The couple continued to walk down the street; finding the town hall was harder than they imagined. None of the buildings particularly stood out, and they saw no signs that indicated where they might find it. After seemingly searching the entire town several times, they came to a large hall. It bore no signs, save for a collection of faded words above the door. Kirito looked closer, and with a great deal of effort, managed to make out the words 'Town Hall.'

'I think this must be it. I've never seen any town hall like this though,' said Kirito, still staring at the faded letters.

'If this is the state the building is in… I wonder what the people inside are like.'

Kirito turned to Asuna, and took her hand.

'Don't worry. It'll turn out ok. We didn't come all this way for nothing.'

She smiled faintly as Kirito turned the handle, and entered. Inside, the main lobby was dimly lit. There stood a desk at the end of the room, presumably a receptionist's desk. However, there was no-one in sight. Was it abandoned? Kirito certainly couldn't sense anyone.

'Welcome, adventurers. What brings you here?'

Kirito spun around, the voice came from the top of the stairs. There stood a tall, heavily built man in his prime. He wore a dark leather jacket and a set of ragged pants. Kirito might have mistaken him for a beggar, but the man carried himself with an air of authority; as if Kirito and Asuna were trespassers.

'Who's in charge here? We've come on business.'

'Why, that would be me.'

This was the man in charge? No wonder the town was in such a state, thought Kirito.

'Who else? Don't you have a council?'

'No. It's just me. I'm the one in charge of this town.'

'Then sit down,' Kirito demanded, challenging his authority, 'we need to talk.'

The man chucked to himself, then took a seat in the corner of the lobby, next to a large table. The surface was littered with cobwebs; Kirito couldn't have imagined that anyone would use it for eating, at least not recently. The couple took a seat on the opposite side of the table, as Asuna began to watch the man cautiously.

'I'm Kirito. This is my partner, Asuna. May I ask for your name?'

'Rauher,' replied the man, turning his attention to Asuna, 'you have a very pretty lady by the way.'

Asuna blushed slightly, however Kirito managed to keep his cool.

'Thank you. Now, could we get to business?'

'Business, what business? What could we possibly have to discuss?'

'This town,' Kirito stated.

'And what about it?'

'Haven't you stepped outside? It's a mess. On the way here I saw someone murdered outside on of the taverns. The streets are a mess; what have you been doing all this time?'

'It's fun, isn't it?'

'Fun?' Kirito asked.

'Of course. I thought it made the town a little more interesting. In most towns you can't even duel each other, where's the fun in that? A little conflict now and then can spice things up.'

'That's a joke. People don't come to towns to fight. They come to get away from all that. It might not be such a problem if you kept to yourselves, but you're hurting others too. You're warping people, most reports of bandit attacks have been directly linked back here.'

'It's just a game. People take it too seriously.'

'That might be true, but that doesn't mean it's ok to hurt others just because it's not real. Your avatar is an extension of yourself. If people keep hurting others in here, what's to say they won't change in the real world?'

Rauher chuckled to himself again, then slammed his hand on the table.

'You think you could do a better job?'

'I couldn't do any worse.'

'Very well, boy. But I'm not going to hand this town over to you so easily. I've heard your name before; you're the same Kirito who beat Sword Art Online, aren't you? And just recently you were the first person to climb the world tree. You have no objections to a duel do you?'

'If I win, you hand the town over to us. I don't want to see your face again.'

'And what if I win?'

Kirito sighed, then opened his inventory and equipped Excalibur. A bright flash of light filled the room as the sword appeared in his hands. It cast a golden glow over the dimly lit room as it hummed with energy.

'If you win, this is yours. You know what it is, right?'

'That can't be… Excalibur?'

'Kirito, no!' Asuna burst out, 'do you have any idea of what a man like Rauher could do with that sword?'

'Of course I do. Which is why I'm not going to lose.'