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Volume 4 Part 1
Chapter 1 - The Master of World Dragon
The entire site of the World Dragon Seventh Institute, which was located in the southeast area of Asterisk, was covered with innumerable buildings connected by corridors. It was dotted with gardens and open spaces, as the buildings were surrounded by them, which mimicked the traditional Chinese-style architecture. It's entire architectual aspect, rather than being an academy, was probably more like a huge palace.
At one corner, there was a building called the Yellow Dragon Temple. At first glance, it was not that much different from other multistoried buildings of three-layer structure, and it had a roof of yellow-speckled lapis lazuli tiles in vermillion-lacquered pillars. In fact, any student enrolled in World Dragon knew well how special this place was.
––No, to be exact, what was special was not the place. But its Master.
It was the person, who inherited the nickname of .
It was the person, who reigned in World Dragon.
The name of the person, who had been placed in the seat three years ago, at just the age of six, was Fan XingLu.
“Master, it is soon time for the regular report meeting.” Zhao HuFeng announced after a short pause.
At the entrance of the hall Zhao HuFeng took the stance of Bao Qan[1] with the right fist in the left palm.
HuFeng was ranked #5 in World Dragon Seventh Institute. Although he had a well-trained body, he was of short stature; and though he might be mistaken for a girl, due to his softly refined features and long hair, he was a full-fledged 17-year-old male student. Once highly hailed as a prodigy he had splendidly finished second in the previous Phoenix.
In fact, as HuFeng recalled himself at that time, he almost fainted in agony for he was like an ignorant frog in a well[2].
“Oh, it’s already that time, huh.”
The little girl, who was standing in the middle of the hall turned her face to that voice, and returned an innocent smile.
She was a lovely girl, who tied her long black hair round like butterfly wings, and whom the World Dragon’s uniform, which had the appearance of an ancient custom, suited well. Her height reached to HuFeng’s chest.
It wasn’t exactly too far-fetched, but for those who knew nothing, they would likely find it hard to believe that this small girl was the Fan XingLu, rank #1 in World Dragon Seventh Institute, which boasted of the largest scale of Asterisk.
“Then, we will leave it as that for now. Everyone, thank you for your hard work. I will accept a challenge again at any time.”
XingLu said so and looked around the hall. Dozens of students were lying on the floor gasping for breath.
They were all those who wished for apprenticeship to XingLu.
Presently… XingLu’s personal pupils numbered about fifty. When considering the entirty of World Dragon, there were by no means many, because there were also World Dragon sects having several hundred disciples. However. All of those fifty people all had their names recorded in the Named Charts of World Dragon, and as for the Top Twelve, eleven among the twelve names were XingLu's disciples.
In other words, one might say that most of the strong people in World Dragon were XingLu’s disciples.
“Was there not any successful applicants this time… Either?”
“Yes. Unfortunately.”
They left the hall and advanced along the corridor overlooking the courtyard.
In order to become a disciple of XingLu, one must just clear a very simple test. It was just to touch XingLu within a certain time. Just that.
However… HuFeng knew from experience how much ‘just that’ was difficult. Even when dozens of students, who had confidence in their abilities, joined forces, they were not able to lay a finger on her small body. Even though XingLu did nothing but merely dodge or ignore the attack and didn't even ward off their hands.
“––By the way HuFeng. Did you see today’s match?”
“By today’s match, do you mean in the Phoenix?”
Of course, HuFeng was also checking the matches of his comrades. Nine pairs of World Dragon advanced to the main battle (final stage), and five pairs, which finished today’s fourth round, entered in the best 16; this was the most among the six academies. In addition to it, those pairs were eventually XingLu’s disciples, too.
“There was one interesting boy. You know, the rank #1 of Seidoukan –– if I’m not mistaken, it is called Amagiri Ayato. The puppets of Allekant were also quite good but, in terms of material, that boy is the number one. He’s really interesting.”
“Ah, you talk about the eleventh match, right?”
She was talking about the match where the pair of Seidoukan's rank #1 and the pair of Le Wolfe's rank #3 clashed. In the fight between Ogre Lux users, both of them were considerably skilled.
However…
“It seemed that his power is somehow restricted.”
The intelligence agency of the academy had already collected a fair amount of information. According to it, it seemed that, he was able to maintain his full power state for only an extremely limited time. Even though it was still conjecture.
In addition, there was also the rumor, which said that once he pulled out that power, a certain interval was necessary in order to use it once again. In fact though, since the leak source of this rumor seemed to be Le Wolfe, it was questionable how far it was credible.
“It's probably the ability of a Strega or Dante. Hmm, isn’t that also interesting?”
“If I'm not mistaken, their next opponent will be Song and Luo...”
Song and Luo were disciples junior to HuFeng and veterans… Who had their names recorded in the Named Charts.
“Yes. I look forward to see how they will attack.”
If one thought normally… A rank #1 was nothing more than a formidable opponent. Apparently. Their ability was the real deal.
But, the time limit was a weakness, which could be called definite. One could attack as much as he wanted, and fully conquer.
Assuming that the rumor of the ‘interval’ was also true, given the strength of Song and Luo, one might say that it was improbable that they would lose. Though the other member of the pair, the Gruene RosePetalblaze Witch, rank #5 of Seidoukan, was also quite skilled, once drawn into close range combat, in a situation of two-to-one, she would be overpowered.
“Well, anyway, I took a liking to Amagiri Ayato. His groundings are good, and he seems to have backbone as such, too. I want him; I really want him as disciple, by all means. If it’s him, with five years –– no, even with three years of training, he will become a good playmate[3] to entertain me.”
“…Are you dissatisfied with only us?” HuFeng said slightly sullenly.
As XingLu cacklingly laughed.
“It isn’t the case. But… Such a thing is like a meal. And it’s better to enjoy various tastes, isn’t it?”
“Hah…”
“For example. The captain of the Star Hunter Guards was delicious. Despite being blessed with an ability, it’s impressive how he admirably reached up to that level just with a study of only a few decades. I would like to have another bout with him, but I have apparently been disliked by him in any way.”
As XingLu was thinking about the past… She wistfully talked with a distant look.
“If I am to personally train Amagiri Ayato, he will be able to reach that level, too. Hah, it’s really regrettable. Why didn’t he come to World Dragon…? HuFeng, can’t you somehow do something about it now?”
“Even if you say so…”
The students of the six academies, once they enrolled an academy, were generally not permitted to transfer to another.
“…Huh? No, please wait a moment.”
HuFeng suddenly noticed there.
“Wasn’t Master in the middle of looking after the entering applicants when that match was broadcast …?”
“Yeah. So what?”
“So what…?”
To XingLu, who plainly said, HuFeng held his forehead.
“Don’t tell me –– you were watching it? While taking care of them?”
“It was just the right handicap, wasn’t it?”
XingLu took out her portable terminal and chuckled.
“Hah… Please think a little about their feelings. After all, it would have normally shattered their confidence.”
“There might be also people, who roused themselves, right? You’re too serious.”
To XingLu ignoring his remonstrance without any hesitation, HuFeng responded with a sigh.
“…Excuse me, but it is not that I am too serious, it is just that Master’s desire to play is too much. Please restrain yourself a little.”
“It is an advice I cannot consider. I am merely here to enjoy myself. No one can stop it. For what do you think that title of is?”
It was a nonsensical excuse, yet at the same time it was also an undeniable fact.
Though it felt like they walked some distance since they left the hall, the corridor seemed to continue forever without end. Even judging from the number of rooms lined up on both sides, it was obviously not on the scale that would be realized within Yellow Dragon Temple. Considering the size of the Yellow Dragon Temple as seen from the outside. The inside was surely wider and bigger.
On earth with whatever kind of technology this had been made ── no, in the first place, how many rooms there were in the Yellow Dragon Temple, what kind of structure it became, No one beside XingLu knew it. After all, even HuFeng, who was acknowledged to be XingLu’s disciple number three, could not get into the rooms without XingLu’s permission.
It’s said that it was the first generation was who constructed this multistoried building, and at that, in only one night. Just by herself.
Only the one, who could open the door of this Yellow Dragon Temple, would take over the nickname of .
In fact, even including XingLu, there were only three people who bore that nickname.
The first generation appeared in the early days of Asterisk, and it was a person named as the World Dragon’s founder, who brought the mana-induction capability generalization technique called Star Senjutsu. She was a great figure who alone built the Yellow Dragon Temple, brought up the teaching masters of the Star Senjutsu, and established the foundation of World Dragon; On the other hand, it was said that, she concluded various personal secret agreements with the Integrated Enterprise Foundation. Just before leaving World Dragon, she nominated “the person who will be able to open the door of the Yellow Dragon Temple” as her successor. Afterward, It is said that ,many students had challenged to open the door. None among them accomplished it.
It was then several years later that the second generation appeared. It was a person, who opened the door of the Yellow Dragon Temple, which only responded to a specific prana, and achieved the first Grand Cross in Asterisk’s history. Even after graduation, she strived to nurture the next generation as a teacher, and she was called the ancestor of World Dragon revival. Similarly just before leaving World Dragon, she left the same words as the first generation (founder).
And it was three years ago that the third generation , XingLu, appeared in this academy. About ten years after the second generation disappeared, when she, who was very young, easily opened the door of the Yellow Dragon Temple, which no one was able to open until then, she was immediately established as its Master as if it was a matter of fact.
Although there were various rumors even within World Dragon regarding the behavior and knowledge suitable for her age and her conduct to the fact that she was familiar with every corner of the Yellow Dragon Temple, XingLu herself did not mention it, and HuFeng also did not care about it nowadays.
A Master is to the bitter end a Master. And that’s enough.
“––So you were here, Master. We were looking for you.”
“Oh, even brother[4] Zhao is there. Please excuse me for the long silence.”
A pair, boy and girl, who were walking from the opposite side of the corridor, respectfully took the stance of Bao Qan before the two people.
HuFeng’s eyebrows slightly dropped, but XingLu stopped with her unchanged innocent smile.
“Oh, it’s you two, huh. Do you want something from me?”
As XingLu asked so, the two people also pleasantly squinted.
“No, it’s not so much, but”
“We have come to report today’s victory.”
The young girl took over the young boy’s words so as to follow.
It was as if they were speaking like one person, as if it was not unnatural at all. On the contrary, they were in a perfect harmony to the extent that it was uncanny (creepy).
The young boy’s name was Li ShenYun, and the young girl’s was Li ShenHua. As the name showed, they were twin brother and sister, and they were respectively ranked #9 and #10, thus having their name entered in the Top Twelve of World Dragon.
As might be expected from twins, their figures were also similar; except that ShenHua had gathered her hair in a chignon[5], they were almost indistinguishable.
“Yeah, I watched it. It was quite a stunning victory.”
“No, no, after all we”
“Still need to train much more.”
Even while saying so, pride, which could not be concealed in the two people’s words, was oozing.
It also looked like there was some kind of arrogance there, and an overwhelming confidence could be felt.
“Hmm. Never mind. Just get to the main point.”
“Hahaha. We are no match for you, Master. Well, then…”
As ShenYun cut his words once there, he revealed a fearless smile.
“Since it looks like at this rate we will clash with the pair of Brother Song in the sixth round”
“We have thought that we should carry out word of it to Master, just in case.”
To these words, XingLu wonderingly looked puzzled.
“It is not rare for students of a same academy to fight in the Festa. So there is no reason for me to be against it.”
“Well, it is true, but… How should I put it, there are many points where, we are unable to get along well with the members of the Wood faction.”
“There were also quite a few troubles, After all…”
To the twins, who revealed a nasty smirk, the wrinkles between HuFeng’s eyebrows deepened.
The disciples of XingLu were greatly classified in two great factions. One was the Wood faction, a group of people, who mainly trained on Taijutsu, and the other was the Water faction, a group of people, who mainly focused on Star Senjutsu. For various reasons, among the Taoists (Taoshi) belonging to the Water faction, there were people, who looked down on the fist warriors of the Wood faction; One could say that their relation was hardly good.
The twins were the typical example of such Taoshi.
“I don’t understand what you are talking about. How about speaking clearly?”
Prompted by XingLu, the twins exchanged meaningful glances.
“In other words –– in case we were to clash with the members of the Wood faction”
“And it happens that we somewhat overdo it; Something like that.”
“Wha–…!”
Even HuFeng, who was restraining himself because he was in front of his Master, as expected, changed his complexion somewhat.
In other words, they were saying that personal grudges would be settled under the pretext of a match. From a certain viewpoint, to summarize the Wood faction, they could not remain silent.
“Hohoho. You should have said so from the beginning. Honestly. How sluggish you are.”
––But, XingLu held back such HuFeng with one hand and calmly nodded.
“You may do as you like. Since it was for that unspecified purpose, that I granted you power, I have no interest in dictating you the path to take.”
“Master…!”
Ignoring HuFeng, who unintentionally raised his voice, the twins contentedly bowed.
“As expected, Master is broad-minded.”
“We are impressed.”
Saying so, they opened the way just after finishing their business.
Though it was a thought that made HuFeng grinding his teeth, he could not help but abide if XingLu, who was the master, said so.
However, while passing in front of the twins, who opened the way, XingLu teasingly said.
“––But, I wonder if it will really go just as you expect.”
The twins’ eyebrows twitchily moved.
“Meaning… that we will fall behind Brother Song and Luo?”
“No. I am just saying that it is still too early to label your opponents.”
XingLu, who looked at the twins’ faces, which seemed to be doubtful, and stopped, pleasantly rumbled her throat.
“Kukuku, we do not know yet whether Song and Luo will win through this, right?”
“––Oh… I see. No. But”
“Even if it is Song and Luo, I do not think they may lose to an opponent who revealed a weakness as openly as that.”
“It is to say that, to that extent, we value the ability of our brothers.”
Though, their manner of speaking was extremely haughty, HuFeng also agreed to what they said.
There wasn't much data on Amagiri Ayato, but as far as they saw, in some of the videos which appeared on the market, there was quite a great difference of power between when he was at full strength and when he was not. They could not imagine that Song and Luo would be defeated by him in the state where his power was restricted; and once Amagiri Ayato would be defeated, there was no way they would lose in a two-to-one fight against the other member of the pair. The Gruene RosePetalblaze Witch.
“Fufufu, well, it’s fine. More importantly. You should first be thinking about the fifth round… Too. There is no telling what may happen in a match.”
“Hahaha, we appreciate your concern, but”
“By luck of Combination… Our next opponents are the girls of Queen Veil who had been missing. You do not need to worry.”
To the twins, who casually ignored XingLu’s advice, HuFeng’s face became steep again.
“Oops, it’s already such time, huh.”
“Well then, excuse us.”
HuFeng saw off the twins, who said so and left, with a sigh.
“Honesty. When it comes to those twins…”
“Hohoho. I see that you do not like them.”
“They are really very arrogant and they also neglect respect and modesty. There is no way that I can get along with them.”
While following behind XingLu, who had once again begun to walk, HuFeng complained.
It was a fact that the Taoshi of the Water faction tended to look down on the fist Warriors of the Wood faction, but naturally every single one of them was not like those twins. For example, HuFeng’s elder sister disciple, who established the Water faction, though a little daring, was a respectable person.
In the end, that much wickedness, was nothing but the problem of the persons themselves.
“But, they have talent.”
“That… I won’t deny it.”
In fact, as the twins said, in case their pair was to clash with the pair of Song and Luo, It was almost certain that the former would win.
HuFeng did not also feel like losing if he were to take on either one, but when it came to face those twins at the same time, even if he did not lose, he could not deny that he would have a hard time.
If only focusing on the perspective of combination there was nobody among XingLu’s disciples who was better than those twins.
“By the way, does Master think that Song and Luo will lose against the Seidoukan pair?”
“Hohoho. I wonder how it will be.”
To HuFeng’s question, XingLu returned a meaningful laughter.
“If tomorrow –– it was not Song and Luo, but those twins, who were to fight them in the fifth round, I think that Amagiri Ayato and his partner would have lost.”
“Then… Even if the pair of Seidoukan was to take down Song and Luo tomorrow, do you say that they would lose to those twins in the sixth round ── the quarterfinal?”
Then, XingLu looked back, teasingly smiled and shook her head.
“No. If they were to get over tomorrow’s match, it would be hard to say who would win. I look forward to it.”
“Hah…”
To XingLu’s words, which did not quite get to the point, HuFeng slightly perplexed tilted his head to the side.
To begin with, since XingLu was also the student council president of World Dragon, she should not originally expect the students of her academy to lose.
HuFeng was at a loss for an instant of whether or not he should complain about it, but he gave it up after seeing XingLu, who happily shook her shoulder.
In any case, there was no way that she would listen.
---
––Phoenix, the 11th day.
“Geez, it spread out so far in just one day.”
As she entered the waiting room of the Sirius Dome, which she got completely used to, the stunned Julis welcomed Ayato with a herd of space windows of various sizes.
“Good morning, Julis.”
“Good morning, Ayato. How do you feel now that your weakness has been exposed to the whole world?”
Instead of answering, Ayato, lightly throwing out his shoulders, sat down in front of Julis across the table.
“As you can see, the information has not yet gone beyond the level of an uncertain guess, but… More detailed data, which the secret intelligence service of each academy investigated, would probably be passed to players.”
“…How long do you think it will take until it is disclosed?”
Though any Phoenix-related articles, that seemed to be projected in the space window accessed news, all the headings were just things related to Ayato. Nonetheless, with “A major weakness confirmed for a top favorite!?” or “ Seidoukan Supernova with time limit!?” and so on, the conclusion was barely avoided in the news.
But, certainly the secret intelligence service of each academy was not so sweet.
“I wonder… Well. It would be better to assume that they get as much information as Claudia everywhere.”
Except Julis, those, to whom Ayato spoke about his seal, were only Saya, Kirin and Lester.
He spoke about it to Claudia when she came after the match yesterday, but at that point, Claudia knew about the seal to some extent.
『"I am sorry. But, it is also my job after all."』
Claudia said, durng an earlier space window call, and apologetically bowed her head. But, since she did not say more than that, Ayato did not know since when and how she got to know it. But, still, he had a rough guess.
It was probably due to the work of the aforementioned intelligence agency ── . And if so, like Julis said, it would be no wonder even if the intelligence agency of other academies held as much information.
––Of course, since the was comprised of students from the same academy, they definitely had an advantage from it over other academies.
“For the time being, it would be better to assume that the rough time limit was exposed. They will take the match with Irene Urzaiz as a basis for it.”
“Well… I guess.”
That point was already unavoidable. They had no choice, but to give up.
“The problem now is that the backlash you experience, from the breaking of your seal, was also exposed.”
Said Julis. Who expanded a nearby space window and examined the news displayed.
Articles about the person concerned, saying “There are rumors saying that once he released his power, he could not apparently move his body for a while due to a backlash. They say that when this happens, to go all out once again, a certain interval (amount of time) is necessary…” could be found there.
“According to Claudia, it seems that the source of this rumor was Le Wolfe.”
“Le Wolfe, huh…”
It was not like he was unaware of it.
It seemed that the student council president of Le Wolfe knew Ayato’s big sister. If so, then it would not be strange if he also knew about his sister’s ability –– the binding chains of imprisonment, which sealed Ayato’s power.
“That bastard, it would have been fine if he kept what he knew as a secret, but to purposefully leak it as though to propagate it, he did quite the harassment.”
When Julis said so with a sigh, she closed all the space windows and looked at Ayato.
“––So, how is your current body condition?”
“Not bad, I guess. Well, it still hurts a little though.”
Ayato showed it by moving his arms while saying so.
In the first place, it was not some kind of damage in the flesh, which caused the backlash of breaking the seal, but rather the overreaction of prana due to the reactivation of the seal. That was why it calmed down only after a certain period of time.
“For now, I think that I will recover at least to the extent that there will be almost no problem by the match. To the extent of fighting normally, that is.”
“Is it, after all, impossible for you to fight with all your might?”
“Yeah… It’s a little tough. I guess.”
Ayato checked the time with a glance on the side. It was within the time one could say that it was still the early morning, and even the first game had not yet begun. Since Ayato and Julis’ match was the third of the day, there was still about a half day time. Ayato would probably considerably recover if he rested until then, but it would be impossible to break the seal a second time.
After all, let alone the three minutes he had as a standard, he fought yesterday with all his might, pretty much going beyond five minutes, which was the red line. The backlash was also prolonged by just that much.
“I understand. Then, let’s come up with a strategy taking that into consideration.”
Julis took a deep breath and once again opened a space window. However, what was projected there this time was not the site of the news system, but two fearless young men.
“It’s a review, but our next opponent is the pair of the rank #20 and #23 of World Dragon. We also clashed with a pair of World Dragon in the third round, but it won’t be an exaggeration to say that the opponent this time is special. After all, they are the direct disciples of that .”
“The student council president of World Dragon. Right? I have heard that she is only a 9-year-old.”
Though it was not conceivable as common sense. It seemed like she was the strongest student at World Dragon.
The match videos of her also hardly existed, and even if there were some, most were matches that ended in an instant, and they were not of use as reference. Even though knowing that they were strong, they could not measure how much strong they were.
“I don’t know that much about . Since there is also the fact that World Dragon has many students, it’s an academy, where information is relatively leaked and easy to access, but it’s only in that area that their guard is firm. I know at least that it’s the nickname, which had been beared by the person, who once accomplished a legendary feat in World Dragon.”
As Julis cut off, at that point, she looked straight in Ayato’s eyes.
“Well. It’s fine. Anyway, it means that the next opponents are those against whom we must not let our guard down… That said, if you were in a perfect condition, we would not have any difficulty in winning. At least, they are not of Irene Urzaiz’s level after all.”
“It will be a hassle if they are also on edge like Irene.”
He recalled yesterday’s match. Although they somehow won… One wrong step and the outcome would have been reversed. Or worse.
“But still, with your current power, it’s a slightly burdensome opponent.”
“Ugh…”
She was absolutely right.
Ayato in his sealed state did not have enough power to be able to fight an up-and-coming student.
“Although I would not fall behind in case of a one-on-one, it would be quite tough if I was to deal with the two. Especially since both of them are players specialized in close range combat. I somewhat also intend to level up my skill in close range combat, but it’s mere pretension[6] after all. Leaving aside the lower ranked opponents, with this much skill, I will be at disadvantage if they stepped into my range.”
“––Do you have some plan?”
Though it was not unskillful to think of a strategy for which Ayato could use his individual power, including Julis –– in other words, when thinking about a strategy in pair, Julis was much better.
Then, Julis raised two fingers with a difficult face.
“Before that, there are two things I want to confirm. The first thing is; Something I have thought about since the time of training but, only just that, your defense is quite something even in sealed state. What does that mean? You also fairly endured my assaults the first time, when you and I fought, right?”
Julis was probably talking about the duel with her in the first day of his transfer.
“Ah, yeah. If it is just dodging or defending, I can somehow manage with experience and prediction. Though I say that, since my body won’t follow, I think that it’ll gradually become reduced to a poor situation as the opponent is a higher ranker, but…”
If they had continued (the duel) like that at that time, Ayato would have definitely been roast to well-done by Julis’ flame.
Also during the practice match against Lester and Saya, he was not able to deal with the strength of Lester’s physical attacks even if he understood it.
As expected, if he was considerably inferior in basic specs, it would mean that there was a limitation to what followed with techniques.
When thinking, of somehow going about it there, suitable tactics were necessary.
“Hmm… I understand. The second thing then; Can that technique of releasing your power be used only for a moment even in your current state?”
“Well, honestly, it’s hard now, but…I think that I have recovered enough to be able to do it only once during the match.”
“I see…”
Since he could not assert, it had become a vague way of talking, but when Julis, who heard it, looked down with a serious expression, she put a finger on her chin and was brooding over something.
She was just like that, for a while.
“––All right, then what do you say about this plan?”
Julis, who eventually looked up, said so while grinning.
Chapter 2 – The Fifth Round
『"Well, well, it’s finally today’s most noteworthy card, the final match of the fifth round! It’s the entrance of the Seidoukan Academy’s rank #1, player Amagiri Ayato as well as the rank #5, player Julis-Alexia Van Riessfeld, who were engaged in a fierce battle with the rank #3 of Le Wolfe Black Institute, player Irene Urzaiz alias the <LamilexiaThe Violent Vampire Princess> in the fourth round yesterday!"』
As they entered the stage, the quite familiar voice of commentary and an unprecedented excited cheering welcomed Ayato and Julis.
Certainly, getting rapidly excited considering the finals as the peak was probably stereotyped (usual), but the meaning of today’s cheering was somewhat different.
Everyone probably wanted to confirm with their own eyes whether or not the contents, which were reported, were true.
『"And making their appearance from the entrance gate on the other side are player Song and player Luo of World Dragon Seventh Institute! Though these two can be considered as juniors for you, Tram-san, how do you view this match?"』
『"Let’s see. To put things bluntly, if the reported contents are true, I think that the pair of player Song and player Luo is advantageous..."』
『"I guess that today’s audience is also paying attention on that point."』
Ayato, while hearing such exchanges, once again pondered about the prana flowing throughout his body and checked its movement.
“––Okay.”
He seemed to have recovered to a certain extent.
What was left (remained)……
“Amagiri-kun.”
Then, one of the youths of World Dragon, who was an opponent, called out to Ayato there.
If he was not mistaken, he was named Song. Somewhat older than Ayato, he had a body toned by being well trained.
Ayato almost unintentionally braced himself, but the youth with pigtail slowly opened his mouth as he straightly gazed at Ayato.
“Regardless of whether or not the various rumors are true, both Luo and I shall fight with all our might. Frankly speaking, I also wanted to exchange fists with you in your full power state, but, this is to the bitter end a Phoenix tag battle. Please don't think badly of me.”
“Eh? Ah, no, don’t be…”
As Ayato was surprised at the unexpected words. Song turned his back around and returned to the other player’s, –– Luo’s, side.
Luo was also probably older than Ayato since he seemed to be about the same age as Song. Though his physique was about the same as Song’s, he was a youth, with black hair trimmed short who held a deeply impressive staff in his hand. Similarly to Song, he had a look that seemed honest.
The staff was not a Lux and seemed to be made of metal. It was quite long extending to about two meters.
“I see. He is without doubt a warrior in the proper sense of term.”
Then, Julis who was in the rear muttered as she was impressed.
“So, there are also people like that. I was a little surprised.”
“There seems to be a great number of people of that type in Garrardsworth and World Dragon, but it is really conscientious of him to expressly come make his declaration. Well, anyway they will probably check at first if you can’t really fight with all your power. And maybe –– they will immediately see through.”
“I guess…”
The discipline and training Song cultivated into his prana they both felt in their proximity was considerable. That was not something with which he was born with but probably the fruit of pure effort. It was something that was kneaded well, little by little, for years. As he also seemed to have a considerable amount of experience, fooling the eyes of such a stalwart veteran for any length of time would be nearly impossible.
“It looks like it was the right choice to have elaborated a plan after all. ––Okay, listen Ayato. Here is the mark. Firmly keep it in mind.”
As Julis activated Aspera Spina, she chopped an asterisk at their feet with its tip.
“Roger. Should I assume that the signal will be the fireworks?”
“Yes, the postponement will be five minutes from the activation of the ‘wall’. You have to clear the conditions by then.”
As he checked so while recalling the strategy meeting until a while ago, Julis slightly nodded.
“Though it'll be tough, you must first hold out until my preparations are completed. Just in case, I also intend to make a little diversion, but at best it will just hold them to some extent as I carry out preparations. As to whether or not either side can be obstructed in such a place. I’m counting on you.”
“––I will do the best I can.”
Saying so, Ayato also activated a blade type Lux.
Though Ser-Versta should be at least usable, it could not be helped since it did not give even the slightest response after all, when he tried to activate it in the waiting room. He had thought that it somewhat acknowledged him in the previous fight, but it was naive for him to think so.
『"Now. It’s soon the match start time! Which pair will break through this fifth round and proceed to the quarterfinal!"』
After that short delay, from the voice-announcer of the broadcast who now became really excited, the school badge on their chest's announced the match start.
“Phoenix fifth round, eighth match, battle start!”
Song and Luo, as expected, parted left and right just as the match started. They both began to aim for Ayato.
“Bloom proudly –– PrimroseDancing nine-spirering-flower!”
Julis’ fire support broke in, so as not let them do as they pleased, but Song warded off the dancing flames with only his bare hands. With his fists, unleashed at high speed, the primrose of flame scattered all too soon.
Though it was a feat possible simply because the fists were loaded with prana it also meant that they were concealing enough destructive power to negate Julis’ technique.
“En garde!”
Song, who effortlessly broke through Julis’ attack, instantly shortened the distance and threw a right fist.
Ayato blocked it, with the middle part of the sword, but a prominently heavy shock ran through him. His feet, which held out at the shock as if a huge iron ball bumped, trembled violently and Ayato strongly clenched his molars.
It was clear that this destructive power could not be accomplished with physical strength alone.
In addition. Song broke in, as if to bump into each other’s body, and threw his right elbow into Ayato’s abdomen.
“Guh…!”
Although Ayato somehow endured it, by concentrating his prana, the power was heavy enough that it almost made him collapse on a knee. All the air was forced from his lungs while his body stiffened for just an instant.
Song did not miss that chance. He turned around on the spot and aimed a backhand chop, so fast as if to tear the air itself, at Ayato’s face.
Ayato just barely deflected it, as he promptly raised his arm, and he leapt back and took up a distance.
Although it was as expected. Close range combat was far more disadvantageous for him. If he was not to fight within his range, by taking advantage of the weapon's reach even a little, he would be hardly a match for his opponent.
“I see… It seems that the rumor is true.” Song said.
Song slowly took a stance. It was a unique form where he dropped his waist and greatly extended out his left foot forward. It was what could only be a stance of kempo[7], but since Ayato did not recognize the form, and was unfamiliar with Chinese martial arts, he wasn't able to anticipate the schools particular style.
『"Oops, It’s a surprising development from which the player Amagiri is one-sidedly attacked! Certainly player Song’s attacks are formidable, but does this mean that that rumor was true?"』
『"There wasn't his usual performance when the match started. The kneading of the amount of prana is by far incomparable to that until now, too… It can only mean that there is no mistake about the rumor. Well, anyway…"』
As Ayato adjusted his breathing, he shut out the surrounding noises and focused his mind. If he were to lose focus even a little, the match would be decided in an instant. Anyway, without taking his eyes off every single move of Song, he had to prepare for and cope with any movement.
––But, there.
“Sorry, Ayato! He was able to escape!”
Julis’ sharp voice struck Ayato’s earlobe.
“!”
Luo, who turned around from Ayato’s left side, unleashed a thrust with the staff in his hand.
Ayato dodged it by a hairsbreadth, but Luo’s staff changed its trajectory upward along the way and this time he was assailed by an overheard blow.
Although Ayato hung his sword and eluded it this time Song, who turned around from the opposite side like lightning, released a jump kick. As Ayato could not completely dodge it a pain, as if his flesh was scooped out, ran through his flank.
Moreover, Song landed on tiptoe on top of Luo's staff, which was held low enough, and Luo thrust it up, along with Song, with exact timing.
“Wha…!”
It was a perfect combination so far.
Song, who danced in the air, landed behind Ayato and, faster than he could turn around, a palm strike was driven into Ayato’s back
“––!”
A shock far greater to that of earlier went through Ayato’s body.
His consciousness faded away for an instant but, as Ayato somehow endured it, he forcibly moved his feet halfway and took distance by rolling.
“Hmm. So you endure that blow now … As one would expect.”
Song muttered in a voice oozing admiration, but he once again took a stance and even a tiny bit of opening was nowhere to be found in his movements.
While Luo also took position so as the both of them sandwiched Ayato, he gradually shortened the distance.
One might say that the situation was heading for the worst.
Even though he was overwhelmed in a one-to-one fight, in a two-to-one, it was no longer possible for him to do something.
––However.
“Come out –– LoropetalumRed Wall of Shearing Flame Petals!”
At the same time with the voice of the dignified Julis, a huge fire wall, which suddenly blew up from the ground, bisected the stage from one end to another. Its height would be around ten meters. It was not something that even a Starpulse Generation could jump over without any scaffolding.
“This is…”
Song also looked up at the wall of flame with a surprised face, but he seemed to have immediately noticed the intent behind it.
“I see, so she separated me and Luo.”
Right.
There was only Ayato and Song on this side of the wall of flame.
In other words, Julis and Luo were left on the other side of the wall, but the strength of the flame was tremendous, and one could hardly see through it.
『"Oooh? Is this a skill of player Riessfeld, the wall of flame, which suddenly appeared greatly divides the stage! …Oh, spectators of the audience, please use the large screen. We have divided the screen and projected the image from a different angle in there!"』
“For the time being, with this it’s a one-on-one.”
As Ayato stood up while saying so, he wiped his mouth. Though blood was slightly on it, he could not afford to worry about it.
“Hou… Do you mean to say that you have a chance to win if it’s a one-on-one?”
Song slowly adopted a stance again while staring at Ayato with a look of hawk.
“Honestly, I think it will be tough, but I cannot afford to give up, can I?”
Ayato also set up his sword forward (at the opponent’s eyes) and measured the distance.
Since Julis had done it, next up was his turn. He must somehow clear the conditions necessary for the next move. And while Ayato was still able to endure within.
“Fufufu, well you’re right. I ask something silly. I apologize for that.”
Only for an instant on Song’s face, a faint smile floated –– and disappeared at once.
---
“What’s wrong, is it only this level? If so, it’s not much as the rumor says, <Gruene RosePetalblaze Witch>!”
“Argh…!”
While somehow enduring Luo’s fierce attacks, Julis unintentionally bit her lips.
First, she forcibly created a one-on-one situation. It was successful. Since this was a prerequisite in Julis’ plan, one could say it went so far according to plan.
Julis’ miscalculation here was that Luo’s ability far exceeded her expectations.
She by no means underestimated him, but she once again realized the thickness of World Dragon Seventh Institute’s layer.
[Do you tell me he’s the rank #23 with this strength? He’s strong enough to enter the Top Twelve in Seidoukan…] Julis was inwardly tut-tutting.
Julis defended against his staff, which he rapidly and continuously unleashed, with her thin sword, and launched a solid attack from behind and above with the Livingstone DaisyFlaming Crimson Decapitator unfolded. However, Luo skillfully handled his long staff and did not let any of the chakrams get close while maintaining an advantageous range.
“––No. Wrong. So you use a part of your power to maintain this fire wall.”
As Luo once took distance, he turned a fleeting gaze towards Julis’ back and muttered so.
“To maintain this much firepower on such a scale, the prana consumption should be no joke. As a result, you can just use only the remaining part of your prana for the battle.”
––To make matters worse, he was really sharp, too.
“Well, I wonder about that.”
Julis also returned the chakrams once again and adjusted their lineup.
In fact, originally the Livingstone DaisyFlaming Crimson Decapitator could bring about dozens of chakrams, but now on the convenience of prana and concentration, six was her limit.
Including this Phoenix, Luo and Song had experienced the Festa three times. Looking only at their combat experience, one could say that it differed from Ayato’s and Julis’. Nevertheless, to think that she was easily seen through.
“Supposing that it is so, this can hardly be called a good plan. Even without going to such length, there were other ways to bring a one-on-one, weren’t there?”
That was also correct.
If it was simply just to make a one-on-one battle form, then there were number of different means.
However, it would just delay the time of their defeat after all. There were no paths which led to victory.
“It can’t be helped. There was only this way in order for us to win.”
“…Hou. So that means that you still have a card to play.”
Luo chuckled while spinning his staff.
“I can’t wait to see it, but –– if it’s the case, do it quickly. Otherwise, the battle will be settled on the other side of the wall, you know?”
“Did you mean to say that my partner will lose?”
“ in his current state is no match for us. You also understood that, right?”
Luo just replied as if it was a matter of course.
“…Yeah, that’s right. The current Ayato, in order to win against you, would not have much choice but to skillfully launch a surprise attack.”
“A surprise attack, huh… Well, both Song and I are not so kind as to give you an opportunity to do it.”
As if to say “with this, the chitchat is over”, Luo re-set his staff.
“…”
While also slightly retreating, Julis reset the chakrams to a defensive formation little by little.
While at the same time exploring the sign on the other side of the wall, she secretly checked the ground with a side glance.
(A little more to the right, huh…)
“––It’s there!”
Luo moved so as to use that opening.
He flipped the chakrams aside, opening the way, and jumped within Julis’ range in an instant.
“Damn––”
“It’s too late!”
A stab of a shrieking sound flicked off Julis’ thin sword, which she tried to defend with, and was driven in her chest.
“Gaah…!”
Although she protected her school badge, by reflexively twisting her body, she was thoroughly blown off her feet.
(I probably have many ribs broken with this… But with this timing! )
As Julis took the defensive and immediately fixed her posture, she canceled the Flaming Crimson Decapitator (Livingstone Daisy) and focused her mind.
“As if I will let you!”
To Luo, who was about to give the coup-de-grace, Julis slightly laughed while bearing the pain.
Her opponent was originally good in long-range combat; and moreover, it was now a situation where she lost her weapon. That judgment was correct.
Right. Luo was right.
He was right, therefore –– he went directly for his opponent’s weak point.
“Bloom proudly –– Amaryllis Duo FlosSix-Petal Burst Firebloom/ Twin Blooming Flowers!”
On Julis’ both hands, small fireballs were born one by one.
Even so, Luo was not daunted. He probably had the absolute confidence that he was more advantageous at this distance.
However, Julis had shot the fireball of the right hand not towards Luo, but right above.
---
“––Honestly, I am impressed.”
Contrary to his words, Song said with a slightly amazed look.
“To have endured my attacks so far even though you devote yourself to the defense, it’s really something. Moreover, your reaction is clearly getting better. No wonder you see through my breathing, range and the timing of my attacks. I can say that it is the proof of your excellent response ability. But –– it’s regrettable, your body can’t keep up with it.”
Ayato, who had the wall of flame, which immediately blazed behind him, focused his mind without taking his eyes off Song, even though he was breathing roughly.
Although he had somehow avoided a lethal blow, the damage accumulated was considerable. His uniform was torn here and there falling apart and he had countless bruises and lacerations.
Even so, the tip of the sword, which Ayato set up, was directed straight towards Song without shaking at all.
“If you were in your unsealed state, our position might have been reversed. No, I would probably not even have held out so far.”
“I don’t think it would have been the case though.”
Ayato honestly responded to it while adjusting his breathing.
In fact. Song was strong. Since he won and advanced until the fifth round of the Phoenix it was natural. What’s more he succeeded, not merely with the type of strength which relied on a weapon or ability, but with his own strength which was the result of pure and thorough training of his body.
That said, even so he could not afford to give up yet. At least, for Ayato –– for Ayato and Julis, there was still a card to play. For that purpose, he must somehow clear the conditions.
As Ayato took a quick glance at his feet, the asterisk that Julis carved some time ago was there.
––The rest was just the timing.
“But bullying you any further would be unbearable even for me. As an expression of my respect for you, I will end it with the next move. ”
At that instant, with a large sudden increase, prana concentrated on Song’s fist .
The skilled fist warrior of World Dragon used a technique to explosively raise an offensive ability similar to meteor arts by gathering prana in one point. Perhaps that was it.
“However much you try to defend. This fist will pulverize any weapon or arm which tries to block it. Well, it’s not at the level of your Ogre Lux, but you better dodge it rather than trying to block. Of course, if you can, that is!”
At the same time he finished to speak, Song stepped into Ayato’s range in a breath.
Terrified legs shook the earth as his body also quaked thinking of palm strikes similar to gouging.
He was too well cornered to evade it. However, as Song said, with the prana of the current Ayato, defending against it would be impossible. One could easily understand that by seeing the amount of prana Song gathered in that fist.
Just before the palm stroke reached Ayato’s chest… The two of them noticed a small explosion overhead.
[Fireworks––!]
It was the signal which Ayato and Julis had decided for.
––At that moment.
Ayato released his full power only for an instant, dodged the palm stroke and jumped towards the wall of flame soaring behind him.
“Wha…!?”
Though the voice of Song, who was at lost for words, was heard from behind, Ayato’s consciousness was no longer there.
Just before Ayato’s figure was swallowed in the flames, the wall of flame split in two just like that of Moses written in the Old Testament. And just like from the front, Julis’ figure jumped from the other side of the wall towards this side.
As Ayato and Julis exchanged only a glance like passing travelers, they switched each other’s target, in an instant despite being scorched by the flame.
“Wha…!?”
“No way!?”
Song and Luo opened their eyes wide in great surprise and hurriedly tried to take a stance, but it was already late.
It was only natural since Luo was now facing Julis mainly involved with long-range attacks and Song was now facing Ayato, who could only perform close range combat.
The two people were completely taken by surprise.
“Amagiri Bright Dragon Style First Sword Fighting Skill –– !” The edge of Ayato’s sword cut and tore Luo’s school badge. And. During the same exact moment…
“Burst and fly!” The dual fireballs emitted from Julis’ left right hands smashed Song’s school badge.
“End of the battle! Winner, Amagiri Ayato & Julis-Alexia Van Riessfeld!”
As the mechanical voice declared the conclusion, the wall of flame vanished, and both Ayato and Julis greatly exhaled and sank down to the ground.
Not only Song and Luo, but also the audience was taken aback. Though the dumbfounded atmosphere and silence smothered the stage for a while with, which began before long, only sparse applauses, quickly turned into great cheers, which erupted from the stands, like a tsunami.
---
“Phew… we won, for the time being, but…”
“It was really close.”
As they canceled the winner interview after the game this time, too, Julis and Ayato were heading to the waiting room along the passage.
Although the winner interview was not an obligation their image, in the area of press relations, would worsen if they canceled too many. There would also be cases where the good publicity, natural to the Festa, would suffer without them. Today, though, both Ayato and Julis had no room to be able to answer.
Although they won, as Julis said, it was a really close match. If their timing was off, by even a little, it would probably be themselves who would have been defeated.
“Well, still it’s great to have gotten over today. After all, we will rest all day long tomorrow which is the adjustment day. And you will be able to go all out in the next match, right?”
“Yeah, on that point, it'll be all right… But, what about you, Julis? Um, about the degree of injury…”
“What, this much is no big deal. There may be some cracks, but it does not seem to be broken.”
Julis smiled wryly while lightly rubbing the area of her chest.
She seemed to have been directly struck by Luo’s staff in their recent match, but at least it should not be accompanied with any illness.
Even so, Julis continued to speak as if it was nothing.
“More importantly. There is the next match. Even if you are able to use all your might they will likely be quite troublesome opponents.”
“Oh, if I’m not mistaken, our next opponents are––”
Ayato suddenly stopped walking there. This was because someone was standing ahead in the passage, in front of the waiting room.
A moment later, Julis also noticed him and opened her eyes wide as she was surprised.
“Hou, those are unexpected visitors. I don’t think you have come to congratulate us, but what kind of business do you have with us?”
The two people, who were standing in front of the waiting room –– Song and Luo, responded to these words with a serious look.
“We have indeed come for that, but can’t we?”
“…It was our complete defeat today. It was admirable.”
At these words, Ayato and Julis unintentionally looked at each other.
“Huh…? N-No, That’s… Thank you.”
“Y-Yeah…”
As they were perplexed and did not know how to respond to it since they did not think that they really came to congratulate them, Song held out a hand towards Julis.
“It was you, who thought of that strategy, right Gruene RosePetalblaze Witch? Be its conception or good timing, it was a splendid combination that could not have been possible without mutual trust.”
Although she took his hand, Julis was still somehow perplexed.
“But –– you should be careful. A strategy of that level would be useless against your next opponents.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
A dangerous light was lit in Julis’ pupils, but Song continued speaking without being agitated.
“You do not have to be so wary. I did not particularly come here to check you, this is pure advice. Take it exactly as it means.”
“Even if you say so, do you think that I will obediently believe you? In the first place, you have no obligation to do something like that. Much less since our next opponents are your comrades.”
Since Ayato’s and Julis’ match was the last of the fifth round, they already knew their next opponents. In the sixth round, the opponents of the quarterfinal would be once again a pair of World Dragon –– and what’s more, both were in the Top Twelve of World Dragon.
“Belonging in the same academy does not necessarily mean that we are comrades. Or is Seidoukan that monolithic?”
“No, that’s… well, you’re right, but…”
Julis did not really know what to say and turned her face away.
Certainly, even within the same academy… No, it was precisely because it was within the same academy that there was trouble. That was probably the same even elsewhere. Only Garrardsworth was distantly related to that kind of talk, but there was also no telling how their internal conditions were.
“What, the reason is simple. Well, let’s say that we do not just get along with your next opponents –– both Li ShenYun and Li ShenHua. Even so, we do not intend to tell you their weakness––”
“We had a good impression towards you. At least, more than towards those twins. That’s why we wanted to send you a Yale[8]. That’s all.”
Song, who said so, floated a wry smile and shrugged his shoulders.
It seemed like it was really his intention.
“I understand. Then, I will ask again… what do you mean by strategy would be useless?”
“It’s because that sphere of action is the place where those twins are the best. When it comes to deceit, cheating or taking their opponents by surprise, they possess a gifted ability. No matter what kind of plan you may elaborate, they will always see through you, and come to say it. Moreover, they will never allow tactics like what you showed this time.”
“Tactics like what we showed…?”
As Ayato frankly asked so again, Song turned honest eyes towards him.
“Your tactics are based on the fact that you regarded your opponents on an equal footing as yourselves. Naturally that is accompanied with risk but you guys accepted it. In other words, you may call it a part of bargaining in combat. That’s why we can accept to have lost against you… Well. I would be lying if I say that it is not frustrating.”
“But those guys are different. They don’t regard their opponents on an equal footing and always look down on them; They never jeopardize themselves without building absolutely advantageous conditions. They twist and crush their opponents as they please. They don’t respect their opponents, and don’t even give room for bargaining. That’s the Li sibling's way of doing things. We just can't come to like them.”
“You guys have probably also watched their matches, right?”
Speaking of the and of World Dragon, they were one of the top favorites. Of course, their matches and data were also thoroughly disseminated.
Ayato also tried to reconsider. Recalling the records they studied he observed that their matches were all one-sided and often developed to where they tormented their opponents. It was indeed something that was not very pleasant to watch.
“I will be troubled if you overestimated us too much. If we can easily win, we might also choose such way of doing it. After all, there is no meaning if one doesn’t win in the Festa.”
To Julis’ words, Luo lightly laughed.
“If so, then it just means that it was a poor judgment here on our part.”
“Anyway. I did not say to not elaborate a plan. Be careful.”
As if Song and Luo had said enough… They turned around and left.
“Hmm…”
While Julis saw off their retreating figure with a meek face, she released the lock of the waiting room with her school badge.
“––What do you think?”
As he asked so while entering the room ahead, Julis replied after a short pause.
“Well. I don’t think they are lying.”
“I agree with you.”
As far as Ayato saw, those two people, they would entrap someone by doing any such roundabout thing; in the first place, even they were lying just that much, it would be almost meaningless.
“Phew…”
As Julis sat down on the sofa, she took a great deep breath.
“I will take their advice into account, but let’s leave the measures against the twins for tomorrow. Anyway, I’m tired today. I will head right back after resting a little.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Ayato also sat down and leaned his exhausted body into the back of the chair.
Today’s matches were all over, but there were still many spectators remaining in the hall. Although there was no need to make a racket since the players could use the subway going directly to their academies, they wanted to rest their bodies a bit longer.
After all. There would be no more days of rest from the quarterfinal on to the final.
“…And then, Ayato.”
Then suddenly, Julis teasingly said while slightly laughing.
“Next up is finally the quarterfinals. In other words, if we win through three more times, we will become champions.”
“Three times… It seems a little tiresome.”
As he thought about it. They must overcome today’s kind of fight another three times… He became depressed.
“Fufufu. It’s fine, if you understand that, but. –– Have you thought about something?”
“Hmm? What are you talking about?”
“Obviously, it’s about your wish that we would win the championship.”
“Ah…”
Ayato inclined his head, thought a little –– and eventually shook his head.
“Hmm. I did not specifically think of something.”
“I thought you would say that.”
Julis smiled wryly and said so, but she immediately looked straight at Ayato with a serious face.
“I’m thankful for you fighting for me and honestly. Um… I’m happy. But, I think it’s time that you should also look at your own wish.”
“Even if you say so…”
“For example –– how about something regarding your big sister?”
Ayato was a little surprised at the words that Julis just said as he found they were somewhat difficult to say.
The talk with Irene the other day –– the matter that the student council president knew Ayato’s big sister ── Julis had also heard. She was probably anxious about it.
“No, that’s… naturally doesn’t mean I don’t care about it, but…”
“But?”
“Since Nee-san has her owns reasons for having left the house, I don’t intend to forcibly look for her.”
Ayato remembered the day when he came in Seidokan Academy.
『"Then, why did you choose this academy?"』
Claudia’s words kept ringing on his head.
At that time, Ayato replied “in order to discover a goal to seek after.”
But, –– now that he found it, then what?
“That said, the fastest way to do something about your seal would be to find your sister, right?”
“Eh? Ah, yes… if it’s Nee-san, she should be able to remove it, but…”
To the attitude of such Ayato, Julis’ eyes quizzically tapered.
“Ayato. Are you by any chance––”
As Julis was about to say something, a knock sound suddenly reverberated at the door and a space window, which informed of visitors outside the door, popped-open.
『"––Halloo!"』
『"H-Hello…"』
Saya and Kirin were projected there.
Those two, who were fighting the fifth round in a different stage, safely advanced to the quarterfinal, too.
“You expressly came up here.”
『"I know that both of you are tired, but since it’s a rare occasion, I wanted to congratulate early…"』
Kirin-chan, hesitantly, with upturned eyes, said such an adorable thing. Even though it was also right after their match, he was thankful for that.
“Oh, then anyway, I will open now.”
As Ayato said so and stretched his finger to the space console, Kirin, who was flustered, interrupted.
『"Errr, before that, there is one more guest, who has come, but… Is it okay to come in with her?"』
“A visitor?”
To Ayato, who looked puzzled.
『"Yeah. A visitor for Riessfeld."』 Saya laughed a little mischievously.
“For me?”
Julis who was watching the exchanges and until then did not seem to be very interested frowned at these words with a wondering face.
Saya and Kirin nodded to one another in space window and took a step backward.
One girl appeared from behind them.
She was quite young… rather, very young. She was probably at least about the upper grades of elementary school. It was a girl, who looked simple and quite lovely, but –– if there was a cause for concern –– she was in a maid outfit for some reason.
Julis, who saw the child, stammered with a stunned look.
“F-Flora…?”
Chapter 3 - The Visitor
“So –– did you come alone from Riezeltania?”
“Yes! My name is Flora. Everyone, nice to meet ya!”
Though she somewhat had an inadequate linguistic ability, the girl, who named herself Flora, deeply bowed to the extent of forming a right angle.
Flora came over from the orphanage in Riezeltania which Julis was trying to save.
“When I ask her, because she had trouble at the reception, she said that she was Riessfeld-senpai’s acquaintance...”
“…She was really standing out.”
Kirin and Saya, who brought Flora, briefly explained the details.
Certainly if such a small child wandered around in a maid outfit, it was natural that she would attract the public with that alone.
“Yes, you saved me. Thank you, Sasamiya-sama, Toudou-sama.”
Whether or not she understood, Flora vigorously nodded with a quite indifferent smile.
After they had all entered into the waiting room it was presently noticeable, as expected, that for a girl to be dressed in a maid outfit on a daily basis, that the sense of incongruity was great.
“Honestly, if you were to come, you should have at least let me know beforehand…”
Julis gave a troubled laugh while gently stroking Flora's head.
Her expression was very soft and gentle; With that alone, one could understand, how very important Flora was to Julis.
“It’s because in exchange of giving me a ticket for the Phoenix, His Majesty told me to keep it an absolute secret from you Princess.”
“Hah… I see that Big brother is still way too playful as usual. That outfit of yours was my brother’s idea, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. He said that, if I go like this, Princess will immediately understand.”
“Geez, that person…” Julis let out a big sigh while holding her temple.
It seemed like Julis’ big brother was quite a playful person.
“But but, since this has now become something like Flora’s every day wear, I am comfortable with it since I have gotten used to it.”
“Even if you said so, it’s not the royal palace here, so that outfit is…”
“Everyday wear?” Ayato asked since it was bothering him.
Julis answered instead. “Flora came to work as a maid in the royal palace. Well, she is still, an apprentice though.”
I see. He had thought there was a feeling that she was dressed strangely stylishly considering that it was just merely dressing up, so that was the reason.
“Oh, yeah! There was a message from His Majesty. It says ‘you should come back once in a while by the end of this year’.”
“Humph. That brother! He even pesters me from anywhere. Huh. Well… It’s fine. Even without him saying it… was thinking going back once anyway.”
Julis said so and lightly tapped Flora’s shoulder.
“Besides, I also have to pay a visit to everyone in the orphanage.”
“Yes! We will look forward to it!” Flora nodded with shining eyes.
It was most likely true that Julis was also loved by the other children in the same way as Flora.
“…However, I was surprised. I didn’t know that the reason why Riessfeld-senpai fights was for an orphanage.”
Kirin, who was watching, with a smile, the exchange between Flora and Julis, said as she was impressed.
“I-It’s not really something to brag about…!” Said Julis as Kirin directed an honest look of respect at her.
Julis abruptly turned her face away.
On course, with the flow of the talk, Julis also had no choice but to reveal her own circumstances to Saya and Kirin. She somehow seemed embarrassed.
However, Ayato was thinking that it would be good that Julis shorten the distance with others in this way.
“Oh yeah. Hey, Flora-chan.” As he suddenly thought and called out to her.
“Yes?” Flora tilted her head and looked at Ayato.
“How is Julis in her hometown?” Ayato asked.
“…What is it, out of the blue?” Julis glared with a questioning look to Ayato’s question,
“No, I am just simply curious. You know, Julis, you don’t speak that much about such things.”
“…Is that so?” In fact, Julis rarely talked about her hometown.
“Mmm, even if you ask me how she is… It’s not really different from her current self.”
After a little thought… Flora plainly answered. “When she is with me and the others… She is gentle and warm; When she is in the castle… She is brave and cool –– That’s why I think she is the same as now.”
“He~e. I see.” Ayato was a little relieved after hearing it.
If so, then it would be mean that right here was the place where Julis can be herself.
“Oh, that’s right! Do you want to see the photos?”
“Photos?”
“Yes! There are many photos that I took in the orphanage in my portable terminal.”
Flora cheerfully took out a portable terminal from her pochette[9].
“No, it is already fine with what you say.” Julis countered.
“…Hohou~u. It’s interesting.”
“I-I am also a little curious.”
Julis did not seem that much enthusiastic but the others seemed to be different.
“Err, this one is the time of Christmas the year before last, this other one is the time when we did general cleaning with everyone and then this here is during Hannah’s birthday…”
Flora was unfolding space windows in sequence while saying so.
It varied from group photos at the time of big events to these, which were anything like everyday scenes. However. The only common point was that everyone was smiling. Be it the children photographed together with Julis or the Sister, every single one of them were really happily laughing.
“Wow… there are so many.”
“Sister says that she wants to keep as many as possible for memories. Under her influence, the children have also come to take photos whenever it was possible. That’s why there are many everyday photos.”
Julis, who floated a wry smile, explained to Kirin.
“…Hmm?”
Then, Saya noticed some photos and occasionally beckoned Flora.
“Flora, this?”
“Ah. It was where I was asked to wash my hair.” Flora said casually,
Ayato, who saw that photo, hurriedly diverted his look.
This was because Both Julis and Flora, who were washing their hair in a bathroom, were photographed there.
…Moreover. With only a bath towel.
“––!”
Julis, who raised a soundless scream, snatched the portable terminal from Flora’s hand and instantly closed all the space windows.
“D-D-D-D-D-Did you see it? You saw it? You have seen it, right?” Julis, who was glaring at him with a bright red face, demanded.
“N-No, I didn’t see, I didn’t see!” Ayato buzzingly shook his head and denied.
In fact, he did see something, but since he did not see properly, it was not that much a lie… It should be not.
“Flora, I have told you many times to erase that photo, right…!”
“Ugh, but, but, it’s a precious memory with you, Princess…”
Scolded by Julis, Flora dejectedly hanged her head.
“Ugh…”
As Julis did not strongly scold her, she kept to a somewhat troubled quiet..
“…Still, to send such a small child alone is somehow a problem.” Saya said so and patted Flora’s head. As she tried to change the topic.
Honestly. It felt strange since there were almost no difference between Saya and Flora regarding their height though her words sounded quite right. After all, for Flora, who was still just a child, it would be safer to require for her to be accompanied by someone.
Furthermore. This was Asterisk, although it was somewhat better than usual since duels were forbidden in the town during the Festa, it was an extremely abnormal city where injured tourists were not uncommon.
“Well, that…” Flora narrowed her voice slightly bashfully and then looked downward.
Julis, who saw it, followed in a slightly slapdash tone.
“My brother, as well as me in olden days, didn’t have enough money that we could spend it freely. Even so, submissiveness to the Integrated Enterprise Foundation is accommodating in itself. If it’s only up to the Festa ticket, he can somehow manage with his connections. But, it’s probably impossible until the travel expenses and hotel expenses. Sister might have worked it out.”
“…Yes. It seems that she took out money from the savings that she steadily collected. But one person’s portion was the limit after all (it was just enough for one person)… Then, she said that if she had to choose someone to go, I would be the most suitable.”
As she was visibly downhearted and depressed, Flora raised her face and said enthusiastically.
“But. I am all right even if I am alone! I may look like this, but like Princess I am a Starpulse Generation, and I also intend to come to this Asterisk as a student someday. And then like Princess, I will help everyone in the orphanage!”
“He~e. That’s admirable.”
Although they knew at first glance that Flora was a Starpulse Generation, it was impressive that she already ascertained her objective from this age. It was surely from such a reason that she was judged the most suitable to be sent.
Ayato was honestly impressed, but Julis shook her head with a difficult face.
“You are still saying that… I have already told you that don't need to do such a thing.”
“But, but, even Flora wants to be helpful to everyone!”
“You are still a child. Don’t worry about such a thing and more––”
“I heard that the student council president of World Dragon is even younger than me! If it's the case, then even I…!”
It seemed that contrary to appearance, Flora had a really stubborn personality.
“…You went so far as to mention a particular rank #1 as a reference, eh.” As Julis put a hand on her waist with an amazed expression.
Julis just sighed as if it could not be helped.
“I understand. Then, let’s assume that you come to this Asterisk with the wish to want to help everybody in the orphanage. Which academy do you want to attend?”
“Err… it will be either Seidoukan like Princess or if possible, um, Queen Veil Girl’s Academy…”
Joining both hands together as if praying, Flora answered with the eyes of a dreaming girl.
Girls’ popularity was indeed immense in Queen Veil.
“I see. As expected, you don't need to come to Asterisk.”
“…Yes?”
“The enrollment in either Seidoukan or Queen Veil is from a middle school age. Or rather, World Dragon is the only academy which accepts students in the age range of elementary school…”
World Dragon Seventh Institute did not establish a minimum age for enrollment. Of course babies/infants were not possible but basically if one was at the age, when he could receive (assimilate) elementary education, enrollment was possible.
From the perspective of basic long term training from childhood, it seemed that this was effective for the upbringing in Taijutsu or Star Senjutsu, which were World Dragon’s specialties. On the other hand, the other five academies were against it from the palpable moral principle that kids should not be put into a peculiar environment, like Asterisk, during the elementary course period. It was a vulnerable time which had great influence on an individual's personality and character development.
“In any case, it will take at least two years or so for you to reach the entrance age. At that time. I will have already achieved all your wishes.” Julis asserted.
“––”
Flora looked up startled.
“I remember having told you so the last time we met. I will help you guys without fail, and change that country. For that purpose, I will reign in all the Festa… Or don’t you trust me that much?”
“Th-That's not true!”
“Yea, then, it’s fine.”
Julis contentedly nodded while she gently stroked Flora’s head.
“As expected of Riessfeld. Even her goal is very great.”
Saya said as she was heartily impressed.
“––But. That’s expecting too much. At least… We will win this Phoenix. Right. Kirin?”
“Huh!? Ah, err… um, y-yes…!”
Kirin, who was suddenly brought up this topic, hurriedly looked at Saya and then Julis, nodded as soon as she made up her mind.
“I-I won’t lose! Either! After all, on that wish, I can’t give up!”
Flora, who was looking at such an exchange, brightened her eyes.
“Oh! So! Sasamiya-sama and Toudou-sama are the princess’ rivals.”
“Rivals…?”
Julis, Saya and Kirin looked at each other for a moment with a complicated expression. However. They soon all looked at Ayato as if having made an arrangement beforehand.
“Eh? W-What…?”
The three fixed their stares at Ayato just like that and then reflexively backed off with none of them muttering anything.
“––Well, certainly.”
“?”
Ayato had no idea of what that was, but it appeared to be the same even for Flora who, with a blank expression, seemed to be judging the other three girls and Ayato.
“…Ahhem." As Julis cleared her throat. "No. Let’s set that aside.”
She immediately changed the topic.
“Anyway, if we were to clash, it will be only possible in the final regardless… If we respectively win, until then, that is.”
Since in the original placement drawing the Ayato/Julis and Saya/Kirin team's were in different blocks there was no way for them to fight other than the final match.
“Fufufu… No problem. We are invincible.”
Saya tapped Kirin’s shoulder and confidently stuck out her chest.
In contrast, Kirin wore an anxious expression; However that confidence, from Saya, was what actually supported Kirin so much in her achievements so far.
Until the fifth battle –– What’s more, even since they surprisingly reached the main battle (final stage), the Saya/Kirin pair had overwhelmed almost all their opponents without letting them have even a little hope. Of course the opponents were considerably gifted; Nonetheless it is alright to say that it was much perferable in comparison to the extreme fuel-consuming methods of Ayato and Julis.
Even in the quarterfinal Saya and Kirin were firmly regarded as advantageous in the gossip. Indeed, Even though they did not reach so far with easy victory, it was also the same for Ayato and Julis.
However. The next opponents who they would face in the semifinals––
“Hou~u. Sounds promising. So does that mean youve found a way to conquer the dolls of Allekant and it's also ready?”
To these words, Saya’s expression slightly became tense.
Allekant’s autonomous puppets, Ardi and Rimsi, had won through by displaying a greater overwhelming power than Saya and Kirin and were now the big favorite of the Phoenix. After all, while giving “one minute freedom of attack” to their opponents every time like in the first round, it was probably understandable, since they were not even slightly wounded so far.
––And in the case that Saya and the puppets smoothly won and advanced to the next round, both pairs would clash with each other in the semi-final.
“Look forward to the performance… More importantly. I’m personally more worried about your match.”
“If I remember correctly. A Top Twelve of World Dragon is your next opponent. Right?”
Kirin also looked at Julis with a serious expression.
Since all of them also naturally checked the matches, of World Dragon’s twins, they should know that they were formidable enemies.
“Well. We will somehow manage on our side. The day after tomorrow… Ayato will also be able to go all out; Then, unlike today, the cards to play will increase very much. Anything can happen.”
However, contrary to these optimistic words of hers, Julis once more wore a brooding face.
As expected… She was probably worried about what Song and Luo said.
Though a subtle silence fell for no particular reason…
Flora broke it by saying. “Ah, it’s already such a late time! Well then everyone, Flora will leave with this. Since I will cheer for you with all my energy in the next match… Please do your best!”
She said that as she quickly stood up and bowed.
“Wait, wait, Flora. In which hotel are you staying? I will accompany you.”
Julis also stood up hailing Flora who was about to leave the waiting room.
“You need not, Flora will be all right alone. Besides, Princess is also tired from her match.”
“I don’t need your concern. Idiot. Ah, then Ayato, about tomorrow’s matter…”
Tomorrow's matter was probably the strategy meeting in preparation for the quarterfinal.
“Is it okay in the afternoon? It’s been a while since the last time the two of you met, so you must have plenty of things to speak about, right?”
“Good grief, to think that this time it would be you who would concern yourself with it. But, if it’s like that, then I shall gratefully accept your kindness. Either way, it’s clear that, you should rest your body. It also saved me from asking that we will meet in the afternoon.”
Thus, after deciding the next meeting’s details, each of them went their way on the day.
---
“I’m back... Wait, he hadn't come back yet, that Yabuki?”
As he turned on the light, a pitch-dark quiet unoccupied room, welcomed Ayato.
Eishiro’s desk, where documents and memos were piled up, was completely untouched and the newly changed bed sheet was the same way it's always been. As expected, there were no traces that he had returned yet.
Though it was too late to care about it now, because it was always like this since the beginning of the summer vacation, Ayato was a little concerned about what he was doing wherever he was. He once tried to ask him, but he only answered “it’s news coverage you know? News coverage.” and did not tell him any more.
“He might unexpectedly loaf around at the entertainment district... Or something like that.”
He just happened to hear about that place, which was located in the redevelopment area, a few days ago, but it seemed it was known to the students who, somewhat, felt like 'playing around'.
“…But well, it saved me a little if he’s not here. It looked like it would be troublesome to ask Yabuki.”
As Ayato muttered, he took out his portable terminal and sat down on bed. He was thinking that he had to look for some place, which did not attract the public attention depending on the situation, but since Eishiro was absent, his room was probably the safest.
"For example –– how about something regarding your big sister?"
He recalled Julis’s words today.
He did not intend to forcibly look for his big sister.
However, it was certain that he was worried about his big sister.
“Errr… Ah, it is this.”
As he called the number that he just accessed, what immediately projected in the space window was, 'that' person, –– Priscilla Urzaiz’s face appeared.
『"Ah. Amagiri-san!"』
“Good evening. Priscilla-san. I'm sorry for suddenly calling you.”
As Priscilla was in the middle of cooking, she was in apron outfit, like the other day. Judging from the furniture, which was reflected behind her, it was normal that she would be in that room where Ayato and Julis were invited the other day.
『"No, do not worry about it! I was thinking that I have to express my gratitude to Amagiri-san, but you were in the middle of the Festa and I did not want to hamper you… Thank you very much at that time!"』
“No, I really did nothing that you need to be thankful about.”
In the first place, thanking someone against whom you lost was almost constitutionally strange.
However. Priscilla slowly shook her head.
『"Amagiri-san brought back Onee-chan. No matter how many words I say, it won’t be enough to thank you… Ah. that’s right! May I invite Amagiri-san to dinner again? This time more than before, it will be––"』
『"Geez! It’s already fine, so just pass it over!"』came a familiar voice from the background.
『"Eh? Ah, w-wait Onee-cha…!"』
Then, from outside the screen, Irene nudged Priscilla aside and entered.
『"Yo. Amagiri. I saw your match today. It was an extremely close game."』
“Thanks to you.”
『"Hahaha! Serves you right!"』
Irene, who laughed on the other side of the screen as she teased him, returned a wry smile.
She had the same sharp expression as before, but he felt like her steepness somewhat loosened. This was surely Irene in her natural state.
『"So. You have something to ask and not to Priscilla but me, right? No, thats wrong too. It’s not really me that you want to ask something from –– but that bastard Dirk."』
“… You found out. Eh.”
As he honestly answered, since it was a bull’s eye, Irene raised the corners of her mouth grinning.
『"It’s normal that I would easily see through that much… Is what I would like to say, but, unfortunately I already heard it from that bastard Dirk. 'It' says “Since there will probably be communication from you seeking to contact me in the near future, you will both inform and notify me at that time.""』
As expected of the . Ayato’s actions were also within his range of expectation.
In fact, even so, it did not change what he had to do.
“Then. Can I have you convey him this? That there is something I want to ask about Amagiri Haruka. So I want us to meet on one occasion.”
『"…All right. This is also a part my job after all."』Irene stated.
"I appreciate it. Thank you."
『"But. Be careful. I’m not the only one he holds on a leash. According to the rumors, it seems to be the same for the EreshkigalVenomous Witch."』
『"The EreshkigalVenomous Witch?"』 Ayato said.
If even the Strega, which indulged the name of the strongest in the current Asterisk, was under his control, then it was something, almost, not to be believed.
『"Besides –– he also has the Black Cat Institute."』
"Black Cat Institute…?"
『"I’m talking about the Espionage Organization of Le Wolfe. Those guys are seriously dangerous. They will do any dirty work without hesitation if ordered… Well. It looked like that bastard Dirk doesn’t trust them so much though."』
In other words, it was something like in Seidokan Academy.
"I understand. I will be extra careful."
『"You should. Of anything/everything in life."』
As Irene said so, she suddenly glared at Ayato with a half-opened eye.
『"…Aside from that. Amagiri. How did you come to know Priscilla’s number?"』
“Eh? It was the other day, when I got invited to dinner, but…?”
She told him so he could contact her in case something were to happen but “was that bad?” he wondered.
『"Hmm…"』
Irene was glaring at Ayato with a suspicious look, but she soon cleanly pointed her finger at him and said this.
『"I’ll warn you just in case. If by any chance, you are to lay your hands on Priscilla, I won't forgive you."』
『"H-Hey! Onee-chan!? What did you say so suddenly…!"』
Priscilla, in a state of panic, conversely to earlier, pushed Irene aside and entered the screen.
『"S-Sorry, Amagiri-san! Onee-chan said something strange…"』
“Ah, yes, I don’t really mind… Then, please give my regards to Irene-san.”
『"Oh, hey, Priscilla! I’m not done yet with…!"』
Outside the screen, for some reason, Irene seemed to make a racket but the relationship between the sisters seemed to be as usual.
As he somewhat felt relieved, and was about to cut the communication, Priscilla suddenly stepped in.
『“Ah, Amagiri-san, sorry. Can you wait for a moment?”』
“Eh…?”
Then, Pricilla also disappeared from the screen; what the sisters were talking about in a low voice was faintly audible.
It was Irene, who returned to the screen before long, looking slightly embarrassed.
『"Ah… Amagiri."』
“Hmm? What’s the matter?”
『"No… Um, well, in a sense… I… I thought that I should thank you, too. But only in a sense."』
“Thank me…?”
Irene diverted her look and scratched her head while muttering in a small voice.
『"Like I say… It’s about that. The matter of Gravi-Sheath. I don’t really want to admit it, and, thanks to you for having broken it. My earnings also got terribly worse but… Well. It’s also a fact that it would have been really dangerous at that rate."』
“Ah. What, it’s just that, huh.”
Come to think of it. Irene also had a very loyal personality[10].
『"––You saved me. Thank you."』
At the same time Irene said so, with her face still turned away, the space window blacked out.
After revealing a wry smile and staring at the dark screen for a while, Ayato put the portable terminal on the desk and lay on the bed.
“What is left is to see how the will move…”
Judging from Irene’s tone the other side (that of Dirk's) had expected that it would turn out this way. Ayato did not know what he was planning… However. He had no other measures to adopt.
Claudia also said that she would investigate. But… If the opponent was another academy, and what’s more the student council president of Le Wolfe, it would be difficult to immediately take action.
“…Nee-san.”
Ayato closed his eyes and remembered his sister’s image.
The Haruka in Ayato’s mind remained the same as in five years ago.
A time of five years was long. It would be enough time to change someone.
It was also the same for Ayato.
He was fairly stagnant but, even then, Ayato was finally able to take his first step here too.
However––
The door of the room suddenly opened. “I’m home! Haah. Finally back after a long time!”
Eishiro, who carried a lot of baggage, entered.
“Wow. Yabuki?”
“Oh, my bad, my bad. Were you sleeping Amagiri?”
“No, I was just lying down, so it’s all right, but… It’s been a really long time.”
As Ayato sat up from the bed he turned around to Eishiro who had already sat down on the floor.
“I was really busy with a pile of work. I somehow managed to finish part of it, but there is still a lot more left… *sigh*.”
“When you say work, is it about that newspaper club’s coverage or something?”
“Yes, it is. The time of Festa is a time of high earnings after all. Materials are scattered about all over the place, I have to lay in stock[11] here as much as possible –– wait, ah, oh yeah I saw today’s match. First of all, congratulations to have advanced in the quarterfinal.”
Eishiro said so with his thumb up.
“It felt like a victory on thin ice though.” Ayato remarked.
“Now, now. Even so, since you have won, it is all good.”
While loudly laughing Eishiro, reached into to the refrigerator, took out an ice tea and gulped it down in one go.
“Phew! So, your next opponents will be the twins of World Dragon, huh. Those kids are troublesome. You know? Well, anyway, their personalities are really bad.”
“Yabuki. Do you know about them?”
“Only within the meaning of known data. If looking at combat skills alone, Irene Urzaiz, who had Gravi-Sheath, would be above them. In fact, according to the “OdoleliluPoem’s Mead” and the “Hex PantheonSix Sided Temple” sites, neither of the twins individually have received that high of an evaluation.”
“…What is that?”
As Ayato asked again about the unfamiliar terms, Eishiro answered with a surprised look.
“There are famous fan sites about Asterisk… Or rather the Festa. You don’t know them?”
As Ayato shakes his head negatively Eishiro took out his portable terminal, with a face that said “it can’t be helped”, opened a couple of space windows to the site(s) and showed him.
“In Asterisk; Ranks are naturally set by every academy so it's only something internal within each academy. Right? Our rank #1 is… Well it’s you; So whos the strongest between you, our academy’s rank #1, and Garrardsworth’s rank #1? It’s something we won’t know until you guys have actually fought. However, since the guys of the world want to compare anything and everyone anyway, there are many people who created their own general ranking system, which included all the academies, and published it in net.”
“In other words… It's something like an informal rank for all the students in Asterisk?” Ayato guessed.
“Simply put… It’s something like that. So, the “Odolelilu” and the “Hex Pantheon” are the largest (industry leader) companies.”
Now that he mentioned it… This was something plausible. Since a unified ranking did not exist, it meant that there was no standard at all in a situation, where the students of other academies would fight, like the Festa.
“The "Odolelilu" is managed by private persons; It’s an old-timer, which has all along continued to update from the dawn of Asterisk. It is said that it has a fairly accurate ranking, and it is also a handicapping reference used by many scores of gambling den. The "Hex Pantheon" on the other hand, is a relatively new site, adopts the peculiar evaluation system in which anyone can participate; if you ask about what it is, it feels almost like a popularity contest.”
“He~e. Sounds interesting.”
“In fact, since it’s informal after all, there are many people who say that it’s not credible. The Princess should be one of those people. And, as I said it in an interview before, it looks like the president does not like it very much either.”
“Oh. That's just like Julis.”
Since she did not trust the academy's rank that much even it was only natural that it would be the same with an informal ranking.
As for Claudia… He wondered what kind of reason she had (not to trust it).
“Well, now that you understand that, there is no problem as much as I can see. Incidentally, the current rank #1 for either site is EreshkigalVenomous Witch.”
“As expected. Huh…”
So. Two consecutive Lindvolus weren't just for show.
“In the "Hex Pantheon", there is also a ranking which includes past players; It’s quite interesting. Over there, the rank #1 has always been the Captain of the Star Hunter Guard.”
“He is the first person to have won two consecutive times in the Lindvolus. Right? Which means that the results of Lindvolus are highly regarded after all… Aren’t they?”
“Whatever one says, among the Festa, the Lindvolus is the most exciting after all. For your information, currently, you are ranked #19 at Poem’s Mead (Odolelilu) and #30 at "Hex Pantheon". It was much higher before your fight against Irene Urzaiz.”
In other words, it would mean that it dropped since they found out about the seal.
“Well, for a rookie who came out this year, I think that you fared very well indeed.”
“I don’t really understand but… I wonder if I should be happy.”
As he looked at it all, since his interest was a little piqued, the highest rank in Seidokan Academy was Claudia. However, since Kirin came to the top on the other hand in the "Hex Pantheon", it was probably just for reference after all.
“Well then. Let’s return to the topic at hand. That’s why the twins’ individual combat skills are not that much highly evaluated. Of course, it doesn’t mean that they are weak for they are Top Twelve of World Dragon, it’s only about comparing them with the same class of contestants from other academies.”
As Eishiro said so, after closing the various space windows, he smiled wryly.
“But… It means that it’s not decided only with the matches. Isn’t it? If those twins were to clash not with me, but rather with Irene Urzaiz, it would be a game of cleverness. Where no one would be able to tell who would win.”
“I saw the game data and, I notice that, they are certainly skilled in exploiting their opponent’s weaknesses.”
As soon as they found that the opponent had a weakness… Thoroughly aiming at it was the twins’ basic strategy. Naturally, that in itself could also be called a strategy, but it meant that the measures for that purpose were strangely abundant that they were conspicuous.
“Those guys can really skillfully use the advantage of the Star Senjutsu after all. And it would be something really unbearable for the opponent.”
“The advantage of the Star Senjutsu?”
“That’s of course versatility. The support from defense to an attack and vice-versa, whatever it is[12] …Oh. I see. This will be the first time for you to confront a Taoshi. Huh.”
“Oh, I have faced up to World Dragon’s teams several times but most of them were fist Warriors, before all else, after all.”
He knew at least that the Taoshi referred to users of Star Senjutsu but he did not know well yet what kind of thing the Star Senjutsu was concretely.
“It can’t be helped, for our friendship’s sake, I guess I’ll lecture you a bit.”
Eishiro said so and once again opened up a space window.
What was projected suddenly there was the World Dragon Seventh Institute.
“Well, simply put, the Star Senjutsu is something widely used to systematize the ability of Strega or Dante. Normally, Strega’s or Dante’s abilities are something which appear in a form, that's specialized in something, but summarized as a technique ‘it would enable anyone to be able to use it’. That is the closest definition.”
“Anyone? … Wait. Is such a thing possible?”
“To be exact… It’s not really anyone. Even among the Starpulse Generation Strega or Dante amount only to a few percent. Right? But in reality, even though they possessed the caliber to link with mana, with the fact that either their power is too weak or the image can’t be built, there seems to have been many who just can’t manifest the ability. Or rather. The Starpulse Generations who don’t have that quality are few. They just cant use it that way”
“Hmmm…”
“In theory, if one can link with mana, the change of the phenomenon is possible. So. By instilling as a technique a fixed form type which extended only that quality part and which combined tools such as talismans, motions and spells, enables the use of various abilities is what the Star Senjutsu is.”
“It’s certainly amazing, but… If it’s such an amazing technique, why is it only in World Dragon that it is taught?”
To that justified question, Eishiro happily answered.
“Yes, yes, good question. Actually, it is said that, there are many users of Star Senjutsu as such but only few instructors to teach it. They say that, in order to learn the Star Senjutsu, it’s particularly necessary to adjust the flow of prana. Although it seems that that adjustment can only be performed by the instructors.”
“…Meaning it’s almost a monopolistic situation. Huh.”
“It is said that with the twelve people, to whom the first generation , who conveyed this technique in World Dragon, directly taught, the seven people, to whom the second generation taught, and even including the themselves, there are only about 20 instructors. It seems that the drawing out was also great, but given that it has not been successful everywhere, the education would be very thorough.”
Eishiro looked at Ayato with a slightly serious face.
“The abilities standardized by Star Senjutsu also seem to be around several hundreds. Those of Strega and Dante use numerous prominent abilities but… They are missing that minute portion of stability (security) and as such countermeasures are easy in that case. But. Taoshi has no such a weakness. You’d better be careful.”
“I understand. Thank you. Yabuki.”
The matter with the and his big sister, the quarterfinals of the day after tomorrow, and his seal.
Problems seemed to be piling up.
“Phew…”
As Ayato sighed… He looked up at the ceiling.
Even so. He had no choice but to settle them one-by-one after all.
Chapter 4 - Hesitation
––A small field, in a gaping wide clearing, opened within the forest.
There. Two children, still of tender age, were fiercely competing with, respectively, their weapons in hand.
“E-Errr… Ah. Amagiri Bright Dragon Style First Sword Fighting Skill –– !”
The sword wielded by the boy with an innocent face, though slightly sluggish, drew a cross and swooped down on the girl, who set up a large gun.
“––Slow.” Stated the girl.
She easily dodged it and, with her gun aiming at the boy, shot while turning her small body around. The light-bullets released from the huge handgun type Lux grazed the flank of the boy, who twisted his body, and impacted on the ground quite far; the grasses fluttered about with a small bursting sound. Even though the power had been adjusted down for self-protection, there was no doubt that you would not be able to move for a while if you got hit by it head on.
The boy swung his wooden sword so as to check and re-measure the distance from the girl. Though taking distance to the opponent’s projectile weapon was an inane plan, the girl also possessed enough close range combat skills not to be take lightly. If at all possible, he had to confront her from within his own range.
However, all the while, incessantly firing her gun, the girl did not let him do so.
“Damn it!” The boy exclaimed frustrated.
Although he avoided them, and occasionally flipped some away with his wooden sword, the boy was desperately trying to maintain the distance –– but as it soon became impossible to endure, he clicked his tongue and greatly leaped backward.
“…Chance.” The girl muttered.
She took aim on the moment of his landing.
However that, also, was within the boy’s anticipation.
“Ha!” Countered the boy at the same time he landed.
He then flipped the light-bullet, which swooped down on him, back toward the girl.
It was normally an impossible feat to do but if one were to know the exact type, frequency & intensity of that power which the light bullets were adjusted to, and the timing interval with which they came flying at, it was not impossible.
“!”
The girl avoided the light-bullet with a slight surprise, which she barely revealed on her normally expressionless face.
At that chance, the boy ran in a jagged lightning-like pattern (in a zigzag line) and again shortened the distance.
The girl rapidly squeezed the trigger, trying to ambush him, –– but the light-bullets released could not hit the boy as they were all one step later than his every move.
The next moment, with a splendid overhead chop, the boy struck the girl’s gun.
“It’s my win. Saya-san.” The young boy, –– Amagiri Ayato, proudly claimed.
As so, the young girl, –– Sasamiya Saya raised both her hands and surrendered.
“…I understand, this time, it’s my loss.”
With her expression still mostly unchanged, Saya said with a small sigh.
Nevertheless, probably because she was frustrated, her eyebrows were a little closer than usual.
“With this, I guess, it is 321 wins and 182 losses for me. Since I have been continually losing recently… It’s like I've finally won.”
Maybe because their houses were also next to each other, as far as he could remember, they played a lot together.
In the beginning, both of them were only playing children's games such as tag or hide-and-seek but shortly after Ayato began studying at the dojo their games eventually became just like the actual fighting they now currently displayed. However. The initial start (off) of their training/practices came to look like a sham/mockery as they grew up and out of their kid games.
Basically, the term ‘childish contest’ might be strong, but it was a precious occasion (place?) for Ayato, who was prohibited to actually train at the dojo even though he studied there, and on the other hand it was also the unique opportunity for Saya to use the guns made by her father to her heart’s content.
And one more thing.
“…Well. Yes.”
As Saya took out a piece of paper from her pocket, she handed it to Ayato.
There, it was written “wish ticket” in childlike clumsy characters.
“Ehehe. Thanks.”
When Ayato received it, he happily held it up to the sunlight.
This was a ticket valid only between Ayato and Saya, something like a so-called “help ticket”[13]. Its intent was “to listen to any wish asked by the other party”, and this was what Ayato and Saya wagered whenever there was some sort of contest between them. By the way, the one that brought it up, was Saya saying that it was an idea she got inspired by the Festa.
However As for “anything”, there were many prohibited matters to be exact.
One was that you should not ask something that the other party really hated.
Another was that you must not request to remove one’s tickets or previous wishes.
In fact, speaking of how to use it, as you could ask the other to yield his snacks, or had him do your homework in your stead, it was mostly for lovely things as such though.
It was also a fact that recently the range of how to use it became wider.
The example was––
“By the way. Saya-san.”
“Hmm?”
“That ‘wish'… You don't intend to cancel it…?”
You couldn't act as if the other party’s request was nonexistent, but the side that used the ticket for the request (that’s, the other party) could cancel it. If possible, Ayato wanted her to do so, but…
“I don’t.” Was Saya’s relentless answer.
“But, I mean, shouting the name of a technique while executing the attack is rather embarrassing, after all…”
“That's not true. It’s really cool… So rest assured.” Saya said so as she raised her thumb.
“Hmm. I wonder about that.”
“Even on TV heroes are all doing it. There’s no problem.”
“Well, that might be so, but…”
“It’s all right. You’ll soon get used to it.”
He could not help but think that the topic was sidestepped.
That said, since he did not really hate it that much, Ayato also did not say any more.
“More importantly Ayato, did you have some kind of wish?”
Since there was not really an expiration date for the ticket, there was no need to use it right away. He could even save up as many pieces as he wanted, and could also use multiple pieces at the same time.
However, this time Ayato had already decided for what he wanted to request.
“Ah, that’s right. Then, I shall use it at once.”
As Ayato said so, he immediately held out the ticket that was just handed towards Saya.
“––I want to get one point[14] from Onee-chan no matter what. Saya-san… Would you help me?”
---
“Hmm…”
As Ayato woke up, from the ring tone coming out of his portable terminal, it was already past 10:00 A.M.
Usually, even when he had nothing to do, he woke up in time for early morning training but, as expected, it seemed fatigue had recently accumulated.
“At any rate… Why did I have such an old dream again?” He muttered while scratching his droggy head.
He also happened to have a dream of his childhood before but this traced back further than that –– it was an old dream from nearly ten years ago.
“Oops, more importantly…” As he picked up the portable terminal, which kept ringing.
It was from Julis.
He glanced to the opposite side of the room Eishiro, who was sprawling supinely on the bed still wandering within his dreams.
Ayato adjusted the volume and opened the window space since it would be bad to wake him up. Julis, who was projected, said somewhat apologetically.
『"What. Are you perhaps still sleeping? If so… I apologize for having woken you up."』
“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine. I overslept, a little, so don’t worry about it. More importantly. What’s the matter?”
Since the strategy meeting for the quarterfinal was in the afternoon, there was still some time to spare.
『"Yeah. The truth is… Flora was saying that she wants to call you down for lunch. Apparently, she absolutely wants to ask you something."』
“Flora-chan?”
『"Of course. It’s if you are all right with it…"』
“No. I don’t really mind.”
He wondered what on earth she wanted to ask him.
『"I see. Then, though bad, can we meet at the commercial area? However, the congestion around the main street is terrible. Well, another place would be good, but… unfortunately, I am still ignorant of the neighborhood."』
“Oh. –– I see.”
Certainly since the neighborhood was usually crowded with people, with the Festa now in session, it was easy to imagine that it would become even more crowded.
“Even if you say that, I’m not also that much familiar with it…”
Since his after school and days off were spent on training with Julis and the others anyway, he had hardly gone out to play in the town even though it was already two months since he came to Asterisk. Although after the Phoenix started, the chances to do so increased as such, he was basically just going back and forth between the dome and the school.
––Then.
“*yawn*… what, are you looking for a shop?”
Eishiro, who was squirmingly getting up from the bed, spoke while rubbing the area around his eyes.
“Ah, yes. Something like that. Since it would be crowded anywhere at this time, we were talking about what we should do.”
“Hmm… Then. Let me recommend you this. It’s a date with the princess… Isn’t it?”
『"D-Date!? I- I- I- I- Idiot! Don’t misunderstand!"』
Julis shouted over the window space as her face turned bright red but Eishiro, not minding it, picked up his portable terminal at his bedside.
“Look. It’s right here. Since it’s also pretty far away from the subway station, near the border with the outer edge residential district, there are also few tourists. It’s a little-known spot where the atmosphere and food aren't too bad. Maybe because of the nature of the place; The students of Queen Veil usually use it a lot, but since it’s now summer vacation, it wouldn't be very crowded.”
As he saw the information about the shop sent by Eishiro; The atmosphere certainly looked good. –– What’s more… It was a so-called Café which looked like a good place to receive girls.
“He~e. As expected of Yabuki. You even know such a place.”
“Well. There is that. If it’s information, extensively handling it regardless of the field, it's the motto of our club after all.”
Eishiro, who said so, proudly laughed.
“So, what do you think, Julis? Shall we meet there?”
『"Y-Yeah… All right. I somehow don’t like it, since it’s a recommendation from Eishiro, but well it doesn't seem too bad."』
As he sent the data he received from Eishiro. Julis also seemed to find it not altogether bad.
“Okay, then, it’s decided.”
Eventually deciding to meet in this shop in two hours, Ayato cut the communication.
“Thank you. Yabuki. You really helped me.”
“Oh. it’s fine.”
Eishiro, still sitting on bed, turned a meaningful look towards Ayato.
“It would not hurt to keep making you owe me after all.”
“…I pray that it won’t be costly.”
Ayato replied to it with a wry smile and started preparations to go out.
---
“Hmm…?”
As he quickly prepared his outfit and left the dorm, on the way leading to the front gate, he caught sight of familiar faces, which were walking side by side.
As the other side also noticed Ayato, one of them –– Kirin came running up in trot. Looking at her training wear dressed figure, she might have been in the middle of some kind of road work.
“Good morning, Ayato-senpai. Are you going out?”
Kirin bowed her head with a somewhat bashful expression.
“Yes, that’s right, but, here’s rather an unusual combination.”
“Oh. Really?”
The other person, –– Claudia, ran up slightly behind Kirin. She put her hand on her cheek with a smile just like usual and slightly inclined her head to the side.
Apart from times like when everyone was together… He had no memory of having seen just those two together before.
“Since I just met Toudou-san over there I gave her a little advice.”
“Some advice?”
“Yes. –– About Ogre Luxes.”
Claudia turned her gaze over to Kirin, as to confirm, and continued after a brief nod.
“It seems that, by Mr. Toudou Kouichirou’s intention, she was prevented to use an Ogre Lux before, but as you know, she is now a free woman. I was wondering whether she might give it a try if she wishes.”
“Oh…”
Indeed. Certainly, if Kirin were to use an Ogre Lux, one could easily imagine that she would become even much stronger than now. After all, she had reached the seat of rank #1 with just a Nihontou[15]. Ayato felt the win was because he was able to use a non-standard maneuver, that worked to her disadvantage (because he had used an irregular move), and to be frank, he had no confidence at all that he could win again.
“But…”
“Yes, I’m glad about the president’s proposal, but… I’m not really good at all with anything other than a Nihontou.”
Kirin shook her head apologetically.
“There is the fact that I’m attached to this Senbakiri and also that ‘Conjoined Cranes’ is a technique, which can only be executed with a Nihontou…”
“Oh. That’s also true. The type is particularly tight in the Toudou style, after all.”
Even if one possessed an Ogre Lux, no matter how powerful it was, there would be no meaning if the user was not able to skillfully master it. Just the fact of getting accustomed to using a weapon also implied that one had sufficient advantage.
“In this way, also, I somewhat have difficulty with Ser-Versta’s size.” Ayato admitted.
“Fufufu, it’s just me saying this, but I think that it’s because Ayato has not yet mastered Ser-Versta well.” Claudia said playfully.
“Eh?”
To Claudia’s words, Ayato unintentionally widened his eyes.
“Originally Ser-Versta never had a fixed size. When perfectly controlled it ought to naturally take the most suitable form and size for its master.”
“I-Is that so…”
Ayato cast his gaze to Ser-Versta which was sheathed in the holder of his waist.
It seemed like he had not yet been acknowledged by this rebellious child.
“Since Ayato seems to be not very good at finely controlling prana… The problem might be in there.”
“Hmm. I see…”
In fact, since it was one of the areas in which he was not very good, he did not make any excuse.
“Oh. We stray from the subject. About the matter of Toudou-san using an Ogre Lux, what would you do if there was a Nihontou-type Ogre Lux?”
“E-Eh. Is there such an Ogre Lux?” Kirin said. Surprised that it was even possible.
Claudia shook her head regretfully.
“No, at present, there’s none among those owned by Seidokan. The closest one would be Ser-Versta but…”
For reference there was no doubt that Ser-Versta was single-edged and its shape was close to that of a long sword.
Be that as it may.
“N-No. It’s already Ayato-Senpai’s and it’s not something that I can really handle…!”
Kirin hurriedly waved both her hands.
“Are there only just few Nihontou-type Ogre Luxes after all?”
“That’s right. In the first place, the ability and shape of an Ogre Lux significantly depends on the particular idiosyncrasies of the Ulm mana dite used as the core. Even if you want to make such an Ogre Lux it doesn’t mean that such a thing is possible.”
“It‘s inconvenient.” Kirin frankly said.
Claudia smiled wryly as if troubled.
“Well, since they are so powerful, we can’t say that it’s luxurious. ––but actually, recently, a new Ulm mana dite seems to have become at the disposal of the Research Institute of Galaxy in the Development Department.”
“Does it look like a Nihontou-type can be made?”
Claudia nodded to Ayato’s words.
“I have heard that it's possible. How it will actually be even I don’t know, when or how it will be shaped as an Ogre Lux, but… Supposing the case that it happens so, I would by all means like you to try it out.”
“Y-Yes!”
Kirin bowed as she was thankful.
“But, you seem quite eager, Claudia.”
“It’s my job to exert myself for you, the students that belong to Seidoukan, and have you leave behind better results in the Festa after all.”
“I guess student council presidents don’t have it easy…”
Even though Claudia herself was a Page One in the rankings. Unless she had a very firm resolution, that she had to endeavor in order to make other students strong, she would not be able to keep on.
There, Ayato suddenly realized a certain thing.
“Speaking of which… Have Kirin-chan and Claudia happened to fight against each other?”
“Eh?”
“Ah?”
To Ayato’s words, Kirin and Claudia looked at each other.
Come to think of it… Kirin was ex-rank #1 and Claudia is still the rank #2. It would be not be strange even if they had happened to cross swords at least once in the past.
“N-No, no, we haven’t fought.”
However. Kirin also hurriedly denied it.
“Well. Mr. Kouichirou had been wary of me after all. So, it couldn’t be helped.” Claudia admitted.
“…In the first place… President hasn’t fought, in matches and duels over the past year, didn’t she?”
“Yes. It's already been a while. I hope that I haven’t become less capable.”
As Kirin asked as to confirm… Claudia laughed merrily.
“Aside from duels, but even matches…?”
Come to think of it, he had a hunch that, Julis had also said such a thing before.
But, it meant that it had not been nominated even in the official ranking matches. According to the rules of Seidoukan, the nomination from a low rank could not be refused. Since Claudia was rank #2, almost any up-and-coming students should be able to nominate her.
And yet, she had not participated in matches for one year, which meant––.
“Has Ayato-senpai ever watched the president’s match videos?”
“Eh? No, I haven’t, but…”
“Then, I think that, you’ll immediately understand the reason once you watch them. Just the fact that no one dares to challenge president shows how strong she is.”
Kirin said with a serious face.
“It’s not me that everyone is afraid of, but, rather this child.”
Claudia said so and stroked the Ogre Lux activation body hung on her waist.
The Ogre Lux Pan-Dora, which Claudia owned, possessed the exceptional ability of future foresight but only in exchange of a cruel price. Certainly those daring to challenge such an opponent, who could perform a complete prediction on their movements, would be few but the fact that there was none was somewhat abnormal.
“To tell the truth… I have also happened to assume a fight with president. But… I wasn’t able to come up with an image of victory.”
“Oh my, how humble!”
Claudia looked at Kirin with a wry smile.
“No. It’s truth. Besides… The president is ranked higher than me in the Poem's Mead (Odolelilu).”
“That is a selfish evaluation by external people. You can't take it as reference.” Claudia stated firmly.
As Yabuki was saying, it seemed that Claudia did not trust the unofficial ranking very much.
“But––”
“…Phew”
To Kirin, adamant to the bitter end, Claudia continued speaking after a small sigh.
“Then. –– Was Toudou-san defeated by me in that assumption?”
“T-That’s …”
To Kirin, who stammered, Claudia continued further.
“Yes, there wasn't any image of you losing, right? However much I can foresee the future, it has no meaning if I can’t deal with it. Toudou-san would, at the least, be far above me in the area of speed. There is no telling what would happen.”
In other words, from Claudia’s estimation, it would mean that the two people’s power, including their ability, were almost equal (on par with each other).
“…Oh. I’m sorry. It looks like we chat a little too much.”
As Claudia clapped her hands, she bowed her head towards Ayato and Kirin.
“Well then… I shall excuse myself. Both of you please do your best in the quarter-finals tomorrow. I'm counting on you.”
“Ah, yes, see you later.”
While looking at the back of Claudia, who was leaving, Kirin muttered in a small voice.
“…What the president said is correct. There was also no image of me losing.”
Within Kirin’s pupils flowed her pride and conviction as a swordswomen.
“But, it can’t help that, the image of the president was guessed from the data of the match. President has once lost as a team in the last Gryps, but even there, president herself had not demonstrated all her might. That’s why… Nobody has ever seen president fight seriously.”
“A serious Claudia, eh…”
Ayato remembered of when he was attacked by Claudia the other day. Since she was also in trance [16] back then, he could not call it “serious”.
“––Ah, which reminds me, wasn’t Ayato-senpai on his way to go out?”
“Ah. That’s right…!”
As he checked the time… It appeared that he no longer had the time to take it easy.
“Sorry. Kirin-chan. I have to go now.”
“Yes. Take care.”
Ayato waved his hand to Kirin and hastily headed towards the main gate.
---
“Phew… It was very delicious!”
Flora, who neatly ate up the omurice [17] said with a big smile.
“Ah, geez… look, you have ketchup there.”
“Mmgh…”
Julis, sitting next to her, wiped around Flora’s mouth.
It looked as if they were real sisters and was quite heartwarming.
The café, Eishiro introduced them to, was in the alley which went off from one side of the main street. With a black calm appearance it was a shop which seemed to pass by unnoticed if one was not careful –– and yet once a person recognized it they would be so charmed by the shop's wonderful atmosphere.
The inside was brighter than expected, and a classic tone was flowing at a subtle level. As there weren't many seats, counting the table seats and counter seats, there were probably around twenty seats. Ayato, Julis and Flora were sitting at one of those table seats.
“But well, it sure is a store with good tastes and atmosphere. It’s vexing, but I must admit that Yabuki’s information is accurate”
“You should tell him so. He’ll be glad to hear it”
Both Ayato and Julis already finished their meal, and an after meal coffee was placed in front of the two people.
“That won’t happen. Since it’s not once or twice that I had suffered from troubles because of him. The offset balance is still far away.”
"Humph". Said Julis while she turned her head the other way.
Although improved recently, the basic thought process in regards to Julis’ human relations was a “give and take”. In other words; it meant that Eishiro’s debt was still big.
“So –– what did you want to ask. While chuckling as such to Julis,
"Flora-chan?” Ayato urged Flora to talk about what she wanted to ask.
“Y-Yes! Please. Wait a minute…!”
As Flora explored her pochette, for a bit, she then took out a lovely notebook.
Flora was in maid figure today, too, but there were small articles of design, which suited her very well.
“There it is! Errr. You know…”
Flora’s hand, which was fluently turning over that notebook, suddenly stopped.
“Hmm?”
As she raised her glance, wondering, Flora’s eyes were turned towards the neighboring table.
“Thank you for waiting. Here is the specially made Fruit Parfait.”
A waiter, who tightly and stylishly wore his uniform, had put a huge Parfait in the neighboring table. It was decorated with multicolored fruits, indeed the kind of dessert which girls liked. Even the girls appearing to be students of Queen Veil, who were sitting in the neighboring table, had raised a delightful shrill voice.
“What? Do you also want to eat that?”
“…Yes.”
To the amazed Julis… Flora nodded slightly embarrassed.
“Well. I don’t really mind.”
“Yay! Thank you very much!”
Julis raised her hand and called the waiter over and ordered a new Parfait.
Julis was gently gazing at Flora, who brightened her eyes to the Parfait which had been presented quickly, with a big smile.
As she noticed Ayato’s look… Julis turned around and glared at Ayato with sharp eyes.
“…What are you looking so hard at?”
“Ah, No––”
Ayato hesitated to speak for an instant, but since it was not really something for which to hide, he frankly continued.
“I was thinking that you’re unexpectedly good at handling children.”
“Is it surprising?”
“A little.”
Since he knew well that Julis had a rather severe character, not only towards others, but also towards herself, he honestly couldn't deny feeling a little uncomfortable.
“––Well. It can’t be helped. It’s rare for those children to be spoiled by people. It’s impossible for the Sisters considering their position, and it’s normal for children of Flora’s age to take care of those younger than themselves. That’s why I had decided, as much as it’s possible for me, to spoil them as much as possible. After all, they are all like my cute little sisters.” Julis said.
Julis gently stroked Flora’s head.
(An older sister spoiling her little sisters. Huh, come to think of it, Nee-san was also very gentle to me.)
As he suddenly remembered his big sister Ayato felt a sharp pain running through his chest.
It was also the same when he was with the Urzaiz sisters, but it seemed that for some reason, he was becoming strangely sentimental recently.
“Besides. This kind of sweetness is quite rare in the orphanage. So it isn’t bad once in a while. Is it?”
“Ah, but, but, the Sisters said that since princess recently began supporting us financially, it has become considerably better!” Flora said.
This time with cream stuck around her mouth.
“He~e. So you are sending money to them. Huh.”
“I-It’s not that really big a deal. It is the special reward of being a Page One. I have no other way to use it anyway.”
When one became a Page One, let alone the exemption of tuition, a certain monthly reward was provided by the academy. Ayato was also surprised, seeing that specification, but it was actually an excessive amount of money for a student. It was enough to make the ranking competition become fierce.
“Princess. Princess.”
This time Flora was pulling Julis’ sleeve.
“? What’s the matter?”
“Please, say ‘aah’, Princess.”
As Flora said so, and held out the spoon, Julis again smiled wryly and opened her mouth.
“Teehee!”
Flora moved there while contentedly laughing
“…Hmm. I see… Yes, this is, delicious.”
“Yes! The tongue seems to melt away!”
That behavior seemed quite natural. Habitually sharing like this was probably normal for Julis and Flora.
Moreover, the size of this parfait was not a quantity that Flora could finish eating alone, it might be just right to share it at least between both of them.
As he was appreciating that scene, while thinking of such things, Flora suddenly turned to face Ayato.
“Oh, that’s right! While we are it, you can also have it, Amagiri-sama!”
“Wha!?”
“Eh? Can I also have some?”
“Of course! Both Princess and Sister always said that delicious things, when sharing with everyone, would taste more delicious! Right. Princess?”
As Flora innocently said so, for some reason Julis’ face turned bright red and, she looked downward.
“N-No. Th-that might be so, b-but, that spoon, just now I…”
Apparently, Julis was mumbling-ly saying something in a low voice, but Flora bent herself forward over the table and held out the spoon towards Ayato.
“Then. Yes! Amagiri-sama, say also, ‘aah’.”
“…Aah”
As Ayato also smiled wryly and, reluctantly, opened his mouth, the fluffy sweet taste soon spread in his mouth.
“––Yes. It’s true. This is very delicious.”
“Yes!”
The acidity of the thick cream and fruit harmonized, with the right balance, so one could eat it as many as he liked. Because the quality of both the meal and desert were highly comparable one could understand why this place was really popular with girls.
“Thank you. Flora-chan.”
“Teehee!”
As Ayato gave his thanks Flora, seeming happy, was bashful.
“…”
On the other hand, Julis was staring at this with an indescribable and complex expression while her face was still reflecting bright red.
“U-Um, Julis, what’s the matter?”
“E-Eeih! It’s nothing! More importantly, Flora, what about what you wanted to ask? Finish up quickly with it!” Julis said as she urged her.
“Yes”
Flora, with the spoon in her mouth, started turning over again the earlier notebook.
Ayato thought that Flora had rather good manners for her age, because she worked in the palace, but there were occasions where one could catch a glimpse of her mischievous side. This was likely an element from Julis. Probably.
“Haah… Geez, finally the main topic, huh.” Julis said as she got too tired to wait.
She then reached out to her coffee.
“Um, which was it again first of all… Ah, this is it!”
Flora turned around to Ayato and falteringly read the notebook aloud.
“Well then. First question: Err… 'How far has the relationship between Amagiri-sama and Princess progressed?'”
“Bufu!?” Julis strongly choked on the coffee she was drinking.
Just after that she said.
“W- W- Wh- Wh-What is that question!!” Julis, who spontaneously stood up and shouted, but…
She immediately sat down again as the other customers’ looks were concentrating on her. She then drew near Flora with a very low voice.
“…That question. It’s not something you thought of… Right?”
“Yes. His Majesty said "I wanted you to check these about the young boy… Who might become my future brother-in-law."”
“Geez. Big Brother…!”
Flames of anger burned, flaring up to Julis’ pupils, as she reached for the notebook.
“Flora. Show me that for a moment. What kind of other questions are written there?”
“Ah. I can’t! His Majesty asked me to keep it secret from Princess since she would get angry if she were to find out…!”
As she took the notebook back from Julis that she had taken, Flora bowed quickly in a bouncing way.
––Still. What on earth kind of person is Julis’ older brother anyway? Ayato wondered.
“The secret, or whatever, has already been exposed!” Julis revealed.
“…Oops! T-That’s right!”
As she just noticed now… Flora put her hand on her mouth with a surprised expression
“Anyway, I will seize this.”
“N-No! Since it’s a work that I was assigned… Please let me do it properly until it's done!”
“No.”
––While Julis and Flora were clamoring like that.
“U-Um… Sorry to disturb you while you are in the middle of a conversation. Can I have your attention for a bit…?”
One girl timidly accosted Ayato and company.
“Oh, Sorry for being so noisy…”
Ayato was sure that it was an employee, who came to warn them, but looking properly, it seemed that this wasn't the case. It was clearly a student.
“U-Um… You’re Amagiri Ayato-san. Right?”
“Yes. Is something the matter…?”
“I’m sorry, but, would you come with me for a moment?”
“Eh…?”
As Ayato was perplexed at the sudden proposal, Julis and Flora had also halted their small dispute, and looked at the girl with a questioning gaze.
“Ah. S-sorry. It’s a bit late but my name is Kashimaru Corona. I act as the secretary for the student council president.”
As the girl, dressed in a uniform of Le Wolfe hastily bowed her head, persisted on in this manner.
“And um –– the president is waiting.”
---
“President. You say…?”
Julis’ expression stiffened, for a moment, and an insecure light dwelled in her eyes.
“What kind of business does the have with my partner…?”
“Hiii…”
The girl named Corona, who was on the verge of tears at Julis’ intensity, shrank back.
“Ah wait, Julis, I asked for this.”
“What did you say? What do you mean?”
“Actually––”
Ayato gave a brief and general explanation, that is, he was the one who yesterday asked Irene so that he could meet with Dirk Eberwein.
“I didn't think that I would suddenly meet him today after asking just yesterday though.”
“However… Is it all right? The is the man, who ordered Irene to crush you, you know? Carelessly contacting him is…”
“Yeah, I know, and I’m more than aware of it.”
“Hmm…”
Julis pondered for a while with a hard face, but before long, she turned a sharp gaze towards Corona.
“I understand. In that case… I will also go.”
“Eh? B-But, president only asks for Amagiri-san though…”
“––Is there any problem?”
“Hiiii!”
To Julis’ words, which were filled with intensity similar to blood lust, Corona further shrank back.
That said, regarding the matter with Irene, Since Ayato, who was the target, was more indignant than Julis, it might also be inevitable.
『"I don’t mind. You can bring her along Corona. It’s also a rare chance for me to see the Gruene RosePetalblaze Witch’s mug."』
Then, a space window, which was in a state of blackout, was suddenly unfolded before Corona.
A low, overbearing and sharp voice. The owner of this voice, judging from his authoritative way of talking, was probably Dirk. He seemed to have somehow overheard the conversation of Ayato and company.
“Y-Yes. Understood.”
As Corona, in a state of panic, bowed before the space window, she looked at Ayato’s direction with nervous face.
“Th-Then, please here, I will lead the way…”
Judging from her face, which became completely stiff, it looked like Julis was very wary. It was absolutely unlike the students of Le Wolfe, and it was a little interesting.
“Flora, sorry, but it’s like that. Can you go back to the hotel alone?”
“Yes! It’s all right!”
Flora, who still tightly grasping the spoon, deeply nodded.
“Sorry, Flora-chan, I will make it up for you. So then…”
As Ayato said so and lightly waved his hand to Flora, they exited the shop in accordance with Corona’s lead.
Corona advanced, at a somewhat quick pace, while occasionally looking back at them.
After a while they came out of the commercial area and emerged to the main street of the outer edge residential area.
A huge black car was parked in the corner. Although it was a so-called 'limousine' type the windows were greatly blackened so that one could not see inside from the outside.
“This way, please.”
When Corona opened that car’s door, the inside was more spacious and comfortable than expected. The seats did not line up like in an ordinary car; inside was a leather-covered sofa and a solid table with its appearance being just like a small reception room.
In the very back was sitting a young man with darkish red hair. He was of short stature, plump and something like a deep dark irritation was smoldering within scowling eyes.
“––Come in.” Said the young man’s, –– Dirk Eberwein’s, voice.
Ayato and Julis looked at each other and stepped inside after a mutual small nod.
Of course, they were on their guard. They carefully looked around, but it seemed that there was no other presence than Dirk and Corona within the car.
When they sat down so as to face each other across the table, the car started to move, and Dirk slightly snorted.
“So you’re , huh… Humph. You have an absentminded mug. To think that ‘this’ is a rank #1. I guess that Seidoukan is not worth much, too.”
“…And who expressly gave the order to crush such an absentminded fellow, ?”
Julis retorted, turning a piercing gaze, but Dirk took it calmly and exaggeratedly shrugged his shoulders.
“I have no idea what you're talking about.”
“You bastard, don’t play dumb! The other day, Irene Urzaiz surely said so! You bastard has––”
“Julis. It’s useless.”
Ayato calmed Julis. Who had half-rose to her feet.
“Irene told us only just because it was on that occasion. There is no evidence.”
“But…!”
“Besides, if you don’t calm down, you’ll get her in trouble.”
“──!”
Julis sat down with a thud while biting her lips in vexation.
Corona, who was frozen from fear, took a sigh of relief.
“Ho~ou, on the other hand, your head functions well. Huh.”
Dirk’s big eyes slowly tapered.
“It has nothing to do with what I want to ask after all.”
“Ah, that‘s right. But, before we begin to talk, let me tell you something. I have no obligation to answer your question. Just keep that in mind.”
With a haughty attitude as it is, Dirk declared as he thrust his finger at Ayato.
“But, then, why are you here?”
“Well, let’s just say, it was on a whim.”
“For the very busy student council president to come all the way here just on a whim? Who would believe that?”
“…”
Ayato deeply exhaled and looked straight at Dirk’s eyes.
“There are also some things you want from me. Isn’t that right?” Ayato said.
“…That’s right. If you want to get something, the deal doesn’t hold unless you also put forth something.”
Dirk slowly crossed his legs again.
“All right. You pass. What do you want to ask?”
“All that you know concerning Nee-san –– Amagiri Haruka.”
Ayato said, without diverting his gaze, staring directly at Dirk’s eyes.
“Amagiri Haruka… Huh. unfortunately, it’s not as if I know that much about her. I just happened to see her once.”
“Where?”
“––The <EclipseEclipse Warrior Festival>”
“Wha-!”
To Dirk’s curt answer… Julis widened her eyes in surprise.
“Do you know it Julis?”
As Ayato asked, since those words did not ring a bell to him, Julis nodded while slightly faltering.
“Well, yeah, I have only heard rumors about it. It’s said that it was an illegal, high stakes, game-battle without rules. That it was also made for the moral-trashes[18], who weren't satisfied with the Festa and were in search of more radical stimulus.”
“Without rules…”
Shiver ran down his spine.
“There is no ‘give up’. The battle ends either when one of the players loses consciousness or… when he loses his life. Its scale, of course, was much smaller compared to the Festa, since it was kept underground, but as some of the rich people seemed to be enthusiastic fans so it seemed to be prosperous in its own way. But. That is––”
“Yes. The <EclipseEclipse Warrior Festival> has already been destroyed and it disappeared long ago. After all… the Captain of the Star Hunter Guard hated its very sight.”
Dirk continued as he took over from Julis’ words.
“I have seen Amagiri Haruka there as one of the players. At that time… I was one of the guests of the <EclipseEclipse Warrior Festival>.”
“His sister… participated in a match. You say?”
“Yeah. Since she was the user of Ser-Versta… I remember it well. There were not that many people bringing an Ogre Lux to the <EclipseEclipse Warrior Festival>.”
“And then, the conclusion of that match…?”
Dirk plainly answered without changing his expression.
“It was Amagiri Haruka’s defeat.”
At that moment. A shock struck Ayato as if beating his head with all its might.
The world was shakily distorted; An uncertain emptiness, as if his feet collapsed, crept up from underfoot.
A strange sensation as if sucked into a bottomless hole
“Hey, Ayato, are you all right?”
“A-Ah. Yes…”
Julis slightly shook Ayato’s shoulder and he quickly came around to this senses.
“Well, it seems that, she had not died. I don’t know what happened afterwards. It was that only time I have seen Amagiri Haruka.”
“I-I see…”
It was the best that Ayato could answer.
“Then, now, it's my turn to ask questions.”
Dirk continued the conversation as he did not care at all about Ayato’s agitation.
“What kind of relation do you have with Madiath Mesa?”
“Eh…?”
Ayato, without knowing for a moment what he was asked about, looked back at Dirk.
“By Madiath Mesa… do you refer to the Steering Committee chairman of the Festa??”
What kind of relations or whatever, let alone a conversation, they should never have met each other directly.
Come to think of it, Ayato felt like their eyes met for an instant during the opening ceremony, but…
“…Hmm. It looked like you aren't playing dumb. Well. It’s fine.”
As Dirk said so, he snapped his fingers.
The car stopped slowly and the door opened after a short time.
“End of talk. Get out quickly.”
“––Wait.”
Julis said while annoyingly glaring at such Dirk.
“I had a question to ask you. How on earth did you know where we were?”
“Huh?”
“It was only several hours ago that we decided to go to that shop. Rather, if you had already made a reservation, how did you do it in this short period of time…?”
“Idiot. I have no obligation to answer you.”
Dirk's words plainly cut so.
“Damn…!”
As Julis thought that at that attitude, whatever she said would be useless, she quietly exited the car. Ayato also followed.
It was at the wharf close to Seidoukan Academy that the car stopped. It wouldn't take them much time if they went from here to the academy on foot.
“…”
However, Ayato, without even starting to walk, was looking at the blue sky spread across the lake as if feeling exhausted.
The car, which dropped them, ran away with the same unsociability as his owner.
“Ayato… Are you really all right?”
“…Oh. I’m all right.”
As he answered so to Julis’ worried voice, Ayato strongly clenched his fist.
---
“Phew…”
As the car began to move, Corona took a great breath of relief.
“Amagiri-san seemed like a rather kind person, but, Riessfeld-san was scary wasn’t she?”
As Dirk glanced, at Corona, he snorted, as if it was boring.
“As usual… You don’t have a discerning eye. When it comes to fighting, such type of people are much more troublesome than fellows such as the Gruene RosePetalblaze Witch, who are easy to understand.”
“Huh. Is that how it is…?”
“But, well, it’s OK, it was worth the trouble to have expressly come all the way here.”
“Eh? But…”
At the conversation just now Dirk just one-sidedly provided information. Although Ayato also eventually answered Dirk’s question, it looked like there was almost nothing to get from it. One could hardly think that it was very balanced.
“There are various ways to use information. Though, depending on the situation, purposely providing information to the other party is also one way.”
“He~e…” Corona chimed.
Although she did not really understand what he meant.
“––Well this time, it’ll be excellent if it works even with the harassment degree.”
As Dirk leaned his back on the sofa, he said so as disgusted.
“Oh, come to think of it, I forgot to report, but when I went to pick up Amagiri-san and Riessfeld-san, there was a really cute girl with them. She looks like a doll…I wonder who that was.”
“What did you say?”
Dirk slightly frowned at those words.
“She wasn’t also recorded in the documents that I got from you, president… But, she was still small, and since she was not wearing a school badge, I think that she surely wasn’t a student of Asterisk. Oh, yeah! Besides, she was in maid outfit, that child. It was a maid, you know? A maid! It was very cute and suited her.”
As Corona excitedly said that she laughed with a lax face.
“…That story. Tell me about it in details.”
“Eh? President, don’t tell me, you like maids?”
As she asked, again with a blank face, Dirk glared at Corona with eyes full of irritation after clicking his tongue.
“N-No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It’s a lie. It’s a joke!”
As she fleetingly waved both her hands Corona briefly talked about the situation when she went to meet Ayato and company.
Dirk, who heard it, pondered for some reason and muttered.
“Hmm, I see…”
Seeing something sharp and dark sparkling in his pupils… Corona felt something cold running down her back.
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