The Asterisk War, Vol. 1: Encounter with a Fiery Princess Read online

  “Considering that you’re trying for the third time, your words do carry some weight,” Claudia remarked.

  Lester had been speaking boastfully, but at that, he scowled and spat, “I’ll get it this time.”

  “Yeah, Lester! You were just unlucky before,” Randy piped up. “You’ll make it this time for sure!”

  “Heh. Course I will.”

  The flattery seemed a little forced, but it was enough to restore Lester’s mood.

  “So you can try as many times as you want?” asked Ayato.

  “With permission, yes,” said Claudia. “It does little good for the school to let an Orga Lux sit unused. Although it’s still true that the vetting process is strict—unless you happen to be a Page One.”

  That is quite a perk, thought Ayato.

  “Still, even Page One privileges have their limits. Further applications can be denied if a candidate is deemed unlikely to find a match.”

  Before long they arrived at the Matériel Department, located beneath the high school building—underwater, to be precise, since Asterisk was an artificial island. But with no windows to be seen, this made little practical difference.

  As Ayato looked around curiously, walking down a corridor with people in lab coats who looked like the department staff, a faint voice suddenly spoke from behind him.

  “H-hey. Sorry about the other day.”

  He turned to see Silas standing there with a timid smile.

  “Lester isn’t a bad guy, but, uh…he can be a bit temperamental…” Silas bowed his head in apology, looking abashed.

  “Oh—no, it’s fine,” said Ayato.

  “And Randy just goes along with him, you know, so the two of them might give you trouble later… I’m really sorry. Yesterday, they were talking, and it sounded like—”

  “Hey, Silas! What the hell are you doing!?”

  “Yeah, get over here!”

  Lester and Randy were shouting at him from up ahead.

  “Y—yes, sir!” Silas bowed to Ayato once more, then hurried to catch up to the other two boys.

  It was clear that among the three of them, Lester occupied the top of the hierarchy and Silas was at the bottom. “Hmm,” Ayato mumbled, taking this in.

  Deep in the back of the Matériel Department, there was an elevator, which took them farther down. Finally they came to an open space that looked like a training arena. For all that they were underground, the ceiling was quite high.

  One wall was covered with a hexagonal pattern, and part of the opposite wall was a large glass window. Beyond the glass were several busy men and women in lab coats, who, judging from their apparent age, were not students, but employees of the department. Randy and Silas stood with them, watching.

  “I’m going first,” said Lester. “Any problems?”

  “What do you think, Ayato?” asked Claudia.

  “Oh, um, sure. Go ahead.”

  Ayato simply wanted to see the Orga Lux that his sister had (or might have) used. It didn’t matter to him who attempted the test first.

  With a practiced hand, Lester manipulated the control panel at the edge of the wall with the hexagons. A number of enormous air-windows popped open, and he peered at them in grim deliberation.

  Ayato looked on from a short distance back. “What’s all that?” he murmured to Claudia, who stood next to him.

  “It’s a catalog of the Orga Luxes in the possession of Seidoukan Academy. The number currently stands at twenty-two. That’s the most among the six schools.”

  “Wow.”

  “The catalog lists the type of weapon, along with its name and power. Please pick the one you would like to be tested for. Those appearing in gray are currently in use by another student—that is, they’re already checked out.”

  “So that means, um…” Ayato began counting the ones displayed in gray.

  “There are seven students currently using Orga Luxes,” said Claudia with a laugh. “Of those, four are Page One.”

  A third of the Page One students were Orga Lux users. That alone was an indication of how powerful these weapons were.

  “All right. This one.” Lester selected a weapon from the catalog and closed the windows.

  At the same time, one of the hexagonal markings began to glow, switching places one after the other with the adjacent hexagons, until the shining outline came smoothly to where Lester was standing. Finally, with a low rumble, the hexagon protruded from the wall. What appeared to be patterns on the wall were storage cases.

  “Such a silly precaution,” Claudia laughed.

  “Silly…?” Ayato felt bad for the people who designed the storage system, only for the student council president to make fun of it.

  “Oh?” Claudia raised her eyebrows. “Mr. MacPhail—you chose the Ser Veresta, the Blade of the Black Furnace? Now, that is interesting…”

  “Ser Veresta?” Ayato repeated.

  “Yes, an Orga Lux so powerful it was feared by the other schools—‘All it touches shall melt, and the earth so impaled shall be as a crucible.’”

  “That…sounds a little overdramatic.”

  “It does have the power to live up to such a description. Well, that’s beside the point. The thing is…” Claudia paused with an uncomfortable smile. “That is the Orga Lux whose records may have been altered.”

  “What!?”

  Lester took the activator from the case, then strode to the middle of the arena and gave a signal toward the window.

  Ayato fixed his gaze on the object in Lester’s hand. “So that’s it…the one my sister might have used.”

  In appearance, it was hardly any different from an ordinary Lux activator. The only distinction he could have named was the color of the manadite core. The manadite used in Luxes was always green, but urm-manadite came in a variety of colors. The core of the activator in Lester’s hand glittered a bright red.

  “Time to get started!” Lester switched on the activator and the hilt began to materialize, quite large in itself. Without pause, the hilt opened and a shining blade emerged.

  Counter to its epithet of “Blade of the Black Furnace,” the sword was an almost translucent, pure white. It seemed like a giant sword of light, apparently single edged.

  As Ayato leaned in for a better look, his heart jumped with a single violent beat. A shudder went through him as if he had locked eyes with an unknowable monster. The sensation lasted only a moment—then it was gone.

  What was that…? As Ayato tried to make sense of it, a voice rang out from speakers overhead.

  “Calibrations complete. Please begin.”

  On cue, Lester let out a roar with the Ser Veresta in his hands. “Yaaaaaargh!”

  Ayato could tell that Lester’s prana was rising ferociously, but there was no corresponding energy from the Ser Veresta.

  “Your current compatibility rating is thirty-two percent.”

  Lester went red with fury at the announcement. “I’m not done yet—!” he howled, the muscles in his arms bulging from the force of his grip, his teeth clenching so hard they might crack. He was the very embodiment of a will to suppress anything in his way with sheer overwhelming might.

  But the Ser Veresta seemed to take no notice. Then it let out a sudden, vicious flash of light and sent Lester’s large frame flying. He shouted in pain and frustration.

  The Ser Veresta lingered in midair—Ayato wasn’t sure how—and seemed to look down on Lester. As if it had just swatted away a noisy, annoying insect.

  “It rejected him,” Claudia murmured.

  “So this is what they mean when they say that Orga Luxes have wills of their own…”

  “That’s right. We have no way of communicating with them, and yet…”

  “Your comprehensive reading is twenty-eight percent,” said the voice from the speakers.

  “This isn’t over!” Thrown to the wall, Lester stood up, undaunted, and took hold of the Ser Veresta again.

  “I don’t have a problem with that sort of…bull
headed pursuit of strength,” said Claudia, “but I doubt that he’s going to win the sword over by force.”

  “You can tell all that?”

  “Well, I am an Orga Lux user myself.”

  This was news to Ayato.

  “Mr. MacPhail also chose an Orga Lux of note in his previous attempt and the time before that. Those tests went much the same way. It’s possible that they can see through his simple desire to have any weapon as long as it is powerful. I don’t think that’s such a terrible modus operandi, but…” Claudia trailed off and looked toward Lester.

  He seemed to be trying to impose his will on the Ser Veresta. Each attempt only ended with him getting flung to the wall. “Damn it! Why!? Why won’t you obey!?”

  “It doesn’t seem to care for his attitude. But I suppose that’s hardly surprising, given its reputation for being hard to please.”

  “Really?”

  “It’s a relatively old Orga Lux, but there have only been two students who were ever able to wield it—oh, three, if you include her.”

  “My sister used that sword…”

  By now Lester was unable to even touch the Ser Veresta. It knocked him back just for getting close.

  “Your compatibility rating is seventeen percent.”

  As his numbers fell, Lester made no attempt to hide his frustration. “Just do as I say, damn it!” As he tried to grab the sword with a fierce yell, he was knocked back harder than ever. Slammed hard against the wall, he slumped to his knees in defeat with a furious grunt.

  “Your compatibility rating has shifted negative! It’s not safe to continue the test. We must ask you to stop!”

  “Oh, this isn’t good. It seems to be seriously offended now.” Sounding uncharacteristically nervous, Claudia took a step forward, but then came to a dead stop. Ayato immediately understood why. The Ser Veresta, still floating in the air, was emanating an intense heat. It was like being grilled by an open flame, even from ten yards or so away.

  “The subject is out of control! Please evacuate immediately!” the panicked voice rang out from the speakers. “Subject’s heat output is rapidly climbing!”

  That last part was unnecessary for Ayato and Claudia, who could feel it for themselves. They were on the verge of being roasted alive.

  “That sword is supposed to store heat within its blade,” Claudia explained. “Now there’s no one to control it, so the heat seems to be leaking out a little.”

  “Does this sort of thing happen a lot?”

  “An Orga Lux running out of control? No. I’ve come across a few records of it, but this is the first time I’ve seen it happen. Shall we run?”

  “I’d absolutely love to, but…” The room already felt like a sauna.

  As sweat poured down his skin, Ayato could feel it—the Ser Veresta was watching him.

  And its blade was lowered to point straight at him.

  For some reason, it was targeting him.

  If it were a person, he might have tried to talk his way out, but he was facing a sword. He doubted he could distract it with banter.

  “I guess I have no choice,” he sighed.

  With his eyes fixed on the point of the blade, he focused his prana. Doing so sent a dull pain shooting all over his body, but he couldn’t let that slow him down.

  The Ser Veresta seemed to return Ayato’s gaze, then rushed at him.

  The blade flew at him with savage speed. Ayato dodged it by a hair’s breadth, and even as he winced at its extraordinary heat, he reached out toward the grip. But the moment he tried to wrap his fingers around it, the Ser Veresta flipped in the air and sliced at his chest.

  Ayato sprang out of the way, but not before his uniform had been sliced open by the searing edge. “Can I get reimbursed for this?”

  “Hey!” For a second, Ayato thought Lester was admonishing him for the blasé one-liner, but he quickly saw that Lester meant to warn him.

  In a flash, the Ser Veresta flew to the ceiling and then lunged straight down toward Ayato. The attack came precisely from his blind spot, but Ayato twisted, like he knew it was coming. As the Ser Veresta shot past him, he grabbed the hilt as if it were an animal’s tail.

  “Ouch!” For all that he was expecting it, the grip was unbearably hot. He could feel his flesh burning even as he focused his prana to protect the palm of his hand.

  Still, Ayato did not loosen his hold. In a single motion, he drove the Ser Veresta’s blade into the floor. “Sorry, but I don’t like people chasing after me—the same as you.”

  That same instant, the heat that had filled the room vanished. The Ser Veresta, too, came to a complete stop—almost as if nothing had happened. Ayato let out a sigh of relief.

  As everyone else looked on in awed silence, Claudia alone applauded him. “Very impressive, Ayato. Well done. Do you have a reading for his compatibility rating?”

  The department staff stood frozen in shock for a few moments before realizing that Claudia had addressed them. They snapped to attention and someone reported, “N-ninety-seven percent!”

  “Thank you.” Claudia nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Lester. “You heard the numbers. It’s an unfortunate outcome for you, but I trust that you have no objections?”

  Lester stared at Ayato, still unable to believe what he’d seen. Finally he bit his lip in frustration and slammed his fist against the floor.

  “There. All done.” Claudia gently released Ayato’s right hand, having applied ointment and bandages to his burns. “But are you sure you won’t go to the campus infirmary? They’ll be able to treat you more properly.”

  “No, this is just fine. Thank you.” Ayato made a fist and there was hardly any pain. It did sting a little, but that was only to be expected.

  “All right, if you say so…”

  Ayato and Claudia were once again in the student council room. She had practically dragged him in here to bandage him up, since he had burned his hand grabbing the Ser Veresta.

  They sat side by side on the sofa. For some reason she was leaning in very close, which flustered him, but he asked her something that had been on his mind. “Is it really okay for me to use it?”

  After that commotion, the Ser Veresta was officially placed into Ayato’s care. The registration process would take two or three more days, though, and the sword was not in his possession yet.

  “No one would object to a ninety-seven percent compatibility rating. Would you prefer something other than the Ser Veresta?”

  “No—it’s the sword my sister might have used, so I was curious about it. It’s just that, well…”

  “Is it about Mr. MacPhail?”

  Ayato nodded, remembering Lester’s inordinately frustrated look when they left. “I just feel bad that I kind of ended up taking the sword away from him.”

  “That’s simply the way things go. Competition is the very nature of this city. Which is not to say that there’s no place for friendship and cooperation, but one has to accept it when someone else comes out on top.”

  “I hope Lester sees it that way, too.” Ever since their first meeting, Ayato had the feeling that the other student didn’t think too well of him.

  “Did something happen between the two of you?”

  “Well, technically, it was with him and Julis, not me…” Ayato explained the exchange between Lester and Julis from the previous afternoon.

  “Ah… Mr. MacPhail’s obsession with Julis is well known.”

  “I can’t do anything about it if Lester has a grudge against me,” said Ayato. “But with what happened to Julis yesterday—I don’t want it to cause more trouble for her.”

  “Do you think that Mr. MacPhail is the one who attacked Julis?”

  Ayato smiled awkwardly at the probing question. “I didn’t say that… Sure, the guy who attacked Julis yesterday was as big as Lester, but it’s not fair to treat him like a suspect just based on that.”

  “But wouldn’t you agree that he has the motive? It’s a widely known fact that he harbors
less than friendly feelings toward her after losing to her repeatedly.”

  “That’s why I think it’s not him. Lester doesn’t exactly have a grudge against Julis—he just wants to beat her or maybe just get her to admit that he’s strong. So there’s no point in him sneaking around sniping at her. I think that when the time comes, he wants to challenge her head-on, in front of plenty of witnesses.”

  “Then why do you think that what happened today might cause trouble for Julis?”

  “Whoever is behind the attacks seems to be carefully choosing their opportunities. Well, I guess that’s only natural—Julis is strong, and there’s a good chance they can’t take her in a fair fight. But if she’s already fighting, even someone as strong as Julis has to concentrate on the opponent in front of her.”

  “Which is the perfect chance for them to strike.”

  “It was the same when she dueled me, and yesterday, she was attacked just as she was about to duel Saya. I was worried that if Lester has even more incentive to fight Julis, that could put her in danger.”

  “I see… That’s very insightful.” Claudia nodded, looking impressed.

  She looked just like a teacher praising a student who’d done well, and Ayato was convinced the comparison wasn’t far off. She probably figured all of this out already.

  Just as he thought that, Claudia sat up straighter and turned to face him.

  “Ayato, I’d like to ask a favor of you. I’m certain that you’re the right person for the task. Could you meet me tonight?”

  “Huh? Sure, but—can’t you ask me now?”

  “No. This demands a certain level of secrecy. I’ll contact you later about the exact time and place.”

  It seemed odd to Ayato that she would insist on secrecy when there were only the two of them in the room.

  “They say the walls have ears and the doors have eyes,” Claudia went on, as if she’d read his mind. “This place is a maelstrom of schemes and trickery. It’s not as safe as you might think.”