by Yuu Miyazaki
“Eh?”
“If we end up being put against each other, please don’t be too hard on me.” Yuzuhi smiled gently, her hair billowing in the wind.
“…Me, too,” Ayato answered with a grin. “What are your teammates like?”
“Well…” Yuzuhi paused for a moment, before answering with a smile. “They’re very fun people.”
It was such a typical answer for her that Ayato couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Huh? Did I say something funny…?”
“No, sorry. Not at all… Well then, let’s do our best, the both of us.”
“Yes. See you around.”
“Look after yourself.”
They parted ways again, Ayato following the footpath back to the center of the campus.
“…I’d rather not have to fight her, though,” he murmured, his true feelings slipping out.
He had no idea how strong she had become in the years since they had last met, but at the very least she would have a considerable advantage in long-range combat.
The only thing going in his favor was that she didn’t have the fastest reflexes.
If she hadn’t managed to overcome that, he would be able to beat her in close combat, at least.
Of course, that was assuming that he could shorten the distance between them in the first place.
“Well… It should be this way, I think…”
It looked like he had made it back to the main entrance.
The space in front of him was filled with all kinds of stalls and absolutely teeming with visitors.
“…”
But something was wrong. He could feel people’s gazes all turning toward him.
Not the gazes of his pursuers but eyes of pure curiosity.
Not a small number of those milling in front of him came to a stop, staring at him in astonishment. A low buzz had begun to spread among them like ripples fanning out.
“U-um…,” said one girl, stepping out from the crowd, hand outstretched, face bright red. She was wearing a Queenvale uniform, so she must have been a student. “Um, you’re Ayato Amagiri, the Murakumo, right? I’m a huge fan! W-will you shake my hand?”
Only then did Ayato remember that he had removed his disguise.
“Ah, sorry… Actually, I—”
But before he could say anything more, she had already taken his hand in hers and had begun to shake it with an unexpected level of enthusiasm. “Thank you! Um, could I get your autograph, too…?” she asked, handing him a pen and notepad from her bag. “Ah, please write my name, too! Um, Violet, here, yes… Thank you so much!”
The girl left, holding the notepad to her chest like a prize trophy, her face filled with joy.
And then—
“Look! It’s the Murakumo!”
“C-could I get your signature, too…?”
“Can I take a photo?”
“Awesome! Rusalka and the Murakumo!”
Ayato turned around and ran, just as the crowd that had been building around him began to surge forward like an avalanche.
“…I see. That must have been rough,” Sylvia consoled him from across their table at the Macondo.
“I had no idea people would make such a fuss…”
He might have managed to escape from the crowd, but he had arrived at the café long past their arranged meeting time.
But far from reproaching him, Sylvia offered words of consolation. “I told you before, you’re more popular than you realize. And everyone who comes to the school fair is going to be a fan of the Festa, you know?”
“I’ll try to remember that,” Ayato replied, lifting his ice coffee to his lips.
When he was finally able to calm his nerves, he remembered what he had meant to ask her. “By the way, you said something about a commotion?”
“Ah, well, I guess it is related…” Sylvia paused, her shoulders trembling with laughter.
“Sylvie?”
“Hee-hee. Sorry, sorry… You remember Rusalka, that group that had that live concert yesterday, right? It looks like they were wandering around the campus without even trying to disguise themselves. Well, I mean, it looks like they were trying to hide, but all it took was one person to notice them, and…”
“Oh… That must have been quite difficult for them.”
Given the furor that had arisen for him, he could only imagine the uproar that people would have made for real stars.
“It’s been taken care of. Anyway, I lost whoever was following me at the same time.”
“I see…”
It would no doubt be impossible to keep a tail on someone through such mayhem, after all.
“Hee-hee. Those kids…!” Sylvia chortled, unable to control her laughter.
“But you’re amazing, Sylvie. I mean, you’re just going everywhere you want, without anyone seeing through that disguise.”
If she were found out, the chaos would no doubt shake the very foundations of the earth.
“And you’re hanging out with me today… I know it’s probably too late to ask this, but are you sure you’re okay with me around?”
As far as Ayato was aware, Sylvia had never been involved in so much as a single scandal. Of course, the integrated enterprise foundation W&W was backing her, and they would no doubt have put a lid on anything that did pop up—but if, for example, one of the other IEFs were to get involved, it would be difficult to keep the situation under control.
“Hmm, I suppose it would be pretty shocking if people knew I was wandering around the school fair on a secret date, don’t you think? We might even have to hold a press conference to explain everything.” Sylvia’s tone of voice was playful, but to Ayato it was no joking matter.
“N-n-no… I’m being serious.”
“Ha-ha, all right. You don’t need to worry. I’m more experienced than those girls.”
“Experienced?”
“Yep. I’ve been doing this for years, and I haven’t been found out once.”
Her disguise was quite impressive, Ayato had to admit. All she had done was put on a hat, change the color of her hair, and adjust the tone of her voice, and yet she seemed like a totally different person. Her transformation was so complete, Ayato doubted that even he would recognize her if she decided to follow him.
“But still, are you sure you’re one hundred percent okay with it?”
“If something happens, then so be it. Maybe I’ll retire or something?”
“Wha—?! Retire?!”
She had said the words so easily that their sheer gravity almost flew right by him.
“I only chose this position so that I could get as many people as possible to hear my songs. If people don’t want to listen to what I have to say, then there would be no point in continuing.”
The Festa was unmistakably the world’s most popular form of entertainment, so there could be no better stage for communicating with the world.
But could she really fight with that alone?
Perhaps she had read his thoughts, as she began to explain herself. “Of course, I do have another reason, too. I want to be strong.”
“…You’re pretty strong already, Sylvie.”
“Ha-ha, thanks. But I don’t just mean in fighting ability. I’m talking more generally. I want to be a strong person, in my heart, in my position, in everything that I set out to do. So I need to work hard to improve myself.”
She seemed to have a stoic approach to life, Ayato thought.
“Anyway, strong people can do just about anything, don’t you think? So the choices available to me would open up, and I’d be able to help people. The old me was never able to do that.”
“Huh…?”
Her voice had trailed off toward the end. Ayato had no idea what she meant.
But before he had a chance to ask, Sylvia continued, “I do think my current position is worthwhile, and it’s not like I have any regrets or anything. But you know, if all I wanted was for people to listen to my songs, there would be other wa
ys to do that. And there are other things that I want to do, other things that I have to do…”
“What kind of things?” Ayato asked cautiously.
Sylvia looked at him seriously. “Say, Ayato. Since we’re here now, can I ask you something?”
“Huh? All right, I guess…”
“Did you really find your sister?”
“!” Ayato gasped, his expression turning tense.
No one, except of course those directly involved, was supposed to know about Haruka. Nor should his wish from the Phoenix have been public knowledge, either.
“…How do you know about that?”
“I am a student council president, you know. That gives me access to all kinds of information. Like the latest thing I heard—that your sister has been asleep all this time in the hospital.”
“…So you know that much…,” he replied, his gaze turning sharp.
But Sylvia merely let out a deep sigh, visibly relaxing. “I see. So it is true.” She leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling for a short while before continuing. “I’m sorry, Ayato. Saying that kind of thing out of the blue.”
Ayato found himself relaxing at the sight of her usual warm smile. “Why do you ask?”
“I should have started from the beginning. It’s complicated,” Sylvia said, gulping down her now lukewarm coffee. “…The truth is, I’m looking for someone, too.”
“You’re looking…for someone? But can’t you just…?”
When Ayato had been searching for Flora, Sylvia had used her abilities to find her. Surely, she would be able to use her abilities for her own desires…?
She must have read his thoughts yet again, because she flashed him a troubled smile. “I can use my abilities for seeking, but that doesn’t mean I can find whatever or whoever I like. I need to be able to narrow down the range, at least to some extent. The amount of prana it requires depends on the range, after all.”
“I see… So it’s no good if all you know is that they have to be someone in the world.”
“It wouldn’t matter how good you are at seeking, if you tried something like that, you’d use up all your prana in an instant,” Sylvia said with a shrug. “And besides, as I’m sure you know, as long as someone pours enough money into countermeasures, it’s possible to remain completely hidden. Here in Asterisk, each school’s most valuable secrets, all the important buildings in the administrative area, the hospital, and the VIP rooms at all the five-star hotels—they’re all set up that way.”
“So it didn’t work…?”
“Well, I don’t know if I would put it that way…,” she murmured. “I suspected from the beginning that they must be somewhere here in Asterisk, so the range wasn’t a problem. And I did get a reaction.”
“In that case—”
But Sylvia interrupted him with a shake of her head. “No matter what I do, I can’t narrow it down. There’s no doubt that they’re here in this city, but I can’t work out exactly where.” She wasn’t used to getting vague results from her seeking ability, judging by her dispirited tone of voice.
“So there’s no other option but to go around looking in person… Ah, so that was what you were doing back then?”
It was in the Rotlicht, on the outskirts of the redevelopment area, that Ayato had first met Sylvia.
He had always wondered why a world-famous songstress would be out alone in such a place, but it made sense if she was looking for someone.
Maybe, Ayato thought, that was also the real purpose of their three-day date.
“Yep. Whenever I can make time, I go out looking for them. And the redevelopment area is the most likely place to look.”
“The most likely…?”
Sylvia paused for a moment before continuing. “…The person who I’m looking for…they took part in the Eclipse.”
“…”
So that was it.
If she knew that Haruka had also taken part in the illegal tournament, Queenvale’s intelligence organization would have to be really something.
“So I thought that if they had found your sister, maybe you would have heard something that could help me…”
“I see.”
If that was the case, she would surely have been disheartened to learn about the state that Haruka was in.
“I don’t have a lot of information about the Eclipse or anything… Ah, don’t misunderstand me. I didn’t have that in mind when I first met you.” Sylvia waved her hands in denial.
“Ha-ha, I know.”
It would have been impossible to plan to meet the way they did.
“After we met, I looked into you a little. When I learned that you were also looking for someone, I felt like we had something in common,” Sylvia said, uncharacteristically embarrassed.
“Sylvia… Can I ask you something?”
“Please.”
“Who are you looking for exactly?”
If she was willing to go to such lengths for them, they must be very important to her. But judging by how she spoke about them, they didn’t sound like a relative, as in Ayato’s case.
Which meant—
“Oh? Do you want to know? But it isn’t what you’re thinking. The person who I’m looking for is a woman,” Sylvia teased. “She’s my teacher.”
“Your teacher?”
“Right. The person who taught me about music, about the world,” she answered, raising a hand to her breast.
It was clear from her way of speaking that she had strong feelings about that person.
“I see. You can ask Haruka directly, if you like, when she wakes up.”
“…Thank you, Ayato.” Sylvia smiled in relief, looking for the first time like a girl of her age. “It feels good to get that off my chest. Well then, shall we go to the next one?”
“Uh… Gallardworth, right? Do we still have time?”
“I can’t afford to waste my day off. Come on!”
“All right…” Ayato, impressed, gulped down the last of his iced coffee.
He felt as if he were finally beginning to understand the person behind the name of Sylvia Lyyneheym.
But he sensed there were still depths to her heart that he had yet to witness.
“Oh my god, being popular is such a drag… Ah-ha-ha-ha…” Miluše let out an exhausted laugh, collapsing onto the sofa in her room.
Despite her attempts to lighten the situation, her tone of voice could hardly be frailer.
It didn’t matter how much she enjoyed being a member of Rusalka, she would always end up like this after several hours of handshaking and autographs.
Even Mahulena was so sapped of energy that she couldn’t lift herself off the floor.
“Argh! We finally get a day off, and we end up spending it signing autographs! Why?!” Monica cried, banging her fists against the bed, no doubt having completely forgotten that the excursion had been her idea in the first place.
“It was all going fine until we started following them.” Tuulia groaned, sitting with her face flat on the table.
Miluše’s room was directly across the hall from Sylvia’s, so they had all taken turns watching her door in secret, waiting for her to come out.
Everything had been going well…until she left her room in disguise, and they set off after her. They’d had to leave in such a hurry that they hadn’t had time to prepare any disguises of their own.
Even so, everyone in Rusalka—everyone except Mahulena, that is—was part of the Named Cult. They should have been able to disguise themselves without any problem. In any normal situation, it would have been inconceivable that any of them could have been found out so easily.
So if there was any one reason for what had happened—
“We should have split up,” Päivi said, giving voice to what they were all no doubt thinking.
If all five of them went out together, they would stand out no matter how well they disguised themselves.
Even the fact that their quarry had realized she was being followed a
nd had tried to shake them off was nothing compared to the trouble of being discovered by their fans. If they’d been working, they would have been able to let their security team take care of them, but they had, after all, taken the day off.
And what was more, if it had been only one or two fans, they might have been able to deal with them, but a whole flood of them? There was nothing they could have done.
“But still!” Miluše raised her voice, standing atop the sofa with her arm outstretched. “We were right!”
“She did seem to be on a d-d-date…”
Even Mahulena had been taken by surprise. She had never expected that Sylvia would risk going out on a date in broad daylight, no matter how good her disguise.
“If only we could have seen who he was…”
“All the photos were from behind. You can’t see his face in any of them…”
They had taken particular care not to be noticed, so they hadn’t been able to get their hands on any clear evidence. Even if they took it to the media, there would be no way of proving anything.
“But you all saw him! The way he carried himself! He has to be important, right? We’ll work it out, we just need to hold on a bit longer!”
At that moment, Mahulena’s mobile began to ring.
“Ah, excuse me,” she murmured, opening up a pitch-black air-window. It was a voice-only call.
A sudden tension ran between her partners. They could all guess who it was.
“Mahulena. I trust you enjoyed your day off.”
“O-of course, ma’am!”
“I’m glad to hear it. The others are all with you, I assume? Tell them that I want to see you all in my office within the next five minutes. I hope that you have an explanation for causing such a ruckus today.”
“U-understood…!”
It was a brief exchange, but it was enough to turn the whole room upside down.
“Arghhh! Sh-she knows! Why—how—did she find out?!”
“…I’d be more surprised if she didn’t hear about it…”
“No! She’s going to give us another lecture…”
“We’ll be lucky if that’s all…”
Monica and Päivi seemed to have already resigned themselves to their fate.
“Argh! This is all her fault! I’ll remember this, Sylvia Lyyneheym!” Miluše cried out.