Linked Tales

by Underdog Emiya

It was supposed to be a simple game: no VR, no deaths, no player-killers, no crazy GMs. Just the classic set-up of a bunch of friends playing a game and having fun with it. Of course, things couldn't ever be simple with Kirito.

6. Divide and Conquer

Divide and Conquer

The snores of Kirito were the first sound that Asuna heard as she awakened. Grumbling, the Cleric raised her arms to the sky, yawning.

She slowly left their tent, taking care not to wake her boyfriend and Yui. The girl shook her head.

"Frankly, those two..."

The girl left their comfy tent behind, slowly realizing that the rest of their group was also asleep. She was the one who awoke early. It was possible to see the Moon fading away as the sun slowly rose to start a brand new day, and the full moon fell in the same familiar cycle of their homeland.

And yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was odd.

The silence.

That was the first thing that crossed the mind of the Cleric. It was too quiet. Even only being in that building for five days, she figured out that the birds in the region awakened early. And yet, there was no sound.

She summoned the Metal Rapier she bought just yesterday from the inventory, silently blessing whoever was the one who allowed Clerics to wield arms. Otherwise, she would be defenseless. A small comfort, but she felt safer with something that could cause real damage rather than being relegated to using her staff as a defense weapon.

The girl blinked as something started to shine in the sky. She turned to face whatever it was, but the only thing she saw was-

---

"Mommy! Mommy, wake up!"

Asuna woke up, feeling a bead of sweat going down her neck. She glanced at Yui, who had a worried expression on her face.

"Mommy? Are you alright?"

The chestnut-haired Cleric didn't hear her daughter for the first moment, still stunned by that weird dream. 'What the hell was that?! I glanced at the sky and-'

"Mommy?" repeated Yui, worried. "Are you alright?"

The fencer pinched her arm to guarantee she wasn't in another dream. Then, she answered her daughter:

"It's nothing, Yui. I just had a weird dream," said the mother, yawning. "Why did you wake me up?"

She then noticed that someone was absent.

"And where's Kirito?"

"That's why I woke you up, Mommy," said the AI. "Daddy found a clue to where Lisbeth is."

---

Asuna could barely keep her impatience under control as she waited for the rest of the group to wake up. The Cleric tried to force herself to relax but failed miserably. Her whole body was tense as a bowstring.

'Five days...' thought Asuna. 'Five days. And this is the first trail we have of Liz since Tatara.'

If it weren't for the disappearance of her best friend, Asuna would say that the group was almost getting into a routine ever since the close call in the Station of Beginnings.

In the daytime, they looked for Lisbeth. And, at night, they went to fight, leaving Yui behind with either Kirito or Klein. While the AI's magic was a great asset in the hunting trips, she could only use that power once a day and only for a few minutes. She was getting better at using it, but the group, especially Asuna and Kirito, didn't want to take risks. The incident of the Shamanic Bear was still fresh in their minds.

The AI decided to put her new powers to use in search of their disappeared companion. Each time she used those powers, she got a little better at keeping them active: while they still took a whole day to recharge, Yui could now keep that form for fifteen minutes, ten more since their arrival in that world. With her skill to fly, she covered more space than everyone else combined.

And even that hadn't been enough to find Lisbeth.

It's almost as if Lisbeth weren't in that world, which would be preferable in Asuna's eyes, as it at least meant that the smith was safe back at home. She even desired that the girl would die already: at least she would respawn back at the church, where they keep surveillance twenty-four hours a day.

Did Lisbeth even know about the death rule in this world? Asuna couldn't say. She could only pray for her safety.

However, that wasn't the only issue that the group was facing.

At night, they decided to raid in the unknown that was the fields surrounding Akiba. Led mainly by Kirito and Klein, their purpose was two-fold: look for Lisbeth, in the unlikely possibility of her leaving the city, and leveling up. With a bunch of weaker members, they couldn't afford to not farm, so they spent a large amount of time hunting for monsters.

However, it was a tough endeavor. Since the first day, many more decided to risk their necks in the fields, either looking to become stronger or to get enough money to rest in the inns. Many guilds also decided to take actions, and started to reserve areas for their members to farm, so Kirito and Klein spent a long time trying to figure out areas where their weaker members wouldn't be absolutely owned by the level of the monsters.

All that, combined with the anxiety of the unknown fate of their friends, floated above the heads of the group.

So what would change now?

That's the second most pertinent question in Asuna's mind, tied together with 'who sent them to that world' and 'what had she eaten last night.'

As Asuna was deep in her thoughts, the rest of the group approached the brunette.

"I hope this information is accurate, Kirito," moaned Leafa, eyes with dark circles. "You know I don't like waking up early."

"It is precise," insisted the swordsman. "Trust me. I know who sent me that tidbit, and she's trustworthy."

"It better be," said Recon. "Otherwise, we're dealing with a grumpy Leafa for the rest of the day."

"Hey! I lived with her for way more time than you, Recon! I know well the wrath of a younger sister."

Leafa mumbled something about dumb boys under her breath.

"Don't worry, Leafa," said Sinon, patting the Samurai's back sympathetically. She then approached her mouth to her ear conspiringly. "I'll put some arrowheads in their beds when night comes."

Leafa suddenly felt way more disposed.

"Geez, man," said Klein, scratching his head. "Way to start the day. Barely six in the morning, and you already got a death threat. That got to be some record. And you pulled Recon too."

"Wha...! Hey! Do you think that I'm the kind of person that gets in too much trouble?" asked the Swashbuckler, incredulous.

"Daddy, with all respect," said Yui. "That's a discussion that you only have 3.141592 % of winning. Please, drop the subject, and let it go for now."

The father glanced at his daughter with betrayal in his eyes but complied.

"Y'all act as if I'm a trouble beacon..."

"You are," added Sinon, jokingly. "Look at how you attract Laughing Coffin members."

Kirito couldn't argue with that.

"Get the show on the road already," said Leafa, unsuccessfully trying to erase the dark circles on her face with water. "When did you get that information, and from who?"

"Alright, let's start with parts. Asuna, Sinon, Yui. Remember that I mentioned when we went to the Black Sword Knights that I knew an old member of the Debauchery Tea Party?"

"Hold on, that's news for me," said Klein. "You didn't mention that you knew someone in the Debauchery!"

"Right, forgot to mention it," said the Swashbuckler. "But yeah, I know Soujiro Seta of the West Wind Brigade."

Klein whistled.

"And a big shot too. Dude's harem is infamous."

"So he still is a huge chick magnet?" said the Swashbuckler.

"You're one to talk," mumbled Recon.

"Wait, go back a little bit," said Asuna. "What do you mean by harem?"

The Human Samurai crossed his arms.

"Soujiro has something of a reputation in Akiba. After the dissolution of the Debauchery, Soujiro created the West Wind Brigade with four other members of the group, all girls. Then, he started attracting other players to the group. Also female. And you guess why they did so."

"So he's like one of those despicable anime harem protagonists," said Leafa, shivering. "Those that do all kinds of stuff to his girls..."

"Hey, quit having lewd thoughts!" protested Recon, red cheeks. "We have kids here!"

"Besides, you're committing a big misconception about Sojiro," said Kirito. "He's not that kind of person. At least when I met him in the past. He's far too focused on the game to pursue deep relationships. He was always gentle to other girls, though. No wonder he attracted so many members to his guild. He's almost the perfect guy."

"Hm..." hummed Asuna. "Nah. He doesn't seem my type. I still prefer you, Kirito."

Kirito blushed.

"Hm, ah...thanks, Asuna."

"Damn, you're so easy to tease these days..." said Klein. He felt Sinon's elbow thrust into his chest. "Ow!"

"Don't jinx it! We need to take this opportunity the best we can. I'm still trying to figure out a good way to get revenge for the cattail incident!"

Kirito coughed.

"Anyway, back to the briefing. Soujiro attracted a lot of girls, and these girls created an information network to help each other. Find quests, rare loot, that kind of thing. However, the service is only accessible to guild members and the..." he groaned. "Sou-Squee Fan Club."

"...You're kidding, right?" asked Alice, after a moment of stunned silence.

"I wish," said Klein. "Many women of other guilds have their eyes on him, but Soujiro interacts with the members of the West Wind Brigade. So, to help these people, the second-in-command, Nazuna, created this as a solution to the problem. That thing has more members than the Shopping District 8 Production guild. And boy, that's a feat."

"Let me guess," said Sinon. "Kirin is a member of the Sou-Squee Fan Club."

Kirito blinked.

"Well, you got the fact that I got this information from a Black Sword member, alright," said the swordsman. "But it was the wrong sister. The one that's a member of the group is Aguni."

"Aguni?" asked Asuna and Yui, shocked.

The no-nonsense Aguni, a Black Sword Knights veteran member of such a group?

"As I said, Soujiro is a big thing between the girls of Yamato," said Kirito. "He attracts many of them to himself, even when I was his apprentice. So it shouldn't be surprising that he would spark interest in people beyond the doors of his guild. Aguni used this to keep eyes on any sign of Lisbeth. And she got a trustworthy report in exchange. It was Nazuna herself that sent it."

"What did this Nazuna fellow say?" asked Alice.

Kirito crossed his arms.

"In her words, she says that some members of her guild were out in a low-level area, looking to practice fighting against monsters when she saw a pink-haired Monk Dwarf wandering in there, accompanied by a Kannagi and a Samurai."

"Accompanied?" asked Asuna. "Liz couldn't know anyone here, right? So who are these people?"

Her boyfriend shrugged.

"No clue. All that Nazuna said was that the other two seemed younger than Lisbeth. It's a wonder she managed to catch so many details, considering they were in a forest in the middle of the night."

Kirito took a map out of his bag. Opening it, he put it on the ground, allowing everyone to see it, and pointed at an area far away from Akiba. On the map, it had the name "Hana Plain."

"Hana Plain is a slightly more advanced region than the Station of Beginnings," said Kirito. "That's the approximate area where the West Wind Brigade saw Liz. We're going to split. Asuna, Klein, Yui, and I will move towards the Hana Plain to find more clues. Meanwhile, Leafa and Recon will approach Nazuna and interrogate her for more details about what she saw. Sinon, Alice. You will keep looking around the city. Any objections?"

"I have one," said Recon. "Wouldn't it be better for Yui to stay in the city?"

The AI puffed a little bit.

"Indeed, that was our plan for most of the week. But I think today, Yui's talents will be of more use in Hana Plain. There's something there that I want to check, and, if I'm right, she'll be able to help a lot."

Klein raised his eyebrow.

"Oi, oi. Do you think Lisbeth would be so reckless to do that in the blind?"

"That what?" asked Alice.

Kirito visibly grimaced.

"Entering a Fairy Ring."

"A Fairy Ring?" asked the Integrity Knight. "I remember Klein mentioning that some days ago. What is it exactly?"

"It's quite simple," said Klein. "In the Elder Tale, there are many ways to move around. The fastest one, though, is, without a doubt, teleporting. However, teleport is only possible with certain Fantasy-class items or specialized constructions. These are the Teleport Gate and the Fairy Ring."

"What's the difference between them?" asked Recon, raising an eyebrow.

"Simple. Teleport Gates allow you to choose your destiny."

"Choose your destiny?"

"Yes," said Kirito. "Like in Aincrad, the Teleport Gates are linked to major cities in each server, meaning that you need to use other transports like mounts to reach other places. And they aren't exactly common, maybe five per server. And that's where the Fairy Rings enter."

He picked a pencil out of his magic bag and started making many points on the sheet.

"They're way more widespread than the Teleport Gates, of which there are only eighty. Meanwhile, we have more than two hundred of these suckers only in Japan."

"That many?" asked Asuna, eyes widened.

She then frowned.

"Wait, but you said that it's not possible to choose where you want to go, right? So what's the point?"

"Well, you can't choose where you want to go," said Klein. "But you can discover where it'll lead. It's not random, per se. It's possible to calculate where you'll go out -it depends on some weird-ass formula that depends on the moon phase or something like that. The point is, it's not exactly random. But it's pretty hard to make the calculations. Most players used a specialized site to see where each gate would lead them each time."

"But we don't have access to that information," realized Sinon, understanding the situation. "So it could as well be random. And Lisbeth is a newbie. She doesn't know about the rings."

Asuna also understood.

"You mean that if Liz passed through one of these rings..."

"We wouldn't be able to localize her."

---

Two hours later

Hana Plain

Their trip was remarkably fast, a welcome surprise after a horrible week.

Klein whistled.

"Wow. Way more flowery than I remember."

As the name said, the Hana Plain had a basis for its design in a Hanafuda deck. As Klein said, it was a place whose trees sprouted different types of flowers according to the month. Its cycle resembled each of the 'suits' of the cards, so, for instance, if it were March, it would be filled with sakura blossoms. The flower that covered most of the field in that season was the Japanese Kiri, the petals giving the trees a beautiful purple color. A river divided the valley into two areas, the forest filled with the station's flowers and the entrance area.

'It's almost criminal,' thought Kirito. 'This area is one of the most beautiful in the entire game, and I doubt that most people came here more than three times.'

While it wasn't a favorite of Kirito, he still had to recognize that it was one of the most beautiful areas in the surroundings of Akiba. Besides the flowers, the Hana Plain also had a temple in the middle of the area, where novice Kannagi came to collect powerful items that would serve them well for many levels and add more skills to their arsenal.

It was almost criminal that most players only went there for a few days, without time to appreciate the changing flora, not going back once they were beyond the level cap to gather EXP.

And unfortunately, it was a shame they weren't there to appreciate the place.

"Yeah, yeah," said Asuna, looking around impatiently. "Where's that Fairy Ring?"

Ever since they left Akiba, Asuna had been understandably unquiet. Kirito couldn't blame her. He was in the same state of spirit, only managing to hide it better. And he didn't doubt that Klein also felt like them.

The only one who didn't seem nervous was Yui. But it was hard to say what the AI thought most of the time: she had a gift for keeping her emotions under control.

"Let's go slowly," said Klein. "Liz may not even have passed close to the gate. We can't lose any clues after all."

Asuna bit her tongue.

"I know. But I feel it would be better to clear that doubt before everything else."

"Klein has a point, though," said the Swashbuckler of the group. "None of us has any skill in tracking. Our best shot is to find any trails left by her group and hope that we're not too late to deduce their pathway."

The Cleric sighed.

"You two got the point. Fine, let's start from the beginning."

Kirito nodded as he took the map from his Magic Bag.

"Alright. According to Aguni, Nazuna saw the trio of players in the Trail of Ribbons."

He indicated the long road that crossed the river, made of oak wood and decorated with red ribbons.

"Her group was here to practice how to fight in this world. They were finishing their activities here when Nazuna heard something behind them. When she turned to see what it was, Nazuna saw three figures in the night, one of them with bright pink hair."

"So the forest is where we should look first," concluded Klein. "Got it. Let's get to it."

As the group went in the direction of the forest, Yui frowned.

"Isn't this weird?" said the AI, looking at the ground to avoid stepping on anything weird. She had discovered how it sucked to step in animal poop and didn't want to repeat the experience. "It doesn't make sense that Lisbeth followed two strangers to a place so far away from Akiba. What could she be doing?"

"That's a good question, sweetie," said Kirito. "I was wondering about that too. Asuna, could she have met some of her friends here?"

Lisbeth's best friend frowned.

"I wouldn't discard that possibility. Liz knew many people in Aincrad. After all, she was a very popular smith. But it seems very unlikely that she would just follow someone like that. Not with us in the city. It's more likely that she would do what we are doing: look for the others. The others, of course, are us. I can't think of a single person that could convince her to leave Akiba behind with such ease.

"So maybe someone from another place?" asked Klein. "Like that Lux girl that mimicked Kirito?"

"I still don't get what she saw on me to do so," mumbled the Swashbuckler.

"You have many good traits, Daddy," said Yui. "Such as kindness, courage, selflessness..."

"We get it, sweetie," interrupted Asuna. "Just don't forget to add modesty to the list."

"Duly noted, mommy."

"Anyway, where were we? Oh yes. While I can see Lisbeth approaching someone she knows, I still don't believe it would be enough reason for her to leave Akiba. She's one to play safe, remember? And going into the wilds on the blind doesn't fit her."

"That it is," said Klein. "But we don't know a lot about her companions. From what we could care about, the Kannagi and the Samurai could be veterans. We still have too little information about them."

"Yeah," agreed the Black Swordsman. "I think those two kids are the key to solving this mystery. They're the most likely reason for her to be out of the city."

"That doesn't matter now, though," said Asuna. "This is a theme we can approach later. Right now, we need to focus on following her trail. And it's better if we start soon."

She pointed to the entry of the forest.

"Come on! No use in cheap talk now!"

Kirito stopped walking beside a magic light, staring at the forest with a sharp eye.

"Hm...we should be close to where Nazuna saw them. That means that our search area is around here."

He pointed to the front of the woods.

"Geez, how will we find any clues with so many trees ahead of us?" snarked the Samurai. "Do you have the Tracker subclass?"

"Hahaha. But really, it shouldn't be too hard. It rained yesterday, remember?" said the swordsman. "This means the soil must be pretty soft. Their trail must be easy enough to follow. We won't even need Yui's help for this."

Indeed, it was simple to find the footsteps. A few minutes later, Asuna noticed the group of footprints.

"Here!" screamed the fencer.

Kirito kneed upon reaching closer, examining the marks.

"Two heavier classes and a lighter one..." mumbled the swordsman. "It fits the description."

"How can you say these footprints are apart, Daddy?" asked Yui. "I can't tell just from glancing."

"Of course, you couldn't," justified the swordsman. "I'm only following logic. The Samurai and Monk classes would need to be bulkier than the others for being defensive classes, requiring either more equipment or need to have a sturdier physique."

He pointed to the deeper footprints, then to one, more superficial.

"A class like Kannagi, designed to be behind the lines, would have to be logically lighter, as it doesn't need much bulk, even more, if it's a beginner."

"Hm...makes sense," said the AI.

"Well, mister Tracker," said Klein. "What can you tell me about these?"

He pointed to the ground, filled with footprints. Kirito could tell with a glance that some of the trails belong to a different class.

"So the group was bigger?" wondered the Swashbuckler, raised eyebrows.

"It seems so," said Asuna. "But that also doesn't make sense. Nazuna's group only noticed Liz and two other people."

"Hm. We're likely dealing with a group of Assassins," said the Samurai of the group. "A good part of their skillset revolves around erasing their presence from the eyes of enemies. This, of course, includes players."

"Brr!" said Asuna. "Don't give us ideas. The last thing we need is an undetectable stalker ready to stab us in the back."

"I don't think you need to worry," said Kirito. "The footprints seem pretty dated. Whoever was here must be long gone. The question now is to find out if Liz is still around."

"Still, that raises another question," said the Cleric. "Why would these Assassins follow Lisbeth?"

"That's jumping a lot of conclusions, isn't it?" said Klein. "While it's not an impossibility, it's more likely that these Assassins aren't related to Liz. It's not like they were the only group to wander through these woods."

"You have a point," said Kirito. "Thankfully, we have the ideal tool to clean this doubt. Yui, may you do the honors?"

"Aye, Papa!"

The AI turned into her fairy form, glancing intently at the footsteps.

"These marks...they're all from the same period. I can safely say this," said the AI, returning to normal.

"Still is pretty circumstantial," countered the Samurai. "Coincidences are a thing, after all."

"Maybe," said Asuna. "But I'm not a big believer in this kind of thing. Besides, this group may not be looking for Lisbeth and her partners specifically. Remember all the rumors we heard in Akiba about PKers?"

Kirito frowned. It was a big shock when a player, one day, claimed that the cause of his death was in the hands of another group of players. That was two days ago. And boy, that made some serious noise in Akiba.

The next day, more groups appeared out of nowhere, trying to claim their share from the weaker, outnumbered players roaming the woods searching for enough money to pay for their stay in an inn. The Swashbuckler could understand the logic of these groups: it was way easier to beat another human to a pulp than to face off against an unknown monster, way scarier than any graphic could represent.

The thought came across Kirito's mind. A group of low-level players would be easy pickings for any PK group with a moderate level. So Asuna's idea wasn't impossible. Even then, Kirito had the gut feeling it was something else. He didn't know how to explain. He just knew. They weren't dealing with something as simple as PKers.

"The trail goes on to the south!" said Klein, having gone further than his peers to check the ground ahead.

'South, huh? If he wasn't mistaken, that was where...'

Asuna completed his line of thoughts.

"So we are checking the Fairy Ring, after all."

---

West of Akiba

West Wind Brigade complex

"It's here?" asked Leafa.

"Yep," said Recon. "I checked the map twice. It's here. Look at the plate."

Contrary to most guilds, the West Wind Brigade hadn't its base in the Guild Center, as many others did. While the rent in the place was pretty cheap, the hall had its fair share of issues. For starters, some structures, like smithies, couldn't be created inside the complex. As Kirito had explained to them before leaving for Hana Plain, this was one of the earliest fixes that the game did, coming at the Reconnaissance at the Dawn expansion.

The larger guilds rejoiced with that expansion: even the titanic 31-room guild wasn't enough to hold so many members at once. Leafa heard that the DDD had a personal building in the southeast region of the city. And two days ago, Isaac and the Black Sword Knights had moved from the Guild Center to a castle close to the center.

"Hm. Got to say, this looks like a pretty nice design," said Leafa. "Pretty traditional."

"I guess," said Recon. "Dude must like this style to replicate it here."

Leafa shrugged, not having much to say about the subject.

"Come on, let's knock at the door."

As it turns out, they didn't need to do so. As the duo approached the door, a Fox Tail went out of the compound, seemingly in time to receive them. Her white and red robes, made of a delicate material, indicated her status as a Kannagi. Her fox ears matched the long, purple hair going down her shoulders.

"Ah, so I suppose you two are the visits I'm expecting today," said the woman in a chill tone.

"Were you expecting us?" asked Recon, surprised.

The Foxtail smirked, almost looking like its wolfish counterpart.

"When you have ears all through the city, you hear many things. Such as the reappearance of an old friend. Then one more gossip, and you can figure out exactly with whom he goes out.."

"So you're Nazuna," said Leafa, the name coming to her head.

"One of a kind, missy," said the Foxtail. "Come in. We aren't at a place to discuss such things, and our leader has taken an interest in this subject."

Soon, Leafa and Recon entered the complex, accompanied by the ever-watching eyes of Nazuna.

"A pretty lovely place you have here," said Leafa.

Indeed, the place was appealing in a comforting way. The garden was well cared for, bonsais meticulously cut, and a pond filled with what seemed to be horned gooses.

"As you can see, we of the West Wind Brigade have certain tastes," said Nazuna. "Though this complex is more in the account of our leader. He's a fan of traditional things. We just go with the flow."

The Foxtail guided them to a door and opened it.

"And that also accounts for our intern design."

The corridor ahead of them smelled like the Warring States Era. The fine jade vessels filled with delicate flowers, the paintings of ancient battles between gods, the banners with the proud emblem of the Brigade marked on them, and the decorative weapons evoked an old feeling; all that created an air of gentleness with a bit of strength. A lair to warriors.

Leafa and Recon stood still for a few seconds, absorbing the environment with their eyes. Nazuna chuckled. After seeing it from ground level, she had been starstruck by the small guild house. Things did change from another perspective, after all.

"Come in. We already made Soujiro wait for too long."

The Foxtail led the way through the guild. Surprisingly, for that time of the morning, it was empty. The only people they met on their way were two girls discussing the best way to make a surprise party for Soujiro and a man passing makeup on his(?) face.

"Where's the rest of the guild?" asked Recon.

"Eh, they're mainly trying to get the feel of the city," said Nazuna. "Hearing things here and there, helping other people find their friends. Others went to train in the fields to acclimate to the new way of fighting. Thankfully, some of our members also play VR games, so we're getting used to this faster than most."

"Yeah, I get what you meant," said Leafa. "Our group is composed of players from Alfheim Online, so this is familiar ground."

"I see," said Nazuna. "Kirito also plays a lot in Alfheim?"

"He does. Among other games," said Leafa, simply. She didn't know if Kirito said anything about SAO to these people, so a neutral answer seemed for the best.

The Kannagi seemed as if she was going to say something. However, she didn't say anything, as they were ahead of a sliding door, noticeably leading to a bigger room than the others.

"We're here."

She knocked lightly at the wood of the door. A voice answered:

"You don't need so much dancing around, Nazuna," said a masculine voice. "Bring them in."

The Foxtail seemed flustered, but she regained her composure before opening the door.

Leafa had to blink for a few seconds as she stared at the face of the good-looking leader of the West Wind Brigade.

No, good-looking was not enough to describe him. He had a pretty young face, not unlike Kirito, so Leafa judged that Soujiro should be, at worst, in his early twenties, not even much older than Asuna. He had his blueish hair combed into a ponytail, like some samurai of old did, and it somehow made him even prettier. He wore a blue haori with a diamond pattern, purple kimono, and a green scarf that fit him nicely.

Overall, he was a stunning sight. Leafa tried to say something, but she felt so entranced that she could barely open her mouth, not helping that Nazuna was with a shit-eating grin. Thankfully, Recon -always the reliable one -took the lead in the talks, bowing his head:

"It's a pleasure to meet you, mister Seta. Kirito spoke highly of you."

The blue-haired Samurai retributed the move of the Ritian.

"You may call me Soujiro. A friend of Kirito is a friend of mine," said Soujiro. "Come in, and take a seat."

The Alfheim duo glanced at each other, Leafa still a little red. Then, the two took their places in front of Soujirou, Nazuna placing herself beside her leader. Leafa, mostly having recovered from the surprise of seeing the surprisingly handsome leader of the West Wind Brigade, said:

"I'm quite surprised you showed interest in meeting us," said Leafa. "Our wish was to talk with Nazuna about the events of last night in Hana Plains."

"Hm. I suppose it makes sense," said Soujiro. "I guess I let my curiosity take the best out of me. After all, it's been a long time since Kirito entered Elder Tale. For him to return in such a time..."

"Yeah, that's something that happens a lot with him," said the Elf. "Wrong place, wrong time, yadda yadda..."

'Or right place and time, depending on you interpret it,' thought Recon dryly.

"I get the feeling," said Soujiro. "It was in a situation like that that we met for the first time."

Nazuna coughed slightly.

"But that's a story for another time," said the Samurai. "You came here looking for info, right?"

Leafa nodded, forcing herself not to look at Soujiro's handsome face.

"Yes. You see..."

Leafa explained how Aguni contacted the network for information and then passed what she got to Kirito.

"Hm," said Nazuna. "I see. So you are here to dig more info on what happened last night. Is that correct?"

"Yes," said Recon. "Some of our friends are investigating Hana Plains right now, but Kirito felt that you could have something useful for us. Like, what made you remember the event last night?"

"Well, let's see..." said the Kannagi. "The hair color of this Lisbeth fellow was uncommon. Not all day do you see someone with pink hair, even in Elder Tale."

She scratched one of her ears distractedly, her tail wavering around in a hypnotic rhythm. Finally, Nazuna snapped her fingers.

"Got it! I also remembered it because of those fellows of Hamelin!"

"Hamelin?" asked Leafa. "Who is Hamelin?"

"Not who, what," corrected Soujiro. "It's a guild with certain fame in Yamato, especially Akiba. Haven't you seen them walking around the city, looking for new members?"

"To be fair, there were lots of those," objected Recon. "Like, we meet half a dozen every day."

"Yeah. But Hamelin has some different patterns compared to the others. Players with a low level. Sounds familiar now?" asked the guild leader.

"Hm. Now that you say that, I remember some people trying to approach us while alone," said the Ritian. "However, when Kirito or Klein appeared, they ran off like hell. I thought it was weird because they weren't high-leveled like other players."

"There's a reason for that," said Soujiro. "They weren't here to play the game but to make money."

"Make money?" asked Leafa, confused.

"As new players, you must know what this is," said Nazuna, picking a potion flask out of her bag.

"An EXP Pot?"

The two newbies glanced bewildered at the liquid.

"How did you get one?" asked the Sorcerer of the duo. "Kirito said that only players below level 25 can get this item."

"Thirty," corrected Soujiro. "The cap has increased since he left the game. But yes, a player of Nazuna's level shouldn't be able to get this item in normal circumstances. The thing is that these items don't hold the property of being untradable like some quest items do. So it's possible to give them away to anyone. And someone decided to milk the hell out of this."

"And that's the deal with Hamelin," added Nazuna. "They're famous for being a guild that sells EXP Pots to anyone who has the means to pay for it. Whether in the game or the real world."

"Kinda like some of those games from that one company," compared Recon. "A pay-to-win strategy, then."

Those weren't uncommon in games. Where one person is working their asses to get powerful the honest way, two others try to find shortcuts to get stronger.

"Indeed," said Soujiro. "And it was a lucrative business too: Silver Sword, D.D.D, even the Black Sword Knights. It's easier to count which guilds don't use Hamelin services than its users."

"It was surprising to see Hamelin because it was a bit of a higher level area than they're used to taking," said Nazuna. "Because of their mass recruitment of players, these days they're more seen in the fields, training. Heck, they don't even go to the Station of Beginnings. Though that may be because of that damned Shamanic Bear."

"Yeah, we met him already," said Leafa, shivering. "It wasn't pretty at all."

"Either way," continued the woman. "Hamelin's presence in that area was almost like noticing a pimple on someone's forehead. Just noticeable. There weren't any of their newer members, which I suppose made sense, but they were also in a hostile mood. Poor Isami got a purple eye from trying to question them."

Leafa noticed that Soujiro's hands curled into fists, trembling in silent fury.

"As you can see," said the Kannagi, noticing where the Elf was looking, "our leader didn't get happy with Hamelin. And neither was I at the time. I went to talk to them, but they scrambled before we could do much of anything. Then, we saw your friend and her mysterious companions, and the rest is history."

Leafa messed with her ponytail, thoughtful.

"Do you think that these events are related?" asked Leafa.

The Kannagi shrugged.

"I don't know. You're the one playing detective, aren't you?"

Leafa conceded the point. 'Besides, if there's any relation between those two events, brother and the others may find enough to link them together.'

"Is there anything else you may want to tell us?" asked Recon, to which Nazuna shook her head.

"I think that's all that comes to my head right now," said the Kannagi, apologetic. "My bad. It's a wonder I managed to remember all that happened last night. Besides the bickering with Hamelin, we had to deal with issues like the Player Killers."

Leafa nodded in understanding. The ascension of the player-killing guilds was also a big worry for her group. If one weren't cautious enough in the wild, they would lose everything at the hands of the brigands that ran through the fields at night.

"It's alright. I'm sure this is still helpful for us," said Leafa. "For now, I think it'll be better if we leave. We have combined to reunite with our friends to share our findings."

"I see," said Nazuna. "Now, just in case I remember something else..."

She sent friend requests to Leafa and Recon.

"We'll accept any help of yours," said the Elf. "Once more, thanks for helping us."

"It's no big deal," replied Nazuna. "In these times, people like us need to stand for each other. Else, it's all downhill."

"So, if you guys ever need help, call us," said Soujiro, bowing respectfully. "I promise we'll come with all our might to do whatever we can."

Leafa felt her ears go a little head, scratching her head sheepishly.

"Geez, now I don't know what to say. That almost sounds like something out of a samurai movie." She would know. Klein sometimes invited her to see them in an old theater in Sangen-Jaya. "But don't worry. It may not look like it, but that's not our first rodeo in situations like these. I was one of the players that entered that scuffle with the Koreans, do you know?"

She omitted the part where she was a physical goddess, but it would take too much time to explain it to the two leaders of the West Wind Brigade. In Nazuna's words, a "story to another day."

"Oh, I heard about it. There's that whole Underworld story, right?" said Soujiro. "And that whole thing with an human AI, right? I heard some people had to go to the hospital because they took phantom hits from the removed pain absorber."

"Can confirm it," said the Elf. "Had to wear an eyepatch for a week because a sword slashed my eye. Let me tell you, that's not a pleasing experience."

The other members of the group squicked.

"Ouch," said Nazuna in a sincere tone. She glanced at Recon. "And you? Did you go with her?"

The Ritian's face became red as a tomato.

"I...I was studying when that happened. My parents wanted me to do well in a test for a school, and..."

Seeing how embarrassed the Sorcerer was, the Foxtail raised her hands.

"Sorry. I didn't realize I was entering such sensible territory. My bad."

"I already told you many times, Recon," said Leafa, clutching her friend's shoulder. "You didn't miss anything."

"I missed you getting wounded," replied said friend heatedly.

"I got fine," replied the Elf. "Even though it hurts like hell."

"How do you think I felt when I got the notice from your mother? I invited you to a picnic, and, suddenly, I received the news that you got in a virtual war, and your brother is in a coma! Bloody hell, how do you think I felt? To see my friends risking something as precious as their lives and not be able to do anything? To find you the next day in school, with a bloody eyepatch, like some kind of pirate?!"

"Recon, this is really not the place to discuss such things," said Leafa. "Please, calm down. We talked about this many times. But please, this is not the right time. Alright?"

The Sorcerer grumbled before trotting away from the reunion.

"I'll get some air," said the Ritian, leaving before Leafa could muster a protest.

She turned to their hosts, who were at a loss from the talk in front of them.

"I'm sorry!" said Leafa hurriedly. "Recon normally isn't like that. It's just that this was a very..."

"Sensitive topic," said Soujiro. "We get it already."

"I'm sorry," said Nazuna. "If I had known..."

"You couldn't," interrupted the Samurai Elf. "It was an honest mistake. No big deal."

"It was for your friend," said the leader of the West Wind Brigade. "Is there anything else between...?"

"No, there's not," said Leafa. "Please, that's getting into personal territory. Don't ask anything else, please."

Soujiro nodded slowly. But then a final thought came to his head.

"One more question," said the Human. "Please."

The blonde glanced at the experienced player in a mental war between going to Recon right now or talking with the Samurai. In the end, the latter option won.

"Go ahead."

"From what Recon said...would you be Kirito's sister? He sometimes talked about her..."

Silence.

"Cousin," said the Elf. "Created as brother and sister."

The Samurai nodded.

"I repeat myself. If you ever need help, call us," said Soujiro. "Here. I'll send a friend request to you."

"As will I," complemented Nazuna.

Leafa unconsciously accepted the invitations of the members of the West Wind Brigade before going behind her friend.

---

Hana Plain

It took fifteen minutes to get to the end of the trail.

'It wasn't something sudden,' Kirito reflected. Over time, the more the group progressed through the rushedly made trail, the fewer signs of human passage they found. They only managed to keep track of it thanks to years of experience and sharp eyes. However, they weren't specialists by any means. For instance, after the first scene, they haven't found any tracks of the mysterious pursuers of Lisbeth.

Eventually, the tracks just stopped, right in front of the place that Kirito didn't want Lisbeth to go.

"So this is a Fairy Ring?" asked Asuna, analyzing the structure ahead of them. It was a wide arch, with the top of it being more or less two heads higher than Klein. In the middle of it, there was a swirling blue portal. In the construction itself, runes from a lost age shined bright, emanating magical energy from it. Some vines were intertwined in the stone, indicating that it was there for a long time. "It looks so old."

"Because it is," said Kirito. "My lore is a bit rusty, but I remember this fact. Fairy Rings were created by the Alv race long ago when they still existed."

"Alv, huh?" said Asuna, unconsciously touching her mouth, cheeks a little red. She remembered the shock when she finally realized that her race, Half-Alv, had a freaking tattoo on her tongue. Up to that point, Asuna had thought that it only meant that she was better with magic than humans, otherwise being identical to a human. She only thanked the heavens that her mother couldn't see her now, or she would have an attack. "What happened to them?"

Kirito shrugged.

"I'm not very sure of why that happened. If my lore is correct, I guess the Alvs got in a war that ended in their near-complete extinction. The few that remained crossed over with Humans, creating the Half-Alvs."

Asuna nodded, analyzing the gate with wonder. There was something so alien yet so familiar about that technology! Her head felt lighter. Unconsciously, Asuna gave one step forward.

"Mommy?" asked Yui, glancing at her mother with worry.

Asuna stopped looking at the gate, glancing at her daughter.

"What? Sorry sweetie, I was a little distracted. My mind is somewhat odd today."

"Do you need to go back to town?" asked Kirito.

"No, it's alright," said the Cleric. "It was just a one-time thing."

Asuna wished that was true. First that odd dream, and now that gate. Just what was wrong with her? Again, she decided to let the self-reflection for a later date and focus on the present.

"So this is where the trail ends," said the girl. "But there's no sign of Lisbeth. Is there a possibility that they passed through the portal?"

"Hm," said Klein. "Hard to say. We knew that they passed through here, and that's it. Not like these things have a logbook or something like that."

Yui approached the gate, slowly turning into her pixie form.

"I'll analyze it and see if I can find anything."

"And I'll keep an eye on her," said the mother. She then pointed at Kirito and Klein. "You two try looking for anything interesting for us."

The two men nodded, getting away from the girls of the group.

---

"Find something," grumbled Kirito under his breath. "Easier said than done."

Klein nodded silently while looking at his menu.

"How I miss the view from the top. It made it easier to find things in these woods. And why does this place even have a forest? Isn't it supposed to be the Hana Plains?"

"Dunno, man. But I agree with that statement."

The Swashbuckler glanced suspiciously at the Samurai.

"Oh, look. Those flying pigs are dancing at the beat of Ride of the Valkyries, with the naked Nymphs playing the harp to follow up."

"Pretty neat...wait, what? Nymphs? Where? Ride of what?"

Kirito chuckled a bit.

"Of course, that part of the naked girls is the first thing that passes through your ears. Why are you so out of your mind, huh? First Asuna with the Fairy Ring, then you with that message. What, that Tatara girl is flirting with you?"

The Samurai felt his face go red.

"Hey! Don't stereotype me, dude! I'm more than a ladies' man, you know?"

"Yeah. You're more like someone interested in ladies," joked Kirito, to which Klein glared. "Alright, sheesh. People prank me, and it's all fine and dandy, but when I'm the prankster..."

"Sorry. It's just that I'm worried about Fuurinkazan."

Kirito stopped walking, turning to his friend.

"Isshin sent bad news?"

In the absence of their leader, Isshin tended to be the one to lead Fuurinkazan and the one who regularly sent messages to Klein since their stand in Theldesia.

The Samurai shook his head.

"No. Harry One was the one who sent the message. As I wasn't present, he decided to represent me at a reunion of the guilds in Minami. It's still happening, but..."

"What is the issue?" asked Kirito.

Klein's expression lost all of the playfulness he had.

"Someone named Nureha claims to be capable of turning Minami into a haven. A place where everyone is protected."

"So far, so good," said Kirito. "If she's not being serious, then at least it seems to be empty talk, something to bring together the guilds to talk."

The Samurai glanced at the Swashbuckler.

"Wait, she was talking seriously?"

"That's what Isshin and many others think. They're desperate, Kirito," said Klein. "I didn't want to worry you and the others about this, but Minami is in bad shape, even worse than Akiba. Ever since the first day, there was player-killing in the area; people died because they met with powerful monsters by accident, and so on. Things are in the shit there, though Isshin and the others were able to keep themselves out of trouble. Many are willing to follow this Nureha fellow."

"But Isshin feels that there's a catch," deduced Kirito. "That this lunch is not free."

Klein nodded.

"That's the issue, yeah," said the Samurai. "I hate this. I should be there for my guild. I'm their leader, for god's sake."

Kirito scratched his head.

"Did you discuss the idea of going to Akiba?"

"We did, and the guys were doing preparations for the trip. But this new situation changes things a lot. If Isshin's correct, I'll have to go to Minami."

"Go to Minami?!" asked Kirito, shocked. "Why?"

"Our base," said Klein. "I don't blame you for not knowing about this, as it is a rarely used expedient, but it's possible to move a guild's base from one city to another. However, this is something that the Guild Master needs to authorize in person. And by in person, I mean I need to go to Minami's Guild Hall to make that happen."

"And the trip there takes at least two weeks," said the Swashbuckler, unpleased. "Meaning that you would be away for at least one month."

"Maybe less," said Klein. "If you don't remember, I have a ride that can move pretty fast. With minimal rest and good luck, I could arrive in a week. So, at best, three weeks."

"Without any knowledge of what's in the roads," observed Kirito. "We're dealing with an expansion here."

"I know," said Klein. "And I don't like this situation either. But it's not only Isshin, Kirito. I have a bad feeling about this. If I don't act fast, then..."

The swordsman clad in black frowned but didn't say anything, turning back to start to walk.

"This is something that we can talk about later. For now, we should-OUCH!"

Kirito retreated, holding his feet in pain.

"Dude, watch where you are walking!" said the Samurai.

"It's not my fault! How would I know that some clumsy idiot would let his katana in the middle-"

The Swashbuckler stopped talking, eyes widened. He glanced at the object responsible for his wound, picking it up from the ground.

"Not half-bad quality, so a bit beyond most beginner's weapons. Magic-class, maybe. A weapon fit for a..."

"Samurai," completed Klein. "Let's look around. There must be more clues."

The two friends looked around, looking for more clues. The one to find them was Kirito.

"Found it! Come here, Klein!

Klein never felt happier in seeing blood.

"There was a fight here," said the Samurai. "I can imagine the scene. Liz and her companions are running from someone or something. They are forced to fight, but are overpowered. Samurai tries to defend, but ends up disarmed and killed, followed by Liz and the Kannagi."

"They didn't pass through the portal," concluded the Swashbuckler. "Lisbeth and her followers are back at Akiba!"

Kirito frowned.

"And I'm not sure if this is a good thing."

Klein looked at his friend as if he was crazy.

"Why? Akiba is a safe hub. It's not like those assassins will camp them in the church."

Kirito frowned.

"I would like to be as optimistic as you, Klein. But I got the gut feeling that there's more than we can see here. Hopefully, Leafa and others found something to shed light on this situation. For now, we got what we wanted: proof that Lisbeth is still around. Come on, let's get back to the girls."

They didn't go too far from the Fairy Ring, so it took about three minutes to return to the clearing. As they got close, however, they heard a familiar sound.

CLANG! CLANG!

Metal against metal.

"Asuna!" said Kirito, rushing to the gate.

"Kirito, wait!"

---

A few minutes earlier

"...Mommy? Mommy, are you alright?"

Asuna blinked as she focused on the worried face of her -now human - daughter.

"Shouldn't you be analyzing the gate, sweetie?" asked the brunette, still somewhat stunned.

"I already did," said the little Traveler. "These discoveries...they'll excite daddy! I'll wait for him and mister Klein to return to say it. Now, I want to talk about something. You've been odd ever since I woke you up, mommy."

"I sure feel different," recognized the Cleric. "So many things happening at the same time..."

The brunette glanced at the sky, where the sun was nearly reaching the top of its arc.

"Mommy," said Yui. "You know you can talk to me about any problems. That's literally my reason to exist."

Asuna chuckled.

"Parents are the ones that should say that to their kids," said the girl. "And I still can't squat if what I saw was..."

'What was that?' she thought. A message? A feeling? All just a dream?

All of those could be possible. But none seemed to be quite right.

If only she could remember what called her attention. Could it be the building? Something in the woods? Something in the sky?

"Something in the sky," reflected Asuna. She remembered looking up before the dream ended. But where? She glanced at the sky, worriedly looking at the sun.

"Mommy, you did it again," complained Yui.

Asuna blinked.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. How can I talk about a problem if I don't even know that I have a problem?"

The little AI reflected on this.

"I think it would be hard," recognized Yui.

Asuna kneeled, putting her hand on Yui's forehead.

"If I ever figure out what is troubling me, you and Kirito will know it first. It's that alright?"

The girl stopped to think for a moment, looking at her shoes. Then, she nodded, a serious expression on her face.

"That's my girl," said the brunette. "Come on, let's find Klein and-"

The ruffle of leaves in movement put Asuna in a state of alert. Lifting herself from the ground, she drew her blade and staff, glancing in the direction where the sound came.

"Hide," said Asuna.

Yui obeyed, putting herself behind one of the Fairy Ring's pillars.

"Who's there?" asked the Cleric, forcibly imbuing calm in her words.

She could have imagined that noise, of course. It was always a possibility. Or it could be a lesser mob, waiting for a chance to get an unaware prey. Those were the most optimistic possibilities.

Unfortunately for the world, Asuna was a pessimist. And a savvy one, at that.

"Bro, how did she know we were here?" asked a voice, in a low pitch, but one that Asuna managed to catch.

"She doesn't, idiot," said another voice. "If we stay quiet, she'll think it's the wind and go back to do her stuff."

"Too bad," said Asuna, pointing her blade straight into the voices. "Because I can hear you two from here."

A beat of silence. Then, a hit.

"Dumbass! Thanks to you, she heard of us!"

"Me?! Like hell! It's your fault!"

"Yours!"

"Yours!"

Asuna let the little talk continue for a while. She wondered if she could sneak out while the two assailants were distracted in their bickering. If she was alone, maybe, but Yui had spent most of her remaining time as a Pixie analyzing the gate, if not all of it. Her options were either to submit or to fight.

And she wasn't feeling very submissive right now.

"Dickhead!"

"Ugly ogre! Ugh!" said the one that Asuna dubbed Thief 1. "Fine! It's our fault that the girl noticed us. Let's just beat all the money out of her and get back to Akiba."

"Arrrrgggghhhh! Fine!" said Thief 2. "Just this once, dipshit! Let's end this!"

The two thieves came out of their hideout.

Asuna had to look twice to understand what she was seeing.

"Are you guys twins?"

The two brown-haired Wolf Fang thieves looked at Asuna with shock.

"What?" said Thief 1. "No! We're not! Take that idea out of your damn head, slut!"

"Yeah! He's the eldest one!" said Thief 2. "Big bro Aggrius is the strongest!"

"Oreius, you dumbass!" said Aggrius, hitting his brother.

"W-w-why?" asked the newer one.

"We don't need to give any additional info to her! Haven't you seen the two players in the seventies accompanying her?"

So they were following us for a while, reflected Asuna. She focused on the two characters, managing to muster his sheets. Aggrius was a Guardian, level 22, while Oreius was a level 17 Swashbuckler. Asuna grimaced. Even with the daily grind, she only achieved level 10 recently. Not even counting that her class wasn't an offensive one, and she was already at a disadvantage. And she couldn't even run because Yui wouldn't be able to match her speed.

Her only option was to use her guile to win. More of Kirito's thing, but beggars can't be choosers.

Thankfully, there was a good angle she would be able to explore.

"Ah, I dunno," said Asuna. "I would love to hear more about you, mister Oreius."

"See? People have an interest in us! Imagine hearing people speaking with fear about us! The dynamic duo! Oreius and Aggrius! It does sound nice, right? We didn't have that level of respect in the yakuza!"

"That's because of you, doofus! All because you keep screwing up the missions! It's because of your dumbassery that we keep getting clean-up jobs! And I hate having to deal with others' mess! And now we're bossed up by that big prick, having to pick off those small fries!"

'Wait, bossed around?' thought Asuna. She decided to see if she could fish anything else.

Before Asuna could ask, though, the two brothers came to blows, clashing their swords against each other.

"Imbecile!"

"Dumbass!"

"Boot licker!"

"Brat!"

"Stupid!"

"Imbecile!"

"Copycat!"

And so on, so forth. It almost reminded Asuna of some fights had with her brother when she was younger, except way more heated. They wanted blood.

The two would-be assailants were so focused on their bickering that they didn't notice the demon approaching. Asuna raised his eyebrows when he put his finger in his mouth, asking for her silence.

"Calm down, boys!" said Kirito, smirking, as he put his hands on the shoulders of the brothers. "We can at least agree that the two of you are ugly as cyclops!"

"Yeah! What you said!" said the brothers simultaneously, stopping discussing. "Anyway..."

Only then do they notice the iron grip on their shoulders. And then they glanced at Kirito's cold smirk.

"Meep," said Aggrius.

"Now," said the Swashbuckler. "Can I ask what the two gentlemen are doing in this clearing, with my wife and kid?"

"Wait, how can that little girl be your-" started Oreius before Kirito's hands pressed the meat with brutal strength. "Wowowowowowowowowow!"

"We...we were walking around!" said Aggrius, desperate. "Yeah! That!"

"Hm," said the veteran swordsman. "Walking around?"

"Walking around."

"Walking around."

"Walking around!"

"Mugging people?"

"What? No, I swear to god, we weren't mugging anyone! Much less those fine ladies! Swear by my word of yakuza!"

The swordsman in black nodded.

"Good. That would have been bad."

He pulled the two yakuza close to himself and whispered.

"I would have to kill you two. And it would smear my swords. We don't want that, do we?"

Even knowing that they were effectively immortal, Aggrius and Oreius felt a shiver in their spine with how Kirito announced his intention to dice them into pieces. With the level difference, he could do good with his threat.

"Get the hell out of this forest," said Kirito, in the lowest voice possible. "If I see you two doofus again, I'll have no mercy. Understand?"

The two terrified Wolf Fangs nodded as the Black Swordsman left their arms.

"Don't come back here. My friend will be watching you. Understand?"

Kirito didn't need to repeat himself. The Wolf Fangs ran away the moment he stopped talking. The Swashbuckler didn't stop looking in the direction where they entered the forest before turning to his family, a look of worry stamped on his face.

"We're alright," said Asuna, anticipating his boyfriend's question. "Those guys hurt themselves more than Yui or me."

He let his shoulders down, relieved.

"We were too naive," said Kirito. "I didn't expect somebody to set ambush here at this hour of the day. If something happened to Yui or you..."

"It's alright," said the Half-Alv. "We couldn't know. You don't need to beat yourself too much about it. We have more important things to do."

Yui nodded, agreeing with her mother.

"I'm aware that the information I'm about to disclose it's way too important. Daddy, this will be better to talk about with the others first."

---

The trip back to Akiba went way faster than the coming.

Part of the reason was that Kirito and Klein finally decided to use their mounts to call some of their faster horses. Up until that point, if they needed to move to a place far away, they would call slower steeds to do the job. The issue with the magical horses that the adventurers could summon was that they, like most summons, had a time limit. They could only stay for that time before being summonable once more. Once it bypassed that cap, the whistles would enter a recharge mode, where they wouldn't call their mounts until it ended.

The two veterans were sparing those whistles for emergencies, as they didn't know precisely how much time the recharge would take now, as they still were trying to figure out the time dilatation in Theldesia.

"No better way to know than by practice," quipped Kirito, as he called his pure-blooded Kiso horse, a beautiful specimen of which Yui was more than happy to ride. Meanwhile, Asuna and Klein shared the Samurai's rare Kandachime, a race, he explained, that was extinct on Earth.

"Cool," said the fencer, not knowing what to say other than that. As long it was fast, she would ride even a donkey.

And fast it was. The trip that took two hours on foot took one hour on horseback. In the meantime, Kirito sent messages to his other friends to reunite with their base to discuss Yui's findings. By the time the quartet arrived at their place, the group was all reunited.

"You came back fast," said Sinon as she glanced at the horses. "It must be urgent if you had to use the whistles for that."

"That's what Yui said," replied Kirito, picking his daughter out of the mount. The little girl nodded with strength as if agreeing with her father. "So? How it's been your morning?"

"In finding Liz? Not much progress" said the archer. "However, we heard some rumors that may be worth sharing."

The swordsman nodded.

"Alright then. Are Leafa and Recon here as well?"

"Yes, although they were being a bit awkward, for some reason. That said, Nazuna passed a clue to them. Did you find any signs of fight in Hana Plain?"

Kirito grimaced, understanding what was going on.

"Come on. We have a lot to discuss."

"Welp, ain't that ominous at all," remarked Recon, as Kirito finished telling what his group found in the woods.

"You can say that," agreed Alice, heavily frowning. Her face became gloomier as she heard what the trios found in their respective journeys. "These two events are related. There's no doubt about that."

The others nodded. Making the connection was very easy. Lisbeth's group was assaulted-and most likely killed -by a group of mysterious assailants. Meanwhile, Hamelin was outside their usual space, looking for something or someone, and that said group was said to be involved in shady businesses.

"Still," said Kirito. "We must be careful. Even with all we got, our proofs don't link directly to Hamelin. And even if we did have evidence..."

"It wouldn't be of too much use right now," said the Integrity Knight. "After all, people are still busy trying to adapt to the new world. People are more likely to worry about their friends than random people."

Her gritted teeth were enough for her friends to identify her position on the subject.

"Once an Integrity Knight, always one," reflected Kirito.

"It's even worse than that," said Klein. "Akiba is the base of most combat guilds in the server."

He messed around with his swords, nervous.

"Even when this was a game, Hamelin boasted great importance between those cycles. While it wasn't well-liked because of how scummy the guild leader, Twilight Explorer, could get with his prices and the group's overall mode, they were practically untouchable, and any combat guild worth their salt would employ their services. Even Fuurinkazan used it for a while. Not something I'm proud of right now..."

"I get it," said Alice. "It's the old noble dilemma, right? One can't lift a finger to do something because they're too important."

"Pretty much," said the Samurai. "I'm worried that nobody will make a move on Hamelin, even after things calm down. Nobody wants to be responsible for shooting the goose that lays golden eggs."

"Why would a goose lay golden eggs?" wondered Alice.

"It's about an old fairy tale in our world," said Kirito. "I'll explain it later. Anyway, it's not like we can use force against them. They have the territory advantage over us."

"You're talking about their room in the Guild Center?" asked Sinon. "I remember reading on the internet that it's supposed to be a private place for the guild members to relax and deposit their items."

"Yes," said the swordsman. "The owner can set the terms regarding who can access certain areas in the territory. The only restriction is that the exit must never be locked to allow players attracted to ambushes in combat areas to have a chance to run away. However, there's a rather obvious loophole: if you create a room that only guild members can open and lock someone out of the group inside, you have a makeshift prison."

"Which essentially makes it an inescapable prison," concluded Asuna. "And they're only recruiting low-level players, meaning they will overpower them most of the time, even if the numbers are disadvantageous. Dammit, they're not idiots, that I must say," said the fencer. "To exploit this opportunity so early on..."

"It'll be hard to break them," said Leafa. "But not impossible. Soujirou at least seemed to harbor a dislike for the Hamelin. Maybe he'll be willing to help us?"

Kirito frowned.

"Knowing him, that's likely. But it's not something we must count on yet. And I still have many doubts about the group. Did Lisbeth join Hamelin? And why? She knew we were somewhere in Akiba. There are so many questions."

"Still, we have a clear target now," said Klein. "I suggest doing like old cop movies do: stakeout for the win."

Alice wagged her tail a bit.

"I don't know if I will have the strength to keep myself from strangling those guys," said the Guardian. "If only we weren't so weak..."

"That's not even the issue," said the Samurai. "I'm sure Kirito and I would take care of those chumps. Before all this, Hamelin's numbers barely reached a dozen members, all in the mid-fifties. Even Twilight Explorer isn't that strong. Again, the issue is how to bypass their defenses. It's not like they can get out of the guild, and that's all."

"Indeed," said Kirito. "To leave a guild, you either need the leader of it to kick you off from the list or pay a hefty tax. We know that Hamelin wouldn't do the first one for anything in the world, and I would be surprised if the novices have even a penny in their inventories."

"Summing up, they can't leave the guild at all," concluded Recon.

"Precisely. And it's not like a death threat would be enough to dissuade them. And it's not like we would even be willing to do that in the first place, so the point is moot. So, watching it is. Maybe we can learn something to force Hamelin to release the players?"

Kirito tried to sound optimistic, but he knew from the grim expression of his friends that it wasn't working. Asuna then decided to step up:

"We will find a way," said the Cleric. "We always did find one, even when things were grim. What are some gangsters compared to Laughing Coffin?"

"I never faced Laughing Coffin," mumbled Recon under his breath, gaining a glare from Leafa.

Still, the group seemed to have recomposed under Asuna's small pep talk.

'Perks of being the leader de facto of the strongest guild in SAO,' thought Kirito. She was always better at leading people than him, which was fine. The swordsman was more of a warrior, anyway.

In truth -and he would deny it to anyone who asked -he felt tired of leading his friends. Since he and Klein were the ones with experience in Elder Tale, they were the ones to organize most of the hunt for Lisbeth, but mostly Kirito, as he had the most contacts in Akiba. And, as he learned recently, Klein also had to keep an eye on Fuurinkazan, so most of the work was his responsibility.

The experience gave him more respect for his girlfriend's work with the Knights of the Blood. If Heathcliff had chosen him to be his right arm, he would probably relinquish the title at the end of the first week.

He noticed that he missed part of the talk while lost in his thoughts as Asuna described the incident in the Fairy Ring to the others.

"Those guys said they were working for someone?" asked Alice. "Are you sure about that?"

The fencer nodded.

"The two only talked about that once, but I could tell they disliked their boss. I don't know if it's something big, but they didn't look like members of any guild at first glance. It could be something unofficial, though. Maybe not a proper guild. Only a bunch of individuals working together."

"Don't see a reason why, though," said Klein. "This isn't Sword Art Online, where the system marks criminals. PKing was supposed to be part of the game, though one with lesser rewards than slaying monsters and doing quests. No reason to notify anyone unless the killer did so for trolling and took it too far."

"Maybe because it's new?" asked Leafa. "I mean, if I were one of those guys, I wouldn't like to be attached to a group who can backstab me at any moment if it's to make some profit. So, better not to have a clear link between members and be able to bail out if things go wrong."

Recon bit his tongue.

"So despicable."

"But pragmatic," admitted Alice. "I hope that this is a small group. If it's bigger..."

She didn't finish that line of thought.

"I don't think it's too problematic right now," said Kirito. "As long as we're careful, we shouldn't scratch our heads too much about the subject. On that note, we can pass on the main topic of the reunion."

"Wait, wasn't that the main topic?" asked Recon, surprised.

"Surprisingly, it wasn't," said Asuna. "It was something that Yui discovered about the Fairy Ring. Go ahead, sweetie."

Kirito made a move, already half-knowing what his daughter would say. Only one thing could make her demand to reunite the group.

Yui, glancing at the others, reached that conclusion as well. So, she went straight to the point.

"I know the schedule of the Fairy Ring."

Even then. Even though all knew what was about to come, it was still shocking.

"Wait, so you analyzed the gate and got the numbers...just like that?" asked Recon.

Yui scratched her hair.

"Well, there were lots of numbers. And, from what Daddy said, I think I saw the language of the Alvs. But, yes, I figured the numbers."

She picked a stick in the ground and drew what seemed to be an equation, although with many unknown characters.

"It worked more or less like this," she put the stick on a symbol that reminded the letter F. "This is a variable number that can be anything between 1 and 199."

"1 and 199...all the other gates, then," realized Kirito, to which Yui nodded.

"I detected some parameters to guarantee that the result is always one of those numbers. Again, following what Daddy said, the lunar cycle is vital in determining which time each gate works, as there are a set of numbers for each phase and month. I found the number that links the gates between here and the closest portal to Susukino using mainly brute force, but I think I could calculate each position more precisely with more time."

"So there's a portal to Susukino?" asked Recon.

"Better," said Yui. "Two."

The others looked confused, while Yui elaborated.

"We were lucky: I managed to identify two dates on which the portal to Susukino opens. One of them is today, from midnight until 1 o'clock. The other is around a week away, in the morning, though I couldn't find the precise time."

"One week..." mumbled Kirito.

Asuna predicted what was passing through her boyfriend's mind.

"You're thinking of going there," declared the fencer.

"It's a unique opportunity," pointed out the swordsman. "We all know that, even with good horses, it takes more or less a month to go to Susukino and return. Too much time when we don't know what is happening there. When Silica could be in danger."

"Or you could pretty well enter the fire," said Sinon. "Because we have some news about Susukino."

"Indeed," said Alice. "The rumor in Akiba is that Susukino is in utter anarchy. The word is that a guild named Brigandia took control of the city."

Klein snapped his tongue.

"You know them?" asked Asuna.

"If I know," said Klein. "Bunch of scumbags. They were a combat-focused guild and one of the few groups that actively hunted players when this still was a game. Their leader, Demiqas, is one of the strongest Monks on the server."

"It gets worse," said Sinon. "From what we heard, this was something that happened on the first day, only arriving now. The most recent news is that Brigandia is becoming some kind of slavery heaven. People of Earth and Adventurers, both are being either sold or..."

The Assassin didn't dare to finish the phrase. Not with Asuna's burning stare.

"Those...bastards!" snarled the Cleric, gripping at her staff with strength. "If they even touched a finger in Silica..."

"Hey, hey!" said Klein. "We must not focus on what-ifs. There's no reason to be pulling hairs yet. Silica is smart. We must have faith in her skills."

"He's right, you know," said Alice. "From what I got, Silica is way more capable than any of you give it credit. She's fine."

Asuna relaxed a bit, though she still was tense.

"You're both right," said the swordswoman. "Still, rescuing Ayano became even more crucial than before. She's alone and severely underleveled. It won't take long for her to get caught."

"That's if she wasn't already," thought Recon, the pessimist.

Kirito stuck his swords in the ground.

"The solution is simple," said the swordsman. "I'll go there."

"Wait, wait, wait," said Sinon. "You're our strongest player, Kirito. Are you sure that is a good idea? If things go wrong, you can end up stuck in Susukino with Silica. Why not send Klein? He's not as strong, but he also has more knowledge about the modern layout of Theldesia."

"And that's why I would rather let him be here," said Kirito. "He knows who can be dangerous and who can be trustworthy. Overall, he knows way more about the actual Akiba than I do. And, to extract Silica, we will need to be discreet. Of us all, I think I'm the best for the work."

"Brother, you tend to cause a lot of confusion wherever you go," pointed out Leafa. "I don't know about Aincrad, but you caused noise in Alfheim, Gun Gale, and don't even get me started at what you did in the Underworld."

"Hey, I can be stealthy! Once I managed to infiltrate Sakuya's mansion..." He stopped talking as Asuna looked at him.

"Why did you infiltrate Sakuya's mansion, sweetie?" asked the Cleric with false gentleness.

Part of him knew that Asuna was teasing him, as she was sure of her boyfriend's fidelity.

The other was inwardly freaking out.

And a third one was crying for the senseless sacrifice of one hundred pancakes to keep his endeavor a secret.

"Not important!" declared the swordsman, shining red cheeks. "The point is, I can be sneaky when I want. And this is what matters here. Because, as we are now, your chances of brute forcing Silica out of Susukino are null. It's a suicide, plain and simple."

Asuna grit her teeth.

"I still don't like this," said the fencer. "We are splitting without a guarantee that you will be able to return. If you get trapped there..."

"This is why I wish to go together with Daddy," said Yui.

The two turned, shocked at their daughter.

"No way!" said Asuna.

"What do you have in your head?!" asked Kirito. "Were you deaf for the last 5 minutes?"

Alice, however, was scratching her chin.

"It's not a bad idea, honestly."

"What do you mean it's not a bad idea? It's a terrible one!" said the Cleric, turning raging to the Guardian. "No way I'm putting my daughter in danger like this!"

"While I'm inclined to agree with you, Asuna," said Sinon. "Alice has a point. Remember, Susukino is supposed to be one of the big cities of the server. Kirito will need every advantage to track Silica, and we've seen how good Yui is with searching people. And besides, do you think that Kirito will let anyone touch her before passing through him?"

"No," said the Cleric. "We would rather die than allow that. But I don't want him to die, even if it's not permanent."

Kirito crossed his arms, contemplating the subject.

"You're not seriously thinking about this, are you?" asked Asuna.

He crossed his arms, seeming rather peeved.

"Believe me. I hate this as much as you. But the point that Alice raises is a good one. Who knows how much time will pass until an opportunity like this one comes again? Yui, just to be sure, are you certain you want to do this?"

The little girl nodded, an air of determination in her expression.

"If it helps Mommy and Daddy, I'll do everything I need to help you find Silica."

Leafa lifted a hand.

"Ok, but I think we forgot to treat one subject. Wouldn't it look suspicious if someone appeared together with a little girl? Yui is a Traveler, not an Adventurer. If someone analyzes her closely..."

"It'll call a lot of attention," concluded Klein. "Darn it! Down goes that idea."

Kirito, however, was scratching his chin.

"I think I may have an idea for that. Otherwise, I think I can send Yui to scout around while I try to find a way to enter the city. Not ideal, but I think it can work."

Asuna bit her lip, still nonplused by the idea. However, she gulped down and finally conceded.

"Very well. So Kirito and Yui will go to Susukino while we watch Hamelin and try to rescue Lisbeth. Any more objections?"

Silence.

"Well then. Let's prepare for the trip."

---

The afternoon passed like a breeze.

The group split once again to organize their tasks. One group went on a shopping spree to obtain items for Kirito's trip, buying potions and a decent dagger for Silica. They didn't know her class, but daggers were nearly universal weapons for all classes, and the Dragon Tamer had prior experience in using them, so Kirito judged it was a good purchase.

Meanwhile, Asuna, with the rest of the group, organized how they would keep an eye on Hamelin. Thanks to the Sou-Squee Fan Club, they got an idea about the guild's routine around the city. In theory, they would be able to track their movements and learn more about their forces. Asuna mainly decided who would occupy what time in the rotation. She also called Aguni to inform her about their findings. From what Kirito heard, she promised to keep them informed of any developments in the Sou-Squee Fan Club.

During all this time, Kirito couldn't talk with Asuna, much to his frustration. Something that Yui noticed.

"What is worrying you, Daddy?" asked the little girl. "Is it about Mommy?"

The swordsman took some time analyzing the beef jerky in front of him, half-faking considering buying it -although the taste was awful like any other food, the texture was somewhat pleasant for him. Or maybe he only wanted to munch on something, and that was the better deal for him, as it was cheap.

"Yes," said Kirito. "I dislike this situation as much as she does. And I don't want to put you in danger. Yet, she seemed to have taken this information worse than usual. Do you know anything, sweetie?"

The little girl shrugged.

"I'm not sure, Daddy. When I woke her this morning, she seemed confused. I think she had a bad dream."

"A bad dream, huh..." said the swordsman. "I can see why. This situation is eerily similar to how she stopped in Aincrad. Maybe it was a nightmare related to that?" theorized him.

The little girl seemed a little skeptical but nodded.

"I don't know. Mommy seemed attracted to the Fairy Gate. When you and Klein left, she spent a long time staring at it. Maybe it's something like what's happening with Leafa and Sinon? A trait from the Alvs?"

He reflected on the enhanced senses of the Elves in his party: increased audition, better vision, the whole classic package. Could something like this happen to Asuna? After all, she was no mere human but a Half-Alv. Maybe he could ask another of the race if he felt anything different.

"Either way," said the little AI. "Ever since the incident in the Underworld, Mommy has worried about you, Daddy," she grimaced. "She rarely left the command room during your stay in the Ocean Turtle. I think she would rather be with you in the Underworld than split apart."

"Do you think it's about this?" asked the father. "About the fact that we're splitting again."

The little girl stopped to think before answering as she analyzed a small health vial.

"I think it's also that you're going into danger without her. Again. She almost lost you in the hands of the Laughing Coffin. She at least wants to cover your back. At the same time, she knows that this isn't possible because she's currently too weak to follow you. And this is tearing her apart. After you and Mommy returned from the hospital, she had a nightmare about losing you again. She cried for a long time. Remember she was busy on that day?"

"She...she had said that her brother had come for a visit," said the swordsman, ashamed from not noticing the turmoil in his girlfriend's head.

"She didn't lie about that," said Yui. "But she asked me to keep it a secret. Mommy didn't want me to worry you. And she got better after that. Maybe I should have talked with her more, but..."

Kirito put a hand on the shoulder of his daughter.

"No. There's no reason to blame yourself for this, Yui. You listened. And, as an AI with a therapeutic function, you know this is already a good thing."

The AI bit her lip. Kirito sighed, knowing that would happen.

"How about we all go out when we finally bring everyone together?" asked the man. "Me, Asuna, you. A small family trip through Akiba. Even if the food sucks, I know many places where it's possible to have some fun in a group."

The girl glanced at her face before nodding vigorously.

"Yes! I would love it!"

She said that a little louder than she pretended, attracting some glances from other buyers.

"Hehehe..." said Kirito. "Sorry. Come on, Yui, let's go. Do you still have energy remaining to transform into a fairy? I want to test my theory."

---

The afternoon went through like a flash. And soon, it was almost midnight. Leaving their friends to their tasks, Kirito and Yui went to the Fairy Gate, escorted by Klein and Asuna, guaranteeing a quick passage through the forest part of Hana Plains.

They arrived with five minutes remaining before midnight. Kirito dismounted and let the horse disappear. It was unlikely he would get to Susukino that night, so it was better to let the whistle recharge for the trip in the morning. According to Yui, it would still take one hour by horse to reach the city.

The Swashbuckler sits, picking the jerky in his pouch and giving it a bite. Still the same dull taste of crackers, but it was enough to satiate him, for now. He did his traditional ritual of cursing the world for providing such tasteless food while munching the meat. Then, Kirito glanced at the sky, looking at the beautiful Moon that enlightened the forest.

Asuna was also staring at the Moon. However, she was frowning at the silvery light as if something on it bothered her.

As it was likely the last chance he would have to talk with his girlfriend in a long time, the swordsman lifted from the ground and approached the Cleric.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" said the Swashbuckler.

Asuna didn't answer at first, still hypnotized by the satellite.

"I suppose so," said the girl.

She didn't notice it. Her focus was on the dream of earlier. She was looking at the sky and-

"Did you know that the Moon is a server?"

"Hm?" hummed Asuna.

"The Moon," said Kirito. "When Elder Tale still was a game, the Moon was created to be a test server. A place where the developers went to make skills and do balance patches, you know? A place to test new content, in other words. It was still possible to access it by player input, but you couldn't move from there to the Earth."

"Huh," said Asuna. "Wonder if there's someone stuck up there."

"Nah. The server is closed one week before an expansion, so it's unlikely that anyone is up there. Only we, stuck at this piece of rock in space. I hope so. After we were isekaied, I'm willing to believe even in Santa Claus."

"Yeah..." sighed the Cleric. "Still is hard to process...all this. I don't think I ever will. At least in SAO, we were still physically close to home. Do you think our families already noticed something wrong with us?"

"Hard to say," said the Swashbuckler. "If my theory about time passing slowly here is correct, then we're stuck here for ten hours. Many must already have noticed that something is wrong. But we were on day one of a long-waited expansion for a semi-popular game. Hard to say."

"After that, mom will never let me play any other game," mumbled the fencer.

Kirito couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, my aunt must already be freaking out. I only hope she doesn't destroy the Amuspheres. I had to sweat a lot to buy mine!"

Asuna couldn't help but smile at his attempt to cheer her up. Her smile disappeared, however, and she returned to staring at the Moon.

"I'm scared, Kirito."

He hugged the girl.

"It's alright. I'll protect Yui."

"It's not about Yui that I'm worried about," said the Cleric. "It's you."

She held the hands of the Swashbuckler.

"You always put too much weight on your back, Kirito. I saw that. Every person you fail to protect, every mistake you commit. You always take too hard on yourself. You nearly died because of that," her eyes were full of sorrow. "I saw many horrifying things in our time in Aincrad. And yet, nothing scared me as much as seeing you trapped in that wheelchair, griefing by a friend, shut down to the world. I fear for our daughter, yes. But I fear more for you, Kirito."

Kirito was speechless.

"Asuna..."

"Hey, guys!" screamed Klein, pointing at the gate. "It's already midnight! Let's get to it! I think I saw some Pale Ghosts, and they seem very aggressive!"

Kirito glanced at the Samurai, who was currently busy fending off a vaguely humanoid spirit with his katana. He felt Asuna tense a bit, and he knew that, for once, it wasn't the ghost that made her feel like that.

"Promise me," said the fencer. "Don't take care only of Yui. Take care of yourself."

In response, the swordsman kissed his girlfriend on the lips. It only lasted a few seconds, but for the lovers, it lasted for an eternity. When they finally separated themselves, Kirito answered:

"I will."

Yui approached them from behind and hugged her mother.

"I'll miss you, Mommy," said the AI.

Asuna gave a sad smirk as she turned and hugged her daughter back.

"Me too, sweetie."

She reluctantly let the girl go while Kirito grabbed her hand.

Klein finished with the spirit that bothered him and turned to the Swashbuckler and the Traveler.

"Hey, dude!" said the Samurai. "Give those schmucks hell!"

Kirito nodded, raising a finger.

"And you take care of things here!"

The guild leader smirked, giving a mock salutation.

"Good luck, and may you return with Silica!"

Kirito nodded before turning to Yui.

"Are you ready?" asked the Swashbuckler.

"No," said the AI, deadpan. "Let's do it."

And then they entered the blue gate, disappearing in a flash of light.

Asuna and Klein waited for five minutes in case Yui was wrong, and the duo had to return through the portal. After that time passed, Klein received a message from Kirito. He smiled, relieved.

"The trip was successful."

Asuna let a silent thank you to the skies.

"Now, it's all up to them," said Klein. "Come on, let's go back to town. There's nothing we can do now. We'll need some good rest before our turn in staking out."

He then noticed that Asuna was glancing at the Moon yet again.

"Are you alright?"

The girl blinked.

"Yeah, I think so. Come on, call the ride."

As she and Klein rode back to Akiba, Asuna couldn't help but reflect on that tidbit of information about the Moon.

'A server, huh?'

Her dream became clear as water. What she was looking at before the end of it was the Moon.

And another certainty installed in her heart. It was too coincidental that she dreamed about the satellite doing something when she didn't even know the place was an area in the game.

Kirito was wrong. They weren't alone.

And she couldn't say if that was a good thing.