On Today's Episode: A normal lunch date turns bitter when a strange incident occurs, and another player falls victim and dies. The only problem with this, however? The player died in the safe zone of a town, which shouldn't be possible in this game. Knowing that panic and mayhem would erupt if word got out that a player died in the one place they're supposed to be safe, the Sleeping Knights decide to investigate further. Was this player truly murdered? Was it a system exploit? Or is something darker behind this unwarranted attack?
Episode 7: A Crime Within the Walls
April 22nd, 2024
12:41 P.M. Aincrad Time
Floor 59, Danac
"Ah, it's a beautiful day out here today!" Yuuki exclaimed as she once again stepped onto one of the many grassy fields that surrounded the city of Danac, main settlement of floor 59.
"That's exactly what you said yesterday, and the day before yesterday," Aiko laughed as she and Nick followed Yuuki into the field from the Teleport Gate Plaza. "It's perpetually nice weather on this floor, after all."
"I think she's still a little salty about the madness we had to endure in the Thunder Plains," Nick admitted, referring to the field dungeon on floor 58, which, true to its name, was riddled with constant lightning strikes, making even battles with normal enemies frustrating due to random lightning strikes occurring at the worst possible times.
"Hey, after that nonsense, I'll take what I can get," Yuuki quipped. "Now, onto our plans for today! After lunch, I say we hit the West Mountain so we can get some training in. I have a feeling we're gonna need it, especially considering that the floor bosses are steadily getting harder and harder."
"Why the West Mountain, specifically?" Aiko wondered.
"There's an amazing grinding spot there that I discovered the last time you and I went there," Yuuki answered. "And I swear, I'm going to hit level 80 by the time the Clearers find this floor's boss!"
Currently, both Yuuki and Aiko were level 79, while Nick was level 78.
"Should we invite Silica to this one?" Aiko wondered.
"Wait, isn't she back in the Hill of Memories?" Nick quipped, checking his friend list to see that Silica was indeed currently traveling through the Hill of Memories on floor 48. "Sounds like she's been doing a lot of grinding lately, and all by herself at that."
"I'm proud of her," Yuuki stated. "Remember, she was always going on about how she wanted to get stronger so she could do the protecting instead of others doing it for her."
Nick couldn't help but smile at the fact that Silica had just reached level 60 through all her training.
"Okay, so where are we going for lunch, then?" Nick asked.
"Where do you think?" Yuuki giggled, to which Nick and Aiko exchanged amused glances.
April 22nd, 2024
1:03 PM Aincrad Time
Floor 27, Dahngrest
Fortune's Market Headquarters
"You never get tired of this place, do you, Yuuki?" Nick quipped as the three Sleeping Knights happily munched on their lunch.
"Nope, never ever!" Yuuki giggled. "Honestly, I really hope there's a Fortune's Market equivalent IRL, because I am so booking it there once we're out of this game!"
"Just like you, huh, Yuu?" Aiko proclaimed. "With how much you gush about Fortune's Market, I swear you could fill up a whole blog about it."
"Hmmm... food blogs, huh?" Yuuki quipped.
Nick and Aiko glanced at each other with a look that clearly screamed "we've created a monster".
"Hey, the plus is that it would draw a lot more attention to Fortune's Market," Yuuki admitted. "These guys and gals are some of the best cooks in this entire game, and they need all the free press they can get!"
Nick's attention was then drawn to the opening front doors, and who should walk in but Lisbeth herself.
"I should have known I'd find you guys down here," Lisbeth laughed.
"Is it really that obvious?" Yuuki replied.
"Say, Lis, you look a little tired," Aiko noted. "Did you just wake up or something?"
"Well, it's a little silly, but..." Lisbeth giggled, a hand behind her head as she recalled the events. "I was exhausted after pulling an all-nighter for a client, and, well, I didn't really get much sleep because of it. I wanted to fall asleep right there in the fields."
"Don't tell me you actually did that," Nick quipped.
"Actually, I did," Lisbeth admitted. "And when I woke up a couple hours later, Asuna was sitting right next to me, making sure no one could pull anything dumb or sneaky on me just because I was asleep."
"Wait, I thought the Inner Area barrier prevented anything like that from happening in the safe zones?" Yuuki wondered.
"Well..." Aiko sighed. "It's actually an exploit some numbnuts found in the Duel system. The general name is Sleep Player Killing. It's when a player manipulates a sleeping player into accepting a duel in their sleep and killing them without repercussion."
"WHAT?!" Yuuki shouted. "That's actually possible?! You'd think Kayaba would have patched that crapola out by now!"
"Heck if I know how that guy's mind works," Aiko answered. "That's probably why Asuna was keeping watch for you, so no one could pull that kind of nonsense."
"Even so, I'm usually a pretty light sleeper, so if someone tries to touch my hand when I'm dozing, I'm most likely gonna wake up and pound the offender into mashed potatoes!" Lisbeth proclaimed.
"...huh. That's an image," Nick stated.
"It'd probably be some hipster wearing a 'charisma-boosting hat', knowing our luck," Yuuki teased.
Aiko's planned reaction to that was cut off by the sound of slamming doors. Nick was the first to look up and see a player carrying a katana, looking like he was out of breath from running a marathon.
"Dude, you okay?" Yuuki asked.
"Y-You're... you're the Sleeping Knights, right?" the katana wielder gasped.
"Right on the money," Yuuki proclaimed.
"Good, because we need you to come to Marten right away! Something really bad is going down there!" the katana wielder exclaimed.
"Bad of what kind?" Aiko wondered.
"Trust me, you'll see," the katana wielder replied before dashing back out of Fortune's Market.
"This doesn't sound any kind of good, you guys," Yuuki proclaimed. "We'd better go check it out."
With that, Nick, Yuuki and Aiko rushed out of Fortune's Market (after Yuuki paid for their meals, of course) and rushed towards the Teleport Gate Plaza.
"Teleport: Marten!" Yuuki exclaimed.
April 22nd, 2024
1:35 P.M. Aincrad Time
Floor 57, Marten
"Okay, okay, we're here, we're here! Stop dragging me, sword dude!" Yuuki exclaimed as the katana wielder kept pulling her towards the source of the disturbance.
"All right, what exactly is the problem you need our help with?" Aiko asked. The katana wielder pointed upwards, towards one of the inns not too far from their current position. The Sleeping Knights looked up in that direction, and all gasped in shock at what they were seeing.
A heavily armored player was hanging by a rope from the roof of a church, and he was impaled by a large, red, and spiky spear. It appeared the player had been pushed off the roof after being impaled.
Before Nick could make a move to help the player out, the player exploded into a cloud of glowing polygons, leaving his now discarded armor to fall to the ground with a loud clank.
"Um... guys?" Yuuki gasped. "Did that player just die?!"
"I think the real question we need to ask is, did that player just die inside a safe zone?!" Aiko wondered. "Towns are supposed to be the one place in the game you're supposed to be safe from all this murder stuff, and now..."
"You think it might have been a duel gone wrong?" Yuuki asked. "That's really the only way a player can lose health in a town area, right?"
"I'm not so sure," Nick answered. "There'd be a message stating the winner if it was a duel, and those signs are kinda hard to miss."
Aiko glanced back up at where the player had died, a grim expression highlighting her face. "We have a problem," Aiko proclaimed.
A loud scream caught the group's attention. Yuuki looked over to their left and saw a girl about their age with slightly curly, deep blue hair and blue eyes, wearing a light blue tunic with a chest guard, knee-length brown shorts and dark leggings.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Aiko asked.
"D-Di-did... did Kains just die?!" the woman shuddered, struggling to form coherent sentences.
"Wait, you know him?" Yuuki wondered.
"He... he was my guildmate," the woman replied, still trying to compose herself. "We'd just had dinner not too long ago, and now I come back to find him dead?!"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down," Yuuki cut in, putting her hands on the woman's shoulder to keep her calm so she wouldn't fly off the handle. "We're going to find a way to fix this, promise. And if we find out who did this, they're going to pay big time. So, just stay calm, 'kay?"
"What's your name, miss?" Aiko asked.
"Y-Yolko," the woman responded.
"All right, then, Yolko, is there anything you can tell us about Kains?" Nick queried. "You know, anything that might lead us to who shanked him?"
"I really wish I knew why someone would want to kill him," Yolko answered. "I wish I had more information for you..."
"Well, you did say that he was your guildmate," Yuuki responded. "Maybe someone in that guild kinda... lost it? With all the nuts running around these days, you can never be too careful."
"Speaking of which, we should probably get you to an inn, for your own safety," Aiko stated. "We've got some investigating to do, after all."
"Please, be careful, okay?" Yolko asked. "I have no clue if the killer's still out there..."
After helping Yolko check into the nearby inn, Nick, Yuuki, and Aiko made their way to the area where the player had died, now noticing that the rope and spear used in the attack were lying on the ground.
"Oof, it definitely looks pretty sinister," Yuuki quipped. "But is there anything we can do with these? I'm pretty sure my Appraisal skill isn't high enough to decipher this..."
"Yeah, and I think Lisbeth is busy with other customers right now, so that's out of the question," Nick answered. "After all, I'd rather as few people as possible know about this incident..."
Suddenly, Aiko smiled. "I think I know someone we can go see," Aiko proclaimed.
April 22nd, 2024
2:16 P.M. Aincrad Time
Floor 50, Algade
"HEY, AGIL!" Aiko exclaimed once the trio had made their way to Agil's item shop on floor 50.
"Well, well, if it isn't miss older sister," Agil laughed. "I haven't seen you since floor thirty."
"Been too long, honestly," Aiko laughed. "You still making a living inflating your prices?"
"Hey, 'buy cheap and sell cheap' is my motto," Agil teased.
The Sleeping Knights knew that Agil's seeming money fetish was actually just a front, as even though he made a lot of money from his exploits, he usually used most of his income to support the players on the lower floors who were still having trouble adjusting.
"Good for you," Yuuki giggled. "Actually, Agil, the reason we're here is because... well, we need your opinion on some things."
"I don't know if you've heard, but some crazy things happened on floor 57, and we wanted you to inspect the evidence," Nick replied, placing the rope and the spear they'd collected from the crime scene onto Agil's desk.
"Evidence, you say?" Agil quipped, picking up both items and checking them out. "Well, I can say that this rope is a very common item, something you can easily get in an item shop. But this spear is apparently a player-made item, belonging to someone named... 'Grimlock'."
"Looks like we have our first suspect," Yuuki proclaimed. "...hmmmm..."
"You got a theory, sis?" Aiko asked.
"I'm wondering if someone might have gotten to Grimlock first," Yuuki replied. "After all, someone from Yolko's guild might want revenge on whoever did this, so... should we make a quick stop on floor one, just to be sure?"
"Sounds like a good idea, Yuuki," Nick stated. "Always explore every avenue you can when it comes to a murder mystery. Almost reminds me of the ones my dad used to read all the time..."
April 22nd, 2024
2:31 P.M. Aincrad Time
Floor 1, The Town of Beginnings
Nick, Yuuki and Aiko stepped into the Black Iron Palace to inspect the Monument of Life, a place that had originally been the Room of Resurrection, the place where players would respawn after death, before Kayaba had turned SAO into a death game. Now, the monuments held the names of all ten thousand SAO players, the ones who had already died having their names crossed out along with the time, day, and cause of their death.
Yuuki was the first to start scanning the monument for Grimlock's name, only to find it near the middle of her area.
"Nope-ity nope, Grimlock's still around," Yuuki quipped.
"And here's the confirmation of Kains' death," Aiko replied, pointing to that specific name.
"So, Grimlock is our first suspect," Nick proclaimed. "But it doesn't seem like there's anything we can do right now. You guys wanna teleport back home and pick this up in the morning?"
"Sounds like a plan to me," Yuuki responded.
However, when they exited the Black Iron Palace, the Sleeping Knights suddenly found themselves accosted by several armored players.
"Okay, what's with the armor brigade?" Yuuki asked.
"More specifically, what is the Divine Dragon Alliance doing here?" Aiko wondered, suddenly uneasy.
Yeah, these guys, the Divine Dragon Alliance, is one of the top Clearers guilds in Sword Art Online at the moment. Problem is, methinks they're getting a bit too big for their britches. Considering they've got some kind of grudge against the Knights of the Blood Oath for being the strongest guild in the game, it seems like they're the types who would do anything to get more powerful, even insisting that they get the Last Attack Bonus when it comes to the floor bosses. Honestly, what does it matter who defeats the boss as long as we defeat the boss, right?
"We heard you were investigating Kains' death," Schmitt, the current leader of the guild, proclaimed. "And we request that you hand over the murder weapon right away."
"Hold on, why do you guys want it so badly?" Yuuki protested.
"That's really none of your business, Zekken," one of the players retorted.
Before Yuuki could start fuming over being insulted, Nick reluctantly took the spear out of his inventory and stabbed it into the ground so Schmitt could collect it.
"You might want to look into Grimlock," Nick stated, which caused Schmitt to gasp in shock.
"W-wait, how did you..." Schmitt stuttered before composing himself. "Never you mind. If I were you, I wouldn't investigate any further. You may be in over your head."
The Divine Dragon Alliance all headed back towards the Teleport Gate Plaza, leaving Nick, Yuuki, and Aiko to ponder what had just happened.
"Snooty little jerk," Yuuki growled. "Does he even know who I am?!"
"I don't think that's important right now, sis," Aiko replied. "What's more important is that we might have just found our second suspect."
"Yeah, why was he so insistent that we stay away from this case?" Yuuki wondered. "Does he have something invested in this?"
"And the rabbit hole just goes deeper," Nick sighed.
April 23rd, 2024
9:00 A.M. Aincrad Time
Floor 57, Marten
"He really said that to you?" Asuna gasped as the Sleeping Knights relayed the story of their investigations the previous day. They were waiting for Yolko to show up so they could ask for any information she could give.
"Yeah, he was really rude about it," Yuuki sighed. "But more to the point, we've got two suspects in this case now, and even though I'm not really convinced that Schmitt is our murderer, we are sure that there's gotta be some kind of connection between our two suspects and our victim. We're just trying to figure out what exactly that connection is..."
"Hey, I was actually wondering something," Asuna stated. "You said that Kains had a Damage Over Time effect when he died, right?"
"Yeah, why?" Aiko asked.
"How would that work if someone entered a town or anywhere with an Inner Area barrier with that effect active?" Asuna posited.
"You know, it's worth a shot," Nick quipped. "Let's do a little experiment before Yolko gets here."
The group crossed a short distance to the field area outside Marten so Nick could draw Star Cluster and lightly poke his hand with the blade, causing a Damage Over Time effect to slowly drain his health. Nick stepped back into Marten, and the DOT effect instantly canceled out.
"Welp, I was right," Nick quipped. "The Inner Area barrier instantly nullifies any status effects when you enter, so that theory's right out the window..."
"Guess all we can do now is wait for Yolko to arrive," Asuna replied. "Hopefully that'll give us something else to go on..."
April 23rd, 2024
10:15 A.M. Aincrad Time
Floor 27, Dahngrest
Fortune's Market Headquarters
"Thank you all so much for meeting with me again," Yolko proclaimed once everyone was seated inside the restaurant. "It does seem like an odd place for a meeting..."
"Short story, Yuuki loves this place, so we figure it'd work," Aiko giggled. "We come here at least twice a week."
"But, while we wait for our delectable delicacies, we wanted to ask you about your friend," Yuuki replied. "Apparently, he's connected in some way to two players named Grimlock and Schmitt. Did you know them, by any chance?"
"Yes, we used to be part of a guild called the Golden Apple," Yolko answered.
"Did anything happen in that guild recently?" Nick asked, despite noticing that Yolko suddenly looked uneasy. "If Kains was part of that guild, maybe something went horribly wrong."
Yolko took a few seconds to prepare herself, as it wasn't exactly something she liked reliving, before telling the story in question.
"It was about six months ago," Yolko stated. "My guild, the Golden Apple, was hunting in a sub-dungeon around the middle floors when we acquired an exceptionally rare item."
"Oh, I think I can see where this is going," Nick quipped.
"It was a ring that boosted agility that we acquired from a rare lizard monster," Yolko continued. "Though we were divided on what to do with the ring, the eight of us eventually agreed to sell the ring and split the profits from it. Our leader went to the frontlines to sell the ring at an auction, since it was too valuable to be sold on the floors we were on."
Yuuki and Aiko both glanced at each other with an uneasy look, having guessed what Yolko was about to say.
"But... she didn't return on schedule, and none of us could reach her or find her," Yolko continued. "We visited the Monument of Life, and just as we feared, she'd been killed the night she went to the higher floors. And then, the guild fell into chaos, because everyone began suspecting each other of being our leader's killer."
"Because whoever killed her had to have known about the ring, right?" Asuna realized.
"Yes, and it eventually led to the collapse of the guild," Yolko explained. "Three of us had voted to keep the ring. Myself, Kains, and Schmitt. Our sub-leader Grimlock was actually our leader's husband, but we haven't heard from him since she died."
All of a sudden, Yolko looked like she was about to have a panic attack. "Now that I think about it... it's very possible that Grimlock could have killed him... oh, god... could Kains and I be next?!" Yolko gasped.
"Hey, hey, don't worry about a thing," Aiko stated, reaching out to pay Yolko on the shoulder, thankfully getting her to calm down a bit. "As long as we're here, nothing's gonna get you. That's a Sleeping Knights promise."
Sometime later, after securing Yolko's stay in a nearby inn for a couple days, the Sleeping Knights all re-convened outside of Fortune's Market in order to discuss the next step in their investigation.
"Okay, you two, what do you think we should do now?" Nick asked.
"Well, I think it might be pretty tough to find Grimlock with just the three of us," Aiko stated. "So how about we figure out exactly how Kains died? I figure if we can narrow down how exactly he kicked the bucket, it'll be easier to pin down the culprit."
"But who among all of us is that well-versed in the game mechanics to figure that out?" Yuuki wondered.
Asuna suddenly gasped out loud when she realized that she knew someone like that.
April 23rd, 2024
11:20 A.M. Aincrad Time
Floor 55, Algade
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Commander Heathcliff," Asuna stated as Heathcliff approached them.
"What exactly did you wish to speak with me about, Asuna?" Heathcliff wondered.
The Sleeping Knights explained everything that they had learned over the past day, along with their own theories about what might have happened.
"If I might make a suggestion," Heathcliff proclaimed. "I would recommend not completely relying on secondhand information sources. There may have been another reason why the guild disbanded because of the ring."
"I understand, commander, but we're just trying to gather as much info as we can," Aiko replied. "We've gotta fit these pieces together before someone else gets shanked and people start panicking."
"Do you think we should question Schmitt?" Asuna asked. "Maybe we could get a second opinion about the incident and find some new information."
"Sounds like a plan, Asuna!" Yuuki proclaimed, leaping over to hug Asuna. "You're as sharp a cookie as ever!"
"Aw, stop..." Asuna giggled.
April 23rd, 2024
2:07 P.M. Aincrad Time
Floor 56, Pani
"And just what exactly are you three doing here?" a guard at the entrance of the Divine Dragon Alliance headquarters asked as the Sleeping Knights approached.
"Listen, armor boy, we're not here to pick a fight," Yuuki proclaimed. "We're here because we want to speak with Schmitt."
"And what business do you have with him?" the guard responded.
"Ooh, boy, methinks this is gonna get ugly," Aiko groaned.
"At ease, soldier," Schmitt proclaimed, having just walked up to see what all the commotion was about. "What are you all here for?"
"As you can probably tell, we're still investigating what happened to Kains," Aiko explained. "We wanted to ask you about Grimlock, since he's currently our prime suspect for the murder."
"I can see you're going to be stubborn about this," Schmitt replied.
"Well, excuse us if we'd rather no one else get shanked by this illusionary avenger," Yuuki stated.
"Well, Grimlock used to frequent an NPC restaurant around here," Schmitt answered. "But..."
"There's always a 'but', isn't there?" Nick quipped.
"I'll only tell you the name of the place if you allow me to speak with Yolko," Schmitt responded.
"Guess we really don't have much of a choice, do we?" Aiko admitted as she swiped through her menu to send a friend message to Yolko.
Sometime later, back in the inn on Marten, Schmitt began speaking about the murders of Kains and Griselda, the Golden Apple's leader.
"This just keeps getting crazier and crazier," Yolko admitted, leaning against the windowsill. "Is it our fault that Kains is dead? Could this have been the killer's revenge for us being so selfish when it came to that ring?"
"Don't talk like that, Yolko," Schmitt proclaimed. "It could have just been some nut trying to take advantage of the situation."
Before Yolko could respond, though, her body suddenly seized up and her expression became one of pain and disbelief.
Yuuki was the first to notice that a black, barbed throwing dagger had embedded itself in Yolko's back, and Aiko jumped out of her seat to help, but it was too late.
Yolko fell out of the window and down towards the street below, her avatar disintegrating into a cloud of glowing polygons before she hit the ground.
"D-Did... what just happened?!" Schmitt gasped.
As Nick moved to investigate, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. A figure in a black-hooded robe was standing on the rooftop of a nearby building.
"I think we found our killer!" Yuuki shouted.
"Don't think you're getting away, you son of a bitch!" Nick exclaimed as he jumped through the open window to land on the nearby rooftop and start chasing the hooded figure down.
As Nick inched closer and closer to the figure, the figure clutched a Teleport Crystal and prepared to use it, prompting Nick to toss three throwing picks towards the figure. Sadly, the weapons bounced harmlessly off of the figure thanks to the Inner Area barrier.
The five o'clock bells began to chime as the figure activated the Teleport Crystal, obscuring the name of the destination as the figure disappeared.
"Crapbaskets," Nick growled as he doubled back to retrieve the throwing dagger that had killed Yolko before returning to the inn.
"Did he escape?" Aiko asked.
"Jerk used the bells to hide his destination," Nick groaned.
Schmitt, on the other hand, now looked absolutely terrified. "Oh, hell... I know what this is!" Schmitt shouted. "Griselda's ghost is haunting me now! That figure looked almost exactly like her!"
"I wouldn't go that far," Nick responded. "Now, you promised you'd tell us the name of that restaurant."
"And, just as a bonus, can you also give us the names of the Golden Apple members?" Yuuki asked. "That way, we can see who's still alive among them and hopefully pin down another suspect before someone else dies."
Though still agitated and scared, Schmitt complied, divulging the information they needed. After escorting Schmitt back to the Divine Dragon Alliance Headquarters, the Sleeping Knights all set off, hoping they could unravel this mystery before it was too late.
April 23rd, 2024
6:07 P.M. Aincrad Time
Floor 20, Soleil
"Okay, so what's the game plan, girls?" Nick asked as he, Yuuki, and Aiko sat down in their rented room. They'd checked in to an inn on Soleil, the main settlement of floor twenty, nearby the restaurant in question, in hopes of catching the assassin in the act.
"There's one problem right now," Aiko admitted. "We have no idea what Grimlock even looks like, do we?"
"Oof, you're right," Yuuki stated. "How exactly do we get around that little roadblock?"
"I was thinking that I'd challenge any potential suspects to a duel," Nick replied. "That way, the system would display their name and tip us off."
"Yeah, but let's actually worry about that when we find a suspect, 'kay?" Aiko proclaimed.
"Hey, you guys, I was actually wondering something," Yuuki stated. "How would rare drops actually be talked about in SAO? After all, there really aren't any logs of that kind of thing, right?"
"Good point, Yuu," Aiko responded. "Let's look at this from another angle. Grimlock and Griselda were actually married in-game, right? And that means they share an inventory space, which would make it literally impossible to hide things from each other."
"Wait, doesn't that mean that the player who first got the ring from that monster can't be our killer?" Nick asked. "Since they didn't exactly keep the ring a secret, after all..."
"Aw, crapbaskets, does that mean we're going around in circles?!" Yuuki exclaimed as Nick read the list of names that Schmitt had given him.
Just as he was about to put it back into his inventory, something caught his eye that he hadn't before.
"What's up, Nick?" Yuuki asked. "Did you figure something out?"
"Oh, hell yes I did," Nick proclaimed, jumping to his feet. "There actually isn't any possible way to commit murder in an Inner Area. We've just been looking at this incident the wrong way!"
"Really?" Aiko quipped. "Well, tell us what you figured out."
Meanwhile, back at the Divine Dragon Alliance headquarters, Schmitt, despite any attempts to project an outward air of confidence, was freaking out over the possibilities of what the killer could do. After all, what good were even his defensive capabilities against a murderer who could bypass those defenses?
"She's going to kill me in my sleep," Schmitt gasped. "She's going to murder me when I have no way to defend myself... unless... unless I beg for forgiveness... that's my only hope..."
April 23rd, 2024
10:07 P.M. Aincrad Time
Floor 19, Ralberg
Hill of the Cross
Schmitt nervously approached the hill outside of Ralberg, where a makeshift memorial for Griselda could be seen.
"Griselda... I... I'm here to confess my sins," Schmitt proclaimed, only to gasp in shock when a hooded figure approached him.
"Is this the truth?" the figure asked as it pulled out a barbed estoc.
Schmitt looked like he was about to collapse from fright when another hooded figure emerged from the shadows.
"Who was responsible?" the second figure proclaimed.
"A-All right, all right, I'll confess everything!" Schmitt shrieked. "I found a Corridor Crystal and a piece of paper in my belt pouch, and it told me to infiltrate Griselda's room and set it as the destination. I left it in the guild's shared storage, and set half of the ring's selling price as a reward. The day after she died, I found the reward money on my bed. That's all I know, I swear! Please, Griselda, please spare my life!"
A click resounded, and Schmitt recoiled, thinking that the two hooded figures were about to kill him, only for the first figure to lower her hood and reveal that it was Yolko.
"And just like that, we have a confession," Yolko proclaimed.
"Y-Yolko, you're still alive?!" Schmitt gasped. "But... does that mean..."
The second figure lowered his hood to reveal a still-alive Kains, or rather Caynz.
"We really respected Griselda," Caynz stated. "Why would you do something like this?!"
"I don't know who actually killed her, I swear to god!" Schmitt exclaimed. "I have no idea who wrote me that note, but I used that reward money to pass the requirements for joining the Divine Dragon Alliance! That's all I know, I mean it!"
Before Yolko or Caynz could deduce who had sent that memo, Schmitt suddenly gasped in pain before falling down to the ground, a throwing dagger buried in his back that was tipped with paralysis poison.
"Well, well, look who we have here," Johnny Black laughed as he stepped out of the shadows, his subordinates following behind him. Red Eyed XaXa grabbed Yolko and Caynz and held his own Estoc to their throats while taking the one they'd used earlier.
"A fine addition to my collection," XaXa laughed.
"You're a pretty high rank within the Divine Dragon Alliance, aren't you, Schmitt?" PoH proclaimed, sneering at their captives.
"I have an idea on how we can let this play out," Johnny cackled. "How about we have them fight each other to the death, and the survivor can live?"
"Aren't you going to kill the survivor anyway?" PoH wondered. "That's what you did last time we played that game."
"Don't tell them that, you idiot!" Johnny shouted. "We can't actually play that game if you just blab about it!"
Johnny shook his head and walked up to Schmitt, raising his weapon. "Well, I guess this is the end of your story," Johnny proclaimed. "It was nice knowing you."
Suddenly, footsteps began approaching fast.
Before XaXa could inform his boss about the approaching threat, Yuuki had already slipped in and slapped the Estoc out of his hand before kicking him in the back, allowing Yolko and Caynz to retreat to a safe distance.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Johnny," Nick growled as Yuuki and Aiko stood by his side, their weapons ready.
"Ah, we meet again, Sleeping Knights," Johnny proclaimed. "What brings you here?"
"What do you think, coffin-stuffer?!" Yuuki shouted.
"But you might receive some mercy if you beat it now," Aiko stated. "Because the Clearers are on their way, and you know you don't stand a chance against them."
To his annoyance, Johnny had to concede that point and ordered his subordinates to retreat.
"Yup, he nope-d out quickly," Yuuki quipped.
"Hey, Caynz, I gotta commend you for your fake death," Nick stated. "It actually had me fooled for a while... until I remembered something extremely important."
"Yeah, Yolko, we figured out that you two were alive this whole time," Aiko explained. "It took us a bit to figure out, but even though the Anti-Criminal Code of the Inner Area prevents health from decreasing in a town, that doesn't apply to object durability."
"And the animation for object destruction and player death are extremely similar, what with the big cloud of glowing polygons," Yuuki stated. "Now, stop me if I'm wrong here. You two used this to your advantage by stabbing yourselves through your equipment outside the Inner Area, then moved into town and used a Teleport Crystal the exact instant your armor or clothes exploded, to make it look like you were murdered. Did I get it right?"
Yuuki didn't need an answer to that, as Yolko and Caynz's stunned silence was all the answer she needed.
"And here's another thing that threw us off initially," Nick continued. "Your name is Caynz, not Kains. That name belonged to an entirely unrelated player, but you used that name for your cover, since the Monument of Life doesn't say when a player dies. So, you used that to create, in Yuuki's words, an 'illusionary avenger' to frighten Griselda's killer into revealing their identity, and Schmitt just happened to be your primary suspect."
"So, you scared Schmitt into seeking forgiveness at Griselda's memorial, even though we were worried you were actually going to kill him," Aiko proclaimed. "But Yolko actually registered as our friend, despite the possibility of it blowing your whole plan, as a sort of apology."
"Wow," Caynz replied. "You're actually pretty good detectives."
"But that still leaves one unanswered question," Yolko wondered. "If Schmitt wasn't the one who actually killed Griselda... who did?"
"Oh, that's simple," Yuuki replied. "You two know that players who are married share inventory, right?"
"Let us spell it out for you, then," Aiko proclaimed. "The one who stole the ring, and the one who called Laughing Coffin here to kill you guys... is none other than Grimlock himself!"
Before Yolko or Caynz could refute that claim, Grimlock was brought out from behind the large tree by Asuna, Lambent Light aimed for his back.
"G-Grimlock?!" Caynz exclaimed. "What the hell is this all about?!"
"I don't know what this is all about," Grimlock answered. "I never had that ring, despite our shared storage, and the only reason that the ring materialized as an object is because she had it equipped when she died!"
"Sorry, Grimlock, but I'm not buying that," Yolko responded. "She couldn't have equipped the ring, because she was already wearing her marriage ring and the Golden Apple guild ring."
Yolko stepped over to Griselda's grave and started digging, eventually uncovering the Eternal Storage Trinket that still held the rings in question.
"Now answer the question, Grimlock," Yolko growled. "Why did you kill her just to sell that rare ring?!"
"Fine, you want the truth?" Grimlock growled. "This game was changing Griselda. While I was afraid to step out and get my hands dirty, she was slowly starting to get more independent, forming the Golden Apple and enlisting even more members. If this game was cleared, the wife that I loved was going to disappear, forever out of my reach. I even thought she was going to divorce me if and when we made it out of SAO. So, if I couldn't have my wife, I'd settle for the memory of her. And who could blame me?!"
Nick, Yuuki, and Aiko all stared at Grimlock like he'd lost his mind.
"...you're sick," Yuuki growled. "Your wife wants to get stronger, so you kill her?! Do you have any idea how unbelievably stupid that sounds?!"
"That doesn't sound like love to me," Aiko proclaimed. "It sounds more like you just wanted to possess her."
Surprisingly, those words seemed to actually get through to Grimlock, and he gasped in shock before collapsing to his knees in utter defeat.
Schmitt, having just recovered from his paralysis, walked up to yank Grimlock to his feet. "I'll decide his punishment," Schmitt proclaimed.
While this was happening, Yolko and Caynz re-buried the Eternal Storage Trinket before turning to the Sleeping Knights. "Thank you all for helping us uncover the truth," Yolko stated. "Sorry we had to deceive you in order to do it..."
"Hey, it was practically the perfect crime," Yuuki admitted. "I'm honestly impressed."
Yolko and Caynz bowed to the Sleeping Knights before following Schmitt and Grimlock back to Ralberg.
"Whew, man, am I glad that nonsense is over," Yuuki sighed. "It's exhausting being super-sleuths sometimes."
"You gotta admit it was worth it to find justice," Aiko quipped.
"True on all counts," Yuuki answered.
Asuna looked back at Griselda's grave before turning back to Nick. "Hey, Nick, I had a question for you," Asuna proclaimed. "Hypothetical, of course. Say you were married to someone, but you discovered a new side to them that you never knew about before. Would that change your opinion of them?"
Nick took a couple seconds to think it over before he gave his answer.
"To tell the truth? I'd probably love them even more, since they showed me a side I never expected," Nick answered.
"That's such a 'you' answer, Nick," Aiko giggled.
"H-Hey, I thought long and hard on that answer!" Nick sputtered. "Don't diss it!"
Yuuki, however, was stunned with disbelief, only pointing towards the tree. Nick and Aiko looked over, only to see a transparent image of Griselda looking their way.
"We're gonna beat this game," Nick proclaimed. "For your sake, Griselda, and everyone else's. That's a promise."
Griselda simply smiled before vanishing completely.
"Okay, I think we should get out of here now before any more ghosts show up," Asuna proclaimed.
"Wait, Asuna, are you afraid of ghosts?" Yuuki wondered. Asuna's response was a surprised squeak.
Nick couldn't help but chuckle as Asuna feebly tried to deny her fear of ghosts, with Yuuki teasing and prodding her the whole way back to Ralberg.
While Asuna and Yuuki teased each other and Aiko played the moderator so Asuna wouldn't faint, Nick went back to the idea he was planning for next month.
He wanted this to be special, after all.
Since Aiko had figured out his crush on Yuuki, Nick had decided he wanted to make their first date one to remember, so Aiko had been helping him with ideas.
And what was the date Nick had settled on?
May 23rd. Yuuki and Aiko's birthday.
To be continued...
Next time on Sword Art Online: Twin Memory...
Yuuki: Wow, I can't believe my birthday's almost here!
Aiko: It's my birthday, too, ya goof.
Yuuki: I know, silly. No way in heck I'd leave my twin sister out of the celebrations!
Asuna: Speaking of celebrations, do either of you know where Nick went? I don't want to just look at my friends list to find him.
Yuuki: Hey, yeah, what's Nick up to?
Nick: Hey, Yuuki, Aiko, I had a question for the both of you.
Aiko: Shoot.
Nick: Um... who's Merida?
Yuuki: ...
Nick: Oh, crapbaskets, I didn't say something wrong, did I?
Aiko: It's just a long story, Nick. I promise you'll know everything on the next episode of Sword Art Online: Twin Memory, "Sister's Prayer"!
Nick, Yuuki, and Aiko: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!