So... We're finally reaching that part of the story.
Without going too much into details, the parts at the beginning and the end are the actual core of this chapter. The part in the middle is mostly about transition.
Furthermore, Ascending Moon is back, and I'll also use said middle part to include a few ideas about them that didn't really fit anywhere else.
This chapter also includes a few references to my recent side story "Internal Workings of the Alliance", but you should be able to understand what's going on even without reading that side story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment or Sword Art Online in general.
It was an overall ordinary afternoon, and the sun had just started to set. Sinon returned to Agil's inn. The restaurant and shop on the lower floor were busy – no surprise. There was a variety of overall unfamiliar faces, but Sinon didn't pay much attention to any of them.
Instead, she directed her attention to Asuna, who sat at a table in the back area, as soon as she spotted her. As she came closer, Sinon noticed another person at the table. It seemed to be a man wearing a hood. Frankly, Sinon was slightly confused, but she didn't think much about it.
Sinon [slightly cheerfully]: Hey, Asuna!
Asuna [flatly]: Oh, hello, Sinon-san.
Asuna's cold, indifferent voice surprised Sinon. She didn't even turn completely towards her during her greeting.
Sinon: W-what's wrong? You act a bit… distantly.
Asuna's behaviour worried Sinon more and more as she thought about it. Asuna hadn't even used her usual nickname, and oddly enough, Sinon kind of missed it already due to the circumstances.
Asuna: It just seems so appropriate. I've had a chat with this man here right now, and he seems to know you a lot better than I do.
Asuna's gaze was fixated on the person on the other side of the table while she was saying that.
Sinon started to wonder who this mysterious person could be. She shifted her gaze towards the man, but she stopped when she saw blood dripping onto the table. It seemed to come from the man's face under the hood.
At first, Sinon was worried about his apparent injury, but a thought crossed her mind: This was SAO, there shouldn't be any blood. Sinon quickly looked up, just in time to see the man turning towards her, so she could see his face now.
The sight made Sinon freeze in utter shock. She didn't even breath for a moment, and her eyes contracted vastly in a mere second. As much as she'd like to, Sinon couldn't take her eyes off the man's face.
That was the man from the post office, looking at her with a deranged expression and a hole in his forehead. The only thought that Sinon could articulate clearly was the question what he was even doing here.
Man: Why the surprised face, Asada-san? You couldn't get away from me during almost five years. I've heard you're an archer here, still taking others out with a ranged weapon, so I decided to stop by to see how you're doing.
Sinon still couldn't avert her eyes. This only changed when she heard muttering around her. She finally managed to turn her head to look behind her. Now she noticed that the other people here were, in fact, familiar faces. She was sure that she had seen most of them in the real world.
They uttered all kinds of whispers, and Sinon could somehow make most of them out. "Better watch out for her". "She's not normal, she's not right". "A murderer". Before long, the distinct whispers turned into a creepy chant, "Murderer… Murderer..."
As the crowd around her continued the chant, Sinon could've sworn that she saw Asuna muttering the exact same word over and over again. She wanted to say something, be it pleading or objecting… or just anything, but she was completely tongue-tied, no matter how hard she tried to utter any kind of response.
Man: Feeling helpless? Maybe it's because that bow still isn't the right weapon for you, Asada-san. It's just not the same as this!
With that, the man reached for something under his overcoat. Sinon could already tell what it was going to be. She didn't want to see it, but her eyes where glued to the man's hand as it pulled out a gun from under his overcoat. A Type 54 "Black Star"…
At that moment, Sinon finally recovered her voice, albeit just to let out an ear-splitting scream.
Next up, Sinon found herself in a strangely dark room. Something seemed to cover her body, and she tried to get it off herself in a panic.
As she did that, however, Sinon noticed that it was some sort of blanket, and it confused her a bit. She stopped screaming and took in her surroundings for a moment. This… was her inn room, wasn't it?
Sinon took a few deep breaths while thinking about it. Right… That had just been a dream. A really terrifying nightmare, perhaps, but still just a dream. It was something she could handle at least a little… because of experience.
Nevertheless, her entire body was shaking and felt overall numb except for an intense feeling of nausea. At this particular moment, Sinon was really thankful that throwing up wasn't a thing in VR.
At least the walls were perfectly soundproof. Her scream would've probably woken up everyone in Arc Sophia if they hadn't been...
For a moment, Sinon just stared at her hands, which were still clutching her blanket tightly. To be more precise, she stared at the spot where the shot with the Type 54 "Black Star" had left a mark on her hand – yet another thing that was fortunately not there in this VR world.
It took a few minutes, but Sinon calmed down to a certain degree. She lay down again and covered her body with her blanket before trying to go back to sleep. With an emphasis on "trying to"…
After the vivid nightmare, Sinon was downright terrified of falling asleep and having another one. On top of that, the nightmare had reminded her of all of her worries. The worst part about it was the way Asuna had acted in that nightmare. The thought of the kindhearted girl acting towards her the same way people had in her hometown… It was almost unbearable.
While contemplating the fact that she had no idea what she could even do if any of her newfound friends discovered her dark secret, Sinon started to cry and sob quietly.
It was around 1 am, and Sinon had the feeling that she wouldn't get much more sleep tonight. Great…
In the afternoon on that day, Akinym and Sinon went to the 90th floor.
Two weeks had passed since they had reached this floor. By now, the DDA was exploring the labyrinth, so according to the Council's decree, they were free to do a quest in the field.
Frankly, Akinym wasn't happy about the speed at which the DDA was clearing this floor. Two weeks for one floor… This was significantly slower than before, and it was also slower than Akinym had expected.
Due to the fact that only one faction at a time was clearing the floors now, a decrease in the clearing speed was to be expected, but Akinym hadn't thought that it would be so bad. Now he – and everybody else – could only hope that the next prediction would also come true, and the Assault Team would adapt to the new circumstances, so the clearing speed would go up again.
To be fair, there had been certain issues, but they had also found ways to deal with them. For instance, there had been a giant hive in the north-east of the 90th floor. While clearing it had taken a large raid party consisting of parties from numerous guilds, it had also stopped troublesome wasp monsters from spawning all over the map, so they could work on this floor much better now.
Clearing that dungeon had apparently also earnt them "the reverence and gratitude of the people", which may sound silly, but it was necessary to unlock an intel quest. In fact, it was one of only three ways they knew so far to gain said reverence and gratitude.
The other options were completing a high amount of quests, which would've been quite hard even if all the parties of the DDA had worked on it, or completing a certain escort quest about a group of children who were kidnapped and imprisoned inside the labyrinth without casualties, and according to the DDA party that had attempted to do that quest, this would've been almost impossible.
This floor had a lot of surprises for them in store. One of them happened to be inside the labyrinth. Reaching the labyrinth had been unexpectedly easy, but there was a certain twist. The way upward didn't lead through the labyrinth tower. It lead around it. At the end of each floor, there was a way outside, leading to a teleporter, and they had to clear a bunch of floating islands to get to the next floor.
In order to go from one of the floating islands to the next one, they had to kill all monsters on the respective islands. All monsters would respawn at once at intervals of ten minutes, so they had to be killed within that time frame, which was doable, but not easy.
The most troublesome part was that the islands were relatively small, and there were numerous gaps everywhere, so careless behaviour could easily lead to falling over the edge and to one's certain death. In fact, when a scouting party of the KoB and the DDA had explored the way from the first floor to the second floor of the labyrinth, Yamata had almost accidentally flung himself off one island because of his over-the-top movements.
Overall, it was advisable to clear these islands with a group of heavily armed, slow but tanky players. The only issue for them were harpy and dragon monsters, which were quite agile, on some islands. Schmitt and the group of players he led to deal with this "trial" had to corner these monsters before taking them out quickly.
Thankfully, the DDA had probably almost reached the boss room, so they could move on to the next floor before the end of the week. While Akinym had figured that he probably wouldn't participate in the next boss battle, he had… political issues to deal with.
The DDA had started to support two aspiring clearing guilds, and after thinking about this for a day or two, he had figured that they probably tried to establish these guilds as their "puppets" in the assemblies of the small clearing guilds. Once they'd clear the 90th floor, the DDA would probably intensify their efforts to that end.
Akinym had discussed this with Asuna, who had overall concurred with him. Their conclusion had been to do the same thing to prevent the DDA from gaining too much influence on the applicants for the Assault Team. Officially, the Council had "acknowledged the DDA's efforts", so they had decided to "launch a tutoring programme".
Asuna wasn't exactly happy about "using" the applicants for such political schemes, and frankly, neither was Akinym, but they knew that they couldn't let the DDA do as they pleased. As a consequence, a group of new recruits ("new" in the sense that they had been transferred to the upper floors recently) of the KoB were training alongside some applicants, and some of the smaller clearing guilds were also helping.
For instance, Klein and Fuurinkazan volunteered. Akinym had assigned them to an all-male guild, which wasn't what Klein had wanted, but to be honest, his reason for that was related to the reason for Akinym's decision. As far as he could see it, Klein had the amazing talent to befriend literally any guy who wasn't a jerk, so this guild was a great match. At the same time, Klein's absolute inability to act even remotely normally around females wouldn't cause any problems.
Meanwhile, Akinym and Sinon were also working on that "project". For that purpose, they were teaming up with Ascending Moon again.
They went to the 90th floor with four members of Ascending Moon. The plan was to see how they fared when they were pitted against monsters on the highest currently available floor.
Frankly, they were a bit underleveled, and the four members of Ascending Moon had to work together to take out enemies that Akinym and Sinon could handle as a duo. On the plus side, they could help the lower-leveled players with leveling quite well thanks to the Slouch Hat of the Sage.
Given that only four members of Ascending Moon could join their party, there was the question who was left out. Tsukuyomi had suggested to exclude either Susanoo or Kaito – albeit reluctantly. The reason was that these two usually started some kind of counterproductive competition between each other on quests. They had decided to let Susanoo join this time, while Kaito had been sent on an errand.
Their destination was an encampment of deserting guards in the far west of the map.
According to the lore of the floor, a necromantic ritual had gone wrong, and now they had to fight back a never-ending onslaught of undead monsters. There was a quest chain to deal with that, too, but that's beside the point. The actually relevant lore was that several guards had given up the seemingly hopeless battle.
A ruthless tyrant had invaded the floor after the official government had been weakened. It was a beast that had conquered the labyrinth, and now it was hiding on the highest floor. In other words, that was the floor boss.
The deserted guards had sided with the floor boss, and now they performed duties such as guarding the labyrinth. Well, or sabotaging the local resistance as robber knights, and that was a problem that Akinym, Sinon and Ascending Moon were taking care of.
These encampments spawned randomly in different areas, and there usually were about a dozen knight monsters at each camp. Clearing a camp gave a nice EXP bonus.
The "usual" problem was that coming within twenty metres of such a camp would draw the aggro of all knights. Using ranged weapons to lure single knights out was possible, but doing this with throwing picks could be quite a hassle.
Sinon's archery made this relatively easy, though, especially since she was a great markswoman. She usually targeted up to two monsters at a time, and Ascending Moon would intercept them before Sinon lured out another two that she and Akinym would take on.
They spent the afternoon taking down these encampments. To be perfectly honest, they actually spent more time searching for them, especially since they ran into several monsters while looking for the next one.
By the time the sun almost began to set, they were at the third camp.
Akinym and Sinon were taking care of the last one of their foes. Akinym deflected one of its blows, and he pushed the monster slightly to the side before it could regain its balance completely. The cooldown on his Acrobatics skill was over at that moment, and he used it for a backflip to get as far away from his opponent as possible.
Akinym: Switch!
Sinon had already prepared an arrow, but it took her a moment to register Akinym's exclamation. Just as she had expected, she hadn't slept much after her nightmare last night, and she had a hard time focusing on the battles.
Fortunately, VR didn't feature a lot of the most obvious signs of sleep deprivation such as the infamous bags under one's eyes. Yawning was included, but Sinon could keep herself from showing how tired she was that way. In conclusion, nobody around her had really noticed her state.
Another contributing factor was that Akinym and Sinon's timing was still usually a bit off, even though they were working on that, and they at least tried to cooperate properly. As a consequence, Akinym didn't think too much of the fact that Sinon didn't attack the monster right away.
The same went for the fact that she prepared the Sword Skill Area Shot, which was the strongest Sword Skill she could use at that moment. As another result of her lack of concentration, she had carelessly used most of her more suitable Sword Skills, so they were on cooldown now.
By the time she was ready, however, her target had already charged at Akinym. Akinym had waited until the last moment to do something against it, and he had barely managed to parry the next blow. In fact, the parry hadn't been perfect, and the blade of his enemy cut into his left arm.
Area Shot could hit multiple targets, and Sinon was worried that she might hit Akinym, so using the Sword Skill was too risky, but cancelling it would've been a waste. The Sword Skill would be cancelled automatically soon, though.
Akinym seemed to guess what was on Sinon's mind. When the monster swung its sword at him again, he quickly dodged backwards, and he took the starting stance of Armor-Breaking Lance, which became available again around that time.
That way, he didn't dodge the sword thrust that the monster used next. Rather than that, he took the blow, knowing that he had enough HP left to survive it without major problems, and he counterattacked with his own Sword Skill immediately thereafter.
The impact of Akinym's Sword Skill pushed the monster back, creating enough distance between it and Akinym.
Akinym: Now!
Sinon quickly unleashed Area Shot while she still could, and thanks to the system assistant, the arrows hit the monster without problem. With the defense debuff from Armor-Breaking Lance, the Sword Skill was more than strong enough to take it out.
Now that they were done, they turned their attention to Ascending Moon and their battles.
Tsukuyomi was currently attacking one knight monster with a Sword Skill, but it was obvious that the monster was a bit too agile and too strong for him, and it parried pretty much all blows. Only the last attack of the combo broke though the monster's parries and damaged it at least a bit.
When the monster prepared a counterattack, Junimenta jumped in and took the starting stance for one of her Sword Skills in order to strike the monster down before it could do too much damage.
However, she had forgotten that these monsters reacted to incoming attacks from the flanks or the back. It was a mechanic she still wasn't used to. The monster turned its attention to Junimenta and swung its sword at her during the moment she was vulnerable while charging her Sword Skill.
Junimenta didn't react in time, but Tsukuyomi did, and he leapt forward, basically jumping right in the way of the attack and blocking it with its body. The blow did considerable damage, but Tsukuyomi had enough HP left to survive it, although the continuous damage from the blade being stuck in his body could become dangerous.
Junimenta did the best thing she could do in that situation. She waited a second for her Sword Skill to be ready, and she attacked the monster as soon as possible. Tsukuyomi's unexpected action had confused the AI, and the monster couldn't parry the attack anyway, so Junimenta hit it without problems.
Since the monster didn't have many HP left anyway, the attack was strong enough to finish it off.
Meanwhile, Susanoo and ODE took the last knight out. Susanoo had pierced its body with his pike, rendering it almost immobile. It came at the price of the monster doing the same thing, thrusting its sword into Susanoo's side and causing significant damage, but this tactic gave ODE enough time to prepare a really strong Sword Skill to take the monster out in one blow while it couldn't defend itself.
Now that the battle was taken care of, they all rushed towards Tsukuyomi because of his almost suicidal action, starting with Junimenta.
Junimenta [very worriedly]: Tsuku, are you okay?! Seriously, what was that?! [worriedly, slightly dejectedly] You can't just jump in the way of an attack like that!
Tsukuyomi [slightly defensively]: Well, what else should I've done? I've told you countless times that I'd keep you safe, so I obviously didn't want to let you get hit in that moment!
Sinon: That was still pretty reckless. [slightly exasperatedly] You probably shouldn't have gone that far!
Junimenta [slightly upset and worriedly]: See?! I mean, I wasn't on the verge of death or anything, but what if something had happened to you?!
ODE [slightly reassuringly]: Now, now, you two! I know you two are worried about each other, but don't forget to acknowledge that the respective other one is, too! Also, you don't have to worry, Juni-chan, Tsukuyomi-kun seems to be fine, right?
Junimenta [slightly dejectedly]: Well, I get that, [dejectedly] but I wish you'd hold back sometimes, Tsuku! Trust me a little to defend myself!
Tsukuyomi [slightly exasperatedly]: This isn't really an issue of trust, Juni! I've told you that I'd protect you no matter what, so that's what I'm doing! If anything, I'd still prefer that you'd stay in town and focus on crafting and stuff…
Junimenta [upset]: TSUKU! I've told you countless times that this is not going to happen! I'm not staying behind just to see you and everyone else risk your lives! I'm no helpless damsel, and I'll fight at your side, not behind you! [slightly sternly] I want to keep you safe, too!
Susanoo [mutters, dejectedly]: Aw, man… You don't have to rub it in our faces!
ODE [casually]: Take it easy, Susanoo-kun! As for you, Tsukuyomi-kun, it's not a bad thing that you want to keep your girl safe, but seeing the bigger picture, there are other ways to make her happy! One of them is to care for your own well-being properly, so she doesn't have to worry so much all the time!
Junimenta: Yeah, you should really listen to ODE, Tsuku!
Tsukuyomi [exasperatedly, slightly apologetically]: Okay, okay! Maybe I'll think of a better course of action next time…
As interesting as this exchange might've been for anyone who missed their favourite TV drama series, Sinon was more interested in a particular part of the conversation.
Sinon: It's nice to see you reconcile and all, but what was that part about crafting? [to Junimenta] Are you actually a blacksmith for your guild or something?
Junimenta: Well, nothing so practical, I guess. It's more that I did handicrafts as a hobby in the real world, and when I discovered that there's a Handicrafts skill, I had to get it.
Akinym [slightly confused]: So you've told her to spend all her time on a hobby, Tsukuyomi-san?
Tsukuyomi [defensively]: It's not like she crafts useless junk! In fact, we're already planning to… [awkwardly] Um, I mean, we already have plans for that, you know?
Tsukuyomi chuckled awkwardly, being glad that he didn't spill something that was supposed to be a secret for the time being.
Sinon: What kind of stuff are we actually talking about? "Handicrafts" doesn't sound like something I've expected to find in this game.
Junimenta: You can find the strangest things here! Well, Handicrafts allows you to make decorative accessories and knick-knacks, so that's really more for fun. However, I've also got Carpentry and Sewing. [slightly apologetically] Still, I guess I can only craft non-combat items, so you better don't ask me to craft a new piece of armour or something! [slightly contemplatively] What else? Oh, yeah, I'm also in charge of cooking. I'd rather have homemade stuff, [looks at the rest of Ascending Moon, slightly annoyed] and I can't trust any of these guys to take care of that!
Tsukuyomi rubbed his head sheepishly while putting on an apologetic smile, and Susanoo just sighed dejectedly while hanging his head.
ODE [casually, slightly dejectedly]: Come on, Juni-chan, cut an old man some slack! This whole cooking system in this game is just beyond me! [slightly exasperatedly] I mean, you can put the most bizarre ingredients together, and it somehow creates a taste unlike anything I'd expect from that! [slightly dejectedly] I just can't wrap my head around that.
Junimenta [dryly]: See what I mean? These guys are hopeless! [looks towards the horizon, slightly contemplatively] But speaking of cooking, you could say we're approaching dinner time. At the very least, it's already dusk, [slightly exasperatedly] and I'd rather not go hunting here in the dark…
Tsukuyomi: Good point. We've all reached another level today, so I'd say it was quite productive. Akinym-san, Sinon-san, would it be okay for us to call it a day and head back?
Sinon: Fine with me. [slightly exasperatedly] I'm not fond of fighting in the dark either.
Akinym thought about something for a moment. It was just that he remembered something that the Council had to take care of in this area.
Akinym: Sounds good. You can head back to the teleporter, and with the map data, you should be there within ten to fifteen minutes.
Tsukuyomi: That… sounds as if you still have something to do here?
Akinym: Essentially. [slightly reassuringly] It's nothing you have to concern yourselves about, though.
They took Akinym's word for it, and after leaving the party, the four members of Ascending Moon bid Akinym and Sinon goodbye and left.
Akinym [slightly surprised]: What about you? You don't wanna go with them?
Sinon [slightly surprised]: What do you mean, "what about me"? I've just assumed you'd need my help with whatever you've planned.
Akinym [flatly]: Actually not. It's not like I'm going to fight some kind of strong monster or anything. I guess you could come along, though.
Sinon: Well, I don't really have anything to do, so… You might call it "obligation of your partner".
Akinym: If that's what you want, sure. This way.
Akinym left the normal path, crossing a meadow and heading straight towards a small forest area.
Calling it a forest might be an overstatement, though. It was a really small area, and they could cross it within a minute.
Sinon: So… What exactly is this about?
Akinym: Well, you see, there's some kind of resting spot ahead. Nothing fancy, just a few benches around a stone table, but it's a safe zone, so it's a good place to take a break here. The thing is that it's also right at the edge of this island, and it's basically the westernmost point of the map, so you get a clear view on the skybox from there.
Sinon [slightly contemplatively]: Okay… So, basically, it's the perfect spot for stargazing or admiring the sunset?
Akinym: Yes, that's what it comes down to.
Sinon suddenly stopped when a thought occurred to her. Akinym was a bit startled by that action, and when he turned towards her, he saw that she was… visibly displeased, to say the least.
Sinon: Should I read something into the fact that you're leading me straight to such a spot during dusk?
Akinym [annoyed]: I don't know. What do you read into the fact that you were the one who wanted to follow me here?! Seriously, this wasn't even my idea in the first place! Besides, bringing you here just for watching the sunset would be silly and – quite frankly – out of character for me.
Sinon had to admit that Akinym was right. In hindsight, she didn't even know what had given her the idea that Akinym would have ulterior motives. As he had said, it wouldn't be like him to do something like that.
She chalked it up to the fact that it had been a long and rough day, and jumping to weird conclusions like this was probably just another sign that her mind wasn't all too reliable today…
Sinon: You're right. I'm sorry.
Akinym: The thing is, however, that a lot of people actually come here to do exactly that: to watch the sunset or the stars. Keeping aside that it's a safe zone, it only takes around ten minutes to reach the place from the teleporter on this island, and hardly any monsters spawn near that route. This particular spot has become quite popular with couples and small groups.
Sinon: Okay, so… What's so special about it that you have to do something here?
Akinym: The thing is that some people have reported signs of a voyeur here. They didn't see anyone, but sometimes, there was a rustling in the thicket or something like that. Just yesterday, a party rested here before heading back to town, and they were sure that they heard steps coming from the surrounding area. However, even when a member with a Searching skill with over eight hundred points checked it, he couldn't find anyone.
So there was a voyeur using the Hiding skill – a pretty good Hiding skill at that. The thought made Sinon feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Akinym: The Council obviously doesn't approve of such actions, and we've come to the conclusion that we should probably catch the culprit in the act. I'm one of the few players with a maxed-out Searching skill, so I should be able to detect the player in question. If the rumors are true.
With that explanation out of the way, they kept moving. Akinym and Sinon also used their own Hiding skills to make sure that whatever players might be at their destination wouldn't spot them immediately.
As to be expected, there were people at the resting spot. To be more precise, there were a guy and a girl, gazing at the setting sun. It instantly made Sinon feel uncomfortable.
Akinym [whispers]: Alright, let's see if the culprit is around…
Akinym used his Searching skill, but he couldn't detect a fifth person nearby. There was the possibility that the voyeur would have an (almost) maxed-out Hiding skill, and if they used a veil potion on top of that, even Akinym wouldn't be able to find them that way. However, veil potions were a bit too valuable to spend them on… something so silly.
Well, the person they were looking for might just see that differently, but Akinym's guess was that the player in question just wasn't here yet.
Akinym: Nothing to be seen so far. Let's wait for a while. I'll try again when the cooldown is over.
Sinon [upset, whispers]: Are you crazy?! We can't wait here with these two over there!
Akinym wasn't happy about Sinon's attitude, but he found solace in the fact that she at least kept her voice down. Hiding might conceal her visually, but others could still hear her.
Akinym: Listen, in all seriousness, I just want to find the person that has been reported spying on people here!
Sinon: Right now, that would be us! [very exasperatedly] Also, [points at the Slouch Hat of the Sage] take that… thing off if you want to talk about seriousness! It's impossible to take you serious when you wear that!
Akinym sighed, and after a few clicks in his menu, the Slouch Hat of the Sage was put back into his inventory. He still insisted on waiting for the voyeur to arrive.
Frankly, Sinon felt really bad about the whole situation the entire time. It soon became completely obvious that the two players at the resting area were on a date, and she honestly had the feeling that she was spying on them.
Meanwhile, Akinym didn't pay any attention to these two players. He just observed the surrounding forest, using his Searching skill whenever it was ready.
Sinon was about to stand up and leave, thinking that she might at least leave this to Akinym, when he suddenly got up first. Judging from his expression, he had found something.
However, before Sinon could say anything, he rushed towards whatever he had detected, and Sinon could only follow him.
Akinym [sternly, yells]: Hey, you! This is not the place to sneak… [shocked] STREA-SAN?!
Strea [very surprised]: HUH?! Who is there?! [slightly surprised] Oh, it's Akinym! [cheerfully] And Sinon! Did you come to check on the spectators here, too?
Yep, that voice definitely belonged to Strea. At first, Sinon hadn't been sure if she could really believe Akinym. This was strange, even for Strea…
Furthermore, Strea had apparently used her own Searching skill to spot Sinon.
The commotion in the thicket had – unsurprisingly – drawn the attention of the players at the resting spot.
Male Player: Hey, who's there?!
Akinym, Sinon and Strea all deactivated their Hiding skills to reveal themselves. Needless to say, neither of the two other players was happily surprised. The girl even hid behind her boyfriend.
Strea: Hey, you two! Don't mind us! We'll just discuss something quickly over here!
Sinon: You don't have to sound so cheerful while you're saying that…
Male Player [shocked]: Wait a second… [upset] Were you spying on us?!
Strea [slightly surprised]: Huh? No. [cheerfully] I was just making sure that nobody would come here to cause trouble. I've heard that even relatively low-leveled players would come here, and I thought that it would cause trouble if strong monsters would spawn here, or if some jerks would show up.
Female Player [frightened]: Right now, I'm more worried about you causing trouble!
Akinym [calmly]: There's no need to worry about that. I'm here because the Assault Team Council wanted to do something about reports of a voyeur, [glances over at Strea] and I guess I've found the perpetrator. [slightly sternly] Now, all that's left to do is to make sure that she doesn't cause trouble… [mutters, exasperatedly] as she always does…
Female Player: That's… not really reassuring.
Male Player [slightly annoyed]: Yeah, they seem crazy. Let's get out of here!
Frankly, the moment was ruined anyway, so the two players hurried towards the teleporter.
Now, Akinym only had to deal with Strea. Frankly, he'd rather deal with the Foul Emperor again…
Akinym: Strea-san, just what were you thinking?!
Strea [slightly at a loss]: Huh? Didn't I say that right now? I wanted to make sure that people have a good time here, so I was watching out for potential threats in their place.
Sinon [slightly annoyed]: That's not the point, Strea! People don't want to be watched by others hiding in the thicket, [looks at Akinym] as some people should realise…
Akinym: On another note, the area over there is a safe zone, so you don't even have to worry about people getting attacked here!
Strea [slightly worriedly]: Well, maybe, but they could still meet a monster on the way here or the way back, and other players could still disturb them.
Akinym [slightly annoyed]: In the end, you are who's disturbing them! There have been numerous reports about you! [sternly] Seriously, if you want to help others to "have a good time", find some other way! Don't cause more problems!
Strea [dejectedly]: Alright, if you say so… I'll try to find something.
With that, Strea left. It… had actually been unexpectedly easy, but Akinym couldn't help but think that she'd cause more problems soon enough.
Sinon [slightly exasperatedly]: Well, I guess that's another problem taken care of… [tiredly] So, what now? I guess it's time to head back…
Akinym: Yeah… I guess…
He said that, but the distant tone alone was enough to convince Sinon that something was on his mind. Akinym seemed to look… at the sunset?
Yeah, he did, and he slowly walked closer to the edge of the island. Sinon wasn't sure if he had actually wanted to see this view all along without saying it, or if he had just thought, "Well, I'm here anyway, so I might as well check if the view is really as good as they say." Knowing him, she'd guess it was the latter.
Knowing him, huh? Sinon wondered what she actually knew about him. So far she had mostly seen his "business side", which was focused on the matter at hand and had a very professional attitude. To be fair, she respected that professional attitude, and she'd even go so far as to say she liked it about it him to some degree. In her opinion, it was something that would make them a good team once they'd work out the details.
Sinon took a seat on one of the benches while she was waiting for Akinym to finish his "examination". On closer inspection, Sinon could clearly see that there was a glint of admiration in Akinym's eyes, but for the most part, he looked more as if he was examining the view critically. Sinon wouldn't be surprised if Akinym had a check list about how accurate the rumors about the scenery were.
That was another thing about him. He tried to be rational about everything, and he usually operated quite methodically. Judging from what she had heard, even the way he dealt with his responsibilities as a councilman was determined by logical argumentation and negotiating strategy.
Akinym had told her once that his work as the representative of the small clearing guilds was almost like being both their lawyer and their business consultant, and he had to defend their interests against the lawyers of the opposing parties.
Responsibilities… Right, there was also the fact that Akinym seemed to have a very strong sense of responsibility. He was also generally willing to help others if he could, or at least if he had some sort of reason to – whatever that reason might be. Judging from everything Sinon had seen, Akinym wasn't as cold as some people among the Assault Team said he was. Well, he still had this strange ability to be the most insensitive person on the face of the earth…
Sinon took another look at Akinym. Just as he had his critical expression, the aforementioned glint of admiration, which you'd expect from someone who was gazing at such a sunset, was also there. For a moment, Sinon wondered if Akinym really had a soft side, one that he wouldn't show normally. To be honest, she could relate to that.
Now she noticed that he avoided looking directly at the horizon. Instead, he looked at least slightly upward, probably to take a look at the appearing stars.
Right… The sun had almost vanished, and it was quite dark already. With the soft evening breeze and the overall quietness and tranquility of the area as the stars appeared above, Sinon could understand why people liked to go to this place at dusk.
She took a look around to take in the entire scenery, and that was when a thought occurred to her. She checked it with her Searching skill… Unless another player with a really high Hiding skill had come here for whatever reason, she and Akinym were indeed alone here.
A sudden slight drowsiness reminded Sinon how tired she actually was. Thus, she also remembered the reason why she was so tired. Well, a long day at "work" was one reason, but for the most part, it had been the nightmare last night. In turn, this thought led her to the reason for the nightmare: the "post office incident".
Sinon still had to talk about it with Akinym. That plan was still a thing. Wasn't this the perfect opportunity? However…
For some reason, Sinon still couldn't bring herself to tell Akinym about her past. When she opened her mouth to speak about it, something inside her told her to stop. Why, though? Sinon realised that her hesitation couldn't be just a question of the current circumstances…
Sinon decided to swallow every last bit of anxiety she felt at that moment.
Sinon [slightly insecurely]: H-hey, Akinym… -san.
Akinym turned around and looked at her with a slightly quizzical expression. To be honest, Sinon had trouble making eye contact.
Sinon: You… probably remember that I said… that there's something I have to talk about. With you, I mean.
Akinym's expression became much more interested at that point.
Akinym: Yes, I do.
Sinon: G-good… It's…
Sinon stopped speaking. It suddenly occurred to her why speaking about this might still be so hard. Well, among other things. Maybe it was a matter of trust.
It was strange, though. At this point, Sinon would basically trust Akinym with her life. In fact, she had already done that. Why was it so difficult to trust Akinym with this?
Well, entrusting her survival to him was almost like a business decision now. He was her partner, and he had made it very clear that ensuring her survival was one of his "responsibilities" in that position, so trusting him to do everything in his power to do that wasn't an issue. After all, as mentioned earlier, Akinym had a very strong sense of responsibility.
Now, what would this sense of responsibility dictate when she'd ask him how to deal with her trauma? To be fair, Akinym had already said that he considered emotional support as a part of being her partner, and Sinon wasn't even sure if Akinym would care about the ethical aspect of what she had done. Knowing him, he might just see it as a problem he should solve, and he'd analyse it overall calmly in order to help her.
Alas, what if his "rational judgment" would lead him to the conclusion that she wasn't better than any of the orange players Akinym seemed to despise? What if he thought that she wasn't different from the person who had killed Amaterrace, or from the bandit he had killed himself? What if he came to the conclusion that he'd have to put her out of commission for the greater good?
What if he'd tell everyone else about it?!
Yeah, that had to be it. Sinon remembered that the probably worst part about her last nightmare had been that Asuna had acted so coldly in it… Asuna had been the first person in a long time who had treated her just as another person… and as a friend. Sinon had realised that the others around her did the same thing, and she didn't want to lose that feeling.
In the end, that was what she didn't trust… She didn't trust that Akinym wouldn't reveal a secret she wanted to keep from them. Now… What could she do about it?
At that moment, Sinon remembered something else about Akinym.
Sinon [slightly determinedly]: You've told me that promises are very important to you, right? That you'd definitely keep any promise you make. If that's really true, I want you to promise me something. Don't tell anyone else about what I'm about to tell you!
Akinym [exasperatedly]: Seriously?! I've also told you that I don't make promises if I don't even know if I can keep them for that exact reason! You're basically asking me to sign a contract without reading it or even knowing what it's about!
Sinon [hastily, slightly desperately]: This is important! [insecurely] Please… I know I'm asking something strange of you, and maybe I'm asking for too much, but this is important.
Akinym took a closer look at Sinon while thinking about it. There was a certain determination in her expression, which showed that she was absolutely serious. However, that determination was relatively faint, being overshadowed by… pleading? Akinym thought that it was pleading…
Frankly, he still didn't have any idea whatsoever what Sinon might want to talk about. It was apparently extremely important, but also very hard to talk about, and she didn't want anyone but him to know about it? It was strange, and for a moment, Akinym considered refusing Sinon's demand and telling her to come clean about it or to drop the issue.
However, when he looked at Sinon, he couldn't help but think that she had to have a good reason for her request. Akinym had this overwhelming feeling that not going along with it would be a crucial mistake. What if she had a perfectly understandable reason for this seemingly unreasonable request, just as, for instance, Asuna had had her reasons to drop her "everything for the sake of clearing the game" attitude? Wouldn't he make the same mistake again if that was the case?
Akinym [slightly exasperatedly]: Alright. [slightly determinedly] You have my word: Nobody else will hear anything about what you wanna talk about, at least not from me.
Sinon breathed a sigh of relief. So far, so good.
Sinon: Okay. Thank you. You see, what I want to talk about… It's… It's not about something in this game. It's about the real world. I know that… people usually don't talk about that here for whatever reason, but… It's just as it is, so if this bothers you…
Akinym could tell that Sinon's insecurity to talk about this hadn't really changed. He figured that the least he should do was to make it clear that he'd hear her out regardless of the circumstances. Not that he cared much about whether this was an issue of the virtual world or the real one in the first place, although he wondered what kind of real world issue Sinon might want to talk about with him specifically.
Akinym: Don't pay that any mind! I know that a lot of people think that you should treat your life in the real world almost as if it's an entirely different existence. Apparently, it's some kind of online etiquette. I don't really care about it, and I don't even see the problem as long as you don't reveal sensitive personal information to just anyone, so go ahead!
Sinon [mutters, slightly nervously]: Sensitive personal information, huh? [nervously] Well, what I want to talk about happened… about four and a half years ago… in my hometown.
As she was about to speak about the post office incident, all the memories from back then flooded back, along with all the memories of years of ostracisation, accusations, nightmares, panic attacks…
At this point, Sinon's voice became extremely shaky, and her nervousness became even more obvious. At the same time, however, she almost stopped caring about what she was saying and just blurted it out to get this over and done with.
Sinon: There was a robbery. An armed robbery, and I… I shot someone! I… killed someone…
She had said it… It had taken a lot of emotional effort to get there, but in the end, she had said it. She had just said it.
Akinym stared at Sinon with a mix of surprise and utter disbelief. She had… shot someone?! Four and a half years ago… If Akinym had to guess, he'd say that Sinon had probably still been in elementary school at that time, and she had done WHAT?!
Frankly, he was at a complete loss of words. He had prepared himself mentally for a variety of possible topics Sinon might want to talk about, and they were all somewhat related to potential problems with finding the courage to beat this game. This, however, had come completely out of the blue, and Akinym didn't even know where to start.
Akinym [insecurely, struggling for words]: W-wait, what… I mean, how… Or rather… W-why are you telling me this?
Sinon [desperately]: You did the same, didn't you? You've told us about it, about that orange player that you've killed. You were completely calm and collected when you talked about it, without any hint of regret. H-how… How did you manage to do that?!
Akinym wasn't sure how to reply. What would be the appropriate thing to say in such a situation? He remembered well what Sinon was talking about, but at the same time, he wasn't even sure what she was getting at. He wasn't sure about anything right now, to be honest.
Meanwhile, Sinon didn't take Akinym's hesitation to answer well. Now that she had managed to address her problem, she also wanted her answer.
Sinon: TELL ME! Please… I just… I want to do the same. I want to live without all the regret, all the fear, all the… [dejectedly, desperately, shakily] nightmares, and without all the looks and whispers bothering me! So… How do you do it? How do you live with what you've done as if it never happened?! How did you overcome all this?!
So that was what she thought, what she wanted… To be honest, Akinym still didn't know what to say. This was serious… Far too serious to just say the first thing that came to his mind. However, did he even have the opportunity – the time – to think about this?
In the end, he saw only one option: simply telling the truth.
Akinym [slightly dejectedly]: Sinon-san, I think you've misunderstood something important. Yes, I can look back on the day when I killed that person without regret that I can't bear, but that's not because I've overcome anything. The reason why I can say that I don't regret killing someone is that it's overshadowed by the regret I feel for not saving Amaterrace, that student I've told you about.
Sinon needed a moment to properly register that reply. This… was absolutely not what she had hoped for, and right now, it was impossible for her to accept it.
Sinon: No, no, NO! There has to be something else! Please, tell me how you mustered the strength to get over that! [very desperately] I'd do anything…
Akinym: Sinon-san, listen to me! You've heard the story I told you and the others. When I decided to kill that bandit, it was… [dejectedly] I did it because I remembered how I couldn't bring myself to kill someone even if it was for the sake of saving someone else. I don't… [dejectedly, shakily] I just don't want to feel the regret from that time ever again. Whenever I think about killing that orange player, wondering if I shouldn't have done that, I think of Amaterrace and what happened to her, and the possibility that it might've happened again makes me forget everything else. [takes a few deep breaths, slightly dejectedly] That's the only reason.
Sinon faced Akinym the entire time, but her expression became more and more pained as Akinym gave this explanation. She clutched the armrest of the bench tightly as she hung her head.
Sinon: So, what are you saying? That the only way to get over this is to suffer from something that's even worse?! Is that supposed to be my only chance? [upset] How is that even better!?
Sinon looked up again, and even in the dark, Akinym could tell that she had tears in her eyes.
Sinon: Why did I even say all this if that's all you have to say?! I… I just don't want any of this anymore!
With that, Sinon stood up and ran straight towards the teleporter. Right now, she just wanted to get away. From everything, actually.
Akinym considered following her to stop her, but he wondered how he'd even do that. What should he even tell her? He had to admit that he had no idea what to say. One thing for sure, he needed a lot more time to think about what to do…
About half an hour later, Akinym returned to Agil's inn. Frankly, he was beat, and he just wanted to return to his room and call it a day. Hopefully, he could think about what to do about Sinon's issue with a halfway clear mind tomorrow…
Before he could do that, however, he'd have to deal with Asuna and Lisbeth, who were discussing something right next to the staircase that led to their inn rooms. Lisbeth in particular reacted pretty… peevishly to Akinym's arrival.
Lisbeth: Hey, just what happened to Sinon?! Seriously, what did you do?!
Asuna [slightly defensively]: Liz, keep calm for a moment! [worriedly] But in all seriousness, what did happen, Akinym-san? Sinonon came back a while ago, and she…
Lisbeth: She was in a completely desolate state, and she had tears in her eyes! You better didn't do anything to make her sad!
Lisbeth's "accusation" was met with an extremely angry glare. In Akinym's opinion, this situation was too serious to deal with such speculations, which sounded like a teenager suspecting some kind of drama happening around her.
Akinym: Obviously not!
This short, stern reply combined with his glare was enough to make Lisbeth back away a bit, so Akinym could rush past her and Asuna.
Asuna [hastily]: Well, then… [worriedly] Would you at least tell us what happened, Akinym-san?
Akinym stopped walking upstairs and looked over his shoulder. Lisbeth recognised the look in his eyes from the time she had been his student. It was a fierce expression that didn't even allow anyone to consider talking back.
Akinym: I'm only gonna say this once: If Sinon-san isn't willing to tell you, I won't say anything either!
So... That's another finished chapter.
At first, there was also a small scene about Akinym and Susanoo fighting two duels, but when I realised that this chapter was getting longer than expected (no surprise at this point...), I've cut that part out. Frankly, it wasn't important.
"Handicrafts" is a skill I've made up. When I checked the list of known SAO skills, there didn't seem to be anything about crafting purely decorative items, although HF has a few events that feature completely decorative accessories.
Speaking of which, one of these events is connected to the secret Tsukuyomi almost spilled in this chapter. That will be part of a future chapter or a side story (I haven't decided yet if I'll include it in the main story).
Initially, the voyeur was supposed to be some random guy, but then I thought that it would be funnier if it was Strea. I mean, stalking people is basically a hobby of hers.
If you wonder how Akinym could spot Strea while HF makes it clear that Kirito couldn't do the same: My explanation is that - at least in the context of this story - Kirito's Searching skill got reset after reaching the 76th floor while Akinym could avoid that, so Kirito's Searching skill wasn't high enough to spot Strea during the respective events in HF.
So, what's going to happen next? Well, the next chapter will clear that up to some extent, and I'll say more about it in the A/N there, so stay tuned! ;)