by Yuu Miyazaki
“Tch…!”
Thanks to his heightened perception through having entered the state of shiki, Ayato could call upon a perfect awareness of the battlefield conditions, and thus he had no difficulty evading the oncoming bombardment. But he was forced to let his quarry go.
Is the rearguard focused on only me…?
“Ha-ha! See that, Amagiri! Did you think I’d be dumb enough to face you directly?” Kyouko called across the stage, flashing them all a dauntless grin. “You’re the one people are gonna be primarily watching and thinking most about countering—you and that Ser Veresta! Unless the other team has an Orga Lux just as strong, they won’t even be able to cross swords with you! There’s no need for anyone to bother trying to deal with that kind of advantage directly!”
“I see your point…,” Ayato muttered as he deflected the unending volley of bullets with the Ser Veresta.
She was no doubt telling the truth.
The same thing went for Claudia’s Pan-Dora, but Kyouko probably didn’t know any particulars about that. The only information the public had was that it gave its user some kind of precognition, but thanks to Claudia’s elaborate misinformation strategy, it was hard to see how that alone could be countered.
Countering the Ser Veresta was, in contrast, relatively straightforward—his opponents could simply try to avoid direct combat and focus instead on long-rage attacks.
Moreover, with both members of the rearguard focusing exclusively on him, taking into account their accuracy and timing, he would have a hard time dealing with them both.
If he was to focus on defense or evasion, his opponents would undoubtedly shift part of their attention onto his team members, but if he was to shift entirely to attack, he would leave himself vulnerable to a carefully timed shot.
Perhaps sensing his predicament, Julis attacked from a distance with her Rect Lux, but the dolls had little difficulty dodging the attacks of its remote terminals—their line of fire unbreaking.
“Ayato isn’t the only one to worry about!” Kirin called out as she and Claudia moved in to surround Kyouko from either side.
If they could defeat Kyouko, the opposing team’s leader, the match would be over.
However—
“You think I wasn’t prepared for that?”
“—!”
The vanguard, which had previously fallen back, now moved to block their advance.
Neither of the two girls so much as faltered, crossing swords with the dolls head-on. Kirin engaged the one wielding a longsword, while Claudia took on the one armed with short-swords. To Ayato’s surprise, the two dolls were in no way inferior in skill to his two teammates. There was no mistaking that Kirin and Claudia had a slight edge, but the dolls were exceptionally good at knowing when to strike and when to fall back. Moreover, the pair that formed Kyouko’s rearguard were managing to fire the occasional shot toward his teammates whenever Ayato let down his guard. At this rate, it would be difficult for any of them to shake off their opponents.
Thanks to his heightened perception, however, he was aware of a movement behind him.
“…Ayato, stand back.”
By the time Saya had finished speaking, he had already leaped out of the way.
“Boom.”
At that moment, a huge burst of light surging out of Saya’s Helnekraum sped past him, scoring a direct hit on Kyouko—the explosion sending huge shockwaves throughout the room.
Using the Ser Veresta to shield himself from the still unending barrage of bullets, he glanced around the room, looking for any sign of her on the other side of the hot blast of air.
She shouldn’t have had any time to counter the attack, but when the dense cloud of smoke began to fade, there was a wall of sand towering before her.
That must be someone else’s ability, right…?
The sand slowly collapsed as it turned back into raw mana.
If each of the nails in her bat contained a different ability, Ayato’s team would have little chance of defeating her. After all, they had no information to build upon to try to work out any countermeasures or effective strategies.
And that was when—
“Burst into bloom—Amaryllis!” Julis’s rich, distinguished voice echoed across the room.
Julis must have taken advantage of Saya’s attack to sneak into Kyouko’s blind spot, where she built up an enormous fireball at the end of her outstretched sword—all while she turned the Rect Lux’s remote terminals against the rearguard. The extraordinary spatial perception necessary to pull off such an attack left Ayato speechless.
Now’s my chance…!
Taking advantage of the rearguard’s momentary distraction, he shortened the distance between himself and Kyouko.
Several of their bullets still managed to score a hit, but a little bit of damage couldn’t be helped now.
If Kyouko was to try to dodge Julis’s fireball, he would take advantage of that opening to end the match then and there.
Moreover, even if she was to dodge it, Julis could merely detonate her amaryllis at will. It would be impossible to evade the resulting explosion. There was a chance that Ayato might get caught up in it, too, but in the state of shiki, there was still a possibility that he would have enough time to defend himself.
The conditions were in their favor.
“Hey, hey, you’re not playing around, eh?” But Kyouko didn’t look particularly concerned.
She calmly glanced toward the fireball, dodging it nimbly.
“In that case—explode!” Julis called out, just as Ayato had anticipated.
A terrible roar shook through the air as the flames raged, but—
“Don’t you think that’s a bad move, with me as your opponent?”
The fire flowed straight into the palm of Kyouko’s hand, like water being sucked into a whirlpool in the depths of a lake.
“Wha—?!”
“Heh, that’ll make for three more, Riessfeld. Strong ones, too.”
Kyouko was gripping three long nails, identical to the ones sticking out of her bat, between her fingers.
So that’s how she does it…!
He should have expected no less from a champion of the Festa rumored to be able to seal away any and all abilities.
“But at that distance…!”
It might have failed, but Julis’s attack had still given Ayato enough time for him to prepare one of his own.
But just as he was about to lunge toward Kyouko’s mock crest with the Ser Veresta—
“I guess I might as well use them right away.”
Ayato felt a shiver run down his spine and immediately halted his attack, leaping back.
At that instant, a bluish-white light flashed in the palm of Kyouko’s hand—a raging fireball shooting directly toward him with a terrible explosion.
It was Julis’s amaryllis.
“Ugh…!”
He managed to shield himself, but the force was such that it threw him across the training room, bouncing on the floor before making an awkward landing.
“Oh, that was smart of you. Good job.” Kyouko grinned, hefting the bat onto her shoulder.
“I’ll take the compliment…” Ayato rose slowly, wiping the sweat from his forehead, before glancing around at his surroundings.
The dolls that had been fighting Kirin and Claudia had withdrawn to the back of the training room, and the rearguard had ceased their barrage of projectiles. Everything, it seemed, had gone back to the way it was at the start of the match.
“Hmm, not bad. I’ll give you a passing mark, seeing as it was your first go. You’d easily be able to qualify, at least. And there’s a world of difference between you lot and Enfield’s last team.” Kyouko complimented them in the same listless, vaguely threatening tone that characterized her teaching. “But if you want to win…that’s another matter.” At that, she lowered her voice, looking up at them from across the room. “Listen up! You might be stronger and faster than me—especially you, Amagiri, and you, Tou
dou—not to mention better at close combat. But, Toudou, you couldn’t get past a doll that lacks even my skill, and you, Amagiri, you weren’t able to take me down. You know why?”
“…Because your team’s coordination was better?” Saya asked, puffing her cheeks in disappointment.
Kyouko put a hand on her waist, letting out a tired sigh. She looked as if she was relaxing her guard, but the prana she was channeling throughout her body didn’t change. The dolls, too, seemed to be ready to resume fighting at any moment.
“Well, that much is obvious, but it wouldn’t make much of a lecture, huh? Basically, your skills and experiences with group battles are different. You first, Sasamiya. The rearguard is obviously supposed to support the vanguard, but you’re also supposed to hold the other team’s rearguard in check. If you’d put some more pressure on my guys, Amagiri, Toudou, and Enfield would’ve been able to move a bit easier.”
“…I see.” Saya nodded, looking slightly surprised.
“You next, Toudou. Your Linked Cranes move might be pretty flashy, but it ain’t suited to team combat. If your opponent’s strong, it’ll take you too much time to bring them down. And if they can hold you back, like those dolls did, someone else is going to exploit that to take you out.”
“I—I see…”
“And Riessfeld… You’re too reckless. Or maybe you were underestimating me? Is that it?”
“I wanted to see if you’re as strong as they say you are,” Julis replied, meeting Kyouko’s gaze head-on.
There was no mistaking that, against a Strega who could capture people’s abilities and throw them right back at them, it had been a pretty careless move. However, if she had hesitated, she would have missed her chance to see for herself just how Kyouko’s ability worked.
“Ha-ha, you’ve got some nerve. I’ll let you off this time, then. Think before you do anything next time around.” Kyouko turned her gaze to Ayato. “Amagiri, that was impressive—the way you sensed your surroundings. But you’re a little too good at it.”
“Too good…?”
“Of course, in a team battle, you need to pay attention not only to the opponents in front of you but also to your teammates—and to the other team’s rearguard. You’re better than anyone I’ve ever seen on that score… But it’s affected your reflexes. You’re so caught up in everything else that it’s dulled your judgment. Back there, if you hadn’t been paying so much attention to my own attack, you might have reached me first.”
So it backfired…?
He had thought that the technique would be most valuable in team battles, but it sounded like he would have to rethink how he used it in different situations.
“Anyway, your coordination ain’t half bad, so I’m guessing you’ll get better with practice.”
Ayato was dumbfounded that she could so easily detect areas that needed improvement, even after such a short observation time. Though, perhaps he should have expected as much from a former champion of the Gryps.
“Do you have any advice for me?” Claudia, the only person whom Kyouko hadn’t mentioned, raised her hand.
“…You’re as charmless as ever, huh, you little whelp? That was too flawless. It makes me sick just thinking about it,” Kyouko spat with a shrug. “And besides, even holding you back like that, you were still just waiting for an opportunity to make your move, weren’t you? I couldn’t afford to let my guard down with you.”
“I’m afraid there was no such opportunity.” Claudia, still holding the Pan-Dora, let out a light laugh.
Being the only one with any real experience in team battles, she did seem to be a level above the others.
“If you really want me to say something, how about you try to actually use the Pan-Dora for once? If you had done that, you would have been able to break through my dolls right away, and I’d have been no match for you and Amagiri.”
“Indeed. If it had been a real match, I would have done just that.”
“What I’m saying is that you shouldn’t hold back, even in the preliminaries. You’re too naive, thinking you can save your energy for the next match. The Festa ain’t so easy, you know.”
“…I’ll bear that in mind,” Claudia answered vaguely, flashing Kyouko a smile. She didn’t seem at all inclined to follow her advice.
“Hmph,” their teacher snorted, leaving it at that. “Well then, how about you all try to keep that in mind for the second round? I’m telling you now, if you don’t up your game, I’ll kick your asses.” And with that, her mouth twisted in a ferocious smile as she lofted her weapon onto her shoulder.
Her words might have sounded like a joke, but she was probably being completely serious. In other words, she wanted them to go after her with everything they had.
Ayato’s heart rose with a swell of gratitude as he readied the Ser Veresta.
Over the next few months, they continued their special training with Kyouko on a weekly basis. While they were practically her playthings at first, by the time summer vacation rolled around, they were able to more or less hold their own against her.
“I guess this is it?” After a second of hesitation, Ayato knocked on a door emblazoned with the number seven.
After a short moment, an air-window snapped open in front of him.
“…Who is it?” asked the person on the other side, her cheeks and chin coated with dabs of oil.
“Ah, Saya. How are you doing?”
“…Ayato? Hold on, let me open the door.”
Seemingly no sooner had she finished speaking than it slid open, revealing a cluttered room filled to the brim with machinery. The floor was covered with so many cables that it was impossible to see where they all went, so much so that Ayato hardly knew where to stand.
There was only one empty space—in the back of the room. Saya, flopped down on the floor there, turned her head to greet him.
“…Coming all this way—is something wrong?”
They were in one of several classroom-sized workshops belonging to the Society for the Study of Meteoric Engineering, located below the main training hall.
Most clubs were based in the extracurricular activities’ section of the main school building, but it seemed that the highly influential ones were given special treatment.
In fact, that those who showed ability and results were given special treatment was a fact of life both in and outside the school.
“Sorry. You just seemed pretty busy lately. I thought I’d come and see how you’re doing.”
“Oh, I understand. Thank you. I’ll take a break, then.”
Her face lit up when Ayato showed her the bag of refreshments that he had brought, and she placed the wrench that she was holding on the floor.
Ayato, taking care not to step on any of the stray cabling, began to make his way across the room. “This place really is amazing,” he said.
“Yeah. It isn’t as good as my dad’s factory, but it isn’t bad… Ah, an ice cream bar.”
“I found a place that has them over at the middle school.”
“You know me too well,” Saya murmured as she rummaged through the bag, pulling out a fruit-flavored one and biting into it with a grin.
It was already the middle of summer. Outside, Asterisk was sweltering, but most places were comfortably air-conditioned indoors. Saya’s workshop was no exception, but the heat emanating from the machinery seemed to be overpowering it. It wasn’t quite as hot as outside, but it was hard to call it comfortable.
Which was no doubt why Saya was wearing only a tank top and work pants. Ayato hardly knew where to look.
“…So?”
“Huh?”
“You didn’t come here just to give me this, did you?” Saya, having already devoured the first ice cream bar, promptly thrust another into her mouth.
“…Ha-ha. And you know me too well, Saya.”
The girl simply nodded in agreement.
Ayato, wearing an awkward smile, scratched at his head and let out a brief sigh. “Well, the truth is…
There’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“Ask me?” she tilted her head to one side, nonplussed.
“The Gryps is starting soon, and the training is getting more and more intense. I guess what I wanted to say is that that’s tiring enough, but even when you’re not training, aren’t you spending most of your time here, customizing your Luxes?”
“…We’re nearly at the end of summer vacation. If I don’t do at least this much… But to be honest, it doesn’t look like I’ll make it in time anyway. It can’t be helped.”
“I know that, but… Saya, it’s not like you have any particular reason to need to win, is there?”
“Ah… I see.” She put her hands together softly as she realized what Ayato was getting at.
Saya had joined Team Enfield because she wanted to help him. Unlike the other members, Ayato included, she didn’t have any wish that she wanted granted.
Ayato certainly appreciated her consideration, but he couldn’t help feeling a little guilty about the situation.
That was probably because she reminded him of his own motivations when he had decided to enter the Phoenix.
I wonder whether Julis felt this way, too…?
Saya, however, shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, Ayato. I wasn’t lying that night.”
That night. The words, the ones she had said when they’d stopped at her house on their way to Lieseltania, played back before him.
“So you can rely on me, when you need to. Next time, I’ll be your strength.”
That was what she had said, looking up at him as the moonlight illuminated her bedroom.
“…I see.”
Saya’s eyes had been completely serious.
In that case, there was nothing more he could say about it.
“…Besides, I don’t trust the integrated enterprise foundations. There are some things even they can’t do.”
“Yeah, there’s no doubt about that.”
The IEFs weren’t gods, after all.
“To me, this is much more reliable,” Saya said, taking her jacket from the nearby chair and pulling something that looked like a small pouch out of the pocket. She carefully removed an old, folded piece of paper, showing it to him.