CHAPTER 1
SEPARATE WAYS
It was early winter, the time of year when the cold truly began to seep into one’s body.
The five of them—Ayato, Julis, Claudia, Saya, and Kirin—had gathered in the academy’s cafeteria as they did every school day.
“Ah, um, everyone!” Kirin began, bowing her head deeply. “Thank you—again!”
It was a little over a month since the Gryps had come to a close. Even Kirin, who had been hospitalized for three days following her injuries in the semifinal, had by now fully recovered. It seemed that her eyes, which had been the group’s main cause of concern, would be fine so long as she didn’t overuse her newfound clairvoyance ability—the power to read her opponent’s movements through sensing the way they channeled their prana.
“…For what?” Julis, having finished her lunch, stared blankly back at her over the lip of her teacup.
“Ah, r-right! I just got word that my father was released the other day…”
“Well now, that is cause for celebration!” Claudia clapped once, a warm smile lighting up her face.
Kirin’s father, Seijirou, had been imprisoned for killing a thief who had tried to take her hostage many years ago, but it sounded like, thanks to Kirin’s long efforts, he had been released without issue.
No matter where you went in the world, if a Genestella ended up hurting an ordinary person, the punishment tended to be much more severe than it would be for anyone else. Under normal circumstances, Seijirou would have had little hope of being released for at least several decades, and yet—
“So, in only a month, his sentence gets reduced thanks to a retrial, and then he gets out thanks to time served… They really do move fast.” Saya nodded to herself, as if impressed.
Of course, all that had only happened thanks to the integrated enterprise foundations that had acted on Kirin’s behalf after their team had won the Gryps.
“And…he sent this. Please, take a look.” Kirin took a carefully folded letter from her pocket, holding it out formally with both hands.
Ayato took it in his own, opening it slowly to reveal the solemnly written, polite words of thanks.
It was a straightforward, simple letter—the kind of message that revealed a genuine, honest character.
“I know it says so right there, but he’d like to thank you all in person too. So…I know this isn’t really the same as when Julis invited us all to Lieseltania last year, but if you can make it, I’d be so happy if you could all come and visit us during the winter vacation…”
At that, Ayato and the others each exchanged uncertain looks.
Julis was the first to speak up. “Hmm… I’m grateful, but I’ll have to decline,” she said, shaking her head sadly. “The Gryps has made me all too aware of just how far I still have to go if I’m going to win the Lindvolus next year. I need to get stronger. Which is why I plan to spend the vacation training.”
“Really?” Ayato asked. “Does that mean you’re not even going back to Lieseltania?”
“Ah, my brother’s keeping me up-to-date on everything. And Flora, too,” Julis answered with a somewhat forlorn smile.
Whatever they were telling her, it must have been in relation to her own wish as a champion of the Gryps.
That wish was to greatly expand the authority of the king in order to pull Lieseltania out from under the thumb of the IEFs—but, of course, that wouldn’t be an easy feat. At any rate, it would unmistakably be to the disadvantage of the foundations.
Naturally, given that Julis had already publicly announced what she wanted, there was no way they could openly ignore it—that would be against the rules of the Festa. But as with the furor that Claudia had brought down on herself—although strictly speaking, Lieseltania probably wasn’t worth as much as Claudia’s information—if the loss outweighed the gain, and push came to shove, it wasn’t clear how the foundations would react.
As such, Julis’s brother, Jolbert, seemed to be working things out behind the scenes. Winners of the Festa had one year to formally request their wish, and Julis intended to spend that time hammering out the details while maintaining a suitable power balance among the various foundations.
“…I’d really like to go as well, but I have something I can’t get out of,” Saya added regretfully.
“Ah, you mean that Lux development facility that you mentioned?”
“Yes. They’re moving it to a new location right around the start of the break. So I should probably be there for it.”
Among Asterisk’s six schools, only Allekant Académie had formal Lux development facilities. The other schools generally received their Luxes from their parent foundation and only had sufficient equipment to adjust and configure what they were given.
It wasn’t as if knowledge of Seidoukan’s unofficial facilities had been leaked to the public, but thanks to the school’s successful joint development of the new Rect Luxes with Allekant, the decision had been made to come to a more formal arrangement.
Incidentally, Saya, now a member of the Society for the Study of Meteoric Engineering, had already managed to secure herself a factory for her own exclusive use.
“This is still confidential,” Claudia began with a chuckle, “but Saya’s father, Souichi Sasamiya, is going to take up an expert advisory role at the Matériel Department for the next academic year.”
“Huh? Really?”
This was the first that Ayato had heard about it. Nonetheless, given that Souichi had in the past worked with Galaxy’s research institution, there was nothing particularly unusual about this turn of events.
“We’re planning to set up a direct line with him soon,” Saya added with a glowing smile.
For her wish after winning the Gryps, Saya had immediately settled on money.
Her father, Souichi, had lost his body in an accident, and his mind was now integrated into his laboratory in Germany. The maintenance alone required a considerable, continuous supply of funds, and while it wasn’t as if the Sasamiyas had been living in need thus far, Saya had no doubt wanted backup resources for whatever the future might bring.
On top of that, Saya was interested in developing her own Luxes, and she seemed to have put some of her newfound capital toward her own uses, too.
“I’m terribly sorry, but my schedule is rather tight for the winter vacation as well…,” Claudia said with a bitter smile as she folded her hands together in her lap.
Since the end of the tournament, Claudia seemed to be even busier than usual. Apparently her discussions with Galaxy were picking up pace.
“I—I see… You all sound very busy…” Kirin’s shoulders slumped with disappointment.
They each had their own reasons, of course, but she mustn’t have been expecting all of them to turn down the invitation.
At that moment, she timidly glanced up at Ayato. She stared at him with almost-tearful, imploring eyes, like those of an abandoned puppy.
“Um, ah, I mean… Ayato…h-how about you?”
Ayato found himself at the center of an indescribable vortex of pressure as everyone silently turned toward him. “I’m sorry, Kirin,” he said with a shake of his head. “I have to go home, too… I got a message from my dad. He said he needs to talk about something.”
“Oh…” At this response, Kirin closed her eyes, slumping back in her chair. The shock, it seemed, was too much for her to bear.
Ayato was struck by a wave of guilt, but given the situation, there was nothing to be done.
“A message from home…?” Julis asked carefully. “About your sister?”
“Probably. I’ve got something I need to discuss with him myself, so it’s good enough timing, I suppose…,” Ayato answered, his mind going back to his meeting with Madiath Mesa the other day.
“Well now, sit down,” Madiath Mesa said with an affable smile, as he welcomed Ayato into his office at the Festa Executive Committee headquarters.
A vague sense of nervousness came over Ayato as he took a seat on the sofa. “…All right.”
He had already met Madiath face-to-face several times, so he was hardly a stranger, and yet Ayato couldn’t help but feel slightly on edge.
“Let’s get down to business. Your wish this time is to wake up your sister, correct?”
“Yes.”
Madiath, sitting across from him, with his hands folded, leaned forward. “I’ll start with our conclusions—the result of our investigations… It seems waking her, in and of itself, is by no means impossible.”
“Really?!” Before he knew it, Ayato had begun to rise to his feet in excitement.
Madiath merely looked back at him with a troubled smile. “Stay calm, now. Let me go through everything in order.”
“Y-yes, of course… Sorry,” Ayato responded as he sat back down.
“Firstly, it goes without saying that the person most knowledgeable about your sister’s condition is Director Jan Korbel,” Madiath began slowly. “He hasn’t been able to find a way to wake her over these past five years, but now that the conditions have changed, you could say that a new possibility has revealed itself—a new form of treatment that he would like to attempt.”
“The conditions?”
“If it’s to fulfill the wish of one of our Festa champions, the integrated enterprise foundations will support you fully. Whether its funds, facilities, staff, or anything else that you might require, all of it will be put at your disposal.”
Of course.
Thus far, Director Korbel had been treating her out of his sense of responsibility to help those in need, so there were no doubt limits to the options available to him.
“That said, we’re only talking about a possibility here. The Director tells me that this new form of treatment is still only theoretical. Moreover, it sounds like it would probably take quite some time. This is, of course, outside my area of expertise, and I can’t claim to understand the details, but it sounds like it involves analyzing the junction pattern of the ability that she set on herself and then dispelling the mana. That would be a time-consuming process, apparently. According to the Director, it would take at least a few years…quite possibly a decade.”
“A decade…?!” That was enough to send Ayato, having just gotten his hopes up, flailing once more into the depths of despair.
Of course, it was undeniably good news to hear there was now a chance of waking her, and yet…
“Well… There is another option available to you,” Madiath continued, with a faint smile.
“Huh?”
“As it happens, one other individual has stepped forward to offer their assistance.”
Ayato knew at once what he was getting at.
“…Magnum Opus, you mean?”
“Oh? She did say her name would suffice to remind you, but it sounds like you didn’t even need that.” Madiath nodded in admiration. “But yes, I’m talking about Miss Rowlands from Allekant Académie. She claims that if you fulfill her request, she will be able to wake your sister without delay. And our own investigations suggest she isn’t merely boasting.”
Ayato cast Madiath a glaring look. “Is it really befitting of the Festa Executive Committee Chairman to consult such a dangerous person?”
Relying on Magnum Opus meant giving her free rein to continue her other pursuits.
Rowlands’s so-called research had already swallowed up Julis’s childhood friend, Orphelia Landlufen. Ayato couldn’t allow another tragedy like that to befall someone else.
“Dangerous…? Ah, you’re talking about her experiments? Well…” Madiath stared at him in apparent surprise, before leaning back into his chair as he loosened his collar. “They certainly are rather inhumane. And yet…what’s the matter?”
Ayato found himself shuddering at the sudden iciness that had engulfed Madiath’s voice and countenance.
“Befitting of the Festa Executive Committee Chairman, you say…? Hah, quite the opposite, Amagiri. It’s precisely because I am the Executive Committee Chairman that I’m obliged to listen to what she has to say. Just as the winners of the Festa may be granted any wish they desire, so too must we be ready to deal with any possible wish that happens to come our way. You don’t honestly think that all our champions are as noble-minded as Miss Riessfeld, interested only in helping others, now, do you? Wealth, fame, women, revenge…people hide all kinds of desires that they would never reveal to the outside world. And we have always done our utmost to grant every last one of them. Of course, there are always those we can’t publicly be seen to play a hand in, and, of course, those that are simply impossible to realize. But in the end, it’s always a question of degree more than anything else.”
“That’s…”
There was no arguing that the Festa—or rather, all of Asterisk—was that kind of place, that it existed for that very reason. And it was true that many wishes granted to winners were never made public.
Even Ayato understood that—but only now did it truly feel real to him.
“Don’t misunderstand me. We are on your side here, not hers. I’m merely pointing out to you, after investigating all your options, what looks to us like the optimal solution. Whichever course of action you choose is up to you.”
Madiath’s eyes seemed to bore into him, but there was no falsehood in them. Ayato understood that intuitively.
And so Ayato couldn’t bring himself to respond.
“I may as well ask about her request… Am I correct in assuming that she wants her penalty revoked? Well, we can always ignore that and simply compel her to assist you. That’s always an option. And yet…I would caution against that in your case. I’m sure I don’t need to explain why.”
“…Because she’s the only one with the necessary skills, so success or failure is up to her. Right?”
If they tried to force Magnum Opus to do what they wanted, and it ended in failure, it would all be over. The deal stood only so long as they each had something to gain from it.
“Exactly. You might use the power of the foundations as something of a threat as well. We could set it up so that if she failed, she would never have that penalty of hers withdrawn again, for example… But I’m guessing someone of her disposition wouldn’t appreciate that.”
“…”
Ayato couldn’t bring himself to respond. Those were his thoughts, too.
Hilda Jane Rowlands, better known by the alias Magnum Opus, was the very definition of a mad genius. No matter what kind of pressure was exerted on her, her passions, burning hotter than lava, were unlikely to yield.
Even Ayato, who had only met her once, recognized that.
“Can I… Can I have some time to think about it?”
“Of course. Take your time.”
“…Then I’ll get going. Excuse me.”
But as Ayato made his way toward the exit, Madiath called out from behind. “Remember, whichever course of action you decide on, we’ll do our utmost to make it happen. Keep that in mind.”
“Like I said a while back,” Julis began, her expression serious, “I won’t blame you, no matter what you do. Not even if you decide to go with Magnum Opus.”
“I know. Thanks, Julis,” Ayato replied with a forced smile, before turning back to Kirin. “So…I’m really sorry, Kirin.”
“Th-there’s no need to apologize, Ayato…!” she responded, shaking her hands vehemently. It was clear enough from her expression, however, that she was disappointed.
I should probably send Seijirou a letter at least, to thank him for the invitation…
“Kirin,” Saya said from her spot beside her, “even though we can’t make it this time, I’m going to visit soon, even if you change your mind and say not to.” She patted her on the shoulder. “So don’t worry.”
“…Even if she doesn’t want you to, Saya?” Claudia said softly, her voice dubious. “But Kirin, do invite us again, as friends. There’s no need for your father to go out of his way to thank us.”
“Huh? B-but it’s thanks to you all that we won the Gryps…”
“You were part of that victory, Kirin. We couldn’t have done it without you,” Julis corrected with a gentle smile as she stroked her friend’s head.
“B-but I wasn’t there, not when you needed me the most, in the final…”
“If that’s how you want to put it, then we should be thanking you. If you hadn’t taken down Hagun Seikun in the semifinal, we would have never even made it to the championship.”
“Th-that’s…!” Kirin’s face reddened. She stared down at the table.
“Ha-ha, but Julis is right.” Ayato grinned. “The Gryps might be over, but we’re still a team, and we’re all still friends. It’s only natural for us to count on one another, right?”
“Y-yes!” Kirin nodded forcefully, her eyes brimming with tears.
And yet—
“Well then, now that Ayato has brought that topic to a wonderful close…I’d like to speak to you all about next year’s individual tournament, where we may end up fighting one another.” With this, Claudia put her hands together with an adorable clap, tilting her head slightly.
“Claudia, you…”
“…You’ve spoiled the mood.”
Julis and Saya narrowed their eyes at her, but Claudia continued to smile, showing no concern whatsoever for their sharp gazes.
“Unfortunately, as student council president, this is a serious matter that I need to confirm. After all, if either Ayato or Julis were to win at the Lindvolus, they would be the first individual since the second Ban’yuu Tenra to achieve a grand slam.”
Gaining consecutive victories in all three Festas in a given season was commonly known as a grand slam, and only one person in all of Asterisk’s history had managed to accomplish that feat. Looking at it objectively, there was no mistaking the potential for one of them to achieve something historic.
“Thanks to everyone’s efforts, our academy already has a huge advantage in overall points. Although I suppose that goes without saying, considering we won both the Phoenix and the Gryps. Even if we lose at the Lindvolus, there’s still a high possibility that we would come out on top as far as points are concerned. However, now that we’ve come this far, I’m quite sure that Galaxy would prefer that we—”
“—go all the way,” Saya finished for her.
Claudia nodded. “Indeed… But so long as the reigning champion is around, I’m afraid that will be rather difficult.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of Orphelia.” Julis’s voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the iron force of will that rang through it.
“I thought you would say that, Julis,” Claudia said with a chuckle. “But even so…”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Ayato said as he met her gaze. “I won’t be participating. I don’t want to get in Julis’s way.”
“Indeed… I thought you would say that.” Claudia’s shoulders slumped.
Julis, meanwhile, seemed to be blushing slightly, her eyes refusing to meet his. “Y-you don’t need to worry about me, or anything, all right? Even if we were to face each other, I’d just take you head-on and beat you to a pulp.”
“Ha-ha… But now that I’ve got a better grasp of Haruka’s situation, I don’t really need to enter it anymore. I don’t have any other wishes that need granting.”
His original reason for taking part in the Festa was to help Julis, to be her strength. Even if through that he had managed to locate his sister and now hoped to finally wake her, he wasn’t about to abandon Julis.
And he would be much freer to support her outside the tournament. Various troubles had reared their heads during both the Phoenix and the Gryps, after all, and there was no guarantee that something similar wouldn’t happen during the Lindvolus.
“You’re as selfless as ever, I see… What about you, Saya?” Claudia asked.
“I’ll be in it,” Saya answered with a short nod. “I’ve got a score to settle.”
That score was no doubt with Camilla Pareto of Allekant…or rather, with her puppets, Ardy and Rimcy. Saya and Camilla’s relationship seemed to have developed into something of a rivalry since the end of the Phoenix.
“But if all you want to do is settle a score, wouldn’t a duel be enough…?” Kirin asked, her voice tinged with curiosity.
Saya let out a slight sigh, shaking her head. “I agree… But Ardy and Rimcy belong to Ferrovius and Pygmalion, so Camilla Pareto can’t just use them as she pleases.”
“Well, they probably wouldn’t come out of it in one piece if they went against you, right?” Ayato joked.
Camilla’s position at Allekant seemed to be rather secure, but even so, there would almost certainly be consequences for her should either of the two puppets be damaged while using them to settle a private matter.
“It sounds like she’s planning on entering, and this time victory will be mine.” Saya was working herself up, clenching her fists tightly. “So if I’m put against you, Julis, I’m not going to go easy. I’ll knock you out stone cold.”
“Hmph. That’s my line. I’ll roast you along with all your Luxes.”
Claudia watched from the side as the two of the them glared at each other ferociously, before she let out a feigned cough and turned to her next target. “Ahem. Well then, Kirin. What about you?”
“Ah… I—I, I mean… I haven’t decided yet…” Kirin spoke evasively, averting her gaze as if trying to hide.
Kirin tended to look rather timid at first glance. This time, however, Ayato found himself struck by a vague sense of discomfort.
She may well have been rather reserved with regard to pretty much anything that wasn’t related to her mastery of the sword, but she wasn’t the kind of person to be paralyzed by indecision. And yet, right now, she clearly seemed to be of two minds.
“Hmm, I see,” Claudia answered with a light chuckle. “There’s no need to worry about it yet. After all, it isn’t for close to a year. Please, think it over carefully before you make your decision. Although…there’s no denying that, as far as the school is concerned, we would prefer you take a break this time.”
“Huh?”
“…What’s that supposed to mean?” At this, Julis—who, until that very moment, had still been butting heads with Saya—turned her piercing gaze toward Claudia. “This better not have anything to do with anyone getting in the way of me scoring a grand slam. If it does—”
“No, of course not. Kirin has already taken part in two Festas, you see. Taking into account her age, and the fact that she still has plenty of room to grow, it would be a waste to have her use her third and final opportunity now, wouldn’t you say?”
“That’s…” Julis, no doubt realizing there was nothing wrong with Claudia’s reasoning, held her tongue.
No student in Asterisk could participate in the Festa more than three times. That was one of the fundamental rules set out in the Stella Carta. There was no denying it would be regrettable for Kirin to use up all her opportunities while still only a middle school student.
As far as Ayato was concerned, her skill with a sword was already a cut above his own.
It wasn’t hard to believe that, one day soon, she might even surpass Saint Gallardworth Academy’s former student council president Ernest Fairclough.
“Which is why…” All of a sudden, Claudia’s voice became bright and buoyant. “We would like you to consider this.” She opened an air-window, sending it toward Kirin.
Projected in the middle of it was—
“…A katana?”
“No. If you look carefully, it’s got a small core. It’s a Lux… No, wait a second. It’s…”
Julis and Saya, having crowded behind Kirin to get a better look, couldn’t help but murmur their impressions.
“Very good, Saya. You clearly have an eye for these things. Yes, it’s a very intriguing katana-shaped Orga Lux, and with an intriguing name, too. The Fudaraku. It’s written with the characters for lotus and degeneration, but it’s named after the abode of the goddess Kannon.”
“An Orga Lux…!”
Claudia nodded, and the remaining four of them swallowed their breath, taken aback more by the sight of the weapon than the explanation of its name.
“Is this that new Orga Lux you said that Galaxy was developing?”
“My, I didn’t think you would remember, Ayato.”
He remembered her saying something to Kirin along those lines back around the time of the Phoenix.
“Indeed, this is a brand-new item straight from Galaxy. So what do you say, Kirin? Won’t you try it?”
“M-me…?”
“Of course, you would need to take a compatibility test first. While you may be unranked right now, I doubt anyone would complain about giving you priority considering your achievements.”
“Um, I mean…” Once more, Kirin’s expression clouded over.
Kirin…?
There was a clear look of hesitation in her eyes.
Something was bothering her.
“We won’t force you. But with your Senbakiri beyond repair, you’re going to need a replacement, don’t you think?”
Amid the ferocity of their semifinal match in the Gryps, Kirin’s cherished Senbakiri had been shattered. As a result, she had been using a standard blade-type Lux for the past few weeks.
Additionally, Ayato’s Ser Veresta had been destroyed in the championship match.
While his Orga Lux could at least be repaired, restoring it to its previous condition, and, of course, adjusting it to his own requirements, would probably take several months.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login