The Asterisk War, Vol. 2: Awakening of Silver Beauty
Copyright
THE ASTERISK WAR, Vol. 2
YUU MIYAZAKI
Translation by Melissa Tanaka
Cover art by okiura
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
© Yuu Miyazaki 2013 / okiura
First published in Japan in 2013 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION. English translation rights reserved by Yen Press, LLC under the license from KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo, through TUTTLE-MORI AGENCY, INC. Tokyo.
English translation © 2016 by Yen Press, LLC
Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Yen On
1290 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10104
Visit us at yenpress.com
facebook.com/yenpress
twitter.com/yenpress
yenpress.tumblr.com
instagram.com/yenpress
First Yen On Edition: December 2016
Yen On is an imprint of Yen Press, LLC.
The Yen On name and logo are trademarks of Yen Press, LLC.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Miyazaki, Yuu, author. | Tanaka, Melissa, translator.
Title: Asterisk war / Yuu Miyazaki ; translation by Melissa Tanaka.
Other titles: Gakusen toshi asterisk. English
Description: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen On, 2016– | v. 1. Encounter with a fiery princess — v. 2. Awakening of silver beauty | Audience: Ages 13 & up.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016023755| ISBN 9780316315272 (v. 1 : paperback) | ISBN 9780316398572 (v. 1 : ebook) | ISBN 9780316398589 (v. 2 : paperback)
Subjects: | CYAC: Science fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Science Fiction / Adventure.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.M635 As 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016023755
ISBNs: 978-0-316-39858-9 (paperback)
978-0-316-39859-6 (ebook)
E3-20161123-JV-PC
Contents
Cover
Insert
Title Page
Copyright
Map
Chapter 1: The Rikka Garden Summit
Chapter 2: The Owl’s Secret Schemes
Chapter 3: With Lightning-Edged Speed
Chapter 4: Complicating Expectations
Chapter 5: Her True Face
Chapter 6: Menace in the Mist
Chapter 7: Determination and Duel
Epilogue
Afterword
Yen Newsletter
CHAPTER 1
THE RIKKA GARDEN SUMMIT
In the central district of Asterisk, at the junction of the commercial and administrative areas, rose the super skyscraper of Hotel Elnath.
This luxury hotel, frequented by VIPs and celebrities from around the world, was renowned most of all for the dome-shaped hanging gardens on its top floor. Only a few ever set foot in this garden, where streams rilled and flowers of all seasons were always in full bloom. Even the people of a class able to stay at this hotel—including integrated enterprise foundation executives—could not enter without permission.
This space was a sanctuary created specifically for a highly select group of individuals to meet once a month. Only six people in the world had the power to open its doors: the student council presidents of the six schools of Asterisk.
“Good day, everyone,” an elegant voice said. “You all seem well.”
In the center of the garden, atop a small hill that was just high enough to grant a view of the surroundings, stood a European-style gazebo. It was furnished inside with a hexagonal table that resembled a scaled-down version of Asterisk itself. Four of the six seats were occupied.
After a polite bow, Claudia took her place in the fifth seat, wearing her usual gentle smile.
“So good of you to join us, Miss Enfield. You are most punctual, as always.” The princely young man sitting to Claudia’s left welcomed her with a cordial grin. He was a beautiful youth: He sported well-defined features and sleek, light blond hair; a serene manner; and refinement in his every move. Even the impeccable whites of the Saint Gallardworth Academy uniform suited him as if it were custom-made with him in mind.
At first glance, the soft smile he wore seemed genteel, but it was akin to the one on Claudia’s face: It was impossible to tell what thoughts might lie behind it.
“Well, then. Now that we’re all here, shall we begin? None of us has much time to spare, after all.” The golden-haired young man opened an air-window, and thereby the meeting began.
This regular assembly of the six student council presidents was known informally as the Rikka Garden Summit, named after the place where it was held.
Ostensibly, the purpose of these meetings was to maintain amicable relations between the six schools and to exchange opinions for the prosperity of each school and the smooth operation of the Festa. In reality, however, it was the stage of a political power game in which each player tried to discern what the others were scheming.
The meeting was moderated by the representative of the school that had earned the highest overall rank in the previous Festa season.
“Oh, but…” Claudia turned her eyes to the still-vacant seat to her right, meant for the student council president of Queenvale Academy for Young Ladies.
“I think she’s in the middle of her European tour. As usual, she has sent me the papers transferring her authority as moderator.”
“Of course. Being a world-famous songstress must keep her very busy.”
“Hah. What difference does it make if that baby girl’s here or not?” scoffed the young man who sat directly across from the blond one.
He had dull, rusty hair and a short, stocky build, and his unusually large eyes gleamed with hostility. He leaned back in his chair haughtily, arms crossed and face twisted into a nasty sneer. This was his usual demeanor—at least, so far as Claudia knew. She had never once seen him smile.
Le Wolfe’s school uniform had an intimidating effect in and of itself, but the sinister air of this young man only enhanced it.
“My dear representative of the Crossed Swords, I’d appreciate it if you could refrain from insulting the delegates of the other schools.” With a slightly vexed smile, the young blond man chastised the redheaded one.
“Insulting? I’m just stating the facts, everybody knows it. Those sluts at Queenvale couldn’t run a school to save their lives. How many council meetings has that shorty missed since they voted her president? She doesn’t do shit.”
The Gallardworth president sighed. “What a fine vocabulary you have. You’ve made your point, so if you’d please stop there?”
But Le Wolfe’s president continued, still leaning back in his seat. “Well, she was picked to represent those morons based on her looks, so I guess we shouldn’t expect much from her besides—”
He broke off when a blade of pure white touched his throat.
“I believe I
asked you to stop.” The blond held the sword with one hand without dropping his soft smile.
Claudia couldn’t stop herself from gaping in surprise.
In one fluid motion, the Gallardworth representative had drawn his Lux from its holster, activated it, and swung it out—smooth enough to inspire a new appreciation of beauty.
And frighteningly fast, no less.
“Ooh, now we’re having fun. Wanna try me, Sir Paladin? Go right ahead, that’ll be it for Gallardworth.” Le Wolfe’s president went on, provoking him without the slightest change in expression.
Indeed, any bloodshed at the Rikka Garden Summit would result in severe repercussions not only for the young man, but also for his school.
“You’re not wrong.” With a warm expression, the Gallardworth president pushed the point of his sword into the other youth’s throat without hesitation.
The faintly glowing white blade pierced him through—but things were not as they seemed.
“Peh. Tricks like that are for babies,” the Le Wolfe president said, bored even with the blade buried in his neck.
Not a single drop of blood flowed from where the sword entered his flesh.
“Why, you two never get enough of each other. What a lark to see you play like this at every meeting without tiring of it.” This remark came from the young lady perched on the seat to the left of the Gallardworth president.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to describe her as a little girl. She had an innocent smile on her adorable face, her black hair done up in loops like the wings of a butterfly. But there was a mature tranquility in the way she carried herself. On her chest gleamed the Yellow Dragon, the school crest of Jie Long Seventh Institute.
“But that’s enough sport for now, lads,” she said brightly. “Or else I shall have a thought to join in myself.”
The blond youth sighed again and withdrew his sword—the Orga Lux Lei-Glems, pride of Saint Gallardworth Academy—and the Le Wolfe president clicked his tongue and kept quiet.
“When Her Imperial Highness intervenes, we can only obey.” Claudia giggled with her hand to her mouth as the Gallardworth president theatrically shrugged his shoulders.
Meanwhile, the Le Wolfe president glowered and propped his feet up on the table.
“By the way, Claudia, I got ahold of a real interesting rumor.” The glare he fixed on her had all the indiscriminate aggression of a mad dog. “Seidoukan and Allekant agreed to cooperate in developing a new kind of Lux, I heard. Care to explain?”
“Oh?”
“Mm, is that so?”
The Gallardworth and Jie Long presidents both turned to Claudia, interest plain on their faces.
“Impressive, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,” she said. “News reaches you quick.”
“Yeah, so? It’s true?”
“Would you have brought it up at the summit if you weren’t already certain?” Claudia’s eyes narrowed with mirth as she again brought her hand to her mouth.
The red-haired president of Le Wolfe was the shrewdest among those who sat at the table.
If they were to meet in combat, the representatives from Gallardworth and Jie Long would be far more formidable. But in a setting like this, the stocky boy was without a doubt the most bothersome.
He was, after all, the first non-Genestella student to ever attain the rank of student council president at Le Wolfe Black Institute.
His conniving intellect was his weapon. He lacked strength or charisma, trustworthiness or popularity, or any other attribute that would make him suited to leadership. What he had was a singularly devilish talent for using and manipulating people.
He also had a deep-seated loathing for everything in existence, perhaps even himself. He was the very embodiment of hatred.
“However, that is strictly a matter between Seidoukan and Allekant,” Claudia said. “I don’t believe it concerns the rest of you.”
“Not so fast, you sneaky vixen. Secret deals between schools are against the Stella Carta. What, you think the other schools are gonna just sit and watch while you get the drop on us?” He glanced around the table.
“Well, it does seem a little strange.” The Gallardworth president nodded curtly without breaking his thin smile. “I can’t really say without knowing the details, but I should think that Allekant has very little to gain from such a deal.”
When it came to Lux technology, Allekant was not just a head above the rest, but two or three. It hardly made sense for them to seek out the help of another school.
“First of all,” began the dragon-like girl of Jie Long academy, “Allekant is the only school with its own proper Lux development research facility, is it not? All the other schools, my own among them, simply use whatever is provided to us by the IEFs.”
“Yes, and under our agreement, our specialists will go to Allekant to participate in joint research,” added Claudia.
Everyone else at the table raised their eyebrows.
“Hey, how is that joint research? That’s just a one-sided handover.”
“There might be a better way to say this, but it sounds like an invitation to steal their technology.”
“Truly, Allekant’s generosity knows no bounds.”
Claudia’s smile never wavered.
“Yeah, I’d love to hear what the other concerned party has to say about it,” the Le Wolfe president sneered. “You guys at Allekant are okay with this?”
All eyes turned to the student seated directly across from Claudia.
He had been silent this whole time, sitting there with his shoulders hunched in anxiety. Now he shook his head, confused. “Um, I wasn’t told anything about it—that is, uh, I only signed off on it, and…I don’t have any details…”
With his medium build and height, small eyes and black hair, nothing about him made much of an impression. His tented eyebrows gave him a timid look. All in all, he was an easily overlooked figure. But on his chest he sported the Dark Owl, Allekant’s school crest, the symbol of wisdom.
“You weren’t told…?” the Le Wolfe boy said. “You’re serious?”
“Uh, yeah…” At a loss, he scratched his head.
“Even for Allekant, they make a mockery of your position as student council president,” the Jie Long president exclaimed. “And you accept this?”
The six schools each had their own particular campus culture, but Allekant had several unusual aspects to its internal organization. The students were divided into the research class, who specialized in R&D and development, and the practical class, who applied the fruits of that labor in combat. Hierarchically, the former group had superior standing.
The research class itself was divided into factions based on specialty, and these groups were in constant heated competition with one another. The power struggle was heavily influenced by the performance of the practical-class students, who fought in the Festa with the products developed by the factions they espoused.
The leader of the strongest faction therefore held all the power at Allekant. The function of the student council president was little more than regulatory, coordinating the competition between the factions—in other words, a figurehead.
“Well, um…,” Allekant’s figurehead dithered.
Unable to bear his discomfort, Claudia gently spoke up for him. “I’m afraid you’ve all misunderstood something. This is not a secret pact or anything of the sort. Rather, it is an official partnership between Seidoukan Academy and Allekant Académie. We will publicly announce the details in due time.”
The Allekant president sighed in visible relief.
“So you’re sticking to your story that this is a fair deal?”
“It is. In exchange for the use of Allekant’s facilities, we will be responsible for seventy percent of the research and development costs.”
“Speaking of Seidoukan, I caught wind of a row among some of your students—and no small affair at that,” the little Jie Long president interjected nonchalantly. “They say you went so
far as to mobilize Shadowstar. This wouldn’t have anything to do with your arrangement with Allekant, now would it?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Claudia replied, perfectly placid.
Of course, these two events had everything to do with each other.
Simply put, the joint research agreement was compensation for the Silas Norman incident. Employing a student of another school to attack his classmates was a blatant violation of the Stella Carta. If it were made public, Allekant would certainly have faced punishment and suffered a blow to their reputation as well.
But simply outing Allekant had no benefit for Seidoukan. So Claudia had proposed that Allekant share their technological expertise in exchange for Seidoukan’s silence.
“Blackhearted and a bald-faced liar.” With that, the Le Wolfe president turned away from Claudia, declaring the end of his interest in the subject.
Le Wolfe’s intelligence organization was notorious, well-connected with the darker corners of Asterisk, and the best of any of the six schools. In the matter of Silas, it was reasonable to assume that they had a good grasp of what had transpired. After all, the conclusion to the affair took place in the redevelopment area, practically their backyard.
Did Le Wolfe’s student council president drop the subject so readily because he wanted to save it for later negotiations or because he had other schemes in mind…?
He was not someone to be taken lightly. But Claudia had no desire to poke that hornet’s nest here.
“That concludes that discussion, then?” She brought the conversation to an end with a bright smile.
“Hmm. I suppose we might just as well revisit it after seeing the announcement. So, today’s agenda—” The Gallardworth president attempted to bring the meeting back to order, but there was another interruption.
“Um, excuse me. May I say something?”
“Oh, it’s you this time. What is it?”
The one who had sheepishly raised his hand was the nondescript boy from Allekant.
“So, er, the thing is… This is a little sudden, but there is something that I’d like to add to the agenda, if we could…”
“Well, then. What is it?” the dragon girl snapped.