The Asterisk War, Vol. 9: Whispers of a Long Farewell

by Yuu Miyazaki

  “I certainly do owe you for the Gran Colosseo… But don’t you think this goes a little beyond that?” Xinglou replied.

  Hufeng nodded strongly in agreement.

  “Do you think so?” the voice on the other end of the call asked. “The way I see it, Miss Lyyneheym only agreed to participate because she knew I had already done so. You might say that it was thanks to me that you had two top-ranked fighters to evaluate your guardians against.”

  “…Hmm, you do have a point.”

  Hufeng shook his head in disagreement.

  “But I do understand that I’m asking a lot,” the caller went on. “So what do you say about this, princess? I would be willing to invite you to our next official ranking matches—as a spectator, of course.”

  “Oh-ho!”

  This is bad, Hufeng thought. That was precisely the kind of lure that Xinglou would snap up in a heartbeat.

  Official ranking matches, being key elements of each school’s publicity campaigns, were normally held in the city’s various public arenas. Matches between unnamed students, however, tended to take place within the grounds of each school, and so, unless they were broadcast, they could only be watched by students from that school. As such, schools sometimes liked to hide a secret ace away from prying eyes in preparation for the Festa. Xinglou herself was, of course, also involved in such activities.

  Moreover, it wasn’t the battles between unnamed students themselves that formed the main attraction of such matches, but rather the fact that they were the perfect place to discover yet unseen talent. Among the Festa’s most die-hard fans, there were those who placed special weight on such matches.

  Hufeng could sense a bad feeling welling up inside him.

  “And above all, princess, aren’t you looking forward to watching the battle between your favorite pupils and Team Enfield? At this rate, they’re on track to lose the most vital component of their fighting potential. Normally, that might be something to rejoice about, but not for you, am I right in assuming?” Ernest, it seemed, knew precisely how to close the deal.

  “Hmm… The Pan-Dora’s girl certainly is the heart of the team. It would spoil the fun to take her out of the picture…”

  “As you know, Sinodomius is under the jurisdiction of my academy’s integrated enterprise foundation, so I’m very limited in how I can react to this. Jie Long’s Gaishi, however, is under your direct control. There must be something that you would be able to do about this matter, princess?”

  The intelligence organizations belonging to each of Asterisk’s six schools differed in their strengths and structures, but as a general rule, they each operated under the management of their schools’ IEF. Even if the student councils of each school were permitted to make use of their services, that right was only given to them on a provisional basis by their respective overlord, so it was always clear who they truly served.

  That said, the situation was slightly different for Jie Long and Allekant.

  Allekant, for example, took factionalism to an extreme, so much so that each individual faction employed its own independent intelligence agents.

  Jie Long’s intelligence organization, Gaishi, on the other hand, had been personally established by the first Ban’yuu Tenra, and since then had historically been attached to the student council directly, with only tenuous links to their enterprise foundation.

  “Moreover, enticements aside, if I’m not mistaken, princess, you aren’t the kind of person who likes to watch on in silence, are you?”

  “Hmm, are you trying to fan the flames, boy? Don’t get too full of yourself.” For a brief second, there was something dangerous about her tone, although it quickly disappeared. “But very well. Consider me intrigued.”

  Upon hearing this response, Hufeng lifted his hands to his head.

  Somehow, he had suspected from the beginning that things might end up like this, but that was precisely why he wouldn’t allow himself to nod along to everything meekly.

  “…With all due respect, Master, I don’t think it would be wise to involve ourselves with another school’s troubles at this time.”

  “Don’t say that, Hufeng. You’ll be upset, too, if your opponents can’t fight at their full strength.”

  “That may be so, but still…”

  Team Enfield would be Hufeng’s—Team Yellow Dragon’s—next opponent. As a martial artist, it was, of course, natural that he would prefer to fight them at their best.

  However, that was a separate matter entirely. He couldn’t stay silent when another school was trying to induce them into engaging in unnecessary risks.

  “A-anyway, you should at least think about it before—”

  “No. I’ve decided,” Xinglou said with an innocent smile, prior to sounding a small, clear bell.

  Hearing that sound, Hufeng let out a tired sigh. He really was at his wits’ end.

  There was no turning back now.

  Because before the sound could even fade back into silence, she appeared in front of them.

  “HIYA! DID YOU CALL ME, LITTLE XINGLOU?”

  Appearing as if out of thin air was a young woman. Much to Hufeng’s chagrin, he was still unable to sense her presence.

  She had large catlike eyes, cropped unruly hair, and a short body blessed with a bounty of feminine curves. What was most distinctive of all, however, were the myriad of scars that crisscrossed her entire body, face included, all of which she wore like trophies.

  With modern medicine, removing scars was a trivial procedure. In other words, the girl—Alema Seiyng, an operative from the seventh office of the Ryuusei Kyuushi, Jie Long’s student council–operated intelligence organization, and renowned for her vicious nature—had decided to keep the scars on purpose.

  “Yes, yes. I need to ask you a favor, Alema.”

  “WELL, IF IT’S A JOB, IT’S NOT LIKE I CAN SAY NO OR ANYTHING.”

  Alema didn’t speak, per se, but rather, she communicated through text displayed on an air-window floating by her side. The long, collar-like spell charm wrapped around her neck served to seal her voice away.

  “Ah, Seiten Taisei. I don’t believe we’ve seen each other since the closing ceremony of the Phoenix,” Ernest said in greeting.

  “OH, IF IT ISN’T LITTLE ERNEST. LONG TIME NO SEE,” Alema replied with a vacant smile, waving back at him.

  The two were acquaintances of a sort. Alema, being Xinglou’s favorite, was often sent to represent her in her stead whenever she was absent from official engagements.

  “HEE-HEE! I SAW YOU IN THE GRYPS. YOU LOOK GOOD. WHY DON’T YOU HAVE A GO WITH ME NEXT TIME?”

  “That’s impossible!” Laetitia broke in, forcing her way into the frame of the air-window. “I’ve told you again and again, duels aren’t allowed here at Gallardworth! As the student council president, he of all people can’t break the rules! And why are you acting so chummy with him anyway?!”

  “EH, NO FUN.” Alema pouted in disappointment.

  Hufeng, however, had nodded along with Laetitia in agreement. He had found himself obliged on occasion to take issue with Alema’s rough-spoken and overly familiar attitude with Xinglou. That said, she wasn’t the kind of person to pay much heed to what others had to say, and Xinglou, it seemed, was more than happy to allow her to keep acting that way.

  Alema Seiyng, also known as the Sage of Heavenly Enlightenment, Seiten Taisei, was Jie Long’s former number one—meaning, she had been Jie Long’s strongest fighter up until Xinglou had taken her place.

  Xinglou had invited the defeated Alema to become one of her disciples, but the scarred girl had turned her down. Xinglou, however, valuing her talents, still wanted to make her her own, and so she had offered her a compromise.

  In short, she became not a disciple, but a member of Gaishi, and in exchange, she had the right to challenge Xinglou to a duel whenever she wished. Being just as much a fanatic for battle as Xinglou, Alema had agreed to this readily, and even now, she challenged her at every possible opportunity.<
br />
  “SO THE JOB?”

  “First things first, Alema. Are you aware that Galaxy brought some people here to Rikka yesterday?”

  “HUH? NOPE, NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT.” She shook her head, expression vacant.

  “Gallardworth’s Sinodomius noticed them. I guess our people must be taking it pretty easy, huh?” Hufeng said, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

  Alema merely scratched at the back of her head, without showing even the slightest embarrassment. “THEIR INFORMATION NETWORK IS ON A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCALE THAN OURS. THERE’S NO NEED TO COMPARE.”

  “Yes, that’s fine. More importantly, I don’t feel like letting them have what they want. That’s your job,” Xinglou said, a piercing glint flashing in her eyes.

  “HMM… GOT IT. SO GALAXY’S PEOPLE. WHO ARE THEY, EXACTLY?”

  “According to Pendragon, it sounds like Night Emit. Their head seems to be with them, too.”

  “OH, THIS’LL BE GOOD! THE HEAD OF THE YABUKI IS SUPPOSED TO BE PRETTY STRONG, RIGHT? I’M GETTING REVVED UP!” Alema punched a fist into her free hand, flashing them all a brutal grin.

  The flames burning in her eyes were just like Xinglou’s when she got worked up.

  “Unfortunately, I don’t know how strong the current head is, although I do remember facing one of their previous ones a few generations back. He…” Xinglou tilted her head to one side, as if trying to recall something, before clapping her hands together in excitement. “That’s it. He put up quite the fight, if I remember correctly. Yes, he really had me on the back foot there. Good memories.”

  “WHAT?! AH, I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS NOW!”

  “Let me say this. Their techniques are truly troublesome. You would be wise not to take on their head, in particular.”

  “AND WHY WOULDN’T I?” Alema retorted, her grin growing yet more fiendish.

  “…Well, so long as you take care of the job, I don’t really mind.”

  Listening to this back and forth, Hufeng broke into a frown, his headache only growing stronger.

  Why was it that only these kinds of people tended to flock to Xinglou?

  “…Then it sounds like the matter is settled. Well then, princess, shall I leave it to you for now?” Ernest asked with an uncertain smile.

  “Very well. And what do you intend to do?”

  “Of course, we’ll do everything we can from our side, too… But if we were able to handle it alone, I wouldn’t have needed to call you. Isn’t that right, Laetitia?” Ernest glanced away from the air-window for a brief moment, turning to his side, as if reminding her of something.

  So, Hufeng wondered, Gallardworth must have its fair share of impulsive people, too.

  “Oh-ho, I see. That’s true.”

  “Well then, we’re counting on you, princess.”

  And with that, the air-window snapped shut.

  “I’D BETTER GO GET READY, THEN,” Alema murmured, before disappearing just as suddenly as she had appeared.

  Though he stretched his senses as much as he could, Hufeng still hadn’t been able to detect her leaving. Grinding his teeth in annoyance, he turned toward his leader. “Are you sure about this, Master? Making trouble with an integrated enterprise foundation now would be…”

  “Fret not. So long as the Ban’yuu Tenra is involved, they won’t dare make a move against us. Anyway, the Gryps this time has been rather dreary, wouldn’t you say? Perhaps this will add a little spice to things?” she said with an innocent laugh.

  Hufeng let out a heavy sigh. The reason that such people flocked to Xinglou was no doubt because she herself could be just as reckless as they were.

  CHAPTER 3

  MEMORIES III: MORNING

  “Y-y-you confessed…?!” While Julis tried to maintain her composure, she couldn’t stop her voice from coming out as a nervous stammer.

  “Yes.” Saya nodded calmly.

  They were in their training room, just before noon.

  Julis and Kirin opened their eyes wide in shock.

  “H-hold on, Saya. Does that, I mean, did you…? You mean, you told Ayato…about how you feel?” Julis asked again, to make sure she hadn’t misunderstood.

  But Saya’s answer remained unchanged. “That’s what I’m saying.”

  “O-oh, I see, that’s…”

  It looked to be true. No sooner did Julis realize that than an indescribable wave of uneasiness welled up in her chest.

  “But I mean, that’s… That’s…”

  She had so many things she wanted to ask her, but she didn’t know how to put them into words.

  It would, after all, be a confession of her own.

  But more than that, this was a confession from Saya, Ayato’s childhood companion, that she was facing; the person who, though they had been separated for many years, had been his closest and most familiar friend.

  Thinking about it as an outsider, even if Saya had merely expressed her honest feelings, the fact that she, who should have wanted above all else merely to maintain her past relationship with Ayato, had instead taken this step, suggested that it wouldn’t perhaps be out of the question to believe that Ayato felt something similar.

  And if that was true, there was every possibility he would accept her confession, in which case—

  Julis, having started going down this train of thought, found her eyes spinning around in alarm and put her head in her hands.

  “U-um! A-Ayato’s response—wh-what did he say…?!” Kirin, who had remained completely petrified up till now, broke in feverishly, looking as if she might start crying at any moment.

  Right, that’s it!

  Julis snapped back to her senses and gave a hearty nod at hearing Kirin ask the very question that should have been on the tip of her own tongue.

  But when she looked carefully at the younger girl, she could see that Kirin’s eyes were darting in every direction, just like her own had been. She was clearly at her limit.

  Moreover, her legs were shaking terribly, as if they might give way at any moment, and her whole body was trembling like a small, terrified animal’s. She seemed to be taking it much worse than Julis.

  “He didn’t give me an answer.”

  “Huh…?” Julis and Kirin asked in confusion.

  “I said he could tell me later. I only wanted to tell him how I felt,” Saya answered plainly.

  Julis let out a sigh of relief, but then she immediately rebuked herself.

  Why should I be so happy about that…?

  Lately, Julis’s emotions seemed to be getting thrown into disorder on a regular basis, like when Ayato had gone to the school fair with Sylvia. It wasn’t a good feeling.

  It’s none of my business who he decides to hang around with… Although he is a teammate, so I guess I could say something… Anyway, he’s free to do what he wants, and I’ve got no right to… No, he did say to my face that he wanted to be my strength, so maybe I should… No, no, I can’t complain, but I… Argh!

  Once again, her train of thought had begun to take her somewhere it shouldn’t, but she managed to bring herself back to her senses before it could go too far. She swung her head back and forth as if to shake free from it all.

  “Whew…” Kirin slumped to the floor. She, too, seemed to have lost all energy. “B-but why are you telling us…?” she asked.

  “I just want to play fair with my rivals… Good luck, you two,” Saya said without any hesitation.

  Kirin jumped to her feet. “Th-that’s, I mean, I— I’m not…!”

  “R-right! Wh-what are you talking about?!” Julis found herself exclaiming, a rush of blood coming to her cheeks.

  “If that’s the case, then fine. Whatever you do, just don’t regret it afterward.” Saya nodded expressionlessly.

  “Um…”

  “Argh…”

  Saya’s words seemed to weigh heavily on them both.

  N-no, I can’t, I can’t. Calm down…

  Julis’s rhythm had been disturbed for a
while now.

  She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, before turning to Saya. “W-well, I mean, I’m not trying to pry or anything, but more importantly, why did you have to do it right in the middle of the Gryps? I mean, all it would take is one wrong move to sow trouble in the team… N-not that we’re upset or anything, but you know.”

  “Yes… Sorry.” And with that, Saya bowed her head to her two teammates. “The timing was due to my own selfishness. I’m sorry.” At that point, she raised her head to stare straight into Julis’s eyes. “Maybe this goes without saying, but I don’t think that any of us would let our feelings get in the way of the tournament. So I thought it would be okay.”

  “That’s…” Julis, finding herself in complete agreement with her logic, was at a loss for words.

  She was confident that both she and Kirin had the strength of mind to concentrate fully on their upcoming matches without distraction.

  Both, she was sure, were able to distinguish between the two issues and deal with each separately. Moreover, both she and Kirin had their own reasons for wanting to win at the Festa, reasons that they wouldn’t let anything get in the way of.

  And she knew, as well, that Saya had no such motivation.

  Saya was fighting for Ayato. That was no doubt why she was able to bring herself to confess her feelings to him without worrying that any of the others would hold it against her.

  “But Enfield is different,” Saya added. “I’m a little concerned about her.”

  “Huh…? The president?” Kirin’s eyes flickered with uncertainty.

  Julis, however, had wondered the same thing. “There’s no need to worry about her, I think. She might act that way, but there’s no one better than her at looking at things rationally.”

  There was no mistaking that Claudia was particularly assertive with Ayato, and Julis couldn’t deny that she had her concerns about that, but as to whether or not she was seriously looking for that kind of relationship with him, she had no idea whatsoever.

  Kirin nodded in agreement, but Saya, in contrast, slowly shook her head.

  “I don’t think so. I knew it as soon as I saw her. She’s serious.”