Chapter 7: A Poor Craftsman

Grey eyes narrowed in on the fragments of what had once been a decent quality rapier. And Johnny knew it was a decent quality rapier, as he had been on the receiving end more than enough times, considering the wielder of the rapier was Asuna.

Johnny was currently perched on a rooftop watching Kirito and Asuna question the blacksmith about what had just happened. From what Johnny was able to tell, weapons shattering during the upgrade process hadn't been a thing in the beta, so Kirito wanted to know why.

Rolling his eyes, Johnny slid down the roof, falling towards the alleyway below. He landed with a thud, rising to his full height—a fairly unimpressive size, though that did help him blend into the crowds. Kirito could be real blind sometimes. The older boy had much faster reactions than Johnny—if given a strong enough sword and the ability to move his arm fast enough, Kirito might even be able to cut through a bullet. But it was all instinctual. Kirito acted without truly knowing what he was reacting to. And so he had missed what had actually happened in that shattering of steel and rain of polygons.

But Johnny knew how to track a con. He knew how to notice details. Little things like "Those fragments aren't the correct shape to be [Wind Fleuret]," and "The blacksmith made a small motion behind her back an instant before swinging her hammer for the final time." Oh, sure, such a thing wasn't enough to stand up in a court of law… but then, he wasn't here on behalf of any court.

"Hey, Rat. That theory of yours was correct. It's a scam. Some kind of switch an instant before the final upgrade level. Maybe with a low-durability item or something?" His companion melted out of the shadows beside him, her hood lowered to show her signature whiskers.

Argo nodded. "Yup. 'Tis more or less what my info suggests. Good work, Jay-chan." The whiskered girl flashed Johnny a cheerful grin and Johnny twitched.

He and Argo had an… interesting relationship, he supposed was the best way to describe it. Though he hadn't intended it—and he was sure that the Rat hadn't planned for it either—the two of them had run into each other quite a few times after their first meeting. The first few times, she'd usually taken one look at him and hidden beneath her hood. But there was no helping their constant interactions. Information was valuable to Johnny and Argo was both the most accurate and affordable information broker in Aincrad. Well, affordable for Johnny. For most other players, even Kirito-kun (Who, it must be said, was usually given a bit of a discount on information. Not that he knew it or that Argo would ever tell. She had to at least seem impartial after all.) Argo was a trustworthy but expensive option.

And beyond that, they worked well together, Johnny and Argo. Not that Argo would admit it freely—her face still caught a light dusting of red everytime the two interacted and Argo noticed Johnny's eyes sweeping across her petite form, Johnny knowing that the brown-haired information broker knew that he knew what lay beneath. But there was no denying that Johnny was highly competent in certain things, which was something that many other players just weren't.

Notably stealth. Admittedly Johnny didn't think he was actually the stealthiest player in SAO. In fact, those ninja from before were probably on a higher level by this point. Obsessive RPing had a tendency to drive people to some truly astounding lengths simply to fit into character. Honestly, Johnny was a bit glad that in his encounter with them, it hadn't been a battle of sneakiness. But ignoring all that, Johnny was certainly in the top ranks, especially when it came to supplementing his stealth skill with actual stealth techniques. The [Sneak] skill was great and all, but when you combined [Sneak] with actually being sneaky—neutral clothes, padded shoes, proper positioning, and knowing how to blend into any environment—then you could trick even the most observant of players.

Beyond being sneaky, Johnny was also observant. A very useful trait when it came to actually gathering information. Johnny had once heard the story of a German pilot who had been stranded behind enemy lines when his plane went down. The man had managed to sneak through the Allied lines and return to his unit. When asked to recount any information he had on the enemy, he'd handed over a barely filled out notebook and admitted that he'd spent most of his efforts attempting to stay hidden.

The story itself was probably exaggerated, if not made up wholesale. And in the—potentially non-existent—pilot's defence, he had at least made it back. But Johnny still took the story to heart and generally endeavoured to take note of things while sneaking about, whether it was the texture of the ground in case he needed to run and there was a possibility of tripping, or simply to admire this female player's shapely bust or the tight pants on that one, or even the flash of panties from one who let their guard down and whose clothes were caught by a gust of wind or snagged on a branch or door or what have you.

And even ignoring his other skills, Johnny possessed something that a very select group of people had.

"So, what would you like me to do with the blacksmith?" Johnny asked, tilting his head slightly.

Argo pursed her lips and considered it. "Ki-bou would want ta give her a second chance. In fact, he'd probably forgive her entirely."

Johnny shrugged. "Kirito-kun's a bit naive like that. A bleeding heart through and through, for all that he tries to be an edgy teen." A knife flashed in Johnny's hand as he tossed it up and down and up and down and up and down, the steel edge razor sharp. More than sharp enough to slit a throat or two.

"Tis one of the things that makes him better than ya, Jay-chan," Argo agreed. Just as before, that nickname made Johnny twitch. "And better than me. Go for it."

A nod and Johnny was walking away from Argo, his daggers returned to their sheaths within his cloak. "You know it's funny," the boy said. "A few weeks ago, you stopped me from killing a player. Now, you're sending me to possibly go kill one."

"That…" Argo sighed, "is something I'd like ta avoid at all costs. We solve problems with non-lethal solutions if at all possible."

Johnny smirked. "But there is the possibility, isn't there? It'll happen eventually you know. Not this time I don't think. The blacksmith doesn't seem like that kind of person. She's too innocent. Too much of a conscience. But eventually. How will you live with the fact that you sent a child to go kill someone? Even if it is to protect the other players, that's blood on your hands just as much as mine."

The information broker's face was stony. "I'll… deal, I suppose. That said, all other avenues are ta be explored before that. Hopefully, it doesn't occur for a long long time."

"Of course. If they're dead, I can't strip 'em after all." Johnny laughed cheerfully before pausing and glancing back at her. "I notice you didn't ask how I'd deal with killing someone."

Argo tilted her head slightly, face still stony. She reached down and pulled her hood up before turning away from Johnny. "I don't need ta ask, Jay-chan."

And she didn't. Even after just a few weeks, Johnny and Argo knew each other well. Probably better than Johnny and Kirito did, and the two of them had been friends for far longer. It was how Argo had figured out the exact nickname that Johnny would most hate. Johnny supposed that their understanding had to do with how similar Argo and he were. With the number of jobs they'd run together, it was inevitable that Argo would figure out that thing that Johnny possessed: a complete disregard for the consequences of his actions. Johnny could slit a man's throat and feel nothing.

The information broker shook her head and scrambled up the wall, climbing towards the roof. Johnny watched her go.

"I can see up your dress!" he called after the retreating girl. "Brown plaid panties? Fitting, but sooo boooring."

The girl flipped him off just before she disappeared over the lip of the roof. Johnny paid it no mind. After all, he didn't care. It wasn't like his devil-may-care attitude was some sinister thing that revolved around killing. It probably revolved around perverted activities more than anything else. On the topic of perverted activities, Johnny had a blacksmith to go deal with. Probably by cutting her clothes off and threatening to slit her throat or something like that. Fun times.

"So. Nezha, is it? Let's have a chat."

The female blacksmith froze in her tracks, a dagger pressed to her throat and another poking the small of her back. She reached slowly for the [Iron Hammer] she had at her side. Her attacker clicked their tongue. Nezha felt a prick on her wrist and her arm went limp, her fingers brushing against the hilt of her axe before falling numb.

"Wh-what do you want?" Nezha asked cautiously. The daggers themselves weren't the biggest threat—they were probably more for the fear factor rather than to actually kill her and she was confident she had enough [Constitution] to at least take a few shots, even if they were criticals. No, the real problem was that her attacker was able to to use poison and could easily render her helpless with a touch.

Nezha found herself being spun around and thrown onto her ass, staring up at a cloaked figure, daggers descending towards her. The blacksmith cried out as her feet were nailed to the ground by the steel points. SAO's pain system wasn't one-for-one, but rather it was damage-dependant. You could take a [Longsword] through the head and it might only tickle, while a [Throwing Pick] to the toe could cause debilitating agony. It all had to do with how much damage a thing did—the more [HP] lost, the more pain. The daggers pinning her feet to the ground had, in total, chunked off a good third of her health. Suddenly Nezha was much less confident in her chances of surviving. She'd thought that she was facing a player of a similar level to her. Instead, she found herself against someone who could take off a third of her—more than respectable for her level—health pool.

Her assailant crouched down in front of her, shadowed face inches from hers. "You killed a player. A frontliner."

Nezha's eyes widened. "I… what?"

The cloaked figure tilted their head to the side. "Hmm. Oh, you really didn't know! Interesting. Well, your little swapping trick deprived a player of their weapon. A guy by the name of Ryufior."

"Ryufior? Heavy armour? Horned helmet?" A nod was her response. "Yes… I remember. B-but that was an actual break! He wanted his weapon reinforced to +11, which you can't do. He insisted, and it broke. A-and besides, I gave him more than enough money to pay for a good sword. Not on the same level as his, but still a decent sum, considering that it was his fault."

"Ah… one sec then." The cloaked figure pulled back and opened his menu. He tapped it a few times before groaning. "Yup, that seems about right. You know, this is why I don't like to outsource information gathering. Sometimes people get it wrong." He dropped back in front of Nezha. "Lemme try this again from the top. Ahem. Your weapon swapping trick has deprived a good many players of their weapons, which your guild has then sold for a profit. But at least you haven't killed a person, so that's a plus. Still, this whole scamming people thing's gotta stop."

Nezha sighed despondently. "We've already sold all the weapons and spent most of the money. I've no way of paying anyone back…"

"Eh?" The cloaked figure looked at Nezha in what she was sure was a bit of surprise. "Well, why would you need to pay them back?"

"B-because I scammed them!" Nezha shouted. "Sure, I might not have killed someone yet, but it'll happen eventually!"

Her assailant shrugged. "Their fault really. Shoulda noticed the scam. I mean I saw through it on the first glance."

Nezha was now thoroughly confused. "W-wait. Aren't you here to make me pay for what I did?"

"Wha-? No, I'm not here for that. I don't care what you've done. I'm just here to make sure you don't do it again." The cloaked figure nodded in agreement with themself. "Yup. I think that's what I was supposed to do. 'Stop you from scamming more people, otherwise you and your guild might end up dead' was what I was told."

"That makes no sense!" Nezha argued. "Why would you care if my guild was killed? Why would you care if I got killed? I scammed people, hell I'll probably be responsible for a few deaths by the end of this game! That weighs on a person! I'm about this close to just killing myself to atone for my sins… in fact, why don't you just do it? This game would be better without scammers like me!"

"Hmm. Well, in order: I don't really, but my… partner? Employer? Something like that… anyways, she's trying to save all the players. Not just the frontliners, not just the innocent, but even those who are guilty. 'It's a stressful situation, we should not be so quick to judge,' or so she says. I mean really, she's just as much of a bleeding heart as he is, and just as quick to try and hide that under a guise of humour or edginess," her attacker ranted. "Secondly, I also don't really care if you get killed… but it would be a shame. You're cute after all."

That made Nezha blush slightly. She wasn't really the kind of person who one would describe as 'cute.' She had a short, stocky form. One of the things her guildmates teased her the most about was that she looked perfectly like a dwarf straight from Tolkien… if not as fat and a touch taller. Most of the rest of the features were there though; slightly drooping eyes and plain parted bangs, combined with a boyish voice.

"And besides," the cloaked boy—and by this point Nezha had decided that he was a boy, though teen might be a better word for it? She wasn't entirely sure—continued, "I'm not going to kill someone because they ask me to. If I'm going to kill someone, it'll be because I feel like it, not because they think they want to commit suicide but actually don't and are just being a little baby about it!"

Nezha was taken aback by her attacker's last line. Sure, she scammed people, but even she didn't just talk about killing that freely. Her attacker noticed and his hood shifted slightly so that she could see his lower face. A grin crossed his face.

"Yeah, you think you're bad? You just scammed people for [Col]. I was thiiiis close," and here he raised his fingers, separated by a few inches to emphasize how little it was, "to just going around and killing people. If I hadn't found [Corruption], I probably would."

"[Corruption]?" Nezha asked. She hadn't heard of that skill before, though it wasn't like she knew all the skills. [Rapid Switch], the skill she used for swapping players weapons for almost destroyed ones, was pretty much an unknown after all.

The cloaked boy nodded. "Yeah, wanna see?" And he plunged another dagger into Nezha's stomach. She gasped in pain, before realizing that the dagger hadn't hurt at all. She glanced down and yelped in surprise.

Her own cloak and the shirt underneath had been rendered into a shower of polygons, signifying their destruction, something Nezha was quite familiar with from her time scamming. She'd destroyed quite a few weapons in her time after all. Regardless, she quickly brought her working arm up to cover her chest.

With her shirt and cloak destroyed, her toned midriff was on display, as was her plain brown cotton bra. Her attacker slumped a bit.

"Come on," he muttered, "what's it with girls and brown today? It's alright I guess, but boring."

Face red, Nezha glared at him. "In my defence, I was at the forge all day. It's not like I'm going to be wearing fancy lingerie while I'm working!"

"So you wear fancy lingerie when you're not working?"

"Erk." Nezha froze at his question. She did like to wear lacy things on her own time… made her feel more feminine. Still… "None of your business, pervert! Is this part of your job too? Stripping your targets?"

The boy shrugged. "Nah. I do that on my own time. I was just demonstrating what [Corruption] does. Neat, huh? Anyways, I'm off the clock now, so I'll be robbing you."

A pop-up appeared before Nezha. She looked over it. "You want… everything I've got, including my underwear in exchange for nothing? Weren't you sent to stop me from scamming people? And now you're going and robbing people. Real good job there."

"Er…" the boy considered that. "Ah, I know! I'm having you repay the debt you owe for scamming those players. That's it!" He pounded his fist into his open palm, nodding proudly.

Nezha fixed him with a deadpan look. "Not ten seconds ago you said you were robbing me."

"Nope!" the boy shook his head. "That's my story and I'm sticking with it!"

That elicited an amused sigh from Nezha. This kid, and he certainly was a kid. Had all the illogical logic of one. She should know, her younger sister was just like him when it came to arguments. She wouldn't win… and besides, for all that he was blatantly lying about why he'd sent the request, it wasn't like he was wrong.

"Fine. I'll accept your deal, under two conditions. First, you split everything I give you with the players I scammed. If you're doing this to repay the debt I owe, that's fair, right? And secondly…" she blushed even more. "I keep my [Blacksmith's Apron]. I'm not walking home completely naked."

The boy nodded then paused. "Split between anyone you scammed who's worthy of it. Because honestly, some of they would straight up have fallen for a Nigerian prince scam. They deserve it."

Nezha nodded. "Fine. Honestly, when I started that scam, I thought I'd be caught on the first day. But it just kept working. It got too out of hand."

"I get it. You could have handled scamming one or two people, but scamming dozens? Makes you feel guilty, right?" The boy tapped his screen, accepting the trade. All of Nezha's items de-materialized, transferred to the boy's inventory. She flushed as she suddenly found herself naked and covered her womanhood and breasts. The boy reached down and pulled out his daggers, resheathing them with a flourish. Freed of their metal embrace, Nezha rose to her feet, equipping her [Blacksmith's Apron]. "Seriously, don't feel guilty for scamming the gullible. I wouldn't. Besides, you've paid your debt. You gave up all your items, I'd say that clears you in my book."

Flushed at standing in front of him in only an apron that ended just above her nipples and displayed more than enough cleavage and ended at about mid-thigh, leaving her muscular legs exposed, and did altogether nothing to cover her butt, Nezha sighed. "It's something… but I still feel like I should do more."

The boy slapped his forehead. "Oh right, totally forgot. I was also supposed to offer you this." Another trade window popped up. It offered a [Wrought Iron Chakram]. "If you want to put your talents to something other than scamming, feel free to take up that. This floor's boss is weak to ranged attacks, and the [Chakram] skill is very good for that. So why don't you be useful? Help out the frontliners. Clear your conscience."

That was… a smile made its way across Nezha's face, both at the offer and at the mechanical way he offered it, like he was reading off a script. "Not your plan to give me this, was it?"

The boy shrugged. "Nope. Told you didn't I? My partner's a bleeding heart, you know? Anyways, the quest location for that skill is… here." A marker was added to Nezha's map. "Just accept the trade and we're good."

Nezha glanced at the trade and sighed despondently. "C-come on," she muttered, "really?" The trade was the [Wrought Iron Chakram] and a recipe for the same... in exchange for her [Blacksmith's Apron].

He smiled shamelessly. "I mean, gotta get something in exchange for that. It's a rare item I'll have you know! And the trade's still not fair. I should have you get on your knees and thank me for being so nice as to give you a way to redeem yourself!"

"...I'm fairly sure you just said you were supposed to give this to me," Nezha pointed out.

"Details schmetails," the boy waved off. "Deal or no deal?"

Face red as a tomato, Nezha said nothing, simply slapping the accept trade button. Her apron disappeared, leaving her fully naked. She quickly covered her important parts. The boy laughed cheerily. "Well, thanks for agreeing so easily. It'd have been a shame to have to kill you or something. And thanks for the items and the show. I'll be sure to distribute both appropriately!"

Nezha blinked. "Both?"

The boy held up a [Recording Crystal].

"Y-you little shit!" Nezha cried. The boy nodded.

"Guilty. Alas, I must take my leave. Goodbye." Stepping backwards, the boy sank into the shadows, vanishing without a trace. Nezha shook her head.

"Cheeky brat." Glancing around, she quickly made her way towards a somewhat out-of-the-way farming spot. It was late enough that not many people would be out and about… and she had no clothes and no [Col] to buy any. So farming it would be. It was a good opportunity to test out her new weapon at least. Hopefully no one would see her. She'd die of shame.

"JB, use your damn [Throwing Knives] or give them to me!" Kirito shouted, shaking the uncooperative younger boy.

Johnny held on to the knives even as Kirito shook him up and down. "No, they're mine! I farmed them! Use your own!"

"Goddammit, Jay-chan!" Argo shouted as she hurled a brace of her own [Throwing Knives] at [Asterius the Taurus King] before sliding away from a crushing hammer strike that would have pulverized the ground, were it not invincible. "We don't have our own, everyone already used them on [Baran the General Taurus] already! It's not like anyone thought there'd be a third boss!"

"A lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine," Johnny quipped.

A body slammed into the ground next to them. Asuna pulled herself to her feet with a pained groan and downed a [Health Potion]. "Seriously, can I wring his neck?" Asuna asked, even as she fell into a combat stance and prepared to throw herself at the boss which had just bitch-slapped her away.

A window popped up in front of Johnny. "I'll trade you a pair of Asuna's panties, just attack the damn boss!"

"And yours," Johnny shot back.

Argo growled in annoyance but added the requested article to the trade. "Just do it!"

Kirito dropped Johnny and the boy turned around and dashed towards Gilgamesh of the [Legend Braves], hopping on the man's shoulders.

"Hey you, yell 'Gate of Babylon,'" Johnny ordered.

After a seconds pause the man raised his arm and gestured toward the boss. "Gate of Babylon!" the man commanded with a shout. His teammates groaned and slapped their faces.

"Fucking chunni," they complained as one.

The player with the name of the ancient Babylonian King of Urk fixed them with a deadpan gaze. "Says the players named, and I quote, Cuchulainn, Beowulf, Enkidu, and Orlando," he shot back.

His teammates were cut off by a wave of steel flying towards [Asterius the Taurus King]. Johnny's hands blurred as a torrent of blades were unleashed and pounded the horned beast that stood before them.

[Asterius the Taurus King] stumbled and fell to his knees. The rest of the raid group took the opportunity and descended upon the beast, swords cleaving into tightly corded flesh and curved horns.

"Damn," Gilgamesh whistled. "That straight up IS like Gate of Babylon."

Johnny grimaced. "Well… sorta. Except a little less damaging and quite a bit less infinite. I'm out."

True to his words, without the constant rain of steel, [Asterius the Taurus King] surged to his feet, throwing anyone nearby away. With a deep breath, the boss exhaled, sending a wave of paralyzing electricity cascading about the room. Most players had already overextended while Johnny was keeping the boss down. Now they were locked in place, sitting ducks for the boss' mighty hammer. Up it went. Up, and up, and up, preparing to descend upon them and crush them into pixel pancakes. And up and up and up it kept going.

Everyone blinked in surprise as [Asterius the Taurus King] toppled backwards, stunned. The one responsible for stunning the boss raised her hand and caught her chakram as it rebounded off of the boss' horns back towards her. Readying her weapon once more, she stepped into her throw and hurled the chakram like a discus. It smashed into [Asterius the Taurus King]'s horns as he made to rise, stunning him and sending him crashing back to the ground.

Everyone looked on in shock. Nezha rolled her eyes, even as she hurled the chakram once more. "Oi! Hit it 'til it dies!" Shaken from their surprise, the raid group descended upon the boss in an orgy of violence.

Johnny's onslaught a short time before had already allowed them to lower the boss to his final health bar. Now, with Nezha keeping the boss down, that last bar of red was quickly depleted. In short order, [Asterius the Taurus King] was felled.

Cheers went up as the raid group clapped each other on the backs and congratulated each other. But, just as with the celebrations after the first boss fight, it was interrupted once more by Kibaou.

"You! Nezha! You're that blacksmith that scammed my comrades out of their weapons, aren't you?" he accused. Everyone stilled. Nezha turned to face her accuser but made no response. Kibaou glared angrily. "One of my men died because of you!"

Nezha flinched. "I… have no defence," she said.

"Ooh, ooh! I've got one though!" Johnny waved his arm frantically, hopping off of Gilgamesh's back. "He died 'cause he overextended, and him having not gotten scammed wouldn't have made a difference!"

Kibaou bristled at Johnny's interruption. "Are you gonna do this every time? You're pissing me off, kid!"

"Are you gonna do this every time? You're pissing me off, asshole," Johnny mimicked.

The crowd seemed to be on Johnny's side, judging by their whispered comments. Kibaou didn't seem to like that, so he pointed angrily at Johnny.

"The man who died was a veteran Dark Souls player! There's no way he would have overextended in such a novice way!"

"..." Johnny tilted his head. "Um… you know that overextending is exactly what veteran Souls players are known for? Like, greed is probably the second greatest enemy in all of Souls, save for gravity."

As one, the experienced players nodded along with Johnny, the comments growing from whispers to loud conversations about witnessing the greed of which Johnny spoke. Most had memories of that same situation. The boss was so low, just one more attack! Sure, you could run and then go back in and hit it safely, but who had that kind of time? And then… you died.

Kibaou gritted his teeth as public opinion turned further against him. "Well, she's still a scammer! She should have to pay back everything she stole!"

"She totally saved a bunch of lives though," Johnny commented. "I'd say she's paid well enough, don't you?"

Everyone considered that. Lind, one of the leaders, spoke up. "While I cannot condone her scamming… he has a point. Provided this… Nezha is willing to give up her distasteful ways, I see no reason why we should not accept that she has repaid her debt. It is a shame, a terrible one at that, that your comrade died, Kibaou. But as Johnny Black here has pointed out, it was because he overextended. Beyond that, I would like to repeat Diavels reminder, though she is not here currently. In the early stages of the game, many of us were under tremendous stress. Perhaps we did some things we would regret later, as Nezha did. But she has clearly demonstrated the strength to own up to her faults."

Nezha looked around wide-eyed, before bowing her head low. "O-of course. From this point forward, I'll do my utmost to support the frontlines whether as a blacksmith or as ranged support. I thank you for giving me the chance!"

Everybody nodded in agreement, except for Kibaou who was stewing in his own anger. With that, they moved to disperse. Nezha nodded in Johnny's direction once, before heading towards the [Legend Braves]. Johnny gave a slight nod back before Argo grabbed his ear and pulled on it harshly.

"Jay-chan… at least try ta keep your identities separate. You're a good player, it would be a shame if we couldn't bring you ta boss fights because every girl on the frontlines would try ta skewer you if they saw you," she rebuked.

Johnny shrugged sheepishly. "I mean, Asuna already tries?"

Argo facepalmed. "Yeah, yeah she does. Now imagine if everyone on the frontlines was also trying ta do that."

"Hey, it's not like I tried to let her know who I was! But what am I supposed to do? Not defend her? Then who'll verbally murder Kibaou!" Johnny said. "Sure, I'm fairly sure a parrot with an attitude is more verbose than him, but still!"

Kirito sighed, cradling his head in his hands. "You know, for a second there JB, I thought you might actually be caring about another person out of the goodness of your heart."

"Nah," Johnny said, taking on an affected Cockney British accent. "Ain't my style bruv."

The squabbling would have continued had Lind not interrupted, requesting that their group be the ones to announce the defeat of the Second Floor boss. Argo, being the one with the best information network; and Kirito and Asuna, being the fastest, were sent to do it. Johnny melted into the shadows, while Payton and Koharu followed the main group towards the second floor.

For his part, Johnny needed to restock on [Throwing Daggers], so he had some farming to do. And hey, maybe he'd manage to find someone to fight! He hadn't gotten much lewding done in a bit, as most players had been gearing up for the boss fight. But with the boss dead, some people might let their guard down.

And so they went their separate ways.

A dialogue-only bit wherein Johnny delivers the items he… acquired from Nezha to the 'worthy players.'

"JB. Why are you offering me a bunch of women's underwear in a trade?"

"Because I kept the rest of the stuff, but promised to split the stuff evenly."

"What on earth are you talking about, JB?"

"Oh, you know that blacksmith? Nezha? The one who scammed you? We came to an agreement. She wouldn't scam anyone else, and in exchange she gave me…"

"All the stuff from her inventory?"

"Actually no. It was all her stuff, period. So those panties you're holding right now? The brown ones? She was wearing those… about an hour ago?"

"Ack!"

"Hey, Kirito-kun, don't drop them! Sure, they're already dirty from being worn for the day in a hot, sweaty, dusty forge, but still!"

"JB! We've gone over this! You can't steal a girl's clothes and leave them naked!"

"Clothes and money!"

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT BETTER!"

"...you know for all your complaints, you don't seem to be refusing my trade."

"...never speak of this to Asuna."

"Of course, Kirito-kun!"

Long chapter. Late chapter. Yeah. Next chapter... you know, I probably shouldn't promise anything 'cause i'll miss my deadline, but whatever. I'll try to be more consistent. Emphasis try. sAzhe hasn't beta'ed the last half of this chapter so it might not be flawless, but if I delay any longer... so here's the chapter!