by Yuu Miyazaki
It was one thing to blame her for their current situation, but voicing it wouldn’t change anything, Mahulena thought with despair.
She let out a deep sigh, racking her brains to at least come up with some excuse, anything at all, that offered a chance at salvation.
CHAPTER 5
SCHOOL FAIR RHAPSODY III
In the Saint Gallardworth Academy student council room…
“That’s all that I have to report.”
“Good. It looks like we can expect to have another successful year.” Ernest Fairclough, sitting at his ebony desk, nodded calmly after listening to the various reports relating to the school fair.
“Everything looks to be in order. We haven’t had any serious trouble yet, in any event.” Laetitia, lounging on the sofa, let out a sigh of relief.
Gallardworth always placed special emphasis on order and justice, but because the school fair involved so many visitors from outside the academy, there was always a certain amount of trouble that had to be taken care of each year.
But things this time, it seemed, were going surprisingly smooth.
“I can’t help feeling a little envious of Allekant and Queenvale this time of year.” Laetitia sighed, rubbing her shoulders.
In Asterisk, most people assumed that each of the student council heads had immense power, but in reality, it was mainly just Gallardworth and Seidoukan where they had a hand in everything from administration to the management of events.
For Allekant, mired as it was in factionalism, the student council played little more than a coordinating role. At Queenvale, the chairwoman held all the real power, with the student council being merely for show. The situation at Jie Long had varied over time, but in general, they tended to leave things to their integrated enterprise foundation.
Le Wolfe used to operate like Gallardworth and Seidoukan, but things had changed ever since Dirk Eberwein had taken over the student council presidency. It seemed that the majority of his staff were recruited from Le Wolfe’s IEF, so it could hardly be said to be managed by students.
Of course, that wasn’t to say that the Gallardworth’s and Seidoukan’s student councils were granted full independence from their own research conglomerates. They, too, relied on their corporate benefactors when necessary, but there was no denying that they exercised much more discretion in doing so.
“We only need to worry about ourselves, Laetitia. That’s what the others will be doing, and they’ll no doubt have problems of their own to worry about.”
“I understand that…” She held her tongue, but she seemed to have more that she wanted to get off her chest.
The night was already late, and they still had a few things left to settle before they could call it a day.
“By the way, speaking of Queenvale, do you know what happened with Sophia’s participation in the Gryps?”
“Who knows? I haven’t heard anything… She isn’t a child anymore, though, so I don’t have any right to interfere with whatever she’s decided to do.”
“That may be so, but still…”
Sophia Fairclough, a student at Queenvale Academy for Young Ladies, was Ernest’s younger sister.
She might have been older than the Queenvale student, but Laetitia had learned a lot from her. That was why she was so concerned.
Ever since an accident when she was little, Sophia had borne a fatal trauma that reared its head whenever she competed in the Festa. It was because of that trauma that Laetitia had been so strongly opposed to her coming to Asterisk in the first place.
But if even Ernest, her own brother, wouldn’t say anything to her, then there was no way that she, an outsider, could interfere.
“Ah yes—,” Percival Gardner began, the student council secretary, who despite having finished her report seemed to have just remembered something.
While dressed in a boy’s uniform, Percival was a well-born lady and Gallardworth’s fifth-ranked knight. Moreover, she was the first student in twenty years to use Gallardworth’s Holy Grail of Orga Luxes, the Horn of Atonement, commonly known as the Amalthean Goat.
“I happened to see Her Excellency, the student council president of Queenvale Academy, today.”
“Sigrdrífa was here?”
This was the first they’d heard of it, which meant she must have come in secret.
“Yes. She was disguised. It looks like no one else recognized her.”
“Oh? She must be so carefree,” Laetitia murmured, sipping her freshly poured tea.
The campus was open to the public during the school fair, so everyone was free to come and go as they pleased—even the student council presidents of the other schools. If, for example, Le Wolfe’s student council president had decided to come, they would of course have had to keep a careful eye on whatever he was plotting, but in Sylvia Lyyneheym’s case, they shouldn’t have much to worry about, Laetitia thought.
But—
“She had a companion. He was disguised, too, but I think it might have been Seidoukan’s Murakumo.”
“Bffft?!” Startled, Laetitia all but spat out her tea. “Y-you’re saying the Witch of Fearsome Melody and the Gathering Clouds came here? Together?”
“Yes,” Percival answered disinterestedly.
Laetitia had no idea what kind of connection the two had, but for Seidoukan’s number one fighter and winner of the Phoenix to be working together with Queenvale’s number one fighter and student council president—who also happened to be the runner-up at the last Lindvolus—was beyond ordinary.
“Ernest, what do you think?”
“Hmm… I’m afraid I don’t know what they’re trying to achieve.”
“Maybe they’re scouting out their opposition for the Gryps…,” Laetitia wondered, her finger resting on her chin.
It was widely considered all but certain that Ayato Amagiri would be participating in the next Gryps. That being the case, it wasn’t particularly surprising that he would want to sound out the Silverwinged Knights, who were not only the favorite to win but were also the champions of the previous two team tournaments.
As for Sylvia Lyyneheym, everyone knew she had her eye on the Lindvolus, but Queenvale’s Rusalka was widely expected to take part in the Gryps.
“…Hmm…” Ernest folded his arms, a faint smile rising to his lips.
It was different from his usual countenance. For a split second, Laetitia thought she’d caught a glimpse of the real Ernest Fairclough.
“In any event, it’s a shame we weren’t able to greet them, considering they came all that way.”
“Ernest…?” As she watched his expression, Laetitia felt a bad premonition rising up inside her.
“I guess that leaves me no choice. We can’t turn down the princess’s invitation now.”
“W-wait! You can’t seriously be talking about taking part in that thing?!”
“If I’m not mistaken, he’s been entered as a guest participant. It will be a good opportunity for me to get the measure of him with my own eyes.”
Laetitia felt as if she should do something to stop him, but Ernest seemed to have already made up his mind.
“Percival, can we finish some of tomorrow’s workload today? I want to free up some time.”
“Very well.”
Laetitia, ignoring Percival’s impassive response, was unable to leave the matter at that. “Ernest! If you go there thinking only about yourself, the Runesword will—”
“Don’t worry, Laetitia. This isn’t about me. It’s about the whole school.”
“B-but, if you’re not careful…” She trailed off.
If Ernest thought so, there wasn’t anything she could do.
The Lei-Glems, the Blade of White Purification, had acknowledged more than twenty people throughout the history of Saint Gallardworth Academy, each of whom had been granted the title Pendragon, but it was said that out of all of them, Ernest possessed the highest affinity with the Orga Lux.
Or rather than affinity, it was more that he kn
ew how to deal with it.
The cost of using the Lei-Glems was called nobility, the need to be an agent of justice and order. That so-called justice, however, was only what existed in the mind of the Orga Lux and was labeled as such simply because what the Lei-Glems wanted seemed to resemble—at least in part—the kind of chivalry and social ideals predominant during the Middle Ages.
For someone who couldn’t submit to it, the Lei-Glems was difficult to handle.
Ernest, however, had the rare talent of being able to understand its will and had even succeeded in adjusting his own thoughts and actions to accommodate it.
“There’s no need to worry. I won’t overdo it. But even taking the Murakumo out of the equation, I’m still a little concerned about this event.”
“Well… I suppose it is unusual, having three of the schools cooperate on an event of this scale.”
“Yes, of course… But I’m more concerned about what’s happening behind the scenes. The princess hardly ever steps foot out of Jie Long, after all.”
“Do you think she’s up to something?” Laetitia asked suspiciously.
But Ernest, his expression grave as if lost in thought, didn’t answer.
“…A casino? The whole school?”
“Right. Le Wolfe does it every year. It’s customary for them.”
It was the third day of the school fair. The two of them had made their way to the Le Wolfe Black Institute. The campus had left Ayato speechless.
The architecture of the school buildings called to mind the rugged, intimidating appearance of a fortress, but they had been decorated garishly for the school fair. Ayato doubted whether he had ever seen anything so dubious.
“Well, the students here aren’t proactive enough to arrange this kind of event by themselves. Officially, the school organizes everything, but I’ve heard they pretty much just leave it all to the Rotlicht.”
“So that’s why it feels so similar…”
Even though it was open to the public, there were clearly fewer visitors than at the other schools.
There were stalls lined up outside like at the others, but the prices were quite high. On top of that, the storekeepers all looked the very opposite of friendly. The walls were coated in all kinds of graffiti, obscene words and lewd pictures alike. It clearly wasn’t the kind of place ordinary tourists would want to visit.
But despite all that, the casino itself seemed to be doing quite well.
An arena-like structure was filled with row upon row of slot machines and professional baccarat and blackjack tables. Amid the quiet enthusiasm, men in black suits and women dressed in bunny outfits were busy serving visitors all throughout the hall.
“Do you want to have a go?” Sylvia jibed.
“I’ll pass. I’m not very good at that sort of thing,” Ayato replied with a faint smile.
“You certainly don’t look like a gambler… Wait, what’s going on?” She frowned for a moment before looking away uncomfortably.
Ayato glanced toward where she had been facing, to find that a girl serving drinks had collapsed on the ground, probably having tripped over something.
“Hey, c’mon, miss, cut me some slack. This has to be the fifth time already.”
“Ugh… I’m so sorry!”
“The president introduced you, so I didn’t want to say anything, but c’mon, miss, you aren’t cut out for this. I mean, we might be shorthanded and all, but—”
“B-but the president asked me to do it, and now he’s away on business! As his secretary, I can’t give up!”
The black-suited man scratched his head, seemingly unsure how to respond.
“I think I’ve seen her before somewhere…,” Ayato murmured.
“Oh? Do you know her?”
“Um… Right, she’s the Tyrant’s secretary.”
Sylvia’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “Oh, Korona Kashimaru?”
“Ah, that was her name. Is she famous?”
Sylvia nodded, though her expression was noncommittal. “I wouldn’t say famous, exactly. More like mysterious… Dirk Eberwein is famous. You must have heard that he selects people based only on their abilities, right? So there were a lot of rumors going around when he chose a first-year student to be his secretary. That she must be extraordinarily talented or something like that. But she hardly ever appears in public, so I’ve been wondering for a while what kind of person she is.”
“Extraordinarily talented, huh…?”
It might have been rude of him to think so, but those words didn’t seem to suit the girl bowing her head repeatedly to the black-suited man.
She had left much the same impression the last time he had seen her, when she had taken him and Julis to see Dirk Eberwein.
“She doesn’t really look like she belongs at Le Wolfe.”
“I agree. But then why did the Tyrant choose her to be his secretary?”
The two of them fell silent for a long moment, before Sylvia suddenly grabbed his arm and began to lead him outside.
“…You’re staring too much,” she whispered. “Let’s get out of here before they start getting suspicious.”
Now that she mentioned it, Ayato had begun to feel the gazes of several of the black-suited men following him through the building.
Sylvia seemed to have a good sense for that kind of thing.
“Heh… This is why I don’t like Le Wolfe,” Sylvia grumbled once they had left the building.
“Well, it is a casino. I suppose they’d want to keep an eye on everyone.”
“It’s not that. I just can’t feel comfortable here. You know it’s dangerous for a girl to come here alone, right? You don’t know what kind of weirdos are going to come after you.” She paused there, putting an arm through his. “But you’re with me today, so I don’t need to worry about that, right?”
“Ha-ha… I’m honored to be of use, but, um, don’t you think you’re holding on a bit too tightly…?”
“Let’s get some lunch,” Sylvia said, brushing his comment aside. “It’s a little early, but we still have to go to Jie Long. And you have your event in the evening, too, right?” She glanced around restlessly. “Hmm, it’s a bit overpriced here… And the shops will probably be full around this time… Huh?”
“What is it…?” Ayato asked, when he noticed a delicious aroma wafting over from somewhere nearby.
They chased after the scent, arriving at a large stall in the corner of the courtyard. There were a number of simple chairs and tables lined up in front of it.
“Welcome!” a girl in a cute apron called out to them. “Would you like to try some paella?”
“Huh?” Ayato startled, sure that he had seen her somewhere before. “Priscilla?” he cried a moment later, with notable artlessness.
Priscilla merely stared back at him in confusion.
“Geez, Ayato…,” Sylvia muttered.
He had completely forgotten he was still wearing his disguise.
“Um, I’m so sorry. Have we met…?”
“Ah, well…” He averted his gaze, unsure how to respond.
Priscilla, however, continued to study his face, when she suddenly covered her mouth as if to hide her astonishment. “Mr. Amagiri?!” she exclaimed, before hurriedly lowering her voice.
“Ha-ha… It’s been a while.”
“Yes. I heard that there was some trouble during the Phoenix, but congratulations on your victory,” the girl said with a genuine smile.
“Thank you. I know that it’s a little late, but I wanted to thank you for those snacks. They were delicious.”
“No, not at all… It was the least I could do, after all you’d done for me…” She looked away, her cheeks flushed.
Ayato was referring to the food that Irene had given him when he was looking for Flora. He had been in such a hurry afterward that he had neglected to thank the two sisters.
“Ah, if you aren’t in a hurry, why don’t you stop by? I mean, it isn’t much, but—”
“Is this your cookin
g?”
“Ah yes…”
In that case, it was sure to be delicious, Ayato thought.
He glanced toward Sylvia, who had been watching their exchange in silence.
“I don’t mind.” She nodded. “It certainly smells good.”
“Um, Mr. Amagiri, who’s your friend?” Priscilla asked cautiously, staring at Sylvia’s school crest.
It looked like she couldn’t see through Sylvia’s disguise, either.
But Sylvia didn’t wait for Ayato to introduce her. “Hello,” she said with a gentle laugh. “We’re on a date.”
“Wha—?! S-s-sorry! I didn’t mean to intrude!” Priscilla stammered, her face turning scarlet. “U-um… I’ll go and get a menu! P-please sit wherever you like…!” And with that, she fled inside the stall.
“…Sylvie.”
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
“It is, but you know…” Ayato trailed off. He felt strangely guilty.
Sylvia smiled in apology. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think her reaction would be so cute… That’s a rare kind of innocence these days. I’m a little envious, to be honest.”
“You’re actually pretty similar, you two, you know.”
Maybe it was because it was still early in the day, but more than half the tables were empty.
They sat themselves down at one of them, when Sylvia let out a deep sigh. “In my kind of work, you end up seeing only the bad sides of people. And it might not mean much in practice, but I’m a student council president, which only makes it worse…”
“I think you’re an honest, straightforward kind of person, though.”
“…!”
Ayato was only telling her what he truly believed, but Sylvia seemed taken by surprise for a split second, before averting her gaze.
“You really do have the strangest sense of timing, Ayato…”
“Huh?”
But before he had a chance to ask her what she meant, Priscilla, her face still red, came hurrying over with a menu.
“S-sorry to keep you waiting!”
Ayato glanced over it for a long moment before deciding to let Priscilla choose for him.
“By the way,” he began casually before she could head back to the stall. “Is Irene with you?”