Sword Art Online - Volume 8 - Early and Late by Reki Kawahara
But the incident today caused me to end up in another kind of abnormality. I don’t know whether this will become some permanent thing that is to come…
As I thought about it, I took a few steps forward, entered the blue transfer gate and used a verbal command to send me to my current accommodation —— the main street area on the 48th floor, «Lindas»; a floating sensation surrounded me with a strong glow.
As my feet landed on the ground once more, I stepped forward onto the stone floor of a different color, and the surrounding scenery immediately changed. It’s been less than a week since I used the main street of Lindas as a base, but I like this city with rivers flowing all around the streets and water cars moving about. However, it’s past 10pm now, and the streets were covered by the night scenery. Either way, the sound of blacksmiths at work no matter where I was during the day had completely disappeared.
I left the transfer gate, pondering on whether I should obediently follow through on the promise I made to the sub-leader-dono and go straight to sleep or get a drink in a bar run by an NPC. At that moment——
6-7 players suddenly surrounded me.
I immediately got ready to draw the sword on my back. Even if I was surrounded by dozens of people, I wouldn’t be in danger as long as I was in the «area» —— but such common sense became a little unreliable after the events of these past few hours.
I only moved my right fingers and controlled my urge to draw my sword.
I’d met all the people in this group. They were members of the largest clearing group «Divine Dragon Alliance». I spoke to one of them, who could be said to be one of the executives, standing amongst the people lined up in a semicircle.
“Good evening, Schmitt-san.”
I took the initiative to smile and greet him, and this burly long spear user seemed to be at a loss for words, but he immediately frowned hard and said,
“…Kirito-san, I’ve something to ask you, so I came all the way here to wait for you to come back.”
“Heh, I don’t think you’ll be asking about my birthday or blood type…”
I instinctively joked, and the thick eyebrows under his sports club ace-like short hair twitched.
We’re on the clearing group, and we don’t really have an antagonistic relationship, but I just can’t get along with the people of the «Divine Dragon Alliance» . In comparison, my relationship with the «Knights of the Blood» under Asuna’s lead may be a little better.
The reason why we can’t get along is due to the fact that while the «Knights of the Blood» aim to «clear the game with the fastest possible speed», the «Divine Dragon Alliance» members aim to get «the honor of the strongest guild». They basically wouldn’t team up with other guilds and wouldn’t openly reveal information about training fields. Also, they have a very thick-skinned insistence about dealing the last attack to the boss —— due to the loot and the bonus experience.
On the other hand, if I think about it in another way, this group of people may be considered to be enjoying this game called SAO, so I’ve never especially begrudged them for this. However, since I’ve refused to join their guild twice, our relationship can’t be considered good.
Right now, the 7 of them looked like they’re surrounding me by forming a semicircle with my back facing the transfer gate, but they must have calculated the distance before. This distance wouldn’t cause players to feel that they’re «boxed» and unable to move, but if I wanted to move out, I’d definitely touch one of them, and I’d naturally think first if I were to make such a rude act. This formed a «suspicious cornering» situation.
I really endured the urge to sigh and changed my tone to ask Schmitt,
“I’ll answer all I know. What do you want to ask about?”
“The PK incident inside the area on the 57th floor in the evening.”
I’d already expected that answer as I nodded, leaned on the stone wall and folded my arms in front of my chest before using an eye expression to prompt him to continue.
“I heard that it wasn’t a duel…was it?”
He used a deep magnetic-like voice to ask, and I thought for a while before shrugging my shoulders and answered,
“That’s what I can confirm. No one at the scene saw the window indicating the winner. Of course, there may be some sort of reason why no one at the scene managed to find out.”
“…”
Schmitt’s squarish jaw immediately closed up, and the armor below his neck let out a sound.
The members of the «Divine Dragon Alliance» have to wear armor with silver and blue as the base color. The 2m length long-spear on his back was showing itself fully as the sharp tip had their guild’s triangular flag tied on it.
After a short moment of silence, Schmitt said with a deeper voice,
“I heard that the player who was killed is called «Kains»…is that true?”
“The friend who witnessed this entire incident did say this. I’ve just checked Black Iron Palace. The date and cause of death are exactly the same.”
I saw his thick neck gulp for a bit, and finally started to feel suspicious. I tilted my head and asked him,
“Do you know the deceased?”
“…None of your business.”
“Oi oi, why is it that you’re the only one who can ask…”
I just spoke halfway through when he suddenly growled at me angrily,
“YOU’RE NOT A COP, RIGHT!? IT SEEMS THAT YOU DID LOTS OF INVESTIGATIONS SECRETLY WITH THE SUB-LEADER OF THE KOB, BUT YOU TWO DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO KEEP ALL THE INFORMATION TO YOURSELF!”
He let out a roar that even those outside the plaza could hear, and the other members around him showed troubled looks as they looked around. It seems that Schmitt never told them the specifics and just wanted them to form numbers here.
In that case, it seemed that the «Divine Dragon Alliance» itself may not be involved in this incident, but Schmitt himself was. As my mind memorized this, a right hand covered with a metal gauntlet reached out in front of me.
“I know you took the PK weapon from the scene of the crime. That’s enough investigations you’ve done. Hand it over to me.”
“Oi oi oi…”
Such an act is obviously a breach of etiquette.
In SAO, any unequipped weapon dropped on the ground, or a weapon stabbed into a monster and taken away will have its owner’s data erased after 300 seconds. The item then belonged to the person who picked it up, no matter whether it’s based on the system or generally. That black short spear’s owner data was removed once it took Kains life, and so, based on the system, it belongs to me now.
It wasn’t like there weren’t situations where people forced other people to hand over free weapons —— but that spear was a weapon and critical evidence. Since I’m not a cop or a military policeman, so I have no intention of keeping it to myself.
Thus, I just openly sighed and waved my hand to call out the item window.
I used my right hand to grab onto the materialized black short spear, and thought of acting cool as I stabbed it hard into the stone floor between Schmitt and I.
*KLANG!* The short spear let out a large spark and stabbed into the ground. Schmitt was shocked by my action as he took half a step back,
I looked at it closely again, and found that the design of this weapon was really spine-chilling. Of course, this weapon that was designed to kill players isn’t anything good. I looked away from the drop only I could see, and used a very soft voice to say to this long-spear user,
“I saved you time on inspecting this item. The name of this weapon is called «Guilty Thorn», and the blacksmith that made it was «Grimlock».”
There was an obvious reaction.
Schmitt immediately widened his narrowed eyes as his mouth opened wide, letting out a hoarse panting voice from within.
Undoubtedly, this bro who looks like a sports athlete must have known the blacksmith Grimlock and the victim Kains, and they went through «some incident» togeth
If that was the motive why the killer killed Kains, the murder incident in the «area» isn’t something I feared, a killer that just PKs randomly and indifferently. I really wanted to know what happened in the past, but even if I asked Schmitt directly, he probably wouldn’t answer me honestly.
Just while I was thinking of what to do, that arm wearing the thick metal gauntlet straightened stiffly and pulled the spear out from the ground.
Schmitt crudely opened the item window and threw the short spear in, as though to get rid of it, then quickly turned away.
Then, he, whose long spear was facing me, left a rather classic threatening line.
“…Don’t bother randomly investigating any further. Let’s go!”
The guys of the Divine Dragon Alliance quickly headed towards the transfer gate and disappeared.
——Then, what should I do?
Part 4
“People from the DDA?”
On hearing my report, Asuna couldn’t help but frown.
DDA is the acronym for the «Divine Dragons Alliance», the simplified term for the guild. The name had some form of intimidation and pressure that people would naturally avoid, but it doesn’t work on the sub-leader of the KoB Asuna.
On the day after the incident, Sakura month, 23rd day, the weather generator seemed to be in a bad mood immediately as it had been drizzling since morning. Actually in Aincrad, the sky is covered by the base of the higher level, so it’s impossible to have rain, but to really put it that way, there can’t possibly be sunlight in the day.
At 9am in the morning. Asuna and I met at the transfer gate on the 57th floor, where the incident happened, and we arrived at a nearby café to have breakfast and sort out the information we had up till now. The biggest issue we had in our discussion was obviously the Divine Dragons Alliance member Schmitt who ambushed me outside the transfer gate and forcefully took information and the murder weapon away from me.
“Ahh~ speaking of which, there’s really this person. The big long spear user, right?”
“That’s right. He gives the vibe that he’s the chairman of a high school snatchaway club.”
“There’s no such club.”
Asuna immediately refuted this little inspiration of humor I have had since morning, and seemed to be thinking about something as she cupped the mug with café au lait.
“…Don’t tell me that guy is the culprit.”
“I can’t conclude that boldly, but probably not. If he took the murder weapon back because he’s scared that someone found the clue, he might as well not be there. I think that the spear is something left behind by the culprit.”
“I see…you’re right. That killing method and the name of the weapon is «Guilty Thorn»…instead of calling it a normal PK, it’s more suitable to call it a «public execution»…”
On hearing Asuna mutter in a depressed manner, I nodded to agree with her.
This isn’t a random PK, but an execution on Kains. And there must have been something between Kains, Grimlock and Schmitt.
I kept my volume down and said out the conclusion I got from these clues.
“In other words —— the motive is «revenge», no, «judgment». That Kains-san once committed some form of sin, and he was killed as «punishment». This should be what the killer is trying to get at.”
“In other words, Schmitt shouldn’t be the culprit, but the one the criminal is after, is it? He did «something» with Kains-san, and started to panic and take action after his partner was killed…”
“Once we know that past, we’ll likely know who the culprit is. However…this may just be an act by a criminal. Let’s not get too subjective for now.”
“You’re right, especially when we’re asking Yoruko.”
Asuna and I nodded at the same time, and we then checked the time right now. It’s 10am in the morning, and we headed to a nearby inn to ask Yoruko, who was staying there, what happened.
There’s still some time after I finished the simple breakfast of black bread and vegetable soup, and I casually looked at the KoB sub-leader opposite me.
Perhaps she was about to deal with something personal as she’s not wearing the knight outfit with the white base and the red picture. Her top was a shirt with pink and grey stripes with a black leather vest over it, and her bottom was a black miniskirt with laces beside it. On her feet were grey stockings.
Also, she’s wearing pink enamel shoes and a pink beret. It just seems that she’s been putting in effort to dress up —— of course, perhaps all female players dressed up normally like this. To be honest, I have no idea about the current trend of clothing, so I can’t tell at all. No matter what, I have no idea how much coll her attire cost.
Besides, there’s no need to deliberately dress up when investigating a murder case. As I blankly thought about this, Asuna suddenly looked up, and then quickly turned her head aside.
“…What are you looking at?”
“Eh…ah, nothing…”
Of course, I couldn’t possibly ask her how much this attire cost, but if I just said randomly things like this clothes are cute and really suits you, I might either anger her or get laughed at by her, so I just thought of an excuse.
“Un…I’m thinking, is that thick stuff nice?”
As I asked, Asuna lowered her head to look at the mysterious thick soup she’s using her spoon to scoop up. She stared at me with a delicate expression, and then sighed heavily.
“…Not at all.”
The rapier user whispered and pushed the soup aside, coughed a few times, and then changed her tone and said,
“I’ve been thinking yesterday, about the «Continuous Pierce damage DOT» from that black short spear…”
Speaking of which, it seems this was the first time I ever saw this girl without her rapier equipped. Having noticed that, I nodded.
“Un?”
“For example, if a piercing type weapon is used to stab someone outside the area, and if the player enters the area, how is the continuous damage calculated? Do you know?”
“Un…well…”
I can’t help but consider. It’s true that I’ve never had this kind of situation before, and of course, I never exactly thought of exactly what happened.
“I don’t know…but the continuous poison or burn damage will disappear once the player enters the area, right? Piercing damage should be the same too, isn’t it?”
“But what happens if the weapon is stabbed into the body? Will it be pulled out automatically?”
“Even if it’s like that, it’s a little weird…un, we have some time, so let’s experiment on this.”
Asuna immediately widened her eyes the moment she heard me say this,
“Ex, experiment?”
“Seeing is believing.”
I tossed out an idiom that’s used a little strangely here, and then summoned the map of the streets to find the nearest gate from here.
The area outside the main street area of the 57th floor «Marten» is grassland filled with some craggy old trees.
A few weeks ago, this was a road I went past countless times when this was still the frontline, and now, my memories are fuzzy. Of course, it may be because there’re new sprouts coming out as spring comes, but basically, ever since the clearing group broke through this level, I’ve basically stopped coming to the training area outside the area.
We continued on in the slight drizzle, and once we stepped out of the streets, the warning words «Outer Field» appeared in our sights. The monsters won’t immediately come over to attack, but my heart just felt tense.
Asuna equipped that rapier she normally carried at her waist, and then shook the water droplets hanging on her bangs in a somewhat impatient manner before asking in an intrigued voice,
“Then…how are you going to experiment?”
“Like this?”
I rummage through my waist pocket, found the 3 «Throwing Picks» I normally equipped myself with, and pulled one out.
However, a few throwing weapons actually have a vague classification. Of all the throwing weapons, the boomerang or the sickles are slashing types; the flying daggers are stabbing types, and my throwing picks are piercing types. That’s right. It looks like a large metal needle that’s only 12cm long, but this pick is really a piercing weapon, which means it can create some minor piercing damage.
It’s too stupid to just waste my equipment’s durability just to test this on my HP, so I took off my left glove and used the pick in my right now to stab at my bare hand.
“Wa…WAIT A SEC!”
A sharp shout caused my hand to stop.
I turn my head around, and Asuna had already opened her item window and got ready to take out a very expensive healing crystal. I couldn’t help but smile wryly and said,
“Isn’t it too exaggerated? I’ll only lose about 1 to 2% of my HP when I get stabbed in the hand by such a pick.”
“Idiot! Anything can happen outside the area! Party with me and let me see your HP!”
Asuna angrily stated as she seemed to be lecturing a stupid little brother, and then opened a window and invited me to a party. I cringed my head back a little and immediately pressed on the accept button, and right below my HP bar at the top left hand corner, I could see Asuna’s small HP bar.
Now that I think about this, this is the first time I’m teaming up with this girl. Of course, we’ve met many times as part of the clearing group, but she is the sub-leader of the strongest guild, and I’m just a small solo player, so we haven’t had much chance to talk to each other.
Unexpectedly, it’s so easy now, and I’m partying with her alone. Just a while back, we’re having disagreements over defeating a boss, and even had a 1 v 1 duel.