A/N: Ugh. I was too tired in my morning's time to remember to update. Here's the chapter in the afternoon, almost the evening. Sorry.

Oh, I should also mention that this chapter has more content on Ao3! It's not exactly something you can put here...

"My frontliners are almost done mapping the tower," I told Kirito and Asuna on the way out of town.

"Oh? Will they need us for the boss?" asked the latter.

"There's only 23 of them. With both Elf Aux parties, and then us three, that's still only 36, but that's manageable with the Flag of Valor. 23 is not."

They nodded, and then half an hour later, we reached a forest of large aspen trees at 7:15AM, the morning of January 6th, 2023. This was Looserock Forest, inside of which was the dark elf base.

"Okay – this place is technically a swamp. The water gets pretty deep, too; the solution is atop the titular loose rocks – or more accurately, a bridge of tall pillars. In the water are extremely fragile bloodsucking sea slugs, called Hematomelibe. Killing any will attract more, so if you do fall in and you feel one on you, just focus on getting out; the poor things shatter at the slightest force."

"Okay…" the fencer sighed, sucking in a deep breath, and then out again.

Past the outer pair of aspens was a small hill, and once we'd crossed over it, the path through the woods appeared to be in complete darkness, despite the morning sun turning the underside of the eighth floor above blue. In this darkness, we could only see six feet ahead, and it was a lot cooler in here than the rest of the floor. We heard running water ahead, as our dirt-scraping steps turned to sharper impacts upon rock. I pointed past Asuna, showing her the faint green light in the distance.

"Bonfire Shrooms," I chuckled confidently, pointing to another pair upon getting close, "They react when people are nearby, and set off chain reactions to each-other. They take a moment to react to either stimulus, however."

Proving my point, we reached a spot where there were no more bonfire shrooms leading us. Then, after waiting for about as long as it took to meditate at 500 proficiency – which I did – one lit up to our right. And then, once a farther cluster awakened, I had my meditation buff again, and another point of proficiency. Only a few seconds later, our surroundings were illuminated by mushrooms in quantities comparable to stars in a clear night sky.

"If we brought a torch in here, the mushrooms would all turn off immediately. Now…"

I stepped ahead of my companions, onto the chain of flat-topped pillars which varied in width from two to four feet, but were all ten feet over the water. "Kirito, you stay in the middle. Asuna, you will have two beta testers to wobble for you, if they miss a wobbler. Stay at the back, and occasionally glance up at the aimless monsters flying overhead."

They both nodded as I looked back, and then I continued forward. At the seventh pillar, I stopped.

"Look here," I pointed as I remained on the sixth, "There's a slight seam where the loose ones are. Maybe we should have brought a sheet of paper to see where it can get in."

I moved onto the unstable one, planting my foot in the center, and then bringing the other to the same spot; the platform tilted with the first foot, then levelled out when I brought down the other.

"Just gotta keep your weight centered on these ones. Oh, and the next one's loose, too."

I stayed ahead of them, stepping on each loose pillar and indicating each with a waggle of my index finger while balancing on them; I kept the finger tucked into my fist until I felt a loose one, so that simple adjustments of my wrist wouldn't be mistaken for a waggle. The first loose rock was one of three in a row, which I felt was rather rude for introducing a mechanic.

Regardless, we got across in about 20 minutes. "More loose ones than the beta," I commented.

"Wowwww!" Asuna exclaimed, at the sight before us. The trees converged overhead, forming a rounded dome above a mammoth tree at least 150 feet in width. A large knot in the tree featured a wooden door built into the naturally-formed frame.

I smiled and patted her head. "Harin Tree Palace. Kizmel could be helpful in finding that Narsos fruit tree, too."

Asuna nodded, shoving my hand away. "You're right. Let's go!"

"I wonder, what is the widest tree in the real world?" Kirito asked beside me.

"It's the Árbol del Tule in Mexico," Asuna answered from in front of me, "I'm pretty sure the diameter is close to fifty feet at the base."

"Oh, that one!" I chuckled upon her unlocking a memory of mine, "Yes, it has buttressed roots. Even looking just at the smoother portions of the trunk, at about thirty, it still beats out the General Grant sequoia by just over half a foot."

Kirito tilted his head. "Why do you know that, SAUER?"

I shrugged. "After the beta test, I looked it up. If we ever found out elves were real, I figured that a world tour to see our biggest trees, could be a great honeymoon idea."

Asuna simply rolled her eyes. "Good luck trying to pull that off."

The stone path away from the bridge of pillars, led us between roots over 12 feet tall, and the door set deep into the hollow, slowly rumbled open as a pair of gates. On the inside, the gears operating the gates were just as wooden as the rest of the palace.

Four guards stood by the walls, and nodded to us as we held up the fingers on which we wore our Sigils of Lyusula. Then suddenly, rapid steps toward us – we quickly realized they were from a single pair of feet, before I found myself being crushed in the embrace of an ecstatic dark elf knight.

"K-Kizmel…! If you value my life, I must value my breath!"

She chuckled and just slightly loosened her arms around me. "I would know if I was killing you."

I returned a weak chuckle, as well as the hug. "I'm happy to see you so happy to see us," I rasped.

Kizmel gave similar, slightly looser hugs to Kirito, and then Asuna, and then let out a relieved sigh.

"It is not just the joy of seeing you again – I had heard what happened at Castle Galey. Though I was told multiple times that you were alright, I admittedly had some doubts after finding out that Kysarah the Ransacker had been involved at some point."

"Well, at least you know that it worked out for us," I chuckled and gave her another gentle hug, "Now, we should probably officially take up the mission for this floor's key."

It was only 8:30AM when we left Harin Tree Palace again, after briefly speaking with the dark elf in charge on this floor. After being told about the Ruby Key, we then asked if we could get some help finding the Narsos fruit tree; surprisingly, we were asked to show the maps on our Mystic Tomes, followed by the tree's rough location being pointed to on the map by finger. We were able to set a marker at that spot, and in just three minutes, we were there, securing a sufficient quantity of the Narsos fruit needed for the quest Argo was doing. It was down in the swamp, granted, but it was agreed that Kirito and I would do all the fruit picking, while Kizmel and Asuna would both remain on top of the stable pillars; firmly seated in those decisions once we started walking around with the aforementioned Hematomelibe on our thighs.

Once Kirito and I were out of the water, we took off the slugs and tossed them back in.

"You boys sure don't hesitate around problem creatures," Asuna sighed, before reeling back as I held out the last enemy I'd peeled from my hip, "Watch where you're throwing!"

I exhaled in amusement, patting the slug with my other hand. "They just take a little blood, and they don't even hurt. Trust me, I can't stay still with these things on, either."

I then hurled the Hematomelibe with force exceeding all of mine and Kirito's other throws, though it splashed harmlessly in the wetlands like the rest. And then, I turned to Kizmel.

"Hope you don't mind a little detour, for the time being."

"Not at all," Kizmel answered with a smile, "I would like to see what you will do with the fruit."

Kirito checked his messages, asking Argo about her progress with wurtz stones, and then chuckled as he closed his menu. "We need to head in the general direction of the shrine, for a while; Argo needs more hands in the river."

As stated by Kirito, we had to help Argo get more wurtz stones; but it only took another hour once there, for us to reach the necessary quantity. Finally, we returned to Volupta around 10:30AM, with Kizmel keeping her dark hood up in town.

"This is… a beautiful place," Kizmel murmured, "Stachion had too many squares for my liking, but I would enjoy staying in this town for a time, I think. Is that the sea to the south?"

"It's saltwater, that's close enough," I chuckled, scratching the back of my head, "This floor must've been cut from the coastline of the surface land."

Asuna giggled behind me. "Could there be a floor that's just, like, one little island, sea all around?"

I shook my head with a smile. "Either the tower would be right in front of you, or there'd have to be some way to reach the entrance of an underwater tower with extra height. Plus, whatever force cut the discs, was probably choosing spots to cut strategically; it's not like anything recognizable so far, had been cut in half."

"Ya really know how to put a world together, Ozii-chan," Argo commented in front of me.

"You know, everyone else you give a fun name, it's shorter than what they're actually called. Why is mine longer? It's not practical."

"Course not – it makes it more likely that I'll be the only one sayin' it."

"You're already the only one using these names," Kirito sighed exasperatedly.

"Still? I thought you and A-chan would catch onto each-other's, at least."

I rolled my eyes with another chuckle. "Since when has anyone's 'Big Sister' been a wingwoman?"

"What are you two talking about…?" Asuna asked quickly, yet in a hesitant tone.

"I'm just poking a little fun at the name she gave herself, in reference to Kirito," I half-lied as I looked toward the casino, "In any case, we should get on with seeing her client."

Inside the casino, Argo took us to the NPC guarding the stairs to the second floor, and held up a gray metal tag which she must have obtained from her client earlier.

"Can my four companions come with me?" she asked, as the man looked over us. He then silently detached the velvet rope from one of the poles and pulled it back with a bow.

We went up the stairs, hearing the rope click back into place behind us, and Argo guided us past the VIP high-roller game room, to another staircase onto the third floor; just as octagonal, but with low lighting and a black carpet. The center statue depicted a priest with the head of a fish, and there was zero sign of a staircase to the supposed fourth floor of the casino. Argo led us to the back of the hall, showed the metal tag to an NPC behind a stately counter, and waved us to follow more closely.

We followed her down a hallway, and the string music on the second floor faded out of earshot. We turned left, then right, and then on a while before reaching a dark, heavy door.

"Room seventeen; this is the place," Argo murmured as she rapped on the door twice.

"Who is it?" called a faint voice from inside.

"Argo. And my assistants – four of 'em."

After a brief pause, there was the click of a lock, then the door opened slowly. We had unequipped every piece of combat gear, but Kizmel didn't have anywhere to put hers before coming here.

The room behind the door was lit by only a few lamps, with plenty of moonlight from the window at the south end of the room. In front of it was a sofa that could seat five, but only one was there. She was just a silhouette, but small, with a yellow cursor, and the label «Nirrnir».

I glanced to the maid by the door, in a dark gleaming breastplate, and a skirt lined with plates. Upon her left hip was a thrusting weapon with no blade – thrusts exclusively; an estoc. She matched the warrior-maid trope from anime and Japanese games, perfectly. Her name was Kio.

"These are a lot of new assistants," she commented towards Argo, "Do you trust them all?"

I took a chance by interrupting. "We trust her to lead us to people who will offer time to trust us; it's only fair that she trusts us to make the most of the time people give us."

I turned to Kizmel, my palms facing up. "You're the only one still armed at this time."

The knight slowly nodded, removing her saber and handing it to me, and then I handed it to Kio; she grabbed it and examined the blade.

"…Fancy decoration; elven make."

I nodded, glancing back at the dark elf. "Argo told us that obtaining the Narsos fruit would be easier done by someone on good terms with the dark elves watching the forest. And this one has just made her own display of trust, knowing the company she's in."

After my plea for hearing us out, Kizmel lowered her hood. Kio flinched, but her hand did not move toward her estoc.

"A Lyusulan… But if Argo is vouching for three of her fellow humans, I suppose I can let you all vouch for this knight."

"Thank you. Argo knows her enough, herself," I responded as Kio stepped aside.

"Please do not give offense to Lady Nirrnir," she said, pronouncing the name Neer-nur.

With Kio and Argo walking ahead, the remaining four of us followed them deeper into the room, toward a regal sofa, upon which sat a petite figure leaning against many cushions. The material of Nirrnir's dress was translucent, yet multi-layered. Her skin was pale, and her flowing blonde hair shone like that on a western-style plastic doll.

She turned her head to face us, revealing beautifully youthful features, including the uncomfortably tempting red lips parting to speak in a soft, high-pitched voice with the slightest lisp.

"Welcome back, Argo. Did you find your assistants?"

"Yeah, I've known them for a little while now. Say hello to Miss Nirr, you lot," Argo responded, as casually as with anyone else.

I decided to throw the awkward Kirito a bone by taking initiative here; I laid my right arm under my ribs and folded myself over it, my left arm outward to its side in a bow.

"A great honor to meet you, Lady Nirrnir. I am SAUER," I introduced myself, choosing this time to clearly pronounce my username Sa-wa.

Asuna was next, pinching the hem of her dress and bending her left knee, her right leg pulled behind the left – a curtsy, the kind of greeting most common folk would only see in movies, but was in truth, the formal standard for women of our class; hers by birthright, mine by hard work. Had I been born female and felt comfortable in that identity, this would be my greeting, as well.

"I am similarly honored by your presence, Lady Nirrnir. My name is Asuna."

Kirito quickly picked up on my example of the gentleman's greeting, and mimicked my motion as best he could follow. "N-Nice to meet you. I'm Kirito."

Kizmel, on the other hand, planted one knee onto the carpet, and placed her right hand on her chest with her head down – a knightly variation on the dark elven salute.

"I am Kizmel, knight of Lyusula. Please be assured that I have had no part in our kingdom's position towards the people of this city, including yourself."

"SAUER, Asuna, Kirito, and Kizmel. That is correct?" she asked, confirming the calibration of the AI pronunciation, and as we nodded, she leaned back, "Please, be seated. Kio, bring tea."

Facing her large sofa was a three-person sofa, on which Kirito, Asuna and I sat; Kizmel chose my lap, causing me to flinch upright and support her back with my chest. Asuna shook her head, but didn't react much more than that, since it seemed to be Kizmel's idea. Kio stared at us with what seemed like a mix of disgust and curiosity, but continued setting teacups on the marble table, before moving into an equal position between the sofas, tray in hand.

Kizmel leaned forward to grab her cup and mine, provoking a sharp, yet silent gasp from the 'rolling' sensation I felt, before she handed me my cup. It was alright tea – no sugar or milk, but it was still slightly sweet, a tangy citrus scent emanating from the fluid.

"Now… Once we have the bleaching agent ready, it must be used on the Rusty Lykaon inside of the arena, just before the match. Exposing the cheat before a hundred-plus gamblers with money on the line, will ensure a firm grip on Bardun Korloy and whatever explanation he can scratch together."

I nodded slowly in response to Nirrnir's recommendation. "Right… We'll have Argo explain all of the details to us, that aren't contextually required for the instructions we're to follow."

"Alright. So, do you have what I asked?" inquired the doll-faced NPC.

"Sure do," Argo answered after a sip of her tea, "You ready to receive them?"

"Just a moment – Kio, two large bowls."

Kio went to a cabinet by the wall and took out two silver bowls, setting them on the table. And then Nirrnir held out a palm toward each of them. Argo materialized her sack of stones, and I materialized the sack of Narsos fruit, as we then emptied them into the bowls. Nirrnir picked up one of each item, examined them, then put them back in the bowls.

"Twenty ripe Narsos fruits, and fifty wurtz stones, just as I asked. Well done… Kio, the payment."

The maid handed a small sack to Argo, who replied with "A pleasure doin' business!" as the question marker was quickly replaced by a separate quest's exclamation mark.

"This will make the bleaching agent I need," Nirrnir continued immediately after a sip of her tea, with little interval between the last quest's ending and the prompt for the next, "The Rusty Lykaon will appear in the second match of the night, so there's plenty of time. The problem is… I suspect that the Korloys may be wary that their fur-dyeing scheme has been discovered."

"Even if they are, can they withdraw a monster that has already been registered for a match?"

All of the players turned to Kizmel, who asked that question. Then, we looked to Nirrnir to see if she could parse a fellow NPC's response – we'd told Kizmel what the 'detour' was about, when we'd told her why we wouldn't pursue the floor's key right away, but she seemed to have already recognized patterns and cues in unrelated scripts, piecing together responses to the information received.

"That is correct," Nirrnir answered, "A beast, once registered, must appear in combat. In the long history of the Grand Casino, that rule has only been broken twice: once was when a Korloy family servant forgot to give the creature its food, and their hold on the beast was broken before the match, requiring it to be exterminated. The other time was when a Nachtoy child snuck into the stables just behind the casino, and felt sorry for the creature, allowing it to escape; both very foolish mistakes."

Kizmel nodded before replying to her answer. "Then, whether the Korloy family is wary or not, the plan to bleach the dye out of the lykaon's fur – I did not know Narsos fruit could be used to do such a thing – should not be affected in any way."

"It will not… I believe. But I would rather be thorough." Nirrnir turned to the Rat. "Argo, I doubt the Korloys are aware of you yet. Would you be willing to apply the bleach to the lykaon's fur, as well?"

Argo looked to us, wondering about our key quest, and I gave her a thumbs up, prompting her to answer Nirrnir with a nod. "Sure thing. We'll do it."

"I am glad to hear it," Nirrnir said with a smile, as the marker changed to a questionmark. She then finished her tea, and clapped. "In that case, we must mix that bleaching solution. Kio, prepare a pot."

I blinked. "Oh, right. The casino kitchen would have Korloy eyes in it. That's why we're doing it here."

Kirito slowly nodded. "I was going to ask about that. You certainly manage to think a few steps ahead sometimes, huh, SAUER?"

I shrugged as I looked at the glass bowl Kio set beside the bowl of fruit. "I guess I'll do the juicing part of this plan, if that's what the fruit is for."

Kio nodded. "Correct; it will go in this bowl."

"Alright…" I picked up one of the purplish-red fruit, noting the pear texture, and carefully applying pressure around the light green lines on the skin. The lines eventually split, spilling milky white juice over my fingers and into the bowl. Spicy sweetness wafted up, and my hand got a rather nasty shock.

"Asharra!" I exclaimed, retaining my grip on the fruit.

"Who is Asharra?" asked Asuna mid-giggle, as the other girls, including Nirrnir, broke down into laughter around me. Even Kio had turned away to conceal her trembling face.

"Not anyone in this world, at least," I answered with a sigh, before finishing off juicing the piece of fruit and setting down the drained remains, "In any case, it's just an electrical reaction."

I didn't even mean for my exclamation to sound like a name or word, but in this case, I had painfully strained the name of a character from the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition adventure, Tomb of Annihilation.

Nirrnir settled down first, and passed me a pair of gloves. "Here; these waterproof gloves will keep your hands dry of the juice."

"Much appreciated, Lady Nirrnir," I chuckled as I put them on, and resumed juicing the Narsos.

Once the fruit was all juiced, Kio poured the bowl into a thick copper pot, then added the 50 wurtz stones and started the fire. It was to simmer for three hours on low heat, to produce a small vial of decolorant bleach. It would be ready before the lykaon was due to compete, and we were to just approach the cage and spray the bleach before the fight began.

"Well, Kio, I trust that you can handle the rest yourself," Nirrnir suggested as she stood up.

Kio nodded, and I turned to Nirrnir with interest. "What are we doing in the meantime?"

Nirrnir smiled as the rest of us stood up. "I'd like you all to join me in the hotel spa."

Kirito chuckled nervously behind me. "I would like to decline, Lady Nirrnir."

I shook my head with a chuckle of my own. "Come on, Kirito. The gender ratio drops a touch, and you're afraid of losing trust? It's four to two."

The young boy sighed as I turned to him, and looked up at me. "Are you going to go, too?"

I turned to Argo with a smirk. "The boy's gonna come along just cause he thinks I'm stupid enough to anger four women when I'm all alone."

Kirito flinched. "I see what you're doing, now: you're trying to strike an even ground between this confident, pervy façade, and your genuine moral side that is way too cautious about Asuna's sense of comfort. If you're really that afraid of being mistaken for something you're not, then I think Kio would have said something before we had this argument; she's still here listening, after all."

Meanwhile, the maid shrugged. "I would join you, if I did not have my hands full here."

Kirito held back what was surely an exasperated groan. "See? If even she doesn't mind your presence, you're fine. No need for another pair of eyes."

"Oh, no you don't."

Kirito and I turned to Asuna, after her response. Who was she referring to? I thought to myself.

"I'm not having you wandering about on your own, after the trip between Suribus and Stachion."

I then looked to Kirito again, and slowly nodded. "You've always listened to Asuna, so far, Kirito."

The boy in black took a deep breath, and nodded in kind. "You're right… I'll join you."

Nirrnir smiled again. "Excellent. Let us be on our way, then."

Upon reaching the place, it turned out that the definition of 'spa' was different here, than for the Belgian etymology for what Japan considered an all-in-one bathing and beauty complex. Rather, this was just a tiled area for scrubbing and rinsing, and then a small pool of hot water to relax and open the pores.

After a five-minute scrub and a chill half-hour in the hot water, we got dressed and returned to Kio.

"How do you intend to pass the time, until the night event?" asked Nirrnir, as she sat on the big sofa.

"We think Argo could stick with you," I suggested in response, "She can let us know when we have a tight window of time to return, through our Farscribing charm. I have some ideas for killing time."

"Sure, I can do that for ya," Argo replied as she sat down on the smaller sofa, "Don't ya be long."

I resisted the instinct to roll my eyes. "You didn't need an anecdote."

The Rat cackled as Kio served tea to her and Nirrnir. "I'll expand upon any one of my comments, as I see fit, thank you very much."

I slowly shook my head. "You're phrasing it like that on purpose."

Nirrnir smiled as she sipped her tea; even from near the door, it smelled of cinnamon.

"Regardless, I am sure she will let you know when you need to be back. Use the time wisely."

"I'll manage it fine, thanks," I chuckled as we headed through the door. Of course, Argo had to get in one more remark before we were out of earshot.

"By the way, SAUER…"

I turned back to her. "Yeah?"

"Nice shadow – very ominous from above."

"…Thanks, Argo."

That comment kept Asuna quiet throughout lunch, as we had various sandwiches downstairs in the casino, but she had pushed it out of her head by the time we left Volupta.

"Why are we heading back to Harin Tree Palace?" she asked as I took the party north.

"We're not – just to Looserock Forest. I don't have a party for this, but as long as we have little else available for our time, we may as well get a bunch of Narsos fruit for my guild."

"What are you going to use them for?" Kirito asked from beside Asuna.

"Well, you saw how I got shocked when I juiced that first one we needed, right? Well, we could use that juice in a throwable weapon, like those Combustion Flasks that Brandi made. Those are fiery splash bombs, and the Narsos juice could be used for a 'taser' bomb, of sorts."

Kizmel chuckled behind me. "You are a clever man, SAUER. This 'taser' you reference; you make it sound like some shocking contraption, yes?"

I nodded, unsure how to explain terms for real-world technology. "Y-Yes, well… In our world, human weaponry has divided in ways that some are designed to subdue, rather than kill. We have this, uh… This dagger-sized object, with two small metal points the size of fangs. We can charge the space between the two points, with electricity, and shock someone to stun or paralyze them."

"It sounds very useful. Maybe I should suggest this concept to the Pagoda Knights Brigade, and they can more easily capture Forest and Fallen elves for information."

"Doesn't hurt to try," I answered with a smile, as we headed for the woods, "But we have to see if it will work, first."

For the next five hours after reaching the Narsos tree, we stood around gathering fruit, fighting the Hematomelibe, and waiting for more fruit to grow. By the time we headed back to Volupta at 18:30, our inventories were almost full with the fruit; I took them all and transferred them to guild storage, then messaged Brandi with instructions to experiment using the juice and her Splash Bottles.

Since Kumiko was still in town, she made us western-style dumplings, which she had learned from Volupta's local NPC restaurants. Rice, meat, and leafy wrapping, were crunchy, yet squishy. After the dinner, we returned to Nirrnir and Kio, the latter of whom had bottled the decolorant bleach. It was quite a small bottle, as predicted, but we had been assured that it would be enough.

"The Rusty Lykaon will be on first tonight, against our Scaly Badger. Apply the decolorant before the fight begins – I would recommend giving people time to see the dyed appearance, before they are then shown the truth."

"Makes sense to me. Thank you, Kio." I took the bottle, and looked back at Kirito and Asuna.

"Well, shall we await the first match?" asked Kizmel from behind me.

"It's the only thing to do, for now."

We had time to find the NPC who had sold cheat sheets to the DKB, ALS, NFT, and as of tonight, my SSA gambling party led by Chumi; we simply found him to verify that he was here, and did not buy a cheat sheet of our own. We returned to the arena floor, and observed Chumi's sheet, to confirm the specific monsters paired up. Then, we waited for the 9PM event to begin.

A gong sounded in the hall, and then spotlights shone down on a booth toward the floor's center.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the crown jewel of the Volupta Grand Casino, the Battle Arena!"

Speaking, was an NPC with a white shirt and red tie. "The first match of our night schedule will be starting shortly! Ticket sales are ending in just five minutes, so get those wagers in now, while you have the chance!"

A dozen or two more NPCs moved toward the counter, and Kumiko brought us drinks as our party got seats nearest to the cage. The stone doors on each side of it, receded and then rose upward.

"And now! Starting with the first match of the Battle Arena's night schedule! Our first combatant, a pseudo-reptile with metallic scales; the Scaly Badger!"

Sure enough, a badger-like creature with metallic back-scales entered from the left doorway.

"And in opposition… the red reaper whose jaw can crush iron! The Rusty Lykaon!"

A deep growl emerged from the right doorway, and behind it, a canine monster with a dark-red pelt, and black spots. Both cursors were yellow like player pets, likely just to hide the monsters' difficulty ratings relative to the players. There was a fence separating the fighters until the fight was to begin.

"Will the steel-backed badger claw through its prey? Or will the red reaper—"

The announcer hesitated upon seeing me throw the pearl-colored liquid onto the lykaon, the bottle staying in my hand as the bleach flew from it, splashing onto the canine from head to tail. Its round ears twitched as it glanced at me. Gasps and murmurs spread through the hall.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" demanded Kibaou for an explanation.

"What's this all about?" asked Lind, noticeably calmer, but not by much.

I pointed with a smile. "Just watch."

We moved away from the cage, allowing everyone to find a position where they could see the lykaon and the decolorant soaking into it, up close.

Suddenly, the liquid bubbled violently, covering the lykaon with fine, white suds. The foam sizzled, fizzed, and writhed around the monster's body. Then, the suds turned red, slowly falling off of the lykaon and evaporating as the clean model was gradually revealed. And the crowd gasped again.

The spots on the fur were the same, but the muddy-red rusted color was gone. Underneath the dissipating foam, the fur had been purged of dye; the creature's original color shone silver, a dull yet light gray under the spotlights. And once the last suds were gone, the name over the cursor melted from the R to the Y, and another word was typed where 'Rusty' once was.

«Storm Lykaon». This was the creature disguised as a lesser variant.

"What the… This isn't a Rusty Lykaon!"

"We've been ripped off!" cried an NPC a few feet to the left of the ALS gamblers.

"Who is responsible for this?!"

"We want refunds for the last four nights this fraud has been on!"

Multiple NPCs and players crowded the ticket counter. "We want our stolen money back!"

After about a minute, my party turned to the doors as they opened, letting in the string music from upstairs for a moment. Behind six men in black clothing, were our client, Lady Nirrnir, and a man in a three-piece suit, fine mustache and beard, whose name appeared over his equally-yellow cursor: the patriarch of the Korloy family, «Bardun». Behind Nirrnir, was Kio, and behind Bardun, a squat butler, whose name appeared as well – Menden.

The rest of the crowd turned, and the uproar gradually settled, as they slowly realized that the ones with the answers, had likely just walked in. I looked back at the cage, and boldly passed my hand through the bars. The lykaon growled, but I simply gave its head a tender pat. It flinched at first, but then simply became still for a moment, as I then withdrew my hand, and returned my attention to Nirrnir of house Nachtoy, and Bardun of house Korloy.

I couldn't wait to hear how this would play out, and how it would be resolved.

A/N: I'm trying my best to finish Chapter 29, as I ran out of Progressive material about five pages in (and I'm still doing 12 pages per). I'm fairly positive that I'll be able to publish the chapter when it's due on November 10th, but it will definitely be the last chapter for what could be a month, or possibly two months. I'll have a clearer estimate around the time that chapter goes up, hopefully, but there will absolutely be some form of hiatus.

Along the same lines, I have decided that I will not begin publishing the sequel to Aincrad Interim until this work resumes with Chapter 30. I need to dedicate all of my writing time to figuring out what to do with the main work, here.

If any of you have direct input for the series, you want to roast my lackluster ability to plan further than a month or two in advance (I mean, I should have seen this coming if Progressive Volume 8 released more than two years ago), you want to talk with far better SAO fanfiction authors, or whatever else SAO and fanfiction, you can join the SAO Fanfiction Central server on Discord using the entry key Nq8xrbYFEw. It looks like that because I pasted it from Ao3, which uses a different font; as for the key itself, yes, it's not that 'sci-fi pug' nonsense it looked like, because that one apparently expired. As I mentioned when I updated the key in the final chapter of Aincrad Interim, I have to learn to double-check if a key is still valid. Which is weird because I requested one that would never expire by time, only by 100 uses.

In any case, see you on November 10th (AEST).