Shield and Sword

by BannaMan

Iriamu Yūsutasu is your average law abiding Japanese citizen. Nothing interesting happens in his past, nor in his future, he is just normal. Though with the release of SAO, he's forced to become something much more than that, a hero. With his newly found friends, Haruto, Yoko, and later Keiko, he'll survive the Death Game, and hopefully save as many people as he can in the process

35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35- The Information Broker

3000 views!

"I'll talk to you guys later." Haruto sadly nodded and Yoko's face returned to neutral. Umairi waved and left the building. Time to head back to the front lines.

(Who let the Line Break?!)

Floor 11

January 11th, 2023

Umairi laid back in his chair while drinking the cup of water. It was nice to take a break from grinding and actually rest. The city of Taft was a nice little urban town on the eleventh floor. Umairi stretched his back and looked around the bar he was at.

The floor was wooden panels and the walls were grey brick and mortar. It was small little bar, with a bar at the back of the room and about five to six booths lined the wall. The bar wasn't particularly crowded, but not really busy either. Umairi took another sip of his water while he rested.

Having spent most of his time grinding, Umairi had finally reached level 22. Umairi decided to check and admire his build. He opened the menu and opened his character stats.

Level: 22

Skills

One-handed: 468/1000

Sprint: 250/100

Battle Healing: 453/1000

Heavy Metal Equipment: 349/1000

AGI: 44

STG: 22

HP: 3,978/3,978

Umairi nodded in approval to himself. He wondered what people must think when they learned he was a speed build even though he wore heavy armor. His battle healing and one-handed skills were halfway to being complete, probably because of his constant grinding and sprint was falling behind.

Something that Umairi had noticed is that his armor and Sword were starting to fall behind, even though he has been constantly upgrading them. After everything he and his Plate Armor have been through, it's kind of hard to let go.

Umairi pushed those thoughts out of his head and brought himself back to reality. It was only Five o'clock at night so there was still some light shining through the trees and buildings of Taft.

Umairi rose out of his chair and placed the cup down on the table. He'd probably go to bed earlier than usual today, catch up on some sleep.

Umairi closed the bar door and walked into the cool evening air of the eleventh floor. Umairi took a deep breath, now, where was his inn again? If he remembered correctly, it was this way. Umairi shrugged and turned right and walked down the mostly busy street.

Has Umairi walked, something caught his attention. A head of chestnut brown hair that went down to a butt. If memory served him correctly, it could only be one person. Umairi stepped closer to who he pretty sure was Asuna. She glanced behind and Umairi quickly turned and acted like he was looking at vendor. Glancing to his right, Umairi caught a look at the mysterious person. Hazel eyes and a female face, that was definitely Asuna. What was she doing out here though?

Asuna turned forward again and continued walking, Umairi slowly following has well. The hazel eyed girl turned around a few more times and each time, Umairi turned away in time to not be caught, or so he thought.

She turned right and walked down an alleyway, which Umairi followed suit. When he turned, Umairi was confused, she wasn't there.

Umairi was shoved forward and landed on the floor with a solid thud. When he tried to get up, Umairi felt a heavy weight on his back. "Why are you following me?!" Umairi struggled under the weight. "I said, why are you following me?!"

Umairi didn't recognize the voice, though it sounded to be feminine. Struggling to turn his head, Umairi caught a glimpse of his assaulter, it was Asuna.

"It's me, Asuna," He grunted out. "I'm Asuna! Not you!" She yelled back. "No, It's me Umairi." Umairi felt even more weight being pressed on his back. "I don't know an Umaidi." She responded coldly. "We met...at the boss fight." Umairi struggled to speak. "I've been to multiple boss fights." She responded while putting even more weight on his back.

"The first floor boss fight!" Umairi cried out while trying his best to get up. Asuna was silent has she comprehended what Umairi had said. A few seconds later, Umairi felt the weight come off his back. He flipped onto his back and started to pull himself up.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't recognize you." Asuna said, sorry in her voice. She extended a hand, which Umairi took. "Though, why were you following me?"

Asuna pulled Umairi up onto his feet and bowed to show she was sorry. "It's fine. I don't know why I was following you." Umairi chuckled while rubbing the back of his head. Asuna looked surprised by his answer. "So you had no reason to follow me?" Umairi nodded.

Asuna sighed and straightened herself. "I'm really sorry about that. How about I buy you something to eat to show my apologies." Asuna stated while holding her head high.

"Nah, it's fine. I already ate." Umairi smiled while waving his hand to show it was fine. "Well, how am I going to show that I'm sorry?" Asuna sputtered out, surprised by his reply. "You can tell me where you were going." Umairi responded.

Asuna's gave back a skeptical look. "Why do you want to know?" Umairi shrugged again. "I don't know, I'm just curious."

Asuna sighed again. "You're difficult, you know that right?" Umairi grinned with pride. "Yep." Asuna let out another sigh and responded "I'm going to meet Argo." Umairi cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't she an information dealer or something like that?"

Asuna nodded. "You don't really know her?" Umairi shrugged and answered "Yeah, I've never really dived into that kind of stuff."

"Yeah, that's kind of obvious." Asuna responded. "Hey..." Umairi glared back at her. She chuckled. The two stood in silence for about five minutes. "Well, I should really get going..." Asuna said while preparing to turn around. "Hey, Asuna." Umairi asked before she could leave. She stopped turned back around and asked "Yes?"

"Can you bring me to this Argo, I'd like to meet them." Asuna processed Umairi's question. "I don't see why not..." she let out a soft hum for a second. "Let me ask." Umairi nodded for his reply.

Asuna opened her menu and her fingers shot across the panel, coupled with pings, has she did whatever she was doing. About a minute later, Asuna brought her attention back to Umairi and nodded. Umairi grinned and prepared to follow Asuna. She turned around and walked back onto the street, Umairi following.

(Line Break of Intensity!)

Floor 11

January 11th, 2023

"And why did this person want to come along?" The hooded person asked Asuna. She shrugged in response. Umairi looked around at his surroundings. They were currently inside of a nice restaurant, there was a fireplace in the left corner and booths lined the wall with a couple of chairs and tables in the middle. The three people were sitting in the farthest booth to the right.

The hooded person brought their attention to Umairi. "So, Umairi, why did want to meet me?" Umairi thought for a second. "I really didn't know, but I do have a question, how do you know my name?" He asked while leaning back in the chair.

"I now a lot of things. And that's five Col for that." The hooded person responded. "So, if you're an information dealer, how much do you know." This time Umairi asked suspiciously. "What do you want to know?"

Umairi thought for a second. "What's my age?" Umairi asked, hoping to get them. The person opened their menu and quickly opened a series of menus. "15."

Umairi opened his eyes in shock. "When did I meet Haruto and Yoko?" A few more menus and the hooded person answered. "November 6th. Fifty col." Umairi started to struggle, what was something that he wanted to know. "Uh...What is...Yoko's...Cup size!" What the hell was he thinking! Out of all the questions he could've asked, he asked Yoko's bra size?!

The hooded person looked through a couple more menus and answered "B cup, five hundred col." Umairi's jaw was to the ground. "How'd you figure that out?!" The hooded person responded immediately. "I don't reveal my providers."

Umairi sighed. "I'll pay one thousand col."

"Five thousand." The person threw back immediately. "Deal." Umairi answered determined. "Haruto told me." Umairi thought for second. "How in the devils name, does Haruto know that, and why did you want to know!" Umairi said to himself. The hooded person shrugged. "I don't know how much my wallet." He thought to himself.

Umairi thought for a second. "Is there any challenging quest I can do now?" said Argo thought for a second. "How much will you pay?"

"Up to ten thousand col." Argo nodded and went through a couple menus. "I heard about a quest that can give an extra skill called Material Arts or something. Can I learn about that one?" Umairi tagged on. Argo shook her head no immediately. Umairi sighed again. "I'll pay."

Argo sighed and responded "Fine." Umairi had heard her enough to decide that she is a female, so he would just think of her has a her. Argo went through a few more menus and stopped. "The Martial Arts skill can be found on the second floor in a certain location. I can give you the map info. Ten thousand col."

Umairi nodded and opened his trade window, this was going to make a dent in his budget. "Okay, that's ten thousand, five hundred and fifty-five col." Argo stated while opening her own trade menu. Umairi transferred the required funds and in return, got the map information "Well, it was nice doing work with you, Argo."

Umairi rose and extended a hand for a handshake. She did the same and Umairi got a look at her face. Argo had shoulder length blonde hair and golden colored eyes. But her most prominent feature was the painted on whiskers on her face. Well, that explains where she got her name, The Rat, from.

Argo took Umairi's hand and gave it a good squeeze. "Same." She responded has she let go of his hand. Umairi brought his attention to Asuna. "It was nice to see you again." He told the other girl who nodded in reply. Umairi stepped out of the booth and left the restaurant. He looked at his clock and saw the time. Eight pm.

Jeez, well he better get back to the inn and get some sleep. Umairi walked down the practically deserted street in the direction he hoped was the Inn he was staying at. If Umairi was going to do this Martial Arts skill quest thingie, he wanted to be well rested. Umairi took a couple more turns and spotted the inn he was staying at buy the sign, which had a picture of a bed on it.

Umairi entered and nodded to the NPC receptionist who smiled and greeted him. Umairi walked to his room, room five, and entered. Closing the door behind him, Umairi quickly undressed into his underwear, which had become his pajamas, and dropped into bed.

Has he started to fall asleep, Umairi was awoken by a knocking at his door. The tired teen ignored it, but it kept going for what felt like hours on end. Umairi let out a grunt in anger and walked over to the door.

When he opened it, he was surprised to see someone he didn't expect. "What do you want, Silica." Umairi tiredly asked. Silica was wearing the same armor he had seen her in. Silica kept glancing left and right while talking. "Do you mind if I stay here for a bit, Onii-chan?"

Umairi was still off set by her calling him, Onii-chan. "Why?" Umairi asked confused while shaking the sleep out of his head. "I'll explain it when I come inside." She responded while frantically looking to her left and right. Umairi shrugged and opened the door for her to come in.

Silica quickly slipped into his room and Umairi gingerly closed the door behind her. Silica inspected the room and turned around to Umairi. Before she said anything though, her entire face turned beet red. "What?" Umairi asked confused. "Uh...you're...uh...I'M SORRY!" She yelled while quickly turning around.

Umairi glanced down and realized he was still in his underwear. He started to laugh. "What's so funny?" An embarrassed Silica asked. "Nothing." Umairi replied, wiping away a tear. He opened his menu and equipped his old pajamas. "You can look now, Silica." Umairi told the girl while chuckling.

Silica turned back around, her face not red anymore. "So, now explain to me why you want to stay here." Umairi ordered. Silica took a deep breath and replied "These weird people keep following me everywhere and one of them somehow sneaked into my room."

Umairi was taken aback. "So basically, you're being followed by fan boys?" Umairi questioned. Silica nodded. Umairi let out a sigh and crossed his arms. "You can have the bed, I'll sleep on the floor." Silica bowed and kept saying "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Umairi chuckled again. "It's fine, now get some rest. I'm leaving tomorrow morning." Silica nodded and opened her menu. She all of a sudden turned red again. "Can you turn around?" She asked. Umairi resisted to laugh again and did has she said. He heard a few pings as the girl changed clothes.

When he turned back around, Umairi saw she was wearing the same pajamas he had seen her wear when Umairi had first seen her in said pajamas.

Silica climbed into the unkept bed and laid her head on the pillow. "Night." She said while facing the ceiling. "Night." Umairi responded, while preparing to sleep on the floor.

(Line Break of 3000 words)

Floor 11

January 12th, 2023

Umairi awoke to the morning sun shining on his face. Blinking a few times, Umairi turned over on to his side in hope of catching a little more sleep.

Umairi soon after felt someone shaking him. "Wake up! Onii-chan!" Umairi was completely taken back by that name again. "Mmm...What Yoko..." Umairi felt something hit his head. "I'm not Yoko!" The voice yelled back. "I'm up...I'm..." Umairi felt his brain enter sleep mode again, only to be rudely awoken by more shaking. "What time is it..." Umairi groaned.

"Eight am." Silica responded while still shaking him. To be honest, if this was Umairi's real life sister, he would've tackled her to the ground and put her in a head lock. Sadly, Silica wasn't her so Umairi groaned again has he pulled himself up into a sitting position. "Why'd you wake me, Silica?" A tired Umairi asked.

"You said you had stuff to do in the morning so I thought I'd wake you up." Silica answered happily. Umairi rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times. He glanced at Silica and looked at her from a new light. She had short, brown hair which was tied up into two short pigtails by ribbons and big, reddish eyes which were set on a wide, small, face.

Umairi blinked a couple of more times and looked Silica up and down, trying to process what was going on. When Umairi glanced back at her face, she was bright red. "Please stop looking at me like that, Onii-chan."

Umairi shook his head and asked "Like what?" Silica sat on her feet, placing her hands between her legs. "What was going on." A tired Umairi asked himself. He shook his head one more time and started to get up. When he was up, Umairi stretched his back and was greeted by a series of satisfying pops.

"How long do you plan on staying here." Umairi asked while scratching his rear end and slouching. "Until those weirdos stop following me." Silica responded.

Umairi shrugged, he didn't really care. "I don't mind." Umairi told the smaller girl as he rubbed her head and walked past her. "Come on, I'll buy you some breakfast."

"Are you sure? I can pay back..." Silica began before being cut off by Umairi. "No, no, it's fine. You're the guest after all." Silica nodded and rose from her spot on the floor.

Umairi opened his room's door for Silica, who exited through it. "Now...where do we go..." Umairi stated while scratching his head.

A/N For my 3000 view special, I wrote a 3000 word long chapter! And we are done! This is now the longest thing I've ever written! Love breaking my record every once and awhile! Trust me, nothing will happen between Silica and Umairi. Has I said, Absolutely NO Harems! Here is the weirdest thing I'very ever seen. I was looking up what Silica looked like for a reference and one of the recommendations was Silica sao underwear, and when I was browsing pictures, I saw a body pillow of her. Like WTF. A thunderstorm is happening now and I'm pretty sure someone's house nearby was hit by lightning because a lightning struck a block away and a firetruck drove down our street with Its siren on five minutes later. Lol. I'm probably going to make the Martial arts skill different from the actual canon, mostly because I have a funny idea for it. I wonder if anyone can guess it. I started this chapter at 11 in the morning and ended it at 8 pm. Yeah, I have stuff do. Please follow and favorite this shit and become a Desu today. *Theme music plays, aka X-Files theme song* bye...