The Asterisk War, Vol. 4: Quest for Days Lost

by Yuu Miyazaki

  “You’ve seen their matches, haven’t you?” Song said.

  Gen’ei Souki and Gen’ei Musan—the Phantom Builder and the Phantom Vanisher—comprised one of the most favored teams in this tournament. Julis and Ayato had studied their matches as well as their data.

  Thinking back on the videos, Ayato remembered that the contests were all one-sided. The way they tormented their opponents had been unpleasant to watch.

  “You might be thinking too highly of us,” Julis said. “We would fight that way if we thought it would make it easier to win. In the Festa, only winning matters.”

  Luo responded with a thin smile. “If that’s how it is, then I guess we were poor judges of character.”

  “In any case, we’re not telling you not to have a plan,” Song said. “Only to be careful.”

  With that, Song and Luo turned and walked away.

  “Hmm…”

  Julis studied the pair as they left, then opened the prep room door with her school emblem.

  “What do you think?” Ayato asked as he entered.

  “Well. I don’t think they were lying,” Julis replied after a pause.

  “Same here.”

  As far as Ayato could tell, the Jie Long pair were not the type to take such roundabout measures for the sake of sabotage. There was no point in deceiving them with such general advice, anyway.

  Julis sat down on the sofa and let out a long, deep sigh. “We can take their warning into consideration, but let’s leave the twins until tomorrow. I’m too tired today. Let’s catch our breath and go home.”

  “Yeah, sounds good.” Ayato took a seat beside her, letting his shoulders sink into the cushions.

  The matches had concluded for the day, but spectators were sure to be lingering inside the stadium. Although contestants could take an express subway back to their schools to avoid the crowds, Ayato wanted a little more time to rest.

  After all, they would have no time off between the quarterfinals and the championship.

  “You know, Ayato…” Julis chuckled. “The next match is the quarterfinals. Just three more fights until we’re the champions,” she quipped.

  “Three more fights… It doesn’t sound like a lot, but this won’t be easy, will it?”

  They had to survive three more rounds like the one today. Just thinking about it was exhausting.

  Julis gave another soft laugh. “Well, as long as you’re aware… By the way, have you thought about what you’ll do?”

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean. Your wish when you win.”

  “Oh…” Ayato nodded, pondered for a bit—and finally shook his head. “Hmm. I can’t really think of anything.”

  “I guessed that might be the case,” Julis said with a wry smile. Then she gazed straight at him, completely serious. “I’m grateful you’re fighting for me, and to be honest, well—I’m happy. But I think you should think about what you want.”

  “That’s easy enough to say, but…”

  “Well, for instance…” She paused, hesitant to broach the subject. “What about your sister?”

  Ayato was a little startled, but he understood.

  Julis had heard what Irene told him the other day—that the student council president of Le Wolfe knew his sister. She must have been wondering how he took the news.

  “Well, sure—of course she’s been on my mind, but…”

  “But?”

  “She must have had her reasons for leaving home. So I don’t want to look for her if she doesn’t want to be found.”

  Ayato thought back to the day he arrived at Seidoukan Academy.

  “Then why come to this school?” Claudia’s words echoed in his mind.

  At the time, Ayato had answered, “To find out what it is that I have to do.”

  But now that he had found his purpose—now what?

  “Maybe so,” Julis said, “but isn’t finding your sister the quickest way to do something about that seal?”

  “Huh? Oh, yeah—she should be able to remove it…”

  Julis narrowed her eyes at his evasive reply. “Ayato. Don’t tell me you’re—”

  A knock at the door interrupted her, and an air-window opened to announce their visitors.

  “…Yoo-hoo.”

  “E-excuse us…”

  The display showed Saya and Kirin.

  They had fought Round Five in a different arena, and they had also safely advanced to the quarterfinal match.

  “You came all the way here to see us?” Ayato said.

  “We figured you must be exhausted. And we wanted to congratulate you…,” little Kirin said, fidgeting and looking up into the camera.

  Ayato was touched. She and Saya had just fought their match, yet they were still going out of their way for him and Julis.

  “Oh—let me open the door for you.” He reached for the air console.

  Kirin spoke up hastily. “Um, before you do, we have one more visitor here with us—is it all right if she comes in?”

  “Visitor?” Ayato cocked his head.

  Saya smiled slyly. “Yes. A visitor, for Riessfeld.”

  “For me?” Julis had been observing their conversation with little interest, but now she frowned curiously.

  On the air-window, Saya and Kirin nodded to each other and stepped back.

  A girl emerged from between them.

  She was young—a child, in fact, probably on the upper end of elementary school age. The innocent-looking, adorable little girl had one particularly distinctive trait—for some reason, she was dressed as a maid.

  Julis was taken aback. “F-Flora…?” she murmured.

  CHAPTER 3

  THE VISITOR

  “So…you came from Lieseltania all by yourself?”

  “Uh-huh! My name is Flora. Pleased to meet you all!” Speaking with a childish tone, the girl bowed deeply, nearly a perfect ninety degrees.

  Flora explained how she came from the very orphanage in Lieseltania that Julis was trying to save.

  “She was having a hard time at the information desk, so I tried to help,” Kirin explained. “And it turns out she knows you, Miss Riessfeld.”

  “…She was hard to miss,” Saya added.

  Naturally, such a young girl wandering about in a maid’s uniform would draw some attention.

  “Uh-huh! I’m so grateful! Thank you so much, Miss Sasamiya, Miss Toudou.” It was unclear whether Flora herself understood this, as she nodded energetically and grinned without a trace of shame.

  For now, they were chatting in the prep room, and Ayato couldn’t help but notice how extremely out of place her maid’s uniform looked in an everyday setting.

  “Really. You should have let me know you were coming,” Julis chided with a helpless smile, gently stroking Flora’s hair.

  That soft, indulgent expression told Ayato how much the girl meant to her.

  “But His Majesty gave me a ticket to the Phoenix, and in return I had to promise to keep my visit a secret from you,” Flora said.

  Julis sighed. “My brother has a little too much fun at the expense of others. I suppose he told you to dress like that, too.”

  “Uh-huh. He said it would make it easy for Your Highness to spot me.”

  “Honestly, that man…,” Julis muttered.

  Her brother seemed to be a real mischievous character.

  “But, but—these are like my regular clothes to me now, so it’s comfy and easy to wear,” Flora said.

  “Maybe for you, but this isn’t the palace. You can’t dress like that.”

  “Regular clothes?” Ayato asked out of sheer curiosity.

  “Flora works as a maidservant in the palace,” Julis replied. “Well, she’s still in training, actually.”

  Ayato had thought she acted too comfortable in the uniform to have only worn it for this trip. Now it made sense.

  “Oh, I almost forgot!” Flora exclaimed. “A message from His Majesty. ‘Come home to visit before the end of th
e year,’ he says.”

  “…Ugh, that brother of mine, hounding me from who knows where. No matter. I was thinking I should visit anyway. He didn’t need to tell me.” Julis placed her hand on Flora’s shoulder. “Besides, I have to see everyone.”

  “Uh-huh! We all can’t wait to see you!” Flora nodded, her eyes lighting up.

  Ayato could see the truth behind those words. The other children at the orphanage must care for Julis as Flora did.

  Kirin watched the two girls with admiration. “I’m amazed… All this time, you’ve been fighting for an orphanage, Miss Riessfeld,” she said with genuine respect.

  “It-it’s really not that big a deal—!” Julis abruptly looked away.

  The conversation had cornered Julis into revealing her motivations to Saya and Kirin a few moments ago. She was rather self-conscious about the topic.

  Still, Ayato thought it was good for Julis to close some of the distance between herself and others.

  Then a thought occurred to him. “Oh, Flora—can I ask you something?”

  “Uh-huh?” Flora cocked her head at him.

  “What’s Julis like at home?”

  “…Well, that came out of nowhere.” Julis glared dubiously at Ayato.

  “I mean, I just honestly want to know,” he pressed. “You never talk to me about it, Julis.”

  “…Oh. I don’t?”

  In fact, Julis almost never spoke to Ayato about her home.

  “Hmm, there’s not a lot to say… She’s pretty much like she is now.” Flora gave the question some thought, then replied with conviction. “She’s warm and kind when she’s with us, and she’s dignified and cool when she’s at the palace. So she isn’t any different!”

  “Oh, I see. Thanks.” Ayato was relieved to hear Flora’s answer. It meant Julis could be herself here, too.

  “Oh, I know! Would you like to see some pictures?” Flora said.

  “Pictures?”

  “Uh-huh! There are plenty of pictures from the orphanage on my mobile.” Flora eagerly took out her device from her clutch.

  “No, I think we’ve talked enough about me for one day,” Julis protested.

  The others, however, answered the proposal with enthusiasm.

  “…Oh-ho, now that sounds interesting,” Saya said.

  “I—I’d like to see, too,” Kirin chimed in.

  “Let’s see. This is from Weihnachten two years ago, and this one is when we had a big spring cleaning. This is Hannah’s birthday party…”

  Flora opened one air-window after another along with her explanations. She had photos of every sort, from group pictures of ceremonial events to everyday candid shots. The one thing all the photos had in common was that everyone was smiling. Julis, the children, and the nuns all wore joyous grins.

  “Wow, you do have a lot of pictures,” Kirin marveled.

  “There’s one sister who insists on preserving as many memories as possible. Thanks to her, all the children take pictures of everything. That’s why there are so many plain everyday photos,” Julis explained with a pained smile.

  “…Hmm?” Noticing one in particular, Saya motioned to Flora with her hand. “Flora, what’s this one?”

  “Oh, that’s Her Highness washing my hair for me!”

  Flora lightly delivered her explanation, but Ayato averted his eyes in a panic upon glimpsing the photo in question.

  The picture showed Julis and Flora washing their hair—both wearing nothing besides little towels.

  “—!” Julis yanked the mobile device from Flora’s hands and closed all the air-windows at once.

  “D-d-d-d-d-did you see? Did you? You saw, didn’t you!”

  “N-no, I didn’t! Didn’t see a thing!”

  Julis scowled at him, beet red, and Ayato ferociously shook his head in denial.

  Technically, he had seen the picture, but he’d averted his gaze before he could process it, so he wasn’t exactly lying…he hoped.

  “Flora, didn’t I tell you to delete that picture?!” Julis blustered.

  “Ohhh, but…it’s a precious memory with Your Highness…” Flora hung her head dejectedly.

  Julis was unable to scold Flora with much energy in the face of that reaction. She pursed her lips awkwardly.

  “…Anyway, it doesn’t seem right to send such a little girl so far by herself,” Saya said, perhaps to deliberately change the subject, and patted Flora’s head.

  Saya wasn’t much taller than Flora, so the comment was a bit odd coming from her. But she had a point. Flora was still a child, and it would be safer for her to travel with a chaperone.

  Especially to Asterisk, of all places. Duels were banned during Festa events, which made it somewhat safer than usual, but this was far from a normal city. It wasn’t rare for tourists to get hurt.

  “Umm, well…” Flora was embarrassed, her voice tiny and her head lowered.

  Julis took up the task of explaining. “My brother doesn’t have much money to spend freely, just as I didn’t when I lived at home. Still, since he obeys the integrated enterprise foundations, he can pull some strings if he wants and obtain Festa tickets that way, probably. I’m guessing he couldn’t pay for travel or lodging, though, and the funds for that came from the sisters.”

  “…Uh-huh. They worked really hard to save up, and I think that’s where it came from. But they could only send one of us… And they said that if they had to pick, then I’d be the best choice.” Flora seemed dejected, but her enthusiasm quickly returned. “But I’ll be fine on my own! I’m a Genestella like Her Highness, and I’m planning on coming to Asterisk as a student! And then, I’ll help everyone at the orphanage, just like Her Highness!”

  “Wow, that’s great!” Ayato told her.

  He had known the second he saw her that Flora was a Genestella, but what struck him was how she had a concrete goal at such an early age. That was probably why the others at the orphanage decided she was the best one to send.

  While Ayato was genuinely impressed, Julis sternly shook her head. “Are you still talking about that…? I’ve told you a hundred times, there’s no need for you to go through this.”

  “But, but—I want to help everyone, like you!”

  “You’re still little. You shouldn’t worry about things like that, and—”

  “But the student council president of Jie Long is younger than I am! So why can’t I?”

  For such a cute little girl, Flora had quite the stubborn streak.

  “Comparing ourselves to a first-ranked fighter now, are we?” Confounded, Julis placed her hand on her hip, then breathed a resigned sigh. “Oh, all right. Suppose you do come to Asterisk to help everyone at the orphanage. Which school do you want to attend?”

  “Um—I guess I’d want to go to Seidoukan like Your Highness, or maybe Queenvale Academy for Young Ladies, if I could…” Flora placed her palms together as if in prayer, her eyes shining dreamily.

  So Queenvale really is popular with girls, Ayato thought.

  “I see. So I was right—you don’t need to be in Asterisk at all,” Julis said.

  “…Huh?”

  “Both Seidoukan and Queenvale only allow students from middle school and up. Actually, the only school that accepts elementary students is Jie Long, so…”

  There was no minimum age requirement to attend Jie Long Seventh Institute. Of course, infants and toddlers were ineligible, but anyone old enough to receive primary education could apply.

  This policy apparently stemmed from the philosophy that for martial arts and Seisenjutsu—Jie Long’s forte—it was best to begin long-term training in the fundamentals from an early age. The other five schools argued that those early years were critical to psychological development and it was unethical to place such young children in the abnormal environment of Asterisk—although this was all a transparent attempt to claim moral superiority.

  “Anyway, it’ll be at least two more years until you’re old enough,” Julis declared. “By then, I’ll have made all yo
ur wishes come true.”

  “—!” Flora glanced up at her with a gasp.

  “I told you the last time we spoke. I will help you all, and I will change our country. And to do that, I will win every Festa event. Do you have so little faith in me?”

  “N-no, that’s not it!”

  “Then it’s settled.” Julis gave a satisfied nod, then gently patted Flora on the head.

  “That’s our Riessfeld. Aiming big and high,” Saya said, impressed. “…But it won’t be a walk in the park. The Phoenix, at least, will go to me and Kirin. Right, Kirin?”

  “Wha—?! Uh, um—well, y-yes—!” Flustered at being put on the spot, Kirin’s head swiveled back and forth between Saya and Julis, then nodded with resolve. “I—I’m going to do my best, too! I won’t give up on my wish!”

  Flora lit up at this exchange. “Ohhhh. Miss Sasamiya and Miss Toudou are Her Highness’s rivals!”

  “Rivals…?”

  Julis, Saya, and Kirin shared a concerned glance—then, as if on cue, they all turned to Ayato.

  “Huh? Wh-what is it…?”

  The three girls stared at him as he took a step backward.

  “Well, I suppose that’s true,” Julis muttered.

  “?”

  Ayato had no idea what was going on, and neither did Flora, apparently. She blankly watched the situation unfold.

  “…Um, well, moving on.” Julis cleared her throat and tried to bring the conversation back on course. “If we do fight each other, it’ll be in the final. First we all have to get that far.”

  Indeed, since Ayato and Julis were in a different tournament block from Saya and Kirin, the only way they would fight each other was in the final.

  Saya chuckled confidently. “Heh-heh-heh… Not a problem. We’re invincible.”

  She puffed out her chest and clapped a hand on Kirin’s shoulder. In contrast, Kirin seemed uncertain. But Saya’s conviction was well founded on their actual performance thus far.

  In their five matches, Saya and Kirin had completely dominated—an incredible feat, now that they had reached the main tournament—and their opponents so far had hardly posed a challenge. They owed some of this wild success, of course, to fortunate placement in the tournament bracket. Still, compared to Ayato and Julis’s exhausting struggle thus far, their progress had been almost ridiculously smooth.