Gakusen Toshi Asterisk - Volume 9 - Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

DUSK

“S-sorry I’m late!” Korona stammered as she all but fell into the student council room.

“…What’s all that?” Dirk asked.

Korona blinked in confusion, glancing back at him. “What’s all what?”

She clearly had no idea what he was talking about.

“I’m asking you what you’re carrying!” Dirk repeated in a tone rougher than his usual terse voice.

Not only were Korona’s hands full with shopping bags, she was also wearing a large rucksack on her back.

The bags seemed to be filled with books—a rare sight in the contemporary, digital age. They would undoubtedly be quite heavy, but Korona was, after all, a Genestella.

“O-oh, these? I mean, when I heard that I had the day off, I decided to go into the city to do some shopping. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to go. But then the vice president called me and told me to hurry back, so I came straight here rather than stopping at the dorm. To be honest, it is pretty heavy, and I did think of going back there, but then—”

“Enough!” Dirk interrupted gruffly. It was impossible to tell whether the drivel that she was spewing out was meant as an excuse or an obtuse boast. “Read my fortune.”

“Huh?”

“Hurry up and read my fortune, you dim-witted woman!”

“Y-yes sir, s-sorry, right away!” Korona, taken aback by Dirk’s angry roar, hurriedly put down her bags and pulled out a set of tarot cards from her uniform pocket.

Lining the cards up on the floor, she nervously cast her eyes up toward him. “Um… I should just augur whatever I see again today… Right?”

“How many times are you going to make me repeat myself?! Get on with it!”

“Eep! S-sorry!” Looking as if she might break down into tears at any moment, Korona hurriedly set about putting everything in order.

Korona Kashimaru, Dirk’s private secretary, was a Strega with a very special kind of ability.

However, Korona herself had yet to realize that she was a Strega, nor was she registered in the nationwide database.

This was because her ability could only be activated under very specific conditions, and at all other times, she was indistinguishable from any other Genestella.

She had the power to tell the future—in a way that was always contrary to what would actually take place.

In other words, the fortunes that she predicted never came true.

To most, it would no doubt be seen as a completely useless kind of ability. When it came to information warfare, however, it was invaluable.

“Um, well, today… Ah, right! On the way here, I heard that Seidoukan’s student council president had gone missing. I’m a bit worried about her, so why don’t I try to find out whether she’s okay?”

Three conditions had to be satisfied for Korona to use her ability.

The first was that she had to use it during the evening.

“All right, then, I’ll get started…”

The second was that Korona herself had to decide what she would augur.

She closed her eyes and began to rearrange the cards; a bluish-white magic circle rose out of the floor around her.

And the third was that she could use her ability only once per day.

“Okay, here we are!” she exclaimed as she finished turning over five cards and opened her eyes.

“What does it mean?”

“Right, just hold on a minute… Huh?!” Korona, checking the cards, let out a squeal of surprise and leaped backward.

Her actions, as usual, were carried out to excess.

“What does it mean? Come out with it!” Dirk pressed.

The young woman frowned uneasily. “Um, it’s… How should I put it…?”

She glanced about at her surroundings, before moving to whisper in Dirk’s ear, as if afraid of being overheard.

“…Tch! Are you sure?” Dirk clicked his tongue, fixing her with a glare.

“Eep! That’s what they say!” Korona stepped back, nodding repeatedly.

Dirk, however, was no longer paying attention to her, wrinkling his forehead in consternation. “Damn it… What the hell are they doing?”

Seidoukan Academy’s harbor block was wrapped around the campus but separated from it by a large canal-like trench, and so it was not usually accessible. Unless one tried to swim across to it, there were normally only three ways in.

The most obvious was to enter via boat. As the harbor block was used to store goods ferried in from the cities on the shores of the lake or brought in from the airport, this was perhaps the most frequently used route.

The next way was to enter aboard one of the many vehicles from the urban areas that were used to move goods around the city.

The last route was an underground passage connected to the center of the academy. Strictly speaking, this was the same route used by the vehicles, but there was an adjoining path that could be entered on foot, too, if need be.

If a student wanted to enter the harbor block, the only practical option available to them was this underground passage.

It was this path, next to the automatic conveyor belts, that Ayato, having regrouped with Julis and the others, was presently hurrying along.

“…Who would have imagined that Yabuki works for Shadowstar?” Julis, running beside him, murmured gravely.

“He had me completely fooled, the way he goes around acting like an idiot all time,” Saya agreed, pouting in indignation.

“Now, now, it’s thanks to him that we’ve made it this far.”

The underground passage was for use only by the academy’s staff and wasn’t indicated on any campus maps. If Eishirou hadn’t told them about it, they would have had to waste considerably more time just to make it to the harbor block.

“Right. We can deal with him once this is all over and done with. For now, we need to focus on finding Claudia as quickly as possible…”

“Um… Isn’t that the way out?” Kirin, running behind Ayato, pointed ahead of them.

Ayato lifted his gaze and found that the path ahead was indeed growing brighter. “All right, let’s hurry!”

They all nodded in agreement, increasing their speed, until, finally, they emerged into the open.

“…The rain’s gotten pretty bad,” Saya noted with a frown as the water began to beat against them.

Sunset was still some time away, but their surroundings had already grown dim. Huge warehouses and tall cranes stood illuminated by yet larger industrial streetlamps. Standing in perfect rows amid the pouring rain, they looked unsettlingly monstrous.

“Now then, we might have made it this far, but with the harbor block being as vast as it is, we should split up, and—” Julis stopped there, just as they all sprang in every possible direction.

The next moment, a huge container, almost as large as a house, came crashing down on the very place where they had been standing. Having dodged it by the skin of his teeth, Ayato glanced up to see its crushed and misshapen bulk lying in front of him.

“…My apologies, but I’m afraid I can’t let you go any farther.”

No sooner had the voice rang out from somewhere beyond Ayato’s perception than several more containers came crashing down one after the other. This time, however, instead of falling toward the four students, they came down in a stack, forming a seemingly impenetrable wall.

“What do you say? Won’t you all be good now and run along home?” the speaker asked, appearing atop the newly formed wall, staring down at Ayato and the others.

The hooded figure was dressed almost the same way Eishirou had been.

Shadowstar…? No, wait, that voice…

“I don’t know who you are, but we won’t go easy on you if you don’t get out of our way!” Julis shot the mysterious figure a baleful look in return.

The figure, however, merely shrugged in amusement. “Oh dear… What a horrible thing to say, Glühen Rose. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me?”

“What?” Julis glared back suspiciously.

Ayato, however, had already realized who exactly they were facing. “It’s been a long time, Silas Norman.”

“Wha—?!” Julis exclaimed, her eyes opening wide in shock.

“Ah, I would expect no less from the Murakumo. You, at least, remember me.” And with that, the figure lowered its hood, revealing an avaricious, gaunt visage.

There was no mistaking that face.

It belonged to Silas Norman, the Seidoukan student who had colluded with Allekant to secretly attack several of his own school’s top students, Julis included.

“…Who would have thought they’d let you into Shadowstar?”

“I wasn’t given much of a choice. Seidoukan used me as leverage to force Allekant to come to the table with them, throwing away my freedom forever in the process. One wrong move, and I’d spend the rest of my days languishing in a cell somewhere. But then, instead of handing me over, they came to me with a deal,” Silas explained, spreading his thin arms wide. His penchant for theatrics, it seemed, hadn’t changed. “They told me that they valued my abilities as a Dante and offered me a place in Shadowstar.”

“Oh? Good for you,” Julis, still on her guard, replied sarcastically.

“Why you…?! What’s good about it?! I’m no more than a pawn to be sacrificed, with a noose already tied around my neck! Seidoukan doesn’t give a damn about using me up and then casting me aside! It might beat being locked away somewhere underground, but I’m sick of being treated like this!”

“…You’ve brought it upon yourself,” Saya muttered in disgust.

“…But I suppose it isn’t all bad. It’s thanks to them that I’ve got this chance now to take my revenge… Incidentally, that warning a few moments ago was just for show. There’s no way I’m going to let you leave.” Silas, grinning, snapped his fingers, and several more huge containers floated up into the air in response.

Silas’s ability gave him the power to control inorganic objects that he had placed his mark upon.

“So you came for revenge? It’s all well and good to resent us—although you should be grateful—but do you really think you can take us all on by yourself?” Julis glowered, standing ready to act at even the slightest movement.

“Of course not—I’m not that stupid. You’ve already beaten me once. Which is why…,” Silas trailed off as more shadowy figures appeared one after the other atop the wall of crumbled containers. They were all wearing the same kind of hooded outfits, their faces completely hidden.

There were more than a dozen.

“You’re all with Shadowstar…?!” Julis muttered in astonishment.

Silas puffed out his chest confidently. “You’re all high up in the rankings, so these types of numbers are kind of necessary, don’t you think…? By the way, these guys are all much stronger than I am.”

“…They don’t look like the sort of people we can afford to let down our guards against,” Kirin, her hand resting on the Senbakiri, murmured cautiously, her eyes scanning their surroundings.

Ayato had to agree with her. If the Shadowstar operatives were all at the same level as Eishirou, they would certainly have a big problem on their hands.

“Argh! But we can’t just abandon our friend…!” Julis declared, activating her Rect Lux as mana began to swirl around her like a tempest.

“Burst into bloom—Livingston Daisy!”

With that, a volley of fiery chakrams spread out, swooping toward Silas and his comrades. Behind them, the remote terminals of her Rect Lux carved red lines through the air.

It was a two-pronged long-range attack, a technique that only someone like Julis, who excelled in processing spatial information, could hope to pull off.

“I’ll carve a path right through you all if I have to!”

“Ha-ha! That’s what I was hoping for!” Silas’s voice was ecstatic, echoing darkly in every direction. He blocked the flying chakrams by lifting a container into their path, just as the other operatives all leaped down from the wall of containers to dodge the remaining attack.

They didn’t have time to get embroiled in a melee here—they had to find Claudia as quickly as possible. And yet, their opponents didn’t look like they would be receptive toward negotiation.

“I guess I don’t have any choice…!” Just as Ayato had put his hand on the Ser Veresta, preparing to unleash his full power, he heard Saya’s voice behind him.

“…Go, Ayato,” she whispered, before aiming the Helnekraum toward a Shadowstar operative who had begun to dash their way.

“Boom.”

The blast, however, went wide of the operative.

“Dear me, were you even aiming?” Silas scorned with a laugh.

But that was fine.

“Huh…?!”

Ayato had already started running—straight toward the gaping hole that Saya’s overpowered Lux had burned through the wall of containers.

Ayato had understood from the very beginning that that had been her intention.

“D-damn it!” Silas burst out in panic, throwing container after container in Ayato’s direction.

He was too slow. Ayato dodged them all without even having to adjust his speed—before sensing a sudden thirst for blood and bringing himself to a screeching halt.

At that precise moment, an operative jumped out from the shadows of the containers, speeding toward him with dagger drawn.

“No, you don’t!” Kirin broke in.

Having blocked the operative’s dagger with her Senbakiri, she glanced toward Ayato, flashing him a smile.

“In that case, I’ll just have to crush you both!” Silas screamed, throwing a container even larger than the one he had used previously toward the two.

“Burst into bloom—Amaryllis!”

It, too, however, was soon engulfed in a fiery explosion.

“Julis!” Ayato called out, turning around.

“Go, Ayato!” she shouted back. “If Laetitia was right, you’re they key to all this! You need to go find her!” She flashed him a dauntless smile, while at the same time taking on three separate figures with her sword.

“Sorry, everyone! I won’t let you down!” he called back to her, before speeding off again toward the opening in the wall.

But before he could reach it, the containers opened one after the next, unleashing a swarm of dolls that each leaped toward the hole to block his way. “I told you, you’re not going through!” Silas laughed. “What do you think? I’m not the same person you fought last time! I can control more than three times as many dolls as when we last met! That’s right, I can now use more than three hundred of them simul—”

“…You haven’t changed at all, Silas Norman,” Ayato muttered before plunging straight into the throng of dolls. He didn’t even bother glancing toward his opponent.

“Wha…?!”

“Amagiri Shinmei Style, Middle Technique—Thousand Beaks of Dismemberment!”

He swung the Ser Veresta with all his strength, twisting his body to follow through with his momentum to take down every obstacle in his path. The Lux, capable of burning through everything it touched, cut through scores of dolls one after the other, casting them off in every direction as it opened a clear path ahead of him.

No matter how many dolls Silas threw against him, they weren’t enough to hold him back.

It didn’t take him long to reach the opening that Saya had blasted through the wall. No sooner had he reached it than he passed through without so much as a backward glance.

“H-hold up, Ayato Amagiri! We’re not done here…!”

Ignoring the whining echoes behind him, Ayato raced through the rain-soaked harbor block.

She couldn’t afford to let down her guard, not even for an instant.

If she did, no matter how briefly, the old man in front of her—Bujinsai Yabuki—would cut her down in a single stroke.

“Ugh…!” Claudia used the sword in her left hand to deflect Bujinsai’s staff, which he had swung toward her legs in an attempt to knock her over, while at the same time thrusting forward with the one in her right hand to constrain his movements. Her opponent, however, had already jumped backward, sending several tobi-kunai throwing blades tearing through the rain toward her.

Claudia, having already used her precognition, knew which way to dodge, but she couldn’t stop one from grazing past her cheek.

“Haah… Haah…!”

Her breathing was ragged, her face twisted in pain from the many wounds seemingly burning into every part of her body.

The only reason she hadn’t already suffered a fatal injury was because of the Pan-Dora’s precognition. Its stock, however, was being whittled away second by second by the opponent before her.

I guess I should have expected this from the head of the Yabuki… I knew he was strong, but not to this extent…

The name Bujinsai Yabuki was one that was handed down by tradition, given only to those who had reached a certain level of skill and ability within the clan. As such, there were times when the position went unoccupied.

Claudia had heard, however, that the current Bujinsai had occupied the position for close to forty years now. That being the case, it wasn’t difficult to imagine just how skilled he was.

But I still can’t let him beat me so easily…!

After all, she had already come this far.

Her dream, which she had been holding on to for so long, was now finally within reach. She wasn’t about to let him snatch it away from her.

She mustered her strength, readying the twin swords of the Pan-Dora.

“Hmm… Not bad, young lady. Who could have imagined that you’d make it this far? Even without your Orga Lux, it’s quite a feat,” he said, staring at her as he stroked his chin.

He wasn’t holding himself in a combat stance, but standing, as always, with a normal posture—one that revealed not a single opening.

“But what’s the point of struggling? You must understand that the end is settled, no matter how much time you manage to buy yourself. Or is it that even a person of your talents can’t bring yourself to give up on life?”

Claudia couldn’t help but chuckle at the man’s way of speaking. “I truly am honored to receive such praise from a person of your caliber, Bujinsai… But unfortunately, I think that you’ve misunderstood.”

“Oh?”

“You wouldn’t understand just how much my heart is racing right now. No, there isn’t anyone who would understand. Ah, how long I’ve been waiting for this, how very long…! Not even I could have thought it would be like this…!” Claudia smiled at Bujinsai with all her heart.

“…Good grief.” Bujinsai scratched his head. “First that girl from Jie Long, now you. You’re all out of your minds in this town.”

“Oh dear, are you talking about your son as well?”

“Ugh, you know where to hit hard…” The man smiled back in response, his left hand moving suddenly.

Another one…!

Claudia spun around to dodge the tobi-kunai, lifting her blade to meet her opponent, who had already closed the distance between them.

Bujinsai parried it effortlessly with his staff, jumping within feet of Claudia and then lashing out with the palm of his hand.

“You’re only focusing on defense, young lady!”

“Indeed. My attacks wouldn’t work against you anyway…,” Claudia answered, leaping backward through the air.

Bujinsai’s martial art skills far exceeded her own, putting her at an overwhelming disadvantage.

“Now, now, young lady. Your swordsmanship is clean and sharp. There’s no need to be so modest. How will you know if you don’t try?”

“I know.”

Bujinsai’s staff crashed again and again with Claudia’s Pan-Dora, sending sparks of mana scattering in the rain.

“Someone like me wouldn’t be able to break past the Yabuki clan’s secret Void Tide technique, would I?”

“—!” With his staff locked to her swords, Bujinsai’s narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “…Where did you hear that?”

“And I’ve heard that the barriers you use are another application of this Void Tide,” Claudia continued without addressing his question. “You use your mana to manipulate people’s subconscious actions through combinations of colors and patterns that they have an instinctive reaction toward. It isn’t quite mind control, but it comes close.”

“…”

All in all, it meant that even if Claudia was going to try to attack him, on a subconscious level, her body wouldn’t allow her strikes to reach their target.

The same thing went for defense. If she didn’t correct herself after using the Pan-Dora’s precognition, she would risk being lured right into the line of fire.

“I can’t judge your timing very well, seeing as it starts working immediately and consumes hardly any mana… But that makes sense. As a technique, it dates back to a time when mana was extremely scarce in the world. It’s so weak I can barely sense it at all.”

The effect was just as imperceptible, too.

Genestellas’ heightened levels of mana gave them above-average resistance to mind control techniques, so there was no way that such a small amount would be able to influence them.

This technique, however, played on people’s most primal instincts, meaning that that natural resistance had no effect whatsoever.

“But I suppose if all you’re going to do is strangle your targets in the dark, you don’t exactly need to be able to breathe fire or conjure up demons. I see the logic behind it.”

“…Whew…” When she had finished speaking, Bujinsai let out a long, deep sigh.

Claudia felt a chill run down her spine.

That’s…! I was trying to buy time, but it looks like I’ve said too much…

It seemed that she had opened a can of worms.

She tried to move away from her opponent, but for some reason, her body had turned stiff, refusing to move.

Almost immediately, Bujinsai’s staff slammed deep into her stomach, leaving her voiceless and throwing her to the ground.

As she rolled across the rain-soaked floor like a ball, Bujinsai cast a flurry of tobi-kunai in her direction.

“Ugh…!”

Claudia twisted her body, trying to shake free of the small blades that had pierced her hands and feet, but her movements were cut short when Bujinsai threw yet another volley into her shoulders and thighs.

“Aaaaagh!” she screamed in agony.

The attack might have looked effortless, but his aim was unerring. Claudia could do nothing but writhe on the ground in pain.

“I think I understand why my masters ordered me to take care of you. Your knowledge runs too deep, as if you’re peering into our brains.” Bujinsai spoke quietly, but his voice was filled with a clear sense of unease.

“Heh, heh-heh… You give me too much credit… I’m no god… Ugh!” She forced herself to keep talking, to buy just a little more time.

Bujinsai’s expression, however, remained unchanging.

No… At this rate…

She could feel a sense of panic building up inside her.

Not yet.

She needed just a little more time.

“It’s over. Your precognition means nothing if you can’t move. Now, time to die.”

A wave of tobi-kunai came hurtling toward her forehead, her throat, and her heart.

It was just like he said. If there was no future in which she could dodge his attacks, her precognition was meaningless.

And yet—

“Ah…! I’ve been waiting for you…”

Claudia’s jubilant smile was covered in mud and blood.

A moment later, she was engulfed in a black whirlwind as the silhouette of a figure wielding a giant sword came soaring to her aid.