Chapter 4 Part 1

Watching Kirito fight, Lyfa was half-awed and half-stunned .

They were in the skies over the expanse of Ancient Forest in

northeastern Sylph territory; a little further and they would pass into

the vicinity of the plateau. Sylvain was already so far behind them that

no matter how much you strained your eyes, the jade tower could not

be seen.

They were pushing through the depths of the so-called neutral

zone, so the spawned monsters were powerful and considerably highleveled. Kirito was currently fighting three one-eyed winged-lizard

monsters, «Evil Glancer», simultaneously. Their strength was about

equal to the boss monsters of lower level dungeons in Sylph territory.

Besides their basic strength, the real trouble was that their big,

purple eyes could release the «Evil Eye» attack – a type of curse magic

that would significantly reduce one's stats for a period of time when it

hit. Lyfa was maintaining her distance and acting as a support role.

Whenever a curse hit Kirito, Lyfa would incant the counter spell, but

honestly whether or not the need existed was up in the air.

To Kirito who gripped the greatsword reaching near his height,

the words defense and evasion did not exist in his dictionary; and as if

to display this berserk style, the lizards were dropped one after

another. He simply didn't care about the likes of the lizards' tails' longdistance attacks; as he swung the greatsword while charging, many

lizards would be caught in the gale at once, getting hewed into little

pieces. With the terrible might of the blows, what was at first five

lizards had diminished to one just like that. The last one tried to run

away at around 20% HP. It let out a pitiable scream as it sought to take

refuge in the forest, but Lyfa raised her left hand, activating a long

range homing-type vacuum magic. Four or five boomerang-like blades

made of green light quickly caught up to the lizard and cut it to shreds.

Shortly afterward, the blue reptile's large body scattered into blue

polygons of light, signalling the quick end of the fifth fight of the day.

A large metallic sound accompanied the sheathing of the sword,

Lyfa raised her right hand as she saw Kirito lightly approaching in the

air.

"Good work—"

"Thanks for the cover—"

Their hands met in a high-five, and the two exchanged smiles.

"But how should I describe it... your combat style is just so

reckless."

Hearing Lyfa say that, Kirito scratched his head.

"I-Is that so?"

"Generally, it is a good idea to use hit and run tactics for evasion,

but you just hit and hit!"

"In return we can finish faster, so isn't it fine?"

"That might work in situations with similar monsters like today,

but not if you run into a group of monsters with a combination of

melee and long-range types, for example. If we end up fighting a player

party they will definitely use magic so you have to be careful."

"Magic—can't I just avoid it?"

"There are many types of long-range magic; for power-type magic

that go straight, you can read its direction to avoid it, but for homing

and area attack magic that's impossible. In the case that there is a mage

that uses these types of magic, you have to always maintain a high

speed and time your direction changes."

"Hmmm.... Seems like there is a lot to remember."

Kirito scratched his head with a face like that of a child given a

difficult set of problems to solve.

"Well, if it's you then you should be able to catch on quickly...I

think. You seem to have very good intuition and sharp eyes after all. Do

you do sports or something in real life?"

"N-no, not at all."

"Hmm.... Well, okay. Let's get moving."

"Okay."

They nodded to each other, then started beating their wings and

resumed movement. Under the setting sun, the golden-green

grasslands were beginning to emerge beyond the forest.

Without encountering any monsters after that, the two finally got

out of Ancient Forest and entered the mountain area. Just as they

neared the limit of their flight time, they descended onto a meadow's

edge at the foot of a mountain.

As her soles slid on the grass while landing, Lyfa lifted both of her

arms and took a big stretch. Even though the real body doesn't have

such limbs, the base of the wings feels mysteriously fatigued after long

flights. A few seconds later, Kirito also landed and was similarly hitting

his straightened back.

"Fufu, tired yet?"

"Nope, still not yet!"

"Okay, let's do our best. ...Is what I want to say, but we're going to

have to postpone the aerial travel for a while."

Kirito raised his eyebrows at Lyfa's remark.

"Eh, why?"

"Do you see that mountain?"

Lyfa pointed to the far end of the meadow, towards the towering,

snow-peaked mountains.

"Flying is restricted by a height limit. We cannot fly higher than

that mountain, so we have to pass through a cave tunneled through the

mountain range. That seems to be the most dangerous place when

traveling from Sylph territory to Aarun. I'm not sure because this is my

first time here too."

"I see.... This tunnel, is it long?"

"Considerably, but there is a neutral mining town in the middle,

and we should be able to rest there. Kirito-kun, until what time are you

still okay?"

Kirito summoned the menu window with his left hand, checked

the clock, and nodded.

"The real time right now is seven-o'-clock at night, I'm fine for

now."

"I see, then let's try for a bit longer then. We should 'Rotate Out'

once here."

"Ro-Rotate?"

"Ah, we take turns to logout and rest. Because this is a neutral

zone, we can not logout instantly. Therefore, one person will logout

while the other defends the avatar when it falls into the soulless state."

"I see, understood. Lyfa, please go first."

"Well then, I'll gladly accept your kind offer. I'll be in your care for

about 20 minutes!"

Finished, Lyfa brought up the window and pressed the logout

button. When she touched the warning message's YES button, the

surrounding landscape streamed into a central point and disappeared.

Sitting straight up in bed after waking up, Suguha removed the

Amusphere and jumped out of bed. Quietly running down the stairs,

Suguha confirmed that the first floor was empty. The magazine's final

proofreading day was nearing so Midori had not returned home yet,

and Kazuto was probably in his room, so the first floor was silent.

Opening the refrigerator, Suguha took out two bagels, ham, cream

cheese, and vegetables one after another. Quickly slicing the round

bread in half, she spread a thin layer of mustard, added the ham,

inserted the rest, and then transferred the completed bagel sandwich

to a plate. After she poured some milk into a small milk pan and put it

on the stove, Suguha went to the stairs, and facing the second floor,

shouted:

"Onii-chan, do you want something to eat?"

...But there was no answer. He must be asleep, she shrugged her

shoulders as she returned to the kitchen. She poured the now-steaming

milk into a mug and took it to the living room table with the plate. After

all of ninety seconds, she finished her dinner. Placing the dishes into

the washing machine, she ran into the bathroom. Even if it was the

virtual world, if you did intense fighting, you would sweat due to stress.

After a long dive she started to feel sticky if she didn't wash and change

clothes.

Suguha took off her clothes and jumped into the shower at

supersonic speed, warm water slowly dripping through the shower

head.

In fact, if she played VRMMO too much so that it interfered with

eating and bathing, or if she ordered takeout, her mother Midori would

scold her, so she tried not to join long party events. However, this time

she couldn't do so. She would probably travel with Kirito tomorrow, or

the day after tomorrow if it went badly. Maybe due to her personality,

Suguha couldn't stand long duration parties, when the day changed she

would feel uncomfortable, but for some mysterious reason it didn't

happen this time. In this case...

...She was very excited.

Suguha thought as she closed her eyes and felt the soothing touch

of the hot water on her skin.

Opening her eyes, her black pupils stared back from within the

mirror before her. Within them, there was a mix of excitement and

slight unease.

The physique of the real Suguha was by no means big for a kendo

practitioner, even so when compared to the wind spirit Sylph, Lyfa, she

was obviously big-boned. Her shoulders, stomach and her thighs,

[Insert sexy pic of suguha here]

whenever she moved them, the line of the muscles seemed to stand out,

on top of that she felt that her chest had grown alot recently.

This body has a real feel to it, but deep in my heart there is

conflict growing. Suguha closed her eyes again.

...It did not particularly mean that she had become fond of him. It

was not about having someone to adventure together... just that, flying

in a new world was fun.

That seemed to be muttered in her heart, but that wasn't for the

sake of convincing herself, there was truth in it.

Thinking back, she had such a feeling everyday in the past.

As she grew stronger, little by little her field of activities

expanded; just flying in the sky of an unknown land made her heart

throb. However, as she was raised to the role of a prominent senior

player within the Sylph territory, her knowledge and obligations

simultaneously increased too. Before she knew it, she was buried

within the habits of everyday life. The said duty of battling for the sake

of the entire race was holding her wings with invisible chains.

Players in ALO who abandoned their territory were called

«Renegades», the English meaning of «Apostates». Those who

discarded their obligation after obtaining them, those who are under

pressure by their country, until now gave the impression that they are

traitors, might have some kind of pride in their heart.

With her mind still thinking about them, she washed her hair and

body quickly then rinsed away the foam. Removing the dry towel from

the hatch on the wall, she used the control panel next to it, and a burst

of warm air blew out from the slits in the ceiling. When her hair was

mostly dry, she wrapped her body with a towel and went to the living

room. Looking at the clock, there were less than three minutes before

the agreed time limit.

She wrapped up the remaining bagel-sandwich on the plate, took

some paper and wrote, "Onii-chan, if you are hungry please eat this,"

on it, and placed it under the plate.

Back on the second floor, she hastily put on her pajamas, laid back

down, and put the Amusphere helmet back on.

After waiting through the connection process, through the

rainbow colors of the login procedures, Suguha / Lyfa felt the prairie

breeze and smelled a refreshing aroma.

From her waiting state, crouching down on one knee, Lyfa stood

up and asked.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, did any monsters appear?"

Kirito, who was lying on the grass with a straw like thing in his

mouth, removed it and nodded.

"Welcome back. It was very quiet."

"What is that?"

"The NPC from the grocery store said that it was a Sylvain

specialty."

"I did not hear of such a thing!"

Kirito handed over that something and Lyfa accepted it with her

hand. She concealed her inner tension and took a bite. With a breath,

the mint's fragrant sweet aroma emanated from her mouth.

"It's my turn to logout, please guard me."

"Ok, have a good trip."

When Kirito called up the menu window and pressed the log-out

button, his body automatically went into a standby position. Lyfa then

sat down beside him and started looking casually up at the heavens

while sucking a mint straw when the pixie from Kirito's breast pocket

flew out and surprised her.

"Whoa! You can move when your master is not in-game?"

Yui made an 'of course' face and put her hands on her hips and

nodded.

"Of course I can. I'm myself. And he's not my master; he's my

papa."

"Having said that, why do you call Kirito your papa? Could it be

that he set you up that way?"

"Papa helped me, but he also said that I am his child. So he's my

papa."

"I see..."

Sure enough, she did not understand it.

"You love your papa?"

Lyfa casually asked, and Yui looked at her with a serious face.

"Lyfa, what is love?"

"W-what...."

Lyfa was unprepared for the unexpected question and considered

it for a moment before only vaguely answering.

"....It's a feeling of wanting to be together. And when you are

together, your heart beats faster, or something like that...."

Kazuto's smiling face suddenly popped into her mind, but why

was it the same with the resting face of the avatar beside her? Lyfa

gasped. Not sure since when her feelings for Kirito became similar to

her hidden feelings for Kazuto. Lyfa shook her head without thinking.

Yui saw her do this and cocked her head, asking:

"What's wrong, Lyfa?"

"No, no, no, it is nothing!"

Lyfa shouted, and at that moment -

"What's nothing?"

"Waah!!"

Kirito had suddenly raised his head and Lyfa jumped.

"I'm back. What happened?"

Kirito looked at the distressed Lyfa and stood up. Perched on his

shoulder, Yui said:

"Welcome back, papa. We were just talking about who she likes

and —,"

"Hey, we were not!!"

Lyfa hurriedly interrupted Yui.

"You came back quickly. Did you eat something?"

Lyfa asked to hide her embarrassment.

"Ah yes, my family made something for me."

"I see, well then, let's quickly depart. If we don't arrive at the Mine

City before it gets late, it'll be troublesome to log-out. Come on, let's fly

to the cave entrance!"

Lyfa quickly finished talking and stood up. Even though Kirito and

Yui did not quite understand what was going on, she didn't wait for

them to figure it out and gently began beating her wings.

"Ah, yes. Then let's go."

Still not understanding the reason for Lyfa's expression, he also

spread his wings. But suddenly, he turned and looked in the direction

of the forest they came from.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing..."

Kirito replied, though he still stared towards the forest.

"It feels like someone watching. Yui, can you tell if there are any

other players in our general area?"

"No, there is no one around us."

The pixie shook her little head. But Kirito didn't look like he is

convinced.

"Felt like being watched... is there some sort of a sixth sense in

this game?"

Hearing Lyfa ask that, Kirito rubbed his forehead with his right

hand and said:

"It is really hard to do that. If anyone is looking at us, the system

would have to «Reference» us, you might just feel the data stream used

to do so, or so people say."

"Is that so?"

"But Yui does not sense any people nearby so there shouldn't be."

"Ah, then they may have used a Tracer."

Lyfa whispered to Kirito, who raised his eyebrows.

"What is that?"

"It's a tracking spell. Usually a small magic creature that tells the

caster the position of the target."

"That's a pretty convenient spell. Can you lift the spell off of us?"

"If I can see the Tracer then I can lift it, but if the caster's magic

skills are high, the distance he can observe from increases, so finding it

in a field like this is almost impossible."

"I see. It might be just my imagination, anyway let's hurry and go."

"Ok."

After nodding, they flew up into the sky again. The white cliffs of

the mountain range were not far away, and in the middle of the cliff

was a huge black cave. Aiming for the cave opening that had sinister

cold air coming out of it, Lyfa flapped her wings faster and sped up.

After a few minutes of flying, the two reached the cave entrance.

Almost perpendicular to the huge rocks, the cave was a giant

square shape that cut into the cliff face. It's width and height was three

or four times bigger then Lyfa. They could not tell when they were far

away, but carved around the entrance of the cave were some monster

designs. The upper part of the hole had a huge devil's head sticking out,

looking with contempt into the eyes of all intruders.

"This cave... does it have a name?"

To Kirito's question, Lyfa nodded her head and replied:

"It is called «Ruger Corridor». Ruger happens to be the name of

the Mine City."

"Whoa, it's like a story I've seen in a fantasy movie!"

Lyfa looked at Kirito in her peripheral vision and saw him smile.

He probably meant those classic fantasy books, from which the films

were produced. In Kazuto's room, there was a box with such Collectors'

Edition books, she had borrowed them all without permission to read.

"I know what you are talking about. To cross a mountain, they

went through the underground mines, and got attacked by a big demon.

But, unfortunately demon-type monsters do not appear here."

"That is really too bad."

"Ah, but the cave is infested by orcs. If you find it interesting, you

can then deal with the whole horde."

Finished, the two began to move forward into the cave.

It was very cool inside the cave, the light from outside was also

very thin, slowly enveloping everything in darkness. It's best to use

magic lighting; she thought and turned to Kirito walking beside her.

"Oh yes, Kirito-kun did you train your magic skills?"

"Ah, just the race starting magic, but I didn't use it often."

"Exploring caves is a Spriggan speciality with the use of the lights,

it is even more effective than a wind mage's magic."

"Hmm, Yui, do you know?"

Kirito scratched his head and Yui came out of his pocket and said

in a lecture voice:

"Papa, I'd really advise that you at least read the instruction

manual. Using light magic is...."

Yui slowly said the incantation, and Kirito raised his right hand

and repeated the words. His right hand sent a wave of gray light, and it

continued to spread. When it covered Lyfa, she was able to see in a

wide area around them. The light did not appear to be a light source;

instead, the spell gave the user night-vision.

"Wow, this is really convenient. Spriggans might actually be of

some use."

"Ah, hearing you say that makes me feel hurt."

"Ha ha ha. But seriously, you should at least memorize some

useful magic incantations. If you can't even use Spriggans' speciality

spells in a life and death situation, it would be a shame."

"Woo, those words hurt even more."

While talking lightly, they continued to move further inside the

cave's many twists and turns. Soon, they couldn't see the white light

from the entrance anymore.

"I think it was 'ARLU-DENA-RERE..'"

Kirito looked at the shiny purple Reference Manual and tried to

whisper unfamiliar spell incantations.

"No, no, reading it like this won't activate the spell. The

incantation is not just mechanical recitation, you must understand

each «Word of Power» and associate it with the effect of magic while

memorizing it."

Hearing this remark, the black swordsman sighed deeply and

dropped his head.

"I did not think that I would be learning words that look like

English in a game."

"I'll warn you, the high level spells have at least twenty words."

"Aw come on, I'll just be a pure fighter..."

"Crying is useless!! Quickly start over again."

In the about two hours they travelled after entering the cave, they

fought with orcs over ten times and won without any problems.

Thanks to the map purchased in Sylvain, they went in a straight line

and travelled fast. According to the map, there should be a huge

underground lake ahead, crossing the bridge over it should lead to the

mining city, Ruger.

Ruger was not as big as the Gnome underground capital city, but

it held facilities that produced high quality ore and a lot of

businessmen and blacksmith players lived there. They didn't meet any

other players on the way. This cave wasn't a very good hunting place,

and above all, as Sylphs' forte is flight, many would tend to avoid places

where they couldn't fly. The cave was plenty large, but as neither

sunlight nor moonlight, the sources of flight endurance, reach this area,

the wings are not able to recover.

Sylph players who wanted to go to Aarun for trade and tourism

usually took the longer route from the northern part of Sylvain, passing

into Cait Sith territory near the mountains. Living there are the Cait

Sith race with their cat ears and tail. They could use the skill «Taming»

by feeding monsters and animals, and had always provided tamed

riding animals to the Sylph capital in friendship, so they had been on

good terms for a long while. The relationship between the lords of the

two races was also very good, it was said that they would soon form a

covenant.

Since Lyfa had a few close Cait Sith friends, she had intended to

choose the route through the northern pass, but went through the

mountains because Kirito looked to be in a hurry. Truthfully, going

through underground depths made Lyfa uncomfortable, but in the

present situation going through the mountains certainly did not

present a problem.

Anyway, the reason why Kirito was in so much of a hurry to get to

Aarun, and the World Tree, was still a mystery to her. His attitude

made her wonder at the uncertainty of his heart, but his fighting

posture seemed very anxious.

She remembered Kirito mention he was looking for someone.

People who lost contact in the real world and came looking in game

was not too uncommon. On the bulletin board in front of the grocery

store, in the asking people corner, the 'Looking for someone' was never

ending. Usually it was for revenge or love interest, but neither seemed

to fit Kirito. And, searching in Aarun was understandable, but why the

world tree? Right now that was like an unreachable area, even if we

could reach the bottom, going to the top was almost impossible.

Lyfa walked beside Kirito who was continuing the hard fight with

Spellwords, and lost herself in thought. Usually not paying attention in

the neutral zone was equivalent to suicide, but on this trip due to Yui's

fearsome senses, she would warn them of approaching monsters so

there was no need to worry about ambushes.

Then, after a few more minutes, they were about to reach the

underground lake when Lyfa heard a sound, it was not Yui's warning, it

was very close to the ringing of a phone.

Lyfa raised her head, turned to Kirito, and said:

"Ah, I'm getting a message. I'm sorry, please wait a moment."

"Ok."

Lyfa stopped, near the front of her body below her chest, she

pressed the icon shown. A window popped up showing receive of a

Friend Message. Lyfa's friend list only had one name , Recon, this was

not out of intention, so even before reading it she knew who it was

from. It was probably irrelevant content, she thought while glancing at

it. But -

'It is what I expected! Be careful, S'

That was the only thing written.

"What the heck is this?"

She said without thinking. It didn't make any sense. What was

expected? Be careful of what? And what was the 'S' at the end? Even if

he signed the message, wouldn't it be with an 'R', wasn't there some

kind of hidden meaning?

"Esu...sa...shi...su....hmm."

"What was it?"

Lyfa explained it to the puzzled Kirito. Then, Yui stuck her head

out of his pocket and said:

"Papa, I'm detecting a response in close proximity."

"Monsters?"

Kirito's hand clutched his sword hilt, but Yui shook her head.

"No – players, a lot, twelve of them."

"Twelve!?"

Lyfa became speechless. For a group of players forming a combat

party, that was just too many. Maybe it was a group of Sylph going

from Sylvain to Ruger, or even to Aarun as a trade caravan.

Indeed, once a month there was usually a large party gathering in

the Sylph capital for a trip to and from the central area. Usually a few

days ahead of departure, they would tell all the players to recruit

participants, but this morning when she had looked at the Bulletin

Board there hadn't been anything written about that.

Here was an unknown group, if it were Sylphs then it might not

have been dangerous, but the chance of it being a PK group of a

different race was not unthinkable. Lyfa had a bad feeling about the

whole thing, she turned towards Kirito.

"I have a bad feeling about this. We should hide and let them pass."

"But hide where?"

Kirito was puzzled and looked around. They were in a long wide

road, with no side branches to hide in.

"Well, leave that to me."

Lyfa grabbed Kirito's wrist and hid in a nearby hollow area.

Suppressing the blush brought on by close physical contact, she raised

her left hand for the magic incantation.

Soon a green light radiating from the foot upward, wrapped the

two bodies. Vision was slightly green-dyed, but from the outside they

would be almost completely hidden. Lyfa looked up at Kirito beside her

and whispered:

"Speak quietly, if we're too loud then the magic will be lifted."

"Understood. This magic is really useful."

Kirito watched the area they were hiding, constantly scanning the

area. Yui poked her head out and said in a low voice:

"In about two minutes you will see them."

The two of them made themselves smaller and moved close to the

cave wall. After some tense seconds, Lyfa heard the sound of footsteps

coming. Mixed in with the footsteps was the sound of heavy armour

clanking, which made her think and look.

Kirito craned his neck, staring at the direction of the unknown

group.

"What is that?"

"What? I do not see anyone."

"I don't see any players, but maybe monsters? A small, red bat."

"!?"

Lyfa held her breath looking at the front. In the darkness of the

cave, there was a little red shape flying their way. This was -

"Damn."

Lyfa subconsciously cursed out loud, and jumped from lying low

on the ground out to the middle of the road. The Concealment Magic

lifted at the same time and Kirito stood up as well bewildered.

"Hey, hey, what happened?"

"That is high level magic Tracer Searcher!! We must destroy it

quickly!!"

While crying out, Lyfa stretched out her hands and began

chanting a spell. After a lengthy incantation, her fingertips released

numerous shining emerald needles. Viiii, sounded in the air as the

needles head to kill the red shape.

The bat floated in the air slowly, and tried to dodge the attacks,

but since there were so many needles, it soon got pierced with many. It

fell to the ground, wrapped by a red flame, and disappeared. Confirmed

hit, Lyfa turned towards Kirito and shouted:

"Run toward the city, Kirito-kun!!"

"Oh, no more hiding?"

"The enemy will know when their tracer was destroyed. They will

probably send out a lot of searchers, so it will be almost impossible to

hide. That magic pet had fire properties. This means the approaching

party is..."

"Salamanders!"

Kirito frowned after showing off his knowledge. While they were

talking, the rattle-rattle sound of metal mixed with footsteps became

closer. Lyfa turned and saw in the distance a dark red light.

"Let's go."

Nodding, the two began to run.

As they checked the map while rushing onwards, this straight

road will soon end, and in front is a huge underground lake. The way to

pass the lake is a bridge, at the other end is the entrance to the mining

city, Ruger. It is a neutral city so no attack is allowed inside, no matter

how many people they have, they won't be able to do anything.

But why is a big group of Salamanders here?

Lyfa bit her lip. Using a tracer means they were hunting us from

the beginning. After departing Sylvain, because of Yui's search power,

there shouldn't be a chance for them to cast it. The only possibility is

that they used the magic while we were in the streets of Sylvain.

The number of Sylph who can use fire magic is not zero. Each race

has an attribute of magic talent, the wind for Sylph, earth for Gnome,

etc., and other attributes of the spell can be learned through hard

practice and increasing skills.

However, the red bat they killed can follow and track the target,

and search for hidden targets, is a very high level magic that requires a

fire magic skill almost impossible for another race than Salamander to

obtain. In other words -

'There was a Salamander in Sylvain?'

Lyfa thought while running. If this is true, it's not easily done.

Although Sylvain is open to travelers of other races, due to the hostile

relations with the Salamanders, their entry is very strict and checked.

If the strong NPC guardians find a Salamander, they will immediately

attack. Getting past that isn't too easy.

"Oh, the lake!"

Running to the right in front of her, Kirito's voice interrupted

Lyfa's thoughts. She raised her head and saw the rugged mountain

road changing into flat stone ahead, the space becoming very open, the

dark green lake water shining with a faint light.

A stone bridge spans the middle of the lake, on the other side is a

huge gate reaching to the roof. It is the mining city, Ruger's door. Once

beyond that door, it's our victory in this game of hide and seek.

This gave Lyfa some peace of mind and she took a look over her

shoulder. From behind, the red light was still some distance away.

Since this is the case - the two ran at full speed up the stone trail.

When they got on the bridge, the surrounding temperature

dropped a lot. They cut through the water scented air, speeding on the

bridge.

"Looks like we escaped."

"Don't drop your guard. There is a large monster in the water."

While talking with Kirito, they arrived at the center of the bridge

which was a round observation area, and in that instant.

Passing over their head in the darkness, from behind came two

points of high-speed light. Its special light and sound effect showed

that it is magical. It must be from the Salamanders chasing them, but its

accuracy is very bad.

Since it will hit in front of them, they just need to slow down.

After slowing, the light landed about ten meters in front.

It exploded as expected, Lyfa raised her right hand to cover her

face, but what happened next was completely unexpected. Humming! A

huge rock wall rose up from the bridge and blocked up the entire path.

Lyfa frowned at the unexpected problem and swore:

"This is bad..."

"What?"

Kirito's eyes got wide, but kept running forward and drew his

sword to slash the wall.

"Ah, Kirito-kun!"

'It's useless,' didn't have time to exit her mouth. Kirito's sword hit

the stone wall, Goun! A loud noise came from the contact and the

rebound force made him sit on the bridge. The brown stone wall didn't

have a single scratch on it.

"...It's no use."

Lyfa flew over to Kirito's side and stopped, saying it. The Spriggan

youth stood up with a reproachful look.

"You should have said that earlier."

"You are too reckless. This is an earth magic barrier, physical

attacks can't damage it. Only a lot of magic attacks can destroy it..."

"We don't have the time for that..."

They turned together, the group garbed in armor, gleaming with

the color of blood, was approaching the front of the bridge.

"Flying around it... won't be possible, huh. How about diving into

the lake?"

Shaking her head at Kirito's proposal.

"Not possible. I said it earlier, there seems to be a very high level

water dragon monster living in the lake. Without an Undine's help,

fighting in the water would be suicidal."

"So, there's no choice but to fight, right?"

Turning to Kirito who held his sword in a graceful posture, Lyfa

bit her lip and nodded.

"We have no choice... but this might be bad... For Salamanders to

use such high level earth magic, there must be a rather skilful mage in

that group."

The bridge is not wide, so the worst condition of being

surrounded can be avoided. Even with this, twelve against two are

really long odds, and flight is not possible within this dungeon. Lyfa's

excellence in aerial dogfights can't be used.

It all depends on the enemies' combat effectiveness.

...But we cannot hope for too much on that.

Murmuring that in her heart, Lyfa stood beside Kirito and drew

her katana. With the sound of heavy metal, the approaching enemy can

easily be seen. In the front are three big Salamanders, dressed in armor

heavier than the Salamanders she fought yesterday, left hand holding a

mace or another single-handed weapon, and right hand equipped with

a huge metal shield.

Seeing this, Lyfa was momentarily lost in thought. Within ALO the

dominant hand is the same as in the real world, so left-handed players

should be relatively few.

Before Lyfa can voice this doubt, Kirito looked at her and said:

"Don't take this the wrong way, but can you be my support?"

"Eh?"

"I hope that you can heal me from behind. This way I can fight

without care."

Lyfa looked at Kirito's huge double-edged sword. Indeed on this

narrow bridge, friendly fire would be possible and avoiding that would

be hard. Healing is not her speciality, but she nodded her head and

retreated to just before the rock wall. There was no time for argument.

Kirito bent down and drew his sword from behind. He sent waves

of pressure toward the three Salamanders. Kirito's body is not too big,

so he barely made a sound moving forward. His eyes shone with the

accumulation of energy. The distance between the two sides shortened

as she watched-

"- Ha!!"

In one breath, Kirito's left foot stepped forward, blue special

effect lights appeared as he slashed his sword horizontally at the dark

red heavy soldiers. With the loud sound of air being cut, the bridge

shook; it was the most powerful slash that Lyfa had ever seen. But -

"Eh!?"

Lyfa eyes wide open in surprise. The three Salamanders pulled

their weapons back, and brought their shields forward, hiding their

bodies behind the wall of shields.

GANG! ! Loud roar, Kirito's sword hit the Tower Shields in a row

leaving a horizontal scar. The air vibrated and a big wave spread out on

the lake. But those heavy fighters were only pushed back, blocking

Kirito's attack.

Lyfa hurriedly studied their HP. Probably more than ten percent

reduction, but that was only for a moment, as the next instant chants

rang out behind them, and pale blue light covered the three front

defenders. In reply to the healing incantations, their HP refilled

completely. Then, in the back...

From behind the castle wall-like defense of steel, many redorange fireballs shot out, followed a parabolic path through the air, and

exploded at Kirito's position.

Explosions powerful enough to make the lake surface reflect red

covered the black-clad boy.

"Kirito-kun!!"

Lyfa shouted loudly, almost in despair. Kirito's HP bar rapidly

declined, instantly moving into the yellow warning area. No, in ALO's

fully skill-based system, HP increases very slowly, so it's a miracle he

didn't die instantly. These are intensive multiple magic attacks. Lyfa

immediately realized the other's intent to kill.

This enemy group certainly knows about Kirito and his physical

attack power, so they used these counter measures.

Three heavily armored defenders would tank Kirito's attacks,

using heavy shields for defense. No matter how powerful Kirito's

attacks are, if he can't hit their body directly, he wouldn't cause fatal

damage. The remaining nine people are probably all mages. Some

would heal the front line defenders, others used indirect fire magic to

attack. This is the formation used for fighting boss monsters with

strong physical attacks.

But why would so many people be mobilized to attack Kirito and

Lyfa?

Leaving her doubt behind, Lyfa started her healing magic

incantation. Finally the flames thinned, and as the Kirito became visible,

Lyfa used the highest rank healing spell she had. Soon his HP bar began

to fill, but she knew it would not last long.

Kirito was also aware of the enemies' tactics. Since a long fight

was unfavorable, he lifted up his sword and stormed toward the heavy

solider line.

"Woo oh!"

The black blade hit the shields, and bright sparks flashed.

But - here the fighting turned into a numbers game.

The damage done by Kirito's sword was soon healed by the

mages behind. After that, the remaining mages chanted attack magic

and Kirito was hit by another explosion.

There is no room for individual skills; Lyfa hated this style of

fighting the most. Now the battle is determined by the mages' MP and

Kirito's HP, which will run out first. But the result was very clear.

Numerous fireballs rained down and blasted Kirito. Continuous

explosions hit Kirito and his battered body flipped and bounced onto

the ground.

Since this is a game, the body in ALO doesn't show «Pain», but

bearing the magical explosions directly can cause some bad feedback.

The roar shakes the brain, the heat burns the skin, the impact upsets

the balance. These effects will be transferred to reality in the flesh,

after signing out these effects will remain for several hours as

headaches and dizziness.

"Uuu...oooh!"

But no matter how many times Kirito was engulfed in flames he

continued to stand up and swing his sword. While chanting healing

magic, Lyfa didn't want to see him in pain. This is a game. In this

situation, most would give up. While failure is regrettable, under the

system constraints, this is a difference in combat strength you can't do

anything about. Even so, why -

Lyfa could no longer bear seeing Kirito like this, so she went a few

steps behind Kirito and cried:

"Enough, Kirito-kun! It's just another few hours of flight from

Sylvain! What items that were stolen we can just buy back, please give

up!"

But Kirito shook his head and said in a hushed tone:

"No!"

His eyes reflected the brilliant red flames surrounding them.

"While I live, I won't let my party member die. I will definitely not

allow that!"

Lyfa, at a loss for words, could only stand still.

In such desperate times, different players react in many different

ways. There are people who would have laughed at «this moment»,

there are people whose eyes would open wide and succumb to fear,

and there are also those who would resist to the end. But in any case,

they are all used to the simulation of «Death». This experience can not

be avoided while playing VRMMO games, and has to be accepted.

Otherwise there is no way to «Enjoy» this type of «Game».

But the light in Kirito's glaring eyes is something Lyfa had never

seen before. Struggling with this system's impossible situation,

desperately trying to find a way to live, she got drawn in. At this

moment, Lyfa forgot this is a game, an illusionary world.

"Woo-oh-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!!"

Kirito who stood up and roared, shook the air with his sound.

When enemy fire stopped for a moment, he suddenly rushed forward,

ignoring the shield wall ahead. Lowered his sword in his right hand, his

empty left hand held the edge of the shield and tried to push it open.

This unexpected action disrupted the Salamander's defensive line.

When their defensive wall cracked, Kirito forced his sword in.

To break past a defensive wall with mages behind it is something

even the veteran player Lyfa had not seen before. Also, that action was

not even an attack, so it couldn't deal any damage. But, due to Kirito's

crazy action, the man holding the shield cried in confusion:

"Damn, what is with this guy?!"

At this time, a small voice reached Lyfa's ears.

"Now is the only chance!"

Looking around, unknown since when, Yui hung on to her right

shoulder.

"An opportunity!?"

"The only uncertainty is the enemy players' mental state. Use up

all your remaining MP, please block the next magic attack!"

"B..but, even doing that..."

Like pouring water onto a hot stone, Lyfa held back what she was

going to say. She looked seriously at the supposedly simple AI, Yui, and

saw determination equal to Kirito's.

Lyfa nodded her head, and held both hands upward. The enemy

mage group is already chanting the fireball spell, but in order to match

the launch time, it was at a relatively slow speed. Lyfa chanted the spell

words at her usual high speed. Any incantation error will result in

failure, she chanted the fastest she could, just shy of the danger line.

Lyfa completed her spell just a bit ahead of them. From her hands

came countless small butterflies flying out, surrounding Kirito's body.

After that, the enemies completed their chant as well. With a shrill

sound, the group's fireballs shot into the sky. Flame after flame

engulfed Kirito, who was trying to break through the shield wall.

"Ha!"

Lyfa's outstretched hands experience the feedback pressure from

the explosions, and she clenched her teeth. The defensive magic field

around Kirito canceled out the explosions, and her mana points

dropped with a clunk clunk sound effect. Not even drinking mana

recovery potion can keep up with it. What's the point of defending one

such attack, she thought, but then.

Standing on the shoulder of Lyfa, Yui loudly shouted:

"Papa, do it now!!"

Kirito blinked while startled. In the red lotus flames, he raised his

sword and stood up. She can hear the subtle sound of chanting. Lyfa

matched the spell word fragments to the index in her memory.

'This incantation is... Illusion attribute!?'

Lyfa held her breath for a moment - then ground her teeth. The

spell Kirito is casting is an illusion magic that makes a player look like a

monster. But the magic is not useful in actual combat. Because the

shape depends randomly on the player's combat skills, usually the

result is some weak monster, with no change in stats, since most

people are aware of this it won't frighten them.

Lyfa began losing MP very fast, soon only 10% was left. She

decided to gamble on Yui's idea, but it seems the dice betrayed them.

However, it can't be helped. Knowing the game's «Strength» is

needed to support the wealth of knowledge. For Kirito who just started

playing a few days ago, asking him to understand each of the huge

number of spells is too cruel.

While thinking this, Lyfa put the last of her power into protecting

Kirito. the enemy's last wave of attacks finally stopped, just as Lyfa's

defense shield disappeared. A whirlpool of flames rolled up, and slowly

dissipated -

"Eh!?"

Inside the fire wall, a shadow moved. For a time, Lyfa thought she

was seeing things. That is way too huge.

Standing in front of the Salamanders was a giant twice their size.

Doubting her sight, it looked like a giant bent over.

"Kirito-kun, is that you?"

She asked in amazement. She can't think it's anything else. This is

Kirito's changed form created by the illusion spell, but that huge size.

In front of Lyfa's eyes, the shadow looked up. This figure is not a

giant. Its head like a goat, with curved horns extending out the back of

the head. Round shiny red eyes flashing, teeth outside his mouth

breathed flames in the air.

His upper body is all muscle covered with dark skin, long arms

almost reaching the ground. His back has a whip-like tail. To describe

the unknown figure in words, only «Devil» fit.

All of the Salamanders were frozen in place. Watching them like

their soul was taken away, the black devil lifted his head high.

"Roarrr ———!!" A thunderous roar issued, and it truly shook the

world. From the core of the body, instinctive fear spread out.

"Prattle! Babbling!"

A Salamander front defender screamed while backing away a few

steps. At this instant, the devil moved with a fearsome speed. His iron

clawed right hand passed through the open shield wall, his fingers

pierced a heavy armored soldier's body - the next moment, red End

Flame blowing, the Salamander disappeared.

"Woo ah ah ah!?"

Seeing their partner killed in one blow, the remaining two front

defenders screamed in unison. They dropped their shields, their left

hands brandishing weapons, and retreated in fear.

From the mage group, someone like their leader shouted in

anger:

"Stupid, do not disrupt the formation! He can only reach what he

sees, if you become a turtle you won't get hurt!"

However those words did not reach the ears of the soldiers. The

dark devil roared and jumped in, it opened its huge mouth and bit the

head of the soldier to the right and grabbed the left solider with its iron

claws. He violently shook and beat the avatars, gogob! Continuous red

death throes splash out, almost the same as blood spatter.

The three front guards were destroyed within ten seconds. Their

leader recovered and ordered the mage group, and they began to chant.

But without any armor and only wearing red robes, the pure mage

group is way too fragile compared to the front guards. With a shruru

breath, the standing devil is way more fearsome than the illusion magic

effect. Their chanting speed became even slower than before.

Before the chanting can finish, the devil raised his right arm

toward the mages and slashed horizontally. The two in front were hit

and blown away, they turned into red flames in the air, dissipated and

disappeared. Screams and sound of glass shattering, cracking sound

effects filled the air. That was from the tree trunk like left arm hitting

two more Salamanders, which disappeared.

A high level mage wearing high quality cloth armor became

distracted and messed up certain words in his incantation. The

Spellword fumble effect covered his hands and boom, he disappeared

in a dark cloud.

Kirito, in his Devil-form, took a step and roared again. The

Salamander leader screamed 'Hiii!' and waved his right hand around.

"Withdrawal, withdrawal! Retreat -"

Before he finished the sentence -

The devil instantly squatted, then jump forward significantly.

Landing in the middle of the enemy, sending shock waves through the

bridge. After what happened, it can not be called fighting anymore.

As the devil's claws swung, End Flame followed its path. A few

brave ones tried to fight back with their staves, while swinging their

weapons, the devil's teeth bit through their heads, and they lost their

lives.

Escaping from the storm, the leader reached the far side of the

bridge. With a splash of water he jumped into the lake, and swam in

high speed for the far side.

In ALO falling into the water, if the weight of equipment does not

exceed a certain amount you will not sink. Mages luckily have

equipment that is very light, and soon he was far from the bridge -

when suddenly, a huge shadow appeared beneath him.

Right after, the leader was dragged into the water with a splash.

Leaving little bubbles, he sank into the lake, and before he disappeared,

some vague points of red light can be seen.

The devil that is Kirito didn't seem to care about the enemy

leader's death, he grabbed the last unlucky mage and raised him up. At

the screaming body, he put force into his hands to squeeze...

The violence of this scene shakes Lyfa and at that moment, she

finally came to her senses and shouted:

"Ah, Kirito-kun!! Leave that man alive!!"

'That was very impressive," while Yui said those and other

senseless comments on her shoulder, Lyfa walked out. The devil

stopped and turned around, and with an unhappy sound released the

Salamander in the air.

The man fell on the bridge with a snapping sound, his relaxed

body breathing heavily, Lyfa came in front of him, and put the long

sword in her right hand between his legs. With the metal sound when

her sword tip hit the bridge, the man shuddered.

"Now, tell us who sent you!!"

Lyfa was trying to scare him, but that woke him up from his shock,

his face pale, he shook his head.

"If you're gonna kill me, then do it!"

"Why you.."

At the moment, the devil looking down from above, black mist

shrouded him, and the huge body began to disappear. Lyfa looked up,

from center of the fog, a small figure jumped out and landed on the

bridge.

"Oh, nice rampage!"

Kirito shook his head and said in a relaxed tone, putting the

sword on his back. He went to the man who blankly opened his mouth

and squatting down beside him, patted his shoulder.

"Yo, Nice Fight."

"What...?"

Kirito stared at the stunned man, with bright, clear tone,

continued:

"It was nice fighting tactics. If it was just me, I would have been

defeated fast!"

"W...wait, Kirito-kun..."

"It's ok, fine."

To Lyfa's unhappy remark, Kirito said while winking.

"Well then, let's talk about items with you."

Kirito opened a trade window and then showed him a list of items.

"These are the items and money I got from fighting your group. I

was thinking, if you can answer our questions, then I will give these all

to you maybe..."

The man's mouth opened and closed a few times, then looked at

Kirito with a sly smile. He looked around, probably confirming that the

time had expired on the dead Salamanders, and they were already

transported back to the «Save Point», he once again looked at Kirito.

"Really?"

"Really, really."

Looking at the two smiling, Lyfa sighed.

"Men can be really-"

"It's like, you can't do anything about them..."

Yui sitting on her shoulder offered a comment. A bit fearful of the

contempt from the two women, the two men nodded to each other to

signal successful trade negotiations.

The Salamander, who started talking, had a lot to say.

"This evening, Jiitakusu-san, ah he's the leader of the mage group

earlier, contacted me with a cell phone e-mail, I was having dinner so I

wanted to decline but he forced me to come. When I got there it turned

out to be around ten people hunting two people, I thought it might be

some kind of bullying, but they said it was the person Kagemune-san

fought yesterday, so I understood..."

"Who is that Kagemune-san?"

"He is the Lance group captain. He was a famous Sylph hunter, but

yesterday he suffered a rare heavy defeat and retreated home. You

guys beat him right?"

Hearing about the Sylph hunting made Lyfa frown. She and Kirito

looked at each other. He must be the Salamander group leader they

repulsed last night.

"So, why did that Jiitakusu-san want to hunt us?"

"The order seemed to come from someone higher ranked than

Jiitakusu-san. Like you are interfering with some kind of «Strategy» or

something."

"What strategy?"

"The Salamander upper ranks are up to something. They won't

tell junior soldiers like me, but I know they are after something big.

Today, when I first logged in, I saw a large number fly north."

"North..."

Lyfa put her finger to her lips, and thought. The Salamander

capital «Gadan» is in the southern most part of Alfheim, flying straight

north, they will hit the mountain range we are currently crossing.

Slightly west of that is Ruger Corridor, and east at the base of the

mountains is «Dragon Valley». Whichever path they chose, after that is

the central city Aarun, and then the world tree.

"Do they want to raid the world tree?"

Hearing Lyfa's question, the man shook his head.

"No way. We are still recovering from the previous complete

defeat. The minimum is to equip the army with ancient weapon rank

equipment so we are saving money. For that reason our normal

routine is very harsh. Even so we only acquired half the target amount

of money."

"Oh?"

"Well, that's all I know. Is what you said earlier true?"

The second part he asked Kirito.

"I never lie about a trade."

The Spriggan youth operated the trade window. The Salamander

looking at the list of items he is getting was very happy and moved his

fingers around.

Lyfa looked at the man with a stunned expression and asked:

"Hey you, these were all your companions' equipment right?

Don't you feel bad?"

After hearing this, the man raised his voice:

"You don't seem to understand. These were those guys'

arrogantly shown off rare items, which increase my pleasure getting

them. Of course it would be bad for me to use them. I will sell them all

and maybe buy a house."

'I will let the heat cool off for a few days before returning to

Salamander Territory.' Leaving those words behind, the Salamander

walked in the direction he came from and was soon out of sight.

It feels like the life and death fight ten minutes before seems like a

lie. Lyfa looked at the already back to normal face of Kirito.

"Eh? What?"

"Ah, well... That rampaging devil from earlier, was Kirito-kun

right?"

Hearing this, Kirito looked up and scratched his chin.

"Yes, most likely."

"Likely? Wasn't that a tactic to deceive the Salamanders and

confuse them with a monster?"

"No, I didn't think that far... it happens to me sometimes. During a

fight, I lose control and can't remember things..."

"Woo ah, scary."

"Well, I somehow remember the battle earlier. I used the magic

Yui suggested, and became very big. Since my sword disappeared, I had

to use my hands..."

"Also with the teeth bite yo ~"

On Lyfa's shoulder, Yui added with pleasure.

"Ah, speaking about that. The experience of being a monster is

fun."

Watching Kirito smile and laugh, Lyfa suddenly wanted to know

something. She gingerly opened her mouth.

"Did you... taste it? The Salamander..."

"...It is something like charred BBQ flavor and texture..."

"Waa, enough, don't say it!"

She waved her hands at Kirito. Suddenly her hand was caught...

"Gaoou!!"

Shouting that, he opened his mouth and closed it on Lyfa's fingers.

"Kyaaaaa———!!"

Lyfa screamed, after that came a Bang sound that made ripples on

the lake surface.

"Ouch, it hurts."

While rubbing his face that got slapped by Lyfa, Kirito slowly

walked.

"That was papa's fault!"

"That's true. You were really rude."

Hearing Lyfa and Yui on her shoulder say so, Kirito looked like a

reprimanded child and argued.

"I was trying to ease the battle tension and pent up energy, with

wit and joke.."

"Next time you do that, I'll cut you."

Lyfa closed her eyes and turned away, speeding up the pace.

In front is a huge stone gate that reached the ceiling. This is the

city gate of the mining town Ruger.

For re-supply and sorting out information, it's best to stay the

night in town. The unexpected large-scale fighting took a lot of time, so

the real time is almost around midnight.

This is now the time that Alfheim starts to get busy, but Lyfa is

still a student, so the latest she can stay in game is 1am. She told Kirito

about this, he considered for a moment then nodded in understanding.

Passing through the gate side by side, instead of BGM, the NPC

orchestra played wonderfully happy drums to greet the arrival of the

two.

The scale of the street is not large, but at the the central

intersection, shops for weapon and armor, all kinds of material, wine,

food and many other types, and workshops all crowded together. The

number of players were more than imagined. Under normal

circumstances, rarely met music fairies (Pucas), blacksmiths goblins

(Leprechaun) and other ethnic groups were here, talking happily sideby-side.

"Oh... So this is Ruger."

Lyfa looked at the first time seen bustling underground city, and

could not help but issue a happy voice. She rushed to the closest shop,

checking out its display of swords. Even in these simple shops, buying

things is a very exciting thing for her.

"By the way..."

While Lyfa started playing with a silver long sword, Kirito behind

her with a laid-back tone said that.

"What?"

"Before the Salamanders attacked, didn't you get a message?

What was it about?"

"...Ah."

Lyfa greatly opened her mouth, and turned around.

"I forgot."

She hurriedly opened the window, and checked the receive

directory. Reading Recon's message again, it still didn't make any sense.

It might have been cut off due to a connection problem, but there didn't

seem to be a continuing message.

In this case, I'll just send him a message, but Recon's name in her

friend list was gray. That means he was offline.

"What? He went to sleep?"

"Try to contact him on the other side?"

Lyfa thought about Kirito's suggestion.

To be honest, Lyfa did not like bringing Alfheim world events into

the real world. She never went to the ALO community site, and she

rarely talked to Recon - that is, Shinichi Nagata about game-related

things in reality.

But that that enigmatic message had a pull on her is true.

"Then, I am going to log off and check it out, Kirito-kun, wait for

me. Please look after my body. ...Yui-chan."

Lyfa then looked at Yui on her shoulder and added.

"Yes?"

"You have to watch your papa; do not let him take advantage of

my body."

"Understood!"

"Hey!"

Kirito shook his head in jest and smiled. Lyfa sat on a nearby

bench and waved her right hand.

She pressed the log out button, and took her fourth world change

of the day. With a feeling of vertigo, her senses returned to the the real

world far away.

"Fuu..."

She hadn't been logged in for such a long time in a while, so it left

her feeling a little fatigued. She took a deep breath.

While wearing the Amuspere, she rolled over on the bed and

looked at the alarm clock. Soon Midori will be home. It's better to meet

with her at least...

While thinking that, she reached for her cell phone on the

headboard. The EL panel on the external of the phone displayed calls

received while she was logged in.

"What is this?"

Suguha's eyes widened. Twelve missed calls, all from Nagata

Shinichi. If a family member, police, hospital or any type of emergency

called, the linkage program through Amuspere would automatically log

out, but Nagata's number was not in that list, so it was ignored. Why

was he calling this late?

She opened the phone, preparing to return the call, but the

thirteenth incoming call lit up her phone with a sapphire blue sheen.

Suguha pressed the call key, and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello, Nagata-kun? What is it?"

"Ah! You've finally come out! It's too late, Suguha-chan!!"

"What do you mean too late? I was busy inside."

"Big trouble! Sigurd! That guy sold us out. Not just us, but the lord,

Sakuya-san, as well. He sold us all out!"

"Sold us out? What do you mean? Explain from the beginning."

"Hmm, there is no time... Well, when we were attacked yesterday

in the Ancient Forest by the Salamanders, Suguha-chan didn't you feel

it was suspicious?"

Nagata returned to his habitual way of calling Suguha. When

talking face-to-face, if he called her the too familiar name of Suguha-

chan, she would always attack him physically. But since she couldn't do

that on the phone, she had to accept it grudgingly.

Saying that, Suguha was surprised that it only happened the day

before. It seemed like a long time ago since she met Kirito.

"Eh? Suspicious? What happened?"

To tell the truth, her impression of Kirito was too strong that she

couldn't remember the aerial combat before.

"In the beginning, when we were attacked by eight Salamanders,

Sigurd wanted to be the bait and led three of them away right?"

"Ah, that reminds me. He didn't manage to escape either right?"

"That's right. But, thinking carefully about it now, that is not

Sigurd's style at all. Whenever the party splits, he always remains as

leader, and makes someone else be the bait, usually ."

"Ah. That is true..."

Sigurd was a capable combat commander, but he was selfrighteous, and was not satisfied unless he was at the top. Indeed, for

him to become bait while the other members escaped, this act of selfsacrifice was unlike his style.

"But, that is, what does it mean?"

"Like I said."

Nagata said like he ate something unpleasant.

"That guy worked with the Salamanders. Probably since a long

time ago."

"What!?"

This shocked her to the core, and she clenched her cell phone

while shouting.

In ALO, power games between ethnic groups were wide spread

and using throw-away accounts for spying was a common occurrence.

She was afraid that in her home, Sylvain, many other races, especially

Salamanders were camouflaged within as Sylphs.

Basically, those players with low skills, little contributions, and

sparse activity were likely to be spies. These people were not allowed

near the power hub department. Lyfa was no exception, it hadn't been

too long since she was allowed to enter the Lord's mansion behind the

Tower of Wind.

But Sigurd had, since the beginning of ALO, actively participated

in politics. In the recent election for the Lordship, he had been a

candidate which proved his long play. Although the current Lord's high

popularity meant he always came up second, he didn't seem to be

upset and became assistant. So he had a big impact on the center of

power.

Talk of him being a Salamander spy, was hard to understand or

believe.

"Hey you, that, do you have proof?"

Suguha asked in surprise.

"I thought something was strange, so since this morning I used

«Hollow» to follow Sigurd."

"You really have a lot of time."

«Hollow Body» was Recon's most adept transparency spell. It

required high hiding magic and covert action to be mastered to use.

Recon used the name of the English letters «Recon» to refer to the

U.S. military reconnaissance team - the correct pronunciation should

be similar to RIIKON, it seemed. Due to his role as the lead tracker in

hunting, he was the best of the best at tracking. Once, Recon had used

his spell to enter the room Lyfa was resting in, he had claimed that it

had been to secretly place her birthday present there, but in the end

she had made him confess and Lyfa had mercilessly punished him

almost to death.

Nagata ignored Suguha's incredulous words and continued.

"After hearing the bad things he said to you in the tower of wind, I

followed him looking for a chance to assassinate him with poison.

Then..."

"Wow, what a dangerous guy."

"...In front of an ally, he put on an invisibility cloak and

disappeared. So he's finally up to something, I thought. Well, just using

an item can't hide him from my eyes."

"Enough boasting. Hurry up and talk about what happened next."

"After going into the sewers, and walking about five minutes,

there were two people waiting for him. They were also dressed in

invisibility cloaks, and when they took them off I was surprised they

were Salamanders!"

"Eh? But even wearing those cloaks can't hide them from the

guardians. They would be attacked when they entered the street... It

can't be..."

"That, it can. They were wearing «Pass Medallion»."

Pass Medallions were for traders and people of other races who

come into our territory, and were given those as a pass after a strict

examination. Only the ruling ministry could issue those and they

couldn't be transferred to another person. Of course Sigurd had the

rights to issue them.

"I thought this was a big scoop so I listened. He told the

Salamander to put a Tracer on you. But that's not all. Today, Lord

Sakuya and the Cait Sith are going to sign alliance agreements, so she

left in maximum secrecy for a neutral city."

"Ah I see, no wonder there was no flag hanging at the lord's

mansion."

Nagata's loud cries covered Suguha's mutter.

"That guy, Sigurd, he wanted the Salamanders' big army to attack

the alliance ceremony!"

"Wha..."