Vol 9 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Noon──Le Wolfe Black Institute, Student Council room.“……The Yabuki Clan is moving, you say?”『You could say that Galaxy finally ran out of patience, I guess.』“Hmph, it’s none of my business.”Dirk Eberwein spat out a response, his face carved with deep wrinkles on the middle of his forehead as he lay out on his chair with his legs stretched out.Madiath Mesa, looking at Dirk through the space window, shrugged his shoulders unnaturally.『Oh dear……』“Rather, if that woman were to disappear, it’ll save me the trouble as Seidoukan will become easy to deal with. I don’t think they’d find anybody as outstanding as her any time soon.”『I see, so even you highly valued her ability, huh.』Dirk glared at the space window at Madiath, seeing as his voice seemed to have a teasing tone.“If you’ve called just to have such a worthless chat, I’ll cut the communication. Unfortunately, I don’t have any time to spare, you see?”『Now, now, wait. You’re short-tempered as usual, eh.』As Madiath said so to soothe him, he finally got to the main point.『The truth is, I happened to hear something just a little while ago. It looks like that young lady Enfield also knew about Varda.』“What did you say……?”As expected, even Dirk changed his complexion to this.Dirk and company were members of the Golden Bough Alliance, and the existence of Varda, known also by the name of <varda>as the only ogre lux in this world capable of acting of its own free will, was a top secret only known by a small handful of people. Currently, except the Golden Bough Alliance’s members, this fact was only known by Galaxy’s top executives.Other than them, those who knew of Varda were all either buried in darkness, or had their memories erased by the mind interference which was the ability of Varda herself.『She used it either to negotiate with Galaxy…… or threaten them, well something like that probably.』“She’s crazy after all.”Doing something like that with the Integrated Enterprise Foundation as the other party could only be described as folly.『Yes, the problem is there. Do you think that someone who even you recognize as talented would make such a stupid move?』“……What do you mean?”『In other words, what has happened so far might have been all according to her plot.』After a brief pause, Madiath continued.『Think a little about it, Galaxy went as far as to drag out the Yabuki Clan in order to deal with a student of the academy they managed; if you think about it normally, it makes no sense, right? Well of course, after all if they just want to deal with her, they could just handle it secretly after making up some sort of reason to have a restriction placed on her. 』“Therefore, so that they don’t make any careless moves, she aimed for the period of the <festa>, and moreover, by pretending herself to be a snake in their bosom[1], she induced the other Integrated Enterprise Foundations to check Galaxy……”『And when it comes to this situation, for Galaxy, there was no better move than having her secretly disappear ── in other words, an assassination.』Thinking so, it was kind of unnatural.But.“In the end, the biggest problem remained. We don’t know why she’s doing that.”For Claudia, it was an act without merit that only cornered her.『As expected, even I don’t know the reason…… But, there’s only one thing that I can say.』“Hmm?”『She’s the same type of human as us. No matter what her wish is, she doesn’t mind sacrificing all other things in order to realize it…… No, in the first place, she’s human who doesn’t even think about other things.』“……Hmph”Don’t lump me together with you, Dirk cursed so in his heart to Madiath’s words.『Well, the situation is like that, so I think that we should slightly pay attention to her.』“There’s no meaning to paying attention to her as she’ll die.”Speaking of the Yabuki Clan, it was a renowned group from old days in the underworld of the Far East.No matter how talented Claudia was, he did not think it possible for her to escape from them.『Hahaha, that’s right. But ── I don’t think we can know that for sure.』After smiling suspiciously, Madiath ended the communication“……”Dirk, who was left alone, pondered for a while with folded arms, but before long, he opened a space window again while clicking his tongue.“──Go get Corona by the evening. And then as always, spread information indirectly. The content is…… Seidoukan’s student council president seemed to have gone missing.” ＊ “……I see, got it. Well then, I’ll contact you later, so you guys as well…… yes, I leave it to you.”As Ayato closed the concealed space window, he took a small breath and began to talk in a low voice.“It seemed that she wasn’t in her room in the dorm. And, according to what Julis said, it seems like there were traces of fight in the room……”A gloomy coffee shop in the outskirts of the commercial area ── at the seat in the back alongside the wall, there was no other figures except Ayato’s. He sat at a four-person table that was dimly lit, only accompanied by a mug filled with mud-like coffee.“It’s just as I expected, huh.”Thus, that voice could be heard from a seat behind Ayato.Though it was muffled, the voice’s owner was St. Garrardsworth Academy student council vice-president, Laetitia Blanchard.When he sent a fleeting glance behind him, a woman that was unsuitable for the atmosphere of this shop elegantly carried a tea cup to her mouth.Her gorgeousness clearly felt out of place in the shop, but Ayato could do nothing about it.“At any rate, I am honestly surprised that you knew such a place. It is certainly the most suitable place for a secret talk, but…… it is hard to say that it is a shop with a very good quality of customers.”While there was admiration in Laetitia’s voice, there was also a slightly blaming tone in it.“No, this place is a shop I was told as well……”Ayato vindicated so without turning around.It was a shop where he met Irene in order to get information from her when Flora was kidnapped before. There was no helping that Laetitia was suspicious as it was without doubt a shop with a suspicious atmosphere.In other words, it meant this atmosphere was obviously closer to Le Wolfe’s more than Garrardsworth’s.“Well it saved me the trouble this time, and I will not inquire any further. I am unfamiliar with such things after all. However……”“……However?”“I do not really appreciate the fact that you come and go in very suspicious places. From what I have heard, it seems like you often go to the Entertainment District as well. Since you are intimate with Claudia, you must polish your character a little more.”“No, I went there because of another purpose, so it can’t be helped……”Though he tried to explain himself, Laetitia did not lend an ear to it.“Speaking of the Enfield House, it is a prestigious House alongside my Blanchard House in Europe. If you were to behave in a way that is not suitable for that name, not only you, but also Claudia would be laughed at. I cannot forgive such a thing……!”“Yea……”For some reason, Laetitia felt indignant all by herself on her own accord.However, judging from her way of speaking, it seemed to be a fact that Laetitia was seriously concerned about Claudia.“Listen well, Amagiri Ayato. To tell you the truth, I have not yet acknowledged you. I am only relying on you this time only because I have no other choice. So, please bear at least that in mind.”“Errr…… So, what do you want to tell me?”As the talk would not advance if he were to let it continue like that, Ayato urged her as such.“Ah…… Ahem. That’s right.”Perhaps because Laetitia finally calmed down, an unnatural cough was heard from behind him.In the first place, because Laetitia expressly said that she wanted to meet him directly and talk with him, Ayato decided to meet her in this shop that he designated.He heard that phone communication did not seem to be possible here.“If possible, I also want to go looking for Claudia quickly though.”“……It is a talk that might be necessary in order to save that Claudia.”Laetitia said after hesitating only a little.In that case, he must hear it.“Haa…… I will say this beforehand, but this is a story that I heard from Claudia herself and she made me promise not to tell anyone about it. I did not intend to break that promise on my honor, but…… I have no other choice considering this situation.”“……? What do you mean?”But, Laetitia, not answering his question, asked a different question.“Before that, do you know the wish that Claudia wants to fulfill in this Asterisk?”“Yeah, well…… If I’m not mistaken, she said that she would like to meet face-to-face with Professor Ladislav Bartsheik who takes part in the <dusk>.”This was what Claudia told in the winner interview, so it was a well-known fact even without asking Ayato and company. But as for Ayato, although vague, he wondered whether Claudia’s goal was not somewhere else.“Well, that’s right. I also saw when she said that during the interview. But ── it was totally different from her wish that she told me before.”“Eh……?”As if holding back Ayato, who was about to turn around unintentionally, Laetitia continued.“I shall talk about it in order. She and I were good rivals who competed for the championship every year in the martial tournament of Europe when we were children…… Well, in the end, I have never been able to win though!”“Yea……”Frustration to the point that she could bite off a handkerchief at any moment blurred in Laetitia’s words.“Ahem. Anyway, a certain year in the martial tournament, in unusually high spirits, she said this. “I finally found a wish that I want to fulfill”.”“Claudia said that in high spirits……?”It has only been more than one year since Ayato met Claudia, but he has never seen such a figure of hers.“Yes, I was also surprised and tried to inquire about the details; but she would not tell me any further about it. I, who became irritated then because of that, proposed a bet before the final against her. The content was that if I were to win the next match, she would have to tell me about it.”“But…… Blanchard-san, um, you said earlier that you had never won against Claudia.”In that case, it meant that that bet ended with her defeat.Then, perhaps because she became sullen at these words of Ayato, Laetitia said by fast taking as she was slightly irritated.“T-That’s right, but please listen properly to my story until the end! At the time of that tournament, she was clearly feeling strange. From what I heard later on, it seemed that she had just obtained