October 21, 380 HE, four months after the ACTF defeated the Pontifex

To the far north of the Underworld is a small, quiet village called Rulid. However, the true destination is a small cabin outside the village, next to a tree large and hollow enough to fight a sleeping white dragon. Outside of the cabin is a young girl of nineteen years with long golden hair spilling out of her white hood pulling vegetables out of the ground and collecting them. She stands up and exhales as she looks over her hard work.

"Sister!" She turns around ad with her one uncovered eye she finds a younger girl racing to the garden. The newcomer has orange hair and wears a nun's dress, but it doesn't hamper the girl's speed in the slightest. "Good morning, sister!"

"Selka." Selka runs into her sister and hugs her big sister, which the elder hesitates but eventually returns. "Welcome, Selka. What brings you here today?"

"Since it's so nice out, I wanted to go to the eastern hill. And Kirito can come too, right, Alice?" The pair stare at the house, where within, a young man sits alone in a mobile chair, alive in body but dead in mind.

"It's such a lovely day. It'd be a shame for him to spend it inside. Shall we go, Kirito?"

Alice sets the black scarf around Kirito's neck and nods to herself. "All right. Let's get going." Alice pulls the chair back, but she doesn't get far before Kirito wordlessly reaches out towards the swords hanging on the wall. She had forgotten all about his desire to have two of the blades with him at all times. "I'm sorry. I'll get them right away."

She walks over and picks up Kirito's black sword, the Night-Sky Blade, and picks up the ice-blue one that belonged to his and her past self's friend, the Blue Rose Sword. She hands them to Kirito, in his arms and smiles. "Hold on tight so you don't drop them, all right?"

Eventually, they join Selka and begin the trek to the eastern mountains. Alice has long enjoyed the peacefulness of her birthplace, having no time to do so when she returned with the ACTF to deal with Clamps and magical beasts. The fall colors of the forest are especially beautiful compared to the early summer's green.

Alice looks down at Kirito. "Do you think he'll be cold?"

Selka looks back. "Really. You're such a worrywart. You've piled enough clothes on him to make him sweat. Right, Kirito?" The boy doesn't answer, and Selka turns away, although Alice hears her talking to herself. Meanwhile, they make it out the woods, coming to a giant blue lake below the road. Birds float and fly off the pristine surface, and Alice can only say one thing about it.

"It's beautiful. Far more beautiful than any painting on the Cathedral's walls. It's the world you and Jaymes saved, Kirito." Alice takes a moment to think back on it all. The defeat of the Pontifex, Kirito's all, the appearance of the Cathedral Cedar, the rise of the ACTF, her union with Jaymes, Eydis Synthesis Ten, Medina Orthinanos, Ronie Arabel, Tiese Shtolienen, and Sortiliena Serlut, their travels and trials across the four kingdoms, and their final victory against Administrator and her envoy Hersyrian. Afterward, Jaymes asked her to take care of Kirito, leading her back home. Though she was denied by her father to stay in the village proper as she is, to him, unabsolved of the crime that got her taken away, Alice found comfort in helping the village from the outside whenever she could.

"Sister?"

"It's okay. Shall we head back?"

"Okay?"

Alice leads the way back, but she can hear her sister's slow footsteps, a sign that something troubles her. She fully stops and addresses it. "What is it, Selka? Is something troubling you?"

"Well, you see, Mr. Barbossa wants to ask you to help remove another tree from that clearing."

Ever since the Gigas Cedar was cut down, Rulid has been expanding its farmland now that the area's resources aren't being monopolized. The Clamp crisis put a small dent in those plans, but with Alice around, it could be safe Rulid's progression is back on track. "What, is that all? You don't have to be worried about that."

"But those people are so selfish! Mr. Barbossa and Mr. Ridack won't even let you live in the village, but they don't hesitate to ask for your help when they're in trouble."

Alice approaches her sister and places her hands on her shoulders. "It is all right, Selka. I'm just grateful that they're allowing us to live near the village."

"Sister, I'll complete my training period next year. and though it won't be much, I'll start earning a wage. When that happens, you won't have to help those people anymore, okay? You and Kirito… I'll… I'll always…"

"Thank you," Alice responds with a hug. "But if it was about money and living comfortably, I would have gone to Uetra Valley, I have friends there. Just having you close by is enough to make me happy, Selka."

"Why is this taking so long? While you've been wasting time here, Ridack's men have expanded his land 20 mels in all directions!"

Already fussing at his men, isn't he? "Hello, Mr. Barbossa."

"Huh… Oh. Oh, Alice, so good of you to come."

"I heard that you wished to see me."

"Mhm. Look. You can see it, can't you?" Mr. Barbossa points to the tree his men struggle to cut down, having made little progress with a swallow cut. "We've been tolling over that pesky platinum oak since yesterday morning. Even with ten grown men hacking at it, they've hardly made a dent in it. And so, I know we have a once-a-month arrangement, but I wonder if you could do me a favor just this once, Alice."

Alice nods. "Very well, Mr. Barbossa. If it's just this once."

Mr. Barbossa smiles in relief. "I really owe you, Alice!" Alice disregards that comment and approaches the tree, Opening a Stacia Window by the cut, she can see the men have only gotten through nearly 500 durability points. She closes the window and walks back to Kirito.

"I'm sorry, Kirito. I'd like to borrow your sword for a little bit. She reaches out, but Kirito reflexively tightens his hold. Kneeling and looking him in the eye relaxes the hold, so she picks up the Night-Sky Sword. "Thank you."

Returning to the tree, Alice holds the hilt of the sheathed blade and gets into a stance. The men around her make a jest above the sword being "flimsy" and unable to cut the tree, but Alice ignores them. She just focuses on the cut in the tree and swings the blade once. Looking at the men, she warns them about the tree. "It's going to fall that direction." They almost don't believe her, yet it does fall that way. Alice's attention lingers on the stump, not perfectly cut clean as there is a raised portion to the far right.

Guess she's a little rusty. Then again, tree-cutting was never her Calling.

"Mag… Magni… Magnificent!" She turns to Mr. Barbossa, who begins to praise her (for his future benefit, she knows). "What splendid skills you have! That was simply divine! What do you say, Alice? I'll double your fee, so instead of once a month, could you help out once a week, no, make that once a day?"

"No. The amount you're paying me now is sufficient." This angers the man, but she doesn't care as she reaches her hand out. "My payment."

"That's right, that's right." Mr. Barbossa reaches for a pouch and hands Alice a silver coin.

"Thank you very much." A sudden crash alerts her to the young man fallen out of his to the ground. "Kirito!" She rushes to him, but the boy reaches out in front of him. Some of the men took Eugeo's sword. Angered, she leaps over and stares at the men. "That sword belongs to Kirito. Give it back to him at once."

"Look, we did ask the guy to lend us his sword!"

"And he was generous enough to agree. Going 'Ah. Ah.' You know?"

Their confidence waver as the air around them becomes tense. enough for them to drop the sword. Alice retrieves it and faces the workers and their angry stares. Returning and settling Kirito back in his chair, they leave and head back for their home. She wonders what did they fight for. Suffering? Unbearable pain? In doing so, Eugeo lost his life, Medina almost lost hers. Kirito lost the ability to speak and his emotions. It feels like nothing in the world has changed since they delivered the final blow to the Pontifex in the Main Visualizer.

The cry of a dragon. Alice would recognize that sound anytime. Rising for the table, Alice heads outside. Her dragon, Amayori, is already alarmed and looking to the sky, so she does the same. There a dragon flies above the woods, and on its back an armored being, though she can't tell who it could be until the dragon lands and both beasts begin communicating. She recognizes the dragon as Takiguri, Amayori's elder brother, and the dragon that belongs to the thirty-first Integrity Knight. Alice isn't sure if she welcomes this visitor more so than the alternative.

"I'm impressed you found this place. What do you want, Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One?"

"It's been quite a while, my mentor, Lady Alice."

Sighing, Alice welcomes him inside. After moving Kirito from the table to the fireplace, she offers him a seat. "So how did you find this place? 'm sure the Order can't afford to send dragons all over just to track me down, and I doubt Eydis spilled."

"I followed the bond between our souls, or so I'd like to say. But unfortunately, it was a complete coincidence. Recently, we've learned that goblins and orcs have been mobilizing in the north. On the Knight Commander's Orders, we've collapsed the caves to the north, south, and west, but I've come to make sure they don't try to dig them out again."

"So were you able to determine the forces of darkness' actions?"

"I've spent a full day patrolling the perimeters of the cave, but I didn't spot a single goblin or orc. The interior of the cave was filled with rocks to the ceiling. Afterward, when I mounted to return to the capital, Takiguri began acting strangely. When I allowed him to go where he wished, this is where we ended up landing. Now that I've been reunited with you, it is my obligation t say to you, Lady Alice, please return to the Knights! We need your sword more than we need an army of thousands!"

Alice sighs and bows her head. "I can't."

Eldrie gasps. "But why not? Is it because of that man? The man who broke out the Cathedral prison and raised his treacherous blade against so many knights and senators, not to mention the Pontifex herself? So he's still leading your heart astray? If so, then I shall eliminate the source of that confusion right here, this very instant!"

"Stop it," Alice commands. "He, too, fought out of a sense of personal justice. Otherwise, how could we, the mighty Integrity Knights, even the Knight Commander himself, have all been defeated, one after another? You fought him yourself, so surely you sensed the weight of his sword! Besides, we all took our swords against the resurrected Pontifex. did we not?"

Eldrie grunts. "If that's true, then why didn't this man take up his sword in battle back then, why won't he do so now? Why would he allow himself to be reduced to such a pathetic state and shackle you, Lady Alice, to these hinterlands? If it's true that he killed Administrator for the sake of the people, then as it was his duty to aid the ACTF, isn't it also his duty to go to the Eastern Gate at this moment?"

"Forgive me, Eldrie. I simply cannot go with you. It has nothing to do with Kirito's condition, or even the promise to Jaymes to watch over him. I can no longer wield my sword. That's all there is to it. If I were to cross swords with you now, I most likely wouldn't last three strikes. You can ask Eydis yourself if you don't believe me."

"Is that so? Then I won't press you further." Eldrie bows and heads for the door. "I bid you farewell, my mentor. I, Eldrie, shall never forget as long as I live the secret sword skills and techniques you taught me."

"Take care. I pray that you'll be safe." After Eldrie exits the home, Alice gets up and tends to Kirito. "I'm sorry. You must be tired. Then let's go to bed, shall we?" Alice wheels Kirito over to the bed, setting him on it first before extinguishing all the light and settling inside herself. At first, she simply lies beside him, but after a moment she rises and rests closer to him, with conflicted tears in her eyes.

"Tell me, Kirito. What should I do? What should I..."

Kirito suddenly begins to gasp, waking Alice. She fully rises as the boy makes a panicked expression and raises his hand. "What's wrong, Kirito?" His hand extends to the window, so she lights up a candle and heads to the window. What she sees alarms her, drawing her outside for a better look.

An orange sky coming from the north, from the direction of the End Mountains. "Is it an attack by the Dark Territory… Selka!"