Sword Art Online - Volume 8 - Early and Late

  “Listen… Griselda-san’s storage also belonged to Grimlock. Even if Griselda-san was killed, it’s impossible for the ring to be taken away, because the moment she died, it would be transferred over to Grimlock. Schmitt…you said you got a monetary reward for assisting in this plan, right?”

  On hearing my question, the hulking figure sitting on the ground cross-legged nodded blankly.

  “If he was able to prepare so much money, it seemed that the ring was really sold. The only one who could do this is Grimlock, who got the ring. He also knew that Schmitt was the accomplice in that plan, so that meant…”

  “It was Grimlock…? That guy, he was the one who sent that memo…and sent Griselda out of the area and killed her?”

  Schmitt groaned with a hoarse voice. I pondered for a while and denied this.

  “No, he didn’t do this directly. If Griselda, who was sleeping inside the inn, was moved out of the area, she may have woken up out of a sudden, and it would be troublesome if his face was seen. I guess the real murderer was a red who was requested to do this job. But even if that’s the case, it still doesn’t reduce the weight of Grimlock’s crime…”

  “…”

  Schmitt didn’t say anything as he merely looked up at the sky blankly.

  This devastated expression appeared on Yoruko and Caynz’s faces as well. A few seconds later, Yoruko shook her wavy dark purple hair, getting more agitated in the meantime.

  “How is it possible…such a thing, you’re lying! Those two were always together…Grimlock-san was always following her from behind…and also…that’s right, if he was the real culprit, why did he assist us in our plan!? If he wouldn’t help us, we wouldn’t be able to do anything, and the ‘ring incident’ wouldn’t see the light of day, right?”

  “Did you two describe the entire plan to Grimlock?”

  On hearing my sudden question, Yoruko shut her mouth tightly, and gave a slight nod.

  “…Then, he should have known what would happen if the plan succeeded. In other words, the final scene would be such that Schmitt, who was filled with guilt, would come over to Griselda-san’s grave to confess his sins and get questioned by Yoruko-san and Caynz-san. In that case, he could think of a plan to bury the ‘ring incident’ into complete darkness. The accomplice Schmitt, and the ones who wanted to know the truth, Yoruko-san and Caynz-san. He just needed..to shut you three up.”

  “…I see. So…so that’s why, those three…”

  I glanced at Schmitt, who looked completely confounded as he said these words, and nodded with a depressed feeling.

  “That’s the case. The reason why the top three of the «Laughing Coffin» appeared was because Grimlock leaked the information to them. A DDA executive-level prey is here at this place without any allies…I guessed there was a contact link the moment he requested them to kill Griselda-san.”

  “…How is this…”

  Yoruko, who lost all her strength in her knees, collapsed onto the ground, and Caynz used his right arm to support her. However, that extremely pale face of his could be clearly seen even under the moonlight.

  Yoruko grabbed Caynz’s shoulder and asked with a very lifeless voice,

  “Grimlock-san…wanted to kill us…? But…why…? And…why did he kill his spouse just to get the ring…?”

  “I can’t deduce the motive behind this, but he, who never left the guild base to prove his alibi during that ‘ring incident’, probably won’t just sit back and watch. Besides, this was a chance to deal with the three of you and bury two incidents in one go. So…for the details, just ask him personally.”

  The moment I just said this, my ears heard two sets of footsteps coming from the west slope of the hills.

  The first thing that entered my eyes was the red and white knight uniform that was still radiant looking in this night scene. Obviously, that was Asuna «The Flash», wielding a rapier with a silver blade that looked extremely clear. As far as I know, this is the thinnest and most elegant looking blade in Aincrad, and also the most savage weapon that could pierce through all sorts of defences.

  A man was walking here as well, seemingly being forced to by the sharp tip of the rapier and the sharp stare of the user.

  The very tall and thin figure was wearing very long-edged leather clothing and a hat with a very large edge. The face that was hidden under the shadows had something that would reflect moonlight from time to time, probably glasses. The overall impression he gave was that he was more of a hitman in a Hong Kong movie than a craftsman. Of course, that may be because I already had a biased impression beforehand.

  The colors of both their cursors are green. I was already prepared to let Asuna become an orange player to prevent that guy from running way —— of course, if that had happened, I would have definitely helped her perform whichever task was necessary to revert to her original alignment —— so after seeing this, I couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief, but I immediately tensed up again and stared at this man walking up the hill.

  Under the silver-framed spectacles was a face that looked gentle, no matter how one looked at it. The eyes that were long, narrow and looking somewhat droopy, looked rather kind as well. But the slightly small black pupils deep inside the glasses did have a certain kind of existence that could summon my cautiousness.

  The man stopped three meters in front of me, first looking at Schmitt, then Yoruko, Caynz and finally, the grave that was covered with moss before saying,

  “Well…it’s been a long time, everyone.”

  A few seconds later, Yoruko finally answered back in a calm and deep tone,

  “Grimlock…san. You…you, are you really…”

  The one who killed Griselda, took the ring, and planned to eliminate the three of us here to cover up this incident?

  Even though it wasn’t stated, everyone understood from this question. As for this question, this man —— the sub-leader of the ex-«Golden Apple», the blacksmith Grimlock didn’t answer immediately.

  He watched Asuna sheath her blade behind him and moved towards me before smiling, and said,

  “…That’s a misunderstanding. I just felt that I have a need to understand the outcome of this situation, which was why I came here. The reason why I obediently listened to that terrifying onee-san here is just to clear this misunderstanding.”

  ——Ohh, he’s denying it? I was really shocked inside. There’s no actual proof to show that he leaked the information to PoH, but he can’t deny about the system settings in the ring incident.

  “YOU’RE LYING!”

  Asuna immediately shouted back.

  “Weren’t you hiding amongst the bushes just now? If I didn’t use the Reveal technique, you wouldn’t have stepped out.”

  “Of course it couldn’t be helped. I’m just an ordinary blacksmith, and as you can see, I don’t have a single weapon on me at all. Why must I be told off by you so thoroughly for not appearing in front of some orange players?”

  He answered calmly and reluctantly opened his arms with the leather gloves on.

  Schmitt, Caynz and Yoruko couldn’t say anything as they just continued to listen to Grimlock defending himself. They were probably still in disbelief that their ex-sub-leader requested savage red players to kill them. They never thought of that and were probably unwilling to believe this. It’s not weird for them to be like this.

  I reached my left hand out to stop Asuna, who looked like she still wanted to say something, and finally said,

  “Nice to meet you for the first time, Grimlock-san. I’m Kirito…just an outsider —— but it’s true that we can’t link your appearance here with the attack by «Laughing Coffin» as we have no evidence to prove these two cases. Even if we ask them, they probably wouldn’t testify.”

  In fact, if Grimlock’s friend list could be visualized and we checked the friends’ messaging, there should be a player’s name that accepted requests for «Laughing Coffin», but unfortunately, I don’t know which name it was.

  Howev
er, even if we left aside the attempted murder on Schmitt and company, there shouldn’t be any excuses for the ‘ring incident’. I believed this was the case, and continued,

  “But last autumn, the ‘ring incident’ that caused the «Golden Apple» guild to disband…definitely has something to do with you. No, you should be the mastermind behind this. No matter who killed Griselda, the ring definitely landed in your hands since you had a shared storage with her. You actually hid that fact, secretly sold that ring and handed half of the money over to Schmitt. This is something that can’t be done by anyone other than the culprit, and there’s only one reason why you’re involved in this ‘inside area incident’…you wanted to shut the mouths of those people involved and bury the past into the darkness, am I right?”

  After I said that, a heavy silence descended on this hill of wilderness. The blue moonlight that was shining down from somewhere showed an obvious grim on Grimlock’s face.

  Soon, his lips curled strangely, and a voice that felt like it could cause the temperature to drop rang.

  “I see. Such an interesting theory, Mr Detective-kun…but unfortunately, there’s a loophole in this reasoning.”

  “What?!”

  I instinctively asked back. Grimlock glanced at me and used the right hand covered with the black glove to press his hat down.

  “It’s true that I shared the same storage with Griselda, so when she was killed, all the items that were stored inside her storage should come to me…this reasoning is right. However…”

  A sharp stare came at me from the round lens reflecting the moonlight, and the tall and thin craftsman continued on in a monotonous tone.

  “What if that ring wasn’t kept inside the storage? In other words, what if it was materialized as an object and equipped on Griselda’s finger…?”

  “Ahh…”

  Asuna let out a slight sound.

  I, who was stumped by this unexpected question, could only let out such a similar empty voice. It’s true that in this incident had many aspects that I didn’t consider as well.

  A player with equipment materialized as objects would definitely drop these equipment whether they were killed by monsters or other players, without exception. If Griselda was equipped with that ring, it wouldn’t be transferred over to Grimlock’s storage, but land in the killer’s hand. This kind of reasoning is valid as well.

  Did he realize that the tide has changed? Grimlock’s lips curled up slightly, but that expression soon vanished. The blacksmith used his right hand to hold his forehead up and shaked his head sadly.

  “…Griselda was a speed-type swordsman. It’s not unlikely for her to try out the high agility boost of the ring before she sold it, right? Listen up, when she was killed, everything she had did indeed come to me, but the ring wasn’t there. That’s how it is, Mr Detective.”

  I subconsciously gritted my teeth. I tried to find a way to refute Grimlock’s claim, but if I wanted to prove that Griselda was equipped with a ring or not, I’ll probably need the criminal who actually killed her —— probably some member of Laughing Coffin.

  Upon seeing me remain speechless, Grimlock raised his hat slightly, looked at the other four people around, and bowed curtly.

  “Then, I’ll take my leave. It’s a pity that you weren’t able to find out the mastermind behind Griselda’s murder, but even Schmitt’s remorse alone would be enough to let her soul be at peace.”

  As we faced the back of the craftsman who pulled his hat down and turned around neatly——

  It was as if a certain strong feeling was hidden in her serenity as Yoruko simply said,

  “Please wait…no, hold it right there, Grimlock.”

  The man who stopped turned his face slightly. The seemingly gentle eyes under the glasses suddenly gave an annoyed look.

  “Is there something else? If it’s just a baseless accusation out of emotions, that can’t be considered. To me, this place is sacred ground.”

  Grimlock said this with an arrogant and fluid tone, and Yoruko stepped forward.

  Is she about to do something? She looked at the white hands that were raised to her chest, and then again looked forward. Those deep blue eyes were giving a glow of strength I had never seen till now.

  “Grimlock, you just said that the leader equipped the ring, so it wasn’t transferred to you, but taken away by the killer. But…that’s impossible.”

  “…How? What proof do you have?”

  Yoruko watched Grimlock turn around slowly, and said with a harsher tone,

  “When we got that ring drop, the guild members were all discussing about what to do, remember? Caynz, Schmitt and I were opposed to selling the ring because we thought we should increase the strength of the guild. At that moment, Caynz really wanted to use it for himself, but said that he wanted to let the leader use it —— the strongest swordsman in the «Golden Apple» was the leader, so it was best for her to use it.”

  Right beside Yoruko, Caynz showed an awkward expression. But Yoruko didn’t mind at all as she continued to say with action.

  “As for those words, I could still remember every single word the leader said. That person smiled as she said this —— in SAO, one hand can only be equipped with one ring. My right hand is equipped with the seal of the guild leader, and…the marriage ring on my left hand can’t be removed, so I can’t use it. DID YOU HEAR THAT!? IT’S IMPOSSIBLE FOR HER TO TAKE OFF EITHER OF THESE TWO RINGS AND TRY THE ABILITY OF THIS RARE RING, IMPOSSIBLE!”

  The moment the sharp words rang, everyone present, including me, gasped.

  It’s true that on the main menu equip figure, there are one each on both the left and right hands. If both of them were taken up, it’s impossible to equip a new ring. However——

  This reasoning was still too weak.

  It’s like my thoughts were heard as Grimlock said softly.

  “I thought you wanted to say something. ‘Impossible’? If you really want to say this, how about you say this? ——I, who’s married to Griselda, would never hurt or kill her. What you just said was a baseless accusation.”

  “No.”

  Yoruko responded with a very soft voice. I held my breath to watch this petite female player, and she slowly shook her head violently.

  “No, that’s not it. I have proof…the killer who killed the leader felt that the items that were dropped were worthless and left them at the scene. Luckily, a player who knew the leader’s name found these items and sent the leftover items over to the guild home. That’s why we used this place…used this tombstone as the grave. At that time, we put her sword at this tombstone, and let it disappear as the durability wore out. Bu…but that’s not all. I even buried something…something she left behind that I never mentioned before.”

  After saying that, Yoruko turn around and knelt down beside the small tombstone and started digging with her hand. As everyone watched silently, Yoruko finally stood up and handed the object over for everyone to see. It was a glossy silver box that shone under the moonlight.

  “Ah…«Eternal Storage Trinket»…!”

  It was just like what Asuna said. What Yoruko took out was a storage box that only a master-class craftsman could make to preserve the durability of an item. It was a cuboid that was 10cm in size, so it couldn’t store large items. However, it can store a few things that were the size of accessories. Even when placed in the wilderness, the durability will never drop, and the items wouldn’t disappear on their own.

  Yoruko reached out her left hand and opened the lid of the silver box.

  What lay on the white silk were two glowing rings.

  Yoruko first took out one of them—a larger silver ring. At the flat surface of the ring, there was a mark of an apple on it.

  “This is the thing the leader always equipped on the middle finger of her right hand, the seal of the «Golden Apple». I kept the same thing too, so you can tell once you compare them.”

  After putting it back, she took out another one —— a long and thin
ring that glowed golden.

  “And this —— is the wedding ring she would always wear on the left ring finger, you know, Grimlock! Your name is clearly engraved on it too!…These two rings were at the same place —— THAT’S THE UNSHAKEABLE PROOF THAT THE LEADER WAS WEARING THEM EVEN AS SHE WAS TAKEN OUT OF THE AREA AND KILLED! ISN’T IT!? IF NOT, TRY ARGUING BACK!!”

  At the end, she was screaming hysterically in tears.

  A large number of tears flowed down Yoruko’s cheeks, and she reached her hand with the golden ring out for Grimlock to see.

  At this moment, nobody spoke up. Caynz, Schmitt, Asuna and I could only watch both of them in their confrontation with our eyes widened.

  The tall and thin craftsman’s lips were still curled as he remained there for more than 10 seconds. Finally, the lips trembled slightly before opening up.

  “That ring…I think it was during the funeral when you asked me, Yoruko, whether I wanted to take Griselda’s wedding ring. I answered that we should let it disappear naturally with the sword. If at that moment…I said I wanted to take it away…”

  Grimlock lowered his head deeply and buried his face inside the hat, collapsing onto the ground as if the strings controlling his tall body had snapped.

  Yoruko placed the golden ring back into the box, closed the lid and held the box tightly before looking up at the sky with her twisted teary face, saying with a voice that had lost its sharpness.

  “…Why…just why, Grimlock. Why, did you really want to snatch the ring to exchange it for money, and kill the leader…your own wife, for the sake of that?”

  “…Money? Did you say money?”

  As he continued to kneel, Grimlock said with a hoarse voice, and then started laughing.

  He raised his left hand, summoned the menu window, and after a short time of operating, what appeared as an object was a leather bag that’s just slightly big. Grimlock grabbed it and threw it onto the ground. Amidst the heavy sound, there are some clear metallic sounds in them. From this, I could deduce that the bag had a large amount of money.