Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon

It is something

That is never buried

Point Allocation (Individuality)

“Now then,” said the Reine des Garous. She grabbed the Musashi Chancellor’s shoulders and pointed him toward her daughter. “I will be taking him, okay?”

“Eh? W-wait! Wait, mother!”

What was she going to say now? A fight would be meaningless, so there was no reason to respond. And so the Reine des Garous opened her mouth and spoke a single word.

“Nate.”

Her daughter stopped, she heard the girl gasp, and she even detected the silver chains on her arms drop limply to the ground.

…Oh, my.

This was more than she had expected. How cute, she thought.

“Listen, Nate. Who said you could come inside Hexagone Française?”

“Well…”

Her daughter froze up even more and the prey in her left hand shook as he turned toward her.

“Wait, wait. ‘Come inside’? You don’t have to use such a lewd- gah!”

She held the boy’s jaw in place, lightly twisted, and used her thumb to push two teeth inward. Her daughter’s face paled just before she gathered her strength.

“W-wait! Please wait, mother!”

Her wording had grown more polite, so…

“Testament. I will wait, Nate. But I would prefer you call me mamma.”

Or…

“Would you prefer we do things like we did back then?”

She took a breath, smiled, and gestured to the edge of the land port with her chin.

“Nate, Bizen IZUMO is right over there, isn’t it? And that is where you once left the Musashi and-…”

“Please stop!!”

The girl cried out to reject the past.

The Reine des Garous looked at her daughter.

She was a lovely child. Her two clenched fists trembled and her emotions were running full blast, but the weak outer surface alone was still quite adorable. But did she understand that herself? Her head drooped and she transformed the motion into a bow.

“I’m sorry, mother. …I disobeyed your instructions and descended to the surface.”

“Since you apologized, I will forgive you. Now, Nate.”

The Reine des Garous gestured toward the Musashi with her chin and encouraged her daughter with a smile.

“Head home. Everyone is worried about you.”

“U-um, mother?”

The Reine des Garous gave her a puzzled look and her daughter pulled back a little and took a deep breath.

“Please return…my king.”

…Oh, dear.

She had to know that was impossible.

“I don’t think so.”

The Reine des Garous embraced the boy from above, smiled again, and faced her daughter.

“I will be taking him for myself.”

“For yourself? Um, uh…mother?”

You don’t have to look so scared. And besides…

…You understand, don’t you?

“Testament. It’s been a while since I ate a young boy. I’ve been holding back since you were born, but…yes, this is war. My position as Reine des Garous has been released, so I can act accordingly.”

“W-wait! Mother! What would father say!?”

“I already have an excuse in mind.”

She was perfectly prepared for that, so it would all be okay. And with that thought, she embraced the boy again.

She pressed her body against his.

“You would prefer it this way, wouldn’t you?”

She was plenty confident in herself as a woman. As spiritual beings, Loup-Garou would not age past how they viewed themselves, so they would always remain in their best state.

…It’s been a while since I played this game.

Long ago, the royal girls had played a game of tempting young men at night and then eating them.

Due to the Loup-Garou ability to possess, the men would also experience the joy of the Loup-Garou sating her hunger and so would die blissfully even as they were eaten.

However, the expansion of human land had destroyed the forests and the Loup-Garou had lost their homes. Many of them had slipped into human society and many of them had resisted and been hunted down. As a royal, the Reine des Garous had remained in the forest she inherited from her mother, chosen to leave everything up to fate, and ultimately found herself where she was now.

…It might be nice to remember old times again.

“Being eaten by me will feel wonderful. Every last drop of blood will feel joy.”

When she asked “okay?” the boy quickly shook his head.

“D-don’t be ridiculous! Wonderful or not, if I’m eaten, it’s all over!”

“No, it isn’t. You will become a part of my own flesh and blood. Think about it carefully,” she began. “Instead of continuing with your boring life, wouldn’t it be more fun to spend forever and ever as here, or here, or even down here on my body? In other words, you can live inside my underwear until the day I die. You can literally become an erotic sound effect. Wouldn’t that be a better life than having to deal with tests and work?”

Horizon spoke while sipping at a cup of tea she had pulled from somewhere.

“Wouldn’t he first become p.o.o.p in that life?”

“H-Horizon! Wait! You need to be more careful about what you say, even if you are surrounded by horrible people!”

“Oh? Asama-sama, are you living in a fantasy world where you do not p.o.o.p? We can’t have that. Mankind must face reality. Isn’t that right, Masazumi-sama?”

“Why would you ask me!?”

“Maybe because of your relationship with the sewage?”

“Sewage? Sewage?”

A brown algae creature poked its head out of the ditch and Horizon gave it a thumbs up before continuing.

“This is what you call an extreme carnivore culture.”

“Things are getting a little noisy in the distance, but whatever.”

The Reine des Garous asked her chain-wrapped prey a question.

“How about it? Will you be eaten and become a part of someone as strong as me?”

“Hold up.”

The boy gave her a serious look and then lowered his gaze to her chest.

“If I do that, could a b.o.o.b sommelier like me actually become b.o.o.bs? I could make history’s most awful sound effects like plupluuump or boiiiiing while announcing that I literally am b.o.o.bs!?”

“Testament.”

The Reine des Garous replied without even a shred of doubt.

“You can make all the boinging sounds you want. …Yes, those sound effects are true beauty!”

“I see. …Hey, Nate! This married woman is d.a.m.n persuasive!!”

“Ehhh!? That’s enough for you!?”

“Heh hehn,” said the Reine des Garous as she embraced the boy and looked to her protesting daughter.

…I’ve won!

With confidence filling her heart, she placed her chin on her prey’s head.

His hair felt nice as it tickled her throat, so she gave a quiet rumble in her throat and looked down at her daughter.

“He is mine now.”

Her daughter groaned and voices reached them from the Musashi.

“Horizon! Wait! You can’t just rip out the wall for your soap opera expression! L-look! I have an imaginary wall right here.”

“Asama-sama, would you accept an imaginary arrow for your standard shooting routine? And Masazumi-sama, you would not accept an imaginary bad joke, would you?”

“Don’t tap my shoulder and ask me that!!”

I hope that environment wasn’t too stressful on my daughter, thought the Reine des Garous.

Meanwhile, the Schwarz Hexen cautiously floating in the air nearby waved a hand back and forth.

“You don’t have to worry about all that. Listening to it will just rot your brain.”

“Testament.”

She nodded along with her daughter and then faced that daughter once more.

“Now, Nate. I’m sorry, but you cannot stand up to me in any way right now.”

She pulled the boy toward her again and her daughter’s eyebrows rose a little, but the girl still spoke in a desperately persistent tone.

“Th-that isn’t…”

…Why don’t you realize that you don’t stand a chance from the moment you have to say that?

The Reine des Garous sighed as a mother.

“Honestly,” she began. “It is truly unfortunate, but you really do take after your father. …Like with that flat chest.”

“That has nothing to do with-… My king? Why are you staring at my chest with a look of newfound discovery?”

“W-well, if what she says is true, then it means there aren’t any huge b.o.o.bs in your future, Nate. And in that case, it’s pretty sad how you sometimes read those odd articles in the women’s magazines or gently ma.s.sage your underarms and whatnot with such a serious look on your face.”

He gave the girl a pitying look and she panicked. She began waving her hands toward the Musashi.

“I-Is this being broadcast across the nation!? Cut it! Cut it now!!”

“Mito is taking the cruel rules of our national broadcasts too lightly. And Toori-kun really does notice the small things, doesn’t he?”

Toori-kun sits in the back seat by the window, so he has a good view of everyone else, thought Asama.

“Anyway,” she said after a breath. “Mito is sacrificing herself to buy us some time, so what can we do?”

“Judge,” nodded Naruze. She narrowed her eyes to look at Naito through the mist. “Neshinbara is apparently doing something. …I’d like to fire on her using my Weiss Fräulein, but I would have to use a homing shot and she could probably avoid it from this range. It would be best if Margot could fire directly on her, but she can’t from her position.”

Beyond the fading mist, the Reine des Garous rested her chin on the idiot’s head.

Asama then heard their enemy’s voice through the mist.

“Heh heh.”

Her clear and delighted voice carried nothing but emotion.

“Musashi’s chancellor and student council president is quite cute, too.”

Asama and everyone else began glaring into the mist.

“Now then,” muttered Asama as she turned to the others.

There, she saw Tenzou who had just arrived with Mary.

“You handle this one.”

“Okay,” agreed the ninja. “Am I the only one that sometimes thinks Toori-dono has a very heroine-like side to him?”

“Wow. Tenzou-kun just came out and said what I’ve been wondering if I should say.”

“Eh? What’s that? You want me to draw out a storyboard like that? How about with Kimi?”

Naruze turned to Kimi but stopped. Confused, Asama too looked to Kimi and saw her staring into the mist with her arms crossed.

“K-Kimi-dono, stop silently glaring into the distance! It’s kind of scary!!”

“Eh? Oh, sorry.” Kimi slapped her cheeks to correct her expression and then faced the others. “Anyway, this is the first time I’ve seen Mitotsudaira’s mother, but what about the rest of you? Do you know her?”

Is that true? wondered Asama just before she remembered.

She had seen Mitotsudaira’s mother long ago in Bizen IZUMO, but at the time…

…Kimi and Toori-kun had a certain issue to deal with.

“That’s right. You and Toori-kun didn’t meet…or rather, didn’t see her.”

“It’s my first time seeing her too,” added Masazumi with a tilt of the head. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but Mitotsudaira looks pretty scared.”

“Yes,” agreed Kimi. “Her mother is on an entirely different scale from her. I wonder if she’ll end up like that in the future. But if her b.r.e.a.s.t.s grew like that, we might have to start calling her Boingdaira.”

“That sounds like some kind of giant monster.”

“I see,” said Horizon with a few nods of her head and a glance into the mist. “Boing + Daira? Such an oxymoron.[1] I have determined Mitotsudaira-sama is surprisingly skilled.”

“I can hear all of you!”

They all responded to the protest from the mist by lowering their voices to a whisper.

Asama then looked into the neighboring long block and sighed.

“I know he’s having a meeting to come up with a countermeasure, but can’t Neshinbara-kun hurry up?”

Masazumi checked the sign frame Tsukinowa produced.

“He should be ready in two more minutes. I just hope this situation can continue that long.”

“Judge,” agreed Mary while looking toward the Reine des Garous with slightly raised eyebrows. “My sister was the constant radiation type. …Oh, and I’m talking about ether. But this woman has condensed her ether to an extraordinary extent. I think only a high-level divine weapon or spell attack would affect her.”

“So this would be a lot like trying to defeat Elizabeth-dono?”

Asama and everyone else groaned, but Kimi looked up first.

“That woman is certainly extremely confident. Not only is she taking my foolish brother hostage, she’s wrapped him up for takeout. But if this is a crossroads in the battlefield, it is quite an extravagant one. She is holding Hexagone Française back in order to lecture her daughter right in front of the Musashi and M.H.R.R.”

Kimi laughed.

“How prideful. But she is only the vice chancellor, so she’s lacking the vainglory to go with it.”

“Now then,” said the Reine des Garous again while using just her right arm to lift the chain-roll over her left shoulder. “I need to make some preparations, so you go and make friends with the others, Nate. Make sure you don’t dishonor our family name and make sure you enjoy your youth.”

She took a step to leave, but her daughter suddenly looked up.

“Mother!”

She heard chains moving. It was a slow and heavy sound, but it was a definite sound of resistance.

No beast would overlook that, so the Reine des Garous faced her daughter.

“Oh, dear. What is this? Are you disobeying me?”

She found it so cute how her daughter froze at that question. The girl knew very well she did not have the strength to oppose her mother, but that was why her mother wanted to forever protect her with her own strength.

“Nate, in my current mood, I think I will fulfill my duty.”

“Are you going to eat my king?”

…Oh, my.

She found that funny and could not help but laugh a little.

“You can’t do anything one way or the other, so why are you trying to fill yourself with despair?”

“Kh,” groaned her daughter.

It was obvious she was desperately trying to resist and she might as well have been vainly struggling, but that only stimulated the Reine des Garous’s protective instincts as a wolf.

…After all, I would be cooking her up and eating her with sauce if she wasn’t my daughter. She would be in trouble if I didn’t protect her.

Her daughter tried to move her arms, but…

“Silver chains?”

The chains did not move and it was obvious why. It was a truly unfortunate thing.

“Those were originally mine, Nate. Surely you know what that means.”

The daughter gasped and the mother’s smile only grew.

…She really is so very cute. There’s so much to teach her and so much she doesn’t know.

So…

“Nate, if you are going to oppose me, then come at me seriously. However…”

The Reine des Garous took a breath and faced her.

“It does not look like you have reached that level of conviction yet. So hurry… Yes, at the very least, move beyond where you were eight years ago. When you do that…”

How should she put this? Saying she would “lend you my power” was not quite right. Lending even a small fraction of it would split the earth apart.

She then remembered a Far Eastern phrase that had recently become popular among judo pract.i.tioners.

“Yes, I will lend you my chest.”

“You really are her mother, aren’t you!?” shouted everyone on the Musashi.

“Eh?”

Mitotsudaira saw her mother grow a bit fl.u.s.tered.

…Wow.

For some reason, wonder filled her mind and then her mother tilted her head toward the others.

“U-um, I simply said I would lend my chest to a.s.sist with my daughter’s training.”

A stir ran through the group once again.

“They really are the same,” said someone.

“She said it again! She really said it again!”

“Werewolf families get along really well, don’t they!?”

“That’s what I call ultra easy!”

Mitotsudaira did not entirely understand the last comment, but that seemed to be the case. This was certainly being broadcast across the nation. She felt like she was not the one at fault this time, but she could not stop her awkward sweat. She also had no idea if her family’s honor would survive this encounter.

…Ah, I really am terrible at ad-libbing!”

The chancellor then spoke up from her mother’s shoulder.

“Hey, Nate Maman, could you hold me the other way? Have me face Nate.”

Her mother looked confused but complied. His legs had been facing Mitotsudaira before, but her mother quickly adjusted his position so she could see his face. Her mother then pointed that face toward her.

“Do you want to give Nate a final farewell?”

“Eh!?”

The chancellor looked utterly surprised by that and he thought for a moment before continuing.

“Eh? No, um, I just like this way better… Oh, could you point me down a little more. Yeah, and inward.”

“My king, don’t tell me you only wanted to look down on my mother’s chest.”

“What!?”

The idiot looked up with a look of shock that she would even she suggest such a thing.

“Of course that’s what I wanted!”

“Your expression and your words don’t match!”

Mitotsudaira lowered her head and looked away from the idiot who began whistling to avoid the issue.

“Mother, I sometimes want to kill a certain gentleman, but is that due to my human side falling behind?”

“No, it is perfectly fine, Nate. Only the worst guys will compare you to another woman. …Look, Nate doesn’t have this kind of volume.”

“Y-you are the worst mother!!”

Her mother laughed and suddenly narrowed her eyes.

“Stay perfectly still. This is for your own good,” she said. “You are my daughter, so I will not eat you. But next time, I will do more than crush you like I did last time. After all, it will be the second time.”

Mitotsudaira tried to say something back, but…

…Eh?

She detected a certain scent.

…This is spell gunpowder!

The Reine des Garous heard and smelled gunfire.

She heard thirty-six distinct sounds and smelled spell gunpowder.

It was a nostalgic scent. As the Reine des Garous, she had inherited a vast forest from her mother, but it had been disturbed by the cultivation and wars brought on by the expanding human population.

…And when I came to declare my natural right to the land, I smelled this scent.

She had also smelled it when warriors had tried to travel through the forest in wartime or when they were defeated and scattered across the land.

She had not smelled it in a long while and it was not a bad scent. After all, it always led to flesh and blood.

Her ears captured a sound.

Countless guns were fired from hidden positions. The bullets likely had spells applied to affect a Loup-Garou.

She thought this was an excellent tactic because a hunter had lost the moment he showed himself to the beast.

A human was no match for a beast and this multiple sniper attack obeyed that rule.

However…

“This is a diversion, isn’t it!?”

She realized the enemy’s true purpose. If the enemy was thorough enough to prepare a unit of thirty-six snipers…

…They will naturally send in an additional attack!

That additional attack arrived from almost directly behind her. Sudden speed rushed in from back and to the left. That was her blind spot due to holding the Musashi Chancellor over her left shoulder.

“Bind! Tonbokiri!!”