Chapter 2

Bathed in the white morning light, a gentle tune flowed into

Asuna's drowsy consciousness. It was her wake-up alarm with the

sound of an oboe playing. Enshrouded in the drifting sensation on the

edge of awakening, Asuna plunged herself into the melody, somehow

filled with nostalgia. Before long, the refreshing echoes of string

instruments and the leading rhythm from the clarinet flowed over each

other, along with a faint humming voice—

—Humming?

She was not the one singing. Asuna snapped her eyes open.

Within her arms, the black-haired girl had her eyelids closed...

Humming along to the melody of Asuna's wake-up alarm.

The girl did not miss even a single beat. However, that was

impossible. As Asuna had set the alarm to be audible to only herself,

there was no chance that anyone could achieve a feat like singing along

to the melody within her mind.

In any case, Asuna decided to put aside that doubt for now.

Rather than that—

"Ki-Kirito-kun, geez, Kirito-kun!!"

Not moving an inch, she called to Kirito, sleeping in the bed

behind. There were soon signs of Kirito softly murmuring as he awoke.

"...Morning. Something happened?"

"Hurry, come over here!"

The hushed creaking of the floorboards. Shifting his gaze over

Asuna, onto the bed, Kirito widened his eyes immediately as well.

"She's singing...!?"

"Y-Yeah..."

Asuna lightly shook the girl within her hands and called out.

"Hey, wake up... Open up, your eyes."

The girl stopped moving her lips. Soon, her long eyelashes weakly

trembled, and slowly rose upwards.

With misty black eyes, she peered directly into Asuna's eyes, right

before her. Blinking several times, she opened her almost colorless lips

just the tiniest bit.

"Aa... uu..."

The girl's voice rang out, like the delicate vibrations of silverware,

a fleetingly beautiful sound. Asuna sat up, still holding onto the girl.

"...Thank goodness, you woke up. Do you know anything about,

well, what happened to you?"

When spoken to, the girl kept her silence for several seconds,

shaking her head in small, short motions.

"I see... What's your name? Can you say it?"

"N... ame... M... y... name... "

As the girl inclined her head, a strand of her glossy, black hair fell

onto her cheek.

"Yu... i. Yui. That is... name..."

"So, Yui-chan? That's a pretty name. I'm Asuna. And that person is

Kirito."

As Asuna turned, the girl who called herself Yui followed suit and

shifted her vision. Looking to and fro between Asuna and Kirito, who

was half bent forward, she opened her mouth.

"A... una. Ki... to."

With her lips faltering, she spoke with disjointed sounds. Asuna

felt her fears from the previous night returning. The girl's outer

appearance was of at least eight years old; if you were to consider the

time that had passed since she logged in, her actual age should have

reached around ten by now. But the girl's shaky words, were as if they

came from an infant who had just gained awareness.

"Hey, Yui-chan. Why were you on the twenty-second floor? Are

your father or mother perhaps, anywhere near here?"

Yui moved her eyes downward and sank into silence. Keeping

quiet for a moment, she shook her head back and forth.

"I don't... know... I don't... know, anything..."

After having been placed into a sitting posture on the chair at the

dining table and offered some warm, sweet milk, the girl held the cup

up to her chest with both hands and began sipping it. Watching over

her out of the corner of her eye, Asuna decided to discuss the situation

with Kirito a distance away from the girl.

"Hey, Kirito-kun. What are your thoughts...?"

Kirito chewed his lips with a serious expression, but soon spoke,

with his face downcast.

"She doesn't... seem to have her memories. But, with those

reactions... it's like, her mind was, damaged or..."

"Yeah... You think so too, huh..."

"Dammit."

Kirito's face distorted, seemingly on the verge of tears.

"In this world... I've seen many horrible things... but this is... the

worst. This is just too cruel..."

Seeing his eyes turn watery, Asuna too, felt something bursting

out from her chest. Wrapping her arms around Kirito, she spoke.

"It'll be alright, Kirito-kun. ...If it's us, there's definitely something...

we can do."

"...Yeah. That's right..."

Kirito raised his head and smiled faintly, placing his hand on

Asuna's shoulder and returned towards the dining table. Asuna

followed behind him.

Moving a chair with a clatter, Kirito sat down beside Yui and

started a conversation with a bright voice.

"Aah, Yui-chan. ...Can I just, call you Yui?"

Raising her face from the cup, Yui nodded.

"I see. Then, Yui can just call me, Kirito."

"Ki... to."

"It's, Kirito. Ki, ri, to."

"..."

Yui put on a complex expression and kept quiet for a moment.

"...Kiito."

Kirito broke into a grin and laid his hand on Yui's head.

"Maybe that was a bit difficult. You can just, call me with any

other easier name you want."

Yui once again pondered for a while. She didn't stir an inch, even

when Asuna picked the cup up from the table and refilled the milk.

Soon enough, Yui slowly raised her face and looked at Kirito, and

timidly, she opened her mouth.

"...Papa."

Next, she turned to Asuna and spoke.

"Auna is... Mama."

Asuna trembled uncontrollably. She did not know if the girl had

merely mistaken them for her actual parents, or perhaps— that her

parents did not exist in this world at all, and she wanted them instead;

but before dealing with that suspicion, Asuna frantically tried to

restrain the feelings filling her heart and struggling to break loose and

nodded with a smile.

"That's right... It's Mama, Yui-chan."

Hearing that, Yui broke into a smile for the first time. Under her

straight fringe, her previously expressionless eyes shone with a gleam,

and in that instant, color seemed to return to her face with doll-like

features.

"...Mama!"

Looking at the arms outstretched towards her, Asuna felt a

violent jolting pain within her chest.

"Uu..."

Earnestly holding back the tears threatening to overflow, she

somehow managed to preserve her smile. She carried Yui's small frame

from the chair, and as she firmly hugged her, Asuna felt a single tear,

filled with a mess of different emotions, spill out and trickle down her

cheek.

Finishing off her drink of hot milk and a small bun, Yui seemed to

have grown sleepy once again, with her head starting to sway to and

fro while sitting in the chair.

Looking at the girl's status while seated on the opposite side of

the table, Asuna wiped her eyes with a jerking hand and looked

towards Kirito, beside her.

"I-I..."

Despite opening her mouth, she was unable to form the words

she wanted adequately.

"I'm sorry, I just have no idea, about what I should do..."

Kirito gazed upon Asuna with sympathetic eyes, but soon spoke

with a sigh.

"...Until that kid regains her memories, you want to stay here and

look after her, right? I understand... those feelings. I feel the same. But

still... it's a real dilemma... If we do that, we can't return to completing

the game for a while, and with that, the time needed to break this kid

free from here will be delayed as well..."

"Yeah... that's true, after all..."

Putting herself aside, Asuna started thinking. Not to exaggerate,

but Kirito's presence as a clearing player towered above the rest of

them, providing maps of the traversable areas in the labyrinth, with

the quantity beyond even many prominent guilds, while being a solo

player. Despite planning it as just a few weeks of newly-wed life,

monopolizing Kirito by herself like this was enough to make her feel

traces of guilt.

"For now, let's just do what we can."

Looking over at Yui, who had dozed off, Kirito continued his

words.

"Firstly, let's head for the Starting City and see if we can find the

kid's parents or siblings. With her standing out so much as a player, I

believe there's bound to be some people who recognize her, at least."

"..."

It was a natural conclusion. But Asuna noticed her feelings of not

wanting to be separated from the girl, from within herself. It was the

life where she could be alone with Kirito, that she had even dreamed

about; but somehow, she had no objections with it becoming a group of

three. It might be because she felt as if Yui would be like the child of

Kirito and her... Getting to that line of thought, Asuna was startled and

came to her senses, blushing to her ears.

"...? What's the matter?"

"I-It's nothing!!"

Asuna turned to Kirito, who looked suspicious, and shook her

head back and forth.

"Th-That's right. When Yui-chan wakes up, let's go to the Starting

City. We can put something up in the Q&A corner of the newspaper on

the way too."

Still not able to look Kirito in the face, Asuna spoke quickly while

tidying up the table in a hurry. When she looked towards Yui, sound

asleep in the chair, perhaps it was just her imagination, but her

sleeping face seemed different from yesterday, appearing more

tranquil.

Moved to the bed, Yui slept through the entire morning, and

wondering if she had gone into a coma again, Asuna nervously

worried; but fortunately, she woke up just as the preparations for

lunch were completed.

Despite baking a fruit pie, which she rarely ever makes, for Yui's

sake, when Yui took her place at the table, rather than the pie, she

showed more interest in a sandwich, filled with plenty of mustard, that

Kirito was heartily biting into, perplexing the pair.

"Ah, Yui, this is really spicy."

"Uu... I want to, have the same as Papa."

"I see. I won't stop you if you've already made up your mind.

Everything is an experience."

Handing a sandwich over, Yui widened her petite mouth with all

her might and took a bite without even a single trace of hesitation.

The couple held their breaths as they watched over her, Yui,

chewing the food with a complicated expression, finally swallowed it

down her throat with a gulp and beamed cheerfully.

"Yummy."

"This one has got quite some guts."

Kirito too, smiled as he rubbed Yui's head.

"Let's challenge ourselves with a burning hot full course for

dinner."

"Geez, don't get carried away! There's no way I'll make something

like that!"

But if they were to find Yui's guardians at the Starting City, the

only ones returning here will be just the two of them. Thinking so,

Asuna felt a tinge of loneliness running through her heart.

Asuna faced towards Yui, who decided to finish up the rest of the

sandwich and was drinking some milk tea with a satisfied look, before

speaking.

"Oh, Yui-chan, let's go out for a bit in the afternoon."

"Go out?"

Looking straight at Yui's puzzled face, she paused, wondering

how to explain when Kirito cut in.

"We're going to look for Yui's friends."

"Friends... What are those?"

Reacting to that answer, the two instinctively exchanged glances.

There were many peculiar traits to Yui's «syndrome». Rather than

merely her mental age receding, it was closer to giving the impression

as if bits and pieces of her memory were vanishing.

In order to improve her condition, it would be best to find her

actual guardians... Telling herself that, Asuna faced Yui and answered.

"Well, friends are the people who are able to help out Yui-chan.

Now, let's get ready."

Yui's expression still showed signs of doubt, but she nodded and

got up.

The white one-piece dress worn by the girl, having short puff

sleeves and made from a thin material, looked like it would be cold to

go out in during this season, the start of winter. Of course, feeling cold,

or perhaps catching a cold, suffering from some damage, things like

that do not happen— well, it would be a different story if you were to

strip and go to a frigid area, but— The fact that one would usually feel

at unease does not change.

Asuna scrolled through her item list, materializing heavy clothing,

one after another, and when she finally found a sweater that suited the

girl, she came to a sudden stop.

Normally, when equipping clothes, one would manipulate the

equipment figure from the status window. Cloth, liquids and such soft

objects were not very well reproduced in SAO, and thus, rather than an

independent, separate object, clothes were treated as a part of the

body instead.

Taking note of Asuna's hesitation, Kirito questioned Yui.

"Yui, about your window, can you open it?"

As expected, the girl tilted her head to the side in complete

ignorance.

"Well then, try moving your finger on your right hand. Like this."

Kirito waved his finger, and a purple rectangular window

appeared under his hand. Seeing that, Yui mimicked the motion with

an unsteady hand, but the window did not open.

"...As I thought, there's some kind of system bug. But still, not

being able to open your status is just way too serious... You can't do

anything like that."

Just as Kirito bit his lips, in that instant. Getting annoyed, Yui, who

was waving her finger on her right hand, waved her left hand instead

this time. Right at that moment, a glowing purple window was

displayed under her hand.

"It's out!"

Above Yui, who was grinning away with delight, Asuna exchanged

glances with Kirito, who was taken aback with surprise. She had no

idea what was going on any longer.

"Yui-chan, let me take a look."

Asuna leaned over and peered into the girl's window. However,

the status was usually hidden to all except the owner, and all she got a

glimpse of was a bare, plain screen.

"Sorry, let me have your hand."

Asuna took Yui's hand in hers, moving her slim index finger,

clicking around where she thought the visibility mode button was by

intuition.

Her aim accurate, the features of the screen soon came into sight

with a short sound effect. Typically, as stealing a glance into another's

status was considered a heavy breach of etiquette, despite the

uncommon circumstances, Asuna tried her best to keep from looking at

it and nimbly open only the inventory, but...

"Wh-What's with this!?"

The second she glanced across the top section of the screen, she

burst out in astonishment.

The top screen of the menu window was normally separated into

three areas. The arrangement was such that in the topmost section, the

name was shown in English characters along with the long and thin HP

and EXP bars, and below that, in the right half, would be the equipment

figure, while the left half would be the summary of command buttons.

There were countless sample designs to customize with for the icons

and such, but the default layout cannot be changed. On the other hand,

in the topmost section of Yui's window, only the strange name display,

«Yui-MHCP001» exists, with neither the HP bar nor EXP bar, or even

the level display. Although the equipment figure was there, the amount

of command buttons was drastically less than usual, with only «Item»

and «Option» there.

Finding Asuna's freeze fishy, Kirito approached and peeked into

the window as well, losing his breath. Yui, not knowing the significance

behind the window's abnormalities herself, looked up at the pair

curiously.

"Is this also... a bug in the system...?"

Asuna muttered, and a deep groan escaped from Kirito's throat.

"For some reason... rather than a bug, it looks more like it was

designed in this manner from the very start... Damn, I don't think I've

ever been more irritated that there aren't any GMs around, more than I

am today."

"Normally, in SAO, there aren't really any bugs or lag to speak of,

so there isn't really any need for GMs... There's no point brooding

about that issue anymore, I guess..."

Shrugging her shoulders, Asuna moved Yui's finger once again,

opening up the inventory. Placing the sweater she picked up from the

table onto it, the item was stored into the window with a glint of light.

Next, she dragged the name of the sweater towards the equipment

figure, dropping it there.

Along with a sound effect resembling a bell, Yui's body was

enveloped in particles of light right away, modifying the light-pink

sweater into an actual object onto her.

"Waah..."

Wearing a sunny expression, Yui stretched out her hands and

looked down at her own body. Asuna continued, getting a skirt of a

similar color with black tights, red shoes and equipping the items on,

one after another, finally having returned the original one-piece dress

back to the inventory, she dismissed the window.

Finished dressing, Yui looked delighted, rubbing her cheek

against the fluffy sweater's texture and pulling on the skirt.

"Now, let's get going, then."

"Um. Papa, carry."

Responding to Yui reaching out with both hands without a care,

Kirito shyly gave a wry smile as he lifted the girl's body up. While doing

so, he glanced at Asuna, and spoke.

"Asuna, just in case, be prepared for battle anytime. We shouldn't

be going out of the city, but... that is the «Army»'s territory, after all..."

"Hm... It's best not to let our guard down."

With a nod, Asuna checked through her own inventory and

walked towards the door together with Kirito. It would be good if the

girl's guardians were found; those really were her honest feelings, but

imagining parting with Yui made her feel strangely uncomfortable.

They had only known each other for a single day, but Yui seemed to

have completely taken over a tender part of Asuna's heart.

It had actually been months since her last descent to the first floor,

the «Starting City».

Feeling complex emotions within her, Asuna stood still near the

teleport gate's exit, scouting out the huge plaza and the streets

stretching out beyond that.

Of course, as this was Aincrad's largest city, comparing the

number of facilities essential to adventuring here with those of other

cities, there was no competition at all. Prices were generally low, and

all sorts of inns could be found here. Judging in terms of efficiency, this

was a most suitable place to be used as a base town.

However, if you were to go by Asuna's contacts, not even a single

high level player had stayed in the Starting City all the way until now.

The oppression from the «Army» was one of the reasons, but it was

mainly due to the fact that when standing in the central plaza and

looking up toward the sky, one could not help but recall what had

happened back then.

The start of it all was merely a whim.

Born through a relationship between a businessman father and a

scholar mother, Asuna— Yuuki Asuna, was raised, subjected to the

expectations of her parents from the very time she gained awareness.

Both of her parents were people who were mercilessly firm with

themselves, while being gentle to Asuna, and due to that, she was

afraid of how they would react if she did not live up to their

expectations.

Her brother was probably the same. Both Asuna and her brother

had gone to the private school chosen by their parents, and without a

hitch, constantly retained their excellent results. From the time her

brother finally reached the age to be admitted into university and left

the house, she existed with nothing on her mind, but solely to live up to

her parents' expectations. Taking up lessons for multiple activities,

socializing only with friends approved by her parents, but as she went

through life like that, Asuna eventually felt her world shrinking, as

though it was steadily deflating. If she continued on this

predetermined path— proceeding onwards to the high school and

university chosen by her parents, marrying the partner chosen by her

parents, she believed she would definitely be trapped within an

extraordinarily hard shell, even smaller than she was then, and be

forever unable to escape from it; these were the fears she had always

suffered from.

That was why, when her brother was employed by the company

managed by her father and came back home, speaking so spiritedly

with a Nerve Gear and a copy of SAO that he had gotten through his

connections, about what would become the world's first «VRMMO»,

even Asuna who had not touched a television console game before, felt

a minor trace of interest about that strange new world.

Of course, if her brother were to use it in his own room, she

probably would have soon forgotten and not bothered about things

such as the Nerve Gear. However, thanks to bad timing, her brother

had to go on a business trip overseas on the very first day of the start

of the SAO service, and so, Asuna ended up requesting to borrow it

from her brother, for just a single day on a mere whim. Feeling the

desire to peek into a world she had never seen before, that was all it

was—

And thus, everything changed.

Even now, she could still recall the excitement of that day, when

she changed from Asuna to "Asuna", finding herself on an unknown

street, among people unknown to her.

But immediately after that, when that god of emptiness

descended down and announced this death game, with the inability to

escape from this world, the first thing Asuna thought about was the

Mathematics work that she did not yet start on.

If she did not hurry back and settle that, she would get scolded by

her teacher in the following day's lesson. For the life that Asuna had led

thus far, that would be a failure that she could not allow... but of course,

the severity of the situation was not of such a degree.

One week, two weeks, even as each day was idly passed by, there

was no sign of help from the outside. Secluding herself within one of

the rooms of a Starting City's inn, cowering atop the bed, Asuna

constantly experienced a ridiculous amount of panic. Screaming every

now and then, even beating on the walls as she wailed. It was the

winter of her third year in middle school. Soon would be her

examinations, and after that, the new school term. Being derailed from

that path was considered the same as the devastation of her life, to

Asuna.

Asuna spent each day amidst troubled fits, embracing deep,

murky convictions.

Rather than being concerned for their child's body, her parents

were definitely busy being extremely disappointed over the daughter

who failed her examinations due to a game console. Her friends, while

suffering from some grief, were probably pitying the one who dropped

out of their group, or perhaps sneering over it.

When she passed her critical point with those dark thoughts,

Asuna finally made a decision— to leave the inn. Not waiting to be

rescued, but to escape from here with her own strength. To become the

savior who would put an end to this incident. If she hadn't taken that

path, she most likely would not have been able to retain her presence

within the minds of the people around her any longer.

Asuna prepared some equipment, memorized the entire

reference manual, and headed out into the field. Sleeping time for each

day was restricted to two, three hours, and the rest of her time was

sunk into level training. As a result of focusing all of her natural

wisdom and willpower into clearing the game, it was not long before

she was able to enter the list of top level players. This was how the

ardent swordswoman, Asuna the «Flash», was born.

And back to the present— Two years have passed, and the now

seventeen year old Asuna looked back at the self from that time with

bitter feelings. No, not just the period right after the game started.

Towards all that had happened before that, that self that lived within

that solid, shrinking world too, she recollected that part of her past

with a wretched, painful sorrow.

She did not understand the meaning of what it was like «to live».

All she had done was think of nothing but the ideal future, sacrificing

the present in the process. The «now» was naught but the means to

bring about the perfect future, and hence, with its demise, there was

nothing left but to disappear into the middle of nothingness.

It was no good with only one or the other. Overlooking the world

of SAO, she thus concluded seriously.

One chasing the future would be like what she once was,

fanatically advancing towards the clearing of the game, while one

clinging only to the past would still be cowering in an inn's room. And

the one who lives only for the moment would seek transient pleasure

as a criminal at times.

But despite being in this world, there were people who enjoyed

the present, making memories, one after another, while working hard

to escape. The one who taught that to her was the black-haired

swordsman she met a year ago. The desire for his way of life— from

the moment that entered her mind, the hue of her day to day life

changed.

Now, even if it was in the real world, she felt like she would be

able to break through that shell. She believed that she would be able to

live for her own sake. As long as this person stayed by her side—

Asuna gently approached Kirito, embracing his own deep feelings

as he stared down the streets. The pain that she felt once again, as she

gazed upon the stone roof in the sky, was a mere, faint thing.

Shaking her head once as though she was trying to clear up her

sentiments, Asuna peered into Yui's face, still being carried by Kirito.

"Yui-chan, do you have any memories of any buildings, or things

like that?"

"Uu..."

With a complex expression, Yui looked around at the rock

structures, extending out from the plaza, before finally shaking her

head.

"I don't know..."

"Well, the Starting City is pretty darn big, after all."

Kirito spoke while rubbing Yui's head.

"Well, something will probably ring a bell sooner or later if we

keep walking around. Let's just check out the central marketplace for

now."

"I guess you're right."

Nodding in agreement, the couple started walking towards the

main street to the south.

But still— As she walked, Asuna looked over the plaza once again

with some doubt. There were an unexpectedly small number of people

around.

The gate plaza of the Starting City was wide as expected, being

able to fit all ten thousand players two years back, at the opening of the

server. In the middle of all that stone-paved empty space in the shape

of a perfect circle, lies a towering clock tower, with the teleport gate

flickering blue within its lower section. Flowerbeds extended out, set

in concentric circles around the tower, with multiple elegant, white

benches lined up between them. It would not be strange at all for it to

be crowded with people seeking a moment of rest on such a nice

afternoon; but all of the human figures around were either at the gate,

or heading towards the plaza's exit, with barely anyone standing

around or sitting on the benches.

For the major streets on the upper floors, the gate plaza would

always be in a clutter with a flood of players engaging briskly in gossip,

searching for party members, setting up modest street stalls; and as a

result of all the people hanging around, even walking forward was

difficult, but—

"Hey, Kirito-kun."

"Hm?"

Asuna asked as Kirito turned around.

"Around how many players are over here right now?"

"Hmm, well... The number of players still alive are around six

thousand, and roughly thirty percent of that are still in the Starting City

if we include the «Army»; so it would be just below two thousand,

wouldn't it?"

"Considering that, don't you think there're too little people

around?"

"When you point it out that way... Maybe they're gathered around

the market?"

However, entering the main street from the plaza, even as they

drew close to the market area with shops and carts lined up, the

streets remained quiet. The random touting from the energetic NPC

shopkeepers echoed futilely through the streets.

Despite that, they were able to find a man sitting under a large

tree in the middle of the street, and Asuna approached and tried calling

out to him.

"Ah, excuse me."

The man, staring upwards towards the treetops with an oddly

serious expression, spoke as though it was a bother, without adjusting

his view.

"What is it?"

"Well... Around this area, are there any places that act as a space

for searching for people?"

Hearing those words, the man finally shifted his vision towards

Asuna. He scrutinized Asuna's face without reserve.

"What, so you were an outsider."

"Ah, yes. Well... we're kind of trying to look for the guardians of

this child..."

She pointed at Yui, dozing off while held in Kirito's arms, behind

her.

Garbed in a plain uniform that made it hard to determine his class,

the man widened his eyes slightly when he gave a fleeting glance at Yui,

but he soon moved his view back to the treetops.

"...A lost child, huh, that's rare. ...At the church beside the river of

the seventh district in the east, there's a bunch of kid players gathered

and living there, so try there."

"Th-Thank you."

Able to get ahold of surprisingly promising information, Asuna

quickly bowed her head. Having done that, she tried putting out

another question.

"Ahh... Just what, are you doing over here? And also, why are

there so little people around?"

Even as the man made a grimace, he replied, apparently not as

bothered as he might appear.

"That would be a classified secret, or so I would like to say. Well,

seeing as you're outsiders... Look, you can see it, right? That high

branch over there."

Asuna followed the path of the man's outstretched finger. The

overhanging branches of the sizable trees by the road were vividly

dyed in the colors of autumn, but if you were to focus and stare at them,

you could spot several yellow fruits, springing up in the shadows of the

leaves.

"Of course, as the roadside trees are indestructible objects, even if

you climb it, you won't even be able to get a single leaf off it."

The man continued his words.

"Everyday, there's a few times when that fruit falls down... There's

only a few minutes before it rots and disappears, but if you don't miss

that chance and manage to pick it up, you can sell it to the NPC for

quite a bit. Not to mention it tastes pretty good."

"Ohhh."

For Asuna, who had mastered her cooking skill, discussions about

ingredient items were of remarkable interest.

"Around how much does it go for?"

"...Don't spread this around. For each of them, five col."

"..."

Looking upon the man's proud expression, Asuna was

unintentionally rendered speechless. She was surprised by just how

cheap the price was. In that case, toiling by clinging onto this tree for

the entire day did not quite match up with the results.

"Ah, well... In that case, it's not quite worth it, or rather... If you

were to just defeat a single worm in the field, you could get thirty col."

At the moment she said that, the man stared in wonder this time.

He did not quite accuse her of not being right in the head, but turned

towards Asuna with an expression showing how absurd he thought it

was.

"You seriously saying that? If you were to go and fight monsters

in the field... You might actually die, wouldn't you."

"..."

Asuna could not think of a reply. It was just as the man had said;

fighting against monsters always had the danger of death

accompanying it. But with Asuna's current mentality, it was like

worrying about getting into a traffic accident while crossing the road in

the real world all day and night; there was no use getting scared over it.

Whether her own sense of death in SAO had been dulled, or

whether the man was being overly nervous, being unable to judge that

in an instant, Asuna stood motionlessly still. Probably, neither of them

could be considered as correct. At the Starting City, what the man had

said was definitely common sense.

Not taking any notice of Asuna's complicated mental state, the

man continued speaking.

"And, what was it, the reason why there isn't anyone around? It's

not that they aren't around. Everyone's cooped up in their inn rooms.

They might meet up with the Army's tax collection force in the daytime,

after all."

"Ta-Tax collection... Just what do you mean by that?"

"It's just the polite way of saying extortion. Be on the lookout;

those guys won't spare you even if you're outsiders. Oh, looks like

one's falling... that's the end of this chat."

Shutting his mouth, the man started glaring at the skies seriously.

Asuna quickly bowed, and noticing that Kirito had kept his silence

during the entire conversation, turned around to her back.

At that spot, was Kirito's figure, focusing on the yellow fruit with

a serious look, not unlike that worn in the midst of combat. It seems

that he intends to go all out to attain the next fruit that drops.

"Stop that already, geez!"

"B-But you see, doesn't it bother you?"

Gripping Kirito by the nape of his neck, Asuna started walking

while dragging him away.

"Ah, ahh... and it looked good too..."

Pulling Kirito by his ear, with his regrets still lingering, she forced

him to turn around.

"Rather than that, which way is the seventh eastern district?

There seems to be young players living together there, so let's try going

there."

"...Yeeah."

Taking over Yui, who had completely fallen asleep, and holding

onto her tightly, Asuna pored over the map while keeping pace beside

Kirito.

As Yui had the external form of someone around ten years of age,

doing something like this in the real world would cause her arms to fail

in just a few minutes, but thanks to the compensation from her

physical strength parameter, Asuna felt the weight of nothing more

than a pillow filled with feathers.

Walking towards the south-east through the spacious streets for

ten minutes, barely passing by anyone as before, they finally

approached a vast garden-like area. The forest of broad-leaved trees

with their colors changing were waving dejectedly in the cold winds of

the early winter.

"Let's see, this is shown as the eastern seventh district on the map,

but... I wonder just where is that church."

"Ah, isn't it over there?"

Beyond the forest, stretching out on the right side of the road,

Asuna spotted a distinctively tall spire and fixed her sight in that

direction. At the summit of the ashen blue roofed tower, a metal ankh

formed by combining a cruciform with a circle, was gleaming. It was

the unmistakable mark of a church, of which at least one exists in every

town. And through the altar inside, tasks such as removing the attack

unique to monsters, «Curse», and the blessing of weapons to go up

against undead monsters with, were possible. In SAO, where magicbased components barely exist, it could be considered a most

mysterious place. Also, as long as col was regularly offered, a small

room within the church could be borrowed and used as a replacement

for an inn.

"Wa-Wait a moment."

Asuna unwittingly called Kirito to a stop, just as he was planning

to walk towards the church.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Ah, no... Well... if, we happen upon Yui's guardians over there,

we'll be... leaving Yui-chan there, right...?"

"..."

Kirito's black eyes softened with sympathy towards Asuna. He

drew his arms close, gently embracing Asuna's body along with the

sleeping Yui.

"I don't want to part with her either. Just how do I say this... with

Yui's presence, that house in the forest really felt like it became a real

home... well, that was how it felt like... But, it's not like you'll never

meet again. If Yui regains her memories, she'll definitely come and visit

again."

"Hm... That's right."

Giving a small nod, Asuna brought Yui, still in her arms, closer and

lightly grazed her cheek, before walking forth, having resolved her

feelings.

The church building was a mere trifle when compared with the

scale of the city. It was a two-storied building, with only a single spire

that acted as its symbol. But still, there were multiple churches within

the Starting City, and the ones near the gate plaza were at the size of a

minor castle.

Reaching the grand double doors in the front, Asuna pushed one

of them open with her right hand. Being a public facility, it was

naturally not locked. The interior was dim, and only the flames from

the candles, decorating the altar at the front, burned, weakly

illuminating the stone-paved flooring. There were no signs of life at

first glance.

Popping only her upper body through the entrance, Asuna called

out.

"Ahh, is there anyone here?"

Even as the sound of her voice trailed away with an echo effect,

no one seemed to have appeared.

"Is there no one here...?"

As she tilted her head to the side, Kirito refuted her in a low voice.

"Nah, there's people. Three in the right room, four in the left... And