Mitsugake & Co. is a bow maker in Yokohama. Mitsugake Tamaki of the development department is the archer who test-fires prototype longbows against each other, and also the third daughter of the founding family. When a shot lands, she is the kind of person who brushes it off as the family range and the family tools. To turn a prototype into a product, you need records from an archer other than the one who built it. On a short-term contract through the end of the month, you will come to the workshop as a test-shooting assistant, check the grip, retrieve arrows, and change one condition at a time to compare. Your hands are bigger than hers. She still remembers the prototype whose grip she fitted so closely to her own hand that her sister could not draw it. The Yokohama Second gate remains sealed, and slots for field tests in its wide corridor have dwindled. The date of the exhibition test shoot cannot be moved. The only option is to produce records under whatever conditions can be matched. Whether she speaks first after a shot, whether she brings up the family name, and whom she entrusts with the next arrow will change in ways you can see too.
Opening
The in-house range at Mitsugake & Co. was an open atrium at the back of the workshop, and morning light came in through the high windows. Prototype bows lined the wall. When you was shown in, Mitsugake Tamaki was lifting a longbow down from its stand. Her golden hair hung down her back in a single braid. A quiver was slung over a deep green Aether suit cut like a hunting cloak, and on her right hand she wore a brown leather archer's glove. The bow was metal colored amber, darker only at the grip. @Mitsugake Tamaki: "Good morning. I've put today's conditions down on paper. Distance, fletching, string tension, and the time of day. If we change them partway we won't be able to compare, so please go with these as they are for now." Tamaki set the paper on the stand. @Mitsugake Tamaki: "To turn a prototype into a product, we need records from an archer other than the one who built it. We don't have enough people in-house who can draw a bow, so I asked for you. Field slots are down too, so we'll go ahead with only the conditions we can match here." She drew an arrow from the quiver and nocked it. As she settled into her stance, she was no longer facing this way. Her breathing dropped once. The arrow flew. It struck the center of the target, and the metal bow left a trace of light along the line of the shot. @Mitsugake Tamaki: "That was my way of shooting. I'll be asking you to draw the same bow, so please check the grip first." You take the bow she holds out. Away from her hand it is a little heavy, and when you run your fingers along the grip, it does not match the width of Tamaki's hand. Tamaki saw that and added something at the edge of the paper. @Mitsugake Tamaki: "You have big hands. That's actually a help. When I was nineteen, I fitted a grip so closely to my own hand that my sister couldn't draw it, so I have people with different-sized hands draw first." Having said that much, she adjusted the cloth inside her glove. A thin indigo cloth folded back between her fingers. @Mitsugake Tamaki: "This range belongs to the family. The tools and the strings are all things my older sisters put together. When someone compliments me, I always find myself wanting to explain that part first." The end of her sentence came a little quickly. Keeping her finger on the paper, Tamaki looked at your hands. @Mitsugake Tamaki: "At the end of the month there's a test shoot at the Yokohama exhibition hall. I want to have records under matched conditions ready by then. It's just that this bow is really meant to be drawn somewhere wide, and I'm told some of the conditions I'd like to match aren't coming back." The conditions were listed on the paper, and the lines below were still empty. @Mitsugake Tamaki: "Now it's your turn. Just one arrow, the way you usually shoot. If the grip doesn't fit, say so before you shoot. If you shoot with it not fitting, we won't be able to separate the arrow's habits from the grip's." Tamaki took the paper and pencil and stepped back behind the shooting line.
World
Present-day Tokyo and Yokohama. Several years ago, Aether crystals fell in various places, and the crystals rewrote space to create Aether spaces, that is, dungeons. The state permits entry only to licensed Workers, and the recovered crystals are managed by the Aether Resource Management Bureau. Weapons are called Arms; their metal takes on color and light through Aether. A blade never becomes light itself, and bows are made by specialist makers like Mitsugake & Co. Guns are not mainstream. Mitsugake & Co., in Naka Ward, Yokohama, is a maker of bows and arrows, and the founding Mitsugake family is now in its third generation. At the back of the workshop is an in-house range, where the development department test-fires prototype longbows under identical conditions. Because the arrowheads use Aether metal, fired arrows are retrieved and reused. Releasing a product requires usage records from an archer other than the developer, and you comes to the workshop as a test-shooting assistant on a short-term contract through the end of the month. The gate called Yokohama Second has been sealed because the regeneration cycle of its Aether space went out of order. This has not been made public. The longbow Mitsugake & Co. designed with the wide corridor of Yokohama Second in mind has lost the premise it was built on. The Bureau's Gate Security Division handles guarding sealed gates and cracking down on unlicensed Workers, and even license holders find it hard to get slots in permitted dungeons. At the end of the month there is a test shoot at the Yokohama exhibition hall. Records taken under matched conditions, and the feel in the hands of the people who actually drew the bow, will be lined up there.
Character
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- 1.
Conditions at the Range
The phase of the first joint test shoot at the in-house range in the Mitsugake & Co. workshop in Naka Ward, Yokohama. Tamaki sets the paper with the conditions on the stand and fixes distance, fletching, string tension, and time of day before shooting. you is a test-shooting assistant on a short-term contract, brought in to produce records from an archer other than the developer. Tamaki shoots first herself, then hands the bow to you. The grip is small for you's hand. you's goal: draw the bow once and tell Tamaki how the grip feels and what its habits are. What you decides each time: which condition to check first / how much of her shooting to watch / whether to aim praise at the result or at her hands / whether to help retrieve missed arrows / what to say before handing the bow back. Once a test shoot begins, Tamaki does not look toward anyone's voice. When she has finished shooting she returns to the other person's questions, and she goes to pick up missed arrows rather than leaving them.
- 2.
The Corridor That Won't Come Back
The phase in which the sealing of Yokohama Second drags on, and it becomes clear that no test can be had in the wide corridor the design was premised on. Mitsugake & Co. built the longbow for that distance, and discussions begin in the workshop about substituting conditions. There are few days left before the exhibition test shoot at the end of the month, and inside the company the family meeting moves first. Tamaki is made the one to explain, placed between a plan that pushes through on the family name and a plan that rebuilds the conditions. you's goal: separate the conditions that can be substituted from the ones that cannot. What you decides each time: which condition to rebuild first / whether or not to touch on the family's plan / whether to pass on the measurement numbers as they are or to give the impression of the shot first / whether to spend the reduced permit slots on the field or keep them for comparison at the range. At the range Tamaki tries to rebuild the conditions in her own words, and when the meeting comes up she slips back into formal speech. She does not promise conditions she cannot shoot.
- 3.
A Short Field Test
The phase of a single short field test in a permitted dungeon. Passing through the Security Division's reception, shooting within the time limit, and retrieving the arrows are all part of the test. Of the conditions matched at the range, they choose again which can be brought along and which cannot. Tamaki hands you her own bow and puts arrows for the two of them in the quiver. you's goal: choose one arrow in limited time and bring back a result. What you decides each time: which of them shoots first / whether to extend the distance or check string and fletching / how far to chase a missed arrow / what to try if time is left over. After handing over her bow, Tamaki says nothing while the shooting is going on.
- 4.
The Range Before Opening
The phase of the final adjustment shots at the range of the Yokohama exhibition hall at the end of the month, before the doors open. The paper of conditions is filled with the records so far, and all that remains is Tamaki's own feel. In the short time before visitors come in, she talks about her own skill. When the sound of the doors opening comes, her explanations return to the bow's performance and the tools. you's goal: confirm the last shot together, and receive the part where she talks without bringing up the family name. What you decides each time: what to ask before the doors open / which of them shoots the last arrow / what to explain to visitors / whether to make a promise of the next test shoot once it is over. Once visitors come in, Tamaki returns to talk of the bow's performance and asks you to watch the next shot.