"These are students who have registered for the upcoming Phoenix. Although they aren't members of the Top Twelve, they fall among the upper ranks of the Named Charts. They're students in whom we had placed the utmost expectations."
"...Past tense?"
"Indeed. They lost in battles which left them in the hospital."
She sighed, and closed the window.
"The reasons are varied; for example, accidents, or injuries sustained during a loss, etc. Here in Asterisk, this kind of thing is pretty commonplace. Nonetheless, our investigations have revealed a certain oddity common to this incidents."
"The interference of a third party, correct? Just like my fight with Julis."
"Exactly. Yesterday's attack was the first time they've showed themselves so openly; generally their preferred MO[1] was a sniping like during your duel with Julis. Given the uniformity of MO, the probability we're dealing with a single perpetrator is extremely high."
Ayato thought for a moment.
"Any evidence?"
"None. Furthermore, all of the affected parties have rejected any and all assistance."
"Why's that?"
"Well...the students at this school are, how do I put this? Simply put, they're rather peculiar members of the Starpulse Generation. They trust in their own abilities to a fault. They're all waiting until they're fully healed to hunt down the attacker on their own, and pay him back."
"No mistake, that is pretty troublesome."
"A fuller explanation would require looking at things from another point of view, but for the most part, that's pretty much it."
The difficulty was that among those students with a certain level of ability, there were definitely those who held positions among the disciplinary committee, but the attacker had clearly and intentionally selected those students with lone wolf personalities.
"There's something else I need to mention. The disciplinary committee has already investigated both McPhail-kun and Landy Hooke-kun as possible perpetrators of yesterday's incident. They have no alibis."
"You still don't think it was them, though."
"No, I don't. Nor do you."
Claudia smiled joyfully.
"There's something strange about what you just said. Why isn't Cyrus a suspect? The three of them are attached at the hip after all."
"Cyrus Norman-kun has a perfect alibi. He was at home the entire time, hard at work; his roommate can attest to it."
"Is that so...Well, without a clear next step, there's nothing we can do but 'let the other side make the first move'."
"It's as you say. Fortunately, there is one thing we can be sure of. The identity of the next target is already known to us."
"...Julis."
"Right. This attacker takes advantage of the situation to take down his target, without needing to reveal himself. If he was a member of the Top Twelve, there'd be no need for all this. In other words, the perpetrator would have a difficult time in a direct confrontation, but somehow still needs to take down skilled students. From this, we can infer––"
Ayato filled in the pieces. "They're acting under the direction of another school. Am I right?"
"Another school?"
"Moreover, they should be a student of ours. Since all the incidents have taken place on school grounds, it would have been far too noticeable and far too dangerous otherwise."
"But then..."
The relationship between the six competing schools of Asterisk - Seidoukan Academy, St. Garrardsworth Academy, Allekant Academy, the World Dragon Seventh Institute, Le Wolfe Black Institute, and Queen Veil Girls Academy - could hardly be called good.
Since they were constantly competing with one another, such an outcome was only natural. That said, it wasn't to the point where they'd commit such blatantly illicit infractions against one another.
"We definitely can't discount the possibility. The provisions of the Stella Carta notwithstanding, history has shown that given the opportunity, no school would hesitate to take any actions they deemed necessary, no matter how deplorable."
Ayato's brow furrowed.
If he understood her correctly, "whatever they deemed necessary" seemed to refer to even attacking one's fellow students.
"We can eliminate both St. Garrardsworth and Queen Veil off the bat. Given their reputation, they have too much to lose to do something like this, and too little to gain. This sort of sneak attack is definitely typical of Le Wolfe, but they're currently focused on the Lindwurm; I doubt they'd expend the necessary effort for this. That leaves only Allekant and the World Dragon Seventh Institute. ...Hmm, I'll look into this a little more."
"It's fine either way?"
"Yeah, we just need to be careful not to overstep our bounds in roping them in."
Having spoken this far, Claudia turned to look directly at Ayato.
"Truth be told, this Seidoukan Academy is an organization directly managed by the Integrated Enterprise Foundation. Without explicit approval, the scope of our actions is rather limited indeed. The disciplinary committee is granted more autonomy, but should they act, there is the possibility of the other party noticing. The Integrated Enterprise Foundation keeps a pretty close eye on things."
Claudia shrugged.
"It's not enough to simply identify the school in the shadows behind our attacker; such a thing is meaningless. We need evidence of their collusions. Anything else is our loss, and believe me, the Integrated Enterprise Foundation is not forgiving of failure."
"In other words, until we have that evidence, we can't move on the attacker."
"Looking at it another way, until then, the probability of another attack is high. That brings me to the favor I wanted to ask. Ayato, could you stay by Julis' side and protect her?"
"Wha––?"
Ayato stared dumbly at Claudia in surprise at the unexpected request.
"Julis will be undoubtedly be attacked again. If she's alone when that happens, it's possible she won't be able to handle things this time. That's why I'd like to ensure she has the strength she needs by her side, in other words, you. Originally, however, this wasn't something I should entrust to a student..."
"Is there a reason it has to be me?"
"As you well know, that girl deliberately keeps her distance from others. Fortunately, though, you seem to be an exception."
"As far as that goes, it was only to the point of showing me around school, you know?"
Moreover, she always seemed to be mad at him.
"Hah...You really are thick, aren't you?" Claudia laughed as she teased him.
Though Ayato maintained a sober expression. "I know what you want to say, but...I really don't think I'm up to the task."
"Oh, and why's that?"
"My strength isn't enough for her to be able to rely on."
"How modest."
"I'm calling it as I see it."
It was indeed the case, after all.
Claudia stared Ayato down before finally sighing.
"As I said before, just do your best. If you feel things are getting out of hand, feel free to run."
"..."
"If nothing else, by standing with her, you at least give the appearance of additional combat strength, right?"
"...If you put it like that, then I understand. I'll accept but, let me warn you, don't expect too much. You just focus on identifying the attacker so we can pull the curtain on this show already."
"Alright, I'll do my best." Ayato finally allowed himself to say.
Relieved, Claudia smiled.
"On another note, why is it that you worry about Julis so?"
"As the student council president, isn't it only natural to worry about one's students?"
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"And the real reason?"
"..."
Claudia didn't speak at first. Finally, bowing her head, she answered softly.
"I'm like any other student. I came here to realize my dreams. I'm simply acting in accordance with that wish."
"Wish..."
Claudia's words tormented Ayato.
Both Claudia and Julis were fighting for the same reason.
"Oh, that reminds me. I can't just ask a favor from you without giving you some kind of reward."
"Hmm? Oh, I don't need anything like that."
Ayato waved her offer away, but Claudia still rose up and approached him.
"C-Claudia?"
"Fufufu."
With a bewitching smile on her face, Claudia circled around to Ayato's back.
Though he tried to stand up in a hurry, she leaned in, and pushed him back down.
"Uwaah!"
"Seeing as this is a pretty rare opportunity, if you want me, it's OK, you know?"
"WHA-?!"
A sugary-sweet whisper entered his ear.
Warm breath tickled his throat as he was pushed back into the sofa.
As Claudia mounted Ayato, her bathrobe slowly slid back, revealing her shoulders and cleavage. In that dimly-lit room, a pair of damp eyes stared at Ayato.
Ayato worried that if things continued, he was doomed. Moreover, the other party was a half-naked girl, currently pushing him down. Careless movements could prove fatal.
"Don't worry."
"?"
Claudia took ahold of his hands, and placed them atop her chest.
"Mm..."
"!"
That this world held something so impossibly soft! The slightly moist skin adhered to the palms of his hands, and though there was just the barest contact between them, the feeling was indescribable. If things continued down this path-
Ayato worried that if things continued, he was doomed.
"H, hold iiit-!"
Calling himself back from the pit which hung before him, Ayato dove past Claudia and to the door in an instant.
"S-sorry! Let's leave it at this for tonight!"
Though he hadn't the slightest clue what he was doing, he knew he had to escape from that situation. If things had continued...
He also wasn't sure what Claudia's intentions were. Had she been serious, or was it all a joke?
He'd best steer clear until he was sure. He thought of what his sister had said once before.
"How unfortunate. It's not like I didn't expect this, but I guess things just aren't that simple..."
As Ayato fled the scene, he heard Claudia's voice, but he couldn't decipher the meaning of her words.
✱
"Seriously..."
Sticking near the fence as he escaped the girls dorms, Ayato sighed.
As that sensation yet lingered in his mind, Ayato shook his head vigorously.
"Nonono, I can't keep thinking about that!"
Conversing with God knows whom, he slapped himself with force.
When it comes to Claudia's "compensation", forget it.
Either way, it wasn't like he was about to ignore Julis' plight.
"She is, after all, the girl with the same look in her eyes as Onee-chan."
He now realized that that look revealed the ferocity of her determination.
That being the case...
"-Hey!"
"!?"
Hearing a voice call out from above, he froze.
Looking up, he saw Julis looking down from her window above.
"What are you doing down there?"
"...Um, well, this is..."
There was no way in hell he was going to tell her he'd just snuck into the girls dorms.
"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't quite hear."
Saying that, Julis leapt down.
She wore casual clothing, nothing formal. Her actions, in jumping down, were none too princess-like either.
"K!"
"...Is it going to be like this every time we talk?"
"Don't be stupid. Chasing you like last time was the first and last time for me. It's just more convenient this way."
As Julis finished speaking, she finally realized what she held in her hands.
Noticing it'd drawn Ayato's attention, she frantically stuffed it into her pocket.
"A letter?"
"Yeah, you could say that."
She didn't sound like she wanted to talk about it, but she nonetheless appeared quite joyful.
It was undoubtedly a letter from someone precious to her.
In this age of digital communication, a handwritten letter was a rare sight indeed.
Judging from this, it was likely its contents were meant to be private.
"So? What're you doing here, at this time?"
"-Taking a walk?"
"A walk?"
"It's one of my hobbies, you know."
That was no lie.
"Whatever, forget it. Hey, do you have some time this Sunday?"
"Sunday? I should."
Since he'd just recently transferred, he had no plans.
"Alright then. Why don't I show you around then, like I promised earlier?"
"That'd be great."
She seemed to have been referring to when she'd asked him to leave his day off open.
"Um, also...I-I'm just checking here, but...I'm the only you've asked to come with, correct?"
"Huh? Of course?"
"B, Because if someone unexpected turns up, t-that'd throw things off..."
Julis spoke rather haltingly, but he nonetheless understood what she was asking.
"If you're talking about Saya, there's no need to worry."
"...Why's that?"
"Don't you remember that Kyouko told her she had to make up lessons?"
At Ayato's words, Julis clapped her hands together.
"Ah, you're right! Yeah, that's right! Right then, I'll be taking my leave first. I'll let you know when and where later."
Mumbling to herself, Julis waved as she walked back inside, this time, through the front door.
"The day after tomorrow, is it? I doubt they'd attack outside of school premises, but it's best to be safe."
Sighing, Ayato also made his way back to the dorms.
Since he'd left his room empty at night, there was no way that curiosity-driven roommate of his would just let things go.
To change his mood, Ayato turned to watch the night sky, whose clouds covered up the starlit sky.