“Alice……”
When Kirito called out in a small voice, the wicker basket in her right hand fell down due to the rough pulling. The lid opened, and its contents rolled out onto the stone pavement.
The two villagers pulled Alice, without letting her pick it up, toward the Integrity Knight.
Eugeo’s stare was fixed on the wicker basket which was lying on its side.
Pie and hard bread were wrapped in a white cloth, small ice firmly filled the gaps. A piece of ice which had spilled out reflected the sunlight and shone brilliantly. In just a moment, the ice on the stone’s surface, which was heated by the sunlight, immediately melted, turning into a small black spot.
Beside him, Kirito inhaled sharply.
As expected, he lifted his face and chased Alice’s back, which was being pulled away. Eugeo also clenched his teeth, forcing his stiff legs to follow his partner.
The two men released Alice’s arms beside the village chief, then moved a few steps backward before kneeling. Both their hands were clasped as they bowed down deeply, showing obedience to the knight.
Alice, who had been released, looked at her father with a pale face. Gasupht glanced at his beloved daughter briefly before turning away and looking downward once more.
The Integrity Knight nodded lightly before pulling an odd tool out from the back of his armor. It was a thick iron chain with three leather belts attached to it in parallel, there was a big loop at the tip of the chain.
The knight handed the tool to Gasupht.
“An order to the village chief. Bind the criminal.”
“…………”
As the village chief received the restraining tool as his confused gaze lowered, before Kirito and Eugeo finally arrived in front of the knight. The knight’s headpiece moved slowly, before facing straight at them.
Eugeo was unable to see anything inside the cross shaped cut on the shiny visor, as it was wrapped in deep darkness, but the pressure from the gaze caused him to feel pain. He looked down reflexively, wanting to say something to Alice who stood in front of him, but unable to do so, as his throat felt like it was burning.
Kirito also faced downwards, like Eugeo, while taking shallow breaths repeatedly, then suddenly he lifted his face and shouted in a clear voice while he was still trembling.
“Knight-sama!!”
He inhaled deeply once, and continued,
“A……Alice didn’t enter the Dark Territory! One of her hands merely touched the ground briefly! It was just that!”
However, the answer from the knight was simple,
“Is there any need of further acts?”
Along with those words, he waved his hand to the two kneeling men. The villagers stood up and grabbed the back of Kirito and Yujio necks, before starting to pull them away. While opposing them, Kirito shouted again,
“Th……Then, we also commited the same sin!! We were at the same place! If you’re going to take her, then take us too!!”
However, the Integrity Knight no longer looked at them.
That’s right…… If Alice committed the Taboo, then I should receive the same punishment. Eugeo thought so. He thought that from the bottom of his heart.
Then why won’t my voice come out? I want to shout like Kirito, but my mouth feels like it has forgotten how to move, all it can do is spit out husky breaths.
Alice glanced and turned to look at them, It’s alright. She smiled like that, and nodded.
Her father, who had lost his facial expression, turned the threatening restraint tool behind her slim body. He tightened the three leather belts at her shoulder, abdomen, and waist. Alice’s face distorted just slightly. After he finished tightening the metal fixtures, he staggered a few steps backward, and looked down once more. The knight walked toward Alice, before grabbing the end of the chain dangling behind her back.
Eugeo and Kirito were pulled back to the center of the square, then forcefully pushed down on their knees.
Kirito put his mouth near Eugeo’s ear while he pretended to stagger, and quickly whispered,
“Eugeo…… listen, I’ll use this axe to attack the Integrity Knight. I should be able to buy a few seconds, you use that chance to take Alice and run away. Run to the wheat fields in the south, blend into the gap in the fields and go into the forest, you won’t be easily seen that way.
After Eugeo glanced at the Dragon Bone Axe Kirito held, he was somehow able to squeeze out his voice,
“……Ki…… Kirito…… but…”
Yesterday, haven’t you already seen the Integrity Knight’s terrifying sword and bow skills? If you do something like that, he’ll kill you immediately…… just like that black knight.
As if he could read Eugeo’s thoughts, who was unable to speak, Kirito continued,
“It’s alright, that knight didn’t execute Alice right here. Probably, without an interrogation first, he can’t just kill me. I’ll find a chance to escape too. Also……”
Kirito’s burning gaze was directed at the Integrity Knight, who was confirming the tightness of the restraint tool. Each time he pulled the leather belts, Alice face became distorted in pain.
“……Also, it’s fine even if we fail. As long as we are taken along with Alice, there must be a chance for us to escape. But right now, if Alice is taken alone on the flying dragon, there is no more hope.”
“That’s……”
That’s probably right.
But —— such a reckless idea which can’t even be considered a plan, isn’t it «Treason against the Church»? The Taboo Index, first clause, first passage, first paragraph, defined it as, the greatest sin——
“Eugeo…… is there any need for hesitation!? Who cares if it’s Taboo!? Is that more important than Alice’s life!?”
Kirito’s low but tense voice hit Eugeo’s earlobe.
Right. It’s just as he said.
Inside Eugeo’s heart, he shouted to himself,
——We three had decided that we would be together from birth till death. Working together, so that one could live for the sake of the other two, we did vow that.
Then, there’s no reason to hesitate. The Axiom Church and Alice, which is more important? That answer is already decided. It’s already decided. That is —— that is ——
“Eugeo…… what are you thinking, Eugeo!!”
A voice which now sounded like a shriek leaked out from Kirito.
Alice was watching at the two. She shook her head with a worried face.
“That is…… that…… is……”
A hoarse voice leaked from his throat, as if it wasn’t his own.
However, he couldn’t finish his words. Even inside his head, he couldn’t form the rest of the words. Zukin, a sharp pain ran up his right eye. The continuous throbbing pain interfered with his thinking. Zukin, zukin, a blood-like color spread in his vision, covered everything altogether, as the senses from his limbs faded.
At this time, the village chief had noticed the unusual event occurring, caused by the two of them. He slowly moved his arm, and ordered the two villagers standing behind the two,
“Take those children out of the square.”
Immediately after that, Eugeo and Kirito’s napes were grabbed and dragged backward.
“Damn…… let go!! ——Village chief!! Gasupht-ojisan! Is this alright!? Is it alright to let Alice be taken away like this!!?”
Kirito struggled as if he went insane, shook off the man’s hands, readied the axe in his hand, preparing to charge in.
However, his feet, which wore simple leather boots, couldn’t even make a single step forward. Before he could start running, something surprising had occurred.
The moment the Integrity Knight, who had finished confirming the leather belts on Alice, glanced at Kirito, the Dragon Bone Axe which was held in a tight grip made a sharp metallic sound before flipping out of his hands. The knight touched neither the sword on his waist nor the bow on his back. He didn’t move even a single finger. It w
as as if his intention itself formed a real blade and hit Kirito’s axe, sending it flying to the edge of the square.
Kirito who had received the aftereffects from the unusual impact also had his body suppressed as he collapsed. Immediately, several men joined in and completely sealed his movements.
His right cheek was pressed against the stone pavement, while he gave off an expression of pain, Kirito desperately shouted,
“Eugeo! Please, go!!”
“A……u, a……”
Eugeo’s whole body trembled.
Go. I have to go. I have to take Alice back from the knight’s hand, then escape to the southern forest.
A faint voice echoed from a corner of his mind. But immediately, a sharp pain attacked his right eye as if it was stabbed, blowing off all his intentions. Together with the pulsing red light, another voice noisily reverberated like a cracked bell.
The Axiom Church is absolue. The Taboo Index is absolute. Disobeying it isn’t allowed. No one is allowed to do so.
“Eugeo, at least get these guys off me!! Then I can……!!”
The Integrity Knight paid no more attention to the commotion at the square, he set the end of the chain to the saddle on the back of the flying dragon. As the dragon lowered its neck, the knight effortlessly climbed into the saddle. The silver armor gleamed brightly.
“Eugeo————!!”
Kirito screamed as he was vomiting blood.
The white flying dragon raised its body, and spread open its wings. The loud sound rang twice, thrice.
Alice, who was bound to the dragon’s saddle, looked straight at Eugeo. She was smiling. As if she was saying ‘Goodbye,’ with those blue pupils of hers. Her long golden hair shook from the wind caused by the flapping wings, glittering as brilliantly as the knight’s armor.
However, Eugeo couldn’t move. He couldn’t make a sound.
As if his legs were rooted to the ground, he couldn’t even move slightly.
Prologue II
June 2026
Part 1
While taking a gulp of iced milk coffee, enjoying the mellow fragrance while slowly sending it into her throat, Asada Shino let out a long sigh.
She was watching a vague scene of colorful umbrellas passing by through the old-fashioned glass window. She disliked rain, but sitting on the table seat in this coffee shop, which was like a back alley hideout, and watching the grey view of the damp street couldn’t get her into a bad mood. The furniture in the shop had no indication of technology, and a nostalgic scent from the kitchen inside the counter gave her an illusion, like falling into a border between the real world and virtual world. It was as if the school class just an hour ago was an event from a different world.
“It falls quite a lot, doesn’t it.”
It took a little while before she realized the baritone voice coming from over the counter was directed at her. Of course that was certain, as there was no other customer. Directing her gaze toward the café au lait colored skin master, who was carefully polishing a glass, Shino answered:
“Yes, it’s the rainy season after all. It seems it will continue to rain until tomorrow.”
“I’m certain that this is the Undine mages’ actions.”
The scary faced giant issued the words with a red face, before inadvertently making a bitter smile.
“……When you tell a joke, it will lose its effect if you make a face like that, Agil-san.”
“Mu……”
The scene of the coffee shop and bar, «Dicey Caf黑s shopkeeper Agil groping his brows and mouth for ‘a face like that’, seemed like it could make children immediately start to cry, Shino who was watching it let out a slight laugh. She then quickly brought the glass to her mouth and gulped down some coffee.
How would he interpret Shino’s reaction? Right after Agil made an intense frightful face in a satisfying manner, the doorbell rang. The new customer stopped moving just as he walked one step into the shop and saw the master’s face, then shook his head before saying,
“……Hey Agil, if you greet the customers with that face every time, surely this shop go out of business very soon.”
“I-It’s not. That was a special favor used for jokes.”
“……No, that’s also wrong.”
As he was disproving Agil, he put his umbrella into the whiskey barrel near the door before looking at Shino and raising his right hand.
“Otsu.”
“You’re late.”
She frowned a little as she responded, the person she was expecting —— Kirigaya Kazuto shrank his neck before making an excuse,
“Sorry, I haven’t taken a train for quite some time now……”
He sat on the opposite side of Shino, then undid a button of his open-collared shirt.
“You didn’t come on your bike today?”
“I don’t want to ride it through the rain…… Agil, Caffè Shakerato for me.”
Shino looked at the relaxed Kazuto who had ordered an unfamiliar drink, his neck was as thin as his avatar in the virtual world, his face also couldn’t be said to be healthy.
“……Aren’t you too thin? You should eat more.”
Shino said frowning, but Kazuto just waved his hand.
“From here on it would go back to my standard body weight anyway. But from Friday until Sunday, it would drop again……”
“Training on the mountain?”
“No, nothing but sleep.”
“Then why did you get thinner?”
“Not drinking and eating at all.”
“……Hah? Are you aiming for enlightenment?”
Shino tilted her head as she was unable to understand the meaning of his words, at that moment, a light click-clack sound could be heard from the counter. What she saw was the master who handled the silvery shaker with splendid hands movement, mismatched with his big frame —— but saying it that way might be rude. As Shino watched while thinking that, Agil gently poured the contents of the shaker into a wide coupe glass, before putting it on a tray and carrying it out.
The glass which was placed in front of Kazuto contained a light brown liquid topped with smooth brown foam.
“This is the Caffè…… something or other you ordered just now?”
Shino asked, Kazuto then slid the glass with his fingertips toward her. ‘Itadakimasu,’ she lifted up the glass as she muttered, and put it at her lips. The texture of the thick creamy foam, the refreshing chill, and the coffee aroma visiting in turn, after swallowing, the magnificent sweet aftertaste still softly persisted. It was worlds different from the iced café au lait that could be bought at the school’s vending machine.
“…………It’s very good.”
As Shino muttered, Agil made a satisfied look before hitting his thick upper arm.
“Without these fantastic bartender arms, it wouldn’t be that creamy.”
“Can’t stop boasting about your skill level ever since coming back to reality, huh. Leaving that aside, Agil, what’s this smell?”
Kazuto asked as the smell stimulated his nose, the shopkeeper cleared his throat and answered,
“Boston-style baked beans. These fantastic arms of rock……”
“Heh―, a taste of your wife’s hometown, huh? Then I’ll take that.”
Agil, who was interrupted mid-speech, walked away with his lips in a へ shape; Kazuto recovered the glass in front of Shino, then took a gulp. He exhaled, corrected his posture on the chair, before looking straight ahead.
“…………How is he now?”
She understood the meaning of the sudden question right away. However, Shino didn’t reply immediately, she seized the glass from Kazuto’s hand again, this time she took a bigger gulp. As the smooth cream passed down her throat, the rich fragrance escaped to her nose. That stimulus reconnected the fragmented thoughts in her mind, changed them into a short words,
“Yeah…… He seemed to have calmed down quite a lot.”
Half a year ago, in 2025, the «Death G
un» incident occurred.
One of the three perpetrators at that time was also Shino’s only friend, Shinkawa Kyouji, had received an exception after the lengthy trial of the juvenile case, he was transferred to be imprisoned at a juvenile rehabilitation facility last month.
During the trial, he had remained stubbornly silent, even the psychiatric examination performed by an expert couldn’t make him open his mouth; however, a day about six months after the incident, he started to agree to the counselor’s queries, bit by bit. Shino could vaguely guess the reason for that. Six months —— or one hundred and eighty days, was the retention period of the unpaid fee in the VRMMO game «Gun Gale Online». Once that period had passed, Shinkawa Kyouji’s other self, or it could be said his true self «Spiegel» would disappear from the GGO server, which led Kyouji to be prepared to finally face reality.
“I planned to visit him once he improves a little. I think this time he’ll let me meet him.”
“I see.”
As he gave a short response to Shino’s answer, Kazuto looked toward the pouring rain. After several seconds of silence, Shino intentionally broke it as she made a dissatisfied face.
“——Hey, normally at that point, you should be asking if I’m alright, shouldn’t you?”
“Eh, ah, I-I see. ——Erm, then what about Sinon?”
After a rare success at making Kazuto panic, Shino grinned as she embraced the sense of satisfaction.
“I’ve already watched all the collection of old action movies you’ve lent me. The one I like most is probably the guy avoiding handgun bullets by rolling toward cover. If you ever think of going back to GGO, I’ll show it in our next practicing meet.”
“I-Is that so? Then it’s great…… please be gentle……”
To the slightly twisted smiling face of Kazuto, Shino had to suppress her laughter.
The fear of guns that Shino had suffered from for more than five years, even now still can’t considered to have completely vanished yet. Even though she seemed to be enjoying the gun action movies, it would still make her heart jump when she unexpectedly saw the guns in the town corner’s posters, or the toy store’s show window. When she thought about it now, it seemed to be just a normal cautious reaction. Since she couldn’t be certain that she wouldn’t meet a real criminal possessing firearms in the real world some day.