✦ ✦ ✦
Nine fireballs resembling graceful primroses flew at Ayato on nine different trajectories.
He contorted himself to dodge them. Some of the fireballs hit the ground, bursting with dull popping sounds and taking large chunks out of the sett-styled concrete paving. They may have been less stunningly powerful than the earlier explosion, but these were plenty lethal.
Genestella were much tougher than ordinary humans. By focusing their prana, they could defend themselves against bullets of light without any armor. Still, a direct hit from one of these fireballs would do more than tickle.
The remaining fireballs pursued Ayato from all directions. Shouting in alarm, Ayato evaded each one by a hair’s breadth. He could just barely elude them by leaping in one moment and ducking down in the next.
As she watched his maneuvers, the girl’s eyes widened again. “I see… You’re not just a normal pervert.”
Hearing an unmistakable note of praise in her voice, Ayato wiped his forehead. Maybe she’s changing her mind about me. Maybe I can get out of this alive after all.
“You’re one remarkable pervert.”
Or maybe not. “Why is it so hard for people to understand each other…,” he grumbled, thinking aloud.
“Hmph. That last bit was a joke.” Glaring at him with narrowed eyes, she tossed her hair with a flick of her wrist. “It does appear to be true that you delivered the handkerchief out of goodwill, and I’m also willing to believe, for now, that you didn’t mean to…to peep at me, um, changing… But only for now!”
“…Really?” Ayato couldn’t help but be cautious after already getting his hopes up several times in vain.
The girl nodded reluctantly and went on. “But it is your fault that you didn’t make sure what the building was first. And barging in by the window—that lacks any semblance of common sense. You do see, don’t you, that just because you didn’t do it on purpose doesn’t mean that you weren’t wrong?”
“Yeah… You’re right.” He had no argument against her logic.
“You have your defense, and I still need to quench my anger. So, I suggest that we settle this according to the rules of our fair city. Fortunately, you seem to have the skills for it. No objections, I trust?” The girl gazed straight at him. “What’s your name?”
“…Ayato Amagiri.”
“Mm-hmm. I’m Julis. Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld, ranked fifth at Seidoukan Academy.”
Having named herself thusly, Julis lifted her right hand to her chest and touched the school crest there—the Red Lotus crest of Seidoukan Academy.
“In the name of the unyielding Red Lotus, I, Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld, challenge thee, Ayato Amagiri, to a duel!”
“A duel!?” Indifferent to Ayato’s shock, the crest on his uniform shone red in response to her words. It was demanding his answer to the challenge—to accept or to decline.
“If you win, I’ll accept your defense and leave you be. But if I win, then I get to do whatever I want with you.” Julis smirked, as if to add, “obviously.”
“W-wait a second, I—”
“You transferred to this school. You must at least know about duels?”
There was no dodging the question. “…Sure, I’ve heard a little bit.”
It would be entirely fair to say that all the students living in Asterisk were gathered there for the sole purpose of fighting. Asterisk was the site of the Festa, the largest battle-entertainment event in the world, and the students of each school were candidates to be its contestants.
“Then accept already. See, people are here to watch.”
Ayato looked to see a ring of students forming around the two of them. They must have come to see what the commotion was. Most of the spectators were girls, probably because they were on the grounds of the girls’ dormitory, but there were also a few boys looking on.
“Oooh, what’s going on?”
“The Witch of the Resplendent Flames—the Glühen Rose—is dueling!”
“For real? She’s a Page One! Couldn’t pay me to miss this!”
“So, who’s the lucky opponent?”
“Dunno. He’s nobody I’ve seen before… Did you check the Net?”
“I am checking… But he’s not listed in the Named Chart.”
“Unlisted, huh? This guy has some stones on him.”
“How long can he last? The Princess isn’t the type to hold back. Like, at all.”
“I give him three minutes.”
“One minute.”
“Hold on, the odds are coming up on the Net now. Let’s see…double for three minutes or less.”
“There are bookies on this already? How do they always get their intel so fast?”
“Some news clubs are broadcasting it live now. See, right there? And over there, too.”
Listening to the crowd, Ayato scowled uncomfortably. There were few things he liked less than to be the center of attention. “Why is everyone staring at us…?”
“Two reasons. The first is that they want to collect data on a top-ranking student—which would be me. I’m a Page One at this school, and there’s no shortage of students who’d like to take my place.”
“Page One?”
“You really need everything explained to you?” Julis gave Ayato a skeptical glare. “Fine. You know that each school in Asterisk has a ranking system, right? The exact criteria differ from school to school, but each one has a list of the best fighters—the Named Chart. It contains seventy-two names in all. The top twelve on the list are called Page One, because their names appear on the first page.”
That makes sense, Ayato thought.
“Now, reason number two is quite simple: These people are all idiots starving for things to gawp at.”
…Right.
“Of course, if you really don’t feel up to it, I can’t force you. You do have the right to decline the challenge. But in that case, I’ll have to hand you over to the dormitory watch. Although I was hoping to deal with this myself…”
Ayato was completely cornered.
But he would try one last time to talk his way out of it. “Oh, but look, I don’t even have a weapon.”
Some students brought their own weapons, but most would customize the equipment provided to them by the school. Ayato had been planning to do just that, if the need arose, so he didn’t have a weapon yet.
“You’re no Dante. What’s your weapon of choice?”
“…The sword.”
“Is there anyone here who can lend their weapon? A sword!” Julis called to the crowd, and the reply came immediately.
“Here ya go. Use this!” With those words, a spectator tossed something to Ayato.
Catching it, he saw that it was a device shaped like a short baton, the perfect size to hold in one hand. Embedded at one end was a green ore—manadite. He was holding a Lux activator.
“And if you don’t even know how to use that, I don’t want to hear it,” Julis said with an audacious grin.
Ayato let out a long sigh and started up the Lux in his hand.
An angular mechanical hand guard materialized from thin air, reconstructed from the elemental pattern encoded in the manadite. The Lux shifted from standby to active mode, and a bright blade of concentrated, stabilized mana extended forth.
The blade was roughly a yard long. A fairly standard Lux with little if any modification.
Seeing this, Julis drew her own activator and switched on her Lux. Quite unlike Ayato’s, it took the form of a thin, lithe rapier made of light.
“Now then, shall we begin?”
Julis fixed her eyes on Ayato as she gracefully took a stance with her slender blade.
Lux weapons were too light for him. He would have preferred a sword with some actual heft to it, but this was no time to be picky.
Holding his hand to the school crest on his chest, he mumbled out the words under a sigh. “I, Ayato Amagiri, accept thy challenge, Julis.” The crest glowed bright red, confirming his will to engage.