“Here you go. Merry Christmas!”
She smiled and held them out to me. I had no choice but to thank her and accept them.
The golden bull on red?
Or the orange bear on black?
While I grappled with the ultimate decision, Asuna changed into her white one-piece swimsuit and pushed open the clouded glass door at the back of the room, only to let out a cry of wonder just as grand as any she’d emitted in Rovia.
I scurried over, shorts still in hand, and peered over her back. Even I had to grunt in amazement.
The size of the bath chamber was the same as in the beta, but it had received a considerable visual upgrade. The tiles in the floor were an ivory white so pure one could see through them. The bath in the back was made of the horizontally lined ebony basalt that surrounded the lake, but polished to a perfect sheen. It was indeed about as large as a pool.
The gold faucet set into the wall was pouring out a considerable waterfall of water that filled the tub already, gently cascading over the lip and onto the tile floor. Even better, the western and southern walls of the chamber were made of glass, offering a huge vista of the lake and the falling snow. There were no elves in the bath before us—it must have been too early to bathe.
“I’m in first!”
Asuna trotted over the tiles in her bare feet toward the massive tub. I watched the wide-open back of her swimsuit go as I hung back at the entrance. With one last glare each at the red and black shorts, I opened up my menu.
With two presses of the UNEQUIP ALL button, I placed the black shorts in my bottom underwear slot, stuck the red shorts in my inventory, then raced after my partner, who was standing at the edge of the tub.
With an enormous leap, I launched myself over her and landed into the bath first, sending up a huge spout of water. The last thing I heard before the water was a strangled yelp.
“Fgyack!”
Several minutes later, Asuna’s mood had recovered. She was sitting in the southwest corner of the tub, looking at the night lake below.
“It’s amazing…The water of the bath and the surface of the lake melt together so that it looks like we’re floating in the sky…”
Now that she said it, the sight did resemble that image. I just gazed out at the stunning view.
“You know what they call these pools that look like they connect to the ocean or a lake? Infinity edge pools. You find them at resorts and places like that overseas.”
“Ooh…Infinity edge kind of sounds like a sword skill,” I said tactlessly.
She giggled. “You’re right. Probably a dagger skill.”
“No, I’d say rapier.”
The conversation seemed light and harmless, but I was actually using all of my concentration and effort to keep my gaze fixed on the lake outside.
How could I be blamed? Just a few feet to the left, a pretty girl in a white bathing suit was lying facedown and stretching her long legs out to float in the water. No matter how far back I dredged up my real-life memories, there was nothing that featured me alone with a girl in a heated pool like this.
The eerie floating sensation helped give the scene a powerful tinge of unreality. I sat there, pointlessly counting the snowflakes falling outside, when I heard the sound of a door opening far behind us.
Asuna promptly sank into the water up to her mouth. I turned around and stared at the entrance to the bathing chamber.
There was a thin silhouette approaching beyond the floating steam, but I couldn’t tell if it was male or female. I kept staring until a yellow cursor finally appeared, and I heard a familiar female voice.
“So here you two are.”
Oh, it’s just Kizmel, I thought with relief.
In the next instant, Asuna’s hand shot like lightning to the top of my head, clenching my hair and forcing me down under the water. She used that boost to leap out of the tub and run over to Kizmel.
I popped my head half out of the water, feeling aggrieved, only to see Asuna trying to push Kizmel back through the steam. I couldn’t tell what they were murmuring about from here, but within moments they were both retreating to the changing room for some reason.
Before I could make up my mind whether to join them or wait here, the door opened again, and they returned to the bathing hall. Asuna looked smug again in her white one-piece, while Kizmel wore a purple bikini over her dusky skin.
That was when I finally understood why Asuna jumped out of the bath. She intercepted Kizmel in a totally defenseless state and convinced her to go back so she could wear one of Asuna’s handmade swimsuits.
The Dark Elf followed Asuna into the tub and made her way over to me, sitting on the edge of the tub.
“So you are wearing your underwear…I mean, ‘swemsoot’ too, Kirito. Humankind certainly has some strange customs.”
“Uh, I guess,” I grunted.
A faint smile played over her lips. “But I seem to remember that in the camp’s bathing tent, you were—”
“G-gosh, what a huge bath this is, though!” I shouted, cutting her off. I kept going, ignoring Asuna’s suspicious glare. “If it’s this big in the fourth-floor castle, I can only imagine how big the bathing chamber is in the queen’s castle on the ninth floor!”
“But of course. It is located much higher up than this one, with a view of the entire ninth floor,” Kizmel explained. Asuna’s pointed stare melted into that of a dreaming young girl. Kizmel turned to her and looked apologetic.
“But I’m afraid that only the noble officials and the queen’s sworn knights can use it. Sadly, it may not be possible for humankind to enter…”
“Oh, I see…But this bath is quite wonderful itself. I almost wish I could live in this castle forever,” Asuna responded
The Dark Elf knight smiled again, then looked downward, her long eyelashes laid over her cheeks. She scooped up some of the water in her hand and shook her head. “I am happy that you like this castle…but it is best not to stay for too long.”
“Huh…? Why?”
“As you’ve seen, Yofel Castle is an impenetrable fortress surrounded by lake water and cliffs on all sides. From time immemorial, it has never fallen to an attack by goblins, orcs, or even Forest Elves.”
She paused for a moment. I lifted my face fully out of the water to ask, “Isn’t that a good thing? We went to all that trouble to recover the Jade Key on the third floor, and now it’s safe and sound in here, right?”
“Yes…but because of its safety, the troops stationed here are too lax. They’ve driven back Forest Elf attacks enough, but the Forest Elves have their fortress on land and have barely any ships. Winning every time through an easy advantage causes one’s skills and heart to go soft.”
The slight irritation I heard in her voice poked at something in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t remember what it was.
Kizmel kicked at the surface of the water with her long, shapely leg, then murmured unhappily, “On top of that, the priests demand no metal armor within the castle grounds, as they find the noise unpleasant. With people like that around, it’s no wonder that things around here are getting soft…”
“And that’s why you’ve been in a dress this whole time,” Asuna noted.
The knight grimaced and nodded. “It looks silly on me, doesn’t it?”
“Not at all. But…it’s best to wear what you like. I wonder if they would yell at us, too, if we had plate armor.”
“Most likely. No need to test your theory.”
“Good idea.”
They giggled like sisters. Meanwhile, I was trying to pull that thorn out of my memory.
Long ago, how would the Forest Elves, with their lack of ships, have tried to send a great host of troops to seize the impenetrable Yofel Castle? If they actually used the inner-tube fruit, I wouldn’t mind seeing that.
However, this meant that if the Forest Elves did indeed acquire an adequate number of ships, the castle’s defenses might not be prepared. But the Forest Elves probably had thei
r own taboo about taking living wood, so they couldn’t arrange for so many ships at once…
“Oh!”
At last, the thorn that blocked my thoughts fell out, and I exclaimed in shock. I stood up with a splash and pressed myself against the glass wall behind me, looking down at the lake surrounding the castle.
The lake, glowing white in the darkness thanks to the snow piling up on the ice, looked otherwise normal. But at this very moment, enough ships to support an army were under construction on the other side of the floor. In the Fallen Elves’ hideout.
“Wh-what’s wrong, Kirito?” Asuna said. I snapped around to face her.
“Asuna, today’s the twenty-fourth, right?!”
“Obviously,” she snapped, omitting the follow-up “It’s Christmas Eve.”
I nodded vigorously. It was two days earlier that we’d overheard the conversation between General N’ltzahh and foreman Eddhu—the twenty-second. They’d said that the plan would go into motion in five days. That meant the twenty-seventh…three days from now.
Calculations complete, I turned to Kizmel, too locked in to bother drinking in the sight of her in the bikini.
“W-we’ve got trouble, Kizmel. I’m almost positive that the Forest Elves are going to attack this castle in three days with an entire army.”
The Dark Elf knight’s fine eyebrows tensed.
“I told you earlier, Kirito. The Forest Elves hardly have any ships, and they cannot bring others down through the spirit tree. Even if they tried to swim to this shore, our ships would scatter them in moments.”
“That’s the thing…”
I stopped, unsure of how to explain, but Asuna filled the gap with a gasp.
“Oh…! Are you saying the Fallen aren’t going to attack Rovia…but here?!”
“What? You’ve seen the Fallen on this floor?!” Kizmel demanded, rising from the edge of the tub. We both nodded, then took turns explaining everything that had led to this, starting with the suspicious ship we spotted in Rovia.
After a good ten minutes of explanation, the sound of the quest advancement notification sounded, and the log window opened to show that part three of the “Shipwright of Yore” quest had finished. Meaning that the “appropriate person” we were meant to alert was someone in the Dark Elf forces…in our case, Kizmel.
A considerable experience point bonus bumped me up to level 17 and Asuna to 16, but we didn’t have time to celebrate. Kizmel stood up and said sharply, “We can’t be relaxing here! You two, come with me!”
After a very rushed change of clothes, we were taken to the fifth floor of the castle, which I’d barely visited in the beta.
Two armed guards stood outside the large chamber door just to the right at the top of the stairs. With a determined glance from the elite knight, they both backed away quickly.
On the other side of the door was a very large office. But the windows were all covered with curtains, making the room unnaturally dark. We crossed the room, taking care not to trip on the much thicker rug here, then stopped before a heavy desk in the very back.
The ten-foot-wide desk was made of polished blackwood. As the elves could only fashion wood that had fallen naturally, this must be enormously valuable. With that in mind, I looked carefully at the figure seated on the other side.
A lamp on top of the desk cast flickering light on a half-written parchment and ink bottle, but for some reason, the light did not reach beyond the desk. I stared hard into the thick darkness enveloping the silhouette until a color cursor popped up bright against the black.
It read YOFILIS: DARK ELVEN VISCOUNT. What the heck was a viscount?
While I stood wondering, Kizmel performed the Dark Elf salute of right fist to left breast.
“Viscount Yofilis, pardon my interruption. I have an urgent matter that requires your attention.”
After a pause, a voice returned from the darkness.
“Before I hear your report, may I ask why you have two humans with you, Kizmel?”
It was a flat voice that could be taken as young or brittle. But I couldn’t tell if it was even male or female in the moment.
“Ah…”
Kizmel lowered her head to bow again, and I took a step forward and performed the same salute. The scroll with the details was in my belt pouch, so I produced it and ceremoniously handed it over the desk.
A slender hand extended from the darkness to take the scroll. With the trace of a finger, the seal evaporated, and the parchment fell open.
“…Ahh. I see, you are the ones who helped us recover the first key. I suppose it wouldn’t do to feed you to the lake fish, then.”
I couldn’t tell if that last part was meant to be a joke or not. Viscount Yofilis put the scroll into a drawer on the other side of the desk.
You’re not giving it back?! That’s our identification inside the castle!
But my panic lasted only a moment. The viscount pulled something else out of the same drawer and held it out. I quickly put out my cupped hands and caught two rings. They were of delicate silver make, marked with the familiar sigil of horn and scimitar.
“Wear those, and you will not be harried by the soldiers of Lyusula. Assuming you do not betray our patronage, of course,” the viscount warned. I bowed deeply and backed up next to Asuna.
The two rings were identical. I handed one to my partner and put the other on my left index finger. Despite my avatar having ten fingers, SAO only allowed one ring to be equipped on either hand. I already had a ring of +1 to strength on my right hand, a reward from a third-floor quest, so this used up all of my ring potential.
I resisted the urge to rudely check the properties of the brand-new ring and listened in on Yofilis and Kizmel’s conversation.
“So, Kizmel. What is this report you have?”
“My lord, according to the human warriors Kirito and Asuna, our sworn foe, General N’ltzahh of the Fallen Elves is on this floor.”
A moment later, the viscount’s extended hand rapped the blackwood desk.
“…Ahh. This is indeed important tidings.”
I figured that this conversation was all a preprogrammed part of the campaign questline, but I couldn’t help but shiver as it felt like the temperature in the room dropped several degrees.
“What is that villain plotting this time?”
“Well…it seems that the Fallen have made a serious deal with the Forest Elves,” Kizmel began, and summed up the important points of what we’d told her in the bath.
The great volume of ships being built in the Fallen Elves’ hideout. The likelihood that the Forest Elves would use those ships to attack Yofel Castle in three days. Their target, the Jade Key being stored in the castle.
“I see…and do you know the number of ships the Fallen are building?” Yofilis asked Kizmel. She looked at me. I quickly snapped to attention and thought back to the image of the mountain of wooden boxes in the underground storeroom.
In all honesty, I had no idea how much lumber each box represented or how much was necessary to build a boat. But in that warehouse event, Asuna and I had managed to squeeze into a single box. That had to be a hint. In simple terms, one box would be required for a small two-seat boat. That would mean five boxes for the large ten-man ships moored outside the castle. And there were at least fifty boxes stacked into that storeroom, so…
“…I believe they are building at least ten ships capable of transporting ten soldiers each.”
Yofilis’s right hand rapped the surface of the desk again.
“Hmm. We have eight ten-man ships at the castle. And they will attack with more than that?”
“My lord, I do not doubt the mettle of the castle’s troops…but should we not transport the first and second keys up to a higher floor?” Kizmel suggested. The viscount did not respond at first, but rapped on the desk more before speaking up.
“…There is merit to Kizmel’s proposal. We cannot afford for the keys to be stolen again. But the duty of the people of Lyusula has always
been to ensure the six keys are spread apart, so they might not be gathered. If we send the first and second keys to the next floor up, they will join the third. This is not a desirable outcome…”
Kizmel nodded. An uncomfortably heavy silence descended, only to be broken at last by Asuna.
“Er, my lord? What happens if the six keys are gathered together?” she asked bluntly. I stiffened up, but I wanted to know the answer, too. In the beta, I was too focused on finding and chasing down the keys, but the actual story behind them was never made clear.
Kizmel turned around first and hastily started, “Asuna, that’s not—”
But the viscount’s hand from the darkness cut her off.
“It is fine, Kizmel. I shall explain…but I cannot answer your question, human warrior. Even as the latest viscount of Yofilis, a line extending back before the Great Separation, I only know a small part of the legend surrounding the keys. The only person who knows the entire truth is our queen. No…”
The viscount trailed off and delivered such a heavy sigh that I almost couldn’t believe this was still part of the campaign quest story event.
“It might be true that even Her Majesty does not know the real truth.”
“But Viscount Yofilis,” Kizmel started, her voice hard.
The viscount raised a hand in apology. “No, forgive me for saying that. Human warrior, this is all I can tell you. The people of Lyusula believe that if the six secret keys are gathered, allowing the door of the Sanctuary to be opened, terrible ruin will come to Aincrad. Meanwhile, our ancient enemies, the Forest Elves of Kales’Oh, have a different interpretation. They believe that opening the Sanctuary will return all the floors of Aincrad to their original locations on the surface and restore the great magic to the elves.”
“Ah…!”
Both Asuna and I grunted in surprise.
Return Aincrad to the surface.
As Kirito the VRMMO gamer who lived in real life, I assumed that was completely impossible. The hundred floors of Aincrad, which were up to six miles across each, represented a tremendous amount of data. The idea that those hundred floors might be laid out side by side into an even larger map that held them all was preposterous. Now that we were trapped inside the game of death, the producers of the game, Argus, had no doubt gone out of business, the servers under the supervision of the police.