by Yuu Miyazaki
“Yes, I understand that. Which is why…I surrender.”
“…Surrender?” she repeated suspiciously.
“This isn’t a trap, and I’m not trying to trick you. I’m saying that I admit that I’ve lost.”
“You can’t possibly be saying that you’re valuing your life now, after it’s come to this?”
“That’s exactly it… I do value my life. I’m just as surprised as you are.”
“…”
Claudia could feel the intensity of her mother’s gaze through the air-window as she tried to sound her out.
There was little wonder for her to act that way. It was only natural for her to be suspicious, given that the person she was dealing with, usually so obstinate, had raised the white flag so suddenly. Especially so, given that that person had practically already won from a tactical standpoint, albeit not a strategic one.
“Even if I did believe you, do you really think that Galaxy will agree to lay down their arms? It won’t end here, not now that it’s come to this. You’re the one who created this situation, after all.”
“Yes, I understand that, too. Our negotiations can start now,” Claudia said, turning back to her mobile.
“The time for negotiations has long since passed…,” Isabella began, before falling silent.
“I’ve just sent you some data. Please, take a look.”
“This…” Isabella’s eyes opened wide in astonishment.
“Did you think that the knowledge I gleaned from the cost demanded by the Pan-Dora related only to the Varda-Vaos? What I’ve sent you is confidential, of course, information relating to Queenvale and Le Wolfe. Please, think of it as a present.”
“…A present?” Isabella’s eyes glowed. She was clearly already running through how the information might be used.
That was just to be expected. A top executive at an integrated enterprise foundation wouldn’t turn a blind eye to something that might strengthen their organization’s ability to turn a profit.
“From now on, I’ll provide all information like this to Galaxy. What do you think? Is that a good enough position to consider opening negotiations?”
“…Very well,” Isabella said after pondering it for a long moment. “I’ll look into this. Until then, you won’t need to worry about your safety.”
“Thank you. And, Mother…?”
“…Yes?”
“I know this is sudden, but do you mind if I ask why you joined Galaxy?”
Given that her father, Nicholas, belonged to the Enfield family, which had been heavily involved in the Reconstruction in Europe after the Invertia, it made sense that he would work for the foundation. Her mother, however, was the kind of person one could find in any large city and had no obvious connection to the group.
“Why do you want to know?” Isabella seemed to be taken aback by her daughter’s sudden question.
“I just thought it might be interesting, if I was to join Galaxy one day…and take your place,” Claudia said with a grin.
It was just an idle fancy. Being a Genestella, it would be all but impossible for her to rise to the same executive rank as her mother, and she wouldn’t consider for a second, not even as a joke, being subject to any sort of mental adjustment program.
However, putting all that aside, it would be interesting, she thought, if that option was available to her.
“Hee-hee, hee-hee-hee-hee! How delightful! But what on earth has come over you, Claudia?” Isabella said, laughing and breaking out into a naturally happy smile, the likes of which Claudia couldn’t remember ever having seen before. “Very well. If one day you and I can stand shoulder to shoulder…I’ll tell you,” she finished, and with that, the air-window turned black.
After a short moment, Claudia collapsed onto the bed, beaming up at the ceiling. “I see. So she thinks that there is a possibility…,” she murmured, before letting her eyes drift shut in contentment.
The feeling that had taken hold of her wasn’t unpleasant.
“…Ah, yes,” she murmured, opening her eyes. There was someone else she had to thank, and complain to, she remembered, reaching again for her mobile.
“Hello, Laetitia. I don’t suppose I could have a moment of your time?”
EPILOGUE
Eishirou was sitting idly in the treetops, staring up at the moon, high in the now-clear sky.
How much time had he been idling away like this? he wondered, before letting out a deep, tired sigh. “Ahhh, now I’ve gone and done it…”
He had gone too far this time.
He didn’t regret what he had done, but only a fool wouldn’t be able to see the coming reckoning. After all, he had practically stabbed his father in the back.
Well, strictly speaking, he had stabbed him on the sly, but there was no way that he wouldn’t have been noticed.
“Maybe I should just leave it all behind…”
But if he did that, he would have to leave the academy, too, and that was something he would definitely end up regretting.
No matter how far he searched, he doubted he would find another city as crazy as this one, and it was impossible to grow tired of watching all the things that Ayato, Julis, and Claudia got themselves into… Not to mention the club president.
“But what can I do now?”
Eishirou, who normally tried to live his life as leisurely as possible, found himself racking his brains, searching for an answer—when his mobile began to ring.
“Ugh…” The sound leaked out of him as soon as he saw the number, but he couldn’t afford to let it keep ringing.
He opened an air-window, Bujinsai’s taciturn face appearing before him.
“Hey there, Pops. I was really sorry to hear that the mission didn’t work out.”
Even Eishirou was impressed at just how casually he was able to talk, given the situation.
“Be quiet. Do you know just how much damage you’ve done to us, to our name?” Judging by his tone, his father was clearly in a foul mood, but there was no sign of his thorough beating at Ayato’s hands.
“What’s all this? I don’t have a clue what you’re going on about…,” Eishirou responded, playing dumb.
“Where do you want me to start…? What’s most galling is that you gave Eika’s location to that kid from Jie Long.”
It looked like his father knew everything.
Eishirou had indeed forwarded Alema everything he had about the Yabuki’s positions, including the whereabouts of Eika and the other healers.
“It’s one thing to defy me, but to rat out your sister like that… My disgust for you goes beyond words.”
“But they weren’t injured too badly, were they?”
Alema had already been seriously wounded herself. No matter how weak the clan’s healers might be when it came to fighting for themselves, the worst that Alema could have done to them would have been to knock them out cold in a surprise attack.
“Nonetheless, it’s unforgivable. According to the clan’s rules, I ought to go over there and sever that head of yours right now…,” he said, making a sour face. “But unfortunately, our employers seem to be quite happy with you.”
“Huh…?”
His father’s words came out of the blue.
“Galaxy? With me?”
“So we can’t touch you. But don’t you ever think about coming home again.”
He had no desire to do so in the first place, so that wouldn’t be a problem.
“All right. I’ll engrave that on my heart.”
“…Hmph!” Bujinsai continued to glare back at him, until, finally, the air-window snapped shut.
Eishirou sat there in baffled silence. Galaxy’s satisfaction with him was incomprehensible.
Instead of punishing a pawn that had turned against its masters, they had instead saved his skin.
He remained that way for a long while, pondering why they might have done that for him, but no matter how he tried to approach the problem, he couldn’t hit on even one logical an
swer.
There was only one possibility, but it didn’t make any sense.
“Nah, that can’t be right…”
No matter how much she might have been concerned for her daughter’s safety, one of Galaxy’s highest executives wouldn’t go that far. It went against everything the position called for.
“…Oh well. I guess I’d better head back,” he muttered, casting the thought out of his mind as he leaped down from the treetops.
“…Yes, yes, that goes without saying! You should do your best, too, and be sure to make it to the final!” a voice echoed from just outside the room.
Before long, Laetitia opened the door fully, striding back into the office with a strangely satisfied expression.
She was even humming to herself.
“You look pleased, Laetitia. Good news?” Ernest asked.
Taken by surprise, Laetitia, her face turning as red as a fully ripe apple, shook her head from side to side. “I-it’s nothing! R-really!”
“…I see. Well, in any event, this furor surrounding Miss Enfield seems to have resolved itself. Sinodomius has confirmed that the Nights have left the city.” Ernest watched her with a faint smile, putting his hands together and crossing his fingers.
“O-oh, really? That’s good to hear.”
“I take it that her injuries aren’t too serious, then?”
“She was seen to by a healer, so there’s no need to worry about that… Ah!”
Ernest tried to suppress his mirth at having so easily coaxed the information out of her. “There’s no need to hide the fact that you’ve been in contact with her. You didn’t say anything that you shouldn’t have, I assume?”
Laetitia wasn’t that foolish. She understood that regular communications could be listened in on by Sinodomius, and she wouldn’t have said anything that could be used against her.
“O-of course not…,” she mumbled, the words so muffled as to be almost incomprehensible.
She looked, more than anything else, embarrassed.
“Ah, and tomorrow’s match—well, today’s, I guess. Anyway, it seems that we’ve already won our semifinals bout by default.”
“Oh… I see.”
“There was no helping it, given the situation. The Executive Committee must have taken it as a last resort… Fortunately for us, we’ll now be able to enter the final in perfect condition. I do wonder about our opponents, though…”
“…”
Laetitia absorbed his words in silence, her expression grave.
They might have overcome this incident, but Team Enfield’s next opponents were incredibly powerful.
“There’s every possibility that it will be Team Yellow Dragon that we face in the final. That is what the odds would suggest.”
Jie Long’s Team Yellow Dragon was practically the complete antithesis of Ernest and Laetitia’s Team Lancelot. It might be an incredibly powerful assortment of fighters, centered around Xiaohui Wu, the famous Hagun Seikun, but the way Ernest saw them, they were completely devoid of charm. He just couldn’t see anything interesting about a single one of them.
“As for me, I would prefer that Team Enfield make it through.”
“Of course they will!” Laetitia answered confidently. “They’ll make it! I’m sure of it!”
“Laetitia…” Though somewhat surprised by her assurance, Ernest nodded back at her. “Yes, you’re right. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
At any rate, they would know for sure by this time tomorrow.
Ernest tightened his linked fingers, as if to smolder the flames burning deep inside him.
“Yes, well done. It’s turned out wonderfully, Alema,” Xinglou said cheerfully, her small legs shaking giddily from atop her oversized chair. “Thanks to you, tomorrow’s match should be very fun indeed.”
They were in Xinglou’s audience chamber at Jie Long Seventh Institute.
“…I’M NOT VERY PROUD OF IT MYSELF, THOUGH.” Alema, her body covered in bandages, let out a pitiful sigh.
She had achieved her goals, but Bujinsai had soundly defeated her. And what was more, he had left her in her present state.
“Now, now, don’t take it to heart. I did tell you that his Void Tide techniques would be a hassle, didn’t I? Even among my disciples, probably only Xiaohui and Fuyuka would be able to do anything about them.”
“IS IT OKAY TO CALL FUYUKA YOUR DISCIPLE? SHE’S ONLY A GUEST HERE.”
“She thinks of herself that way, so I don’t mind,” Xinglou said with a dry laugh.
Alema stared at Xinglou in astonishment, before suddenly remembering something that Bujinsai had said to her.
“RIGHT, I HEARD SOMETHING EARLIER.”
“Oh?”
“IS IT TRUE THAT YOU’RE NOT EVEN HALF AS STRONG AS YOU USED TO BE?”
At this, Xinglou broke into a broad grin. “Oh, did the Yabuki head say that?”
“I DON’T KNOW IF I REALLY BELIEVE HIM, THOUGH.”
Of course, it would all be so much more interesting if it was true.
Still, despite having seen for herself only a fragment of Xinglou’s true strength, she couldn’t quite bring herself to fully believe him.
“Let’s see, he’s half correct, I suppose.”
“HALF?”
“In my current body, I’m probably only thirty or forty percent of what I was during my prime, at least as far as martial arts are concerned. However, my abilities and techniques are a different matter. I’m overflowing with mana now, and my power and accuracy go beyond anything I’ve ever had before.”
“…I SEE.”
Though finally able to believe it, Alema found herself reminded of just how powerful the young girl sitting before her really was.
The two had sparred together countless times, but Alema hadn’t seen her use those techniques even once.
“AH, IT’S GETTING MY BLOOD PUMPING JUST THINKING ABOUT IT…!”
“Oh-ho, you never change.” Xinglou nodded in satisfaction before clapping her hands together. “Yes, that’s it. Shall I show you something as a reward for your good work?”
“OH, LIKE WHAT?”
“A little plan I’m working on for the Lindvolus. If things work out, maybe I’ll let you in on it.” Xinglou beckoned for her to come closer. “You see…”
“HEH-HEH…” As she heard her out, Alema broke into an uncontrollable grin. “AWESOME! THAT SOUNDS AMAZING!”
“Doesn’t it just? I’ve already selected several people for it. Well, they won’t do anything until the new year.”
“HA-HA! I CAN’T WAIT!” Alema clenched her hands together.
“Ah, but I should warn you. Don’t let Hufeng know. If he was to find out, he’d stop at nothing to bring it to an end.”
“GOT IT!”
At that moment—
“Master, there’s something I want to discuss… Oh. Has something happened?” Hufeng, having entered the room unannounced, glanced back and forth between the two in confusion.
“No, nothing to worry about,” Xinglou answered. “So… What is it?”
At this, Hufeng put his right fist in his left palm in a gesture of obeisance.
“I would like your permission to use that Orga Lux in tomorrow’s semifinal!”
AFTERWORD
Hello again, Yuu Miyazaki here.
I’ve got so much to announce this time that I ended up writing four whole pages for this afterword, so I’d like to apologize in advance for going on and on.
All right. Let’s start with what happened in this volume. This will contain minor spoilers, so those of you who haven’t finished reading should look away now!
I’m so happy to have finally been able to give you a story centered around Claudia. The tone of this volume is somewhat darker than the previous ones, as is Claudia’s characterization, and her story is somewhat different than those of the other heroines. Still, it’s one that I’ve been wanting to write ever since I first introduced her, and it’s a great joy to have finally been able to do
so.
On the other hand, given that so many of my readers have told me just how much they love her as a character, I must admit that I felt a little uneasy putting it all to paper. I hope that you can all continue to be just as fond of her as you have been up till now.
While this volume focuses on Claudia, there are several other important plot threads and themes, such as the relationships between the IEFs and students, between parents and children, and between individuals and the schools’ intelligence networks. These scenes were particularly fun to write.
In the next volume, number ten, we’ll finally make it to the climax of the Gryps.
Expect it to be fully loaded with all kinds of battles!
Once again, okiura’s cover art is a masterpiece! Julis and Sylvia, Saya and Miluše, and now Claudia and Laetitia! Two beautiful blondes! And the illustration of Ayato and Eishirou is also fantastic! I could feel myself getting giddy the first time I saw it! Not only does okiura draw the girls so adorably, he makes the boys look so cool as well!
The third volume of Ningen’s manga adaptation of The Asterisk War serialized in Monthly Comic Alive should be hitting shelves around the same time as this book. The manga adaptation has already passed the end of the first volume of the original and is moving briskly into the second. Ningen’s depiction of Kirin is so lovely! Please take a look at it!
On top of that, the second volume of Akane Shou’s manga adaptation of The Asterisk War: The Wings of Queenvale in Bessatsu Shōnen magazine will be available soon, too! Chloe is on the cover! And her other team members are all there, too! Several characters from the original pop-up, as well, so please take a look at that one as well!
Now, for some extra news that I’m especially proud to announce.
Anime!
That’s right, the anime adaptation of the The Asterisk War will start airing on October 3! This volume should hit shelves around September 25, so only around a week after that. I can’t wait to watch it! I’ve attended meetings to discuss the script and spoken to so many people about it. I’m really impressed by just how many people are involved in putting something like this together. I’ve picked up so many business cards! It really is wonderful, so please be sure to watch it!