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

  “N-not really…”

  “Good. Then there’s no problem. We’ll work out the details later.” Sylvia gave him a short wave, and the air-window snapped shut.

  “W-wait, Sylvia!” Ayato’s voice rang out in vain. He could feel the accusing eyes of his companions boring into him from behind.

  “…Anyway, it’s boarding time. Let’s go… What? It’s not like we’re short on time. We’ll have him tell us everything once we’re on board.”

  Listening to Julis’s thorny voice, Ayato felt a cold sweat run down his back.

  “—I’m sorry, but I can’t break my promise.”

  When Ayato firmly stated this, Julis let out a deep sigh.

  “Good grief… Well, it is you we’re talking about. I had a feeling you would say something like that.”

  Saya flashed him a bitter smile, throwing in the towel as well. “…You really are stubborn, Ayato.”

  “Now, now, that’s one of his best qualities, after all,” Claudia said, clapping her hands as if to declare the topic finished.

  Ayato heaved a sigh of relief and leaned back into the soft sofa cushion.

  Perhaps he should have expected as much, given that it was a royal plane, but the cabin was extravagantly decorated and surprisingly comfortable. Of course, they had to return to their regular seats for takeoff and landing, but now that the plane was in the air, they were all able to relax around a spacious table.

  Well, strictly speaking, all but one.

  “…How are you feeling?” Ayato asked Kirin, who was slumped over in the seat next to him.

  “I-I’m all right, thank you for asking…,” Kirin replied with a smile seemingly devoid of strength.

  She didn’t seem well at all. Her face had turned frighteningly pale, and if you looked closely, you could see her feet trembling.

  “I’m sorry to make you all worry… I-I’ve never been a good flier, ever since I was little…”

  “Wouldn’t it be better to go back to your seat and try to rest there for a while?” Julis offered.

  Since the regular seats were recliners, it would certainly be a better place to lie down.

  Yet, Kirin shook her head. “I—I think I’d rather stay here with everyone…”

  She had looked ill during the entire flight. No doubt this was why.

  And then:

  “Yeek?!”

  Out of nowhere, the plane jolted violently, and Kirin collapsed onto Ayato, her face slamming into his thigh. She quickly glanced up, holding her nose with a frown.

  “Ow…”

  “A-are you okay?”

  “Y-yes, I think so… Wha—?!”

  Taking in the situation, she immediately tried to lift her body in a panic, but fell onto Ayato’s lap again, unable to muster her strength.

  The scene was not unlike lying on a lap pillow.

  “U-um, s-sorry…! I—I didn’t mean to…” Her gaze swung left and right in alarm, when Ayato, with a gentle smile, rested a hand on her head.

  “Don’t worry about it, Kirin. Stay where you are until you calm down.”

  “Wha—?! B-but…!”

  “It’s fine.”

  As Ayato stroked her soft, silvery hair, Kirin’s weak nod was full of apology—and also a hint of happiness.

  “Grrr…”

  “Mrrrm…”

  Saya and Julis were watching them with eyes that seemed to want to scream. He could almost see the steam rising from their faces.

  Once again, Claudia came to the rescue, deftly changing the subject: “Well then, now that we’re all here, there’s something I would like to discuss with everyone.” Her voice was calm, but it had a stern ring.

  No one failed to notice it. They all turned toward her.

  “You’ve probably already guessed…but I want to talk about next year’s Festa. I would like to ask you all to participate as my team members in the Gryps.” Claudia paused there and turned to Ayato. “I’ve already invited Ayato, but his answer was—”

  “—only if Julis joins,” he answered before she could finish.

  “And do you still feel the same way?”

  “Yes,” he declared.

  A blush began to color Julis’s cheeks. “W-well, that is the sort of thing you would say.” She nodded.

  “In that case,” Claudia said, turning toward Julis, “what do you say?”

  “I’d like to ask you something first.”

  “By all means.”

  “Why are you so fixated on the Gryps? With your abilities, you shouldn’t have any problem winning the Phoenix or the Lindvolus, but since fighting in the last Gryps, you haven’t shown any interest in participating in either.”

  Ayato had wondered the same thing. There was a rumor that she had agreed to a contract with one of the IEFs, but Claudia herself didn’t seem to have an urge to participate in any other tournaments.

  “You’re right. I should be able to scrape through the Phoenix or the Lindvolus. But it would be a difficult victory, and that would be no good.”

  “And the Gryps is different?”

  “Indeed, so long as I have reliable team members,” Claudia confirmed with a smile. “I’ll tell you more if you agree to join. It relates to my weakness, you see, and my partner.”

  She gave the holder at her waist a pat. The Orga Lux Pan-Dora clearly lay inside.

  “…Precognition has a weakness?” Saya frowned suspiciously.

  The Pan-Dora was an Orga Lux of such overwhelming power that there was hardly anyone who hadn’t heard its name, and yet no one, it seemed, knew any specifics about its abilities.

  It was said to be able to look into the future, but specifically how far ahead could it see? How many times could it be used? Even the usually well-informed Eishirou could only grasp at straws.

  Ayato had heard from Claudia about the toll it took on its user, but even he knew nothing about its true power.

  Claudia laughed softly. “There’s no such thing as an invincible weapon.”

  “But you’re pretty strong even without the Pan-Dora,” Kirin said timidly, tilting her head. Her complexion seemed to have improved a little, and some strength had returned to her voice.

  “No, without the Pan-Dora, my abilities don’t amount to much. That’s why I need strong team members. After all, to win the Gryps we would have to defeat the Life Rhodes.”

  The Life Rhodes was the name given to Saint Gallardworth Academy’s strongest teams, composed of its Page One–ranked students. The ten highest-ranked students were divided into two teams that specialized in fighting as a unit, the first of which had won the last Gryps.

  Of course, the members of those teams would be different this time, but Pendragon and Gloriara, who had led them, would remain. And they would certainly be the favorites to win this time, too.

  “Zhao Hufeng and Cecily Wong from Jie Long, the tag team that won the last Phoenix, will probably be participating as well. Moreover, the Ban’yuu Tenra’s best disciple will probably be part of Jie Long’s team.”

  “Ah, their number two, Hagun Seikun. I’ve heard about his skills.”

  “Queenvale’s Rusalka can’t be underestimated either… So even if we just consider what we already know, there will be strong competition, and there are probably others who haven’t announced their participation yet. And this is just between us, but it looks like the Executive Committee is considering bringing back the mercenary system, so an attack could come from anywhere.”

  “The mercenary system…?” Ayato repeated.

  “It lets people from outside Asterisk participate in the Festa,” Julis answered sullenly. “There are restrictions, of course, but it’s used to keep the size of the competition consistent. Fewer students tend to participate in the Gryps than other tournaments, after all.”

  In order to maintain consistent levels of excitement and activity across competitions, each school had a participation quota. They were, however, allowed to trade with one another. Specifically, Queenvale, the smallest of
the schools, generally sold some of its quota to Jie Long, the largest.

  But because in the Gryps it was necessary first to assemble team members, and then to have them train together to be able to fight as a unit, the entry barrier was higher than the other tournaments, and so sometimes the quota wasn’t met.

  “The mercenary system is a solution to a problem that relates to the very foundations of the Festa, so it’s handled very delicately. Still, it can make the competition more exciting, so there are arguments both for and against it.”

  The rules stated that any mercenary participants had to be temporarily enrolled as students, and could participate in the Festa only once. Even the amount of points they earned for their schools was less than that of regular students. And because they had to be in the same age group as regular students, they couldn’t be older than twenty-two.

  “…So they’re supplement participants?” Saya’s expression seemed to indicate she didn’t understand the system either.

  “Don’t underestimate them, though. In the past, some mercenaries have been former child soldiers for private military companies, with real combat experience. In cases like that, they can be much stronger than even the best students.”

  “Right. I’ve heard that a mercenary team came close to winning a while back, and that caused quite a commotion,” Kirin added.

  Claudia nodded. “Since then, the Executive Committee has seesawed between getting rid of the mercenary system and bringing it back. I would expect Madiath Mesa to make the right decision, though…”

  “At any rate, that doesn’t change things. Winning the Gryps isn’t going to be easy.” Julis turned to Claudia. “Hmph, well. I’ll join your team. It’s not like I have any reason to say no.”

  “Thank you, Julis… I would be extremely grateful if the rest of you would join, too, but you don’t have to answer right now.”

  “That’s odd, coming from you.” Julis frowned as if to say, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  A touch of hesitance showed in Claudia’s eyes. “Well—I just wanted to see how you all felt about it. Let’s see… Why don’t we set the end of this trip as our deadline? After all, something might happen to make you change your minds. If you do, please don’t worry yourselves.” Claudia’s usual cheerful expression soon returned, but there was indeed something strange about her mannerisms.

  The others, no doubt having picked up on it, looked to one another uneasily.

  The Invertia had caused comparatively little damage in Europe, so the great cities had continued to flourish with little outward change. Nonetheless, they couldn’t escape the forces of continued urban centralization, and so there was a notable disparity between them and the smaller cities and towns.

  After landing at Munich Airport, they took a train to Saya’s house. They arrived sooner than expected, in a little under an hour, but even so, it was approaching evening. The sun had already begun to set, so they decided to stay the night.

  Saya’s family lived in a two-story home in the Munich suburbs. It looked like a renovated brick house too old to live in, so a lot of work must have been done on the inside for the family to occupy it. Looking carefully, one could also see various sensors installed by the entrance and around the premises, so it must have had tight security, too.

  Though it was sunny, the temperature in southern Germany stayed pretty low in the winter, and there was snow piled up in heaps along the road.

  It’s freezing, Ayato found himself thinking.

  “…I’m back.”

  Saya, standing at the head of the group, disabled the sensors and locks. Inside, Saya’s mother, Kaya, came to greet them. “Oh, so you’re finally home, my silly daughter,” she said. She held an electronic cigarette between her lips, and her hair was roughly gathered at the back of her head.

  “It’s good to see you again, Kaya.”

  “Ah, Ayato. How long has it been? But look at you, haven’t you become a fine young man!” Kaya broke into a carefree smile.

  Her features and slender figure resembled her daughter’s, but unlike Saya, she was very tall, almost Ayato’s height. She looked so young, it was hard to imagine she was really Saya’s mother.

  Claudia stepped forward, bowing her head. “Thank you for letting us stay with you, Mrs. Sasamiya.”

  “So polite! Are you the student council president at Seidoukan?”

  “Yes. My name is Claudia Enfield.”

  “U-um, and I’m—”

  Kirin began to introduce herself, only to have another voice sound out of nowhere.

  “Now, now, the doorway is no place to talk. Come on in.”

  “Wha—?!” Kirin let out an adorable cry as a semi-transparent figure suddenly appeared next to Kaya.

  “Souichi, you can’t go scaring our guests like that, popping up out of thin air.”

  “Ah, sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking. I could see you, you see.” The man scratched his head at Kaya’s sharp gaze.

  He looked to be around fifty years old. The bearded, glasses-clad figure was mostly the same as Ayato remembered Saya’s father, Souichi Sasamiya.

  Well, aside from the fact that he wasn’t actually there.

  “A hologram…,” Julis murmured.

  After the Phoenix, Saya had told them that her father had lost his body in a research accident, so they should have known what to expect, but after seeing him with their own eyes, they didn’t know what to say.

  “Ha-ha, don’t look so glum, Ayato. I may have lost my flesh-and-blood body, but it isn’t that much of an inconvenience. You might even say this is a more suitable arrangement—for building Luxes, that is.”

  Souichi grinned. Ayato replied with a forced smile. “…I see.”

  “Well, we can’t stand here all day. My husband is right about that, at least. Do come inside. It isn’t much, but I’ve prepared dinner.”

  With that, Kaya led them into the living room. The Sasamiyas had outfitted the room in a rather functional manner, without much in the way of clutter or decoration, unchanged from how Ayato remembered it. There was a stack of dishes atop the table that stood imposingly in the center of the room.

  “I normally only make enough for myself, so it’s been a while since I’ve been able to cook for a crowd. Come on in, sit,” Kaya urged.

  Julis and Kirin began to introduce themselves once again.

  “My name is Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld. I’m very grateful for your hospitality. Thank you so much.”

  “I never thought we would have a princess come visit! Please, this house might not be much, but make yourself comfortable.”

  “U-um, I’m Kirin Toudou. Saya really helped me out during the Phoenix…”

  “You needn’t be so modest!” Kaya laughed. “I’m sure she caused you all sorts of trouble!”

  “N-no, not at all…!” Kirin shook her head violently.

  “I must say, I never thought you would make it to the semifinals,” Kaya said.

  “Ha-ha, but I sure did.”

  “That’s because you’re such a doting father, Souichi.” Kaya, grinning, tried to pat his hologram on the shoulder.

  They may have been different ages and states of matter, but husband and wife appeared to be as close as ever.

  “Well, thanks to you, I’ve been inundated with offers from laboratories and companies from all over the world. It’s quite a change of pace! I turned them all down, though,” Souichi pronounced, as if truly content.

  “You turned them down…? But why?” Ayato asked.

  “I’m happy just to have my Luxes so highly regarded. Of course, we need money to live, but we’re doing all right for the time being.”

  “I heard you did some development for Galaxy’s research institution, Mr. Sasamiya,” Claudia added.

  “Well, now. You heard right.” Souichi’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

  Claudia’s parents occupied high-ranking positions at Galaxy, so there was a good chance she knew a lot of information that she seldom let o
ut.

  “Speaking of which, don’t you have a laboratory of your own here, Uncle Souichi?”

  “Ah, in the basement. You can’t even compare it to the one I used to have in Japan. My body is down there, too, and the factory is running as we speak.”

  “Your father put all the compensation money from the accident into it.”

  Good grief, Saya seemed to say as she shrugged.

  “That’s it! Saya, you’ll have to let me adjust your Lux. Let me show you just what I can do—”

  “Yes, yes, you can talk about that later,” Kaya said, holding back her overenthusiastic husband. “First, let’s eat. The soup should be just about ready.”

  And so, a lively meal began. Even Kirin, though nervous at first, soon opened up, and cheerfully told them all about the Phoenix and how they had rescued Flora.

  Kaya presented a delicately flavored Japanese-style meal that—though perhaps rude to say—was really at odds with her personality. The simmered flounder and rolled omelet were of a subdued but delicious taste, and to Ayato, they brought a wave of nostalgia.

  In Ayato’s home, his older sister, Haruka, had taken over the household responsibilities after their mother had passed away, but it was of course difficult for a student to handle that mountain of chores every single day, especially given her frequent training.

  And so the two had often found themselves in the care of their neighbors, the Sasamiyas.

  For Ayato, the Sasamiyas were closer to his image of a happy family than his own.

  This brings back memories…

  Savoring that taste, before he knew it, Ayato found his worries fading away.

  “Now then, let me show you to your rooms,” Kaya said, standing up shortly after they had finished dinner.

  “We have two spare rooms upstairs that I thought you could use. Are you all right going two to a room?”

  “Of course that’s no problem,” Claudia answered for everyone.

  Kaya frowned. “But you know… How should we divide them? Even if Saya uses her own room…”

  “Divide the rooms…?” Ayato repeated, suddenly realizing the issue.