Sword Art Online - Volume 8 - Early and Late

  A few minutes later, I pushed my finished bowl of noodles to a corner of the table, and then looked at the man opposite me before saying,

  “…Then, leader-dono. Any inspiration?”

  “…”

  Heathcliff, who finished the soup before putting down his bowl, stared at a picture that looked like kanji at the bottom of the bowl,

  “…This isn’t ramen. Definitely not.”

  “Un, I feel the same.”

  “Then, I’ll give you an answer of value equivalent to this bowl of fake ramen.”

  Tak. He lifted his head and put down the wash-free chopsticks.

  “…Through the current information, I can’t conclude «exactly what happened». But I can say this —— listen up…in this case, the only clues you can consider ‘absolutely reliable’ are what you saw or heard first-hand.”

  “…? What does that mean…?”

  Heathcliff used those brass-like eyes to stare at Asuna and I who were sitting side by side, and then said,

  “It means…what you see and hear in Aincrad are all digital databases that can be converted to processes. There are no such thing as illusions or hallucinations here. On the other hand, all sort of information that aren’t data will have some possibility of illusion or lies. If you want to track this killer…«Inner area incident», you can only trust in your own eyes and ears. In other words, your brains have to collect the data directly.”

  Heathcliff finally said ‘thanks for the treat, Kirito-kun’, and stood up.

  I pondered about what this mysterious swordsman said and got up, telling the shop owner ‘we’re full’, and slipping through the door to leave.

  ‘Why does that kind of shop exist’. Heathcliff, who was in front of me, muttered these words that entered my ears softly.

  As the leader-dono seemed to merge into the maze-like streets and disappear, I turned to Asuna, who was standing beside me, and asked her,

  “…Do you understand what he just said?”

  “…Un.”

  On seeing her nod, I can’t help but get the ‘as expected of sub-leader’ thought.

  “Yeah…anyway, what was just served was ‘Tokyo-style ramen without soy sauce’, which caused such a half-baked taste.”

  “Huh?”

  “I’ve decided. One day, I’m going to make soy sauce. Or else I think this insatiable feeling seems like it will never disappear.”

  “…Is that so. Do your best then…”

  I nodded and snarked back with “THAT’S NOT WHAT I’M ASKING HERE!”

  “Eh? Kirito-kun? What did you just say?”

  “Sorry for bringing you here to eat something so weird. It’s my fault, so please hurry up and forget about it. What I was asking just now is, that Heathcliff just said some enlightening-like words. What do they mean?”

  “Ahh…”

  This time, Asuna definitely nodded and answered me,

  “He means, don’t believe second-hand information you heard from others completely. In this situation, he’s talking about the motive…the «Golden Apple» guild’s rare ring incident.”

  “Ehh~?”

  I can’t help but moan.

  “So you’ve been suspecting Yoruko-san? It’s true that those words were completely baseless…but, didn’t you just say it just now, Asuna? It’s meaningless to doubt what she said without saying what’s true and what’s not, right?”

  In the end, Asuna glanced at me for some reason, and then quickly looked away before nodding a few times.

  “We-well, I did say that. But, it’s just like the leader said. There are really too few methods to conclude which PK method was used. In that case, why don’t we ask someone else who is involved? If we suddenly mention the ring, he might even tense up and reveal some information.”

  “Eh? Who are you talking about?”

  “The one who took that spear away from you, of course.”

  Part 6

  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’s 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 Yoruko-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. Cline, Egil 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 f
eel 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 Army», 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 Dragon 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 Yoruko were together. There was no point in hiding Yoruko’s name now.

  “Yoruko-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 Yoruko 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,