The numbers shown on the bottom right corner of my sight indicated that it was 2pm.
Normally, this is the time lunch ended, and the time where the dungeon clearing and training would go on. However, I didn't have the time to leave the street area. Just moving through the frontline fields and heading into the uncleared dungeon areas would take us until sunset.
For someone like me, who'll slack because «the weather's good», it's fine, but for «The Flash», who was unable to take part in the clearing for 2 straight days, she must be feeling unhappy.
I wondered as I glanced aside to look at Asuna's response. This woman unexpectedly gave off a gentler feeling than usual. She's not only messing with mysterious shops in the dark alleys of Algade, but also looking at the culverts that lead to who knows where —— the moment she noticed me. Nn? She gave me such a look and smiled at me.
"What is it?"
She asked, and I hurriedly shook my head and answered,
"N...no, it's nothing."
"You're a weirdo, even though I already knew that."
She started giggling all of a sudden, put her arms on her waist, and then used both heels of her shoes to stamp.
Please, I really don't know who the weirdo is here. Is this the same clearing devil who erupted into a rage and lectured me on sleeping yesterday? Or that she's been grumbling and yet fell for the «Algade-side» style? If that's the case, I'll definitely get her to try the «Algade Roast» that's even more exotic next time.
As I thought about that, I finally heard the buzzing of the transfer gate plaza coming from the side. Luckily, we didn't have to request a roadside NPC to get back to the plaza.
I forcefully stopped that weird excitement in me and gave a dry cough.
"Ahem...then, we're going over to question commander Schmitt. But at this time now, won't the members of the DDA be out hunting?"
Asuna kept her smile and put her fingers on her petite chin before saying,
"If Yolko-san's words are true, then Schmitt-san's is one of those «against the sale of the ring»...in other words, he and Kains-san are on the same side. From the way he appeared in front of you yesterday, it was obvious that he himself is already wary of this. Now that he's being targeted by an unknown «Red»...do you think he'll just leave the area in this situation?"
"Ahh...you do make some sense there. But that «Red» player may be using a PK method inside the area. Even if he stays in the streets, he won't be able to guarantee absolute safety."
"It's because of this that he wants to exert the maximum effort in ensuring his own safety. If he's not hiding at the inn, he's..."
On hearing till this point, I finally understood what Asuna was trying to get at. I flicked my finger and continued,
"He'll use the «Guarding city» method and hide inside the headquarters of the DDA."
One of the strongest guilds, the Divine Dragons Alliance, built its grand guild headquarters on the 56th floor, which was actually not too long ago. Of course, it's definitely not a coincidence that they set their headquarters on a higher floor than the Knights of the Blood who built theirs on the 55th floor, but I saw that it was more of an exaggerated building like a «castle» or a «fort» rather than a «home», and couldn't help but feel disgusted by such daringness. Klein, Agil and I once cleared a table full of dishes to give them some respect, but too many taste signals entered us, and our stomachs felt swollen for 3 whole days.
I, who walked out from Algade's transfer gate, looked at the horrifying museum of filling food on the hill that overlooked the whole stretches of streets, and couldn't help but burp. Asuna didn't seem to react much as she immediately walked down that red bricked path along the slope.
I looked at the silver-based blue dragon guild flag that flapped above, and deliberately kept my volume down before saying,
"Speaking of which, even if DDA-sama is a famous guild, it's really amazing that they can get so much funds to buy such a building. I don't know how you feel about this, KoB sub-leader-dono."
"Okay, I guess. If we look at the number of people in the guild, the members of DDA outnumber us 2 to 1. But about the funding, it is really a little weird. Our head of finances Daizen-san once said that 'they should have some highly efficient Farming Spots'."
"Is that so?"
The so called farming is an MMO-term for hunting large mobs at high speeds. Last year, I decided to take a high-risk activity because of a certain incident and used the «Ant Hill» on the 46th floor. It was a symbolic place. However, once the experience gain there at a certain time exceeded a certain limit, the «Cardinal System» that ruled the world of SAO would naturally decrease the efficiency.
Thus, the people amongst the clearing group had a gentlemanly agreement that 'we're to reveal all good farming areas to all places, and everyone is to collect the rich resources until they run out'. However, DDA may have gone against this agreement and hid such places —— that's basically what Asuna meant.
This is really sneaky, but DDA getting stronger basically meant that the entire clearing group would become stronger, so no one could tell them off for it.
If we did that, what will face us in the end would be self-hypocrisy in the clearing group. We set up a flag in the death game to release everyone, and brazenly took up most of the resources the system provided. However, this may be just to fulfill our own desire to be at the top of the pyramid.
On thinking about this, I suddenly felt that the «Aincrad Liberation Force», which had a completely different objective from the clearing group —— forcing all players to share all resources equally didn't seem to be much of a daydream. That's right. If the «Army» actually insisted on this, there wouldn't be this «inside area incident», and the ring drop from the monster that was the cause of the murder would be forcefully taken and sold, and all profits will be divided to every player.
"Really...the guy who created this death game is really too cruel..."
Why choose an «MMO»? There are so many RTS or FPS that are fairer and could easily decide the winner instantly.
SAO has been testing the greed of the high-leveled players. It forced the players to balance their puny sense of superiority against their friends —— or that could be said to be every single player.
And the criminal behind this ring incident got swallowed by his own greed.
Actually, I myself faced such a stern trial. That is because, in my Properties Window, there was a huge secret that even a rare magic item couldn't compare to, and I chose to keep it.
——Perhaps Asuna may have heard me muttering as she seemed to completely understand what was going on in my mind and muttered,
"That's why we have to solve this case."
Asuna forcefully grabbed my right hand, showing a strong smile that swept away any doubts. While I panicked, she told me to wait here, and then moved towards the large castle gate in front of us with heavy steps. I put my hand that still had some warmth on it into my coat pocket, and leant on a nearby tree.
Basically, only guild members there could enter this building that was registered as their guild headquarters. In other words, this is no different from a player's private house, so there was no need for guards. However, a guild which had ample manpower would still send people to stand in front, and their main aim wasn't to keep watch, but to pass messages from visitors.
And the Divine Dragons Alliance was the same. The splendid gate had two heavily-armed spearmen standing there like guards.
——They were more like mid-level bosses in an RPG rather than guards. On thinking about this, my heart started to be wary, but Asuna walked towards the guy on the right without hesitation and greeted him.
"Hello. I'm Asuna of the Knights of the Blood..."
The burly warrior immediately straightened his upper body and softly whispered,
"Ah, hello! It's been tough on you! Is there any reason why you specially made your way here?"
He didn't look like a guard or a mid-level boss. Asuna openly gave a cute smile to the giant who came running from the left side, and then stated her aim for this visit,
"I came here to talk to your guild member about something. Can you please help me contact Schmitt-san?"
Both men look at each other, and one of them tilted his head and said,
"That guy should be in the dungeon area at the frontlines, right?"
But the other answered,
"Ah, but he seemed to have said during breakfast that he's going to rest for the today because he has a headache. Maybe he is in his room. I'll try asking."
The way they established rapport with each other really shocked me. In terms of guild relation, the DDA and KoB definitely couldn't be considered to be on good relations with each other, but it might be different for interpersonal relationships —— of course, it might be because of Asuna's charm added to it. If it's the power of the latter working, I might as well stand here and not come out.
As I leaned my body near the tree branch clinging on the castle wall to try and hide further, another guard started to quickly type a message and sent it out.
And then, there was a reply in less than 30 seconds as the fingers of the guard again returned to the window. It seemed that Schmitt was really hiding inside the castle. If he was fighting in the dungeons on the frontlines, it was impossible for him to reply so quickly.
The guard looked at the message, and immediately frowned in a troubled manner.
"He is resting today...but, he wants me to ask you what this is about..."
Asuna pondered about this for a while, and simply answered,
"Just tell him 'I want to talk about the ring'."
The other party immediately answered.
The guy who should be lying on the bed because of a headache immediately rushed down to the castle gate and said 'let's go somewhere else' to talk and immediately walked briskly down the hill. Asuna, who followed Schmitt, passed me, and I pretended that nothing had happened as I walked out from the shades of the tree. Schmitt glanced at me, but he may have known that Asuna and I were investigating this, and didn't react at all as he merely walked faster.
Schmitt, who's walking quickly several meters in front of me, was still wearing the high-ranked armor that he wore when he snatched the short spear away from me, and there was even a thin layer of chainmail beneath it. He was not carrying that large long spear, but the weight of this equipment should be quite a lot. He just looked like he couldn't feel the burden as he continued to move forward at a fast speed. He was no longer just a mere tank, and was more like an American Football player.
This athlete-sized burly guy that was rare to find in SAO walked down the slope and entered the street area before finally stopping. He swayed the armor on his body and turned around, and immediately asked me instead of Asuna,
"Who told you about this?"
"Huh?"
I answered, and then immediately realized that he had left out the taboo term 'ring incident', and cautiously answered,
"...I heard it from an ex-member of the «Golden Apple»."
The moment I said this, the thick eyebrows below the upright short hair twitched.
"Who?"
At this moment, I hesitated for a moment. If Schmitt was the perpetrator yesterday, he should have known that Kains and Yolko were together. There was no point in hiding Yolko's name now.
"Yolko-san."
The moment I said that, the hulking man immediately looked like he had lost his soul as he looked up, and then gave a long sigh. Fuu...
I remained emotionless as my mind was thinking quickly. If his reaction now was 'relaxed' like I thought, that must be because he knew that Yolko and he were both 'against selling the ring'.
What happened yesterday may have involved the 'selling group', including Grimlock, taking revenge on the 'opposing group', and Schmitt obviously had known about it. That was why he had declared that he wasn't going to hunt, but hide inside the safety of his guild headquarters.
At this time, it's unlikely that Schmitt was Kains' murderer, but he obviously had a motive. For example, the culprits in the ring incident may be Kains and Schmitt, and Schmitt decided to kill him to prevent word from being leaked. I wondered as I raised my question,
"Schmitt-san, do you know where Grimlock, the one who made that short spear, is?"
"NO...NO IDEA!"
Schmitt shouted loudly as he shook his head vehemently.
"Ever since the guild disbanded, we never contacted each other. I don't even know if he's alive!"
He said quickly as his sights continued to move and looked at the streets. It was as if he was afraid that a short spear would suddenly fly in from somewhere.
At this moment, Asuna, who had been keeping quiet up till now, suddenly said in a steady voice,
"Schmitt-san. We're not looking for the culprit who killed the Golden Apple guild leader, but the one who started the incident yesterday...more correctly, we're looking for what method the criminal used to kill. This is to protect the peace inside the «Area» just like now."
She paused for a short while, and then continued with a sterner tone,
"...Unfortunately, the most suspicious person is the one who created that spear...and the spouse of the guild leader, Grimlock-san. Of course, someone may have deliberately made it seem that way, so we have to talk to Grimlock-san to get this clear. If you know his whereabouts or how to contact him, can you please tell us?"
Schmitt, who was being stared at with the light brown eyes, backed his upper body. It looked like he was not used to talking to female players, and of course, I'm the same.
He looked away and closed his mouth. If even Asuna's direct assault didn't work, he really is a tough enemy. I thought as I wanted to swallow my sigh, but soon,
"...I really don't know where he is. But..."
Schmitt stammered and said,
"Grimlock really likes an NPC restaurant and would always be there. Maybe he..."
"Re, really!?"
I leant my body forward and thought.
In Aincrad, eating can be said to be the only luxury. But at the same time, it's hard to find a flavor filled one from those cheap NPC restaurants. Since he liked it to such an extent of going over every day, it was hard for him not to go there in the long run. That's because I had my 3 meals from 3 different restaurants in a rotational manner. On a side note, those three doesn't include that enigmatic restaurant we went to just now.
"Then, please tell me the shop's name..."
"I have a condition."
Schmitt interrupted me.
"I can tell you, but I have a condition...let me meet Yolko."
Asuna and I let Schmitt stop at a nearby equipment store, and then started to discuss the condition.
"There...shouldn't be any problems, right? What do you think?"
"Un, well..."
Asuna asked, but I couldn't immediately answer and could only ponder out loud.
If Schmitt —— or Yolko, who almost definitely couldn't be the killer in the inside circle incident yesterday, were to meet, they might treat each other as someone to kill. Once they meet, one side might use an «Inside area PK skill» to cause a new victim, and I couldn't ignore this possibility.
However, for that to happen, that party would have to equip a weapon and use a sword skill. Such a motion would require opening a window to set up equipment and pressing the OK button. No matter how fast it is, it'll take about 4, 5 seconds.
"...With us standing around to watch, there probably won't be any chance to PK. However —— if it's not to PK, why did that Schmitt request to meet Yolko-san today?"
I move my arms aside, and Asuna seemed to be rather bothered.
"Who knows...don't tell me...he's been secretly admiring her...un, probably not."
"Eh, really!?"
I couldn't help but look back at that stiff-looking Schmitt, but Asuna immediately pulled my collar to prevent me from doing so.
"I said it's not! Anyway...if there's no danger, we just have to see if Yolko-san's willing. I'll send a message to her to confirm."
"O, okay then. I'll leave it to you."
Asuna opened her window and immediately hit the all-view keyboard at a blazing speed. This 'friend message' was a convenient function to contact a player far away, but it's pointless if one only knew the other party's name, since the person had to log the other party as a friend or a fellow guild member or a marriage partner. That's why we couldn't use it to contact Grimlock. We can send an 'instant message' once we know the name, but both sides had to be on the same level, and we couldn't tell if the other party received the message or not.
Yolko seemed to answer instantly, and Asuna glanced at the window that was not closed before nodding and saying,
"She said she's okay with it. Then...it's a little uneasy, but we better bring the person over. The location will be the inn where Yolko-san is in."
"Un. It's too risky to let her come outside."
I agreed, and finally manage to turn to look at Schmitt, who was inside the equipment shop. Once he saw me make an OK sign, the heavily equipped hulking figure's face showed an obvious relieved expression.
The three of us moved from the 56th floor to the main street of the 57th floor, Marten. Once we walked out from the blue transfer gate, the streets had already been dyed by sunset.
There were many NPC and merchant players in the plaza with stores and lined up with each other, and there were loud noises of selling coming at us. Between the shops, there were many swordsmen who were here to rest after a day's worth of hard work. However, they all obviously avoided a spot in the plaza, making the place look very empty.
That place was the land facing the church. Of course, about 24 hours ago, the guy called Kains mysteriously died here. I forced myself to look forward instead of looking over there, and started to move down the path I walked yesterday.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the inn and headed up to the second level. After a long walk down the corridor into the deepest place, we arrived at Yolko's room —— or rather, a room in which she could hide inside.
I knocked the door and said "This is Kirito."
There was an immediate response from inside the room, and I turned the handle on the door. The lock that was set so that 'only friends can open' let out a slight sound before opening.
After opening the door, I looked in to see the thing right in front of the door, a set of matching sofas placed in the middle of the room, and Yolko sitting on one of them. She quickly stood up, swayed her deep blue hair and bowed slightly.
I stood at the door, completely unmoving, looked at Yolko, and then at Schmitt's face that was right behind me before saying,
"Well...first, for safety reasons, I'm going to make this clear to everyone. Both sides are not allowed to equip weapons nor open windows. I hope you can abide by this. I know this may be unpleasant, but please follow these ground rules."
"...Okay."
"I understand."
Yolko said in a barely audible voice, and Schmitt answered in an anxious voice. I slowly entered the room and lead Schmitt and Asuna in.
These two ex-«Golden Apple» guild members who may not have met for a long time were only looking at each other silently.
Yolko and Schmitt used to be comrades of the same guild, but right now, there must be a difference of about 20 levels between them. Of course, the higher leveled member was definitely Schmitt, who belonged to the clearing guild. However, from what I could see, this strong spear user was a lot more tense than Yolko.
In fact, the one who spoke up first was also Yolko.
"...It's been a while, Schmitt."
She then smiled. Schmitt bit his lips hard first, and then answered in a hoarse voice,
"...Un. I thought we wouldn't meet again. Can I sit down?"
Yolko nodded, and this fully-armored hulking figure walked over to the other sofa while his armor is clanked noisily. I think this shouldn't be comfortable to sit in, but he had no intention of taking off his armor.
I closed the room and checked that it was locked before standing on the eastern side of where both of them sat, and Asuna stood opposite me.
We booked the most luxurious room in the inn for Yolko, who we had expect to stay in for a few days, so even with four people crowding the room, it was still rather wide. The door is at the northern side of the wall, and the west had another door leading to the bedroom. Also, the east and south side each had a window.
The window on the south side was completely open, and the breeze that carried the spring sunset blowed in freely through the window. Of course, the window was protected by the system, and even when someone opened it, nobody could enter. As this place is a lot taller than the surrounding buildings, one could see the scene of a deep purple street through the gaps of the white curtain.
The noise of the street that came in with the wind overwhelmed Yolko's slightly soft voice.
"Schmitt, I hear that you're currently a member of the Divine Dragons Alliance? That's really amazing. The Divine Dragons Alliance is considered an elite guild amongst the clearing group, right?"
I felt that this was a sincere praise, but Schmitt's wrinkles near his eyebrows became deeper. He said in a deep tone,
"What do you mean by that? Isn't that too unnatural?"
This abnormally direct answer caused me to frown, but Yolko didn't seem to be affected at all.
"How can that be? I just feel that after the guild disbanded, you must have tried hard to level up. Kains and I gave up after having difficulty leveling, so you're really amazing compared to us."
Yolko shook aside the deep blue hair that dangled on her shoulders and smiled again.
She's not as ridiculously fully equipped like Schmitt in full armor, but Yolko was wearing quite a bit too. Her thick dress had a leather vest, and she was wearing a purple velvet tunic. Her shoulders even had a shawl on, and though they couldn't be compared to metallic armor, with so much clothing on, that should at least increase quite a lot of defense. She looked rather calm right now, but deep inside, she must be feeling anxious.
At this point, Schmitt couldn't hide his nervousness as he leaned forward in his armor and said,
"JUST FORGET ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH ME! MORE THAN THAT...I want to ask about Kains."
He suddenly hushed his voice and continued,
"Why is Kains still killed at this point? Did that guy...take the ring? Is that guy the one who killed GA's leader?"
I immediately understood that GA referred to Golden Apple, the simplified term of calling the «Golden Apple» guild. However, these words basically meant that he had nothing to do with the ring incident and the inside area murder. If this was an act, he could really be an actor.
On hearing his muttering, Yolko's expression finally showed some change for once. She kept her smile and faced Schmitt head on before saying,
"Impossible. Kains and I really respected the leader from the bottom of our heart. The reason we were against selling the ring was because it would be more pragmatic if we used it to increase the guild's battle strength instead of selling it in col. I think she would have the same thoughts as us now."
"Tha...that's what I thought too. Don't forget that I was against selling the ring. Besides...it's not that those against it had a motive to steal it. Those who agreed to sell it...those guys who wanted the col, someone amongst them may have wanted to gain all the profits from the sale!"
He used his right hand that was protected by the metal gauntlet to slap his own knee, and then cupped his head before saying,
"But...why did Grimlock still want to take action on Kains now...does he want to kill off the three of us who were opposed to selling the ring? Will you and I become his victims?"
——This doesn't look like an act at all. To me, Schmitt's agitated side profile showed real fear.
In comparison to Schmitt, who was scared stiff, Yolko regained her composure and said something to him.
"We still can't confirm that Grimlock killed Kains. Maybe another member requested him to make the short spear...or maybe..."
She turned her empty stare to the short table in front of the sofa and muttered,
"Maybe the leader is taking revenge on her own. Ordinary players can't possibly kill inside the area."
"Wha..."
The muscular man opened his mouth and panted. Even I was starting to feel a little scared when she said this.
Schmitt stared blankly at the smiling Yolko and said,
"But didn't you just say that Kains didn't take the ring away..."
Yolko didn't answer immediately as she just stood up and took a step to the right.
"I couldn't sleep at all last night. I could only think. Speaking of which, even though the one who killed the guild leader is someone in the guild, but it could be all of us. When that ring drop appeared, there wasn't any need to vote. We could have just followed the guild leader's instructions. No, we should have just let her equip that ring. The leader was the strongest swordsman amongst us, and she was the one who could use the ring to the maximum ability. However, we couldn't give up on our selfish desire, and no one raised such a suggestion. Everyone has been saying that we will one day let GA become part of the clearing group, but no one was thinking about the guild. Everyone was only hoping to make themselves stronger."
After saying so many words, Yolko's waist touched the frame of the south window.
She prepared to sit on it and continued,
"Only one person, only Grimlock-san said to leave it to the leader. That person gave up on his selfish desire and thought about the development of the guild. That's why that person became like this, and took revenge on us who can't give up on our desires, and he has the right to take revenge for the guild leader..."
The silence suddenly engulfed the room, and an icy night wind swayed through the air inside the room.
Kachan kachan kachan, the weak sounds of metal ringing could soon be heard. The source is the armor from the slightly trembling Schmitt. This battle-hardened elite player looked down with a pale face and muttered in a trance-like state,
"...Don't kid around. Stop kidding around. Right now...it's been half a year...why now..."
GABAK! He straightened his upper body and suddenly shouts,
"CAN YOU ACCEPT THAT, YOLKO! YOU'VE BEEN WORKING HARD TILL NOW! HOW CAN YOU JUST GET YOURSELF KILLED BY SUCH AN UNKNOWN METHOD!"
Schmitt, Asuna and I were all staring at Yolko at the window.
This female player, with an illusionary presence around her, let her stare roam through the air, seemingly thinking of how to answer Schmitt's question.
Soon after, her lips opened slightly, seemingly about to say something——
At this moment.
TONN! A deep sound suddenly echoed through the room. At the same time, Yolko widened her eyes and opened her mouth wide.
That slender body started to sway tremendously. She first took a forceful step forward, and then staggered and spun before putting her hand on the open window.
At this moment, a strong gust of wind blew, and the long hair behind Yolko swayed with it.
I saw an unbelievable thing.
A small black rod-shaped item poked out from the short, glossy, purple tunic.
As it was too small, I couldn't tell at the moment what that was. But when I saw that the rod-shaped object was flashing red, I immediately had a bad feeling about this.
"Ah...!"
Asuna let out an almost screaming gasp, and I instinctively rushed over immediately.
I reached my hand out and got ready to pull Yolko's body over. But...
My fingers merely grazed the shawl, and Yolko's body fell outside the inn silently.
"Yolko-SAN!"
Just as I shouted out and poked my body out of the window...
Yolko's body fell down onto the stone just like that, and after a bounce, was surrounded by a blue light effect.
BASHA! The sound of slight breaking could be heard immediately. The polygons shrapnel expanded out with the exploding blue light——
A second later, an item could be heard landing clearly, leaving only a black dagger on the road.
How is this possible!
At this moment, my mind suddenly shouted silently, and there were a lot of reasons for this.
First, the guest room of the inn should be protected by the system. Even if the window was open, there was absolutely no way for someone to enter or throw it in successfully.
Also, it was really hard to believe that the small throwing dagger could create a Continuous Pierce damage which could wear out a medium-level player's HP. It's impossible for 5 seconds to have passed from the moment the dagger hit Yolko to the time it disappeared.
This couldn't be possibly happening. This killer's method can't be considered an «Inside area PK». This was already a horrifying instant death attack.
I held my breath and felt the absolutely chilling feeling on my back and forced myself to look away from the stone floor where Yolko had disappeared. I then looked up and widened my eyes like a camera lens to look at the street scene opposite.
Finally, I saw it.
About 2 blocks away from the inn, there was a roof of a building that was about as tall as this place.
A black figure stood over there with the deep purple sunset as a background——
The person was covered in a pitch black hooded robe, so it was impossible to see the face. I squeezed out the term 'death god' from my mind before shouting out,
"THAT BASTARD...!!"
I let my right leg step on the window sill and shouted back without looking,
"Asuna, I'll leave the rest to you!"
I then jumped towards the building that was separated from this place by the street.
But even with a revised level in agility, it's still reckless to jump over 5m without running. I can't use a landing, and only managed to barely use an extended right hand at the last second to grab onto the side of the roof. I then used my revised level in strength to pull up, spin in the air and land on the roof. At this moment, Asuna's anxious voice immediately came from behind.
"YOU CAN'T. KIRITO-KUN!"
I understand clearly why she wanted to stop me. If I get hit by that flying dagger, there's a chance that I'll die immediately.
However, I really can't let the criminal who finally appeared go just for the sake of my own safety.
I was the one who had said to protect Yolko's safety. However, I just thought in a very narrow manner that it'll be alright if we hid inside the inn, and never thought of what might possibly happen. If the system could offer protection, then the street —— the «inside area» should be considered a safe place. Since the enemy can PK inside the area, it's naturally possible to let the protection in the inn fail. Why didn't I think about this?
Standing on the roof far away, the black robed guy has the wind blowing hard at him, looking like he's mocking this me who's feeling remorse.
"HOLD IT RIGHT...!"
I shouted and started to run forward again before drawing the sword from my back. I can't deal any damage with my sword on the streets, but at least I can deflect the dagger he throws over.
I deliberately made sure my dashing speed didn't slow down as I continued to jump from this roof to the next one. The players walking down below might think that I'm a madman showing off my agility in a performance, but I don't have time to care about such things as I dragged the hem of my coat and continued to jump and rip through the darkness.
The assassin in the hooded robe doesn't seem like he intends to escape or attack as he just watches me close in. As both of us are just separated by 2 buildings, the assassin suddenly puts in right hand into the clutches of the robe. I immediately hold my breath and move the sword in front of me.
However...
He raises his hand out, and what he takes out isn't a throwing dagger. Under the color of the twilight, a familiar looking sapphire blue suddenly appears in front of my eyes. It's the teleport crystal——
"Damn it!"
I cursed and use my left hand to draw out three throwing picks with my left hand while dashing forward before throwing them all out at one go. Of course, I am not intending to hurt him, but hoped to use the instinctive dodging moment to slow down his chanting of the command.
What's vexing was that the enemy was abnormally calm. That person didn't seem to be in fear as he took the three throwing picks flying over at him with silver light effects before casually raising the teleport crystal.
The three throwing picks were all blocked by the purple system wall in front of the hooded robe and immediately dropped onto the roof. I thought at least I had to hear the enemy's voice as I pricked my ears. If I knew his destination, I could use the crystal to catch up.
But this plan failed as at the most critical moment, a loud sounding bell could be heard throughout the streets of Marten.
My ears —— or more accurately, the hearing field was largely occupied by the high decibel chime that indicated that it was 5 o'clock, so I couldn't hear the murderer say the command with the lowest possible volume. The blue teleport light appeared, and the pitch black hooded robe's profile vanished in front of me, who had already moved just one street away from him.
"...Ugh!"
I couldn't shout out anything at all, and I raised the sword in my right hand, continuing to move to the place that guy was standing at. The purple light scattered, and in the middle of my sights, all I could see were the words of the system, «Immortal Object».
I left the roof and switched roads to return to the inn, stopped at where Yolko disappeared on the road, and looked at the pitch black throwing dagger.
Just a few minutes ago, a female player died here. I couldn't believe this no matter what. To me, a player's death was an outcome where the player tried all sorts of hard work and all sorts of dodging counters, only for them to be not enough. Something such as a killing method that was impossible to dodge at that moment shouldn't possibly exist.
I bent down to pick up that dagger. It was small, but basically made of the same kind of metal, and felt quite heavy. The shaver-like thing blade had shark teeth-like reverse spikes on it. That's right, this is a weapon created with the same kind of ideal as the short spear that had killed Kains.
If I stabbed this thing into my body now, would my HP drop drastically? I'm really driven by this urge to experiment, but I closed my eyes tight to remove this impulse from my mind and entered the inn.
I walked up to the second level, knocked on the door and said my name. KACHINK, the system's lock rang emptily as the door opened.
Asuna had already drawn her rapier. Once she saw that it was me, she gave a complicated agitated yet relieved look as she kept her volume down to the minimum to shout at me,
"IDIOT! DON'T BE SO RECKLESS!"
Fuu. She sighed out long and kept her volume down further before continuing.
"...Then...what about that?"
I slightly shook my head.
"I couldn't catch him. He used teleport to get away. I couldn't even tell whether it was a guy or a girl whether it's from face or voice. Well...if it's Grimlock, I guess it's a guy..."
It's impossible for people of the same gender to get married in SAO. If the leader of Golden Apple was a female, Grimlock, who's married to her, would naturally be a guy. And if this is something I had to think hard about, it's really useless. In fact, about 80 percent of SAO players are male.
As for these words that weren't very meaningful in the first place——
Cringing his large body on the sofa as tightly as possible, Schmitt inadvertently made a response as he let out a metallic sound. Kachank kachank.
"...That's not right."
"Not right...what's not right?"
Schmitt didn't look at Asuna, but lowered his head even further and groaned,
"It's not him. That person...the black robe standing on the roof isn't Grimlock. Grim is a lot taller, and...and..."
Asuna and I held our breaths in anticipation of the words he was about to say next.
"That hooded robe is something that belongs to the leader of the GA. She would normally dress up in such a concealing manner whenever she walks down the streets. That's right...she was wearing that when she went to sell the ring! That person...that person just now was her. She came to take revenge on all the members here. That's the leader's ghost."
Haha, hahaha. Suddenly, a laugh caused me to look away from the dagger.
"If it's a ghost, everything is possible then, and PK inside the area will be a piece of cake. We might as well get the leader to beat the last boss in SAO. If there's no HP right at the beginning, it's impossible for her to die anyway.
Haha, hahaha. Schmitt continued to let out such a hysterical laugh. I threw the black dagger in my hand onto the table in front of him.
GONK! A deep sound rang out, seemingly snapping the switch in Schmitt as the laughter stopped. He stared at this jagged blade that was giving off a vicious presence for a few seconds——
"Hii..."
The muscular guy flung his upper body back, and I kept my volume down and said,
"It's not a ghost. This dagger really exists. It's just a program code written into the SAO server. It's the same as the short spear you put inside the storage. If you don't believe it, you can take this dagger and check on it however you want."
"No, no thanks! You can have the spear back, too!"
Schmitt shouted, opened his menu window, mispressed with his trembling fingers a few times before finally materializing the black short spear. The weapon that appeared in the window seemed like it was tossed aside as it landed beside the dagger.
The giant cuddled his head again, and Asuna said to him in a gentle voice,
"...Schmitt-san, I also feel that it wasn't a ghost. That's because if Aincrad has ghosts, it won't be just the ghost of the Golden Apple leader. The 3,500 people who died up till now will all be unhappy. Am I right?"
That's the case, and I feel this way, too. Even if it's me, I had the confidence that if I died here, I'd feel really unhappy and materialize as a ghost. I believe that only the leader of the KoB would be the kind of person who'd accept this fate and become a Buddha.
However, Schmitt continued to keep his head down as he swayed.
"You...don't know her. That person...Griselda is extremely fierce and always determined...however, she's also extremely strict to injustice and craftiness. She might be a lot fiercer than you, Asuna-san. That's why, if someone set a trap and killed her...Griselda would definitely not forgive them, even if she had to become a ghost to deal judgment to that person..."
Outside this locked window, which Asuna probably locked, the sun was about to set. The street lights that were lit at several points should be the places where the players found lodging and caused the streets to buzz. But unbelievably, the noise seemed to avoid this room.
I took a deep breath and broke the silence that covered the entire room.
"...If you believe that's the case, fine, but I definitely won't. These two 'inside area murder incidents' definitely have some form of system logic. I'll definitely find it and prove it to you...and you're to follow our agreement and help us."
"Hel...help?"
"Didn't you say that you are going to tell us the shop Grimlock often went to? Right now, this is the only clue we have. If we watch him for several days, we'll definitely find him."
To be honest, even if we found that Grimlock who had created that black short spear and probably the dagger beside it, I had no idea what to do next. We're not the 'army', and we couldn't possibly lock him up.
However, those words Yolko said before she was killed —— 'that person took revenge on us who can't give up on our desires, and he has the right to take revenge for the guild leader'. If it's just like what Yolko said, Grimlock may have wanted to take revenge on everyone who was against selling the ring, or probably even wanted to take revenge on all the members. And the motive would be the strong feelings of a husband to the deceased leader.
Then, if we could meet and talk seriously, there might be a change. Right now, we could only bet on such a possibility.
On hearing my words, Schmitt lowered his head, but soon got up heavily from the chair. He walked to the writing table beside the wall, took the parchment and the feather pen that was already prepared before writing the name and location of the shop.
I looked at the back profile and suddenly thought of something. I then asked,
"Ah, also, please write down the names of all the members in the original Golden Apple guild. I'll go over to the «Monument of Life» to check the survivors later."
The giant nodded silently again and continued writing for a few seconds.
Soon after that, he took up the written piece of parchment with one hand and handed it to me, saying,
"...It's embarrassing as a player of a clearing group, but...I don't have the mood to go out for now. Please remove me from the boss conquest parties, too, and..."
The will that was once in him has completely disappeared as what was left was a blank expression. The spear user who was a part of the Divine Dragons Alliance leadership said softly,
"...Next, please send me back to the DDA headquarters."
Neither Asuna nor I could mock Schmitt for such a cowardly action.
We have the terrified giant in the middle as we moved from the inn on the 57th level, through the transfer gate, and down to the main headquarters on the 56th level. Asuna and I never stopped looking around at the dark corners. If there was someone with a hood or robe that was unrelated to this appearing out of a sudden at this point, both of us might have subconsciously rushed over.
Even after going through the gates of the headquarters, Schmitt never showed a relieved look. I saw his back profile scamper into the building and sighed.
I exchanged looks with Asuna who was beside me for a while,
"...I'm really regretting...what happened to Yolko-san..."
Asuna whispered these words as she bit her lips. I answered back with a hoarse voice 'yeah'.
In truth, Yolko's death brought me several times more shock than Kains's. My mind continued to recall her falling down the window, and I continued,
"To be honest, up till now, it was like we were sailing on a boat...but we can't do that now. Even if it's for her sake, we have to solve this case —— I'm going near that restaurant to ambush. What about you, Asuna?"
On hearing my question, Asuna immediately lifted her head and answered clearly,
"Of course I'm going, too. Let's investigate the truth."
"...Is that so? Then, please guide me through."
To be honest, I really hesitated on whether I should continue to let Asuna accompany me. If we continued to get involved in this case, it wouldn't be surprising if we were targeted by Grimlock and became his next targets.
But Asuna quickly turned around to seemingly interrupt my hesitation and headed to the transfer gate. I took a deep breath of the cold night air and exhaled it out before following the chestnut-colored hair.
The shop recorded on Schmitt's memo was a small bar located in the lower region of the main streets of the 20th floor. This shop that's hidden on the sidepath didn't give the look that there would be dishes 'that one can eat without getting sick of'.
However, the fact is that there would be lots of delicious meals in these kind of shops, and I finally managed to control my impulse to rush into the shop and order all the dishes inside. If Grimlock was that assassin in the hooded robe, he should have seen my face. If he discovered me first, he might not be coming to this shop.
Asuna and I hid in a cover nearby and watched the surroundings, and we found that there was an inn we could look into the bar in question. We immediately rushed through the gaps in the crowd, into the inn opposite the street, and rented a room on the second level.
As expected, we could clearly see what went on at the bar entrance. We kept the lights off, moved two chairs over to the window and sat next to each other to start watching.
But soon after, Asuna 'hey' frowned and called me.
"...It's good that we're serious here, but we have no idea what Grimlock looks like."
"Ahh, that's why I wanted to get Schmitt to come along right at the beginning, but it couldn't be helped when we see him like this...however, I managed to see the player under the hood who looks like Grimlock from close range. If we find a guy who's tall and muscular, we can use a duel request to invite him in, even though that might be reckless."
"Eh?"
On hearing this, Asuna widened her eyes and increased her volume.
In SAO, as long as our stares were focused on other players, there would be a green or orange information indicator—«Color Cursor». But for the players we meet for the first time, we'd only see the HP bar; the name and levels couldn't be seen.
Of course, these are all sorts of anti-crime prevention measures. For example, if someone knows of that player's name, that player may get harassing messages from people misusing the Instant Message function. If it's easy for the level to be discovered by others, the lower-level players would be treated as prey on the streets and stalked, and it would be very easy for people to be robbed or harassed or all sorts of things in weird areas.
However, it's because we couldn't see other people's names that trying to track people became a little more troublesome. If I wanted to know the name of a player I'm meeting for the first time, there was only one way, a 1vs1 duel. In other words, a duel request.
If I pressed the duel button on the menu window, used the color-cursor in choosing mode to designate the target, and my sights immediately showed a «You've requested a 1vs1 duel with someone». If I looked at it again, I'll know the proper English name of the enemy.
However, the other party's sights would immediately see that I sent a duel request from here. Thus, it's impossible for me to not reveal my name as I investigated the name of the other player, and such an act is completely rude in the first place. In that case, it's very likely that the enemy would draw his weapon to take this challenge. On hearing my words, Asuna opened her mouth, looking like she was about to say something—probably something that meant 'it's dangerous' or something.
However, Asuna quickly closes her mouth and nods seriously. She probably understands that there's no other way, and what she says next is—
"...But if you're going to talk with Grimlock-san, I'm coming along, too."
On hearing her say this, I could only force myself to swallow my words to make her stay inside this room.
I could only nod my head hesitatingly and check the time. It's 6.40pm, about the time for players to return to the street areas to have dinner as things get bustling. The bar in question looked rather normal, but the Swing-Door continued to shake freely. However, I never saw a player that was tall and muscular and looked like the hooded robe I saw.
We can only bet on this shop that has become the last clue, but there was some concern we still couldn't ignore. In the inn on the 57th floor, Schmitt muttered before that 'the black robe standing on the roof isn't Grimlock. Grim is a lot taller'–even though I doubt that this might be a mistake in judgment on Schmitt's part due to fear, but if this is the fact, such surveillance is pointless and we wouldn't be able to find him.
I'll be looking at the swing-door of this bar that has a hidden famed restaurant's atmosphere for the entire night without being able to eat...
On thinking about this, I couldn't help but press against my stomach.
Immediately after, something reached out in front of my eyes. It's something wrapped in white paper and giving off a thick aroma. I couldn't help but look at this thing, and Asuna continued to stare in the direction of the bar as she simply said, 'for you'. I instinctively asked to check.
"...For, for me?"
"Who else do you think I can give it to in this situation? Do you think I'm boasting?"
"No, it's not that. I'm wrong. I'll take it then."
I pull my neck back and quickly received the paper bag. I glanced over at Asuna and found that she continued her surveillance, skilfully materializing another similar looking item.
I happily unwrapped the paper, and found a large sand baguette inside. I stared blankly at the inside of the bread that's suitably baked and was stuffed with vegetables and roasted meat, and Asuna said with a calm voice,
"The durability value is going to run out. It'll disappear soon, so it's best that you hurry up and eat it."
"Eh, ah, okay, itadakimasu!"
I hear that it's going to vanish soon, which meant that there won't be much time to space out. The durability value of a food item is normally very low unless special ingredients are used. I have experienced having the bentos I was going to try disappear from my hands. The only method was to put it into an «Eternal Preserving Trinket» that only a master-class craftsman could make, and the food that's put inside would never disappear even when carried to the field. However, the sad thing is that this small box can only be packed with two nuts.
Thus, I quickly opened my mouth at the fastest speed possible and took a bite off the sand baguette and enjoyed that chewing feeling for the time being. The taste was simple, though a little stimulating, making me want to continue biting. The durability of the food did not affect the flavour. As long as the food existed, the taste would never change at all.
I stared at the entrance of the bar and quickly finished off this large sand baguette before letting out a sigh of satisfaction. I looked at Asuna, who was elegantly chewing beside me, and indicated my thanks before asking,
"Thanks for that. Speaking of which, when did you buy a bento? We went by the roadside stalls just now, but there was nothing so good being sold, you know?"
"Didn't I say that the durability was about to finish? It's because I thought about this that I already prepared it this morning."
"Heh...as expected of the person in charge of the KoB clearing group. I never thought of eating at all...oh yeah, which shop is this from?"
The sand baguette with the suitably baked bread with vegetables and roast meat in between was a rather high ranking dish amongst my famous shops list. During this time, I'll have this during the clearing. I thought about this as I deliberately asked, but Asuna shrugged her shoulders slightly and gave an answer I was rather surprised by.
"It's not sold."
"Eh?"
"Not sold by shops."
Why must there be silence now? Why aren't you saying anything? I tilted my head to think for a while before realizing. Since it's not bought from an NPC shop, she must have made it herself, this KoB sub-leader.
I spaced out for about 10 seconds before discovering a small crisis. Damn it, what should I say? I already felt awkward ignoring Asuna's get-up in the morning. I couldn't repeat this here now.
"Eh...erm, how to put it...eh, it's a waste to finish it like this. Oh yeah, I might as well auction it at the Algade market. Probably can earn a lot there hahaha."
GANK! Asuna used her white leather boots to kick the chair hard, causing me to straighten my back and tremble. The tense few minutes pass by, and Asuna finished her share before saying softly,
"...He didn't come here."
"Eh, u, un. Yeah. But according to Schmitt's words, it doesn't seem that he comes around every night. And if that black robed guy was Grimlock, he wouldn't feel like eating after PKing...we probably have to wait for another 2, 3 days."
After speaking quickly, I stood up to check the time again. Only 30 minutes had passed since we started watching, but I was already mentally prepared to wait for Grimlock to appear no matter how long it took, but I wonder what her excellency, the sub-leader thought.
As I thought about this and turned my eyes to her, I found that Asuna, who was leaning deeply into the back of the chair, had no intention of getting up.
...Don't tell me the words I just said was interpreted as 'we'll stay here for two, three days'? As I thought about this while my palms got sweaty, Asuna again whispered,
"I say, Kirito-kun."
"Ye...yes!"
The words that were said next were fortunately—or not, different from what I thought.
"What about you? If you were a member of the Golden Apple guild and got a super rare drop, what would you say?"
"..."
I spaced out and ponder for several seconds before saying,
"...You're right. I've always hated such trouble, which was why I've been fighting solo...in those MMO games I played before SAO, I once experienced seeing other people hiding rare drops or keeping all the profits of the sale to themselves, causing the guild to break up..."
The main motivation for MMO players, basically, is mostly to get that sense of superiority, and I can't deny that. The simplest way to get this sense of superiority is to be 'strong'; through training of the strength and using powerful rare equipment to beat monsters or other players. This feeling of exhilaration as a player, to put it radically, can only be experienced in net-games. Right now, the reason why I will continue to train hard for long periods is undoubtedly to be called a member of the 'clearing group' and get respected by others.
If I'm in a certain guild, and during a party play, we get a very outstanding piece of equipment—and if there's someone suited to equip such a thing in the guild.
Will I say something like 'You should have this'?
"...Probably not."
I whispered this out and shook my head.
"I won't say to my allies that I want it, but I am not a saint who'll smile and hand it over to the other players. That's why...if I'm a member of the Golden Apple, I'll agree with auctioning it out. What about you, Asuna?"
I asked, and Asuna immediately answered without hesitation,
"It'll belong to the one who beat it."
"Heh?"
"For us in KoB, we follow such a rule. Any item that's randomly dropped in a party play would belong to that lucky person who picked it. SAO doesn't have a Combat Log process, so we can only declare what items we get. This is the only method to avoid the hassle to having to hide things, and also..."
At this moment, she paused. She's still looking at the entrance of the inn, but Asuna's expression wasn't that stern anymore.
"...It's because of this kind of system that the responsibility of 'marriage' in this world is so big. Once married, both people's item storage will be linked together, right? In that case, what treasure that can be easily hidden can't be hidden once married. On the other hand, if someone once hid a rare item he picked up, he can't get married to a member of his own guild. The «Storage Link» is actually a rather pragmatic system, but I feel it's rather romantic."
That tone of hers really has a sense of longing. I couldn't help but blink a few times. Then I don't know why I even got excited all of a sudden as I said in an excited voice without thinking much,
"Is, is that so. I see. The, then, if I party with you next time, Asuna, I definitely won't hide any drops I get."
GATAN! With that sound, Asuna immediately fell back together with the chair.
As the room was not lit, I can't see her face, but I can see some expressions on «The Flash»'s face while under the blue and white light. She finally raised her right hand and yelled,
"Do...don't be stupid! Such a day won't happen in ten years! Ah, I, I'm talking about partying with you! I say, are, are you seriously watching? What'll happen if you lose him!"
GA—after such an outburst, Asuna suddenly turned right, even I, who hadn't looked away from the bar even during the conversation, was more or less hurt. But as I wanted to argue back 'I'm looking', I suddenly thought of something.
That ring that caused the Golden Apple to collapse; when it dropped at first, whose storage did it end up in?
Sword Art Online Vol 08 - 146.jpg
Right now, this might not be important, but if the person killed the leader and took the ring away, wouldn't it be a lot simpler to hide the ring right at the beginning? In other words, the one who declared the drop is the only player who couldn't possibly be the one who killed the leader.
On thinking that I should have asked Schmitt more about this, I couldn't help but frown. Asuna and I never registered Schmitt as a friend, so we couldn't send a message to him to check with him. We can send instant messages to each other even though we're not friends if we just know each other's names, but this kind of message couldn't be sent on the same level, and the number of words I can type were rather little.
I'll just ask him the next time we meet. We're not looking into the 'ring incident' half a year ago, but the ongoing «Inside area PK». I wondered as I continued to take out the parchment Schmitt wrote to me.
I said to Asuna, who was giving an incredulous look from the side, 'don't look away from the bar for now', and checked the names of all the Golden Apple members listed on the parchment.
Griselda, Grimlock, Schmitt, Yolko, Caynz...the names were written in messy alphabets, and amongst them, 3 are no longer in this floating castle.
We can't have any more victims. We definitely must find Grimlock and find out how the inside area murders took place.
I told myself this in my heart and got ready to keep the parchment into the item storage.
But just when the small lambskin was about to change from the materialized item into a name in the system—
My stare was suddenly sucked by a point on the parchment.
"...Eh...?"
I hurriedly pulled my eyes near the lambskin, and the Detail Focus System started to take effect, causing the details on the words of the lambskin to increase.
"...Wha, what's this..."
On hearing me mutter, Asuna, who was still staring at the inn, asked something,
"What is it?"
However, I didn't have the mind to answer her question as I merely thought of the significance and the reason of this situation in front of me, and then tried to deduce the intention.
—Several seconds later.
"Ah...ahhh...!"
I shouted as I kicked the chair before getting up. The parchment in my right hand shook violently in response to the shock I got.
"I see...so that's how it is!"
I pant and shouted, and Asuna gave a doubtful, impatient and anxious voice.
"What? You discovered something!?"
"We...we..."
I squeeze my hoarse voice from my throat and closed my eyes hard.
"...We didn't see the truth. We thought we saw it, but we didn't. For the «Inside area murders»—weapons, skills, logic never existed in the first place!!"