The city of Alswyr, Floor 63. It was the only settlement on the floor, located in a clearing within the thick jungles. Part of it was even built into a nearby cliff. The town had a great verticality to it, possibly to contend with the treetops. It had the usual amenities for players, such as inns and markets. You had brought Lisbeth to one of these inns to let her rest, as well as to reflect on the journey there. Specifically, those weird feelings you've been getting around Lisbeth. What you knew was that you wanted to get closer to her. You wanted to know more about her. And that she was actually really cute. It was safe to assume for a second that you were in love with her. The feeling was just unusual to you.

Love was never really something you got. At least, you never got how people could make things work out so easily. To you, love was something really complex, and something you didn't know how to handle. If you were in love with Lisbeth, what do you do with those emotions? Honestly, you weren't even sure if it was love, or if this whole trial was just you wanting to save another player from the jaws of death.

You wished you could just say "screw it' and see how things work out, but it wasn't that simple to you. Lisbeth said that you usually seemed pretty serious, and for once you were feeling like it. Maybe it was time for you to loosen up a bit. Keep doing what you always did, but every once in a while, just listen to your gut and do what felt right.

Maybe Lisbeth was wiser than you had initially believed.

A distraction would do wonders for you right now. That was something your scattered mind could agree on. The inn had a small kitchen in every room, not enough for a feast, but enough to cook a small meal. It took a bit of time to buy all the ingredients from the market and return, you guessed about 20 minutes. When you got back to the inn room, Lisbeth still seemed to be asleep. The debuffs from the swamp should've definitely worn off by now, so this was a true deep sleep. Oh well. You bought enough for two anyway.

Wait, now you're about to cook for her. So much for a distraction.

You took out a small crystal bottle used for storing skills and swapped your Mixing skill with the Cooking skill. It wasn't very developed, only about 400 out of 1000, but it was still better than NPC meals, and you could use it out in the field. With what you had, you could make a decent meat and vegetable stew pretty quickly. It was a simple dish, but filling. Not to mention you could make it taste pretty good. And the smell from the herbs you had on hand. The smell was probably the best part. It immediately got your appetite going, and woke up Lisbeth. She sat up in the bed and took a big whiff of the air.

"Hey, what's on tonight?"

Her sudden voice startled you, but not too visibly. "Just a meat stew. Nice to see you're awake."

"It smells great. I didn't know you were such a good cook."

The compliment made you blush. "It's not really that great, but it gets me by. I just wanted to be able to eat well in the field is all."

Lisbeth paused for a second, like she was wondering what to say. You were actually the one to break the silence.

"Hey, you don't have to stick around, you know. We're out of the swamp, so you can go back to your smith shop."

"I can't exactly do that without the rest of the crystals, you know."

"Oh! I'm sorry." The stew didn't really need your attention at the moment, so you opened your inventory and initiated a trade with Lisbeth. Once you had handed her all the Entropy Crystals, you went back to your meal. Lisbeth still stuck around, though. Unless there was something else that she wanted, you weren't going to stop her from staying any more.

You took out a couple bowls, one for each of you, but then you saw Lisbeth heading towards the door. It was pretty disappointing to see her go, although you shouldn't stop her. She had probably delayed her customers long enough. Although, she did look pretty red in the face.

"Leaving now?" You tried your best to not sound disappointed, at the very least.

"Y-Yeah. I'd love to stay and eat, but I should really go fill this customer's order. The one this whole adventure was for. I promise I'll pay you back, though. My shop is on the 48th floor, in Lindarth." She told you the directions from the teleport gate. "Meet me there in a bit, and we can talk more."

There she goes about this customer again. Honestly, you got a little curious. Now that she told you where her shop was, you could go there anytime. You sent her off on her way, and stared at the full pot of stew. No sense in letting that go to waste, you thought.

A couple hours passed, and you were still stuffed from eating two servings of the meat stew. You thought that now would be a good time to go visit Lisbeth's shop. After packing up your gear and paying for another night at the inn, you traveled to the town center, where the teleport gate lay. It was usually a pretty busy place, but not many players were around today. NPC markets still had most of their stock on display, and the local bounty board was barely touched. Not much use of you today, though. You entered the gate and selected Lindarth, Floor 48. Soon, you were basked in a bright light as you disappeared from Alswyr.

It's been a while since you've been in Lindarth. Coming back here felt pretty nostalgic, especially seeing the old church tower. Most player owned shops hadn't popped up while you were here, though, so there was a lot that felt different. New stalls and signs were all over the place, making good use of the town's waterways. There were smiths, bakeries, tailors, and everything else you could expect from a medieval city. Despite it all, Lindarth still retained its rural feeling. Large volumes of traffic in the area didn't stop the peaceful feeling people got while they were there.

You followed Lisbeth's instructions to the southern district, where her shop was located. She had mentioned that it wasn't a very big building, but the sign was unmistakable. You searched around for a while until you found a wood board with the symbol of a knight on it. Beside it, the name: Lisbeth's Smith Shop. She really wasn't kidding about it being pretty obvious.

Through the window, you saw two people. One of them you recognized as Lisbeth, but you only had an idea of who the other was. Their most recognizable feature was their black longcoat. Maybe you should wait for them to leave, but you didn't know how long that would take. You worked up a bit of nerve and walked in the front door, entering in the midst of a conversation.

"…expecting him soon, but right now, you're my top priority." Lisbeth hadn't noticed you coming in. She seemed too enamored with the boy to notice much of anything, really.

They clearly had just started talking about something, so you tried to duck away into a corner to wait. The boy must've heard your footsteps, though, as he turned his head toward you. He didn't say anything, but him looking at you caused Lisbeth to turn in your direction as well. Your presence took her by surprise.

"Oh! You actually came!" She was darting her head in between you and the raven-haired boy. "Just wait right there, I'll be with you in a moment."

So, you waited. You listened to some of their conversations while you did, and you learned that this was the customer that Lisbeth had wanted the crystals for. He gave Lisbeth a pretty impressive looking black sword, asking for it to be reinforced. With a small blush and a big smile, she went into the back of the building to begin her work.

You really didn't feel like making small talk with this other guy, so you looked around the smith shop. Lisbeth had quite a few powerful weapons hanging up on the walls. Warhammers, falchions, even zweihanders were available. Racks of armor were displayed underneath. Despite it being right in front of you, it was hard to believe that she made every piece. You wished you had heard of this place before, since everything seemed high-quality.

Lisbeth walked out of the back room, carrying the boy's reinforced sword. It looked much shinier than before. She handed it to him, and he gave it a quick test swing after making some room around himself. Once he sheathed his sword on his back, he quickly glanced at you and walked toward the front door. Lisbeth seemed pretty confused about this.

"Wait, you don't want your-"

The boy cut him off. "I'll be back in a bit, Asuna needs me right now."

After he finished that statement, he swiftly exited the building.

"That was weird." Lisbeth turned over to you with a fresh smile. "So, how can I help you?"

"Didn't you want me to meet you here?"

"I did. I said I was gonna repay you, right? So, what do you want? Surely you've seen something you're interested in."

"Oh, that's what you meant. Is it safe to assume you can't make katars?"

"Unfortunately, no."

You pointed at some of the armor pieces on display. "If that's the case, then do you mind making some light metal armor for me?"

"Not at all. I'll give you the best I've got. Just wait here a moment."

Inside the smith shop was a small seating area that you hadn't noticed at first. You were too focused on the unfamiliar customer at the time. While you were waiting, you were thinking about how different Lisbeth was acting. She acted flustered around that customer, and she's currently acting a lot more friendly around you. To run a business like this, she would have to be pretty shrewd, too. It's like she was an entirely different person than the fiery girl you assisted in the swamp. The more you thought about it, the more you came to admire her.

Lisbeth returned with some measuring tools. It actually wasn't that long since she sat you down.

"I need to get your size. Do you want me to do it directly, or just reference your old armor?"

Having Lisbeth that close to you to measure your body… that would've felt nice. Although it could potentially be embarrassing, just because of who was doing it. That little bit of fear stopped you from asking for a direct measurement.

"Is there a place to undress? I'd rather you just reference my armor."

"Just head into the back room. I won't look, don't worry."

"Okay, I'll be right back." You stood up as you said that.

While she tended to the display racks, you entered the back room. It looked exactly like you expected a blacksmith's shop to look. Shelves of various materials lined the walls, a bench with different tools stood in the back, and an anvil and forge stood beside it. You quickly unequipped your armor and replaced it with casual clothing. You could've sworn someone was watching you at that point, but the only other person in the building was Lisbeth, and you could hear her shuffling around in the front.

You walked back out, old armor in hand. After handing your titanium equipment set to Lisbeth, she asked you to wait in the seating area while she forged brand-new armor.

This left you with a little more time to think about things. For once in this past hour, it wasn't about Lisbeth. The raid on Floor 65's Labyrinth was happening soon, and they probably wanted scouts like you to assist after the boss fight. Whenever a new floor was opened up, a player had to reach the main settlement to unlock the teleport gate before players could filter in. Typically, the labyrinth was a long distance from the main town, so a group of well-armed fighters and scouts needed to lead a charge. Without any knowledge of the floor or its enemies, this was an extremely dangerous job. You could probably say that about scouting in general, though.

Lisbeth returned from the back room, carting a mannequin behind her. On it was a full set of mithril armor fitted and designed just for you.

"So, what do you think?" She gave the armor a hard knock. "This bad boy can handle a lot of damage."

"It's perfect. How much will it be?"

"Free. This is how I'll be repaying you."

"Wait, what? Are you sure?" While you wanted to accept the armor, it seemed very valuable. Was she really willing to part with it?

"Take it and consider this debt dealt with."

Sounds like you had no choice but to accept. "If you say so."

You took the armor set and equipped it. It felt completely natural to move around in. Every piece was flexible, yet sturdy. Nothing about it felt like it could hinder your agility. You could finally experience just how skilled Lisbeth was at smithing.

"This feels amazing. I could probably take on an entire horde of beasts with this."

You noticed a pink streak form on her cheeks. "I'm really glad you think so. Is there anything else you wanted?"

"Is the armor not enough?"

"Well… there's something more I wanted to ask of you. I just want to make sure I can afford to do this."

She started fidgeting a little as your heart started to race.

"There's something I want you to do for me."

"What is it?" You mentally prepared yourself for whatever this was going to be.

"Do you get to the front lines often? As a scout, I mean."

Oh. That's what she meant. You knew it probably wasn't going to be a confession, but you got hopeful anyway. Despite that, you were still curious about where this was going.

"Yeah, I do. What about it?" You raised an eyebrow.

"New floors must have some pretty strong materials compared to lower down, right?"

"They do. I can make a fair bit of money for a while once a new floor opens up."

"I was wondering, would you like to work for me? You know, going up to those high floors and gathering strong materials?"

You really had to have been talking to a different person. This was coming from the same girl who insisted on gathering materials herself, no matter what the odds were.

She quickly justified herself, though. "I thought a bit about what happened in the swamps. While gathering rare and powerful materials would boost profits, my level isn't keeping up with the floor progression anymore. Going that far up solo would basically be suicide. Since I already know you, and you typically go to the front lines, I'm asking you."

"Why not ask that one guy who was in here a little while ago? You seemed like you were pretty intimate with him."

Lisbeth got really red upon you mentioning him. "I-Intimate?! I don't know what you're talking about! He's just a regular customer that just so happens to be really nice."

"Okay, okay. Sorry. I feel like I've seen him before, though. Do you know their name?"

The red color had mostly disappeared from Lisbeth's face. "His name is Kirito. Does the Black Swordsman ring any bells?"

"Black Swordsman? Oh. That guy." He was usually a part of Labyrinth raid groups. "I didn't know he frequents this place. Your work is really that good?"

"Yes! That's what I've been telling you!" She was clearly getting annoyed at your disbelief.

"Anyway, are you gonna work for me or not?"

"I want to know what I get out of it first."

"Benefits, huh?" She had to think about it for a second. "How about free equipment repairs, discounts on weapons you buy here, fair pay on the materials you bring in, and best of all, you get to work with a cutie like me."

Her work was already enough to convince you to work for her, but Lisbeth completely sealed the deal with that last part. Why did she mention that last part, anyway? She couldn't possibly like you like that, right? That's just her confidence shining through, right? That blush on your face right now is just the heat, right?

You mentally shook it off for now. "Alright. You've convinced me. How often do I need to bring things in?"

Lisbeth seemed really excited for a moment when you accepted, but she quickly regained her composure. "Great! You don't really need to come by on a consistent schedule, just whenever you've got something to sell me."

She then spoke a little quieter, likely not wanting to be heard. "Although I wouldn't mind if you came by more often."

Quiet mutters couldn't escape your Listening skill. You didn't respond to it, but you made a mental note to stop by fairly often. Honestly, she was acting so much friendlier now than in the swamp. Maybe that was because she was in her shop and could relax. That might just be how she dealt with customers, though. She wasn't acting flustered like she was around that Kirito guy. The only way you'd ever know is by watching her deal with other customers, if she acted as friendly around them as she did you. You did know one thing, though.

She was going to be a regular part of your life from now on.