Chapter 13

Home.

Quite an expensive luxury, it still was a handy feature in Aincrad. Despite their high prices, it wasn't too strange to find a nice, cheap place.

Housing comes in a wide variety, depending on the floor. The higher the floor, the more expensive they are. Other factors come into play, like location, land that comes with it and the state of its structure. Furniture and other common utilities may or may not come included, depending on the buyer.

Also, the only ways to acquire one is via quests or down on the first floor, with a realty NPC. The most common being the latter, I too, was also here to strike a deal.

It wasn't long ago that I had stumbled onto an abandoned part of the town on the twentieth floor. Seeking hidden treasure, I found a small abandoned medieval palace with a peculiar sign. On its front door, a for sale sign hung.

During many days and with further thinking, I had decided to save up, as the price was pretty high, but fair enough considering the size of the building. I already had more than half from my previous saving, as many players suggest that the higher the floors, the more expensive life would be.

And now, with a kid at my side, I was finally going to take the grand step, and buy my very own home.

"Wow! You're actually going to buy a house!? How cool!"

"Yeah, pretty cool. But I hope it's still for sale"

Reaching my destiny, we finally arrived at the small real state building. Taking a step inside, I addressed my intentions to the NPC in order to start the sales mechanics.

"Good afternoon, I would like to purchase a property"

"Right this way young man, give me the information to search for your wanted property"

"Twentieth floor, in Tybalt, south of the town"

"The only property for sale there is a country residence, [Villa Victoria]; its price is 1 mega Col"

1,000,000 Col! It was 995,000 two days ago! Even so, I'm 5,000 short!

"I'm five-thousand short; can we make some sort of deal?

"Prices are set, when a player comes in and asks for a property, its value increases 2,500 Col"

So someone else came and asked for it, huh? Still this was my only shot at purchasing it!

"Here, take this, it's enough to complete the sum"

Shocking me, Krakov quickly took out a leather coin bag and tossed it onto the table.

"You saved me; it's the least I can do to pay you back"

"I can't, it's your life savings … I just …can't"

"Please accept, I can always make more!"

Sounding like me to an extent, I rethought the proposition.

"I… Ok, I'll pay you back twofold as soon as I can! Your contribution won't go to waste"

"Yeah, now buy it"

"Right!"

Turning back towards the lifeless NPC, I gleefully requested the property.

"I would like to purchase the Villa Victoria"

Introducing the new sum of money into my inventory, I proceeded to transfer and materialize the complete sum of Col. Setting the large bag on the table; I accepted the purchase request coming from the NPC.

"These are the keys and title for your new property, they can't be deleted. Congratulations, you purchased a property"

Coming from a robotized image of a person, the felicitation didn't really sound so joyful, but it was an NPC after all.

"Come on, this was my last chore, now I'll introduce you to someone"

"Who is this person, and where are we going?"

"It's a friend, and you'll be glad to know that there are other kids your age"

"O-Okay, if you say so"

A church.

Every town has at least one, but they lack their sole purpose: Religion.

Being quite religious myself, I still couldn't understand their purpose IN the game. Guessing from the state of the conditions, not many have time for faith. And on top of that, aside from rare occasions like "blessing" a weapon or lifting a curse, they had no other use. Yet that didn't stop her from doing something about it.

[Sasha] is an honorable, kind-hearted girl; taking the responsibility no one else would, she took in the smallest players in order to protect them. Kids from around eleven or twelve were gathered and taken good care of, after all, it was likely that they would've suffered more with the incarceration of the game than anyone else.

It was those kids that drew me here, as I was again curious of the activities she was conducting. And even though I was compromised with my duties and with MMO Today, I would once in a while come and take a look.

However, this was no ordinary visit. Even though I felt terribly bad about what I was about to do, it was better than nothing.

"Chris-san, you came back! Welcome, come in!"

"Thanks Sasha, but I'm afraid I've got nothing this time!"

"Don't worry about that, you will always be welcome here"

"Sensei!? Who is it?"

"Oooh! Look Its Chris!"

"Sir, can we play with your sword!?"

"Yeah, pretty please!"

"Stop it! I told you never to ask for someone else's things"

"It's ok, it's not a problem, but this time it won't be just any sword; This …is Stareyes, she's very special, so take care of it for a while"

Taking out my sword and handing it to the small hands, the children ran towards the outer garden.

"Seems you've still got the touch. I thought by now they would've forgotten about you, but you´re always their center of attention"

"Y-Yeah, well, it's involuntary"

"Anyways, I want you to meet someone; this is Krakov"

"Oh, nice to meet you; now why haven't I've seen you before?"

"Well…"

"Um, Sasha, may I speak with you in private please?"

As we waited for Krakov to go off with the other kids, I was about to start an agonizing conversation.

"Well you see, I found him roaming around the twentieth floor. Luckily I was able to save him. We then came here because I have a favor to ask"

"Of course, anything; you've brought a lot of help, so ask away"

"…. I… request for you to take care of him, please"

"…."

"I'm now in the ALS and fighting on the front lines, I also have duties with the organization, so it would be impossible to take care of him"

"I see…."

He's a good kid, but how am I supposed to take care of him?

Striking myself for not being able to do something about it, a small sobbing sound echoed thru, reaching my ears.

"Y-You promised, you promised that nothing will happen to me, a-a-and now you're leaving!?"

Dammit!

"…I..."

"I lost my brother and my best friend, and now you! I won't let it happen!"

"Ughh!"

"Please take me with you!"

Damn! What should I do!? I can't permit myself to let him go thru his pain by himself!

"Three meals! You'll get three meals per day if you help me out. I will also provide a roof and equipment. You are now my responsibility"

Come on! Don't be so hard on him, cut him some slack!

"I'm sorry for your loved ones; I will keep my promise. Come on, let's go home"

Mustering the softest voice I could, I accepted to take responsibility. And not long before, Sasha reassured me.

"Are you sure about this? Will you be able to handle it by yourself?"

"Remember my little brother? I… guess it's a way to make up for the time lost"

"I understand. But please take care of him, anything happens, message me"

"Who do you think you're dealing with? I'm a captain, I can handle it! Haha"

Saying our farewells, we took off, exhausted but happy.

As we traversed back to the plaza, I felt… relieved; like a great weight in my chest vanished, and I was able to see how it soared and disappeared into the setting sun; and seeing it vanishing into the sky, we headed home.