Chapter 2: Taboo
March 20th, 379 HE
I stretched and yawned widely into the crook of my elbow. It wasn't like anyone cared if I yawned in their face here, but old habits died hard. Asuna had scolded me more than once for my manners while we were in school together, after all, and it's usually easier to follow along with what she wants rather than sit through another lecture.
Man, I miss those lectures. I can't wait to hear her lecture me again. 'Nick, you should wake up earlier so that you're alert for the work day', or 'Nick, it's important to make a good impression so helping out at the church is to be expected'.
Shush, mental Asuna, it's fine. Ritsu is helping out at the church, and it's not like we're planning to stick around for too long. Sister Alyssum said that the pink-haired girl's help meant that we were more or less paying rent and not to worry about paying them back, which was nice. That meant that every coin I made that we didn't spend on food was set aside so that we could buy a trip to Centoria on a merchant's cart the next time one was in town.
And I was making money pretty quickly for the few days that I'd been in town. The best part of having my assassination skills? It meant I could do a lot of odd jobs around town. Chopping wood? Carrying supplies? Easy, and honestly good training for this body. Since I couldn't accurately 'remember' my Calling - read, I never had one to begin with - I was able to do pretty much everything anyone would pay me for.
In this case, I was helping out one of the many farmers in town on their work in the fields. It wasn't much in the way of activity, but 'guarding' them was pretty lucrative in terms of payment. I was basically acting as a town guard for them and them alone, after all. I mostly just stood around the edge of the field and chased off any wild animals that approached and tried to enjoy the strange salad bar someone conveniently set up for them. This isn't your lunch, strange rabbit!
"Pay attention, boy," the farmer that had hired me growled. "We're almost there."
"Yeah, yeah..."
"And stay awake!"
I rolled my eyes. The guy who'd hired me was like, the archetypal grizzled old farmer, with squinting eyes and stubble verging on grey. He even had a little wheelbarrow with tools that he pulled along behind him. I'd complain, but he was the only one willing to hire me for guard duty and toss me an old rusty dagger.
Plus, the gruffness was almost reassuring. He'd handed me the dagger and told me, "Show me what you can do." He'd gestured at a log sitting next to him.
I'd glanced at the log, and then at the edge of the dagger. I'd hummed as I ran my finger across the side of the weapon. Not nicked - heh, nicked - but clearly well-used. In the end, I had to use what I was given and I took up a familiar stance.
When the blade glowed, I had almost been surprised. Sword Skills! My lips had split into a grin as I'd slashed down in a very familiar «Vertical» technique that split the log cleanly in half. It had been over a year since I'd been able to use them, and I was glad to have the assist.
"Hmph," the man had grunted. "Not bad. You'll do. Let's go."
The grudging compliment had felt pretty good, like the few times Karasuma had praised my technique. I wonder why those always made me feel warm. Maybe it was a dagger skill thing? Who knows. I thought I'd managed to break myself of viewing the blade as an extension of myself, though.
When we got to the field, the farmer promptly forgot that I existed and went about his daily routine. I blinked a few times at being so totally dismissed without even being told what to do or where to go, then shrugged and started wandering around. His field was pretty small; I completed my first lap in about five minutes and started up on my second for lack of something better to do.
Man... This pays well but it's super boring when there's nothing to do. About halfway through the morning I cracked my neck after completing my tenth or so lap. I don't know, I lost track after a while and just let my feet walk in circles. "You need me to help out with anything?"
The grizzled farmer looked at me for a long second, then grunted. "Just do your job."
"Fine, sheesh. Thought I'd offer." Prickly old bastard. Well, I guess I didn't expect anything different. Everyone in this world is super strict about doing their own work and nothing else. Only the farm's Owner was allowed to work a given farm, nobody else. Probably something else about the Taboo Index that I really need to sit down and read at some point. I couldn't even ask for a copy of the Taboo Index to read over at night, either; when I mentioned it, Sister Alyssum had shaken her head and lectured me about not ever reproducing sacred words.
I'll be honest. I was never one for religion, and having it crammed down my throat was... hoo boy. It wasn't like I was against religion or anything like that. While I might not personally be a believer, it helped other people and... well, Kana was way more devout than I was, let's just say that. So, while I wasn't going to be upset that people were religious, I just wanted people to not make me be religious as well.
...Come to think of it, I probably shouldn't be staying in a church if that's my complaint, all things considered. But that aside, it's still pretty pervasive through every aspect of life in the Underworld apparently.
I shook my head to chase the thoughts away and realized that somewhere along the line I'd kept doing loops around the farm. I was going to wear down the Life of my boots like this...
When the bells tolled lunch, the old man tossed me a small cloth bundle. When I unwrapped it, it was a loaf of bread. He grunted again and sat down to his own meal, an identical loaf of bread. That was part of the deal, after all; I got lunch and a paycheck, and in exchange I kept his farm safe from interlopers.
While I munched on the semi-dry bread, I looked around at the other farmers. The farms were distant, but I could still pick out a few colorful tunics and straw hats here and there. "So how did you get picked to be the farmer of this field?" I asked idly.
The farmer grunted. ...I just realized; I had no idea what his name was. "It's been in my family for years. M' father, and his father, and his father, all the way back ten generations. Our Calling has always been to take care of this plot of land." Interesting. I guess a Calling is hereditary? "It's hard work and we barely make enough to get by, but the food we grow is enough for us to survive."
Subsistence farming, huh? Seems a little... "Can't you clear some of the trees?" I asked. "I'm sure there's usable farmland here -"
I stopped halfway through the suggestion when the grizzled farmer shook his head. "It's against the Taboo Index to cut down trees if your Calling isn't to be a Woodcutter. And there hasn't been a Woodcutter for years. Some people in town talk about trying to fill the marsh to our south, there's nothin' preventing that, but it's called a bottomless marsh for a reason. Pfeh." He spat to the side.
I didn't pry much after that, because he'd answered most of my questions already. The only one left would be 'what happens when someone breaks the Taboo Index', but I'm pretty sure my temporary boss wouldn't exactly be pleased if his worker went up to him and said, "Hey I want to know what happens when you break the rules of the world". If I did end up breaking the Taboo Index, who knows? It might be a fine, I might end up going to super-jail.
When the bells rang again, a half hour after lunch started, all the farmers got back to work. Looks like their legally mandated paid lunch is over. Oh well, time to get back to work. One nice thing, I noticed as I pushed myself to my feet, my body is pretty tough in this world. My feet didn't even hurt despite walking around for several hours straight. Hopefully, Ritsu is having a good day...
...
I grinned as I spotted some movement in the nearby forest. Finally, something to do. "I'm going to go check something out, if you don't mind," I called out to my boss. He grunted, more absorbed in tending to some plants than listening to me. Sure sounds like permission to me!
What's that? He didn't actually say anything? Sorry brain, can't hear you, too busy going off to explore the woods!
While I might not be strictly doing the right thing and abiding by my word, I'd made sure to ask and receive permission to bounce for a bit. Therefore, nobody could complain when I entered the woods and cracked my neck. I bounced up and down to loosen my body up a little bit, and then jumped for the nearest tree and swung myself up. While I don't mind walking, it's just so much more fun to jump through the trees. I guess being part of E Class has given me some tastes when it comes to moving around.
Now, as for the reason I was in the forest in the first place... Mainly boredom, really. But I did see something pushing its way through the bushes. Naturally, I was going to do my duty and check it out.
As I leapt through the branches, I hummed in thought. I was moving pretty quickly, but I hadn't seen anything at all. Did that mean I just imagined the movement? No, my senses were sharper than that. Even my weaker eyes weren't a real factor in this situation thanks to the innate properties of the virtual world. So I should be able to track whatever it was I saw.
My dedication was rewarded a few minutes later when the bushes rustled. I grinned and hopped down out of the trees. Come out, come out, whatever you are...
The thing I'd been following answered my unspoken request and pretty much immediately I decided I regretted my past few decisions. What emerged from the bushes sent one thought through my mind: 'Are wolves always this big?' The grey-furred beast that stared at me with golden eyes was easily up to my chest, with shoulders that were wider than my own. My breath caught in my throat as I stared down a predator that clearly had decided I was going to be its next meal. ...I think I know what happened to the past woodcutters -
I couldn't keep thinking because the wolf snarled and lunged at me. Even while I consciously panicked with my mind trying to reconcile between 'Nice doggy' and 'Oh fuck me', my training took over and I jumped to the side. The wolf's jaws snapped shut where my leg used to be and it skidded in the brush before snarling loudly. With the second afforded to me by its threat display, I was able to draw my dagger and hold it out in front of me. Heavy...!
The dagger was strangely heavy, but it fit in my hand. A grin pulled at my lips as I slowly stepped to the side, placing my back to a tree. The first fight I got into in this world, and it only took a few days. Good thing I know about Sword Skills!
With a shout I jumped up to let the wolf's next lunge pass under me. It slid to the side and avoided my plunging stab, but I didn't wait and kicked off towards it. My dagger raked across its side, a spray of blood answering the blade's edge. My eyes widened at the crimson color staining grey fur. Real blood -!
I might have been distracted, but that's what training was for. After I slashed, I tucked into a roll automatically to avoid any follow-up. The snarl behind me told me that I'd made the right move, and I burst out of the roll into a run with the wolf snapping at my heels. It bit at me once and before it could try again, I lunged for a tree branch and swung up to safety. Short breaths re-stabilized into a steady in and out rhythm as I calmed myself down and thought.
Wolves hunt in packs, and I can't fight off a whole pack of wolves by myself. The only hope I have is to kill this thing before it howls. After all, an assassin picks his targets when they're alone, right? So, as soon as my panting calmed I jumped down. My blade glowed in midair, and I smirked. "Haah!"
The wolf barely had time to react before the green edge bit into its face. The spray of blood surprised me, but it only splashed part of my tunic before I was moving, flowing into the second hit of the combo that had been drilled into me. I slipped to the side and stabbed upwards, driving the tip of my dagger into the underside of the wolf's jaw. Using that as a pivot point, I slid onto its back and twisted.
The crack nearly surprised me, but the way its body went limp didn't. I grinned -
The instant I killed the wolf that had been attacking me, something shifted in the world around me. There was a strange sound behind me and I whirled around, raising my dagger pre-emptively, but there was no enemy. Instead, I watched as space twisted in a vortex, a purple and violet swirl forming in midair to reveal a featureless head with blank white eyes. What... "A singular unit has been detected. Tracing its ID. Coordinates fixed. Report complete."
With the sound of space swallowing itself - and that was a hell of a thing for it to sound like, but I had no idea how else to imagine it - the head vanished. What... What was that?! Seriously, what was that? It was like looking at the decapitated head of a mannequin, except somehow creepier because it was talking at me! Gods above... I'm never going to be able to go to the mall with Kana ever again.
Or until the next time she asks me to go, whichever occurs first.
I huffed out a quiet sigh and knelt to wipe off my blade on the pelt of the dead wolf. I'll be sure to wash it off properly before I hand it back. It'd be bad manners to give him a dirty blade, after all. It didn't take too long for me to use the tree branches to make my way back to the fields. In fact, I was even faster than before! My body felt lighter than before, and I was hopping through the tree branches without stumbling or needing to catch myself very often.
"Heh. Guess I'm finally warmed up, huh?" I cracked my neck after I strolled out of the forest. It made a very satisfying sound and I grinned.
The old farmer glanced at me when I returned. He was in the middle of examining the leaves of some crops. "Where did you go?"
"Thought I saw something in the forest. Went to check it out."
"Killing wildlife is forbidden by the Taboo Index unless you have the Hunter Calling," he said. It sounded automatic, rote. I guess they learn this thing by heart, huh?
"Naturally," I said. "I didn't see anything notable."
He squinted at me, then visibly decided I wasn't enough of a problem child to warrant any more of his attention.
"Oh, uh, do you have some water I can use to clean up blood?" I offered him my arm to show him the long scratch across the back of my hand, slowly oozing blood. "I might have scratched myself on a thorn or something somewhere and didn't notice."
Still technically not a lie. The wolf's teeth had closed a little closer than I'd thought during the fight, and I hadn't noticed thanks to the adrenalin pumping through my body. I just mentally filed that under 'or something' when I spoke, that's all.
"Here." My boss tossed me a small scrap of cloth. "Stop the bleeding with that, then wash up." He turned back to his crops and grumbled about idiot guards and idiot swordsmen.
Once I tied the cloth around my hand, the cut tingled and I jumped a little bit. Wasn't expecting that! When the itching sensation died away, I unwrapped the bandage. The cut from the wolf had faded away entirely, leaving smooth unmarred skin behind. It disappeared entirely, like Korosensei had stitched it up in seconds. Amazing... So that's the power of the game system, compared to the real world. All those cuts and scrapes from training with E Class could have disappeared like that, instead of being aches and pains that lasted for a few days.
I rinsed off the blade and my hands. As I was shaking my hands dry, a loud roar echoed through the air and shook me to the bones. The people all around me stood up and stared at the sky, mumbling in hushed whispers. The words 'Integrity Knight' were being thrown around by the farmers looking up, shielding their eyes with their hats or hands.
Then, the clouds split apart and a huge beast soared through the sky. I gasped despite myself at the sight of the black dragon, its scales reflecting almost a midnight blue color against the bright sky. As it crossed over the fields, my eyes picked out the very interesting sight of an armored figure sitting atop the black dragon, holding onto reins. It was just for a second, but I almost felt like the man in the armor turned to look at me -
No, that's silly. Even with my game-assisted eyesight and Karasuma-trained kinetic vision, it wasn't so good that I could see that high up. The dragon flapped its wings and soared over the town, traveling east. I watched it until it disappeared past the spire of the Axiom Church. My eyes were riveted to the black form and I couldn't look away.
"Majestic, aren't they? Can't blame you for grinning like that, boy."
I jumped at the gruff voice of the farmer. Grinning? I blinked and then realized that my lips had pulled back in a grin. Well, like he said, who could blame me? Dragons! Dragons were cool!
Trying to control my expression, I wiped my hand down my lower face to get rid of the goofy smile. "Ahem..." After I cleared my throat, I turned to the old man. "There was someone riding on top, right?"
"Your eyes are pretty good, boy. The Integrity Knights keep the peace by protecting us from the monsters in the Dark Empire." He turned back to his crops. "Don't know why they're flying over this place, though. Maybe they're on their way back."
"I take it that's not a usual sight?" I caught myself standing on my toes like I could somehow see further and catch another glimpse of the super-cool dragon, and turned my back on the town deliberately.
"Hmph." He tugged at the brim of his hat. "More recent these days. But they've never stopped by the city, and today's no different. Now get back to work, I'm not paying you to stand around and chat all day."
"Yes sir."
...
After eating dinner with Ritsu and the others, I knocked on the door to her room. It was open, but I wanted her to know I was there since she was busy studying. After all, 'It's against the Taboo Index for someone to enter the room of someone of the opposite gender unless those two people are married', as Sister Alyssum had been quick to inform me. There were a lot of things against the Taboo Index, huh...?
Ritsu looked up from the desk where she'd been reading something and smiled. "Ni- Rythin! How was work?"
"Pretty good. The guy was a total grump but he paid well." I held up the leather pouch, and it jingled when I shook it. "A few more days of this, and we might have enough to buy supplies and walk to Centoria, if we want to do that." I grinned at her. "If you think your poor human body can last that long."
She stuck her tongue out at me, and I snickered.
"Anyway, do you mind taking a walk with me for a bit? There's some things I wanted to talk to you about," I said.
"Sure!" She put the book she was reading on the desk and stood up right away. "Let's go. Where to?"
I shrugged. "Away from the kids." I cast a light glare down the hall and a few of the children (boys and girls both) giggled and fled around the corner. Eavesdropping little brats... "Maybe out back?"
"Be nice, they're cute. Besides, you didn't have a problem with Sakura, did you?"
...That's different, that's not the same thing at all, and despite me not saying a word Ritsu smiled like she could read every thought crossing my mind in the last few seconds. "Let's just go," I grumped.
Ritsu followed me out of the church into the backyard, where she sat neatly on the small stone wall surrounding the field. "So, what did you want to talk about? Is it about Kirito?"
"Yeah," I said. We were still sticking to our cover story that we'd lost our memories except for our names, so I had to be careful. "And just some stuff for the next few days, to make sure we have our plans all in a row."
"I'm listening," she said. I glanced at her, and Ritsu the cute human girl had shifted almost imperceptibly into Ritsu the member of E Class. I couldn't name what had changed, but I knew she was focused now. "What are our operating parameters?"
"Hmm... Well, it's not the end of the world, but I might have screwed up earlier." Her eyes widened, and then darted to the stained edge of my sleeve. I clutched the fabric in my other hand. "Nothing awful, but I killed a wild wolf earlier when it attacked me and I think it was against the Taboo Index. Some weird face appeared to spout off what I'm guessing was some sort of tracer. Thing is, as soon as it finished with the report, it vanished and I haven't been approached yet."
Ritsu frowned. "So you think that whatever authority was contacted will approach you tomorrow?"
"Most likely." I shrugged. "If it's a fine, that's okay, I'll pay up and lesson learned. But if the punishment is more than that..."
I trailed off, but I knew Ritsu could follow my train of thought. "You want me to stay in place for a while, right?" Her cheeks puffed out in a pout. "I understand that an assassin has to keep their emotions in check during a mission, but do you really want me to do nothing? I can help!"
"Remember what happened last time we went up against the government?" My question was only intended to be a light rebuke - basically the verbal equivalent of a poke on her nose - and I was glad to see that she didn't take any offense but still looked down at the ground and played with the ends of her twin-tails. "Yeah. I figure if anything bad happens, I'll be able to explain what happened and they won't mind too much. After all, I was just acting to save my own life, right?"
"Okay," Ritsu said with a firm nod. "I'll trust you, Rythin."
I forced down the impulse to tell her trusting me was a mistake, since I was trying desperately to be better than that. Kana thought I could be better than that, and Shino tended to scold me when I got a little too self-deprecating. And after all, how could I disappoint my beloved girlfriend and little sister?
Instead, I just smiled at her. "In other, unrelated news, how are you holding up, Ritsu? It has to be weird, being a full human."
"Yeah!" Oops. Ritsu clenched her fists and leapt to her feet. "It's super weird! I mean, I have to eat and wake up on time, and it's so hard to multitask now, did you know that? And my hair keeps getting so tangled it takes soooo long to brush it out!"
I laughed. That was, in retrospect, a mistake. "You think it's funny, huh?" Ritsu whirled on me, and I had to lean back to avoid literally eating one of her twin-tails. "W-Well, you know what? You can help, then! Stay there and don't move, got it?" She hurried back into the church, and I was so surprised by our sweet, demure little Ritsu actually giving me an order that I obeyed it.
When she got back, she sat down right in front of me and placed a hairbrush in my hand. "Uh, Ritsu?"
She crossed her arms and deliberately undid the ties in her hair. It fell in waves like a purple curtain, and she ran her fingers through it. "What? You have sisters, you've said it yourself. Or are you going to tell me Asuna never taught you how to brush long hair?"
"Eheheh..." I chuckled weakly and got started. "No, she taught me. I'll get started right away, Ritsu."
"Thank you very much, Rythin," she chirped, like she hadn't just brow-beaten me into brushing her hair for her.
While I worked the hairbrush through her hair, I smiled faintly. Just sitting here, doing this... It really was like I was sitting with Asuna, after all. Hah... I missed Kana, and all my family.
"Hey, Rythin?"
"Mmm?"
"You'll be okay, right? I know you want to find Kirito as soon as possible."
Ritsu leaned back against my chest, and automatically I wrapped my arms around her. I couldn't help it, she reminded me so much of Shino like that. "Yeah," I told her. "You know how us E Class students are. We're made of tough stuff, after all. Sure, I miss him, but I've missed him for a year now. It's better for us to take the extra time now to make sure we don't screw up later."
After looking up at me, Ritsu giggled. "Yeah. Korosensei had a saying for that, right?"
"Mm-hmm."
Together, we chorused, "Like the octopus, never be caught unprepared!"
He'd say that, and then half the class would shout back, 'How does that have anything to do with octopi?' and then he'd just do that crazy laugh of his.
"...I still miss him," Ritsu murmured. "Even though it's been five years, I never let that part of my memory get overwritten."
"I miss him too, Ritsu."
I woke up in the morning and the first thing I did after rolling out of bed was raise my arm and run through morning stretches. My muscles protested, still a little sore from yesterday's shenanigans in the woods, and I arched my back and flexed. A couple pops ran their way down my spine and I sighed in satisfaction. "Mmmm, that's always fun. Hnnn..." Talking to myself wasn't limited to just turning off lights, after all. It helped fill the emptiness when I was alone.
The morning prayers went as they did before - read, I tried and failed to keep my eyes from drifting shut, and Ritsu nudged me every time I started to slump against her instead of sitting up straight - and breakfast was the same. After I finished chopping up the ingredients, I splashed water on my face to actually wake up. All things considered, I should probably do that before I cut things with a sharp knife. Oh well.
Speaking of sharp knives, I unsheathed the blade the old farmer had given me the day before and took up a calm stance in the yard. He'd let me keep the blade when I tried to give it back to him yesterday, saying something about me using it better than he ever had; since I couldn't pay him, it would have been against the Taboo Index for me to keep it, but since he'd given it to me, it was fine. All of this was a little ridiculously over-complicated, but hey. When in Rome, right?
With a harsh breath I leapt forward, pushing myself through the drills I'd long since memorized. "Hahaha!" It felt so good to be moving my body and swinging the blade in patterns that flashed through the air. I've been getting sloppy without practice! Even a few days was enough for me to get tagged by that wolf. Soon, though. Soon I'm going to be back in fighting shape, and I'll enjoy the burn until I'm back there.
Once I finished running through Karasuma's exercises, I cast my memory back to ALO. It had been a year, but... well, years of experience just gets hidden a little bit, not erased. It didn't take long for my blade to glow during all the important slashes while I hopped around the field.
"Having fun?"
I blinked away the ribbons of light left in my vision and grinned at Ritsu. The girl sat primly on the steps, watching me with a smile of her own. "It feels incredibly good to move my body like this. A few days made me super rusty."
Ritsu giggled at my expression. "Well, I didn't want to bother you, but it's starting to get later than usual."
I tilted my head and looked at her. Then I glanced at the sky and swore loudly. "I… totally lost track of time, thanks Ritsu, you're amazing." I quickly splashed some more water on my face and toweled the rest of the sweat from my hair. "See you at dinner."
"Have a good day," she said.
...
I was in the middle of chopping wood for a blacksmith in town when a shadow passed over all of us. I looked up and my mouth dropped open when I saw that same black dragon from yesterday circling around the town. "Dragon," I said, mostly to myself. My lips curled into a smile. "So cool..."
"Put that axe down, boy," the blacksmith said. "The Integrity Knight has asked everyone to gather in the main square."
"Coming," I said, and set the axe by the chopped firewood. The pile I'd chopped was already stacked pretty high, and the smith gave me an approving nod. I grinned at the look.
When I got to the square, it was full of people. I spotted the church contingent, and moved through the crowd smoothly until I stood next to Ritsu. She was staring at the sleek black dragon in front of her and jumped when my hand brushed her arm. "Oh, Rythin," she said. "I was..."
"Distracted by the dragon?" I grinned. "Me too."
Even while the dragon took up the majority of my attention, I scanned the crowd like a good member of E Class. Most people seemed shocked that a knight had appeared, though their general body language suggested awed reverence rather than fear. They loved the Integrity Knight... And why not, really? They guarded the borders against monsters, if what the old farmer had told me was true at all.
Speaking of, the Integrity Knight in the center of town had a healthy space surrounding him... her? I couldn't tell, thanks to the full-plate armor and white cloth cape. The helmet they wore obscured their face, a steel cross across the part that would be the face. Their head turned, and I could see their eyes gleam in the helmet. Oooh, someone looks serious.
After a few more minutes of the assembled people milling around and murmuring to each other, a fat man in rich-looking clothes stepped forward. "Ahem! Welcome to our city, Integrity Knight," he said, and brought his hand up in a strange salute. Left hand fist, right hand wrapped around it, and bow. Eugh, it even sounded like his voice was fat, like he was still chewing on chicken or something while speaking. "I am the mayor of Veshire. What can I do for you?"
"I am Integrity Knight Dakira Synthesis Twenty-Two," the knight said, and I blinked. A woman, huh? With that kind of look, I was expecting a deep-voiced man, not going to lie. "Member of the Four Oscillation Blades, and protector of the Axiom Church. A member of your city has disobeyed the Taboo Index. I shall take him with me to answer for his crimes and be executed. Bring forth Rythin."
As soon as my name crossed her lips, my mind raced. Escape? No, Ritsu and I were in the center of the crowd. We could probably slip away, but it would delay our getaway long enough that even someone in heavy armor would be able to follow. Plus, dragon. They have the high ground, and sooner or later we'll be unable to hide properly. Plus, that's not even taking into account the fact that we'd suddenly be hunted criminals. Not exactly how I wanted Kirito to find me.
Dakira kept going, listing chapter and verse of the Taboo Index to support my 'crime', but I ignored her words.
Fight? In this crowded area, with a crappy weapon and no armor, against a fully armored opponent who is already aware of my presence in the city and has a giant greatsword strapped to her back? Plus, again, dragon. I probably wasn't going to win an unfair fight. Hells, a fair fight would be a toss-up, and the only fight I wanted to fight was one where I could kill my opponent before they knew what was coming. That was my usual game plan even before receiving all the specialized training. If Ritsu had all her guns and processing power, then I might stand a chance, but as is...
The townsfolk whispered to themselves. The ones I'd helped all looked over at me, staring at me in surprise. The old gruff man I'd guarded yesterday shook his head and turned away.
Ritsu clutched my tunic. "Rythin," she whispered.
I can't let Ritsu get caught in the crossfire. I have to keep my head about me and think like Karasuma and Korosensei taught me. In this case...
"It's fine," I breathed. Hopefully none of my nervousness showed on my face. "Just stay here for a while, okay? There's got to be a chance when I can make a break for it, and then I'll be in Centoria. Once I find Kirito, I'll come back."
She stared at me, and then nodded once. "I'll wait for you. But only for a year, and then I'm coming to Centoria whether you're back or not."
"Thank you," I said.
Then, I stepped forward. Ritsu's hand brushed mine, then fell away.
The bindings they put around me were... maybe a little bit over-the-top? I mean, seriously, they really needed to put my arms behind my back and then fit a leather binder around my entire torso? Dakira had already taken my pitiful excuse for a weapon away at the start and what the hells was I going to do against a fully-armored opponent with my bare hands, after giving up entirely? It just made my arms cramp something awful. At least I could still move my fingers, and make a fun little gesture at the fat pig man when he smirked at me and tightened the straps more. Fuck, those are digging into my arms, you fat piece of -
With a flap of its wings, the dragon took off, and I very grumpily dangled from the chain attached to its neck in midair. Whaaaaat, is the back of the dragon too good for me? Nope. I'm dangled in the air like a fresh hunk of meat. Gods, this sucks. I hate this. Annoying. I can't even get a small amount of respect. Instead, I'm being hauled away, held up by a single iron chain and leather straps. At this rate, I almost want the stupid things to break just so that I don't have to put up with this insult!
Bleh. Stupid people not respecting me just because apparently I'm on death row or something like that. Jerks.
If I could, I'd totally make more rude gestures at them.
The trip only took a couple hours. Only. By the time I saw a massive column rising in the sky, I was more than ready for this dragon ride to be over. It wasn't even fun! I was just dangling from its neck, swaying back and forth as the dragon flew towards Centoria. The only thing that was keeping me even remotely entertained was watching the scenery pass under me; the land I was in was predominantly brown, with thin trees.
It was super unfair, too. The part to my left, across a long wall that stretched as far as I could see, was super green and inviting. Why couldn't I have landed in the northern part, huh?!
And the worst part of this was, even after the tower was visible, it was still another half hour or so with the pure white column growing larger every minute before we finally arrived. A pair of gates opened in the wall, lowering down. Huh. Dragon hanger. Neat.
Less neat was the way I got led down a bunch of steps, still in chains. They didn't even let me stretch my arms or anything like that. The large man that greeted us at the bottom of the stairs - it had to be at least 50 floors down from where we landed, if I had to guess - was bald with muscles bulging in his forearms. He and the Integrity Knight that was holding my 'leash' exchanged quiet words, before the Knight led me down the hall and shoved me into a dungeon cell. I glared at the two of them impartially while the jailer attached an iron cuff around my right wrist that had a length of chain that ended at an identical iron ring set in the wall. I tugged my arm experimentally carefully, and nope. That thing was not moving.
The Integrity Knight left as soon as the iron and leather straps around my body were undone. The jailer left me alone a little bit later after that, leaving me alone in the cold cell to reflect on my sins or something like that. I sat down on the tough, uncomfortable cot and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. Hmm. This thing feels like they threw a brick down, stretched it out, and called it a day.
Yeah I'm going to break out of here as soon as I possibly can. I opened my hand for the first time since I left Ritsu and held up the little iron pins that she'd slipped into my palm. When did she even find time to pick up a pair of lockpicks? I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. Thank you, Ritsu, your gift is gratefully received.
For now, I needed to see about getting this manacle off me. The chain had enough slack that I could sit on the bed without worrying too much about having my arm dangle off the edge at an awkward angle, but it wasn't enough for me to, say, walk out of the room and head into Centoria proper. And since I absolutely had to walk out of the room and head into Centoria proper, it seemed like we were at a bit of an impasse. I tugged at the chain and watched it rattle against the wall. That end was probably too tough for me to do anything, so that left getting the manacle off of my wrist.
...I remember Korosensei teaching us about how to do this, but telling us it was never a good idea if we didn't have to.
Before I do anything stupid, though, I should give this a little bit of time to rest. I just arrived, so this is when they'll be most on-guard. I'm not going to make the same mistake as when E Class tried to break through the military cordon immediately. Instead, I'm going to sit back, relax, and wait patiently for my chance.
I hate this stupid bed, though. I bet if I looked at its Stacia window, it would have the 'Uncomfortable' Class. Grr.
...
March 22nd, 379 HE
I woke up from a light doze a day and a half into my captivity. I glanced up at the barred window set above the manacle in the wall and grimaced. It was nearly night, huh? Staying in this dungeon was wreaking havoc with my sleep schedule. Though, granted, this time I was actively trying to nap during the day and be awake later at night.
Without moving I listened hard, trying to catch any sounds of movement. Nothing came through from the window, but that wasn't my interest. Instead, I was listening to see if the guy in charge of delivering me meals was awake. This late... Mmm, I can't hear anything, but there's a non-zero chance he's just doing something else instead. I yawned and rolled over, staring at the stone walls.
Bored. Bored bored bored. This sucks.
It took about another half hour without hearing any signs of life before I felt comfortable making a move. The jailer was probably fast asleep by now. With the moonlight pouring through the bars, I sat up and cracked my neck. During my day and a half stay, I'd surreptitiously tested most of the ways Karasuma had mentioned to escape cuffs (Unfortunately, Korosensei's advice of 'Just wriggle your way free like an octopus! Blblblblbl!' wasn't very useful) but none of them had borne any fruit. Looks like my only option is...
Well, let's just say I'm glad they locked the manacle on my right wrist.
"Gahhhhh...!" Okay! Okay, dislocating my thumb hurts! It hurts a lot! At least Karasuma taught me how to... ghhhh... do it right. It still feels like a shark with rubber teeth is gnawing at my hand, though!
I swallowed down the pain and slipped the manacle off of my arm. After I put the cuff on the pillow, careful to not let the chain clatter against the stone, I gritted my teeth and -
Fuck! It still hurts just as much popping back into place! It was more of a sharp pain this time, so despite the grunt that slipped out of my mouth I was able to get my hand back to normal. It's a good thing that deliberately lowering your own Life was forbidden by the Taboo Index, or I wouldn't have been able to abuse this loophole.
My breath was coming pretty quickly from the pain, so I took a few seconds to stop breathing so heavily. After the rhythm slowed down, I took one last deep breath and hopped to my feet. The lockpicks appeared in my hand from under the pillow, and I set to work finagling the lock -
It clicked and swung open, and I grinned. Easy. Now, to escape.
I slipped out of my cell and strolled down the hallway, my presence erased. The guard didn't so much as stir as I passed by him; he was fast asleep on a bed that looked only marginally more comfortable than mine. He was snoring away without a problem, despite the fact that he was the guard; my guess is, the sturdy chains were supposed to do the job of keeping people in place more than he was. Still, he did have that spear next to him, but I didn't want to risk getting caught to steal a shitty spear like that. Plus I didn't really know how to use a polearm all that well - I'd played around with them in ALO a little bit, but nothing serious - and having an awkward weapon was worse than no weapon at all in my opinion.
More relevant to me, of course, meant that I didn't have a weapon while breaking out of here. Then again, I was an assassin. If I was dragged into a fight, I'd already screwed up. Telling myself that helped calm my nerves down a little bit while I hurried up the stairs. Nobody had come to visit me, but the Integrity Knight had said I was to be executed. That could have happened at any time, and this stone stairway lit by torchlight was not my ideal place to fight.
Once I stepped out of the dungeons and out into the moonlight, I looked around. Huge wrought-iron fences lined the only path forward, with rose bushes on either side of me. Aside from the moonlight, the only light sources came from the little lamp obelisk things that didn't even come up to my waist. They lined the path, though, so I was able to keep moving without a care.
"Tch." I clicked my tongue as I came to an intersection. This thing was like a huge maze... Well, the huge tower was to my left, so I turned right and kept moving. My boots clicked on the cobblestone while I wandered through the maze. Great. I'm lost, I'm slightly tired, and I'm hungry. That last one was the most annoying, too. More than once I had to double-back after stumbling into a dead end.
After about thirty minutes of wandering around I stepped through a brick archway into a larger courtyard-like area. At last, progress! There was a fountain with a sculpture of a woman pouring water out of a jar; aside from Aquarius over there, it looked pretty normal. The kind of place people would stop to enjoy the flowers and rest in the pavilion in the center of the area. Nobody was here, fortunately, so I kept moving -
I froze as I was about to exit the area. A girl in armor was kneeling by the edge of the path and inspecting the roses; her golden armor gleamed in the moonlight and matched her hair. She hadn't noticed me and I reflexively made sure I'd erased my presence. That sword on her hip didn't look like it was for show. Run? Try to sneak past?
The choice was taken from me the instant it crossed my mind, because before I could do anything the girl stood up and turned. When she saw me, she stared for a few seconds in shock, her blue eyes wide.
"...Hey there, I'm a little lost," I said. "Mind showing me the exit?"
Her eyes narrowed and she placed her hand on the hilt of her sword. "I recognize you... You are the prisoner, brought in two days ago. How did you escape from that prison?"
I grinned. "Oh, y'know, just a little bit of creative thinking. Seriously though, do you mind showing me the way out? Thanks for the hospitality and all, but I have to head out."
"I cannot allow you to leave." The knight drew her sword. "I am Alice Synthesis Thirty, protector of the Axiom Church. You will be cut down if you refuse to obey me."
Alice, huh? Heh. That's neat. Her name is the same as that acronym RATH likes. But that was just an idle thought that flickered through my mind before my attention jumped to the gleaming blade in her hands. That thing looked pretty scary...
"Sorry, Alice," I said. "But I have to go see my brother, and I can't stick around!"
"So be it!"
I lunged forward, closing the distance as quickly as I could. She had advantage on range and everything, since she was wearing armor. Alice didn't hesitate to bring her sword back and thrust forward, trying to slash me. I dodged to the side and tucked into a roll as she twirled her blade with a flourish and slashed down. It was glowing - Sword Skill! I found my feet and ran immediately before Alice's blade smashed to the ground behind me. A spray of cobblestone shards pelted my back and I grinned.
"System Call!" Huh?! "Generate thermal element!" I glanced over my shoulder and yelped. Alice had raised a hand and her fingertips were glowing red, little red orbs with a yellow-orange glow sitting on her fingers. Thermal means hot, so I probably don't want to know what she's about to do. "Form element, arrow shape. Fly straight! Discharge!"
My eyes widened as the red lights on her fingers formed into long thin lines that probably resembled arrows if I took the time to look properly. As soon as she said 'Discharge', they flew straight towards me. They were way slower than bullets, though, so I was able to dance between the five red arrows. They exploded into flame on impact with the cobblestone behind me.
But if that's how it worked... "System Call!" I snapped, raising a hand. If I'm right, an orb will appear on my own hand - my eyes narrowed when only one light appeared on my thumb. Wonder why I only had one... "Generate thermal element! Form element, arrow shape. Fly straight! Discharge!" Like Alice's shot, my fire arrow launched towards Alice. She didn't even try to dodge; she simply slashed it down with her sword. The fire splashed against the golden-colored blade and dissipated without touching her. "Oh that's just not fair!"
Alice lunged towards me, her blade already aiming for my neck. I flipped backwards, her slashes just barely not catching me. Once I was upright, I ducked under the next blow and kicked out reflexively. My foot bounced off of her breastplate harmlessly and I staggered backwards. The Knight didn't hesitate to take advantage of this, shoving forwards -
- But I grinned and crouched before she could knock me over. Her eyes widened as I grabbed her arm and used her momentum against her in a picture-perfect throw. She flipped over my shoulder and landed hard on the ground, hard enough to bounce from the impact. It forced the air from her lungs and she coughed harshly.
Before she could get to her feet again, I bolted down the path I'd been about to follow before running into Alice. "System call! Generate thermal element!" The rest of the chant came out quickly and I launched an arrow of fire at the prone girl.
"System call! Generate cryogenic element! Form element, bird shape! Counter thermal element! Discharge!" An explosion rang out behind me and I spared a second to look back. A cloud of steam obscured my vision, and I grumbled. Stupid countermagic... I guess it makes that ice would counter fire, though. I wish I knew the command list though!
If only something like that existed, maybe.
Alice burst through the steam faster than I expected, her sword glowing. Vorpal Strike-! I had to dodge to the side in a roll, but the edge of the blade still cut into my side. Gah! Unlike before, I felt this one.
My hand came away from my side bloody, but it didn't seem to be very deep judging by the feel. I popped up to my feet and started running again. I just needed to get away from her, but no matter what I did Alice chased me down. I kept flinging thermal and cryogenic elements over my shoulder, but no matter what Alice would simply counter them with the opposing element. The other problem was, I was slowly bleeding from my side. A long, drawn-out battle would just end up with me collapsing from blood loss. So I had to escape...
As soon as I reached the next branch, I snapped off a quick thermal arrow and as expected, Alice countered with a bird-shaped cryogenic element. The steam expanded and I grinned before darting down the branch. As soon as I did, I took a deep breath and sprinted as fast as I could. I just needed to break line of sight as soon as possible -
"Generate umbra element. Adhere possession. Object ID -"
What? An umbra element? So they have dark magic?
I had no idea what was going on until a small node of darkness floated towards me and left a purple-ish trail behind it. Oh crap! It's some sort of tracker! Sure enough, it followed me no matter how fast I ran, and Alice wasn't far behind. The stupid... I bet light magic would cancel it out or something, but I have no idea how to summon some!
Left, right, left, left again... I was taking turns more or less at random, Alice never far behind, and before long I turned a corner and realized the road in front of me ended at a rose bush. A dead end... Crap.
Before I could manage to double back and go the other way, Alice appeared and blocked the way. "Surrender," she gasped in between breaths. I guess I can't blame her for needing a break. She was keeping up with me in full armor, which was damn impressive.
My eyes darted left and right as I tried to figure out if there was an escape route, and no matter what I saw I couldn't find a path out of the corner. I'd screwed up, somewhere along the line. "...Fine, fine. I give."
Alice nodded once and approached me, her sword still out. Before she could do anything else, a rough voice rang out from above us. "Hold on there, little lady."
"Unc- Commander!" Alice turned around to stare up at the sky. I looked up myself to see a dragon with silver scales right above us. I covered my eyes with my forearm as its wings kicked up a breeze, swirling loose rose petals around while it landed. "I've successfully captured the prisoner," she said. "I was about to execute him for his crimes."
A man dismounted from the silver dragon and landed lightly on his feet next to Alice. "Sorry, but you can't do that yet. Administrator wants to see him." I studied the man carefully while he was talking to the golden knight. Tall, with large shoulders and a broad build; he was wearing a simple robe that left his chest bare. Despite the majestic dragon he'd rode in on, his scruffy beard, shaggy hair, and rough voice made him seem almost like a peasant way over his head instead of (I'm assuming) an Integrity Knight.
At least, he seemed like a peasant until his blue eyes flicked towards me. Every instinct in my body, every fiber of my training shrieked at the pressure in that gaze. It was so intense that I slid into a ready stance without thinking about it and relaxed my body to spring into action. I still could fight bare-handed, but against someone this strong I'd need a knife to stand a chance.
"The Pontifex wishes to see this criminal?" Alice's voice held nothing but disbelief that she'd been ordered to let me live. After a long second, she nodded once and sheathed her golden sword. "Very well, then. Will you bring him up?"
"You too, Alice," the man said. "Orders were that anyone involved in his capture was to see her." He grinned. "Who knows? Maybe she's going to congratulate you on a job well done."
Alice looked away. "Hmph. I don't require praise to do my job." Oh that's a lie, I could see the theoretical cat ears on her head perk up at just the chance of earning praise.
...
The two Integrity Knights walked me through the rose maze and into the main tower; they at least had the decency to not bind my arms. When I'd asked, out of morbid curiosity, why not, the man had just given me a cocky smirk and said, "If you want to, go ahead and run. I'd just knock you down before you made it ten steps."
Alice, on the other hand, had scowled at me and rested her hand on her sword. The instant I tried to bolt, I knew that golden sword would be out of its sheath. Plus, it was easier to take in the scenery. Such as it was. This place was apparently called the Axiom Church Central Cathedral, and the interior decorators really had a taste for plain white. It was pretty boring to pass past white marble column after white marble column. Even that super gaudy hitman hotel back in Okinawa had been filled with color.
Fifty flights of stairs later, we passed through a huge wide-open room. I stared at the ceiling in awe. This place looked amazing, with murals on the ceilings showing three magnificent goddesses, if the number of people bowing and praying to them in the murals were any indication. Light poured through windows throughout the wide room, and the columns holding this place up were decorated with sculptures of the goddesses.
"Ah, this view never gets old," the man said. Bercouli, he'd given me his name. I have to try to remember that. "I love coming through here."
"Your favorite?" I asked as he led us down the center of the room towards a huge set of doors. As for why I was playing along with the conversation, well, if he wanted to play nice then I'd play along.
Bercouli laughed. "That honor goes to the baths on the 90th Floor. Nothing's better than coming back from a long mission and soaking my bones for hours."
"Mm." Man, now I want a hot shower. This sucks.
The room through those double doors had a very obvious circular gap in the center. Bercouli and Alice stopped in front of it. I looked back and forth between the two of them. ...What are we waiting for? Some magic thing?
My unspoken question was answered about ten seconds later as something descended from above with a green glow. It slowed to a halt and settled neatly in the hole left for it. An elevator, or something like it through magic? A woman in a simple dress stepped away from the glass cylinder in the center of the disc. "I apologize for the wait," she said in a voice that was so flat it was almost monotone.
Bercouli and Alice stepped onto the platform, so I followed them. "All the way up to the top," he told her.
"Right away, sir Integrity Knight." The woman walked back over to the glass thing and held her hands out. "System call. Generate aerial element. Burst." Glowing green lights appeared in the glass tube and floated around, until one fell down. The elevator suddenly launched into motion, soaring upwards at a rapid pace. I shifted my weight awkwardly until the pressure eased off a little bit.
Once we were up on the 80th floor, since apparently that's as high as the elevator went, we were back on foot. What was nice, however, was that the floors were actually different at all instead of just taking staircase after staircase like the lower fifty floors. The 80th floor looked like someone had transplanted a small hill from the countryside into the tower, with a small stream winding its way through the lower area. It was... pretty peaceful, all things considered. Alice clearly thought the same, because a small happy sigh escaped her lips as we walked down the brick path.
The 95th floor was where I blinked in surprise. It was exposed to the air, with several chairs and tables. It almost looked like you could sit and watch the city from above, here. But more importantly, there was enough room for a dragon to if not land, at least hover to drop passengers off.
"If you don't mind a question?" I asked while we climbed the thin stairs leading up. Bercouli shrugged. "Why didn't we take the dragon up? It would have saved a lot of time and some steps."
"Unfortunately, it's not that simple," Alice said. She was following her uncle's lead on everything including being somewhat decent to me. "No dragons can fly beyond the landing platforms on the 30th floor. Not even my unc- Not even Commander Bercouli's is allowed." There might have been an amused snort from Bercouli, but when I looked at him the man was simply staring ahead and climbing the face without any expression on his face. Suspicious... "Even the birds stay away. The pontifex herself made it so - she cast a Sacred Art so advanced that even I do not know it."
'Even I'? Either this girl is full of herself, or she's a very talented magic user. Either way, it explained the long walk.
The staircase opened up onto another... veranda? Would that be the word? The center of the landing was filled with more roses, and the only exit was a single hallway with glowing green chandeliers spaced regularly. Finally, we stopped in front of an ornate door with large blue and green gems set in it. The iron door seemed almost like a bunch of circular plates overlapping each other...
"Integrity Knights are forbidden from the 96th floor and above unless called by the pontifex or the Prime Senator," Alice said. "I've never been up this high before."
The iron door creaked open, and I caught a glimpse of a white circular room before something else caught my eye. "Phwoooo hoo ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ooh hoo hoo ha ha hoo!"
I stared. "Is that... a bouncing ball? That's laughing?" Bercouli and Alice didn't reply, but both straightened up.
The cackling ball bounced towards us and just before it landed, the ball unfolded in midair. When it landed, a tiny, fat man in a bizarre clown costume stood there with his hands clasped behind his back. His clothes were utterly hideous; his shirt was red on the left and blue on the right, while his pants flipped those colors' sides and the socks flipped them back so that the final appearance was like a massive checkerboard pattern that assaulted my eyes without mercy. A huge white collar around his neck fanned out like a snowflake and he wore a massive black hat that stretched out over his rotund little face.
But most disturbing of all was the chalk-white color of his skin. I knew I was pale, but that was ridiculous! He looked like he'd been made from the pillars and walls downstairs, except instead of stone he had piggy eyes and rolls of fat.
"Ahh, the wonderful Integrity Knights have successfully captured the intruder," he proclaimed as he applauded. He put his whole arm into each clap too. Maybe he was so fat he couldn't properly move his hands? "I, Prime Senator Chudelkin, will bring him to the pontifex." So this clown was the Prime Senator, huh? I wonder if the rest of the senators were clowns-in-training.
"Before you go," Bercouli said, "we were told that the pontifex wanted to see everyone involved in this brat's capture."
"Not a brat," I grumbled under my breath.
Chudelkin's lips spread into a wide, disgusting grin. "Oh, yes, yes, how could I have forgotten? System call!" Eh? "Deep Freeze! Integrator Unit, ID Zero Zero One!"
A beam of purple and red light erupted around Bercouli. He grunted in surprise as a grey line started from his feet and worked its way upwards, leaving behind ice in its wake. The light disappeared when its work was done and only a frozen statue of Bercouli remained.
Alice gasped and drew her sword. "Commander! What did you just do, you horrible -"
"System call! Deep Freeze! Integrator Unit, ID Zero Three Zero!" Alice lunged as soon as Chudelkin started chanting, but she wasn't fast enough. Another beam of light made short work of Alice, freezing her in place with the tip of her sword centimeters from his round chest.
What... was going on? Was he on my side? Did I want to be on the same side as this gross piece of shit?
Chudelkin's gold eyes studied me, and I flexed my hands. If he opened his mouth and started chanting, I could probably reach him in time... "Well now, it seems that old geezer brought quite the interesting pawn." He hopped into the air and spun around, landing on his feet with the tinkle of bells. When he walked forward, into the white room, he did so in large exaggerated steps that lifted his legs up to nearly parallel with the floor. "Come along now, the pontifex herself has asked to meet you."
I licked my lips and glanced back and forth at the two statues flanking me, and then walked forward.
What's this? What's this? It's a quicker way of getting to the central cathedral, at any rate.
Most of the information about the western part of the Human Empire is made up from whole cloth. As of the time writing this chapter, it's never been a focus of the anime or light novels and the game set in the Underworld hadn't been released; even if/when information comes out, I probably won't come back and fix it. Just assume this is a different variant of the Underworld because Nick worked at RATH to explain any mistakes.
Beyond that… I hope everyone likes Ritsu! She's fun to write, at least. She's just… new to this whole 'being human' thing. It doesn't help that the only person she knows just got taken away by a dragon… Well, Nick should be able to wrap up his business, go grab Ritsu, and then search for Kirito. Maybe the pontifex will help him!
Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or reviewed.
(Also hey Dakira is one of the canon Knights, and her breach of the Taboo Index was 'I have romantic feelings for another girl'. Making LGBT stuff illegal isn't cool with me, so I'm going to just retcon her breach of the Taboo Index to 'broke something at a store but had no money and so ran away instead of paying for it'. She's still gay, that's just perfectly OK under the Estoc-revised Taboo Index.) (None of this will be relevant… ever? But I still wanted to say it.)
