Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon-Volume 8A, Chapter 18: Accuser at the Port

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Volume 8A, Chapter 18: Accuser at the Port

How did you

End up like that?

Point Allocation (Iโ€™m the Same)

Kiyomasa only now realized what she was doing. ฦ’๐“‡e๐™š๐”€๐ž๐š‹๐“ƒ๐จ๐˜ทe๐™ก.๐’„๐—ผm

She was on the boarding gangway leading to the transport ship as it prepared to depart.

Fukushima was boarding the ship and she stood at its entrance.

The people seeing the ship off were already gathered on the wharf.

The ship would be leaving once Fukushima was onboard and it would be above enemy territory to begin with. It would be hurrying to the west to disguise its course and thus keep its destination a secret.

Now was not the time to be approaching the ship.

She was very clearly interfering with its departure. However...

...Fukushima-sama.

Her eyes had met Fukushimaโ€™s when the girl had arrived on deck earlier.

She had looked surprised, but Kiyomasa had seen something else in her face.

...Fear.

Why was that?

Did Fukushima want to avoid her?

She did not understand. Plus, Fukushima had proceeded to lower her gaze, look scolded, and then look away from her entirely.

That had honestly been a close one.

Kiyomasa was hiding her โ€œtestamentโ€ pillow in her chest. Having that discovered would be very bad indeed. She did not want to be labeled โ€œweirdโ€ immediately before they left.

But she had something else on her mind too.

โ€œFukushima-sama.โ€

Fukushima was not turning back toward her.

Kiyomasa called her name, hoping that unmoving back would look her way.

...I...

She wanted to say something about the look on Fukushimaโ€™s face earlier. But...

โ€œโ€“โ€“โ€“โ€“โ€

Her voice would not come. She tried to form the words, but only her lips moved.

...I canโ€™t do it.

Why did you look at me that way?

I donโ€™t get it.

We were together so much and shared so much time together during the Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle and the training before that.

We laughed together, we accepted each other, and it was so much fun. So...

โ€œFukushima-sama,โ€ she said. โ€œDid I do something to you?โ€ She took a breath. โ€œWhy did you look so frightened when you saw me?โ€

Fukushima reflexively turned back toward Kiyomasa.

...I was not!

Had she reacted to the word โ€œfrightenedโ€ because she was a warrior?

No.

That was not it.

She was not afraid of Kiyomasa. Quite the opposite. She wanted to be with Kiyomasa.

But she could not gather her thoughts on the matter and she feared any careless act here might just make Kiyomasa hate her.

Her fear was directed at her own actions, not at Kiyomasa. So...

...Kiyo-dono.

She tried to say Kiyomasa had it wrong. But...

โ€œโ€“โ€“โ€“โ€“โ€“โ€

Their eyes met.

Kiyomasaโ€™s blue eyes were staring straight at her.

She felt like those eyes were seeing right through to her thoughts and she could tell she was worrying Kiyomasa, which made her feel even more apologetic.

โ€œ...โ€

She could not bear to look directly at Kiyomasa.

She turned her eyes to the right while trying to make it as unnoticeable as possible. Looking down was not an option because then she would see that chest again.

But once her gaze was removed from the girl, her mouth managed to move.

She let out an unusually heated breath while her lips parted.

Her voice was pathetically quiet.

โ€œI...am not afraid of thou.โ€

Not again, thought Kiyomasa.

Fukushima was acting strangely.

That girl prided herself in her strength, so why was she afraid of Kiyomasa? And...

...Why is she lying about it?

She had never shown this kind of fear during their interplay of offense and defense while sparring. She had fled from attacks, but she had never hidden and she had always remained on the same stage.

This was different.

She was running away, cowering, and trying to hide.

She was running away, but she was not searching for a path toward fighting back.

She was running away and nothing beyond that.

So she lied.

That was what hurt most.

...Why?

Why was she lying?

Kiyomasa just wished she knew the reason why.

If she had done something wrong, she might be able to fix it if she knew what it was. And she was prepared to forgive Fukushima for anything.

And yet...

โ€œWhy?โ€

Fukushima refused to look her in the eye, responded with fear, avoided her, and kept her distance, but none of that was the worst part.

...Her lies hurt more than any of it.

Because it told her Fukushima did not trust her.

Iโ€™m so stupid.

Was I wrong all this time when I thought she trusted me?

And now everything I thought I knew is falling apart.

โ€œPlease donโ€™t lie.โ€

She tried to feign calm as best as she could manage.

Fukushima reacted with a gasp, and...

โ€œI am not lying.โ€

That response was joined by the transport shipโ€™s horn.

It was leaving.

The horn nearly drowned out her voice, but it still reached Kiyomasaโ€™s ears.

โ€œYou are.โ€

โ€œI am not.โ€

โ€œThen,โ€ said Kiyomasa. โ€œCan you tell me one thing?โ€

She had been wondering this.

If she received an answer to this, she would forget all of her doubts about Fukushima. It was a very easy question to answer, but she placed such great weight on it.

Because she wanted so very badly to trust her.

โ€œWhere were you before coming here?โ€

Fukushima thought she could hear the blood draining from her face.

...She doesnโ€™t know, does she!?

No, she could not. If Kiyomasa had noticed her there, she would have woken her, sat by her side, or made some other approach. She trusted Kiyomasa enough to know that.

But, thought Fukushima.

Her own room had been empty when she had rushed back there to grab her luggage.

So she calmed her breathing and responded.

โ€œI was napping.โ€

And...

โ€œNapping in my room.โ€

Kiyomasa spoke before she was even finished answering.

โ€œYouโ€™re lying.โ€

That response was enough to elicit an โ€œEh?โ€ from Fukushima. But...

โ€œYouโ€™re lying!โ€

Hearing that, Fukushima wondered if Kiyomasa really had seen her in her room.

Whatever the case, her thoughts raced, trying to find some way to smooth this over.

But then she saw it.

โ€œYouโ€™re lying...โ€

Kiyomasa was crying even as she accused Fukushima.

No.

I mustnโ€™t cry. It would worry her if I did. But...

...I donโ€™t want this.

I donโ€™t want her to lie to me.

I donโ€™t want her to not trust me.

I donโ€™t want her to ignore everything I say.

I donโ€™t want any of this.

Why canโ€™t all of this be a lie or a dream so it can just go away.

I canโ€™t take it anymore.

โ€œNo.โ€

She wiped the tears from her eyes, but more took their place.

โ€œKiyo-dono...โ€

โ€œStop it.โ€

Stop it. Donโ€™t bother. If Iโ€™m not important enough for the truth...

...Then donโ€™t bother pretending to care about me!

I never knew kindness could make you feel so pathetic.

But theyโ€™re leaving. Iโ€™m only in the way. Yes, she doesnโ€™t even trust me, so all I am is in the way. But...

โ€œFukushima-sama.โ€

Iโ€™m sorry.

Iโ€™m already crying and thereโ€™s no hiding it now. So...

โ€œCan I burden you with one last thing?โ€

Iโ€™m allowed this much, arenโ€™t I?

โ€œO-of course. Anything.โ€

โ€œWell,โ€ said Kiyomasa. โ€œI love someone.โ€

She could not believe how easily the words came.

โ€œBut,โ€ she continued. โ€œIt looks like Iโ€™m nothing but a nuisance to them.โ€

So...

โ€œIโ€™m going to tell only you who it is and then forget any of it ever happened.โ€

Fukushima thought she heard the horn sound a second time.

The ship was leaving.

Kani was shouting something from the deck up above, but it did not reach her ears.

She was frozen in place.

...Kiyo-dono loves someone?

She could only think of one thing to say.

โ€œWho is-โ€

โ€œItโ€™s you.โ€

As soon as the words reached her, the transport shipโ€™s door shut.

They were out of time.

Kani saw the ship leave and the gangway withdraw at the very last second.

On it, Kiyomasa was walking away with her back turned.

Kani looked back toward Nabeshima and Asano, but...

...Massive Katou-senpai!?

She had not heard what those two had said, but it had not looked like an angry argument. And yet Massive Katou had ended up in tears.

...Is it about friendship!?

But Fukushima herself was not here. The people down on the Azuchiโ€™s deck would fall out of view before long.

โ€œFukushima-senpai!โ€

Kani ran toward the stairs leading below deck.

She opened a lernen figur, but there was no response or post from Fukushima. Only...

Nabe3: โ€œI guess Kiyomasa-senpai really does love Fukushima-senpai.โ€

Asano: โ€œYeahhh, I heard some realllly annoying talk on thaaat subject today.โ€

She did not know what that was about, but she left the rest of them on the deck. She was used to these kinds of things after seeing it happen so much in high school, but...

โ€œFukushima-senpai! Massive Katou-senpai ran away!โ€

She ran down to the second floor corridor and found Fukushima collapsed there.

Collapsed on her back.

Her head was leaning against the wall with the rest of her sprawled out in the corridor.

โ€œFukushima-senpai!?โ€

After running over to the motionless girl, Kani found she did appear conscious.

But her eyes were on the fully-shut door and her emotions seemed to have shut down.

When Kani lifted Fukushimaโ€™s hand and let go, it flopped right back down to the floor.

โ€œFukushima-senpai! Hey! Are you okay!?โ€

That question resulted in sudden movement.

Fukushima sprang up into a sitting position and then collapsed forward.

โ€œAhhhhhhhhhhh!!โ€

Kani could see a mixture of tears and anger as Fukushima shouted. ๐Ÿr๐’†โ„ฏ๐˜„๐‘’๐’ƒ๐š—๐’๐˜ƒe๐—น.c๐˜ฐ๐ฆ

Then Fukushima slammed her forehead against the door like she was trying to break through it.

With a loud thud, the corridor clearly shook. And...

โ€œAghhh!โ€

She sucked in a dry breath of anger and collapsed back down onto the floor.

She stopped moving again.

Kani could guess that Fukushima had failed at something.

...B-but what!?

She had no idea what was going on, but...

โ€œUmm, how should I carry her!?โ€

When in doubt, rely on the M.H.R.R. Warriorโ€™s Manual. She followed its guidance by ejecting Sasamura and placing Fukushima on top to transport her to the medical room.

โ€œYou had a tough time in battle, so you need some rest!โ€

โ€œOkay, rest time is over! The name of the game tonight is time reduction!โ€

The sky overlooking the Seto Inland Sea was gradually rotating.

The view was clear in all 360 degrees. The sky was visible above and a giant aerial city was visible below.

This was the Musashi.

The giant ship was made of 8 smaller ships and now it was turning in the dead of night.

The bow was shifting from southwest to east.

โ€œWe are preparing for our trip to Kantou. While we turn, evenly distribute the shipsโ€™ supplies and the transport ships arriving from below. Are the supplies still coming in from the Udon Kingdom!?โ€

Masazumi gave instructions in the emergency Student Council command center set up on Musashinoโ€™s bow.

She looked up into the sky to see many transport ships coming and going, but the ones from the Udon Kingdom were all coming alongside Musashiโ€™s larger ones and carrying their cargo inside their holds or onto their decks.

Circle Be: โ€œYayyy! I love harbor management work!โ€

Vice President: โ€œHey, are you sure about this? Can we really leave by morning?โ€

Circle Be: โ€œItโ€™ll be fine! Just fine! Thereโ€™s a trick to it, but Iโ€™ll have all the supplies and support materials loaded so we can leave for Kantou.โ€

Masazumi put a hand on her hip and sighed at Heidiโ€™s response.

โ€œItโ€™s a rough method, but thatโ€™s unavoidable in a race against time.โ€

Gold Mar: โ€œLoading the supplies and materials normally takes 3 days no matter how much we speed it up, but weโ€™re doing it all in one night.โ€

โ€œYeah,โ€ said Masazumi. โ€œWe need to hurry to Kantou with supplies and materials for Satomi and Mouri.โ€

Which required this.

โ€œWeโ€™ll finish the basic preparations tonight and the Musashi will depart for Kantou tomorrow morning. But the trip to Kantou will take three days. Thatโ€™s our current plan.โ€

They needed to secure supplies and materials for Kantou and stock up the Musashiโ€™s own reserves.

They would effectively complete that tonight and depart.

Masazumi knew the plan was unrealistic and everyone was wondering the same thing.

Worshiper: โ€œIs this really possible? Iโ€™m sure the Musashi already had its own reserves, but still.โ€

Ohiroshiki was answered by Augesvarer.

Excitement filled her voice.

Circle Be: โ€œItโ€™ll be fine! Just fine! The trick is that it takes three days.โ€

โ€œYou see,โ€ she began.

Circle Be: โ€œMusashi is an aerial city ship. We all know that, but people tend to overlook it. The Commerce and Industry Guild doesnโ€™t of course and our transport ship fleet is arranged accordingly, but I donโ€™t think theyโ€™ve ever done something on this large a scale.โ€

The basic idea was simple. To sum it up...

Circle Be: โ€œWeโ€™ll be resupplied by pursuit.โ€

Meaning...

Circle Be: โ€œThe Musashi is a giant ship, but it doesnโ€™t use up all of its reserves right away. So all of the supplies plus what weโ€™ll use up en route are loaded up on transport ships that pursue or move out ahead of us to get the supplies to us. You can think of it as being resupplied over three days while we travel. Taking three days to reach Kantou is a pretty slow pace, but since we can resupply while doing so, this should speed everything up.โ€

10ZO: โ€œWonโ€™t the pursuing transport ships incur high fuel costs?โ€

Circle Be: โ€œThatโ€™s why weโ€™ve gathered up merchants within Musashi who want to prove themselves. The Udon Kingdom is a major trade city, so buying up enough reserves for the Musashi and enough supplies and materials for Kantou will be an excellent deal for everyone involved. If they can find the profit line here, then establishing a connection with the Udon Kingdom will mean a lot.โ€

Flat Vassal: โ€œNot to mention that the Udon Kingdom is also known as Sanuki!โ€

Circle Be: โ€œYouโ€™d almost think that was its real name!โ€

10ZO: โ€œYou are in awfully high spirits, Heidi-dono.โ€

Art-Ga: โ€œBecause sheโ€™s finally working again. Thereโ€™s nothing sweeter for a money-lover like her.โ€

Gold Mar: โ€œShe was also freed from the udon.โ€

Unturning: โ€œShe still has to pay back her debt, so itโ€™s more like sheโ€™s living in denial while she can.โ€

Circle Be: โ€œDonโ€™t say thaaaaaaaaat! And who just started a thread titled โ€˜Udon Recs: Prostration Specialโ€™ on the divine network!? Partner with us and let us plaster the thread with ads!โ€

She never changed.

Anyway, the female udon was probably commanding the transport ships from the sky above.

Circle Be: โ€œSome of the merchants are planning to get cargo takeout at a trade port along the way instead of buying it at the Udon Kingdom. Nothing beats a wide array of connections. Once a ship is ready, theyโ€™ll load as much cargo onto the Musashi as they can. Once the Musashiโ€™s deck is too crowded for that, theyโ€™ll go on ahead and the Musashi will catch up to them, accept their cargo, and say bye. The more maneuverable small and midsized merchants are flying out ahead of us right away to reduce overall transport costs.โ€

Vice President: โ€œThat explains why I see so many ships flying east instead of coming and going here. We really have to thank the Udon Kingdomโ€™s capacity. Iโ€™m impressed they could handle all of this.โ€

Circle Be: โ€œOh, donโ€™t think that. Thatโ€™s exactly what they want.โ€

โ€œReally?โ€ asked Masazumi.

Silver Wolf: โ€œThe Udon Kingdom hasnโ€™t been getting as much trade traffic since K.P.A. Italia was absorbed by M.H.R.R. The trade lines used to sell grains to K.P.A. Italia and Hexagone Franรงaise are being reworked to assist M.H.R.R., but until they get that done, they have inventory sitting around without anyone to sell it to.โ€

โ€œExactly,โ€ said Augesvarer.

Circle Be: โ€œPlus, Europe wants cheap food right now thanks to the Thirty Yearsโ€™ War and that will only increase after the war. Because the population explodes once peace arrives. That means a grain-producing region across the inland sea from Europe is going to be doing tons of business in the future. So the major merchants want to protect their connections with the Udon Kingdom and the midsized ones hope to get a piece of or outright take over the major onesโ€™ connections by buying up all that dead inventory. They might lose money in transport costs this time, but it will all be worth it if they can steal those connections here. As Treasurer, weโ€™re paying 10% of the fuel costs to ensure everyone can keep up without any delays in departure and arrival times.โ€

Some of the large transport ships in the sky were directly linked with ones from the Udon Kingdom.

...Is that how theyโ€™re sending entire transport ships to Satomi or Mouri as supplies?

The Udon Kingdom directly faced K.P.A. Italia and Hexagone Franรงaise. Their flight would not be much different from a full-size aerial ship. They were already forming a row of ships to the east with a virtual ocean trailing behind them.

So...

Circle Be: โ€œThe trade negotiations must end by dawn. Once everything is decided, itโ€™s time to leave for Kantou. Masazumi, your job is to ensure the Musashi leaves on time and to manage its travel. โ€˜Musashiโ€™ and the others will handle all that, but youโ€™re in command.โ€

โ€œThen,โ€ said Masazumi. โ€œThe Musashi will depart for Kantou tomorrow morning. The Treasurers will handle payment of the transport ships in Musashiโ€™s care. Because I am sure they will come in handy in Kantou as well.โ€

Me: โ€œHey, Iโ€™m being forced to work for free at the non-main Blue Thunder, but is it really worth getting to Kantou so quickly?โ€

Vice President: โ€œYes, there is a simple reason for that.โ€

Tachibana Wife: โ€œI have to ask. Is there any way this will not lead to a clash with the Hashiba forces over here?โ€

โ€œJudge,โ€ replied Masazumi.

Vice President: โ€œSimply put, itโ€™s all a form of harassment.โ€

Why did it take a full ten seconds before anyone posted anything else on the divine network?

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