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2024-10-29 19:42:56“Good.”
Kagami takes a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Tsumugi earnestly follows suit like a little sister copying her big sister. Well, she supposes that this arrangement could be worse. Tsumugi seems like a sweet and gentle enough girl. Maybe she won’t mind getting such a quick divorce. Hm, no, she’s definitely going to take offense to that if Haru even suggests it. She might even have her beheaded. Do they still do beheadings in the Neo Magical Academy? She isn’t sure. Though, she did say that Muse was just an honorary title. Well, honorary title or no, she’d hate to break her heart that callously. Hmmm… what to do? Maybe she’ll eventually just get bored of Haru? She can hope. But only time will tell.
“By the way, is someone missing?”
Kagami’s voice cuts through the din inside of Haru’s head.
“I only count ninety nine–”
The joy of the occasion is suddenly soured. A wave of vanished smiles spread out from the center of the circle all the way to the edge. The din of joyful murmurs are silenced entirely, replaced by mournful ones. All the gentle innocence on Kagami’s face, that too disappears, making her look like she’s made of stone.
“There’s nothing we can do for Hana now. May Lady Tsubame welcome her soul in the afterlife.”
“Let it be so.”
Everyone repeats the prayer, Haru does the same out of respect.
Kagami picks up a rock and places it on the ground. Each of the remaining ninety nine, as well as Tsumugi and Haru do the same. By the end, they’ve created a small grave. One that will last only until the next storm, but for now, it is enough.
The rest of the day progresses in grief-filled silence. The ground that Haru steps on is wet with tears. Though, none of them are Kagami’s. The grief is evident on her face, but it is devoid of weakness. It’s a long trek but the physical enhancement magic Haru has on herself makes it a breeze. By the time they make camp, she feels only a tinge of exhaustion. Like she had just taken a pleasant walk.
It’s strange. In spite of the tents, the campfire and the mellow atmosphere, this feels nothing like the camping trip she had when she was in elementary. For one, she was still pretty close to civilization back then. Which meant that she could still use actual toilets, dirty toilets with thin toilet paper– which she still vastly prefers over literal holes in the ground. On the upside, she hit her mental limit hours ago so the only thought going through her head is “This might as well happen”.
On the upside, dinner is surprisingly delicious. It’s just boar roasted on a spit with a little salt but that’s enough, surprisingly. The savory, meaty taste is a little overwhelming, but she sort of likes it that way. The toughness too. She normally likes her meat to not have the texture of rope but it’s like the firelight cast a spell over her, making it so that she can’t help but enjoy herself.
Every so often, someone hears a rustle in the bushes some way off and a small patrol party has to go out and search the area for Monarchs. Thankfully, they all seem to be false alarms and sometimes they even come back with little rabbits they managed to catch. Imagine the horror on Haru’s face when they clubbed them over the head with rocks and made stew from their corpses. For better or worse, they were delicious.
Eventually, everyone retires to their tents for the night. Haru tries to enter one of the large communal tents but she’s redirected to a small one– Tsumugi’s personal tent. She gulps.
Haru lingers at the entrance of the tent. Inside, Tsumugi’s still wearing her simple dress. It’s actually a rather spacious tent, but it’s sized for one person so it’s still just a little cramped.
“Just to be clear, don’t go expecting anything uncouth.”
“Uncouth?”
“You know, anything…”
Haru blushes.”
“Ahhhh! Just don’t get any weird ideas, okay?!”
“A-alright. I’m not sure what you mean but alright.”
Haru sets KANNIBAL down at the foot of her bedroll, where it takes up a solid quarter of the tent and invades the foot of Tsumugi’s bedroll.
“Excuse me.”
“I don’t mind.”
She merely pulls her feet up a little to keep away from the bladed edge.
“That’s a dandy weapon you got there.”
Dandy. Who even uses the word ‘Dandy’ anymore?
“It pays to have a little firepower.”
“If you want firepower, why not pick up a gun? It seems a lot more convenient than lugging that around.”
“I dunno how it is in the Neo Magical Academy, but in the outside world, the first spell anyone learns is some kind of protective spell. Guard, Magic Armor, Faith Shield, whatever, they’ve got at least one. I’ve already got my Flame Bolt, so, what do I need a gun for? I might as well have something that can bust through protection, right?”
“I suppose that’s a good point. Maybe we should start teaching our citizens how to do that. Could be helpful...”
“There some kind of a problem in the Neo Magical Academy?”
“Sort of…”
Tsumugi scratches her head.
“It’s always been an issue, but gun violence has been particularly high recently. It’s the result of a bunch of root issues. Lack of food, lack of water, lack of basic housing, lack of… well, it’s the result of a whole bunch of stuff, but most especially that fact that it’s anyone’s right to pick up a gun and use it. That, and the fact that it's both a religiously and legally protected right makes it really hard to get any demilitarization done. Plus, some of the war-hawks on the council don’t even want to demilitarize–”
Tsumugi suddenly freezes, having just caught herself rambling.
“Sorry, this is probably really boring.”
“No, it’s fine–”
“And also highly secret.”
“Ah, I see. We should probably change the subject then. Unless the red dot on the side of your head turns into a bullet hole.”
Haru was just kidding but Tsumugi visibly flinches as she checks her body for a red dot. Haru laughs.
“So, um…”
She scratches her head, trying to get the conversation back on track. Her eyes dart around the tent before settling back onto KANNIBAL.
“Why’d you attach strings to your ax?”
“What do you mean? KANNIBAL wouldn’t work without his strings.”
“KANNIBAL?”
“Yep, KANNIBAL. That’s my guitar’s name.”
“That thing’s a guitar?”
“Of course. What kind of musician would I be without an instrument? It’s a guitar that just happens to also be an ax.”
“You play?”
“Yep. Our mercenary club actually doubles as a light music club so I eventually picked up a thing or two.”
“Huh. How’d that happen?”
“Branding problem. Our boss wanted to give the mercenary club an actual name to make it feel more professional. Just so happened that the light music club also picked the same name at the same time. There was a big stink around it for a week or so before we agreed to just merge the two clubs.”
“Was it at least a good name?”
Haru shrugs.
“I didn’t pick it so feel free to laugh. Boss wanted us called ‘Girls Won’t Cry’.”
“‘Girls Won’t Cry’?”
“Yes, ‘Girls Won’t Cry’.
A momentary puzzlement overshadows Tsumugi’s curiosity.
“‘Girls Won’t Cry’…”
“Yep, yep. ‘Girls Won’t Cry’.”
“Not ‘Girls That Won’t Cry’ or ‘Girls Don’t Cry’.”
“Nope.”
“Girls Won’t Cry…”
“Uh-huh.”
“You’re a girl. Do you cry?”
“Sometimes. Does that maybe count as false advertising, then?”
“Hm… maybe.”
It’s an interesting topic to muse over, but Tsumugi might be musing a little too deeply. For now, it’s time to change subjects.
“Nice staff.”
“Huh?”
“Your staff. I think it looks cool.”
“Ah. I see…”
She runs her hand along its black shaft. Soft clicking fills the air as her nails brush against its harsh grain. Knots like black bubbles give it a diseased appearance while ribbing like vertebrae make it seem emaciated. At its top, the wood splits into two horns, curled into a vase-like shape . Together, they frame a four-pointed crystal– deep blue like the sea below a full moon.
“Thank you. It’s my inheritance.”
“‘Inheritance’...”
She repeats the word, puzzling a deduction from it. Tsumugi lets her.
“I’m sorry. Father or…”
“Mother. I wanted to keep it hidden… but I suppose this is as good a time as any to come clean. And, well, you are my wife now so I suppose you’ll be wanting to know what name you’ll be taking.”
“I prefer to think of it as you being my wife but that’s a can of worms we can open later. Go on.”
“My last name’s Tsubame. As in, Tsumugi Tsubame.”
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Chapter 69 Cask
“Long time no see, Tot.” “It’s literally been a single day.” Kazuko walks along the pristine battlefield and comes to a stop exactly ten paces away from where Haru’s standing. “What do you want?” Haru adjusts her stance, placing herself between Kazuko and the unconscious Tsumugi. “I’ve come to talk.”“That’s it?” “Yep. I realized that after all this time, we never got a chance to properly talk to each other.” “I suppose you’re right.” “I must thank you, Tot.” Kazuko plants her rapier on the ground. “I think you’ve helped me to realize something about myself.” “And what is that?” “That you and I are the same. We’re two sides of the same coin, you and I. We can claim to be soldiers or heroes or avenging angels all we want, but in the end, we both kill.” “You’ve come all this way just to tell me that?” “Not quite. I’ve decided that I won’t tolerate any more excuses. From you or from myself. Regardless of whether we chose our lives or our lives chose us, we’re both killers. Jud
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Chapter 68 Stellar Stellar
A gargantuan scythe blade the size of a mountain manifests from the tip of Tsumugi’s staff while Gleam blazes pure white, light magic seeping out of her very being. With a ponderous sweep of her arm, Tsumugi brings the scythe down, its tip aimed right for the crowd. The Deathless start to disperse but there’s not enough time. Someone trips. She closes her eyes to brace for impact but the impact never comes. Instead, there’s a brutal grinding sound. Opening her eyes, instead of seeing the tip of the scythe bearing down on her, she sees Gleam’s back as she clashes against Tsumugi’s scythe. “RUN!” The girl scrambles to her feet and runs away. Now all Gleam has to worry about is the mountain of cursed energy bearing down on her. “GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!!” Gleam lets out an unearthly cry as she wills herself to go faster, to break through Tsumugi’s attack, to turn the tides of this battle. “STELLAR!” The speed of light isn’t fast enough to move the scythe more than a few inches.
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Chapter 67 Motteke! Sailor Fuku!
They come bursting out from the trees. Large metal transports with segmented armor that makes them resemble pillbugs. A far cry from the train-like things the Monarchs used all those years ago. They speed across the landscape, skimming across the flora of these lands. One transport in particular rushes ahead of the others, setting an example that the other transports follow. Atop its roof, stands a green-haired girl shredding her guitar. Heavy rock music, amplified by her sound sorcery, blasts outwards. It’s so loud that the ground almost seems to vibrate as they approach. But they find nothing. No patrols. No Deathless anywhere. It reeks of a trap. Tsumugi sticks her head out of the transport she’s in to yell at Haru.“Stick to the plan!” Haru nods and swaps tracks to the one corresponding to the signal for ‘Stick to the Plan’. The transition is nearly seamless. One by one, the transports climb the walls protecting Takakumo like it’s nothing. In the distance, they see it, Takakumo
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Chapter 66 Aloha
“It seems we’re not welcome here anymore. You’ve been exiled.” Haru relays Gleam’s speech to Tsumugi. “What do we do?” Florence asks. “Nothing has changed. Let’s keep moving.” Haru waves her hand out the car window at the other Elites to follow close behind. They comply, mostly out of fear. They know that their duty is to Lady Kentomi first, Takakumo second, and Haru third, but the thought of going against Haru is just too much. The streets are empty, nearly everyone’s attending Gleam’s speech. What few people are left behind smile and wave at them as they pass, blissfully unaware of what Tsumugi’s become. They know not what she knows. “Where are we going exactly?” “To the forest on the edge of Takakumo’s borders. I’ve arranged for a meeting there.” Ah, to where it all began. The memories of a month or two ago come flooding back to Haru. It felt like a lifetime ago they were on that train and came crashing into Takakumo, completely unwelcome. “This is nostalgic.” Haru rests he
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Chapter 65 Alter Ego Messiah
Letters make words, words make sentences, sentences make paragraphs, paragraphs fill pages, and pages fill up the tome. Number 3344 works dutifully, slowly but surely working through the book she’s been tasked to fill up. That is the purpose of the Papilio after all, to lend their minds as processors to the great Monarchian supercomputer complex, Nivosus. It is a purpose shared by the uncountable Papilio filling up this facility. They do not know better. None of them do. So they toil away, their minds working to the bone in the computational visual matrix.Every paragraph, every sentence, every letter is another crumb of data in the great compendium that the Monarchs seek to fill with all knowledge in existence. Years pass in the blink of an eye for the Papilio. Seasons pass them by without being noticed. They all keep their eyes downwards, scribing everything being fed to them. Number 3344 is no different. Just another drop in the ocean. Just another body being kept in a tube. Then
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Chapter 64 Preparations
As soon as the door closes behind her, Tsumugi immediately breaks down into tears as everything she’s done and everything that happened to her comes crashing down in a terrible wave. She starts to run, as though she might be able to outrun her guilt. “What have I done?!”She keeps running. Further and further away from Gleam. Further and further away from the best friend that she threw away. Further and further away from any chance of going back. More than once, she considers turning around and apologizing, telling Gleam that she was foolish, begging for her forgiveness. But no matter how much she wants to, she knows she can’t. Tsuki believed in Tsumugi to be able to turn her own dream into a reality. This is the only way. Her dream was always incompatible with Gleam’s. From the very beginning, she knew that. It’s only natural that they would both eventually come into conflict with one another. But even then, her heart aches so much she fears it might shrivel up and die. She slowly
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Chapter 63 Preparations
As soon as the door closes behind her, Tsumugi immediately breaks down into tears as everything she’s done and everything that happened to her comes crashing down in a terrible wave. She starts to run, as though she might be able to outrun her guilt. “What have I done?!”She keeps running. Further and further away from Gleam. Further and further away from the best friend that she threw away. Further and further away from any chance of going back. More than once, she considers turning around and apologizing, telling Gleam that she was foolish, begging for her forgiveness. But no matter how much she wants to, she knows she can’t. Tsuki believed in Tsumugi to be able to turn her own dream into a reality. This is the only way. Her dream was always incompatible with Gleam’s. From the very beginning, she knew that. It’s only natural that they would both eventually come into conflict with one another. But even then, her heart aches so much she fears it might shrivel up and die. She slowly
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Chapter 62 Bad to Worse
“Kikimi faltered.” Kazuko takes a deep breath just to check if her lung is still punctured. Surprisingly enough, it seems that the damage Tsuki dealt her just a few hours ago has already healed. Usually, it takes a few more hours.“That’s fine. She’s more useful to us dead.” Florence stares out the window at the full moon hanging in the sky. “Now that she’s out of the picture, Gleam’s a legitimate threat to both Tsumugi and Tomoe. But now that they’ve already severed their alliance, it’s going to be that much more difficult to stop her.” “Yeah, whatever. I don’t care about any of that stuff.” Kazuko slowly lifts herself off the chair she was sitting in. “You’re on your own from now on.” “Wait, hold on, what happened to owing me your life?” “A life for a life. My debt has been paid in full.” Florence saved her, and she killed Kikimi. Fair’s fair.“How do I know you won’t just rat me out?” “You don’t. But you don’t have any other choice.” Florence looks on as Kazuko slings her cape
