner ourselves from multiple directions at once.”

“We do that a lot too.”

“But you also avoid doing it. That is not fair.” Ranmaru picked up her walking pace. “It is not fair that you can fear death but also eventually leave it behind.”

The forest eventually cleared out and they walked out into the summer sun.

“I wonder what Hashiba-sama thinks about all that.”

“Take care of Hashiba-sama, Ishikawa-sensei, and the others for me.”

Kiyomasa bowed toward everyone while using a sunblock spell lernen figure to avoid the sun’s rays.

She was on the half-repaired boarding deck on one side of the Azuchi’s 1st central ship. She was preparing to board…

“A transport ship to Sanada. I won’t return here until we’re in Kansai after summer break.”

“Good luck,” said Koroku who had shown up to see her off.

She nodded back from the boarding ramp, noting the weight of her head.

She had not slept much recently.

…I can’t believe this.

She knew why she was not sleeping: Fukushima.

She was having trouble – a lot of trouble – keeping her thoughts off of that girl.

The usual thought returned to Kiyomasa on the boarding ramp.

…I really said it.

She had confessed.

She had finally done it the other day. In the moment, she had been certain it was the right thing to do, but now it felt more like a mistake.

…Wh-why did I have to make my confession like that!?

But aside from her own choice, she was upset with Fukushima.

She felt this was Fukushima’s fault, but she also wondered if that was her sulking or trying to shift blame. However…

“–––––”

The memory of confessing caused her to sweat anxiously below the summer sun.

…W-wow.

If she ignored Fukushima’s role in it all, then she had basically cried, confessed, and fled.

Yes. She cried, confessed, and fled. In other words…

…The classic CCF!

Inventing an abbreviation did nothing to help.

If she was being generous, the crying was acceptable. They weren’t going to see each other for a while.

If she was being very generous, the fleeing was also acceptable. She had been on the boarding ramp when the ship was trying to leave.

But no amount of generosity could save the choice to confess.

I can’t believe I did that, she thought.

If she had not confessed, she and Fukushima could have continued their usual friendship when they were reunited.

She knew that would be bothering Fukushima.

Or rather, she had set it up so Fukushima would be bothered. Like she was forcing the girl to feel some of the pain she was feeling.

Yeah, she thought. I was upset because she wasn’t behaving the way I wanted her to.

She had done that during their training the other night and she had done it here. When Fukushima deviated from the idealized version in her head, she tried to fix it.

But that was not “fixing” her. It was forcing Fukushima to be the person she wanted her to be.

“Ugh.”

She was only now realizing just how selfishly controlling her thinking had been, but…

…F-focusing on all the bad things will only depress me!

There were two sides to everything. There was good and bad to everything, so pointing out that something was actually bad was the same as pointing out it was actually good. The point was to figure out what the hidden and bad side of an issue was for the other person.

…Fukushima-sama.

How had her confession affected that girl?

“Kiyomasa.”

Koroku’s voice pulled Kiyomasa out of her anxious reverie.

She had lost herself in thought on the boarding ramp.

Gasping, she addressed Koroku to smooth things over.

“Do you need something, Hachisuka-sama?”

“It’s about Fukushima.”

The blood drained from her face just before even more blood and plenty of heat filled it again.

…Wh-what could this be!?

She knew she was being overeager, so she quickly worked to restrain herself.

Calm down.

But if it is about Fukushima-sama, could it be about the other day? Yes, it probably is. It must be. What other recent event links her to me?

…Wh-what is she going to say?

She tried to keep her cool, but she could not stop sweating. And her face felt so hot it would dry off that sweat.

But when Koroku spoke, it was like none of that flustered behavior existed.

“I’ve been using her room and it’s pretty comfortable.”

…O-oh, that’s right!

Hachisuka was borrowing Fukushima’s room because a mysterious phenomenon had appeared in her own room.

She had tried to get it exorcised, but when she had called in the lethal weapon of exorcists – the Shinto ones – things had gotten out of hand and they were arrested. Hachisuka had concluded it was too much to deal with and requested a room change.

More exorcists were being called in, so it should all be dealt with by the end of summer break.

…That’s right.

So this was not about the other day.

The tension drained from Kiyomasa and a warmer sweat poured from her skin.

“Are you worried about Fukushima?”

“–––––”

That surprise attack in question form made Kiyomasa gasp.

And eventually…

“Testament.”

What did that response mean? That she was worried about Fukushima’s training camp? That she was worried about Fukushima herself? Or that she was worried about the result of her confession to Fukushima?

…There’s no hidden side to this.

She had conveyed her feelings with the confession, but she had also thrust them upon Fukushima.

She felt freed by getting that off her chest, but it must feel binding for Fukushima.

But, she thought.

Once time had passed, she had managed to give it serious thought. And as her environment changed, the two sides to this issue would also change.

In fact, she was already feeling bound by her own confession.

The confession remained frozen in time within Fukushima.

But Fukushima was in a different environment now and she would view that time-frozen confession from that changed perspective.

That would give Fukushima more options when making a decision about it, but what about for Kiyomasa? The version of herself in Fukushima was “frozen”.

So would she ignore Fukushima’s feelings and let herself change too? Or would she stay the way she was?

If she changed, she could show Fukushima a new version of herself when they were reunited.

That too felt selfish in a way, but…

…I wouldn’t be forcing it onto her.

It was contradictory and a betrayal.

If she forced her feelings onto Fukushima, she would remain unchanged and it would not be a betrayal.

But if she did not force them onto her, she could change, but it would also be a betrayal.

“––––”

I can’t believe this.

Her thoughts had reached this point in only a few days. But…

“We need to leave soon too.”

It felt like cheating.

Spending so much time trying to figure out the right thing to do felt deceptive to her, but it was all a matter of perspective.

Lies could be useful tools.

Was there a way to bring this all to a good ending, even if it was unfair? She knew where she could find the time and space to think about it.

“I hope to learn a lot in Sanada.”

“Is that so?” replied Koroku.

Just then, a roaring of air pushed up from below.

“A mechanical dragon!”

“Kiyomasa-senpai! We’ll be going on ahead!”

It belonged to Nabeshima. Due to its weight, its repairs had been carried out aboard a large transport ship floated on the ocean below.

Its flight between the ships had been a makeshift flight test and a way to directly transport it.

Kiyomasa sighed as she looked up at the red mechanical dragon roaring up above them in an instant.

She decided to give Fukushima more thought. She was the one who had made the confession, so it was up to Fukushima whether she had betrayed her or not.

And to give herself time for that thought…

“Bye. I imagine the result of Hashiba-sama’s meeting with Musashi will arrive while I am en route to Sanada.”

“Let’s get started, shall we?”

Masazumi stood on Musashino’s bow deck where repairs were still underway.

She was surrounded by the others, a sweets stand set up by Ohiroshiki, some parasols, and other items.

Vice President: “Why are all of you here?”

Me: “It’s summer break, isn’t it?”

Horizey: “Correct. We were bored- that is to say, we had enough time to spare, so we came to tease- to provide moral support. We are all waiting for you to declare war- to arrive at a peaceable conclusion.”

Vice President: “Trying to be nice doesn’t help when it makes you impossible to understand.”

At any rate, she had a reason for choosing this location.

Asama: “The divine transmission system and the ship’s sensors are concentrated on Musashino’s bow, so the information security is strongest here. That allows us to repel any viruses like Ootani Yoshitsugu that might show up. Plus, Mito’s mom’s efforts have, um, cleared out the center of the ship, so the bow can be easily data purged if those defenses are insufficient.”

Hearing that, Masazumi looked back at Musashino.

About three blocks’ worth in the center had been cleared away like a ravine. It almost looked intentional now, but that was only because the damaged portions had been removed and cleaned up last night. It had been a rush job, but the Musashi already managed everything in units of blocks thanks to their long house culture. Still…

“I never imagined the Musashino’s bridge would be damaged by one of our gym classes.”

“It’s more my mother’s fault than anyone’s,” added Mitotsudaira.

“Yeah, but saying that would cause problems with Hexagone Fran?aise. And it’s summer break. It’s best to say she was here as a volunteer and that we owe them one.”

Still Got It: “Yes, I’m a volunteer! A boon to society!”

Silver Wolf: “By driving up public investment, maybe!”

Well, it was summer. So…

“Now is the time to get our economy running with something other than consumption.”

“Milady! The Vice President just inquired when you will be returning to the Musashi, but it is a devilish trick! If you are returning, do it to rebel!”

“If I go back now, she’s 1000% percent demanding I find the funding needed to repair the Musashino! Why do I have to clean up after their makeup gym exam!?”

“Milady! I said as much, but now she is demanding you be back by the 10th!”

“Ahhhhhhh! I should really just join Satomi! A small country’s finances and administrative duties must be so much simpler! And the fish is so good!”

“Representative Committee Head, we would welcome you, but you can’t just run away from your problems.”

“Anyway, it looks like Ookubo will be back soon and she’s sure to find some money from the Kantou Liberation or wherever else. That’s another reason to return to Kantou.”

Masazumi opened a sign frame.

This one was for personal notes. She summed up what she wanted the Musashi to do in the near future.

…Not too long ago, I did all this on paper.

She had fallen out of that habit thanks to Tsukinowa on her shoulder there. She only did it when absolutely necessary.

In fact, she had been so focused on working towards being a politician back then. The current state of the world did not allow Far Eastern students to hold any real power, so she had hoped to follow in her father’s footsteps and work for the Far East on the Provisional Council or something similar.

She had only seen the Vice President position as preparation for that, but…

…What is it I’m doing now that we’ve thrown off that oppression and given the Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers some real power?

Politics.

She honestly did not think much about how she was working for the Far East.

She was too focused on keeping the Musashi alive and eliminating the injustices placed on the Far East.

It was in England that she had learned allies were needed for that. And it had taken until arriving in Kantou for her to realize they needed strength to avoid losing those allies.

And now they had returned to Kantou once more.

This time, they were not taking shelter in Mito or helping liberate Satomi.

“The question is whether or not the Musashi is allowed inside Kantou.” She raised her right hand. “This might take an unexpected turn, but all’s well that ends well. Keep that in mind as you help me out here.”

The arms gave a fist pump down at her feet to say “leave it to us”.

…That’s worrying.

She was already having second thoughts, but…

“Here it comes.”

There was movement in the sky far to the east.

A white cloud appeared past the Bousou Peninsula that looked like a blue shadow from here.

“Musashino bridge here. The Azuchi is turning toward us. Over.”

Novice: “They were more worried about Satomi and Mouri, but now their focus is on us. Because we could use our gravitational cruising to attack.”

Nine-Tail Fox: “They see you as a threat. Our Yamagata Castle still has its them in its sights, but they have chosen to focus on you.”

Yoshiaki laughed over the divine transmission.

Nine-Tail Fox: “Hashiba does love to ignore the more immediate threat.”

Takao had a nature district. The large district was managed by the Ookubo family and the crust blocks had been stacked high for the Musashi, creating a small mountain and a waterfall. It was known as Mount Takao.

A fox was replenishing her sake supply in front of the shrine situated atop the small mountain.

The waiters in tengu masks and the local squadron known as the Tengumen were roasting beans and cooking mochi, a sweltering but aromatic process for midday during summer. Mogami Yoshiaki had her handheld bottle filled with sake and then corked it.

“The Azuchi has been surrounded and monitored by Satomi, Mouri, and the other Kantou nations, so what to focus on most has been a major question for them. And while undergoing repairs after their defeat, they must determine who is their enemy. Meaning…”

Meaning…

“They are now turning this way to view a distant enemy over the closer threats surrounding them. Exposing their side to the Kantou forces to face the Musashi sends a message to their crew. …Foul monkey, you dare show your face to the Musashi when the fox and the wolf are aboard?”

Still Got It: “Oh? Mogami Chancellor?”

Nine-Tail Fox: “What is it, Hexagone Fran?aise Vice Chancellor? Care to join me atop the bridge for some drinking.”

“That sounds delightful,” replied the other woman.

Still Got It: “But we are currently on the Musashi as volunteers.”

Hearing that, Yoshiaki pulled the fan from her hip and slapped it against her forehead.

Nine-Tail Fox: “Oh, that’s right. …Foul monkey, you dare show your face to the Musashi when the world’s two most adorable volunteers are aboard!?”

Me: “Are the grownups showing off more because it’s summer break, or what?”

Horizey: “Mitotsudaira-samaaa!”

Asama: “Yeah, Mito would be the first one to ask.”

Gold Mar: “What do we do, Mito-tsan?”

Silver Wolf: “Hassan! I suggest we summon Hassan!”

83: “A dry curry is best during the summer!”

A dry curry would be enough to keep those grownups occupied, concluded Masazumi with her arms crossed.

…Anyway, the Azuchi is taking this seriously.

The clouds were moving in the eastern sky. A large disturbance ran through the cumulus clouds, but the movement soon came to a stop and some of the clouds scattered.

The Azuchi had completed its turn.

She could somehow tell that it was facing them. And…

“Masazumi.”

“Let it through, Asama.”

“Right away,” replied Asama as a sign frame popped up.

The enlarged screen displayed someone in the sun. It was…

“Ankoku-G!! A! K!!!”

Masazumi saw Ankokuji strike a sparkling pose at the center of a screen with extreme direct light.

…Oh, right. He went on ahead.

He had boarded the Musashi as a Mouri emissary meant to work things out between Hashiba and Mouri. After taking him this far, the Musashi had been stopped by Ishikawa Kazumasa, but the students of other academies had not been restricted in that way.

At Ankokuji’s request, they had sent him on to Hashiba. He would have met with Mouri along the way, so…

“Mouri and Hashiba must be completing their reconciliation for Bitchu Takamatsu Castle after this.”

Just like Musashi would be discussing Christina’s possible assistance in the Honnouji Incident after this meeting with Hashiba.

Whether or not the Musashi would enter Kantou was a crucial factor for Musashi and for Hashiba. But…

“Musashi! I have arrived at a compromise with Hashiba-sama here!” Ankokuji struck another pose, rubbed his head like he was embracing it, gave the camera a flirtatious glance, and finally swayed his body once. “I hope you are thankful!”

Me: “Could someone shoot that baldie for me?”

Horizey: “Asama-samaaa!!”

Asama: “I-it would just be cruel to hit him from this far away, Horizon!”

Unturning: “Wait, you can do it at this range?”

Uh, oh. I never even questioned that she could. Eh, the Date Vice Chancellor will get used to it eventually.

Ankokuji appeared to be in top form. In a way, joining Hashiba had been what he really wanted this whole time. The more he did for them, the more it would benefit Mouri. So…

“Ha ha ha ha ha! Cunning Musashi! You are truly blessed to receive this audience with Hashiba-sama! But do not forget who you have to thank for this: none other than the great Ankoku-G! A! K! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Art-Ga: “I’m waiting while they check over my manuscript, but should I draw up another one real quick?”

Vice President: “Hmm. I feel like he would actually like that.”

At her feet, the arms pumped their clenched fists up and down and she was surprised to find she understood it as an expression of anger. Back when I was working so hard to become a politician, I never imagined I would be a Vice President with arms for an ally and dry curry as a means of avoiding danger.

“Um, Masazumi? Why do you look so tired?”

“Oh, you know. Life.” Masazumi looked up to address Ankokuji. “Ankokuji, put Hashiba on.”

“Huh!? Why should I!? Is that any way to ask someone a favor!?”

Without a word, she placed her right thumb on her neck and slid it to the side.

The blood instantly drained from his face.

“R-right away! I will have her on immediately! One moment please!”

Worshiper: “Hard to deny her reign of terror now.”

Obscene: “Ha ha ha!! He did tell her to be more convincing!!”

Vice President: “Come to think of it, that wouldn’t have worked if we hadn’t met the other night.”

Tachibana Wife: “Given how awkward it would have been if it failed to work, I support the way you handled that.”

Right? she thought as she saw movement on the sign frame.

Two figures arrived from the left: a short one and a tallish one.

They were Hashiba and Takenaka. Hashiba spread and raised her arms and the footage zoomed in to the indicated frame. Taller Takenaka’s head was cut off by that frame, so…

“I should probably sit down, huh?”

“Oh, sorry, Takenaka-san! Up here! Up here!”

Hashiba raised her hands high and jumped a few times, but the footage zoomed further in on her and a red light flashed at the top.

Gold Mar: “They started a personal recording?”

Circle Be: “This will be all over the divine network later, so I need to be ready!”

Horizey: “Kh, she knows how to get a reaction out of her audience all right!”

Masazumi noticed the idiot sister aiming the meeting’s camera sign frame toward her.

The dancer stepped away after altering the settings somehow. It was concerning to say the least.

“Hey, idiot sister. What did you do?”

“Nothing much. I only set the focus to track your crotch. To compete with her.”

“Tadaoki-sama? Why did you just change the channel so fast?”

“N-no reason! I swear it’s nothing! Hey, how about we go out for some ice cream!?”

Asama: “Wow, there’s such a flood of connection requests coming in to the Musashi that the eastern end of the Shinto network is nearly overloaded!”

Vice President: “Hey, how do you undo this setting! Hey!”

Me: “You know standing in front of the sign frame to operate it means an even more close up shot of your crotch, right?”

“Nobu-tan! Nobu-tan! Cast a curse that makes a (female) rhino beetle latch onto the dick of anyone who sees the image if you must, but I would recommend making yourself immune first! And when you did that to me during a punishment game, its grip with those pointy legs was so strong I couldn’t get out of bed for two weeks!”

“Ha ha ha. How about we bump it up to one of those Hercules beetles we had smuggled in from the New World, Koni-tan!?”

Gin had a thought while watching the group bickering below the parasols.

…This is who Tres Espa?a lost to?

Really, they seemed even worse than back then. In fact, she had a feeling their grade of crazy kept rising since she and Muneshige had joined. And while she desperately hoped she was imagining things…

…I feel like we have been leveling up along with them.

Hopefully that was an illusion, but she hated how aware of it she was recently. She knew it would be easier if she let her sanity slip away and joined in with their cannibalism, but she wanted to remain human.

“Gin-dono! You look tired!” said Futayo. “Is the summer heat getting to you!? Some eel will fix that right up!”

Quiet, Queen of the Crazies. You don’t have to slurp that udon noodle salad right next to me. You also don’t have to give me those worried glances as you grab the cherry tomatoes with your chopsticks.

At any rate, the Asama Shrine Representative raised her hand.

“The results are in! Masazumi’s crotch is more popular than Hashiba-san’s jumping!”

“Monkey Girl’s probably at a disadvantage since this is an away game for her,” said the Chancellor.

“Don’t give me those results! Why is this being broadcast so widely, anyway!?”

“Because it is summer break, Masazumi-dono. No one across the Far East has anything better to do at this time of day.”

Gin just about agreed with the ninja, but she restrained herself.

“I suppose that makes a decent opening skirmish,” she said while glaring at the sign frame.

Hashiba and Takenaka stood in the frame. They could not see everyone on this end, but…

“This is a meeting, Vice President,” said Gin. “State a topic of discussion.”

“Judge.”

The Vice President regulated her breathing and sat down on the deck in front of the sign frame. She must have deactivated the crotch-tracking, but that had fixed it in place, requiring her to sit down to get her face in frame.

“I am Musashi Ariadust Academy Representative Vice President Honda Masazumi.”

She began by naming herself.

AK froze in place. While striking a pose, of course.

…The meeting has begun!

As a liaison, he often participated in negotiations. He had been a central player on several occasions.

His history recreation had already begun, but he had never before participated in a meeting with such big names. He had expected his first meeting of such importance would be the reconciliation of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle between Mouri and Hashiba.

…I never imagined the first would be outside the history recreation altogether!

Life was unpredictable. But he was with Hashiba now.

“Hashiba-sama, Takenaka-sama. Musashi is trying to find a way into Kantou.”

That was true.

They definitely wanted to return to Kansai, but his meeting with their Vice President had proven that entering Kantou first was their current top priority.

They wished to harass Hashiba.

They were motivated by that horribly simple word. So…

“Do not let your guard down.”

“I won’t,” said Takenaka. “I’m the primary negotiator this time. Hashiba-kun is only here for show. This is an international discussion during summer break, after all.”

…Ohh.

She was the oldest of the Ten Spears and their staff officer.

She had a double inherited name, but the Kuroda Kanbei side of that was a representative of a force that had opposed Mouri.

Kuroda Kanbei had searched for a means of opposing Mouri’s invasion, considered the overall situation in the Far East, and chosen to side with Oda.

It reminded him of how he had chosen to join Hashiba while searching for a way to help Mouri.

She was a former enemy, but they had both come to Hashiba for the same reasons.

So…

“This is in your hands,” he told her.

He was a liaison and she was a staff officer. Her role was to advice Hashiba here. And if she needed some information, she could find it herself.

He knew how these things worked, so…

“Now, let’s get down to business, Hashiba. First up, you know how we were trying to get the Musashi into Kantou?” The Musashi Vice President spoke from the screen. “Can we back out of that?”

“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

Katou Yoshiaki was up in the sky on guard duty, but she still heard Ekei’s yell.

He has a set of lungs on him, she thought as she looked down.

“Are you kidding meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?”

Did that man ever stop posing?

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