Chapter 4

As if the chill till yesterday was a lie, a warm, gentle breeze blew

over the lawn. Perhaps attracted by the merrymaking, several small

birds descended onto a branch of the garden tree, appearing to look

over the humans with great interest.

A garden party was hosted without care for the season at the vast

front yard of Sasha's church, with the big table from the dining hall

moved and set there. Food was taken out from a large grill like magic,

raising a grand roar of joy from the children.

"To think that something this delicious... was actually in this

world..."

The chief executive of the «Army» who was rescued just the

previous night, Sinker, bit into the barbecue that Asuna had exhibited

her talents in, as he spoke with awe. Beside him, Yuriel looked over the

situation with a smile. She had the presence of a cool-headed female

warrior on first impression, but when she was beside Sinker, she

resembled nothing more than a cheerful young wife.

And as for Sinker, although there wasn't much time to get a good

look at him yesterday, when sitting at the same table like this instead,

he had a character that gave off an aura of gentleness, very much

unlike what the top of a huge organization would be thought to be.

With a stature of a degree slightly taller than Asuna, he was

evidently shorter than Yuriel. His somewhat stocky body was clad in

plain clothes, and he did not have a single weapon on hand. Beside him,

Yuriel too, was not in her Army uniform style today.

Sinker accepted the wine bottle Kirito offered into his glass, and

apparently not for the first time, he gave a firm bow.

"Asuna-san, Kirito-san. We are truly obliged to you this time. Just

how can I thank you..."

"No, I'm quite indebted to «MMO Today» on the other side, after

all."

Kirito answered as he smiled.

"That's a nostalgic name."

A broad smile showed on Sinker's round face upon hearing that.

"At that time, with the burden that updating daily was, I thought

that I shouldn't even bother doing a news site, but when compared to

being a guild leader, it certainly was slightly easier. I would have been

better off running a newspaper stand here too, huh."

Gentle laughter streamed out from the table.

"And well... how did things go with the «Army»...?"

Asuna enquired, and Sinker changed his expression.

"Kibaou and his followers were expelled. I really should have

done that much earlier... With my personality of being bad at

arguments, the situation kept getting worse... —I even thought about

disbanding the Army."

Asuna and Kirito rapidly opened their eyes in surprise.

"You... must have pondered over that for quite a bit."

"The Army had become too huge... I'll be breaking down the guild

and from that, creating a more peaceful organization for mutual aid

once again. Breaking it down and abandoning all of it is just

irresponsible after all."

Yuriel softly held Sinker's hand and continued in his stead.

"—We believe we will be distributing the assets that the Army

had accumulated thus far to not just the members, but equally among

all of the inhabitants of this city as well. We've caused such trouble up

till now after all... Sasha-san, we're really sorry."

Yuriel and Sinker suddenly gave a deep bow, causing Sasha's eyes

to blink with surprise within her glasses. She frantically waved her

hands in front of her face.

"No, that's too much. The children have received help from the

good folk from the Army in the field too, after all."

With Sasha's candid denial, the place was filled with gentle

laughter once more.

"Well, putting that aside..."

Tilting her head, Yuriel spoke.

"The girl from yesterday, Yui-chan... how has she been...?"

Asuna met glances with Kirito, and replied with a smile.

"Yui has... returned to her home..."

She softly moved the finger on her right hand to her breast. There,

a thin necklace, which had not been there till yesterday, gleamed. At

the tip of the exquisite silver chains, a pendant, of silver as well, hung

down, with a large clear gem shining within it. Brushing the teardrop-

shaped jewel gently, a slight warmth seemed to have spread to her

fingertips.

At that time—

After Yui was covered in light and vanished, beside Asuna, her

tears falling endlessly as she knelt on the stone paving, Kirito gave a

sudden shout.

"Cardinal!!"

Raising his moist face, Kirito gazed at the ceiling of the room and

screamed.

"Don't you dare think that it'll always... go as you like!!"

Firmly pulling himself together, he abruptly jumped at the black

console in the middle of the room. He dexterously struck at the holokeyboard still displayed. Her surprise pushing away her sorrow for just

an instant, Asuna cried out as she looked on in wonder.

"Ki-Kirito-kun... What are...!?"

"If it's still... If it's still now, I might be able to intrude into the

system with a GM account..."

Before Kirito's eyes, continuing to hit the keys as he muttered, a

huge window appearance with a beep, and the radiance from the

strings of characters rapidly scrolling past illuminated the room. While

Asuna watched over him dumbfounded, Kirito entered in several more

commands in succession. A small progress bar window appeared, and

at the moment the horizontal bar reached all the way to the right

end—

The whole of the console made from the black rock suddenly

flashed bluish-white, and immediately following that, Kirito was sent

flying with an explosive sound.

"Ki-Kirito-kun!!"

Panicking, she inched up to him, fallen onto the floor.

Shaking his head as he pulled his upper body up, Kirito gave a

thin smile within his haggard expression; he faced towards Asuna and

extended his closed right hand. Not understanding what was going on,

Asuna followed suit, holding out her hand.

What had fallen from Kirito's hand into Asuna's was a large

crystal made in the shape of a tear. In the middle of the elaborately

faceted stone, thump, thump, a white light was blinking.

"Th-This is...?"

"...Before the root authorization activated by Yui was cut off, I

desperately tried to disconnect Yui's program source from the system,

and converted it into an object... Within that, Yui's heart is there..."

After having said just that, Kirito tumbled onto the ground, as

though he ran out of energy, and closed his eyes.

"Yui-chan... you're... in there, huh... My... Yui-chan..."

Once again, her tears poured out endlessly. Within that blurred

light, as if to answer Asuna, from the center of the crystal, it twinkled

with a single strong thump.

They reluctantly waved towards Sasha, Yuriel, Sinker, and the

children, and the cool wind, infused with the scent of the forest,

greeted Asuna and Kirito as they returned to the twenty-second floor

from the teleport gate. Though it was a mere three day trip, it felt much

longer than that, and Asuna took a deep breath of air.

What a vast world—

Asuna thought about this mysterious floating world once more.

On each and every one of these countless layers, there were people

living on them, passing each day with tears and laughter. No, painful

events were likely to be more common for most of those people. But

still, everyone continued fighting their own battles day after day.

The place where I should be...

Asuna gazed over the path leading to their home, then looked up

at the base of the floor above.

—Let's return to the frontlines, she suddenly thought.

In the near future, I cannot help but take up my sword once again

and return to my own battlefield. I do not know how much longer it

will take, but I will fight until this world is finished, to let everyone

show their true smiles once again. To grant happiness to everyone—

That was what Yui had wished for.

"Hey, Kirito-kun."

"Hmm?"

"If the game is cleared and this world is gone, what will happen to

Yui-chan?"

"Aah... Well, it might be stretching the capacity a little. I've

converted her to a part of environmental data for the client program

and saved her into my Nerve Gear's local memory. On the other side, it

might be quite difficult to unpack it as Yui... but it should be possible

somehow."

"I see."

Asuna turned her body about and hugged Kirito tightly.

"Well then, let's be sure to meet up with Yui-chan again on the

other side. Our very first child."

"Yeah. Definitely."

Asuna looked down at the glittering crystal in between the

couple's chests. Mama, do your best... She seemed to hear that faint

voice from deep in her ears.

(End)

Sword Art Online Volume 2 – Ainc