AN: This chapter is mostly a set-up one. The more 'fun' stuff will resume next chapter. Please forgive the abundance of 'tell' instead of 'show', but I wanted to power through this chapter so I can get on with the other stuff.
Credit to LordsFire for beta-ing, again.
Chapter Fourteen
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"Releasing the Sword Art Online players now."
With a wave of her hand, Titania dispelled the sleep spell upon the nearly 300 players within the room. Groggy moans came from various places as the SAO players, at the moment transformed into Alfs, began to regain consciousness.
"I will leave the rest to you here," Titania said to Kirito brusquely. "I have other matters to attend to. Excuse me."
Titania then walked out of the doors, without even a word to the various other SAO veterans gathered. Among the gathered people, even those who had interacted with Asuna the most failed to draw any recognition from the Fairy Queen. The ten members of Furinkazan, the ones who were regular fighters including Klein and would have met Asuna during at least some Frontline strategy meetings, were passed by without a second glance. Argo 'The Rat', the top information broker of Aincrad that had dealings with Asuna occasionally, was treated the same. Even Lizbeth, Asuna's best friend within the death game, failed in obtaining any reaction from Titania. The blacksmith teen had wanted to say something to Titania, but was cowed by the uncaring look she received.
And needless to say, Kirito was treated coldly as merely another player instead of Asuna's beloved. That, more than anything, cemented the general impression from those who knew Asuna 'The Flash' personally that something was dreadfully wrong.
The reason why the other SAO players Argo brought in to help them find Asuna were present were because of their reputations. Klein and his Furinkazan guild would be known to anyone that regularly visited the Frontlines; they might not be among the elite guilds such as the Divine Dragon Alliance or the famed Knights of Blood, but anyone on the Frontlines would know Klein and his people to be trustworthy allies. For the players that were not Frontline material or those that stayed at the relative safety of the lower floors, they would have recognized some of the various other individuals present: Argo the Rat, whose tracks were nearly everywhere within Aincrad regardless of floor number, normally in pursuit of usable knowledge; Silica the 'Dragon Tamer', an idol for many of the SAO players due to the rareness of animal companions in SAO and her appearance; and the shop owners Lizbeth and Agil, who both had a reasonably large customer base from the middle-tiered players. This was without going into how Kirito knew the dark-skinned shopkeeper had covertly invested his profits into raising lower-levelled players, which could come in useful here if one of the 300 players had been under his care. With the individuals gathered by Argo, it was unlikely that there existed a SAO player that didn't know at least a few names from the group here.
Kirito ignored the all too familiar pang in his heart that came whenever Titania, who wore Asuna's face, showed only indifference for him. Instead he focused on the general mood of the room, while Yui, sitting on his head, did the same thing. While the Navigation Pixie could've sat on Kirito's shoulder instead, as Kirito had changed back to his usual black coat by that point, Yui preferred her head-top location for reasons unknown to her adoptive father.
"Excuse me, everyone," Thinker began to call out. "May I have your attention, please?"
The Guild Leader of the group 'MMO Today', which in time grew to be called the 'Aincrad Liberation Force' and more colloquially the 'Army', was well known to many of the lower levelled SAO players. Despite his failings such as trusting others too easily – which wasn't a great issue for many of the non-combatants – those same traits made Thinker someone widely regarded as trustworthy. Or if the SAO players didn't trust Thinker, at least they would be more likely to trust Yulier next to him, who as his second-in-command had a more direct approach and got to know the players personally. Having familiar faces addressing them would hopefully calm them down, if anyone was jumpy from having been woken up recently.
Kirito and Yui stayed at the back, obscured by the bulk of the others present. The Black Swordsman was a Solo-Player, and a Beater – portmanteau word for 'cheater left over from the Beta-stage players' – to many of the SAO players; he wouldn't know anyone apart from the other handful of Frontline Solo-Players still existing by Floor 74, and his reputation was of such within SAO Kirito believed it would be better if he was not recognized. The hype about Kirito defeating the Floor 74 Boss with Dual Blades would have faded from everywhere except the Frontlines during the two weeks he spent with Asuna on a private honeymoon, and it was highly likely none of the 300 players was present at his final duel with Heathcliff when the KoB Commander was revealed as Kayaba Akihiko.
Thinker began to explain to the SAO Survivors, about how it had been months after SAO had been cleared and some people hadn't been released from the death game. The Undine Leader that had only been elected mere days ago procedded to explain about the events within ALO, and how before they could investigate the World Tree the Transition happened and dragged them into what seemed like a new world entirely.
"You have got to be kidding me," one of the players said incredulously. "Are you sure this isn't just Kayaba further messing with us?"
"Kayaba's dead," a man in white and red armour replied from among them; Kirito thought he looked familiar, possibly one of the Knights of Blood if he was not mistaken. "The Black Swordsman took him down; I saw it with my own eyes."
"You saw Kayaba's HP gauge reach 0," another player disputed. "Which doesn't mean that he's dead; what kind of idiot would set up a death game and make it so it'll fry his own brain? For all we know he's still screwing with us and is watching all this from a different seat somewhere laughing at us."
"The news we've found shows the police managed to find Kayaba's corpse," Yulier said, backed up by nods from Agil and Klein. "He's really dead, as far as we know."
"Which everyone probably won't believe anyway, seeing as we can't just call up a news article like if we're connected to the internet," Argo interjected, pre-empting further arguments from among the SAO players. "Look, everyone can make their own decisions themselves; I've gone and wrote up a summary of everything that has happened, if anyone cares, and uploaded it into everyone's Medallions. Take some time to read through them, think over it all, and then decide what you believe."
Uncomfortable mutterings came from the crowd; Argo was known for a lot of things, such as having an unhealthy interest in making a person pay a hefty price for anything they desperately wanted to know, but she wasn't a liar. None of the assembled players on Argo's side had a negative reputation that could pull her words into doubt, with the possible exception of Kirito.
"Why don't we take a break, get some grub, and think this over once everyone has a full stomach?" Argo suggested. "The stuff that's been fed into you might be nutritious, but it doesn't really fill your belly. You all can decide whether the word of Argo is unreliable or not after we get out of this place, 'kay?"
Once the only Puca player in the room spoke of it, it was obvious some of the players felt hungry. Kirito made a note to check up on what Titania had been eating the last few days as well, in case he had to intervene somehow.
"Before we go however, there's something I'd like to bring up:" Thinker said. "How does everyone here feel about getting a new skill? Considering we're no longer in SAO, there are additional ways of fighting available to us. Magic for ranged combat is a staple part of fighting here. If people here wish to obtain them please access your Medallion as follows for more information…"
Thinker and Yulier then helped the players learning how to access the menus, and excited murmurs filled the crowd as they looked up the nine races available to them and the magic that came with the race. 'Reincarnation' was confirmed as one of the planned functions within ALO, which Kirito first heard about when Sigurd had betrayed Sakuya and planned on joining the Salamanders. Titania completed that function only the previous evening, to allow the SAO players to be able to be integrated into the current system without them physically standing out and causing further social issues. That the Alfs were an incomplete faerie race, with the Alfs' 'Light Magic' spell tree not finished being programmed at the time of the Transition also played a small part in Titania's decision; even if the SAO players didn't join ALO of their own will, Titania didn't feel it was right to have a portion of players stuck in their current condition to be disadvantaged by not having skills other players possessed.
As the majority of the players were occupied Kirito snuck out of the room without the crowd noticing, moving to prepare the 'Chalice of Rebirth'. It needed GM authority to be unlocked and moved, which Kirito had to a degree due to the administrator console card he still possessed. Titania allowed Kirito to keep the card which Asuna dropped down to him, if only so she didn't have to step in to help him with every little thing. Later, once things settled down more, then maybe the Chalice would be available to the rest of the players when the energy levels of Yggdrasil didn't need to be kept under tight watch.
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Kora, one of the lower levelled SAO players, looked at the available options with interest. She never did like fighting against scary monsters in close combat – some people might like the adrenaline rush it brought, but she was too afraid to fight anything higher than her own level if it meant she might risk being killed. Throwing spells from afar sounded a lot safer for someone like her.
Next to her, a player wearing a black cloak stumbled as he walked past, most likely still unbalanced from being forced to sleep. Maybe the hunger was affecting him as well, since they hadn't really ate anything in days.
"Are you alright?" Kora asked concernedly, reaching out to steady him. Almost reflexively, his arm struck out and slapped her offered limb away.
"I'm fine," he growled, and then taking a deep breath to calm down. "Sorry; it's just that I'm confused right now, and not really thinking straight."
"That's alright," Kora allowed through gritted teeth, rubbing her hand that stung with pain. Whoever this guy was, he was high-levelled to the point even a casual strike from him could do a lot of damage to her – or maybe Thinker was right, and being in 'Real Life' also meant no pain-blocking functions from the game.
"By the way, I'm Kora; what's your name?"
"… Just 'Kuro'," the player replied unenthusiastically, shying away from her.
"Seriously?" Kora's mouth twitched slightly at its corners. Isn't that the kind of name you normally give to a pet? I guess that explains his unfriendliness.
"Don't laugh at his name," a lulling voice commented from behind her. Looking back, Kora found another two men approaching her, both in the same get-up as 'Kuro' – rough black cloaks, and leather armour beneath those.
"You're hardly in a position to do so, Ms 'Cola'," the leading male said with amusement. He looked to be in his late-twenties, and handled himself like he was ready for a fight any time. "What kind of person names their alias after a brand of soft drinks?"
Kora scowled. She had only tried to pick a fantasy-sounding at the time when she logged in, and didn't even notice the similarities between the two names until others had pointed it out to her. She wasn't even thirsty at the time, too.
"I'm 'Vassago', by the way," the man said offhandedly. "You've already met 'Kuro', but I'll let the last one of us introduce himself personally."
Kora glanced at the final figure of the three. Next to her, Kuro shifted slightly as Vassago shot him a look. Maybe Kuro was being pushed to apologize to me, or something?
The last cloaked figure took his time, glancing around left and right. Most of the other players were out of their immediate vicinity, and the 'staff' brought along by Thinker and Argo had mostly left to accompany the other players. Then, the young man finally spoke a single word curtly:
"Sterben."
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Hours later, the SAO players finished descending from the World Tree, all of them newly inducted into one or another of Alfheim's nine faerie races. Thinker, Yulier, and Agil took the time to settle the rest of the players in into Arrun, while Argo and the rest of the group she brought into ALO took the more anxious players worrying about Asuna's situation over to one of the unused Town Halls for a debriefing. After the explanations, came the resulting disbelief and more worrying:
"I don't get it," a Sylph kid asked. "Why is the Black Swordsman in charge of the efforts to rescue Asuna-san? Why is he so hung up over Asuna the Flash?"
It was a question apparent on many of the other players' faces, to varying degrees. Unsurprising, considering Asuna was like an idol for many of the players trapped within Aincrad due to her martial prowess and physical beauty. Kirito opened his mouth to answer, but paused.
"What happened between me and Asuna didn't get out to everyone?" Kirito asked Argo with a surprised frown. Kirito considered it a miracle that he and Asuna had a two week honeymoon without any interruptions as it was, but he had thought after that fishing competition at Floor 22 the news that Asuna was married would have spread like wildfire. Argo was kind enough to refrain from passing on his and Asuna's relationship in order to make obscene sums of money, but Kirito doubted every information broker in Aincrad could have resisted the temptation of something that important about the arguably Number One female player of SAO.
"Regardless of what some of the Frontliners might think of you, Kirito," Arguile, who had chosen to become a Gnome due to their decent Strength parameters, commented, "nearly every one of us held Asuna-sama in high regards; it's not just those of us in the Knights of Blood, but almost all of the 200 or so Frontliners in Aincrad thought that way too. I'd say none of the Frontliners let slip about you two's situation out of respect for Asuna-sama, and we thought the Sub-Commander needed a break from fighting all this time without any serious rest too."
"And SAO was cleared the day the two of you came out of your honeymoon," Argo added. "Not too long after that fishing event you had down at Floor 22. There just wasn't time for the fact that Asuna was married to you to sink in into the minds of everyone, so it stayed only at the level of wild rumours-"
"Woah, woah! Pause for a second here!" A different player, a mid-levelled katana-wielder exclaimed. "You guys are saying Asuna-san was married? To the Black Swordsman?"
"Er, well yeah," Kirito said, feeling like if he was still back in SAO there would be a visible sweat drop appearing at the back of his head. True to his expectations, Kirito was treated once more to a version of the reactions of the players back on Floor 22 of Aincrad after they found out that Asuna was married: stunned disbelief, being vocalized loudly in various ways.
Argo and Arguile managed to calm the assembled players down, eventually. There were still a lot of low mutterings about this topic however, and dark looks being directed over at Kirito. To Kirito's surprise, however, the majority of those reactions weren't really serious; apart from the ones that were 100% convinced Kirito was a no-good 'Beater', most of the players here grudgingly approved of Kirito being Asuna's partner. The Black Swordsman – or rather, the 'Dual-Wielding Hero of Aincrad', as he was known by the time they reached Floor 75 in Aincrad – for all his standoffish lone wolf faults, cared about other players as shown by his multiple exploits on the Frontlines throughout the two years. The most notable example within their recent memory was Kirito's near-singlehanded victory over Floor 74's Boss, 'The Gleameyes', for the sake of rescuing trapped players. Whatever the SAO tabloids had exaggerated, none of them could have refuted the fact Kirito stepped in to risk his life when he didn't have to.
"I know this is selfish of me, asking you guys who have already risked your lives before in Aincrad," Kirito began to speak; he might be stunned at the impact he had on the other players, but he wasn't beyond using it to his advantage. "I'd rather trust those who know what they're getting into and have previous experience, than dragging others into this mess. If any of you want to volunteer to help me get Asuna back from Titania, please do so. Our job would be working towards two goals: peaceful relations between us and the local people, and stability among the players. The sooner that is done, the sooner Asuna is free to go.
"Please, help me," Kirito said, bowing and lowering his head to all of them.
Murmurs and wary looks were exchanged among the SAO players Kirito addressed; they had the option of turning their back on all of it, leaving the possibility of risk behind, and nobody would blame them if they did so after all they had been through. In SAO the goal of clearing the game was there, and even back then people adjusted to life in VR imprisonment. Now their release was even more far off and indistinct, but as far as they knew there was no risk of their body atrophying away on a hospital bed somewhere to spur them into action.
"Count me in, Kirito," Arguile called out, having long made up his mind. "Asuna-sama has been looking out for all of us in the Knights of Blood, if not in the entire Frontline, for a long time. I'm not going to turn away when I have the opportunity to repay her now."
"If we're not expected to be doing life-and-death combat, count me in too," the kid who had spoken earlier said determinedly. "This guy is right about one thing at least; it's not just about the Black Swordsman, but 'Asuna the Flash' too. I'd chip in for a selfish reason like the wellbeing of someone I admire at least, if not for vague goals like 'the greater good of everyone'."
One after another, more of the players volunteered to join. Over two thirds of the assembled people promised to help, while the last of them looked hesitant but didn't want to go against the majority's decision.
"We don't need everyone to make a decision right now," Argo said, gauging their reactions. "Come back after a break to relax and think things through; we'll still be here if you still want to join then. For those of you that are committed, you're not forced to stick with your decision either. There's no pressure."
The meeting disbanded, with everyone leaving to think about it further, and to pass on what they had heard to other SAO players. The exception was Arguile, who stayed behind regardless of Argo's words.
"I meant what I've said, Kirito," Arguile said to him. "I don't need to be tested or be pushed away in case I'm in over my head."
"I'm not sure I can afford to just let you retire anyway," Kirito joked weakly. "We need everyone that's capable we can get our hands on. And having someone from the Knights of Blood on-board will hopefully boost everyone's confidence and they'll be more willing to join up."
"Not to mention handling the administration," Klein called out from off to one side. "I'm glad Arguile's with us, seeing as at least some of the others will have more time to handle combat duty instead of standing around talking. Furinkazan wasn't in charge of contacting and liaising with others back on the Aincrad Frontlines, and we're happier if it stays that way."
"You're just happy the role of 'respectable sub-leader' can now be foisted off onto someone else Klein," the Imp member of Klein's guild snarked. "Sure, Thinker is around for the admin stuff, but people look up to the higher-levelled players no matter what their planning skills might be. Arguile-san being around means you're off the hook."
"Arguile-san can handle the 'official' stuff in regards with working with the locals," Argo commented. "You're still stuck with coordinating the SAO players informally, Klein."
"Seriously?" Klein's exasperated reaction was almost comical.
"It will be a pleasure working with you all," Arguile said with a smile, and extended one hand for a handshake. "Not to mention it would be interesting seeing the Black Swordsman as someone responsible such as a 'Guild Leader'. Kirito's talents were wasted playing Solo."
"Wait, what?" Kirito said mid-handshake, alarmed. "Argo's the one responsible for everything. When did I get placed in charge of all this?"
"Since Titania made you her 'Royal Protector'," Argo said with amusement. "And, unless my access to system information via being your 'Deputy Leader' fails me, that also includes a 'Knight Order' of your own to command, 'Commander Kirito'."
Kirito's gobsmacked expression led to more chuckles around the room.
"Feel my pain and share my suffering, Kirito," Klein laughed. "Being Guild Leader isn't easy, you know?"
"I know," Kirito said with a sinking feeling, breaking off the handshake. "Why do you think I've avoided being in charge of anything throughout SAO, along with being in a guild?"
Seeing Kirito's morose expression silenced the smiles. Most of everyone there understood Kirito had some bad experiences with being in a guild before, even if they didn't know the full story between Kirito and the 'Black Cats of the Full Moon'.
"You can always delegate responsibility, Kirito," Arguile tried to break the atmosphere. "Heathcliff basically took no part in running the KoB, and we still managed alright…"
Arguile's words trailed off, as the knowledge of the Knights of Blood Commander actually being Kayaba Akihiko once again came to the surface. Kirito didn't miss the ensuing grimace on the Gnome knight's face.
"Right, delegating responsibility it is," Kirito said suddenly, calling out his Medallion and some hexagonal screens around him. "Arguile, take out your Medallion please?"
Arguile blinked, and then did as Kirito asked. Unlike once before where it required physical contact between the two ethereal objects, this time a red line of light flashed between the two of them to establish a connection. With a sound like a bell, the line vanished and a badge in the shape of a tower shield appeared floating in front of the Gnome.
"Welcome to the Yggdrasil Knights, Sub-Commander Arguile," Kirito said with a small smile. "You're basically in charge of the other SAO players that decide to join up, talking with other Faction Leaders about Mob control duties, that kind of things. I'll be counting on you from now on."
"Likewise," Arguile concurred.
"Say, does anyone know if Kii-bou is in charge of the speech-making?" Argo said mischievously. "Because Guild Leaders are supposed to do that for future recruitment drives, right?"
Kirito groaned at Argo's words, while the rest of the people present chuckled light-heartedly.
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On the level of the World Tree that acted as the Faerie Lords' Mansion in the vicinity of Arrun, eight of the nine Leaders sat around a round table that rose up off of the floor with Yggdrasil's crest engraved upon it. Their seats were likewise stone columns raised from the floor, with the remaining spot left unchanged from its position on the floor. According to the Medallions, the seats when not used as such could act as a hologram projector, for when Faction Leaders couldn't be physically present for a meeting. If Thinker wished to join this meeting, he wouldn't have to return all the way to the World Tree and could present an image of himself from elsewhere instead.
Speaking of people present, only the Faction Leaders were gathered there in discussion about Titania's revelations. Their remaining aides had been sent away to take care of various things, such as working on the public announcement to give to the players, checking the various facilities on that level, and so on, allowing the Leaders to converse privately. The Leaders all had some time to think over their views on Titania's words by that point, and it was time to put some things into open discussion:
"I am wary about the idea of imprisoning players within the World Tree," Sakuya stated, chasing up a previous note she made to herself. "It's one thing to be able to remove troublemakers in a VRMMO, but it's another to shut someone away in isolation in our current situation. Especially in Remain Light form; we already know for sure from revived players that sensory deprivation happens to an extent in that form, with only a small amount of sight and sound left to you. It can't possibly be good for a person's mental health to lock someone away for weeks on end like that if Titania decided he or she had broken the rules. At least when it was only a game players could just log off and come back after their penalty is done."
"On the flipside, it means we won't have to expend any resources to feed or house the rule-breakers," Mortimer noted quietly. "With things now being in 'Real Life', we need to take supplies into account as well. Not to mention with the level of security Titania is capable of providing, players can't break out and deal more havoc; her measures are as infallible as if a player was still constrained by the game system's limits – maybe even more so, seeing as anything like hacking into the game is an impossibility now."
"I'm going to have to agree on the 'supplies' part," Pieter reluctantly concurred. "We have no guarantee trade with the locals will last indefinitely, and Titania has yet to start on the process of developing sustainable sources of 'real' food. And while alternatives like using the inexpensive baseline food and drink Titania has created for emergencies to feed them instead to avoid constraining the supplies … those are basically only nutritious slop. Those will keep your body going, but it doesn't make you feel full. I'm not sure feeding troublemakers food that not even humane prisons would resort to using is any better than not having to feed them at all. It might be better to ask Titania to adjust the imprisonment conditions to remove the sensory deprivation instead; the discomfort back in ALO are only for the purpose of impressing upon players 'dying is bad', and I'm sure when stuck in that form in the long term that discomfort is unnecessary."
"Sensory deprivation and supplies aren't the only aspects we need to worry about in this matter, though," Sasaki spoke up; the Imp Leader's complexion had become much better upon leaving the Yggdrasil Citadel. "It's also about power and authority – and whether the imprisonment process could be abused by anyone. Apart from whether Titania could be trusted in handing out the punishments, there's also whether we as Faction Leaders could use this for our own benefits. I'm pretty sure when this function becomes more widely known there will be players asking if we can, or will, imprison anyone that speaks out against us."
All of the Leaders present went silent at that thought; misusing the disciplinary function on either end could be disastrous. The problem, however, was that there were no checks upon any of the Faction Leaders' influences apart from Titania – and in social matters, she had in all but name given them full authority to act on the part of the GM. Worse, there were no checks upon Titania's control and abilities either, save for whatever conscience the AI had.
Sakuya felt her eyes drift to the vacant throne over at one end of this meeting room – while that seat was more for the purpose of meeting with local dignitaries with one of the Faerie Lords, if any were ever allowed and invited up to that particular room, it was a silent reminder of Titania's influence over them all. Asking Titania about the conditions of the ALO systems in their meeting previously had given them all a crash course on the composition of the ALO AIs; the main overall system was named Cardinal, and it had other subroutines incorporated into it, making decisions such as balancing monster drops and difficulty, writing Quests, and so on. To act as a check upon Cardinal, a part of its subroutine went over all of Cardinal's actions and could stop the main program if necessary.
That balance however had been thrown out after the Transition; Cardinal and all of its subroutines were shut down completely, except for one subroutine known as 'Titania'. There was no other subroutine available to check over Titania's decisions at that moment, so the 'Fairy Queen' by game lore might as well hold the position in reality; everything they did would only be allowed if she saw no problems with it.
By extension, that power carried over to the nine 'Faerie Lords'. De facto control over a large city, access to Mob troops that would do just about anything they said unquestioningly, and the resources of an entire Faction; the power they wielded was not insignificant. And that wasn't taking into account potentially 'Endgame' assets like the Guardian Spirits available to them. In theory, if the way to be given authority – or be removed from it – wasn't encoded into the remains of the game system, all nine of them could rule like tyrants even in the face of 0% support from the rest of their own Faction.
Sakuya personally felt that amount of power, rather than humbling, was more terrifying. Alicia and Simon felt that as keenly as she did. Morgiana did too, even if she tried to hide her unease under her casual exterior. Thinker, Sasaki, and Pieter were the more reserved and assertive among them in the face of handling this much power, though in the Sylph Leader's eyes her Puca counterpart leaned more towards Rufus' opinion than her own.
The Leprechaun Leader openly embraced the authority given to him, and wished to use it to the fullest extent 'for the good of his Faction and everyone'. Sakuya was unsure if Rufus truly meant that, or if it was just a front to justify remaining in control of all his current power. His opinions were extreme in her views, his methods too heavy-handed; if Rufus was the one in charge of dealing with the locals, Sakuya feared he would push things too far into open war in his pursuit for maximized gains.
As for Mortimer… in some ways, Sakuya was more cautious of the Salamander's Leader than the Leprechaun's. In terms of pure leadership, Mortimer was superior to that of nearly everyone else present as he advanced the Salamanders into the strongest Faction within ALO, even if not by an insurmountable margin; and not all of that was due to the natural advantage of the Salamanders' base stats for combat, relying on that aptitude to farm rare drops to empower his troops.
Mortimer also accepted the new authority given to them by Titania without qualms, even if he wasn't as loud as Rufus about it. Beware of the quiet ones, Sakuya thought; the kimono-clad Leader knew that despite appearances the Sylphs were the more verbose in the alliance with the Cait Sith back in ALO, it didn't mean Alicia was any less sharp. In fact, Alicia was probably a better Leader than Sakuya was – and Mortimer shared this same dynamic between the Sylphs and the Cait Sith, being content to stay in the shadows and let someone else be the public face. This was done even within his own Faction, as Mortimer propped up Eugene as the charismatic leader who took risks and fought on the front. Mortimer, his cunning plans aside, was seen to be in charge of the Faction only so that anyone that took down Eugene wouldn't lead to Gatan being sacked by another Faction.
Sakuya shuddered as she remembered Mortimer's role in the display Eugene gave to Gatan before the 'Blazing General' left the his Capital; it was manipulative to the extreme, and Mortimer had cause to take things even further if he desired vengeance against Tristain for their attack on Gatan. The man was cautious, and called for reason over emotional response – but it was likely all it meant was if reason stated the Salamanders had no doubt Tristain couldn't defeat them, Mortimer would wring the locals dry.
Thus far, the ALO players held no real information about the true combat capability of the people of Halkeginia compared with their own, as the locals shied away from any conflict with the 'flying elves'; for all they know Halkeginia was an Death World filled with Epic 'Dungeon and Dragons' characters – or something like that, as Sakuya didn't know the jargon of 'D&D' as some of her college friends called it too well – and it was only the reputation of the local elves saving the ALO players from a swift and painful rout. Duchess Valliere could have been an elite of Halkeginia, or not even someone special by local terms – and until more information was gathered, defaulting to war could be an incredibly bad idea. For all of Titania's planning and countermeasures, upgrading their own capabilities to the upper limits of what Yggdrasil would be capable of installing from the start, it may well all be for naught compared to what Tristain might possess. Mortimer knew this too, and was willing to bide his time and wait for more information to be obtained before making his move.
"So what if we have power and influence beyond anyone else's?" Rufus put forward, uncaring of everyone's worries. "It's not like people don't deal with it in real life; some leaders of First World nations can stamp out any opposition with the kind of resources they possess, and all that's stopping them from using it is whatever ideals they have and the 'bigger stick' that is the combined power of everyone else – if others intervene directly at all. Besides, if the players have a problem with it they can just vote us out – the way things are set up right now it's not a matter of if we want to rig the vote, but that we can't, period."
"That's assuming Titania is trustworthy," Pieter replied cautiously. "We can't mess with the system – but she can. Titania's the one that built it and has sole control over it, after all. 'What's stopping her from keeping people she favours in power?' – we'll need to find a way to explain that to everyone who asks that, beyond using 'that's the way it is, deal with it'. People tend to favour democracy, if only to avoid possible tyrants."
"However it goes in real life, the relationship between a GM and its players is definitely not democratic," Rufus shrugged. "The GM does whatever it wants, and if the players don't like it well tough luck; how many players have petitioned RECTO to lower the difficulty of the Grand Quest, only for them to say 'it is not going to happen'? In our current situation, there isn't even the possibility of economic threats to the company by getting enough people saying 'do this or we all quit the game' – not that it'll work anyway, it's not like ALO is a game that you had to pay membership fees to keep playing.
"Bottom line, all we can say is 'that's the way it is, deal with it'; not even voting us out of office will do anything to help. It doesn't matter if we Leaders or the rest of the players trust Titania or not, because realistically speaking taking her out of the equation isn't going to happen."
"I'd prefer it if you don't put it that bluntly, Rufus," Mortimer murmured. "That'll only cause other players to become needlessly discontent with our current situation. I'd prefer not to be forced to do something like imposing a lockdown or martial law upon Arrun as well, establishing our rule only by virtue of overwhelming military power – even if we have a sizable amount of World Tree Guardians at our disposal."
"You mean you did that back in Gatan?" Alicia asked, her eyes narrowing. Most of the others present sent Mortimer wary gazes at this statement.
"You try keeping a lid on the calls for blood if Freelia was the one devastated by an enemy attack," Mortimer said wearily. "I had to make sure nobody left Gatan without my permission for a day or two, in case they took their anger out on the first local settlement they saw; and that would have dragged all of us into a downward spiral of one retaliation after another between our two sides. At least having them only blow up things within Gatan and attacking other players meant there was a much lower risk of lasting damage."
"And it allowed everyone else you're in charge of to see with their own eyes that you're punishing people that actually did things wrong, instead of pinning non-existent crimes onto those that disagree with you," Rufus said shrewdly. "Nobody can really say anything if they saw the damage from the aggressive players themselves – especially if they're the ones caught up by the attacks. It must be nice, that your enemies are impulsive enough to be prodded into dancing to your tune."
"Must you twist everything I say into something else like I'm a criminal mastermind?" Mortimer sighed exasperatedly. "And shouldn't that last remark be used against the Puca instead?"
"It loses that 'oomph' if he does use it on us, considering we can indeed do that to an extent," Pieter said airily. "Confuse and causing various other debuffs is what we do, after all, even if we're not as proficient as the Imps are in this department."
"Don't try to pin all those on us," Sasaki protested. "We've got some race-specific debuffs available only for us, yeah, but your bands still shell out more debuffs per minute than we can."
Things degenerated into casual chatter for a moment, as keeping up a serious demeanour for an extended period of time was tiring. In the midst of taking the chance to stretch and removing some stiffness from her shoulders however, Sakuya noticed something:
Mortimer never did deny Rufus' alternative explanations about his reasoning.
"Right, I guess it's obvious that we're not going to be able to convince everyone about what's the best thing to do," Morgiana said with a shrug, before Sakuya decided on further pursuing her line of thought. "Unless you guys want to take it to a vote right now to make a decision, I think we're kinda stuck."
"Though whatever we do decide on, it's not going to be irreversible," Sasaki mused. "Given enough votes from us, just about anything can be changed; apart from a few exceptions like the anti-harassment code and the Resurrection function."
"Alternatively, the ALO players can force a Referendum if they don't like what we've decided on as a whole," Mortimer speculated. "The wonders of near-zero costs in getting a population to be able to vote on an issue, and 100% contactable rates due to the Medallion. If everyone has read the Manual, they'll be able to affect things even without our input. We don't necessarily have the full weight of responsibility on us, given how everyone can affect the process in a nontrivial way if they wish to."
"Speaking of Referendums," Pieter asked curiously. "Didn't the Salamanders try to pull that one on you when you locked Gatan down?"
"A third of the faction signed the petition for removing the lockdown, and over 40% of the Faction at one point voted 'No Confidence' in me over the last few days," Mortimer admitted. "It was touch and go for a day or so for me, being close to losing my position. Though as expected, after a few days cooling their heads most of them realized going off on a killing spree, no matter the reason, is not a good idea in Real Life. I still have a constant 20% that wants me out of my position, but that's not much worse than what I usually have. I might not have much 'social capital' compared to the rest of you, but I have enough to stay in office as Faction Leader."
"That's got to be tough for you," Rufus commiserated with his Salamander counterpart. "Doing the right thing and not being appreciated for it."
Sakuya clamped down on her increasing irritation; for some reason, the thought of Rufus allied with Mortimer like how she was with Alicia had put her in a foul mood.
"Are we going to vote on this, or not?" Morgiana asked impatiently, drawing everyone's attention. "Because if not, I'm gonna go get some food first and then make my way down to Jotunheim with the Black Hawks. I can vote just as well from down there compared to sitting here discussing things."
"You should have been a Salamander with that straightforward attitude, Morgiana," Mortimer shook his head. "I can see why there are rumours out there suggesting my brother's enamoured with you."
"I'm not someone that's satisfied with only sitting around talking," Morgiana shrugged. "Especially when we're not getting anywhere."
"Though the matter stands, if we choose to remove the possibility of side-lining players like so, then alternatives will have to be found-"
"Save worrying about that until after we vote, Pieter," Morgiana waved off the Puca's concerns. "Because right now as things go I don't think there are enough votes to change the current plans anyway."
"Depending on what the alternatives are, however, it'll affect how we might vote for it or not," Sasaki interjected. "But alright, let us vote on whether the concept of locking players up in the World Tree is agreeable or not first, and work out the details afterwards."
A screen soon lighted up in front of each of them, asking the question:
'Should the players, who have broken the rules to the extent that they need to be isolated, be transformed into Remain Light form?'
Below the message was a green icon with a circle in it below, accompanying a red icon with a cross. And in case the symbols and colours weren't enough, under the icons were the captions 'Yes' and 'No'. Sakuya took a brief look at the familiar set-up, and made her choice instantly.
The results were shown instantly upon a holographic projector, portraying a tally above the round table. Sakuya, Alicia, Morgiana and Thinker who was elsewhere had chosen 'No', but the rest of the Faerie Lords had picked 'Yes'.
"Before anyone starts, no, I wouldn't have picked this option if there had been no mentions of changing the locked up conditions," Sasaki said, meeting Sakuya's eyes steadily. "Obviously, if the conditions were staying the same as back in ALO I would have voted 'No' as well. Even more so if this process carried the same risk of brain damage as dying in our current situation. But if all issues like those can be resolved, I have no problems with isolating players so others can be safe."
Simon nodded timidly at Sasaki's words, though from his reluctant face it was clear he only picked 'Yes' because there wasn't a 'let me think about this more' option available. Pieter held much less hesitation than the Gnome Leader, but as his concerned expression showed even his opinion wasn't without reservations. Out of the Leaders who voted against Sakuya's choice, only Rufus and Mortimer appeared to unwaveringly believe their vote was the correct one, even if talks of modifying the imprisonment environment hadn't been brought up.
"Don't feel too bad, Sakuya-san," Pieter said not unkindly. "At least six of us were needed to make this an outcome Titania would accept; five out of nine is too uncertain for her to accept, considering how easy it might be for one of us to change their minds and reverse the position. Making changes, according her, costs energy from the World Tree's reserves and isn't as easily done as back in the game. This matter isn't over yet."
"Even so, that's that for today," Morgiana said, standing up and grabbing her spear. "I'll see you all later – I've had enough talking and thinking for one day."
"Morgiana, when Eugene gets here please schedule your hunts outside of the Faction Leader meeting times," Mortimer requested, also standing up in preparation to leave. "Jotunheim doesn't need to be cleared within a certain time period, after all. There's no rush for getting loot."
"I'll keep that in mind," Morgiana said briefly, and exited the door.
Sakuya wanted to call out to ask the Spriggan Leader to stop for a moment, maybe talk things over while they ate, when Alicia tugged on Sakuya's sleeves. Looking down, Sakuya found the small Cait Sith girl shaking her head slightly, wordlessly suggesting Sakuya abandon that plan for the moment.
'That's her own way of coping,' Alicia mouthed, cautious in making sure no-one else sees her lips. 'Give her time.'
Sakuya's eyebrows furrowed slightly for a moment, before rising up in realization; unlike Simon, or to a lesser extent Sasaki and Pieter, Morgiana didn't make up her mind about Titania's revelations by worrying over it like nursing a glass of wine. The Spriggan Leader was someone more physically active, and preferred to deal with things in an likewise manner – Morgiana's haste in leaving was probably less about her dislike of discussions, and more so she could surround herself in more familiar circumstances like conducting a Boss raid, as if she was back in ALO. Though Sakuya questioned the viability of using dangerous combat as a method for coping…
The Sylph's Leader felt a headache coming on; not even she was immune to the stress of adapting to their new situation. All Sakuya could do was hope Morgiana and her guild would be alright – and if one of the foremost combat-orientated guilds in ALO couldn't get out of this coming battle intact, it would paint a dire picture of things to come in the future.
AN: While Kirito's moniker is 'Dual-Wielding Hero', going by proper translations it's strictly 'Two Swords Style Hero'; I'm using the former mostly because it sounds better this way.
On a side note, Klein's guild has more than just 7 members; SAO LN Vol2 had this particular segment in the Red Nosed Reindeer chapter: "What appeared was a group of 10 people, and standing right in front was a samurai guy in light armor, a katana on his waist, and a headscarf—Klein.
The main members of the Fuurinkazan guild each looked nervous as they moved closer to me from the warp point behind them. I continued to look at Klein's face and squeeze out a hoarse voice."
The number of people in Furinkazan will be somewhat important later on in FiF.