Gakusen Toshi Asterisk - Volume 15 - Chapter Ep

EPILOGUE 
“Ah, um, good work…!” 
“Well done, Ayato. I’m sorry it ended that way.” 
“Hey, Ayato.” 
When he returned to his prep room, Kirin, Claudia, and Saya, who would soon be leaving for her own upcoming match, greeted him with sympathetic smiles. In particular, Saya, having decided to keep going against everyone’s expectations, should have been busy preparing in her own prep room but had evidently come to console him regardless. 
“…No, it was a complete defeat,” Ayato answered, forcing himself to smile back. 
His uniform was scorched here and there, and he had a few light burns, but he had sustained no major injuries. That was practically a miracle given the size of Julis’s last barrage of fireballs, even if he had managed to evade most of the direct hits. 
“Well, Julis’s last move was incredible,” Claudia said. “Don’t blame yourself.” 
“R-right! Even I could hardly keep track of her movements…,” added Kirin. 
“So even you couldn’t catch her,” Ayato murmured. “I guess she was telling the truth…” 
He sank into the sofa, finally having a chance to catch his breath. Claudia handed him a glass of water. The cool, refreshing liquid slowly calmed his overheated body and mind. 
“The truth about what?” 
“Ah… That her new technique would make her the strongest fighter in the world for those twelve seconds.” 
Having experienced it firsthand, Ayato had no doubt that was the truth. 
If anyone could compete against her in that state, it would have to be Xinglou, Orphelia, or perhaps Helga, but even then… 
“Twelve seconds… I see. So there’s a time limit.” Kirin nodded in understanding. 
“This makes it all the more unfortunate that we don’t have her as an ally right now… With that power, we might have been able to stand up to Madiath and the Varda-Vaos,” Claudia said with a regretful sigh. 
“Julis is our ally,” Ayato corrected her. “She just has something that she needs to do herself right now.” 
“Oh dear, my apologies. That was rude of me,” Claudia replied, sticking out her tongue playfully. 
“But… If you’re saying that, I take it Madiath escaped?” Ayato murmured. 
At this, Claudia’s and Kirin’s expressions clouded over. 
“Indeed. Commander Helga and Haruka raided the Executive Committee offices this morning, but he was already gone. No one seems to know where he went.” 
“This morning?” 
Ayato had asked Eishirou to contact Stjarnagarm about Madiath last night. The city guard operated twenty-four hours a day, so they should have been able to move faster than that. 
Claudia flashed him a bitter smile at this unasked question. 
“Unfortunately, Galaxy didn’t give them permission to act. Their top priority is securing the Varda-Vaos. Madiath is really just collateral as far as they’re concerned. I suspect they want to let him keep swimming until they locate her, too, and then reel them in together.” 
“That’s…” 
“Well, Commander Helga grew tired and forced their hand. But still…I don’t think it would be any different if they had gone there last night.” 
That was probably true. 
If it hadn’t been, Madiath wouldn’t have risked contacting Ayato directly. 
“Anyway, what we should be worried about is Orphelia Landlufen’s involvement with the Golden Bough Alliance,” Saya said with a snort. 
Given that she was about to face off against Orphelia shortly, her concern was understandable. 
“But we don’t have any evidence of that,” Ayato pointed out. He had simply guessed as much from Madiath’s conversation. 
“B-but still, it isn’t hard to believe, right…? I mean, Le Wolfe’s student council president is already in pretty deep with the Golden Bough Alliance…” 
As Kirin said, they already knew that Dirk Eberwein, Le Wolfe Black Institute’s student council president, was a member of the Golden Bough Alliance. Given that Dirk had personally recruited Orphelia for Le Wolfe and had used her to consolidate his position as student council president, it was highly likely they both belonged to the same organization. 
“My mother is looking into that. In any event, we can be sure of four members: Madiath Mesa, Festa Executive Committee chairman, also going by the guise of Lamina Mortis; Dirk Eberwein, Le Wolfe Black Institute’s student council president; the Orga Lux Varda-Vaos, having usurped the body of Ursula Svend; and Percival Gardner of Saint Gallardworth Academy.” 
“And Ernesta Kühne is definitely working with them, too,” Saya said, raising her bandaged right hand and wincing in pain. 
“That’s just your hunch for now, though, no? We don’t have any firm evidence. But of course, we’ll take it into account.” 
“A-and there’s Orphelia Landlufen, too, right…?” 
Even leaving out the last two, they were dealing with powerful and influential figures. 
“In any event, we’ll continue searching for Madiath. We’re approaching this problem from several angles—” Claudia stopped there as an air-window popped open to announce a visitor. 
The face projected there was that of— 
“Julis…?!” 
Ayato hurried to open the door, finding the opponent who had so soundly defeated him just a short while ago standing before him. 
“Ah, you’re all here, too, then. It’s been a while, I know…” 
Julis was clearly exhausted, but she nonetheless showed them all a brave smile. When she tried to enter the room, however, she soon stumbled, almost falling to the ground. 
“Julis!” Kirin cried out, leaping to support her. 

“Phew… Sorry, Kirin.” 
“N-not at all…” Kirin lent her a shoulder as she guided her to the sofa. 
Julis sat down, breathing a deep sigh. 
“My… You don’t look like the proud victor, Julis.” 
“I don’t need to hear that, Claudia. This is the best I can do right now.” Julis’s voice was clearly tired, but it sounded like some of her usual cheerfulness had returned. 
Perhaps, Ayato suspected, one of her burdens had lifted now that their match was over. Tomorrow would be the main event, he knew, but he could understand how she felt. 
“Shouldn’t you be in the middle of your winner’s interview, though?” 
“Oh. I canceled it,” Julis replied with a casual wave. “I mean, look at me.” 
“That last technique must have taken a lot out of you…” 
“…The Moonlit Beauty pushes my physical and mental strength and my prana to their absolute limits. I’m lucky I didn’t completely deplete my prana.” 
“A-are you going to be okay tomorrow, in that condition…?” Kirin asked hesitatingly. 
“Of course,” Julis responded brusquely, glancing across at her. 
“Dear me… In that case, you should go and get some rest. Why did you rush here?” Claudia asked. 
At this, Julis averted her gaze, her expression troubled. “That’s…” Scratching at her head, she glanced toward Ayato. “I just wanted to say I know you were worried about me, in your own way. And there’s something I have to say to you.” 
“To me?” Ayato asked. 
“You were right, I intend to take Orphelia’s life tomorrow.” 
“Huh?!” 
“What…?!” 
“…!” 
This was the first the other three had heard of her intentions, so it was no surprise they were taken aback. 
“But just so you know—I’m prepared to do it; that’s all. I’m not going to give up. I’ll try to convince her to stop right up to the very end. So please…don’t worry about me.” She paused there, turning away. 
“Julis…” 
Ayato found himself struck again by a sense of shame. 
Julis was strong. 
He was sure that she would find the best solution by herself. 
What he had to do now was believe in her. 
“…Hmph. By the way,” Saya began with a sharp glare. “I’ve got a lot riding on beating Erenshkigal, so why are you all assuming that I’m going to lose?” 
“…Ah.” This time it was Julis’s turn to look embarrassed. “N-no, I, uh, er… I’m not questioning your ability on anything…!” 
“Oh?” Saya, her eyes reproachful, came closer. 
“I mean, er… To be honest, I didn’t think you were up to competing…!” Julis said, glancing down at Saya’s arms. “You can’t move your arms well, and it looked like most of your Luxes were destroyed in your match against Lenaty. I didn’t think you would be able to fix them in a day or two. Then there’s how long that huge new Lux takes to deploy, and of course…haven’t you already accomplished what you set out to do?” 
Saya had entered the Lindvolus in order to settle her score with Rimcy. Rimcy had been defeated by Lenaty, and in the end, it was more like Saya had avenged her former rival. But the point was that she had nonetheless attained her original goal. 
“So I didn’t think there was any reason for you to fight Orphelia, you see.” 
“…Hmph, an accurate supposition. That’s Julis for you.” Saya nodded in apparent satisfaction. “Actually, I was going to forfeit the match. I can’t beat Erenshkigal like this. But I didn’t because there’s something I want to try first.” 
“Something you want to try? Against Orphelia?” Julis asked dubiously. 
Saya nodded once more. “Don’t worry; it won’t get in your way. I’ll make sure Erenshkigal makes it to the championship, so make sure you’re ready.” 
“…Just what are you going to do?” 
“It’s a secret.” 
For a second, it looked like Julis was going to ask again, but she soon gave up and shook her head. “I’ll look forward to it, then. I can’t even imagine what you’re planning.” 
“Heh-heh.” 
Julis exchanged a fearless grin with her classmate before standing up from the sofa. “Well, I’ll be going, then.” 
She was still unsteady on her feet, but when Kirin offered to support her, she held out a hand to stop her. 
That was probably her pride on show. 
Ayato, watching as she headed for the door, called out: “Julis, I believe in you. You’ll win; you’ll overcome everything.” 
“I wonder,” was all Julis said in response. 
But before she reached the door, she paused for a moment, glancing back. “Ah, right. It got a bit confusing out there on the stage, and so I want to make it clear. What I said, during the match, those are my honest feelings. So”—Julis paused, breaking out into a faint smile—“when this is all over, I want to know how you feel, too, Ayato.” 
“!” 
Ayato’s heart skipped a beat at Julis’s warm smile. 
“…Oh dear, you’ve got a lot of work on your plate, haven’t you, Ayato?” Claudia said with a teasing chuckle.