Coelln
Aincrad Floor 43 - October 21, 2023

Though SAO was designed for close group combat against teams of monsters or other players, you could pull off a larger, distributed operation within the confines of the game, too, if you were willing to fight the game a bit.

First off, there was no real-time audio or video communication in SAO: as antiquated as it seemed, players could only exchange text-based messages, and even then, only when both players were outside of dungeons. The game did provide a voice-recognition system to make dictating these messages easier, but it was still quite clunky. Real-time video had been promised as a future development, but I think it's clear that Kayaba had no intention of following through with that promise. Party and friend messages may have been unlimited in range, but you still had to have the presence of mind to read them.

Second, sight range was somewhat limited. You couldn't stand on a hill and see for kilometers and kilometers around—not in full detail, at least. Yes, you would see the shape of the landscape, but beyond, say, two hundred meters, you would never see another player or mob (unless that mob was at least twice as large as a regular mob—for instance, a field boss). Even in some large towns, that sight range could be an issue. You could look at a street and see nothing, when in fact a whole market was operating there. So to maintain sight on a large battlefield, you needed someone keeping close tabs on every part of the area of interest.

The specific location could also pose a challenge. Coelln was a city in the medieval European style, boasting steeply slanted roofs that made it difficult to observe someone covertly. While the streets were wide, the alleys weren't nearly so spacious, so someone could easily disappear between buildings.

These were the challenges we faced in trying to plant evidence of Aurora's murder.

#

On the roof of a church, I lay in wait. In one hand, I kept a Copper Spyglass. In the other, a Bronze Key. The spyglass was functional: I spied on the streets of Coelln, watched people wander and turn down every bend. The key was functional, too, but only in a strict sense.

To pass the time, I spun the key by its large, oval-shaped bow. Like us, the key didn't really have a place to go, a place to belong, until Hera was dealt with and justice served. Not like the key would care, of course. For the moment, I spun it around my finger and glanced now and again between the street and the corner of my interface.

Kali: They're on the move.

Finally. That message popped up in my party chat window, and I grasped the key tight in my hand. I put the spyglass to my eye, and from the roof of a large church, I looked down on the streets of Coelln, keeping watch on the inn across the road. Black-haired Hera and her friend, the lean and athletic SniperX, left through the inn's main door. I watched their path, speaking to myself, and the words appeared in the party chat window:

"They're going west. Any idea where exactly?"

Kali: My Straining isn't that high.

About ten steps behind the guilty pair was Kali. She bobbed and ducked through the crowded street, slipping through tight spaces between passers-by with deft ease.

Collmenter: My neighbor here is a little nosy. Please tell me we have something.

Hera and SniperX came under the shadow of the church and turned south, passing right below me.

"I think we do; looks like they're coming your way, Collmenter. I'm repositioning. Sachi, do you have them?"

Sachi: Not yet. Can you show me?

I scurried along the edge of the roof until Hera and SniperX were right below me. I waved my spyglass, and about three blocks down the way, seated atop a row of yellow townhouses, I saw a glint of light in return.

Sachi: Got them now. Go ahead, Kirito.

I scampered off the church roof and walked a long, looping route around, past the yellow townhouses, and to the back side of the area those townhouses enclosed: a bustling square, with flimsy wooden stalls and mats laid out on the ground. The stalls divided the square into a narrow, winding path. Interested players formed a line out the corner of the square, for if two people in plate armor stopped at opposite stalls, the whole line would come to a halt.

I climbed up the side of another townhouse on the opposite side of the square, away from Sachi, and established a new perch. About three-quarters of the square's width in front of me sat Collmenter: he manned a lonely, ramshackle wooden stall with an array of skinning knives, pickaxes, and other tools. His "neighbor"—a guy with dark hair and glasses—never seemed to shut his mouth, and it was all Collmenter could do to rub his temple, close his eyes, and listen to the guy's yammering.

Sachi: Your friend's quite chatty, isn't he, Collmenter?

Collmenter looked straight at me with a look of utter helplessness, but the other merchant bumped into Collmenter's stall, knocking a pair of pickaxes to the ground. All Collmenter could do was sigh and shake his head, so I offered him some support:

"I know; what else can you do, right?"

Collmenter nodded, but his neighbor just kept on yammering away.

Kali: Is this guy going to cause problems? Hera and SniperX are at the market now.

I trained my spyglass to the left. Sure enough, our targets were at the beginning of the winding path through the market. Hera was already having an animated exchange with one merchant near the start of the path.

Kali: Yep, she's asking about throwing picks. Practically berating the guy for not having any.

It was the same story at every other merchant in the market. Hera and SniperX pushed their way through the crowded square, coming up empty at each stall.

That was until they met Collmenter, who had not only skinning knives and pickaxes on display but a wide variety of throwing picks, of several weights and damage ranges. Never mind that Collmenter wasn't a real merchant, or that even if he were, it would be quite strange for him to come across such a treasure trove of throwing picks when everyone else on the floor had run out. I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

Anyway, I'm told Hera and Collmenter's meeting went something like this:

"Why the hell is it you're the only one with any picks in this whole damn market?"

Hera was never one to make her speech too polite, but Collmenter just shrugged off her curses.

"I just set up shop here. No one's been around to buy any from me. Maybe you'd like to be the first? The best I have are these +4 Sapphire Penetrators. Why don't you try one and see if you like the balance?"

Hera took up one of the gem-studded picks, holding it between two fingers to test the weight. She pursed her lips in approval.

"Pretty nice. What's the recovery rate?"

"Upwards of 80%."

"That'd better not be with luck."

Collmenter shrugged.

"I'm only dishonest with customers who try to cheat me. As far as I'm concerned, you're perfectly reasonable if you're willing to pay 35k for a stack of these."

"35k? You're out of your mind! I can get a stack of +3 Iron Piercers for 17!"

"If that's the price of your time, don't let me stop you. I just set the price; you're the one who decides if it's fair."

Hera put her hands on her hips, frowning.

"Hmph. Not many people here are that agreeable. I think 30k per stack would be fair. What do you think, Snipe?"

SniperX tossed a throwing pick aside like a children's toy.

"I think you don't need to overpay when I can pull for you instead."

She raised an eyebrow coyly.

"It's not that I doubt you, Snipe, but I'm not getting up close to anything right now until it's far away from everything else around."

She put the gem-studded pick down, looking to Collmenter.

"Two stacks of Penetrators for 60k. That's my offer."

Collmenter sighed.

"I don't know. If you could take some added inventory off my hands, I would be willing to meet that price."

SniperX frowned at that.

"Do we look like we want to buy more stuff? Don't try to push something on to us. We're here two stacks of picks. That's all."

"I'm only offering something that could be beneficial to both of us. If you hear me out and still just want the two stacks of picks, I'll honor that. What do you say?"

Hera put her hands on her hips and sighed.

"Hurry it up then."

"I will. In short, I have some items that I'm trying to get rid of in a hurry. Some of them were gifts from a woman who has…misinterpreted our professional dealings, let's say. The longer I hold on to them, the more she interprets my actions as returning her affections, you see."

"Why not just destroy them?"

"What better way to show that I'm heartless and indifferent than by selling the things she gave me? And besides, some things can't be destroyed."

Collmenter placed the Indestructible Storage Trinket before Hera, explaining,

"This little thing was supposed to be an eternal reminder of our love, or some such nonsense. Turns out it can't be destroyed. I've thrown it away, but since no one will take it up, it just returns to my inventory once the discard period times out. I need to sell this thing, just for peace of mind. Otherwise, I have no way to get rid of it."

Hera eyed him quizzically.

"You're trying to dump something with Indestructible? Are you serious?"

"What, do you think it's really valuable on a tiny container like that?"

Hera and SniperX exchanged a glance. Then, Hera smiled to herself.

"You're right; it's probably not worth much of anything. How much do you want for it?"

"I'd settle for 15k. I do have my pride, you see."

Hera let out a long, drawn out sigh.

"Oh, well, I guess I can take it off your hands for that, if you can keep another couple stacks of picks on reserve for me."

"Gladly! Is there anything else I can interest you in? I have—"

"I'm already doing you a favor here, right? Don't push your luck."

"Of course."

The two of them consummated the trade, and Hera practically skipped away in glee. Once she and SniperX were five steps from Collmenter's booth, they high-fived each other.

"What a moron! That guy may have been sharp about his picks, but he had no clue what a valuable item he had on his hands! Make sure you come up with a list of smiths who might be interested in melting this down, Snipe. We're gonna have to make sure they all know we're trying to sell this and gouge them out the eyeballs for it. You got me?"

Kali: Sounds like Hera's hooked on selling the trinket herself. We won't even need to do anything to get it out of her hands. Nice job, Collmenter. Now, can we all get out of here?

That didn't seem likely: the merchant on Collmenter's left was at it again, pestering him with animated gestures.

"Something's going on with that annoying merchant next to Collmenter. Kali, can you listen in and tell us what's going on?"

Kali turned around and pushed her way through the dense crowd, back to Collmenter's stand.

Kali: It sounds like he thinks Collmenter is running a scam. No way anyone as sharp as Collmenter was with the picks would miss how valuable an item with Indestructible is. He wants in on the action.

Sachi: There is no action; this isn't a scam for making money! Collmenter, can't you tell him off?

Collmenter and the merchant exchanged some words, but the merchant cocked his head and scoffed.

Kali: He's not buying it.

I put down my spyglass and rubbed my eye. How else could we get this stranger out of our business? If he spoke even a word to Hera—

Kali: Oh, what the hell? Kirito? Kirito, are you seeing this? Hello? Kirito? Get down here!

My heart skipped a beat; Kali was practically having a meltdown, and why?

Because Sachi come down from her perch and had stormed in front of the merchant's stand.

I scrambled down from the rooftop and fought my way through the market crowd. The wall of bodies battered and shoved me around like a pinball, but when I got close enough, Sachi's voice rang out over the din loud and clear.

"Why are you bothering us? Why are you getting in our way?"

The merchant straightened his glasses, and he smiled casually.

"Look, I can see that you guys have something big going. I just want a piece, all right? I've seen those two around here before; I could be of some help, you know?"

Sachi slammed a hand down on the merchant's stand, jostling a few vials of potions.

"We don't want help from you! This isn't what you think! This is about justice! This is about what's right! Why do you want to stop that? Why? Are you on their side? Are you?"

I caught up, and I forced my way to Sachi's side.

"Easy, easy! Keep your voice down!"

She glared at me, but she turned her head away, taking a heavy breath, shuddering as her chest rose and fell.

The merchant stared at us and Collmenter for a few seconds before adjusting his glasses again and smiling.

"Hey, I like justice as much as the next guy, but with a trinket like that? With Indestructible? You can't tell me you guys don't have something on hand for compensation."

I narrowed my eyes and said,

"Fine. How much do you want?"

Sachi snapped around, and she covered her mouth with her hand.

"Kirito, that's the guild's money. That's Black Cats' money!"

I winced.

"What else can we do?"

Sachi sighed at that, and she nodded, stepping away again as she stared at the sky. I met the merchant's eyes once more.

"How much?"

The merchant grinned, practically jumping out of his skin.

"Two million!"

"One."

"One and a half?"

One and a half million col. That was the price for Hera's capture and the merchant's silence.

The potion merchant demanded half his promised sum by the end of the day, so I left Collmenter and Sachi to watch him while Kali headed back to tail Hera. I returned to Londinium to fetch the money alone.

Our house in Londinium had been our base of operations over the past few days. Once we'd recruited Kali and Collmenter for the operation, we'd put together maps of the Coelln market and of Hera and SniperX's usual farming spots. Those maps were safely tucked away in our inventories, but the evidence of having drawn them up remained in the house: the couches in the dining room sat arranged in a rough triangle shape, with the iron endtables scattered about the rest of the room. They bore empty bowls and plates, but none of the dishes had a single crumb left on them. After all, the food had lost durability a long time ago.

The money was kept in a chest in our bedroom—a chest that was neither mine nor Sachi's but the guild's, marked with the emblem of cat sitting atop the crescent moon. I tapped the chest's lock, and I scrolled through the contents: potions, crystals, metal ore for Tetsuo's breastplate upgrade, and the like. At the very bottom of the list was the total amount of col: a little over two million. Keita had been smart; he wasn't about to buy a new guild house without at least a little spending money left.

Strictly speaking, the amount of col in that chest had gone up and down over the course of the year. Who was to say any of the money in there was the same money Black Cats had left us? Maybe you could say we'd spent all that money already, and everything that was left in the chest was ours and ours alone, to do whatever we wanted with.

You could say that, at least. I wasn't sure it'd be true.

I tapped the up arrow on the window, incrementing the amount to withdraw. It would've been faster to hold the button down, but I tapped it with short, staccato motions, feeling every last change of the digits.

I was only up to 730k when three knocks rang out from the door.

I snatched the rest of the money from the chest, adding it to my own inventory. I closed a curtain to the kitchen, blocking off the mess of scattered dishes within, and I answered the door.

I found Ezekiel there.

"You haven't been around."

He watched me through narrow, wary eyes.

"The wake's tomorrow."

I looked away.

"I know. We'll be there. Things have just been busy."

"Busy implicating Hera?"

I shuddered, and I didn't answer, but Ezekiel stepped in front of me, catching my eye.

"The trinket's gone. I was going to say it was an eternal symbol of Aurora. I was going to hold it up at the wake for everyone to see, until I realized it was gone. You and Sachi were the only other people who knew what it meant. Where is it?"

"I'm sorry, Ezekiel. Hera has it now."

"Already? You didn't let her take everything, did you? The key? The note?"

I opened my left hand, showing Ezekiel the Bronze Key.

"We made copies of the note, but we had to leave the original there."

"Is that right?"

Ezekiel shook his head, pursing his lips bitterly.

"Well, fine. Let her keep it. It'd be fitting if Aurora stuck around her that way. Let the specter of that murder haunt her for the rest of her life. That'll do."

My gaze hardened.

"You know that's not where this ends."

"But it should!"

Ezekiel rubbed his forehead.

"Come on, you know this is insanity. If you get caught—"

"We won't."

"You don't know that! You don't! So let's sit down and talk about this."

"Why? What do you think we should do?"

"Let it go. Let it go already. Getting those two put away will not help you grieve. Come back to the funeral preparations. Come be with the guild."

I shook my head.

"The guild is with us already. We asked people to help us, and they joined up in a heartbeat. They want Hera put away as much as Sachi and I do."

Ezekiel scoffed, gaping, and he paced around the entryway, looking at me sidelong.

"Is this what you're doing? You're recruiting a shadow guild?"

"That's not what this is."

"Isn't it?"

We stared at each other for a beat before Ezekiel broke off. He looked to the sculpture in the atrium, and he had this weary, resigned look about him, like an artist whose chisel has snapped in front of a half-shapen block of marble.

"Fine. Will you tell Sachi what I said, at least? Ask her to come to me; we can work this out together. I still believe that."

"I'll mention it. Sorry, but I have to go."

"All right."

He stepped out, back into the breezy autumn day. A gust of wind blew past him, making him unsteady on his feet, and he said,

"I just want to know I have your trust, Kirito—from you and Sachi both."

"You have that."

He raised an eyebrow, but he said nothing more, and I closed the door behind him.

And then I waited.

And I waited.

And only after five good minutes did I realize I could use a Teleport Crystal to go back to Coelln, rather than walk the same route back to the teleport gate.

When I made it back to the Coelln market, I found the merchant had gone, leaving his stall unattended. Apparently, I was supposed to leave the money with Collmenter until he returned. Fine. That didn't bother me. It wasn't like Collmenter was likely to steal our money, after all. Sachi could keep an eye on things anyway, until the merchant came back.

But the roofs of the yellow townhouses were empty. Sachi had gone.

"She followed him."

That was Collmenter.

"She didn't want to risk he'd go tip off Hera while we weren't looking."

I grimaced, shaking my head.

"That could just let him know we're watching him. He knows her face."

Collmenter shrugged.

"She wasn't supposed to come down and show her face in the first place, but that didn't stop her—or you—did it?"

With those words ringing in my ears, I headed across town, toward Sachi's map marker. I found her on the outskirts of the Area, watching the potion merchant from afar. He'd gone to a poorer, rundown area by the river, engaging an old woman NPC in some transaction, or perhaps a quest. Either way, he seemed more than happy to wait while the NPC picked herbs and plants from the riverbank. Sachi watched him from a bridge downriver, just daring to poke her spyglass over the bridge's stone railing.

"He hasn't met with anyone other than her. I think he's buying some reagents."

She didn't even bother to look away from her spyglass. Still, I touched her shoulder and said,

"You shouldn't be here. Let's recruit someone else to watch him. Or we can't get Kali."

"Kali has to watch Hera. There isn't anyone else with the right attitude."

"Sachi—"

"I'm not letting this scam artist stop us. How many people do you think he's ripped off with watered-down potions or unstable products? With his attitude, I bet it's a lot. He won't be happy with just our money. We need to keep an eye on him. We need to make sure he behaves."

I shuddered.

"Or what?"

At that, Sachi finally pulled back from the spyglass, eyeing me with a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?"

"If he doesn't behave, then what?"

She grimaced, and she put her eye back to the lens again.

"Then he's just as bad as Hera. He's an accomplice, right? An accessory to her crimes? He and SniperX can both go to jail and suffer the way Hera will. They'll deserve it, if that's the case."

I crouched beside Sachi and peered over the stone railing. The potion merchant was in no hurry as he followed the NPC around. His steps were light and springy. It was like he was doing a little dance every time he walked, as though 750 thousand col was already buoying his step.

"You see that? People could look at him and tell he's struck it rich. How disgusting."

"Sachi…"

"Hm? What is it?"

I squeezed the key in my left hand, feeling the inside of the oval-shaped bow with my finger.

"I saw Ezekiel just now."

"You did?"

Again, her eye wouldn't leave the spyglass.

"Does he know?"

"He does. He wants to meet; he wants us to stop."

"That's not happening."

Her voice was flat, totally certain.

"I mean, we're too close to getting Hera now, right? When do you want to talk to Liz? Tomorrow?"

I pulled at my collar and gulped.

"Maybe the day after that. I mean, we can see how much Hera's shopped the trinket around by tomorrow. Let's call it a day."

"I'm not leaving."

"He could send Hera a message at any time. It's pointless to keep watch."

"But if they want to exchange cash, they have to do that in person."

She looked up, smiling.

"I'll be discreet; I promise. I'll come home once it's dark. They probably won't have a meeting after dark, right? I know I wouldn't."

I nodded once, but my throat was like a gummed-up gear, and before I could clear it, her eyes were on the spyglass once more. My heart froze to see that. It was like ice crystals grew inside me and started poking out of my skin, but I was so cold already, I was numb to it.

The only part of me that was still warm, that still had the heat of life to it, was the Bronze Key in my left hand. It trobbed and pulsed with the heat of life—of Aurora's life and determination, of everything she stood for.

So hot it was that I could only hold it by two fingers as I placed the key atop the stone railing, next to Sachi's spyglass.

"Hm? What's this?"

Sachi picked it up with her whole hand, turning it over.

"Why, Kirito?"

I looked aside, shrugging.

"I keep playing with it. It might be better if you held on to it. It doesn't belong in my hand anymore."

Her eyes flickered to me quizzically, but she laid the key aside and spied on the potion merchant once more.

And with that, I took my leave of Sachi, of her espionage against the potion merchant, and of Coelln. I took all the anxiety, the cold anger, the determination, helplessness, and false security I felt there…

And I locked those feelings away.

#

Let me be clear: I don't think Sachi was wrong to worry about the potion merchant. I don't think it was wrong for us to sell the trinket to Hera. She was guilty, and she deserved to go to jail. But what is that principle of justice—that a hundred guilty men should go free if it means saving one innocent person from unjust imprisonment? Maybe that's naïve. Maybe the damage those hundred guilty men would do is more than the damage done to that one innocent man. What do you do then?

This case was different, though. None of us stood the risk of going to jail—at least, as long as we didn't get caught, anyway. Sachi had said it before, right? Why we do things is as important as what we choose to do.

With that in mind, I caught Asuna outside KoB Headquarters in Paname the next morning. I asked her to do me a favor.

"You want to let her off?"

Well, it was a little more than a favor. I took her by the river outside KoB's cathedral headquarters, and we walked under the trees there. The river was low, with almost five meters from ground level to the water. The low waters exposed a stained stone retaining wall—a necessary thing, but it was unsightly to look at, with mold growing between its cracks.

"I don't understand…"

That was Asuna, who continued to eye me quizzically.

"Just a few days ago, you wanted Hera and SniperX jailed, no matter the cost. Why the change of heart?"

I sighed, staring over the skyline of the city.

"It's tearing us up, thinking about her. Sachi leaves as soon as it's sunup, looking…for clues. In Mem is divided right now. This needs to end, as soon as possible. I just want people to know that Hera is guilty, that she did do this, that that ugliness really does exist."

Asuna sighed.

"That would be nice, but I think this is going to be more difficult than you think."

Indeed, Asuna raised a couple key objections to my request: first, to offer blanket immunity in exchange for a confession sounded a lot like plea bargaining. In Asuna's words,

"We're not cowboy Americans who offer sinister choices to innocent people, hoping they'll take a guarantee of a little jail time over the chance of a lot."

That depended on what Hera and SniperX admitted to. If they admitted to just trying to grief us and accidentally getting Aurora killed, that would still be treated differently than proof they'd deliberately tried to murder her.

Of course, Asuna saw a hole in my reasoning.

"What makes you think they would be afraid of evidence like that?"

I didn't answer, and that pointed out the other big problem: why would Hera and SniperX accept a promise of immunity at all? They had no reason to fear evidence against them turning up (as far as they knew), and there could still be consequences for merely admitting that they griefed us.

"If you want to actually persuade them to take this deal, they need to be assured they can still do all the things a good, upstanding member of the raiding community could do."

I shrugged at that.

"I can't make those promises; appeasing ill-behaved raiders sounds like a job for a deputy GM, if you ask me."

She pouted.

"You're the one coming to me here. I'd much rather put those two away for good, but—"

"But they're skilled players who've contributed to boss kills. This isn't my first game, Asuna. I know that skill trumps rules more often than not."

She made a pained face.

"This may not be your first MMO, but it is mine."

Shaking her head, she kicked a pebble over the edge of the wall, and it splashed in the river below.

"Managing the raid group used to be simple. It used to be, after each new kill, more people would volunteer to join up, right? We thought we would be out of here within a year. Now, we're not even to Floor 50. It's almost November, and the core of the raid group is shrinking every day."

The pebble made ripples across the slow-moving water. Those rippled rebounded off the retaining wall and smoothed out.

"People die, or they lose interest. People lose interest in MMOs that are actually games, too."

"Mm."

Asuna glanced downriver, looking sternly at the weak current.

"I guess if Hera and SniperX end up as good, contributing members of the raid group again, it'll be worth letting them off the hook, right?"

"I'm not counting on that happening."

"Neither am I, but that's the only bright side I can see about this deal."

"It's not all about the raid group, you know."

"What do you mean?"

I snapped a twig off a nearby tree, admiring one of the leaves.

"As human beings, the quality of the lives we live here matters. I would rather not raid at all than stand on the backs of other players and trample them in the process."

"Then what do you tell everyone who's counting on us? The children who've been separated from their parents, the merchants and crafters who have supplied us—what would you tell them?"

"That we did the best we could without making ourselves inhuman in the process."

Asuna frowned at that, and after a moment's contemplation, she said,

"I won't offer full raiding privileges if they don't ask for it."

That was a compromise I could get behind.

We approached Hera and SniperX at their lodgings in Coelln. We camped out on the ground floor of the inn, played cards, chatted with other raiders and passers-by. Some of them had sympathy for In Mem. Others had never heard of us. Others still thought we might be making too much of a fuss. The one thing I knew for sure was that, as soon as In Mem came up in conversation, everyone who'd heard of us had an opinion on who we were and what we were doing.

But at last, around noon, the inn door creaked open, and our targets arrived.

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

Hera was polite and courteous as always, but Asuna matched her demeanor with the commanding presence of a raid leader and deputy GM.

"This is official business. I'd like to have a word with both of you in private. Kirito-kun will accompany us. His presence is not optional."

"That right."

Hera sniffed at that, but she flicked a hand to ask us to follow. We went upstairs to Hera and SniperX's room, which was spartanly decorated: a single bed, with unkempt sheets; a small, iron-bound chest at the foot of the bed; and tiny square window with wrought iron bars.

SniperX shut the door behind us, and Hera didn't waste any time.

"Let's get it over with. What do you two want?"

Asuna looked to me, then to Hera and SniperX.

"I'd like to present you both a deal: if you confess your involvement in Aurora's death, you will be punished merely as griefers. You'll be suspended from raiding for one month, but the raiding guilds may consider your suspension as already having been served. You will face no other official consequences for your crime, and once your suspension is elapsed, I will personally see to it that you are treated like ordinary raiders, with no after-effects from your actions."

Asuna raised a finger in the air.

"The only condition put upon this offer is that you tell the complete and honest truth about what happened to Aurora. That's all."

"Oh, is that all?"

Hera stifled a chuckle.

"How very generous; I'm sure I'd need that if I'd done something wrong."

That effortless denial of hers—like Aurora was nothing, like snuffing out a life was no different than picking a splinter out of her finger. Aurora had been a inconvenience, nothing more.

"You don't get to just dismiss her—"

"Kirito-kun!"

Asuna grabbed me—no, she restrained me! And Hera enjoyed every minute of it.

"You sure you want him here, Asuna? Seems like he needs some training."

Asuna glared.

"Kirito-kun is here to verify facts—facts I expect to hear when you consider this offer seriously. If even a scintilla of evidence is discovered linking you two to Aurora's death, this offer disappears. I'm giving you the opportunity to set the record straight with minimal consequences. You should consider it. Seriously."

She looked to SniperX in particular with that last statement.

"Both of you should. Do you want to be looking over your shoulder waiting for something to turn up? Do you want even the chance that you'll end up in prison to hang over you?"

SniperX huffed at that.

"Even he says I was never flagged. I'm not afraid of the raid group."

Asuna narrowed her eyes, but before she could speak, SniperX added,

"But Hera, you should consider this."

Hera gasped, eyes wide.

"What? Snipe, shut up!"

"It'd be better for you to put this in the past."

"We're not talking about this! Not a word!"

Asuna folded her arms, smiling slyly.

"Oh? Why not? Sounds like SniperX has a lot to say. Go on."

Hera stormed over to the door and checked the lock. Gritting her teeth, she said,

"If we're going to have this conversation, it's not being recorded, you got me? No message crystals, no nothing! Both of you, unequip all your items. I want to see you're not hiding a thing from me!"

Scoffing, Asuna turned aside, shaking her head repeatedly.

"You can't ask us to—"

I ran my fingers through the air, opening my menu.

"Kirito-kun!"

I tapped each equipment slot to put my armor and weapons into inventory. One by one they disappeared, leaving me defenseless and bare, save for a pair of black boxer shorts.

Hera leered with a lecherous grin.

"Look at that! How scrawny and sad you are, great and mighty Kirito! The famous beater! The so-called Black Swordsman! You're just a kid. There's not an ounce of real muscle on you. You're a runt compared to Snipe."

She peered at my boxers, and she waved her pinky finger in front of me.

"And I bet your dick looks like a crayon. A mushy, flimsy—"

Smack! Asuna slapped Hera's hand aside.

"That's enough! He's shown you he's got nothing to hide. Knock it off, or we're done."

Hera glared.

"Strip. Down. Now. I don't care if you're deputy GM of the universe; I want to see your skin before I say another word."

Fuming, Asuna went through the same motions as I had earlier, and her elegant KoB uniform gave way to…well, it wouldn't have been right if I'd looked any longer. What was underneath that uniform was white. That's all I saw.

Hera looked Asuna up and down with visible disappointment.

"Shame. You've got no ass. Otherwise it might've been fun to imagine what Snipe would do to you."

Asuna covered her chest with her arms, glaring daggers at Hera.

"You can see we don't have any crystals activated. Are we going to have a serious conversation now or not?"

"Nope!"

Asuna and I stared, dumbstruck.

"I don't care what the two of you have to say—or what Snipe says, for that matter. We're not having this conversation, but it was fun to see how far both of you would go. Don't forget to equip your gear on the way out!"

My eyes narrowed.

"You enjoy it, don't you? You like seeing other people helpless. When you stole kills from us, we couldn't stop you. You like that."

"So what if I do?"

"You liked it when we panicked over the incoming Einherjar and Valkyries, didn't you?"

"Don't talk about that."

"When you threw that pick at my hand and my Teleport Crystal shattered, you got off on our panic, didn't you?"

She stomped over to me, her face just centimeters from mine.

"I never attacked you; I was never flagged. Shut up!"

"When Aurora and I split up, did you enjoy it when the Valkyries caught up to her? Did you laugh when they stunned her and killed her? I bet you did. I bet you've replayed that moment over and over in sadistic glee! I bet you're thinking about it right now, aren't you? Aren't you?"

"I AM NOT!"

Her thunderous shout rang in my ears. The only sound to break that sillness was Hera's trembling. Her armor plates rattled. She breathed with short, staccato breaths, and her teetch chattered.

"I am not. I'm not. I'm not."

She took a deep breath, and she paced about the room, glaring at me when it suited her.

"I'm not responsible, you understand? I didn't do anything wrong. All you people had to do was run away. If you can't run when you lose a crystal here or there, what good are you for raiding? What good are you in this game? Nobody would've died if you people didn't suck so much, all right? ALL RIGHT?"

SniperX looked aside, unwilling to meet ours or even Hera's gaze. Asuna and I exchanged a glance, too—even despite our circumstances. Asuna looked upon Hera as one might eye a lonely child.

And I felt the same way. I said,

"You know, Hera, there's a guild for people like you."

Her stare fixed on me, but it lacked the contempt and dismissiveness that Hera often showed. Instead, there was a hint of vulnerability in her eyes—like that of a wounded cat who'd been licking her wounds, forced to stay awake and alert in case a bigger predator came back soon.

"What do you mean? I have a guild."

"I mean there's a guild to help people like you—people who've seen hardship and loss right in front of their eyes. There are a lot of people there who are willing to help if you open up to them."

She stared back at me, aghast.

"No, don't—shut up."

I offered a hand to Hera, stepping closer.

"You don't need to suffer alone for it. We can help you. We want to, but we can't help if you don't admit what you've done. As long as you deny it, you will suffer alone."

At that, a shudder went through Hera's body, and her tremors grew all the more severe.

"Get out. GET OUT!"

She whipped the door open and shoved both of us—Asuna and me—into the hallway.

"I would die before I accept help from the likes of you!"

The door slammed, and Asuna and I both felt the draft. Another resident of the inn opened his door, peering into the hallway where Asuna and I lay.

"Can't you go play with your ethics code settings in your own room?"

After we reequipped our armor, Asuna and I headed outside, leaving Hera and the inn behind. I looked up the stairs longingly, but Asuna patted me on the back.

"Don't second-guess yourself. Hera needs to understand and accept her guilt. She'll be miserable until she does—and she won't admit she did anything wrong until then, too."

Right. She needed help: the kind of help In Mem could give, if only she weren't about to go to prison for murdering Aurora and taking Aurora's trinket from where she died.

But Asuna didn't know that. She bowed to me in apology, saying,

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry this is going to go on even longer. It's just going to hurt you and Hera, too. Nobody wins."

I gave Asuna an absolving smile. I said,

"You did your best."

And left it at that. I hurried out of that inn before that smile could betray me, but she wasn't the only one I had to hide my feelings from.

For across the street stood Kali.

She nibbled on a piece of jerky and pushed off the brickwork wall of the building across the road.

"So, Kirito, you think we need to talk?"

#

I'd never been part of a guild for very long, not in other games anyway. The politics was usually what got to me: only the largest and most stable guilds would last more than a few months. Everyone below that critical size threshold would experience large amounts of turnover, of guilds merging and folding unless they were tight-knit or bound by friendships over shared in-game goals.

A guild that you'd want to stay with and help improve over months and years? That was still new to me. I'd seen a little bit of it with Black Cats of the Full Moon, but In Memoriam was different: its purpose wasn't raiding or dungeons. I think that appealed to me. It meant people weren't likely to bail out for better or more-aggressive guilds. In Mem had a stable community about it, despite not officially being a guild.

And it was new to me to be in a position of responsibility for a guild, too. The four of us—Kali, Collmenter, Sachi, and I—formed a shadow group within the guild, and we bore the responsibility of doing what was best for the guild despite working without Ezekiel's approval or sanction.

And now I'd gone against them, too.

I stood before three of them like a wayward soldier before a court-martial—well, if you can imagine a court-martial held in my dining room, with Kali, Collmenter, and Sachi seated not on a bench but on three plush couches instead. Still, I cleared my throat and argued as best as I could:

"Guys, we're on the way to destroying ourselves to get Hera put away. Ezekiel knows it. That's why he stopped trying. I didn't want to admit it, but I felt it as soon as Sachi ran down to confront that potion merchant. The cost is too high, guys. We can't continue like this."

I caught myself.

"No, I can't continue like this. We had the chance to make peace with Aurora's death without any more dealings with shady merchants or covert espionage or anything like that. I won't apologize for taking that chance."

The others looked back at me with a mix of surprise, disappointment, and anger. Sachi was the worst.

"Do you think I was wrong to follow that merchant? If so, you should've said so!"

"I did! I asked you to let it go for the day, and you wouldn't."

Kali raised a hand casually, shutting that topic down.

"Okay, look, whether that's right or not, nobody should get a pass for a murder, and that's what this is, isn't it?"

I put a hand behind my head, looking aside.

"It is, but I looked into her eyes, Kali. I saw that she is damaged from this. All of us in In Mem have seen death, but not many of us have directly caused it. She's a monstrous person, but she's still suffering from the kind of thing In Mem would try to help someone with."

"You're kidding me. Hera puts on a little show, and all of a sudden you start believing her? After the humiliation she put you through, I would've just challenged her to a duel."

Collmenter huffed at that.

"Is this the Tenshō era now? Are we wandering samurai looking to pick fights and settle scores?"

"You're damn right we are. Do you see any law and order we should resort to? We have to take things into our own hands here. There's no one else to turn to."

I coughed, trying to get a word in.

"We may have had to take things into our own hands, but we don't have to follow through on it. I know you're suspicious, Kali, but Hera's bothered by what she's done. She's so anxious and agitated about it she can't even admit it to herself. SniperX knows it. If we put her in prison, will she really have a chance to recover? Kali, would you be the person you are now if you'd been locked away in a room after killing that guildmate of yours?"

"I was a victim. Hera isn't."

"So the help the guild gives to people in need—people who have seen death and need help coping—is just for people who are innocent? For people who are without sin? Nobody here likes Hera, but we represent the guild, right? What do we want the guild to be about? Retribution? Or something else?"

Kali sat back, burying her face in her hands, but Collmenter took the opportunity to speak again.

"I joined up with the three of you to put Hera away, not because I was looking for vengeance but because it's the right thing to do. I still believe that. If Hera needs help, she can get it while the rest of us are protected from her. She showed a callous disregard for human life. She's a cancer. She's toxic, and her simple existence will be toxic to the raid group and toxic to us. There is no saving her. There was never anything there to save. Sometimes you just have to cut ties with people and let them destroy themselves away from you."

"You're cynical, Collmenter."

He shrugged at that.

"I'm old, or so you kids tell me."

That left only one person to argue with me.

"Sachi?"

She sat with her hands between her knees, staring weakly at the ceiling.

"You might intend it as a kindness, Kirito, but other people won't see it that way. They'll see that Hera got away, that they can do whatever they want to us without consequence. Hera and SniperX were punished more harshly for stealing kills in a raid—for something meaningless—than for the abuse and vitriol they heaped upon Aurora. People will see that and think they can do the same. It'll just be a matter of time before someone is attacked again. It'll just be a matter of time before someone dies again."

"You don't know that."

"No, but I feel it. I feel it right here."

She touched a hand to her breastbone.

"I feel them all around us. They're watching when we go out for dinner. They're staring when we go farming outside the Area. Wherever we go, hatred and death are never far away. If Aurora's killers go unknown and unpunished, then the next victim could be you, Kirito. Or me. I wouldn't be surprised if it were me. It might be a relief to be snuffed out rather than live with those eyes on us constantly, but I'd rather be here. I'd rather have those people look away because they know their hate has consequences if they act on it. If we can't accomplish that, it won't matter that we have a guild to support each other and protect each other. We'll be surrounded by people who think we're weak, that we're less than nothing, that we're dragging them down. And they will be right. We won't have accomplished anything."

Sachi's eyes were downcast and low. Kali held her head, not looking at anyone. Collmenter rubbed his temple.

"Don't you guys see how tired you all are of this?"

Three pairs of eyes locked on me, but their owners were silent, save for Collmenter:

"Kirito, if you want to step away, fine. But I think the rest of us are in this to the end. You can step aside. You can go back to Ezekiel if you want, but otherwise, you're on your own."

A bolt of lightning went through me, and no one else even noticed. I stared at Collmenter, slack-jawed, while Kali started arguing with him.

"This isn't us against Ezekiel. We're just doing what he should've done."

"It is us against him, until he decides to listen to us again."

And all throughout, Sachi looked to me. Her blue eyes were steady but wary. They checked the door to the dining room every few seconds. She clenched her fists, sitting stiffly, and her breaths never deviated from a quick, purposeful rhythm.

I sighed, bowing my head, and I said,

"All right. Let's go arrange the sale. Let's see this through."

Kali nodded, allowing herself a slight smile. Collmenter ran his fingers through his beard and sat forward, brow furrowed in thought.

And Sachi?

She let out a breath in relief, shutting her eyes for a moment, but the respite was brief. She was awake and alert again in seconds, stiffening as I sat back down beside her.

Relief wouldn't come quickly for us. I knew that much.

I could only hope it would come at all.

#

The next day, Sachi and I went to visit Lisbeth.

The Londinium market had seen better days. Liz was one of the few crafters left in town. Most of the others had moved on to higher floors, at least to Pentelicus or Paname. The once-vibrant warehouses by the river sat half-bare, but Lisbeth was still there, taking up two stalls' worth of space because she could.

"I'm saving up for my own workshop, so I can't afford to pick up and move to a higher floor right now. I'd get gouged out of my eyeballs in upkeep fees, you know? So, what can I do for you?"

That was simple, really. Lisbeth was going to do our job for us. I asked her,

"We were wondering if you could make us an Indestructible Storage Trinket."

"One of those, huh? What makes you ask?"

"Our friend Aurora had one to keep some important real-life information safe in the event she died. In case Sachi and I run into trouble, it seems like it'd be useful to have."

"Oh really."

Lisbeth pursed her lips, raising an eyebrow at us.

"Well, you must know that patterns for indestructible items are hard to come by, even if an indestructible trinket is the easiest. There's pretty high demand to reverse-engineer existing items and learn the recipes to make them in the process. Quite funny that you guys would come to me now. It just so happens I know that psychopath Hera is trying to sell one. I don't suppose Aurora's trinket was recovered after she died, was it?"

Sachi's eyes flickered to me, but she answered Lisbeth anyway.

"It wasn't, but Kirito never saw Hera pick it up or anything like that. We just assumed it was lost."

Scoffing, Lisbeth put on an exaggerated pout.

"I'm disappointed in you guys. Are we really going to play this game? You're not going to clue me in on what you're doing?"

Sachi and I exchanged a glance, and I said,

"If we told you we had something to do with it, you'd have to tell Asuna that, as her friend."

"Asuna's my friend, yeah, but so are you guys."

Lisbeth sighed at that, resting her head in her hand.

"Well, she wants those two put away as much as anyone else, right? I don't have to tell her something I only suspect. I know that Hera tried to get me interested in buying an indestructible item, and that you guys said Aurora had such an item. Everything else is just speculation, isn't it?"

With Lisbeth's wink there to seal the deal, Hera's days as a free woman were numbered. Lisbeth told Asuna about Hera's efforts to sell the trinket. Asuna then agreed to fund Lisbeth with enough col to outbid all other potential buyers for the item. Lisbeth met with Hera and SniperX by the Coelln market to consummate the transaction. I'm told it went something like this:

"About time you showed up, Blacksmith. Any later and I would've had to offer this thing to someone else."

Hera, SniperX, and Lisbeth met outside the market proper, and it was Hera who flagged Lisbeth down.

"What made you change your mind, anyway? Seemed like you weren't interested when we first talked."

Lisbeth handled the question like a champ:

"I'm embarrassed to say I didn't have the money at the time, but I got a couple big commissions afterward, enough to make me feel comfortable about dropping a million on it. If I can make weapons that are even 30% resistant to durability loss, I'm going to make ten times that much in a matter of weeks!"

"Is that so?"

Hera looked to SniperX.

"Snipe, do you think we're settling for too little here?"

At that, Lisbeth waved her hands wildly.

"Don't get me wrong! Cut me a break, won't you? There's no guarantee I'll be able to reverse-engineer anything off this thing! There's a ton of variability in the durability loss resistance. This is a fair price, I promise!"

"All right, all right, pipe down. Let's get this done, yeah?"

Hera opened a trade window. The Indestructible Storage Trinket disappeared from Hera's hand, only to reappear in Lisbeth's once both sides agreed to the terms.

"Well, pleasure doing business with you, Blacksmith."

"Our business isn't over yet!"

From the shadows of a nearby alley came Asuna, flanked by Boudicca and Klein. Stiffening, Hera looked to her guild leader.

"Bou, what's the meaning of this?"

"I guess we'll find out once we see what's inside that trinket. Lisbeth, would you open it, please?"

Liz tapped the trinket with her index finger, and the contents were displayed—Aurora's note with a name and address. Another tap of that interface window displayed some metadata associated with the item: the time of creation, the vendor price, and most importantly, the owner of the item.

Aurora.

"No, no way."

Hera dropped the item and backpedaled, shaking her head, but the trinket just clanked on the stone road.

"I didn't—I didn't take this off her body! I bought this just a few days ago. The guy is right in this market! Come look!"

But the six of them headed into the market, only to find Collmenter's stand empty.

"The hell? He was right here! I bought two stacks of picks from him!"

The three officers examined Hera's picks; they were from three different smiths, all known to the raid group and none matching Collmenter's description.

Hera wasn't without recourse yet, though. She turned to the neighboring stall, which belonged to the potion merchant.

"You! You remember the guy who was here two days ago? He sold me some picks."

The merchant met Hera's eyes, then Lisbeth's. Lisbeth gave a slight nod, and the merchant said,

"Honestly don't remember. There've been at least six people going through that stall over the past couple days. No one stays very long. They don't have my natural charm or sales skills, you know? Can I interest you in some healing pots?"

A mysterious merchant no one could remember. That wasn't doing Hera any good. And while there was no direct evidence against SniperX for his involvement in the crime, everyone had agreed that SniperX had been there, a party to the crime.

Hera was going to prison.

SniperX was going to prison.

And for a moment, it looked like all was right with the world. It was a time, if not to celebrate, then to get together and enjoy some relief. The killers were punished. In Mem's people would be seen as unjust victims of prejudice, and as such, they would be embraced instead of marginalized and shunned. That was occasion enough for people to get together, to eat and drink, and to let the strong emotions that had taken hold in us wash away.

The party was already started by the time Sachi and I arrived. It was a tavern outside the City Palace, the place where Aurora's funeral had been.

Yes, had been. By that time, the benches had been recycled into uncut wood. The flowerbed had wilted and distintegrated from durability loss. There was no more evidence left that a funeral had taken place there at all.

But no one seemed to mind when Sachi and I arrived. Kali and Collmenter had saved the two of us seats, and Collmenter volunteered to buy us all a round.

"Days like this, you know, when something goes right for a change? They don't come often. When I was working on Final Fantasy XVI, we just had one bad thing after another happen. Animators quit. People got in car accidents or incurred serious injuries just walking around their homes. It was awful, but when we got the game finished, I took everyone on my team out, just to let it all go. Felt like we'd all been through a crucible together. The heat was on us for a while, but we came out stronger for it."

The table raised their mugs for a toast, and—

"Kirito, Sachi? Can I have a word?"

Ezekiel was there, standing stiff and tall. For once, his face was totally clear of stray strands of hair—his eye-catching, platinum blond hair that gave him an air of otherworldliness. Seeing him so buttoned up and well-kept killed the mood a bit, so Sachi and I left our drinks to follow him. I started with,

"What's this about, Ezekiel?"

"Not here. Follow me."

He showed us to an isolated corner of the tavern, separated from the rest of the guild by a buffer of empty tables. There, in the corner, sat Aurora's shrine, with her screenshot and offerings of beer and sausage to mark the occassion.

"So this is what got Hera put away, huh?"

Ezekiel held to his eye the small silver cube—the Indestructible Storage Trinket.

"Here I thought I'd never see it again."

He put the trinket back on the shrine's table, next to the screenshot of Aurora.

"I thought I'd never see it again because I hoped you'd let it go."

Sachi bowed her head but was silent, so I tried to smooth things over.

"I made an offer to her to end it all with minimal fuss. She refused it. We did what we had to do for everyone."

Ezkeiel scoffed, looking at me like I'd grown a third eye in my forehead.

"That's not the point. I asked to work this out, and you refused me."

"We disagreed, Ezekiel. We disagreed about what was best for the guild. There were strong feelings all around, but it's over now. Don't take it personally."

" 'Don't take it personally,' huh?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.

"I've heard that a lot, you know? Every time a guild I was in dropped someone for not being able to get out of fire fast enough, for not adapting to new mechanics as well as they should, it was never personal. It was just the business of the guild, and the business of the guild always came before friendships or bonds between people. Didn't matter if someone had been around ten days or ten years. If they didn't perform, they were gone.

"I wanted this guild to be different, you know? I wanted this guild to be about the people. Aurora knew how to do that. I hoped the three of us might be able to replicate that in her stead, but we weren't on the same page here. You guys felt strongly about what needed to be done, and clearly you had support to back you up. If that ever happens again, I won't be able to stop you, will I?"

I shuddered.

"Don't talk like that. It's not going to happen again. This was an exceptional circumstance; it was just one time!"

"No, it wasn't."

Ezekiel took a bitter breath and straightened Aurora's portrait.

"This will happen again. It's just a matter of time. I was wrong to think a group of people could behave any differently."

With that, he undid his In Memoriam armband—the black cloth with an all-white candle emblem—and left it at the foot of the shrine.

Sachi gaped at the sight and called after Ezekiel as he started walking away.

"Ezekiel, wait! You can't—you mean you're really leaving the guild? Over this?"

All the room looked up from their drinks, from their conversations. Ezekiel was caught in the spotlight, but he didn't shy away from it. He stood tall and spoke with confidence and authority.

"Yes, I'm leaving. It's clear to me I don't command the authority or respect needed to be in charge here. When people you trusted with your life can go behind your back, thinking nothing of it, what else can you do? That's why it's time for me to go. I'll leave the guild in the hands of people who think they know what's right and who aren't afraid see it through. I can't do that because that's not me. Not anymore. I'm sorry."

His head hanging low, Ezekiel shuffled out of the tavern.

"What's that about, Kirito? What was Ezekiel saying?"

One voice carried through the room. To this day, I haven't been able to place it. I couldn't answer anyway, not with any kind of satisfaction.

"I can't explain. We did go against Ezekiel. I can't say why. It's sensitive. Sorry."

The room erupted.

"What do you mean you can't say?" "Did you have something to do with getting Hera put away?" "Why would you two and Ezekiel disagree on something like this?"

On and on the questions came, in a barrage that neither Sachi nor I could field cleanly. Officially, we didn't have anything to do with how Hera was caught, so we had no answers for anyone, and that was a source of frustration.

"Ezekiel walks out on the guild, and you can't even tell us why?"

No, we couldn't. Not without undoing everything we'd accomplished.

And so, those who couldn't accept that answer left. They put their drinks aside, leaving unfinished meals behind for the NPC watistaff to take care of. Even Kali, whom we'd worked with so closely, stood up and walked out on the affair.

"Sorry, guys, but I've gotta agree with Ezekiel. We didn't mean it that way, but we betrayed him. It's the one thing no one should ever do."

Sachi stood in front of her, begging. She blocked the doorway, as though that could stop Kali:

"But that doesn't mean you have to leave to make up for it! Kali, please!"

Kali shook her head, and she nudged Sachi aside to go.

"It's your guild now. Staying here means embracing that I was a part of this. No, I can't do that. Then I'm no better than the people who attacked me. Sorry."

Kali left, and at least ten people like her walked out, too. When it was all said and done, Sachi and I stood beside the empty chairs and half-cleaned plates, at a loss.

"What have we done, Kirito?"

I didn't answer.

"We went after Hera and SniperX to save the guild, to make people feel safe being here. Now, no one wants to be here at all. We've driven everyone apart. We were more dangerous to the guild than those two ever were."

I opened my mouth to speak, but I thought better of it, and I didn't answer again.

The "party" dissolved around ten, and Sachi and I headed home in silence. She went to bed straight away, but I couldn't sleep yet. The garden out back needed tending, and the atrium had collected some leaves from the outside. It would look better to clean them up immediately, instead of letting them disintegrate from durability loss. Or so I told myself.

If I hadn't kept myself busy and awake, I wouldn't have heard the knock at the door.

It was none other than the red-haired rat.

"Hello, Kii-bō. Sorry to bother at this late hour. Thought it'd be best to express some condolences."

The informant Argo looked surprisingly melancholic, despite those upturned whiskers she'd painted on her face.

"Word travels fast, huh?"

"Too fast, sometimes. Threatens to put me out of business, you know."

"Mm. Well, I appreciate your sympathies, but it really is late, so—"

"You think I'm here just for a social call?"

She offered a folded-up note between her index and middle fingers, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? What's the price for this?"

"I don't charge for unsubstantiated rumors. This is a freebie. Consider it a little bit of hope, to give you two something to strive for."

"What could possibly do that now?"

She shrugged.

"New things are being discovered all the time in this game. Some NPC heralds are in town to announce new events, see? Most of the information they'll give you is about the Halloween event, but if you do a little digging—well, you'll see."

She put her hands together and bowed.

"Good night, Kii-bō."

She was a strange one all right, always cloaking her generosity in mercenary trafficking of information, pretending that which she gave away wasn't of value anyway.

Don't get me wrong: Argo's kindness is why I thought she was worthy of respect, but she could stand to take a little credit for that, too.

Not that I was much different, anyway.

Those thoughts aside, I opened the note from Argo, finding only a few scribbled words:

Christmas event confirmed. Starts at midnight, Christmas Day. Rumored reward: "Sacred Stone of Rebirth."

Rebirth?

"Kirito? Who was that? Not more trouble, I hope."

Sachi emerged from our bedroom, rubbing one eye. Her blue nightgown swayed around her knees, restless and unsteady. She kept a hand over her chest, as though to shield a hole in her heart.

I folded the note back up, and I closed my fist over it, putting on a comforting smile.

"It might be nothing. I'll tell you in the morning."


Auld Lang Syne updates every two weeks, so look forward to the next chapter on Saturday, November 29, 2014, at 1 PM EST (10 AM PST), after the official stream of SAO II Episode 21.

Next time: "Myujen." Christmas is coming, and the means to bring hope to the weary denizens of Aincrad is in Kirito and Sachi's reach. Sachi will not rest until the resurrection item is theirs, and Kirito begins to see how damaging this pursuit is to her health.

For notes and commentary on this chapter and others, check out the Auld Lang Syne thread on Sufficient Velocity, linked from my user profile.