Gakusen Toshi Asterisk - Volume 11 - Chapter Ep

EPILOGUE 
Claudia, sitting at her desk in the student council room at Seidoukan Academy, handed her a large case. 
“In that case, Kirin, please take a look.” 
“Y-yes!” Kirin replied, lifting it open and picking up the activation body that lay inside. She took a long, careful breath, before switching it on, when the blade of a Japanese katana emerged out of the sheath. 
It looked to be slightly longer than the Hiinamaru—perhaps around thirty-six inches in length. 
Even when she had gone to perform the compatibility test, Kirin had felt a startling level of affinity with this katana-shaped Fudaraku. 
“You had a compatibility rating of ninety-three percent, so the school has no objections about lending it to you.” 
In the end, Kirin had decided to accept the Orga Lux. 
That was, in itself, a sign of her growing strength. The younger Kirin—even just a short time ago—would have wanted to wait and see before making a decision. 
But things were different now. 
On top of that, she could tell at first glance that this Orga Lux’s ability was highly compatible with her own fighting style. 
“Well then, why don’t you try out?” 
“Huh? H-here?” 
“How about that sofa over there?” Claudia said with a wide grin as she pointed across the room toward the expensive-looking piece of furniture. “Please don’t worry about damaging it.” 
Kirin hesitated in momentary confusion. 
“It’s okay. Please, go ahead. You already know the Fudaraku’s ability.” 
“Y-yes. If you’re sure…” Kirin, seeing no alternative, swung the blade downward toward her target. 
And yet— 
As a sudden jolt raced down her arms, the blade bounced right back up from the cushions. 
“…It didn’t even leave a scratch.” 
“Indeed. It has only just chosen you as its user, so it hasn’t had much time to store energy. Right now, it’s as blunt as a broomstick.” 
The Fudaraku’s unique strengths lay in its ability to accumulate energy. In short, the longer it was stored in its sheath, the more energy it could accumulate from its user, which would then increase its power and sharpness. Since that ability came with its own burden, there were no other costs involved. 
“According to our calculations, there’s no limit to the amount of energy it can store. However, it does seem that it will become unmanageable after a certain amount of time, so you will probably first want to confirm its limit.” 
“I see…” 
“I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the hands of a swordswoman like yourself, you would be able to exchange blows with one of the Four Colored Runeswords after around a month.” 
“I understand. I’ll look after it.” Kirin deactivated the Orga Lux before placing it in the holder at her waist. On her left side was the Hiinamaru, and on her right the Fudaraku. 
“Now you’ll be able to stand head-to-head with Ayato’s Ser Veresta,” Claudia said with a soft chuckle. 
“N-no, I still need to build up my strength before challenging him again…” 
She may have been able to bring her duel against him to a draw the other day, but doing so had required her full strength. On top of that, Ayato had been at a disadvantage. It would be meaningless to fight him again before developing enough confidence in her ability to win. 
“Speaking of which… Won’t Ayato and Julis have made it there by now?” 
“Ah yes, it is about time.” 
The two of them stared out of the window, their thoughts reaching out into the distance. 
“Let’s hope everything works out for the best,” Claudia said, her voice soft. 
“…Yes!” Kirin replied with a powerful nod. 
 
A month had passed since Ayato had requested Hilda’s assistance in waking Haruka. 
He had just arrived with Julis at the research facility in Geneva—a gargantuan installation equipped with the world’s largest mana accelerator, a circular underground tunnel a little under nineteen miles in length. 
“Kee-hee-hee-hee! Long time no see, Ayato Amagiri! I’ve been expecting you!” Hilda said in greeting as the two of them stepped down from their airship. 
The snow flitting down from the overcast sky was exactly as he remembered these European winters—cold so strong as to freeze one’s body to the bone. Hilda, however, was ecstatic, paying it no heed. 
“And this would be…?” 
“Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld.” Julis’s voice fumed with quiet, controlled rage. 
Hilda merely tilted her head to one side, wearing an exaggerated look of confusion. “I see… And why are you here, exactly?” 
“I’m accompanying Ayato. Is there a problem with that?” Julis stared back at her, her gaze so sharp that it could have skewered her right through. 
“Hmm… Well, I guess it’s fine. This way.” Hilda paid her no further attention, simply turning around to guide them toward the facilities. Her dangerously unsteady gait was precisely as it had been a year ago. 
“So that’s Magnum Opus…,” Julis spat out under her breath once they had fallen back a short distance. “I swear, I’d like to—” 
“Calm down, Julis. Today’s just about—” 
“I know! But now that she’s standing there in front of me… Because of her, because of what she did to Orphelia…” Julis pursed her lips so tightly that Ayato feared she would draw blood. 
It pained him to think of the agony that this must be putting her through. 
It was Julis herself who had wanted to accompany him here. 

Ayato had promised her last year that he wouldn’t accept Magnum Opus’s assistance. She had agreed to forgive him for going back on his word but had insisted upon being there with him when the time came. 
“I want to see her for myself,” she had said. 
Fortunately, there had been no problems when Ayato contacted Madiath to confirm this arrangement. 
“But do you really think she’ll honor her word?” Julis asked dubiously. 
“Everything’s being overseen by the IEFs, so it should be fine…” 
In order to ensure that the tragedy that had befallen Orphelia could never happen again, Ayato had insisted on two conditions for rescinding the penalty that had been imposed on her: 
Firstly, when using Level 5 facilities like the mana accelerator, she had to publicly disclose all information relating to her research. 
Secondly, she had to acquire the full consent of all subjects involved in human testing. 
He had actually wanted to prohibit her from engaging in human experimentation at all, but Hilda had refused to accept that. That wasn’t entirely unexpected—it was her specialty, after all. 
As such, he had at the very least wanted to impose certain limitations and obligations on her. That was his first condition. 
His second condition wasn’t entirely unrelated to the first. Those people who were subjected to human testing often found themselves forced into that situation due to circumstances outside of their control, and even when they didn’t want to participate, they were often made to do so against their will. Like Orphelia had been. 
Which was why Ayato insisted on seeing it all through for himself. 
If Hilda ever violated those conditions, if she ever again engaged in such inhumane conduct— 
“If that happens… I’ll destroy this place myself.” Ayato’s voice was even colder than the landscape around them. 
For the first time since they had arrived, Julis showed him a satisfied smile. “What a boneheaded idea! True, with the Ser Veresta there probably wouldn’t be much stopping you, but that would be criminal, you know? Very criminal.” 
“I understand that. Anyway, so long as she knows I’m serious…” 
Of course, he had no right to do such a thing, and as Julis had said, it would be a crime of the highest level. This mana accelerator had no doubt cost an astronomical sum of money to build and maintain, and it wasn’t only Hilda who made use of it. 
But even so, this was his way of taking responsibility. 
He wouldn’t allow another tragedy like what had befallen Orphelia to occur. No matter what. 
“Well, I guess there’s no helping it. I’ll be there to give you a hand, when the time comes,” she said, patting him on the back with a grin. “We’ll burn this place to the ground.” 
“Julis…” Ayato couldn’t be more grateful to hear her say that. His spirit lightened, he decided that now was as good a time as any to ask her something that had been on his mind for a while. “By the way…why are you always covered in injuries lately?” 
Since the New Year, Julis seemed to be receiving new wounds and burns faster than he could count. 
None of them were in any way major, and Genestella were, of course, fast to heal. And yet, it seemed that no sooner did one mend than another took its place. 
“—! I’m… Well, I’m doing some intensive training, I guess.” 
“Intensive training? With whom…?” 
“Uh-oh, look! We’re going to get left behind if we don’t hurry up!” Julis said, before increasing her pace and taking off in front of him. 
Well, if she doesn’t want to talk about it, I can’t force her. 
“Come now, this way,” Hilda said, inviting Ayato and Julis into a large elevator. 
She pressed some buttons on the air-window by the wall, when, with a low, rumbling sound, the elevator began to move. 
“Now, I did mean to have all the preparations taken care of as quickly as possible, so you’ll have to forgive me for making you wait this long. But I’m sure you understand. Experiments like this are most time-consuming. Something lasting only a few seconds can take dozens, even hundreds of hours of preparation.” As she spoke, Hilda opened another air-window, before rotating it in their direction. “Now, I’ll explain everything one more time. We’ll use the accelerator to excite a sum of mana into a high-energy state, and then map that mana to the junction pattern of her ability to cancel it out. You can see a map of the facility here. This here is the injection point, and this here is the exposure point. I’ve already installed special equipment at the exposure point for your sister.” 
Hilda continued her explanation for what felt like several minutes, but Ayato couldn’t quite grasp all of the technical concepts. The same must have applied to Julis, too, as she wore a look of obvious boredom. 
At long last, the elevator came to a gradual stop, and the heavy doors slid open. 
The sterile passage in front of them led straight to a gigantic control room, filled with raised voices and countless staff each dressed in the same type of white lab coat as Hilda, each busy at work doing one thing or another. 
“Now, then…” As Hilda sat down in the main seat in the center of the room, a wall of air-windows and holographic keyboards appeared all around her. 
One of those air-windows displayed Haruka’s unconscious figure. She was lying inside a large device in a small room somewhere, as if she had been swallowed up by some kind of mechanical monster. 
“…Hmm, everything looks to be in order,” Hilda said as she looked over some figures and graphs. “We can start whenever you’re ready.” 
Ayato was slightly taken aback by how quickly things were proceeding, but then again, he, too, had no desire to engage in needless talk. He gave her a brief nod. 
“In that case,” Hilda said with a click of her fingers, “let’s begin!” 
Almost at once, a flash of light lit up the air-window depicting the room that Haruka was in. 
“Nngh…!” At the exact same moment, Julis bent forward, grasping her head in her hands. 
“Julis!” 
“Ah, highly sensitive Stregas and Dantes sometimes get a bit of a headache from the accelerated mana. Although we are supposed to be completely isolated from the accelerator in here… She must be very sensitive indeed. Don’t worry, it won’t be permanent,” Hilda explained as she calmly looked back and forth at several of the air-windows. “More importantly, Ayato Amagiri, let me show you why exactly no one but me can do this. Watch and learn!” Her fingers danced atop the holographic keyboards that surrounded her. “See here, to cancel out an ability with a mana accelerator, you first need to analyze the target’s junction pattern—which would normally take an extraordinary amount of time. Not for me, though. I’ll do it in real time.” 
As Hilda spoke, the light engulfing Haruka began to gradually take the form of heavy, glowing chains. 
“Adjusting the albedo like this not only uncovers the junction pattern but at the same time negates it. You could search the world over and never find anyone else capable of doing this! Only I’ve been able to master it! Kee-hee-hee-hee!” Hilda’s burst of laughter was drunk with more than a touch of madness. 
Even if he didn’t understand what exactly she was doing, Ayato could sense for himself that what she said was true. For better or for worse, she was possessed of a rare talent. 
The chains surrounding Haruka, though first all but transparent, gradually became more and more well-defined, until blinding cracks began to run down their surface—until they shattered in a brilliant flash of light. 
“And… We’re finished!” Hilda cried out. Her fingers, until now racing along the holographic keyboards as if playing a crescendo on a piano, came to a rest. 
As silence engulfed the control room, Ayato leaned forward, staring into the air-window before him, when— 
“Aya…to?” 
Haruka’s voice came out as a soft whisper as her eyes flitted open.