by Yuu Miyazaki
“You performed to the best of your abilities—all of you. I wouldn’t ask for any more of you than that. Your performance this time was sufficient.”
“Ugh…” The five girls all frowned at this remark.
In other words, she had thought from the beginning that they wouldn’t be able to claim victory. That might have turned out to be true, but it was still a disappointing assessment.
“That said, the next Gryps will be a different story.”
“Huh…?”
“By the time the next tournament comes around, I’ll make sure that you’re all able to draw out the Lyre-Poros’s power at a whole new level. Of course, you’ll all have to improve your skills individually as well, so you’ll be even busier than you are now.”
“Y-yes!” they said in unison, their faces brightening at the extraordinary words.
She was right. They might have lost this time, but they still had the next Gryps. Next time, they would just have to do so well that there could be no room for complaint.
“…That said, I will have to give you work more suited to your present status. We’ve already had five requests for appearances from news stations and TV programs related to the Festa, so you had better get ready to go.”
“Um…? N-now?”
They had only just left the stage, and they were so exhausted that all Mahulena wanted to do was take a shower and fall flat on her bed.
However—
“Is there a problem with that?”
“Um… N-not really…”
They didn’t really have room to negotiate.
“Also, two of them are for performances, so you’ll need to get ready for that, too,” she added before closing the air-window, throwing yet more onerous demands on them.
“…U-um… We’ll just have to do our best…right?” The heavy silence that fell upon them was broken only by Mahulena’s lackluster encouragement.
“Whew…” Having returned to his dormitory following the match, Ayato immediately collapsed onto his bed.
“Good job. I guess it’s hard work being the only guy for nine ladies, huh?” Eishirou joked from his desk across the room.
“They were from Queenvale, so it’s not like I had any choice. But that wasn’t the hard part.”
“I know, I know, I was kidding. But hey, the next one’s the semifinal, right? Looks like it’s going easier than the Phoenix, huh?”
“Well, a lot’s happened since then.”
He had no idea whether they would win, but he intended to focus solely on the tournament this time around.
He lifted himself up from his bed with a strained smile, about to go and get changed, when his mobile began to ring.
“Huh? Who would…? Ah, Saya.” Wondering what she could want, given that they had only just parted ways a short while ago, he opened an air-window.
“…Ayato, can you come here?”
“Right now? Today was pretty rough—wouldn’t it be better to get some rest?”
There were no matches tomorrow, given that it had been set aside as a day of rest—which was precisely how Ayato planned to spend it. Saya would no doubt use it to finish customizing her Luxes.
On the other side of the air-window, Saya, however, merely shook her head.
“Has something urgent come up?”
“I just want to talk to you. And…I want to use my wish coupon.”
“Huh? Well… All right, then.”
If that was the case, he couldn’t turn her down.
He sat down on the side of his bed, scratching his head and flashing her a bemused smile. “I thought you said you wanted to hold on to it for a while, though.”
“…I’ve changed my mind.”
“I see. What is it?”
Saya nodded. “I want…”
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“…Yes. Thank you,” Saya said, taking the ice cream bar from Ayato’s hand.
The low, setting sun sat behind the trees, casting long shadows over the promenade and painting their surroundings a brilliant red. Ayato, walking alongside Saya, studied her profile against the strangely unreal scenery.
“I want you to buy me an ice cream bar.”
That was how Saya had wanted to use her final wish coupon—on such a minor, simple request. Ayato had no idea why.
“…Rusalka was pretty interesting,” Saya said all of a sudden.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t have anything against them.”
“You said something like that during the match.” Ayato laughed.
It was a rare thing, coming from her.
“I spoke with her—Miluše—when we were trapped together underground. She told me that if I don’t do what I want to do, that if I try to deny my feelings, I’ll end up regretting it one day.”
“Oh?”
“And I remembered Haru saying something similar.”
“Haruka did?” Ayato repeated, taken by surprise at the mention of his older sister.
“She said I should tell people like you what I’m really thinking,” Saya added, moving to stand in front of him. “So that’s what I’m going to do.” She looked up at him with a gentle smile, her eyes sparkling. “Ayato…I love you.”
“Huh…?”
Her words were more sincere, honest, and earnest than they had ever been—as if she was delivering them after safely crossing a chasm of hesitation and apprehension.
Even Ayato could see that much.
“If I can, I want to be by your side—forever.”
The bright-red sun was setting at her back.
In that world filled with shades of just red and black, only Saya’s brilliant smile stood out.
“It’s okay. You can give me your answer later… I just wanted to tell you,” Saya finished before hurrying off toward the setting sun.
Ayato, speechless, could do nothing but watch her go.
AFTERWORD
Hi there, Yuu Miyazaki here.
I’d like to start by apologizing for the delay in getting this volume to you all.
To the editorial department, of course, to everyone involved, and most of all, to you, my readers, who have been eagerly waiting to know what happens next, I truly am very sorry.
That said, I think that the extra time helped me to polish things up a good deal.
In addition to being centered around the Gryps, this volume also focuses on the dynamics of Ayato’s relationships, so I hope that you all enjoyed it.
Now then.
The rock band Rusalka, which debuted in the last volume, is active again this time around—or perhaps I should say that they’re out rampaging. I originally intended for them to be an enemy team in the first stage of the Gryps, but I moved things around because they had an interestingly comical quality quite different from the other characters. It was a lot of fun writing their scenes. Actually, I wanted to include a live performance, too, but I couldn’t really weave it into the story. Sorry about that. I’d still like to try to work something in—in a different form.
Another main character in this volume is Saya.
There have been some nice scenes involving her in the story so far, but I’ve finally been able to bring her into the center. As Ayato’s childhood friend, she’s somewhat different from the other heroines, but in this volume their relationship begins to move in a new direction.
In the next volume, I’ll finally be able to get around to telling Claudia’s story.
Like Saya—or now that this volume has been released, unlike Saya—she still hasn’t had a main scene yet, so I’d really like to be able to give her the attention that she deserves. As a matter of fact, I’ve been a little worried about revealing some secrets surrounding her, but she’s a character both okiura and I are very fond of, so I hope that I’ll be able to do her justice.
Now that that’s out of the way!
You might have already heard, but The Asterisk War is being adapted into an anime! It’ll be headed by a wonde
rful lineup including Manabu Ono and Kenji Seto as directors, with character and animation design by Tetsuya Kawakami, music by Rasmus Faber, and production by A-1 Pictures. It’s so wonderful it’s almost sinful! Really.
Seeing as it’ll start airing in fall 2015, I’ve been attending screenwriting meetings and tried to offer what paltry advice I can. There should be new information made available from time to time, so please keep checking the official website.
On top of all that, okiura has given us another stylish cover! Like how both Julis and Sylvia appeared on the last one, this time it’s Saya and Miluše. And as you might expect, the style of the cover has changed, too, seeing as we’ve entered the Gryps arc. I can’t wait to see what the next volume will look like!
And what’s more, the first volume of Ningen’s manga adaptation of The Asterisk War serialized in Monthly Comic Alive has been completed, and it’s about to plunge into the second volume! I can’t wait to see how Ningen depicts Kirin!
Moreover, the first volume of Akane Shou’s fantastic manga adaptation of The Asterisk War: The Wings of Queenvale in Bessatsu Shōnen magazine has been published in a separate volume. Some of the characters who popped up in this volume first appeared in that side story, so I think it will be more enjoyable if you read both of them. Please take a look at it!
Last but not least, I’d like to thank everyone who helped me out again this time around.
I’d really, really like to thank my editor, Mr. I. I know that it hasn’t been easy this time. I have only gratitude for everything you’ve done. I’d also like to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr. O and everyone else in the editorial department, to everyone involved in the anime adaptation, and as always, to you, my readers, for your continued support.
I hope to see you all again next time!
Yuu Miyazaki
April 2015
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