The Asterisk War, Vol. 6: The Triumphal Homecoming Battle Read online

  “It was…an accident, right?”

  Even Ayato, who had little interest in the Festa, remembered the incident; it had been plastered all over the news. A submersible had been discovered in Asterisk’s harbor block, with the body of the Festa Executive Committee chairman inside.

  “Right. Back then, Danilo had tremendous influence. It would have no doubt been easy for him to manipulate students’ data. It isn’t public knowledge, but I could list any number of other times when he’s gone to extremes purely out of self-interest. The Eclipse is just one example.” Helga paused to catch her breath. “But he died in that accident, and he left only indirect evidence, nothing conclusive. And the integrated enterprise foundations probably disposed of it or covered it up. There was pressure on the investigation, too, and it ended up getting suspended. That said, it’s impossible to sweep everything under the rug, and Danilo’s bad reputation seems to have leaked out here and there.”

  Ayato pondered all this in silence.

  “…”

  “What are you thinking?” Helga asked.

  “…Mr. Bertoni was an executive at an integrated enterprise foundation, right?”

  “Right. The Executive Committee is composed of the management of each of the IEFs. Danilo was a member of Solnage.”

  “In that case, wouldn’t he have undergone a mental adjustment program?”

  Based on what he had heard from Claudia, the executives of the IEFs were supposed to undergo these types of programs to eliminate their sense of self-interest. As such, Danilo shouldn’t have been able to act with self-interest at all.

  “Huh. You’re well-informed. That isn’t public knowledge either, you know.” Helga nodded in admiration. “You’re correct. All executives have to undergo a mental adjustment program in order to prevent slipups based on human mistakes, and so that they’ll make decisions based on the shared ideals of their respective foundations. Danilo did, too… But in reality, the level of adjustment depends on one’s post and position. Those at the top pretty much end up losing what makes them human, but the adjustment tends to be fairly lenient for posts that require some level of creative decision-making. The Festa is certainly one of those.”

  “I see…”

  “The current Executive Committee chairman, Madiath Mesa, is a member of Galaxy in name only. His wish after winning the Festa was to become an Executive Committee member. It’s possible that people like him have never undergone an adjustment.”

  Ayato had heard of cases like that. “So what you’re saying is that Danilo Bertoni was so self-involved, the adjustment program had no effect?”

  “That’s one possibility, but… Well, I’ve said this much, so I guess it won’t hurt. We’ve also been considering another possibility to explain his actions: that someone with the ability to manipulate other people’s thoughts might be involved.”

  “That’s…”

  Only an extremely small number of Dantes and Stregas had the ability to interfere with other people’s minds, a number similar to those gifted with healing abilities.

  Moreover, such individuals were the most strictly managed. Which was without doubt an entirely reasonable precaution, given the dangers they could pose to others.

  “But that’s just a possibility. I’ve encountered several people with that kind of ability, and they’re not as all-powerful as most think. They have to be constantly manipulating their target, so if they were to be seen by another Genestella, the flow of mana would be unmistakable. On top of that, they’re also not very effective against other Genestella.”

  It was said that, since the flow of mana was controlled by one’s prana, abilities that acted directly upon a target (including the ability to manipulate people’s thoughts) tended to have a weaker effect on one’s fellow Genestella.

  “There’s no way that the Executive Committee wouldn’t take precautions, and if Danilo was being manipulated like that, someone ought to have noticed it right away,” continued Helga, before relaxing her expression. “Anyway, we’ve started to take another look into Danilo and the events surrounding him. If we find any information relating to the Eclipse, we might also come across a clue on your sister’s whereabouts. I can’t tell you to hold out for good news, but I thought you deserved to know where things stand.”

  “Thank you,” Ayato said, bowing his head.

  But there was still something he didn’t understand.

  “Um… Did you come all this way just to tell me that?”

  Helga replied with a faint smile. “I’ll say this: I’m grateful to you. It’s thanks to you that we’re able to restart our investigation into Danilo. The bigwigs at the IEFs might not like what we’re doing, but knowing that at least some approve means that, even if we come across something, they don’t think past events will hurt them too much.”

  “…Your expression… You won’t let things go at that, will you?”

  At this, Helga looked at Ayato with some surprise.

  “Hmm… I see. You’re an interesting one, Ayato Amagiri. I can see why she took an interest in you.”

  “What?” Ayato had no idea what she meant.

  Helga scratched at an eyebrow. “Don’t worry about it… But it would be irresponsible to say any more… Tell me, have you ever heard of the Ban’yuu Tenra?”

  “You mean Jie Long’s student council president?”

  “It seems she’s taken an interest in you. You’ll probably run across her in the future…but don’t try to go up against her. She’s fundamentally different from you or me.”

  “Different…?”

  He was not following her at all.

  “Just a bit of advice, a token of my good will; you don’t need to understand right now. Just remember not to get involved with the Ban’yuu Tenra, or the Witch of Solitary Venom, Erenshkigal—for your own good. They’re both different, but they exist on a whole other plane.” She spoke in a serious tone.

  “Oh, and I have one other thing to tell you,” she continued, changing the subject. She took out a mobile device and opened an air-window.

  An image of a thin man with stonelike eyes was projected.

  “Grimalkin Gold Eye Number Seven. His name is Werner. We’re pretty sure he’s the one who kidnapped Flora Klemm.”

  “What?! So you’re saying there’s proof that Le Wolfe had something to do with it?”

  Helga held out a hand to stop Ayato from getting to his feet. “No, not yet… Or should I say, we probably won’t find any evidence. Dirk Eberwein is too smart for that. Things might be different if we could get into the Academy, but we won’t be able to reach him with what we have now.” She spoke calmly, but there was a hint of frustration in her voice. “Dirk Eberwein’s strategy isn’t particularly cunning. No, the most irritating thing about that man is his attitude. He doesn’t aim to win, just to make sure that his opponent loses. He profits off deceiving others. Which is why it’s hard to get to the bottom of it all.”

  “In that case…”

  “What we found was evidence that this man, Werner, was attacked by someone else. The same bloodstains were found both in the underground block that he probably used to escape, and at the site of the kidnapping.”

  “Someone else…?”

  “Yes. Probably someone from a rival intelligence organization. But we don’t know which. We doubt it was someone at Seidoukan. Werner would be undeniable proof of Le Wolfe’s involvement, so they wouldn’t want to get rid of him, and if they were to try to detain him somewhere, it would be public knowledge by now.”

  “What if Le Wolfe silenced him after he failed?”

  Helga shook her head. “Impossible. The Cats are an important asset to their foundation. Even if he were caught, there would be no need to eliminate someone so skilled. In fact, Dirk Eberwein is being held responsible by the IEF for losing him, so it looks like he’ll have to lie low for a while. Which is to say that it was probably someone from outside Seidoukan and Le Wolfe, maybe one of the other schools, or another organization.�
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  “…I see.”

  It looked like Flora’s kidnapping was a complicated affair. It wouldn’t be solved in a day.

  “We’re still investigating. Let Riessfeld know for me, would you?” Helga asked, standing up.

  Ayato looked her over once more, noticing that her every action seemed completely natural but didn’t leave so much as a single opening.

  “You have the eyes of an Asterisk student,” Helga commented, as if reminiscing. “Good, earnest eyes, and a strong will. But people with eyes like yours are easily deceived. You had best be careful.”

  “Okay…”

  “I’ll let you know if there are any developments.”

  And with nothing more, Helga left, leaving him alone in the guidance room.

  “Easily deceived, huh…?” Ayato muttered with a strained smile, scratching at his cheek uneasily.

  CHAPTER 2

  FAMILIAR FACES

  Ayato and company waited to board their flight in a VIP lounge at the North Kanto Mass-Impact Crater Lake floating airport.

  “I was a little worried when they wouldn’t tell me what was going on, but to send the royal family’s exclusive plane…?” Julis grumbled to herself, hands on hips. “This can’t be my brother’s idea.”

  The plane they were scheduled to board was visible through the window directly ahead. Its fuselage was decorated with Lieseltania’s elaborate national coat of arms. According to Julis, the red rose on a golden shield represented House Riessfeld; the eagle with a crown in its talons represented the former royal house, House Barzelnia; and it also incorporated motifs from several other crests to represent various other royal houses.

  “There’s no airport, but you have an exclusive plane for the royal family?”

  Julis answered Ayato’s question with a sigh. “The royal family’s main role is foreign trips. We would be in trouble if we didn’t do that much. We rely on our neighboring countries for management and maintenance…but it’s a complicated situation. I’ll explain it to you later.”

  “Lieseltania’s situation is indeed a little complicated,” Claudia agreed with a soft chuckle. “Well, shall we get ready?” She put her hands together and looked over her companions.

  Since Lester had decided not to come, it was just Julis, Ayato, Claudia, Kirin, and Saya.

  With New Year’s Eve just around the corner, the airport was unusually crowded, but the students had the VIP lounge to themselves. That too seemed to have been arranged by Julis’s brother, and they even had an exclusive boarding bridge leading to the plane so they could leave the city without drawing any undue attention.

  Since they were leaving Asterisk, they sported casual clothes, without the school crests they were normally required to carry. Julis was wearing a chic dress; Claudia a knitted turtleneck, miniskirt, and tights; Saya wore a parka over denim shorts and leggings; while Kirin had on a large sweater and slacks.

  Ayato’s look was, by contrast, rather plain, consisting of a collared shirt, jeans, and a jacket.

  “Oh yes. Everyone, please check that you’ve all completed the proper procedures for taking your Luxes with you.”

  At Claudia’s suggestion, they each checked the applications on their mobile devices. It seemed they had all received approval, so they were good to go.

  Within Asterisk, permission was required to carry Luxes beyond a certain level of power. The situation was the same when taking them outside Academic City. The rules were particularly strict about Orga Luxes, and while Ayato had received permission, his application for the Ser Veresta had taken the longest.

  It should have been the same for Claudia’s Pan-Dora, but it seemed she had been given a free pass by the IEFs.

  “Speaking of which, Julis, you didn’t have to apply for anything, did you?”

  “Ah, the technology behind the new Lux I’m testing hasn’t been made public yet, so they won’t let me take it with me.” Julis gave Kirin a forced smile. “But it sounds like you’re the one who had some difficulty?”

  “Oh yeah… But it all worked out.” It seemed that the procedures for Kirin’s Senbakiri had been different again, and had taken longer than expected.

  “Well, Lieseltania isn’t Asterisk, so I don’t think we’ll need to use our weapons… Ah?”

  As he spoke, Ayato’s mobile began to ring. Just as he was wondering who it could be—

  “Wha…?”

  His hand froze in place when he saw the name.

  “? What is it, Ayato?”

  “N-no, it’s nothing—”

  But when he turned around to try to hide the name from Saya, his finger brushed against the answer button.

  “Yoo-hoo, Ayato! Are you free?” No sooner had the air-window snapped open than Sylvia’s cheerful, grinning face appeared.

  “—?!”

  As soon as her voice rang out, a wave of astonishment and tension rolled over his companions.

  “Geez, Ayato, you asked me for my number, and you haven’t even called once! What gives?” But it didn’t take long for Sylvia, on the other side of the air-window, to notice the situation. She lowered her eyebrows and spoke dangerously, “Oh my… Are you in the middle of something?”

  “Ah, n-no, it isn’t like that…” Ayato tried to dodge the question, entirely unsure how to answer.

  There was nothing unusual about receiving a phone call from an acquaintance. Of course, the world-famous songstress Sylvia Lyyneheym was no ordinary acquaintance, but his companions already knew that Ayato had met her.

  However, since he’d promised Sylvia not to reveal the truth to anyone, he hadn’t been entirely open with them about the circumstances of their meeting, and he’d given each girl a different explanation.

  Thanks to that, Julis and Saya had continued hounding him on the topic for quite some time, but things were finally starting to cool down.

  And now, with this timing…

  “Oh my, if it isn’t Sigrdrífa. I don’t think we’ve seen each other since the closing ceremony of the Phoenix.” Claudia stepped into view of the air-window, a broad smile on her face.

  “Yep, that’s right. We didn’t get much chance to talk, though, did we? It feels like it’s been longer… You look well, Parca Morta.”

  “We would be able to talk more if you would make a better attempt to show your face at the Rikka Garden Summit once in a while.”

  “Ha-ha… That stings.”

  Claudia and Sylvia had known each other for a while, so the exchange was surprisingly relaxed.

  Until Julis broke in. “By the way—just what kind of business does the student council president of Queenvale Academy for Young Ladies have with Ayato?”

  “Don’t make such a face, Riessfeld.” Sylvia parried Julis’s sharp gaze with a laugh, before turning her attention back to the boy in question. “The student council president doesn’t have any business with Ayato. No, I’m calling as an individual.”

  “As an individual…?”

  “That’s right. Are you going to make me repeat myself, Ayato?” Sylvia pouted. “Why didn’t you call me? I didn’t help you out just for your thanks, but for you to ignore me completely, that hurts, you know.”

  Despite her words, her tone was full of mirth, and she didn’t seem to be blaming him.

  “Um, you see… Sorry. You seemed very busy, and I didn’t want to bother you. You’re in the middle of a tour right now, aren’t you?” He felt a little relieved to be able to explain.

  He had wanted to thank her, but he’d been so busy after the Phoenix that once everything had settled down, Sylvia had already left on her Asia tour. She should have still been in the middle of it, so her call had taken him by surprise.

  They’d exchanged contact info, but after all, they had met in person only once. Moreover, she was a famous idol, widely considered the songstress of the century. He was well aware that she had a friendly personality, but he still found it hard to believe he could talk to her practically whenever he wanted.

  “H
mm, so you were paying attention after all. All right, I’ll let you off the hook, then.” Sylvia nodded with a smile.

  “I’ll call you when things quiet down a bit on your end, I promise. I really do want to thank you. You must be in…um, Thailand?”

  “Yep, Bangkok. I was going to go back to Asterisk next month, but it looks like I might be delayed a little while. Anyway, if you want to thank me… Uh, Ayato, I have a small request, if you’ll hear me out?”

  “A request? Well, if I can help…”

  At this, Sylvia gave him a mischievous wink.

  “Don’t worry—it isn’t anything too hard. There’s a school fair next year, right?”

  “Ah, right, in the spring. I haven’t gone before, so I don’t really know what it’s about or anything, though.”

  After all, this year’s school fair had already finished by the time that he had transferred to Seidoukan.

  While school fairs were no doubt major events at regular schools, it went without saying that in Asterisk the Festa came first. School fairs were typically held in the spring, when there were no Festa events. And he’d heard that the excitement surrounding the fair was comparable to the Festa’s.

  “Yep, so will you go on a date with me?”

  “A date, huh? Well, if that’s all… Wait, a date?!”

  Since she had asked it so offhandedly, Ayato found himself nodding automatically, until he finally realized what she had said.

  “Ah, what a relief. I’ll be sure to wear a disguise, like last time.” Her response brushed aside his question.

  “That isn’t what I meant!”

  Sylvia chuckled so hard at the flustered Ayato that her shoulders shook with glee, when Julis and Saya, eyes wide in shock, broke in:

  “H-hold on a second! Just what are you saying?!”

  “…I can’t let that go.”

  Claudia, arms crossed and wearing a wry smile, took a step back, while Kirin stared at him with a troubled look.

  “What I’m saying is that I want to get to know Ayato better. Of course, I’d feel bad if I was taking him away from his girlfriend. But you don’t have a girlfriend, do you?”