Everyone in Aincrad was excited when they heard the news, finally, they could leave this mountain filled with monsters and go see the outside world.
When they heard about the taxes no one cared, Aincrads currency was gold and because of that gold was worth less than it did outside of the mountain.
Silver on the other hand had taken gold's place as the most valuable thing a person could have because of how rare it was in Aincrad.
And so the guilds split themselves into two separate groups one that would remain inside the mountain to keep an eye on the monsters and the other would travel to Harremhal.
No one was surprised when they found a small army waiting for them and in all honesty they didn't care.
If anything the army was the one that was afraid because of the tamed beasts that the players had with them.
A giant lizard that had its tail cut off so that it didn't destroy the wagons that it was pulling.
The horsemen tried to stay clear of the two bears that towered over them, even as they rode their horses. The bears pulled wagons filled with supplies.
Then there was Pina, Silicia\'s dragon who liked to turn itself big, before returning to its original size so that Silicia could carry it on her shoulders.
The trip from Aincrad to Harremhal took eight days and it would have been faster if the army that the king had ordered to watch them didn't have to rest so much.
In the end, they finally made it to Harremhal and no one was pleased by what they found, the castle was massive and that was the only good thing about it.
There was no mystery that something terrible must have happened to it because there was evidence of a fire everywhere, not only that it looked as if the fire had burned from the top down.
As everyone looked at their new home they could see that the castle's stone towers had melted and would have to be repaired before they fell and killed everyone beneath them.
'Would you look at that, I guess we do have something to do." Kirito says as he looks at the ruins in front of him.
"Kirito that whole place is nothing but ruins." Asuna angrily says to Kirito who looks at her with a wide smile.
'Yeah, and because of that we have something that will keep everyone busy." Kirito answers Asua.
"To be fair he is right. We will have to use some of the monsters to help us fix the towers, and because the place is so big, we don't have to worry about where we are going to put the monsters." Heathcliff says as he follows Kirito's lead.
A strong wind blows through the entrance of the castle and to everyone that hears it, it sounds as if the voices of the dead howled at them with anger.
"Oh look the ghost think they have a shot." Poh says as he draws his sword and leads the group inside.
The land behind the massive walls that surround the inside of the castle grounds is eerily quiet, and the sounds of the horses, monsters, and knights' footsteps all seem to blend into some sort of twisted version of themselves.
"Two hundred coal, that something tries to kill or kidnap during the night." Poh says to everyone.
'You're on." Kirito says to the man before they each hand two hundred gold coins to one of the king's men who looks at the coins with wide eyes.
"So if none of us are missing, dead or nothing happens I win." Kirito adds with no small amount of excitement.
The rest of the day passed with everyone cleaning the outside of the castle, while the guards kept an eye on them.
None of the players went inside the castle or entered any of the towers or buildings, they knew from their experience inside Aincrad that doing so would only bring problems.
So for the next five days, they cleaned the outside and inside of the walls, along with the front, back, and side yards of Harremhal, before they agreed to let the other group come in and do whatever they wanted.
The guards argued that they should leave someone to protect the castle as the Players had managed to make the place clean, but they were ignored.
The player's reason was simple, if there was something that would make a mess of the place, then what was stopping it from ruining any progress that they made inside any of the buildings?
They did this over and over again until no one was surprised to see the guards escorting strange creatures from the mountain to the castle.
As word spread people began to gather just to catch a glimpse of one of the strange creatures that could be seen crawling alongside the towers before they tore out a piece of melted stone and replaced it with another giant stone that wasn't melted.
uring all of this the players tried to sell their goods to the people of the towns and villages that they passed and even to the random person that they found, but no one would buy from them.
Only the Frey's who had welcomed them with open arms did and while the Players did have to pay the Frey's to sell anything in their lands, they were happy to do so, as they were free to wander around the villages and towns that served the Frey's.
The players were just thankful to be able to talk to normal people who had never had to fight against monsters or knights and the people from the villages and towns that belonged to the Frey's quickly lost their fear of the Players.
The people of the villages began to speak to them as if they were speaking to another person from their village.
Still, the days carried on, as the tax collectors came to collect the taxes, before leaving with them.
The Players watched as the King returned from the North with his new Hand and his two daughters.
It didn't matter to them, they didn't have anything to do with it, but still, they watched as the group marched past Aincrad and then Harremhal.
Still, they worked, they brought in monsters and set them loose inside the castle and towers to down anything that might be lurking inside.
Then they began to clean the towers before moving on to the castle itself.
They found a huge garden filled with trees that had red leaves and white trunks.
They were forced to cut several of the branches to let the sunlight in but left most of the garden untouched.
It was only because of the monsters and the Player's superhuman bodies, along with Aincrad's magic that they were able to fix and clean the castle and the towers so quickly.
If it hadn't been because of those things they would have spent years just carrying the things that they needed from Aincrad to Harremhal and it would have been impossible to stop the towers from falling.
As they all looked at their work finally completed they sent a letter inviting Walder Frey and his family, the only family that had shown them any kindness, to a party that they would be having in celebration of their work had finally been completed.
The soldiers that were ordered to keep an eye on them were told that they could invite their families if they wanted for it would be a while before the party even began.
Soon minor lords and ladies that were lords only by name arrived to see what the players had done.
Yet amongst them was a single man who stood over all of them with cold eyes, he was followed by several knights and soldiers who all had the emblem of a gold lion somewhere on their armors.
The man announced himself to be Tywin Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock, and that he had heard of the festivities and decided to join out of curiosity.
The players welcomed him with open arms and excitedly showed both the man and the other lords everything that they had fixed, repaired, or rebuilt from scratch.
The stables and gardens were filled with all sorts of fantastical creatures that couldn't be found anywhere else except perhaps the Mountain of Aincrad where they came from.
Tywin Lannister didn't show any excitement or amazement he only had a small smile, which was more emotion than what many had ever seen the man show.
Lord Walder Frey on the other hand was filled with child-like excitement and wonder as he looked at the many creatures.
The Players allowed the children and their parents to hold the smallest of the creatures but warned everyone to stay away from anything bigger than their hands.
Ravens and riders came and went from the castle and after three days the party finally came to an end and once again everything was silent, only the grows, howls and roars of the monsters remained.
After a few days passed the players began to think that their attempts to make themselves more appealing to the public hadn't worked, until one day something happened.
It started with a beggar asking for food, then a blacksmith who was looking for a place where he could start his life over.
They were followed by entire families that didn't approach the castle but settled in the town of Harenhal which was near it.
Then one day people gathered in front of the castle asking for work and since there was so much to do inside the castle the players welcomed them, afterall it did take a lot of work to keep the animals fed and the towers clean.
Merchants from the nearby towns finally gave up their hesitation and asked to sell their goods inside the castle grounds while they agreed to sell whatever goods the Players had outside of the castle.
It was a peaceful time that promised a bright future for everyone involved. If only it could have lasted.
