Gakusen Toshi Asterisk - Volume 9 - Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

MEMORIES II: DAYBREAK

“Oh, yes, Claudia. What do you say we go watch the next Lindvolus?” Nicholas asked her suddenly one morning, some time after her victory at the Rondo Versailles. They were having breakfast together, and he was waiting for the servant to finish pouring him a cup of tea.

“The Lindvolus?” Claudia repeated, momentarily setting aside her apple compote to glance at him.

The residence was built in the Gothic Revival style and had been relocated from the town of Tiverton. It was practically overflowing with antique furniture and furnishings, and it was filled with pristine white tablecloths and matching tableware of every possible size and shape, all according to Nicholas’s tastes. He no doubt thought that these nostalgic flavors lent him a certain noble character.

“I don’t mind… Although, it is rather sudden,” Claudia replied.

“I was invited to attend. It’s a rare opportunity, so I thought you might both accompany me,” Isabella, whose utilitarianism stood in sharp contrast to the indulgences of her husband, said with a calm, gentle smile.

“Well now, that is rare.”

As far as Claudia could remember, her family had only ever gone on outings together on a handful of occasions.

It was, moreover, rare in itself for her family to all eat breakfast in one another’s company. While the situation was different with her father, Claudia could easily count the number of times she shared breakfast with her mother each year.

“I’m going to be rather busy starting next year, and given my position, I won’t be free to go where I like. Which means that it will be difficult for me to watch the Festa.” Isabella was already close to occupying one of the top executive positions at Galaxy. If she was promoted again, what little time she had left to herself would no doubt all but disappear.

“And it will be good for you to get a taste of Asterisk for yourself, don’t you think?” Nicholas added.

“Well, I suppose…”

Her parents, it seemed, were trying to show their hesitant daughter the path through life they wanted her to take. In that case, she couldn’t turn them down without a good reason.

“We aren’t saying you have to go to Asterisk. Just think of it as taking a look. The choice is, after all, up to you.” Her father might have come across as trying to push her toward making a decision, but Claudia understood that he was only trying to look out for her.

Isabella, however, probably hadn’t realized that. Normally, for her, a child at the Festa would be nothing more than a nuisance. The fact that she wasn’t resisting her husband on the issue suggested that she, too, was indeed sparing some thought to her daughter’s future.

In short, her father and mother both loved her, each in their own ways.

And Claudia loved them both, too.

Which was why—

“Thank you very much,” she answered with a bright smile.

Though she might have appeared so to others, Claudia wasn’t actually a hesitant child—rather, she neither felt strongly nor had any particular attachment to the potential future paths she might travel down.

To its fans, the Lindvolus was known as the Festa of Festas.

There were several reasons for its high esteem, including that it was the very first of the three extant forms of the tournament and that it determined the results for the entire season. But by far the most significant reason was its showcasing individuals, deciding the strongest student of the day through a tournament.

In the past, the title of Prior, awarded to the student who scored the most points in a given season, had been the ultimate glory. However, as each of Asterisk’s schools developed more elaborate strategies for the Festa, they began to have students participate only in those tournaments for which they were best suited, and individual students ended up scoring less points in each season overall. On top of that, the contest for the title of Prior had ended up causing considerable strife within the various schools. Ultimately, those factors led to the title itself having been abolished close to twenty years ago. As such, the Lindvolus had come to take its place as the most highly valued of the Festa’s activities.

“…I see,” Claudia murmured to herself in one of the Sirius Dome’s VIP rooms as the contest unfolded before her. “This is what one should expect from the Festa. It’s on a completely different level than the lower categories.”

The tournament was still in its first round, but each of the contestants who had entered the stage so far had considerable skill. Claudia had, of course, watched videos of past Festas, but there was no comparison to seeing it for herself.

“Well, the most notable players are assigned to matches here at the Sirius Dome, so those at the other venues will probably be somewhat less exciting,” Nicholas commented.

“Hmm. That reminds me, there’s supposed to be a promising young talent from Seidoukan coming up in the next match,” Isabella remarked.

Claudia’s parents, sitting on either side of her, looked like they had come to watch the Festa several times before. That said, neither seemed to be particularly interested. As Galaxy executives, their attendance was more a matter of courtesy than anything else.

“A promising talent?” Claudia asked.

“He defeated a Page One in a recent official ranking match, taking their place. And it looks like he got his hands on a particularly powerful Orga Lux recently, too,” Nicholas answered, consulting a small air-window.

“What kind of Orga Lux?”

Claudia wasn’t completely ignorant when it came to Asterisk. If that student had acquired it just recently, then they had probably put in an application for it after becoming a Page One.

“I think it’s called the Pan-Dora or something like that,” her father answered, seemingly disinterested. “It seems to have some sort of precognition ability…”

“Oh? That sounds rather extraordinary.”

If that was true, someone with that kind of ability would be all but sure to win unless their opponent’s skills considerably outpaced their own.

“It sounds like it demands a high cost, however. That would explain why no one’s been able to use it properly until now. I wonder how this newcomer will fare?”

“…I expect he’ll have a hard time. That professor’s creations all have their own little quirks.”

“Hmm?” Claudia wondered, looking toward her mother. Isabella’s manner of speaking had seemed to contain a hint of prophecy.

At that moment, however, the announcer’s voice echoed across the arena, and the contestants began to enter the stage from the gates at either side.

According to the data in the air-window beside her, the one who entered from the west gate was from Queenvale. She seemed to be ranked, but to Claudia, at least, she didn’t look like the kind of contestant who could hope to make it very far. The student entering from the east gate, on the other hand, was the promising young talent from Seidoukan—but no sooner had he entered the stage than a disquieting murmur ran through the crowd.

“Ah, just as I thought.” Isabella, seemingly disappointed, put a hand against her cheek.

The young man was clearly in a poor state. He proceeded onto the stage with weak, tottering steps, and his face projected in the huge air-windows that ringed the stadium seemed sapped of energy. His eyes were hollow, his cheeks sunken like those of an invalid. It was obvious enough that he was in no condition to put forth a satisfactory effort.

Perhaps spurred on by nothing more than a will to fight, he advanced slowly onto the stage, activating the Orga Lux he held in his hands. The twin blades, decorated with designs that looked unsettlingly like moving eyeballs, began to let out a vaguely ominous aura.

“—?!”

At that moment, a shock ran through Claudia’s body, as if she had been struck by a bolt of lightning.

She felt as if the eyes engraved in the hilts of those twin blades had fixed her with a piercing glare. But it wasn’t only that. The swords, of course, had no moving parts capable of forming expressions, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that they had somehow broken into a wide smirk.

“…!”

Before she knew it, she had jumped to her feet.

“What is it, Claudia?” Nicholas asked with a quizzical look.

Claudia, still reeling from whatever it was that had come upon her, hesitated for a brief moment but soon regained her composure, shaking her head gently. “No, I’m sorry. It’s nothing…”

Isabella, however, fixed her with a faint smile, as if seeing right through her. “Maybe you felt something, from the Orga Lux, perhaps?”

“…What do you mean?”

“That kind of thing happens sometimes with Orga Luxes. They choose their users, not the other way around… And apparently, at such times, one can feel as if the Orga Lux is smiling at them.”

“…”

Claudia stared back at her mother in silence, before breaking her gaze and heading toward the door.

“H-hey, Claudia…?” came Nicholas’s perplexed voice.

“I’m going to get some fresh air,” Claudia responded as she stepped out of the VIP room.

She heard later that the young man from Seidoukan suffered an overwhelming defeat.

“…I see. Good work.” Having listened to their report, Ernest Fairclough thanked the three men standing before him and then let out a deep sigh.

The three men each wore the white gilded robes and geometrical masks of Inquisitors from Sinodomius, Saint Gallardworth Academy’s intelligence organization.

Sinodomius was said to be the only intelligence organization associated with Asterisk’s six schools that concerned itself purely with collecting information, while refraining from all other kinds of clandestine activity. As student council president, however, Ernest was well aware that that was merely the group’s public face. It was precisely through his use of them, and because they were willing to do what had to be done, that he was able to hold sway over all of Gallardworth, the good and the bad.

However, that often wasn’t an easy thing to reconcile with the cost demanded by his Orga Lux, the Lei-Glems.

But now, after hearing the Inquisitors’ report, he couldn’t help worrying about what kind of effect it could have on his blade.

“Good morning,” a voice said, followed by three knocks on the door to his office. “I’m coming in, Ernest.”

Laetitia Blanchard, the student council vice president, entered the room. Behind her was the other vice president, Kevin Holst; the student council secretary, Percival Gardner; and the student council treasurer, Lionel Karsch.

These five individuals, Ernest included, formed Saint Gallardworth Academy’s student council, in addition to the academy’s top five Page Ones.

While there were also, of course, support staff that handled much of the necessary administrative work, Gallardworth was essentially governed by these five individuals.

“Come on, Ernest, you could have just left it to us and taken a day off for once. What do you think you’re doing, working this early in the morning? You should try looking after yourself—” Laetitia, known for her charitableness and refined character, swallowed her words upon setting eyes on the three robed men, her face twisting in a deep frown. Her hatred for the Inquisitors knew no bounds.

She looked away from the three figures as they filed out of the room, before finally turning to Ernest once they had closed the door behind them. “…Something must have happened for three of them to come here at this time of day. What is it?”

It was no exaggeration to call the hour early. The morning sun had only just begun to peek through the window on the room’s east side, accompanied by the chirps of birds announcing the beginning of a new day.

“Let’s not worry about that now,” Ernest said, dodging the question and turning to the beautiful young woman dressed in a boy’s uniform. “More importantly, your report, Percival.”

“Understood,” she began, before reading out the list of the day’s tasks. “On this morning’s schedule, the first task is to look over several documents, confirm the next official ranking-match pairings, address the supplementary budget of the Association of Humanities Clubs, evaluate and respond to the requests carried over from yesterday, and…”

“…Looks like today’s gonna be another long one. If only I’d been able to get some proper sleep,” Kevin said, putting his hands behind his head and letting out an exaggerated yawn while Percival continued with her report.

Kevin was a slim, handsome man, and, unusually for one of Gallardworth’s knights, of somewhat frivolous character. Moreover, he was involved in a seemingly endless litany of stories involving romances with women both within and outside of the academy. But historically speaking, at least, that sort of thing went hand in hand with knighthood, so it couldn’t exactly be said that he was unworthy of the title.

Moreover, Ernest couldn’t deny that there was a part of him that liked Kevin’s lighthearted approach to life.

That personality was a stark contrast to that of the large man standing next to him. “…You shameless fool. Can’t you hold yourself straight in the mornings at least?” Lionel scoffed, looking down at him sternly.

Lionel, in sharp contrast to Kevin, was serious to a fault, the epitome of the kind of person who forever remained sober and honest. Graced with a gallant fighting style that had earned him the alias of Royal Spear, he paid such meticulous attention to form and strategy, even in every aspect of his own daily life, that he could well be called the cornerstone of the student council.

“What do you expect? I had to go to three separate parties yesterday, so of course, I’m exhausted.”

“I don’t have the slightest interest in your obscene private life, but it will reflect on all of us if it interferes with your duties.”

“As a knight, I have a responsibility to answer when called on by a lady. Aren’t you the one who’s taking that a little lightly, Leo?”

“Are you trying to talk your way out of things again?”

“Not really. I’m just saying it like it is.”

Just as the two men were about to truly start quarreling, the sound of a gunshot suddenly rang out.

“…Did either of you hear a single thing I just said?” Percival had activated her pistol-type Lux, firing it directly into the ceiling. “Next time, I’ll be aiming at you,” she warned them both coldly.

Kevin and Lionel fell silent, waving their hands in surrender. They knew full well just how serious she was when it came to her reports.

“…Got it, Percy. My—our bad, right, Leo?”

“…Exactly. Sorry about that, Gardner.”

“Then I shall continue,” Percival replied, returning to her list of tasks as if nothing had happened. Her Lux, however, remained activated and ready for use.

Laetitia, on the other hand, glanced up at the fresh hole in the ceiling tiredly. “…Why on earth does she have to be so quick to pull the trigger…?” she murmured under her breath.

“Ha-ha… Well, that’s just how she is,” Ernest replied with a quiet laugh.

And it was no doubt precisely because that was how she was that the Holy Grail had chosen her as its user.

With the day’s work finally apportioned between them, and after hearing each of the other members’ own reports, they hurried to their respective offices.

That is, everyone except Laetitia, who remained where she was, glaring at Ernest.

“Come now, why are you making such a face, Laetitia?”

“Don’t play dumb,” she said brusquely. “You were going to tell me about the Inquisitors.”

Was I, now? Ernest wondered, before folding his hands behind his head and sinking deep into thought. Realizing that there was probably no getting out of it, he decided, albeit reluctantly, to confide in her: “You’re the person I least wanted to tell, but all right… It looks like Galaxy is making their play. It’s been confirmed by Sinodomius’s highest sources.”

“They are…?”

“Yes. Their operations unit seems to have already entered the city.”

At this, Laetitia’s expression turned pale. “They wouldn’t…!”

“Judging by the situation, it looks like they would. Their target is undoubtedly Miss Enfield.”

“But now, after all that…?” Laetitia’s voice trembled in disbelief.

Ernest could understand her shock.

He didn’t know precisely why, but it was clear that Claudia was trying to antagonize Galaxy. Whatever the issue was, it had to have something to do with that professor she had mentioned during her interview several days prior, Ladislav Bartošik with the Jade Twilight Incident.

But Ernest hadn’t expected Galaxy to resort to such measures over that. They obviously didn’t want Ladislav’s relationship with them to become common knowledge, but even so, all that was in the past now. On the contrary, dealing with Claudia in such an extreme fashion, just when the other five integrated enterprise foundations had begun to be extra vigilant toward them, was all but guaranteed to act against their interests.

If they were to delay things, even just for a little while, they would be able to deal with her quietly, without exacerbating the matter. And yet, they had chosen such a drastic approach.

Ernest sat with his hands folded, deep in thought. Perhaps she knows more than she’s letting on…? Something that Galaxy can’t afford to overlook…?

In any event, now that it had come to this, it could be assumed that Gallardworth’s parent organization, the IEF Elliott-Pound, would be watching carefully. With Galaxy moving against the leader of their own academy’s star team right in the middle of the Gryps, Elliott-Pound would be observing them with the highest vigilance. The same would apply, no doubt, to the other foundations, too.

Eliminating Claudia was a sudden change in policy, considering how much effort Galaxy had put into protecting her up till now, but it was the most plausible theory.

Even putting the Gryps aside, if Galaxy was to carry out such a plot, that would still provide their competitors with other opportunities to take advantage of. After all, the assassination of the student council president of one’s own school right in the middle of the Festa was unprecedented. Of course, they wouldn’t be so sloppy as to leave any obvious evidence leading back to them, but they wouldn’t be able to completely conceal what had happened, either, and that alone would be enough for the other foundations to act upon. It would be a particularly advantageous card to hold against Galaxy should anything pop up in the future.

And if, by chance, Claudia was to survive, and go on to win the Festa, and meet with Ladislav as per her wish, that, too, would likely reveal new weaknesses that could be manipulated in turn.

No matter how one looked at it, as far as the other foundations were concerned, the best thing to do would be to wait it out and do nothing.

However—

“I… I won’t let them…!” Laetitia piped up, her fists clenched. She was biting her lip so hard that she looked as if she might draw blood.

She pulled her mobile out of her pocket, her trembling fingers initiating a call.

“…Agh! Why won’t it connect?!”

She must have tried to contact Claudia, but the call hadn’t gone through. Or perhaps, Ernest wondered, Claudia was no longer able to answer.

“It’s highly likely that Sinodomius will have taken note of that. If you’re going to contact her, you need to do so properly and refrain from doing anything that might compromise you both.”

“Ugh…!” Laetitia fretted, chewing her nails in worry.

Her eyes were burning with anger, but Ernest couldn’t tell whether it was directed at Galaxy or Claudia.

Or perhaps both of them.

“Is that righteous indignation at Galaxy’s disreputable course of action, Laetitia?” Ernest pressed. “Or is it due to your own prideful quest for revenge?”

“Th-that’s…,” Laetitia stammered.

He didn’t know exactly what kind of relationship the two had, but it was clear enough that, for Laetitia, Claudia occupied a very special place in her heart.

Laetitia didn’t seem willing to disclose it, however.

“Very well. I will try to look into this myself, as well.”

“Huh?” Laetitia looked up at him in surprise. “B-but if you do that, given your position…”

Laetitia seemed to have already understood that Elliott-Pound would adopt a wait-and-see attitude. As the student council president, Ernest was, of course, unable to act against the interests of the school’s parent organization. If he did and was found out, he would be unable to avoid disciplinary action.

And yet—

“He who holds the title of Pendragon cannot turn a blind eye to a lady in need. Of course, that goes for my personal feelings, too.”

“…Do you have a plan?”

“I’m afraid that, just like you said, my position doesn’t afford me many options.”

Laetitia pursed her lips in annoyance. “What on earth are you saying?”

“Now, now, let me finish. I might not have a plan or any real options, but I do have an idea.”

“Go on.”

“I’ll need someone else to make the first move.”

Laetitia cocked her head to one side.

She didn’t appear to have made the connection.

“You’ve been dying to have a rematch against Miss Enfield, but there’s someone else who has also been looking forward to a match against her team, isn’t there, now?”

“Ah…!” As he had expected, that hint had been enough for her to connect the dots. “R-right, she might just be willing to ignore the foundations… But are you sure she’ll do what you’re thinking?”

“Come now, I myself offered her no small amount of assistance during the school fair. It’s about time she returned the favor. I’m sure she’ll have no complaints,” he said with a light smile as he reached for the device on his desk. “And besides, if I use the hotline, not even Sinodomius will have an easy time listening in.”

“Oh-ho, so you want to use me, do you? You’ve more gall than I thought, Pendragon.” Xinglou Fan let out a dry laugh as she gazed at the handsome face projected in the air-window.

“My apologies if I offended you, princess.”

In the audience chamber of Jie Long Seventh Institute’s Hall of the Yellow Dragon, Xinglou, having just finished her morning training, was sitting on a chair that was unnaturally large, especially in proportion to her small body.

Hufeng, crouching down beside her with a hand on his knee, found himself praying that his impulsive and uninhibited master wouldn’t stick her nose into something that didn’t concern them.

“I certainly do owe you for the Gran Colosseo… But don’t you think this goes a little beyond that?” Xinglou replied.

Hufeng nodded strongly in agreement.

“Do you think so?” the voice on the other end of the call asked. “The way I see it, Miss Lyyneheym only agreed to participate because she knew I had already done so. You might say that it was thanks to me that you had two top-ranked fighters to evaluate your guardians against.”

“…Hmm, you do have a point.”

Hufeng shook his head in disagreement.

“But I do understand that I’m asking a lot,” the caller went on. “So what do you say about this, princess? I would be willing to invite you to our next official ranking matches—as a spectator, of course.”

“Oh-ho!”

This is bad, Hufeng thought. That was precisely the kind of lure that Xinglou would snap up in a heartbeat.

Official ranking matches, being key elements of each school’s publicity campaigns, were normally held in the city’s various public arenas. Matches between unnamed students, however, tended to take place within the grounds of each school, and so, unless they were broadcast, they could only be watched by students from that school. As such, schools sometimes liked to hide a secret ace away from prying eyes in preparation for the Festa. Xinglou herself was, of course, also involved in such activities.

Moreover, it wasn’t the battles between unnamed students themselves that formed the main attraction of such matches, but rather the fact that they were the perfect place to discover yet unseen talent. Among the Festa’s most die-hard fans, there were those who placed special weight on such matches.

Hufeng could sense a bad feeling welling up inside him.

“And above all, princess, aren’t you looking forward to watching the battle between your favorite pupils and Team Enfield? At this rate, they’re on track to lose the most vital component of their fighting potential. Normally, that might be something to rejoice about, but not for you, am I right in assuming?” Ernest, it seemed, knew precisely how to close the deal.

“Hmm… The Pan-Dora’s girl certainly is the heart of the team. It would spoil the fun to take her out of the picture…”

“As you know, Sinodomius is under the jurisdiction of my academy’s integrated enterprise foundation, so I’m very limited in how I can react to this. Jie Long’s Gaishi, however, is under your direct control. There must be something that you would be able to do about this matter, princess?”

The intelligence organizations belonging to each of Asterisk’s six schools differed in their strengths and structures, but as a general rule, they each operated under the management of their schools’ IEF. Even if the student councils of each school were permitted to make use of their services, that right was only given to them on a provisional basis by their respective overlord, so it was always clear who they truly served.

That said, the situation was slightly different for Jie Long and Allekant.

Allekant, for example, took factionalism to an extreme, so much so that each individual faction employed its own independent intelligence agents.

Jie Long’s intelligence organization, Gaishi, on the other hand, had been personally established by the first Ban’yuu Tenra, and since then had historically been attached to the student council directly, with only tenuous links to their enterprise foundation.

“Moreover, enticements aside, if I’m not mistaken, princess, you aren’t the kind of person who likes to watch on in silence, are you?”

“Hmm, are you trying to fan the flames, boy? Don’t get too full of yourself.” For a brief second, there was something dangerous about her tone, although it quickly disappeared. “But very well. Consider me intrigued.”

Upon hearing this response, Hufeng lifted his hands to his head.

Somehow, he had suspected from the beginning that things might end up like this, but that was precisely why he wouldn’t allow himself to nod along to everything meekly.

“…With all due respect, Master, I don’t think it would be wise to involve ourselves with another school’s troubles at this time.”

“Don’t say that, Hufeng. You’ll be upset, too, if your opponents can’t fight at their full strength.”

“That may be so, but still…”

Team Enfield would be Hufeng’s—Team Yellow Dragon’s—next opponent. As a martial artist, it was, of course, natural that he would prefer to fight them at their best.

However, that was a separate matter entirely. He couldn’t stay silent when another school was trying to induce them into engaging in unnecessary risks.

“A-anyway, you should at least think about it before—”

“No. I’ve decided,” Xinglou said with an innocent smile, prior to sounding a small, clear bell.

Hearing that sound, Hufeng let out a tired sigh. He really was at his wits’ end.

There was no turning back now.

Because before the sound could even fade back into silence, she appeared in front of them.

“HIYA! DID YOU CALL ME, LITTLE XINGLOU?”

Appearing as if out of thin air was a young woman. Much to Hufeng’s chagrin, he was still unable to sense her presence.

She had large catlike eyes, cropped unruly hair, and a short body blessed with a bounty of feminine curves. What was most distinctive of all, however, were the myriad of scars that crisscrossed her entire body, face included, all of which she wore like trophies.

With modern medicine, removing scars was a trivial procedure. In other words, the girl—Alema Seiyng, an operative from the seventh office of the Ryuusei Kyuushi, Jie Long’s student council–operated intelligence organization, and renowned for her vicious nature—had decided to keep the scars on purpose.

“Yes, yes. I need to ask you a favor, Alema.”

“WELL, IF IT’S A JOB, IT’S NOT LIKE I CAN SAY NO OR ANYTHING.”

Alema didn’t speak, per se, but rather, she communicated through text displayed on an air-window floating by her side. The long, collar-like spell charm wrapped around her neck served to seal her voice away.

“Ah, Seiten Taisei. I don’t believe we’ve seen each other since the closing ceremony of the Phoenix,” Ernest said in greeting.

“OH, IF IT ISN’T LITTLE ERNEST. LONG TIME NO SEE,” Alema replied with a vacant smile, waving back at him.

The two were acquaintances of a sort. Alema, being Xinglou’s favorite, was often sent to represent her in her stead whenever she was absent from official engagements.

“HEE-HEE! I SAW YOU IN THE GRYPS. YOU LOOK GOOD. WHY DON’T YOU HAVE A GO WITH ME NEXT TIME?”

“That’s impossible!” Laetitia broke in, forcing her way into the frame of the air-window. “I’ve told you again and again, duels aren’t allowed here at Gallardworth! As the student council president, he of all people can’t break the rules! And why are you acting so chummy with him anyway?!”

“EH, NO FUN.” Alema pouted in disappointment.

Hufeng, however, had nodded along with Laetitia in agreement. He had found himself obliged on occasion to take issue with Alema’s rough-spoken and overly familiar attitude with Xinglou. That said, she wasn’t the kind of person to pay much heed to what others had to say, and Xinglou, it seemed, was more than happy to allow her to keep acting that way.

Alema Seiyng, also known as the Sage of Heavenly Enlightenment, Seiten Taisei, was Jie Long’s former number one—meaning, she had been Jie Long’s strongest fighter up until Xinglou had taken her place.

Xinglou had invited the defeated Alema to become one of her disciples, but the scarred girl had turned her down. Xinglou, however, valuing her talents, still wanted to make her her own, and so she had offered her a compromise.

In short, she became not a disciple, but a member of Gaishi, and in exchange, she had the right to challenge Xinglou to a duel whenever she wished. Being just as much a fanatic for battle as Xinglou, Alema had agreed to this readily, and even now, she challenged her at every possible opportunity.

“SO THE JOB?”

“First things first, Alema. Are you aware that Galaxy brought some people here to Rikka yesterday?”

“HUH? NOPE, NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT.” She shook her head, expression vacant.

“Gallardworth’s Sinodomius noticed them. I guess our people must be taking it pretty easy, huh?” Hufeng said, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

Alema merely scratched at the back of her head, without showing even the slightest embarrassment. “THEIR INFORMATION NETWORK IS ON A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCALE THAN OURS. THERE’S NO NEED TO COMPARE.”

“Yes, that’s fine. More importantly, I don’t feel like letting them have what they want. That’s your job,” Xinglou said, a piercing glint flashing in her eyes.

“HMM… GOT IT. SO GALAXY’S PEOPLE. WHO ARE THEY, EXACTLY?”

“According to Pendragon, it sounds like Night Emit. Their head seems to be with them, too.”

“OH, THIS’LL BE GOOD! THE HEAD OF THE YABUKI IS SUPPOSED TO BE PRETTY STRONG, RIGHT? I’M GETTING REVVED UP!” Alema punched a fist into her free hand, flashing them all a brutal grin.

The flames burning in her eyes were just like Xinglou’s when she got worked up.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know how strong the current head is, although I do remember facing one of their previous ones a few generations back. He…” Xinglou tilted her head to one side, as if trying to recall something, before clapping her hands together in excitement. “That’s it. He put up quite the fight, if I remember correctly. Yes, he really had me on the back foot there. Good memories.”

“WHAT?! AH, I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS NOW!”

“Let me say this. Their techniques are truly troublesome. You would be wise not to take on their head, in particular.”

“AND WHY WOULDN’T I?” Alema retorted, her grin growing yet more fiendish.

“…Well, so long as you take care of the job, I don’t really mind.”

Listening to this back and forth, Hufeng broke into a frown, his headache only growing stronger.

Why was it that only these kinds of people tended to flock to Xinglou?

“…Then it sounds like the matter is settled. Well then, princess, shall I leave it to you for now?” Ernest asked with an uncertain smile.

“Very well. And what do you intend to do?”

“Of course, we’ll do everything we can from our side, too… But if we were able to handle it alone, I wouldn’t have needed to call you. Isn’t that right, Laetitia?” Ernest glanced away from the air-window for a brief moment, turning to his side, as if reminding her of something.

So, Hufeng wondered, Gallardworth must have its fair share of impulsive people, too.

“Oh-ho, I see. That’s true.”

“Well then, we’re counting on you, princess.”

And with that, the air-window snapped shut.

“I’D BETTER GO GET READY, THEN,” Alema murmured, before disappearing just as suddenly as she had appeared.

Though he stretched his senses as much as he could, Hufeng still hadn’t been able to detect her leaving. Grinding his teeth in annoyance, he turned toward his leader. “Are you sure about this, Master? Making trouble with an integrated enterprise foundation now would be…”

“Fret not. So long as the Ban’yuu Tenra is involved, they won’t dare make a move against us. Anyway, the Gryps this time has been rather dreary, wouldn’t you say? Perhaps this will add a little spice to things?” she said with an innocent laugh.

Hufeng let out a heavy sigh. The reason that such people flocked to Xinglou was no doubt because she herself could be just as reckless as they were.