Chapter 6 Murder in a Safe Zone
On Floor 56 in place named Pani all of the members of the assault team were together including Sora and Kirito even Agil and Klein and his Furrinkazan guild. Then there was Asuna, the player Sora and Kirito met on Floor one. She's now second in command to the Knights of the Blood Oath, and in charge of the operation they're in to defeat the boss on this floor.
"Lure it to the village! That's how we get the boss!" Asuna commanded.
The members of the assault team talked among themselves about this plan, but then two players decided to stand against it.
"What we can't do that! Then the boss will go after the villagers…" Sora said, trying to reason with her until Asuna spoke up
"Yes that's the idea, and while the boss is busy killing mpc's. We can attack it, and kill it." Asuna said.
"But they're not just objects! Npc's are different than rocks and trees! Look they're…" Kirito said, trying to convince her not to do it, until Asuna spoke up again.
"You two think they're alive? Really?" Asuna asked.
Sora and Kirito were surprised at how she viewed npc's as nothing more than objects. Like they're less intelligent than a human. But Sora and Kirito knew differently, they met Silica's dragon friend Pina who's loyal to her and just as smart as the players in S.A.O.
"In this game they are just objects. And unlike us if they're killed they can always respond." Asuna said.
"Well, I don't like the idea of innocent villagers being sacrificed just to kill a boss." Sora said.
"Yeah… I'm not cool with that plan either." Kirito said.
"I'm running this operation okay. In case you forgot I'm still second in command to the Knights of the Blood Oath. You two will obey my orders like it or not." Asuna said.
They didn't like it but they knew she was right. As second in command she's has authority over the mission, so at the end of the day it's her call. After the mission everyone left, Sora and Kirito went of away from the players Agil rushed after them.
"Hey, what's with you guys? You two and the second in command, you guys are always getting into it and not in a good way. Agil said.
"I guess we just don't click Agil." Kirito said.
"You can say that again. I still can't believe she's the same player we met at floor one, she's certainly changed since we last met. But I guess, she has you to thank for that Kirito." Sora said.
"What makes you say that?" Kirito asked.
"Well if I remember right you said 'you can become powerful here on your own. But if the day comes when someone you trust invites you to join a guild, don't turn it down.'" Sora said, imitating Kirito's voice.
Kirito just rolled his eyes and smiled at his friend antics. "Well I'm glad to see she took my advice, but who knew she would join the tough guild and rise to become second in command." Kirito said.
A few months later on Floor 59 in Danac on the grassy fields, Sora and Kirito were lying down taking a nap. But as they were napping, a certain player walked up to them and she was not very happy.
"What are you doing?" Asuna asked.
Sora was still sleeping, but Kirito woke up.
"Hey… what's up?" Kirito asked, drifting back to sleep.
"Everyone in the assault team is working their butts off to clear the dungeon. And where do so find you two? Out here taking a nap. You know you two should be taking this more serious…" Asuna said, before Kirito interrupted her.
"Bet you don't know this is aincrad's nicest season, todays weather is at it's optimum setting. It be a shame to have to work on a day like this." Kirito said.
"Whatever, I can't believe you. Do you even understand what's happening? Every day here is another one lost in the real world." Asuna said, sounding more irritated.
"Yeah but right now, we're not in the real world. We're alive in Aincrad. See doesn't that breeze feel good? And the sun." Kirito said.
"Oh come on. The weather's always the same here." Asuna said.
"(Yawn) If you'd lie down on the grass, you'd understand." Kirito said, as he drifted off to sleep.
As Kirito went back to his nap Asuna decided to sit on the grass. She looked at Kirito as he slept and thought about he said. A few hours later Sora and Kirito woke up well rested.
"(Yawn) Morning Kirito." Sora said.
"(Yawn) Morning Sora, good idea to take a nap out here today. There's no way I'd waste a day like this working." Kirito said.
"Hey we've been working on the frontlines for months, no way I'd be wasting a beautiful day like this working." Sora said.
While the boys were waking up, they looked right next to them and saw someone else sleeping on the grass.
"Asuna?!" Sora and Kirito exclaimed.
But before they could say more, three players came walking on their direction watching those players.
"Well would you look at that. Taking a nap in the middle of the day. Some people sure got it easy. A couple of lazy losers man(laughs)" the players said, as they walked off.
"Hmph I guess they don't we're the hardest working people here. Right Kirito?(but he didn't respond he was still looking at Asuna.) Kirito?" Sora asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah… I still can't believe she fell asleep." Kirito said.
"Me too. What's she doing here anyway?" Sora asked.
"You really are a heavy sleeper. She came to lecture us about the assault team clearing the dungeon on this floor and we were taking a nap." Kirito explained.
"Seriously? She might be second in command to the Knights of the Blood Oath, but she can't be so demanding on everyone else." Sora said.
"You've said it. But she's really committed on returning home to the real world. I guess she decided to take my advice once again." Kirito said.
"Yeah… she always seems to take your advice over everyone else's(chuckles)" Sora said, with a little smug look on his face.
"I don't know what your thinking but it's not what you think. But I think we should look after her, in case something happens." Kirito said, with a little blush on his face.
Sora noticed it and chuckled a little bit, but he pretended he didn't see anything.
"Yeah your right, she's vulnerable sleeping out in the open" Sora said.
So the two players watched over her as she slept. The sun was setting and she was still sleeping. But then they heard her sneeze, then watched her as she woke up. But Asuna blushed in embarrassment knowing that she actually fell asleep on a work day.
"Good morning. You slept like a rock." Kirito said.
But Asuna just got up threatening to take her sword out. Sora and Kirito were surprised at her reaction.
"You both get one meal." Asuna said.
"Uhhh." Sora and Kirito both said, very confused on what's happening.
"One meal! All you can eat my treat. Then we'll be even deal?" Asuna asked.
They decided to say yes, and go along with it. The three players went Floor 57 in a town named Martin to enter a Restaurant. Many of the players inside knew Asuna to be the second in command to the Knights of the Blood Oath, and is known as the Lightning Flash.
"Well anyway. Thank you, for today." Asuna said.
"Huh? For what?" Kirito asked.
"For keeping an eye on me." Asuna said.
"Oh sure." Kirito responded.
"You're welcome." Sora said.
"The towns are supposed to be safe zones, and unless you agree to a duel a player can't attack or kill you. But when your asleep you're vulnerable." Asuna said.
"Yeah now we got player killers who can cheat the dual system. Duels are normal my supposed to be tests of strength not a fight to the death." Kirito said.
"And with the bugs, it can get even more dangerous." Sora said.
"All a sleep has to do is manipulate a sleeping player's finger to click the okay button. The dual begins like normal. But the sleep is doing all the attacking, God knows how many times it's happened. So, anyway thank you." Asuna said.
"Uh sure anytime. I'm sure you'd do the same for me.(But after he said that Sora kicked him under the table) Uh I mean us… for us." Kirito said.
But then the three players heard a scream and they ran outside, to see player hanging on a rope in the air, while trying to pull out a sword that's impaled in him. Everyone watched in fear watching this happen.
"I'll cut him down you two catch him." Asuna said.
"We're on it." Kirito said.
"Don't worry we're here to help!" Sora said.
But unfortunately it was to late, the player continued to struggle getting the sword out and eventually he disappeared, and the sword dropped to the ground. The people who saw it began to panic, they just witness a player die in a safe zone. But the players panicking caused the heartless to show up, then they all started running for their lives.
"The heartless can appear in safe zones to!?" Sora exclaimed.
'The only he could have died in a safe zone, is if he was beaten in a said to himself.
"Everyone, look for the player with the winner icon!" Kirito exclaimed.
"I don't think they're focused on that at the moment!" Sora said, reminding him of the heartless roaming around.
Sora rushed out to fight off the heartless chasing after the players.
"There's no one here the room's empty! (She then sees people being chased by the heartless and Sora taking out the heartless.) What's going on now?!" Asuna exclaimed.
"The heartless appeared around town!"Kirito said.
"But how? Monsters can't enter the safe zones!" Asuna said.
'Heartless aren't ordinary monsters, what's going on Sora?" Kirito asked himself, while still for the player with the winner icon.
"Alright! The heartless are gone so the people should calm down a bit. But not one of those players had a winner icon." Sora said.
So Sora and Kirito joined Asuna in the building to talk about what happened.
"So any idea how this could have happened?" Kirito asked.
"Well there's always the obvious, there was duel and the other guy impaled the victim with that spear. Then he put a noose around his neck and pushed him out the window. Wouldn't you say that's about right?" Asuna asked.
"Yeah, but there wasn't a winner icon on anyone." Kirito said.
"I looked all over for the player with the winner icon and I didn't see anyone either." Sora said.
"It had to be a duel, it's a safe zone and a player died. A duel is the only this could happen. Asuna said.
"Not necessarily, it could have a bug in the system and the killer took advantage of that." Sora said.
"I guess it could be that to. But no matter what the reason is we can't ignore this." Asuna said.
"I know" Kirito said.
"It's risky enough for a player to leave the safe zone. But if a player can die in a safe zone then the players aren't safe anywhere. Especially if the heartless can pop up in safe zones." Sora said.
"How exactly can heartless appear in safe zones if other monsters can't?" Asuna asked.
"The heartless are attracted to the darkness in people's hearts, when they saw that player die they were filled with fear. That's what caused the heartless to show up." Sora said.
"Then I guess we won't be returning to the frontlines anytime soon. (After she said that she walked in front of Sora and Kirito with her hand out.) Listen, you two are going to work with me until we solve this thing. Until we do there won't be anytime for napping okay?" Asuna asked.
"Okay but you're the one who was napping." Kirito said, as he shook Asuna's hand.
But Asuna just squeezed his hand tight, then she shook Sora's hand and they all went outside to get answers from the people outside.
"Listen up! Did anyone see anything before that player died? If anyone did please speak up." Kirito said.
Out of all the players a young woman with slightly curly, deep-blue hair in-game and has simple large eyes that are of the same color as her hair. She wore a light blue tunic with a chest guard, knee-length, brown shorts and dark leggings, walked up in front of the three players.
"Sorry, I can imagine how frightened are. Could you tell us your name?" Asuna asked.
"Sure, my name is Yolko." The young woman said.
"Was that you? I mean, were you the one who screamed?" Kirito asked.
"Mm hmm. I knew him, his name was Kains and the two of us used to belong to the same guild. Anyway we came here together today. We were going to have dinner somewhere in town, but we got separated in the plaza. I looked around for him, and I saw him hanging from that balcony and…" Yolko said, as she broke down in tears. Sora and Asuna came to comfort her.
"Was there anyone else up there with him?" Sora asked.
"For a second there… I'm not sure… but I think I did see someone standing behind Kains." Yolko said, still in tears.
"And this person, have you seen him before?" Asuna asked.
"Nope." Yolko responded.
"Um, I know this is hard for you but think back and try to remember. Could there be someone, anyone with the reason to kill him?" Kirito asked.
But she shook her head as a no, then Sora, Kirito and Asuna decided to walk Yolko back to her home.
"Thanks for walking me back. Sorry if it's out of your way." Yolko said.
"It's okay we don't mind. But we would like to talk to you tomorrow, if you're up for it." Sora said.
"Okay…" Yolko said.
So after Yolko got inside, Sora, Kirito and Asuna walked off.
"So what do we do now?" Kirito asked.
"Simple, we follow the only solid clue we have. If we find out where that spear came from, it might lead us straight to the killer." Asuna said.
"How do we find that out?" Sora asked.
"We'll need to find someone with an appraisal skill. I mean it's pretty obvious you don't have one." Kirito said.
"No I don't and neither do you, oh and by the way try not to be so rude when you're speaking to me." Asuna said.
"Oh.. okay should I call you miss next time?" Kirito asked, only getting Asuna more irritated.
"Second in command? Lighting Flash?" Kirito asked.
Sora just watched and thought to himself ' (sighs) You still need to work on your attitude.'
"Oh never mind call me Asuna." Asuna said.
"Okay sure. Back to the appraisal skill, do you know anyone who has it?" Kirito asked.
"I've got a friend who does. She's a weapons merchant, but she's really busy these days so I don't think she'll have time to help us." Asuna said.
"No worries. Sora and I know an item merchant who might be able to help us out." Kirito said.
So the three players went to Floor 50 in a town called Algade and went to a small items shop.
"Looks like your still running all the suckers down with those hard deals of yours." Kirito said.
"No way, Sora! Kirito! Buy cheap and sell cheap that's my motto. I'm a businessman you know that." Agil said.
"Yeah you may want to re think on that motto. You know you don't sell any for a "cheap" price." Sora said.
"Don't go slandering my good name brother." Agil said.
But then when he saw Asuna come in he pulled Sora and Kirito close to him to whisper something to them.
"What's gotten into you two. You're supposed to be the sword and keyblade wielding duo man, what are doing hanging around with Asuna! I thought you guys hated each others guts straight up!" Agil exclaimed.
"Hey we never said we hate each other!" Sora responded.
"Than what's the deal?!" Agil exclaimed.
Asuna just awkwardly watched what happened and listened to what they said. But after all that they explained to Agil what's going on.
"So his HP dropped to zero in a safe zone. You sure it wasn't a duel?" Agil asked
"Well, no one saw a winner icon." Kirito said.
"We can also rule out the murder being a sleep P.K. He was walking with Yolko before it happened." Asuna said.
"And besides, his death was to elaborate to be some random duel. The who did this had it planned out, we're pretty sure of that." Kirito said.
"There's also the fact that after the player died the heartless appeared all over town. It could be a bug in the system, but apart from the heartless showing in a safe zone everything else seems normal. Then we found this." Sora said, as he pointed to the spear.
So Agil took the weapon and used his appraisal skill to find out who it belongs to.
"A player made this." Agil said.
"Really?" Kirito asked.
"Who was it? Can you tell?" Asuna asked.
"Grimlock never heard that name before, it's not one of the top blacksmiths for one. Far as I can tell there's nothing special about this." Agil said.
"Yeah, but it something to go on right?" Asuna asked.
"Yeah, now we know the owner of the weapon." Sora said.
"True but we'll need more information. Is there, like an item name listed?" Kirito asked.
"You'll love it Guilty Thorn. There's a name for you. It kind of fits though don't you think?" Agil asked.
"Seriously? Guilty Thorn?" Kirito asked.
"Well it is spiky, like thorns." Sora said.
"True…" Kirito said.
Kirito looked at the spear and decided to stab himself in his hand to see how strong it is.
"Here goes." He said as he about to stab him self with it until Asuna stopped him.
"Wait stop!" Asuna exclaimed as she grabbed Kirito's wrist preventing him from stabbing himself.
"What's the matter?" Kirito asked.
"What do you mean what's the matter?! Are you out of your mind?! That thing's already killed one person!" Asuna exclaimed.
"I know, but we need to find out what this thing's capable of don't we?" Kirito asked.
"Don't worry I've got healing crystals he can use." Sora said, trying to back him up.
"Will you two stop being so reckless?! Agil would you please hold onto this for us?" Asuna asked giving the weapon to Agil.
"Uh… Yeah." Agil said.
The next day the three players met up with Yolko in a restaurant they were at in Floor 57.
"So uh Yolko, we uh… we were wondering if you'd heard the name Grimlock." Asuna said.
"(Gasp) Yes I have. Actually until a few months ago, he was in a guild with me and Kains." Yolko said.
The three players were surprised to hear that the one who could have murdered Kains, used to be in a guild with him and Yolko.
"Listen, we took the spear that impaled Kains to an appraiser. We had him go over it pretty carefully, and we found out Grimlock made it." Kirito said.
Yolko gasped in shock to hear that Grimlock made the spear that impaled Kains.
"Would you know the reason why he did what he did?" Sora asked.
"Yes, I can. I should have told you everything yesterday, it's just… I couldn't it's something I've been trying really hard to forget. But now, I have no choice. I should tell you about how my guild was destroyed. When we formed it, Golden Apple was the name we chose. Six months ago we killed a rare monster and it dropped a powerful ring, that raised a player's agility by twenty. Some of us wanted to keep it for the guild, others wanted to sell it and split the earnings. We couldn't agree and in the end, we put it to a vote. It was five to three in favor of selling it, our leader Griselda, took it to a large town on the frontlines. She was going to sell it to a broker and was staying overnight. But we waited and waited, but she never came back. It wasn't till later, our worst fears have come true Griselda was dead. To this day, we still don't know how she died." Yolko said.
"I'm so sorry you went through all that, it must have been hard for the rest of the guild to." Sora said, feeling sorry for what happened to Yolko and her guild.
"Thanks, it was hard when we lost Griselda, we just haven't seen each other ever since." Yolko said sadly.
"No ones going to leave a safe zone with a rare item, it's too risky. You think someone pulled a sleep P.K on her?" Kirito asked.
"Not if it was six months ago, that method's still sort of new." Asuna said.
"You're right, but she wasn't a random victim either. No the killer was after the ring, it has to be someone who knew she had it, which means…" Kirito said, until Sora finished his sentence.
"That the killer is someone from the Golden Apple Guild." Sora concluded.
"Alright we have our suspects, now we just need to figure out who didn't want to sell the ring." Kirito said.
"I doubt the killer waited until after Griselda sold the ring. She was killed before she sold it, that's my guess." Asuna said.
"That makes sense, the killer would want to get the ring before he would track of it." Sora said.
"True. Tell us what you know about Grimlock?" Kirto asked.
"Well I guess for starters he was Griselda's husband, oh but not in real life just in the game. Griselda was a powerful swordswoman, she was beautiful and smart. Grimlock was kind, and I can't remember a day when he wasn't smiling. They made a great couple, got along as husband and wife. If Grimlock is really the one who murdered Kains yesterday then, he's probably going after the three guild members who voted against selling the ring. Kains is one of the three who wanted to keep the ring for the guild, I was the other one." Yolko said.
The three players were surprised to hear this, if Kains was killed because he didn't want to sell the ring, then the killer might go after her next.
"Then whose's the third person?" Kirito asked.
"The other is a Tank named Schmidt, and he the last I heard he's now with the Holy Dragon Alliance." Yolko said.
"Schmidt huh? I've heard that name before." Kirito said.
"He's the leader of the defense unit of the Holy Dragon Alliance. He's an exceptional lancer." Asuna said.
"Oh yeah I remember him." Sora said.
"Wait, do you really know Schmidt?" Yolko asked.
"Well Sora and I have run into him several times while we're clearing bosses so…" Kirito said until Yolko spoke up.
"I need to see him right away, could you please take me to him? If he's on the frontlines he probably hasn't heard about the murder, he needs to know, if what happens to Kains happens to him." Yolko said.
"It's not gonna happen on our watch." Sora said with determination.
"Sora's right, we'll help you get in touch with Schmidt. I know someone in the Holy Dragon Alliance. He'll help us out. We'll visit their H.Q" Asuna said.
"Okay, but first we should make sure she gets back to the Inn. Yolko you have to stay there okay? Seriously don't go anywhere until we get back." Kirito said.
"Alright." Yolko said.
So Sora, Kirito and Asuna took Yolko to the Inn then they headed off to the H.Q of the Holy Dragon Alliance to find Schmidt.
"Okay so, how do you guys think a murder like this happened in a safe zone?" Asuna asked.
"I can think of three ways it could've. Right off the bat it's possible it was a fair duel. Or someone took advantage of a bug that combines a bunch of different kill methods." Kirito said.
"Personally the bug in the system is the only reason I can think off. Especially since right after Kains got killed everyone panicked, then the heartless started appearing. That's the first time heartless have even showed up in a safe zone." Sora said.
"Yeah I can see that happening to, and the third?" Asuna asked.
"Use something to bypass the protection of a safe zone, some kind of skill or maybe an item. No, on second thought that third idea is impossible." Kirito said.
"How come?" Sora asked.
"What do you mean?" Asuna asked.
"Because it's unfair. I kinda hate to admit it but it's true. The rules of S.A.O are essentially fair for every player in the game. So there's no way the game would allow murders in safe zones." Kirito said.
"I see" Asuna said.
"Then how does it explain what happened?" Sora asked.
"I don't know." Kirito answered.
Soon they went to H.Q and found Schmidt, they told him what happened and took him to the Inn where Yolko was waiting. But when Schmidt got inside he was very nervous about what's happening.
"So that's what killed Kains, and your sure about the spear, was it really Grimlock's?" Schmidt asked.
"There's no doubt." Yolko answered.
"(Gasp) But then why would he wait six months to kill him?! Unless… wait could he have stolen the ring?! Do you think it's possible he killed Griselda after all?! Does Grimlock want to kill the three of us because we didn't want to sell the stupid ring?! Is that why he's after you and me now?!" Schmidt exclaimed.
"Maybe Grimlock made the spear for someone else from our guild, and maybe they're the ones who killed Kains. Or maybe, Griselda's come back from the dead to get her revenge." Yolko said.
'So ghosts exists in this game to?' Sora thought to himself.
"A player can't kill another player inside a safe zone, but something else like a ghost could." Yolko said.
The other players were shocked to hear this, a ghost coming back to exact her revenge.
"I couldn't sleep at all last night so I stayed up thinking… IT WAS ANYONES FAULT! EVERYONE IN THE GUILD IS GUILTY! HER BLOOD IS ON ALL OUR HANDS! OUR FATE WAS SEALED WHEN THAT RING DROPPED! WE SHOULDN'T HAVE VOTED! WE SHOULD HAVE DONE WHATEVER GRISELDA TOLD US TO DO!" Yolko exclaimed.
She stepped back to an open window as she took a deep breath.
"Grimlock was the only one, the only member of the guild, who said we should leave the decision to Griselda. You see, he's the only one of us who can avenge Griselda. He's the only member of our guild who has the right to avenge her." Yolko said.
"You've gotta be kidding, you've gotta be kidding! Why now? Why kill us now?! YOU CANT BE OKAY WITH THIS YOLKO! How can you accept being killed over some stupid vendetta!" Schmidt exclaimed.
But then, they all heard a loud thump from behind Yolko, when she turned around she had a dagger planted right on her back and she fell out the window.
"Yolko!" Sora and Kirito shouted as they tried to catch her, but it was to late.
She fell on the ground and she disappeared.
Don't worry the mystery to the murder will be solved next chapter, along with the fact as to why the heartless appeared in a safe zone.