The Black Swordsman

"Please…don't leave me here all alone, Pina…"

Two tears trickled down Silica's cheeks, dripped, and landed

on the large feather lying on the ground. The drops sprinkled into

tiny motes of light.

That pale blue feather was the only remaining memento of her

familiar Pina, the only friend and partner she'd known for many

months. Just a few minutes ago, Pina had died, bravely protecting her master. The monster's weapon had delivered the final

blow, and Pina had given a single, lonely cry, then shattered like

ice. Just one long feather remained, the feather she so cheerily

flapped whenever called…

Silica was a beast-tamer, a class not often seen in Aincrad. Past

tense "was" being the key word. The familiar that served as proof

of her occupation was now gone.

Even the term "beast-tamer" was not an official class or skill

within the game, merely a nickname thrown around by the player

population.

It is possible, if extremely rare, for the monsters of the game to

display friendly curiosity in battle, rather than open aggression.

With a quick offering of bait, you can successfully tame the monster, turning it into a very helpful familiar. Those lucky players

who managed to snag their own familiars were called "beasttamers" out of both admiration and jealousy.

Of course, you can't tame every single monster in the game.

Only a few species of small-animal types are eligible. There are

other factors involved that no one is entirely sure of, but one

thing seems clear: You can't tame a monster if you've killed too

many of its kind.

Upon examination, this makes the process extraordinarily difficult. If you specifically seek out a species for taming, they'll typically be antagonistic, which makes battle unavoidable. In other

words, being a successful beast-tamer means encountering many

individual monsters but running away at the very first sign of aggression. It's hard to imagine how tricky and tiresome that can

get.

In that sense, Silica was unbelievably lucky.

Without any preparation or knowledge of the system, she'd descended on a random floor, wandered into a forest without a particular reason, and found that the very first monster she happened across was friendly. When she pulled out a bag of nuts

she'd bought the previous day and tossed it to the creature, it just

so happened to be its favorite food.

It was a Feathery Dragon, a tiny species covered in a down-like

pale blue fur, with two large feathers in place of a tail. This type of

monster was already quite rare. Silica was apparently the first to

ever tame one, and she caused quite a stir when she walked back

into Frieven, her hometown on the eighth floor, with the dragon

perched upon her shoulder. Numerous players headed out in

search of Feathery Dragons of their own based on her information, but no reports ever surfaced of another successful taming.

Silica named the little dragon Pina, after her cat back in the

real world.

Familiars were typically not very powerful fighters, and Pina

did not stray from the standard, but she did have several other

useful abilities. She could search for monsters in the vicinity and

heal small amounts of her master's HP, which immediately made

hunting dramatically much easier. But most delightful of all to

Silica was the warmth and comfort Pina brought to life in Aincrad.

The AI routines for familiars were not particularly advanced.

They couldn't speak, of course, and only understood about ten

different commands. But the salvation Pina gave to Silica—

trapped in the closed world of Sword Art Online at just age

twelve, crushed with fear and loneliness—was impossible to put

into words. Only with her new partner was Silica ready to begin

her adventure—to begin her life itself in SAO.

In the year since then, Silica and Pina had both grown in experience. Silica learned to use daggers and even gained some notoriety as a high-level player in the middle floors of Aincrad.

She was still inferior to the top fighters working at the front

line, but out of the seven thousand surviving players, the few

hundred "clearers" working the highest floors were a rare sight,

even rarer than a beast-tamer. So it came to be that among the

crowded middle floors, Silica earned a spot as one of the famed

celebrities of the game.

Given the major lack of female players and her surprisingly

young age, it didn't take long for "Silica the Dragonmaster" to

make a legion of fans. It's hard to blame a thirteen-year-old girl

for getting a little carried away, what with the never-ending

stream of invitations from parties and guilds hoping to capitalize

on her fame. But ultimately, that pride led her to commit a terrible mistake, one that no amount of regret could undo.

It started with a simple argument.

Silica joined a party she'd been invited to two weeks earlier, to

adventure into a wooded region on the thirty-fifth floor known as

the "Forest of Wandering." The actual frontier at this point was

far above, on the fifty-fifth floor, so this region had been cleared

long ago. But the top swordsmen only had eyes for the labyrinth

of each floor, and thus the sub-dungeons such as the Forest of

Wandering were left untouched for the mid-level players to

tackle.

Silica's six-man party was full of experienced fighters, and

their daylong expedition was a fruitful one. Monsters were slain,

treasure chests found, and many col looted from the forest. As the

first signs of evening settled in, the group was running low on

healing potions, so they decided to call it a day and head back to

town. The other female in the group, who brandished a long, thin

spear, gave Silica what seemed to be a competitive admonishment.

"When we get back, we'll split up the items we found. But

since your lizard heals you already, you don't need any heal crystals, I assume."

Silica immediately snapped back, on the defensive.

"And you were just wandering around on the back line not

doing anything, so you don't have any use for crystals, anyway."

The argument only got worse, and the leader's attempts to intervene were sadly futile. Silica finally reached her breaking point

and snapped, "I don't need your stupid items. I'm not working

with you anymore. There are plenty of other parties who want me

there!"

And ignoring the leader's pleas for her to stick with the group

until they'd at least left the forest and returned to town, Silica

stomped off down a different path, steaming in anger.

Having mastered about 70 percent of the Dagger skills and

bolstered by Pina's help, Silica wasn't particularly troubled with

the monsters of the thirty-fifth floor, even working alone. It

shouldn't have been hard for her to dispatch any foes on her way

back to town…if she hadn't gotten lost.

The Forest of Wandering wasn't named without reason, after

all.

The dungeon was split into several hundred minor areas like a

board game, massive trees towering on all sides. One minute after

someone entered a new area, the exits to the adjacent areas—

north, south, east, west—would switch to a random configuration.

Therefore, traversing the forest meant zipping through each area

in less than a minute or buying an expensive map item in town

that showed the proper route.

Only the sword-and-shield-bearing leader of the group had a

map, and within the Forest of Wandering, teleport crystals would

take you not back to town but to a random area within the forest.

This meant that Silica's only option was to try dashing through

the dungeon as quickly as possible. What she didn't count on was

how difficult it actually was to speed down the path as it twisted

and curved, tree roots leaning out to trip passersby.

She should have been going straight north. But after a few instances of the clock hitting time just before she left an area, sending her in a totally different direction, Silica began to grow weary.

The sunset was a deeper shade of red, and the more she hurried

to escape the growing dusk, the worse her progress.

Eventually, Silica gave up on running and clung to the hope

that her path would take her to the edge of the forest at some

point. But Lady Luck was not kind to her. Monsters closed in on

her as she traveled, and although she was well equipped for them

in terms of level, the darkening surroundings made her footing

unsteady. Even with Pina's help, it was impossible to escape battle unharmed, and soon she was out of both healing potions and

her emergency healing crystals.

Pina seemed to sense Silica's unease and lighted on her shoulder with a trilling krururu, rubbing Silica's cheek with her tiny

head. As she stroked her partner's long neck, Silica regretted the

anger and impatience that had put her into this predicament.

She began to silently pray to God as she walked.

I'm so sorry. I'll never think of myself as special again.

Please, just let the next warp take me outside of the forest.

She stepped into the wavering teleport zone as she prayed.

After a brief bout of dizziness, she saw…the same old forest, deep

and foreboding. It was dark beyond the trees, and there was no

sign of the meadow that surrounded the forest.

Disappointed, she began to walk again—when Pina suddenly

raised her head.

Kyuru!

It was a warning. Silica quickly drew her short sword from its

scabbard, readying herself in the direction Pina was looking.

A few seconds later, a deep growl emerged from the shadows

of a large, mossy tree. Silica focused on the spot, and a yellow

cursor popped into being. It was more than one. Two…no, three.

They were Drunk Apes, some of the strongest monsters to be

found in the Forest of Wandering. Silica bit her lip.

Still…

In terms of her level, it shouldn't have been that difficult.

When mid-level players like Silica took to the wilderness, they

typically played it cautious, leaving themselves a wide safety margin. They wanted to be strong enough that even if surrounded by

five monsters, they could handle them all without needing healing items.

The mid-level players had different reasons for adventuring

than the top fighters who strove to complete the game. They did it

to raise the col necessary to lead their daily lives, to level enough

to maintain their status as middle-class players, and to stave off

boredom. None of those reasons was important enough to risk

dying in real life. In fact, there were still more than a thousand

people down in the Town of Beginnings who had never left, because they refused to expose themselves to any amount of danger

that might raise their chances of dying.

On the other hand, periodic income was required to afford

meals and a bed to sleep in, and there was the chronic unease

that all MMO players felt when they sensed they were distinctly

below average within the game. So after a year and a half in SAO,

it was now common practice for a majority of the players to venture out into the wilderness here and there and enjoy a good adventure, albeit under very safe conditions.

Because of that, Silica the Dragonmaster shouldn't have had

any difficulty with three Drunk Apes, even if they were the most

powerful monsters on the thirty-fifth floor. Shouldn't have.

Silica lashed her tired mind into alertness and readied her

blade. Pina floated off of her shoulder and took a battle position.

The large ape-men emerged from the shadow of the trees, covered in dark red fur. They held crude clubs and jugs that looked

like gourds wrapped with rope.

The apes raised their clubs and roared, displaying their canines, but Silica darted first, determined to seize the initiative.

She started with Rapid Bite, a mid-level charging Dagger skill,

then led into a rapid combination attack that overwhelmed her

target.

The Drunk Apes could only use low-level Mace skills, and

while they hit hard, the speed and complexity of their combos

were trivial. Silica struck quickly and precisely, then leaped aside

to dodge the return blows. After several rounds of this hit-andrun tactic, the first ape's HP bar was significantly shorter. At regular intervals, Pina would breathe out bubbles that disoriented

the foes.

But just before she was about to finish off the first ape-man

with her fourth attack—the combo Fad Edge—a new enemy instantaneously switched in from her target's right. Silica was

forced to change tactics, and she began work on this second ape.

Her original target backed away and seemed to be drinking something from the gourd it held.

And then, out of the corner of her eye, Silica was shocked to

notice the first Drunk Ape's HP bar refilling rapidly. Apparently,

whatever the liquid contained within its gourd was, it had healing

properties.

Silica had fought Drunk Apes once before on the thirty-fifth

floor. There were two of them, and she'd had little trouble. She'd

eliminated them before they could try switching out, so she'd

never known about this particular ability of theirs. She gritted her

teeth and reapplied herself to the second ape, determined to finish this one before it could escape.

But after a fierce rush that sent the monster's HP bar into the

red zone, she stepped back in preparation for her finishing blow,

and the third ape stepped into the gap. At this point, the first ape

was practically back to full health.

This wasn't going well. The taste of impatience flooded her

mouth.

Silica actually had very little experience fighting monsters

solo. The level-based safety margin was just a numerical buffer,

but a player's actual skill was a different matter altogether. Silica's impatience slowly began to transform into panic. Her attacks

missed more and more, opening the door for enemy counters.

When she had beaten the third ape down to half health, Silica

overreached, trying to string too many combos together. The ape

did not miss her brief period of paralysis and connected with a

critical blow.

The club was a crude tool of carved wood, but its weight and

the Drunk Ape's strength stat augmented the damage done, carving away nearly a third of her HP in a single shot. A chill ran

down her back.

The fact that she was out of healing potions only made Silica's

panic worse. Pina could only recover a tenth of Silica's total HP

with her healing breath, and it wasn't an ability Pina could use

often. Even accounting for that healing, another three hits like

that would kill her.

Death. Once that specter loomed over her mind, Silica couldn't

help but falter. She couldn't raise her arms. She couldn't move

her legs.

Until this point, battle had been a thrilling experience, something far removed from any real danger. It had never truly occurred to her that actual death could result from it.

As she helplessly watched the Drunk Ape tower over her, roaring with its club brandished high, Silica finally came to understand battle against the monsters of SAO. The truth behind the

paradox: This might be a game, but it's not something you play.

With a low growl, the ape dropped its club onto Silica, who

was standing stock-still. She fell to the ground, unable to withstand the shock. Her HP bar shot sideways, plunging into the yellow warning zone.

She couldn't summon a single thought. Get up and run away.

Use a teleport crystal. Silica had a number of options, but she

couldn't bring herself to do anything but watch as the club approached for a third time.

The clumsy weapon glowed red, and just as she was about to

reflexively close her eyes…

A small shadow leaped in front of the club in midair. There

was a heavy, percussive thud. Visual effects and blue feathers flew

outward, and a tiny HP bar shrank to its left edge.

Pina was crushed on the ground. She raised her head, looking

up at Silica with round blue eyes. She let out a small kyuru…and

exploded into glittering polygonal shards. One of her long tail

feathers floated through the air to settle on the ground.

Something within Silica audibly snapped. The invisible

threads that held her captive were gone. Before the sadness, she

felt rage. Rage at herself for letting a single blow drive her to

panic and paralysis. But more importantly, rage at herself for

throwing a fit over a silly fight, and being arrogant enough to

think she could escape the forest on her own.

Silica nimbly leaped backward, evaded the monster's next

swipe, then tore into the beast with a roar of her own. Her dagger

flashed again and again, tearing into the ape-man.

Upon seeing its fellow taking critical damage, the first Drunk

Ape tried to butt in again. Silica stopped its club with her left

hand, not bothering to evade. Her HP did drop, but not as much

as if it had hit her directly. Silica ignored the ape. She only had

eyes for the third, the one who'd killed Pina.

She used her small size to slip inside the enemy's defense, driving her dagger into the ape-man's chest with all of her strength.

With a splashy effect signaling a critical hit, the enemy's hit

points were gone. It screamed, exploded.

As the shards flew around her, Silica turned and silently

charged her new target. Her health gauge was already in the red

danger zone, but she wasn't even cognizant of it anymore. Only

the enemy she needed to kill filled her narrowing vision.

Just as she was engaging in a reckless charge beneath the

downward trajectory of a club, all thoughts of death forgotten—

A horizontal white light lashed out and struck the two Drunk

Apes from behind.

Instantly, their bodies were split into upper and lower halves.

First one, then the other, burst into flying fragments.

Silica stood in disbelief, then saw that a single man was standing behind the evaporating pieces. His hair and coat were black.

He wasn't all that tall, but his entire body seemed to emit a

predatory intensity. Silica stumbled backward in instinctive fear.

Their eyes met.

But his gaze was gentle, and as deep as the night. He slid his

sword into the scabbard over his back with an audible ching, then

opened his mouth to speak.

"…Sorry I couldn't save your friend…"

At the tremor of his voice, the last strength from Silica slipped

away. The tears flooded out one after the other, unstoppable. Her

dagger fell out of her hand, clattering on the ground. But Silica

worried only for the unmoving blue feather and fell to her knees

before it.

As the white-hot rage that had gripped her faded away, sadness and loss filled its place deep in her chest. That in turn led to

tears, which spilled down her cheeks without end.

The AI programming for familiars wasn't supposed to contain

routines in which the creature actively attacked enemy monsters.

Which meant that when Pina darted into the path of the oncoming club, it was an act of personal will, a sign of the friendship

that had built up between the two over the last year.

Her hands on the ground, Silica choked out the words between

sobs.

"Please…don't leave me all alone, Pina…"

But the pale blue feather gave no response.

2

"I'm sorry," the swordsman in black said again. Silica desperately

blinked back tears and shook her head.

"…No…It's my fault…I was stupid. Thank you…for saving

me…"

She had to squeeze out the words between stifled sobs. The

man slowly approached, knelt before Silica, and spoke hesitantly.

"About that feather…Does it have a designated item name?"

Silica raised her head, confused by this unexpected question.

She rubbed the tears away and looked at the pale blue feather

again, concentrating hard.

Now that she thought about it, it seemed strange that just one

feather was left behind. When things died in SAO, whether monsters or players, they disappeared entirely, from equipment to

items. Silica extended a trembling hand, then tapped the feather

with her pointer finger, like clicking a mouse. A translucent window appeared, listing the weight and name of the item.

PINA'S HEART.

Just before Silica could burst into tears again, the man hurriedly butted in.

"W-wait, wait. If her heart item is left behind, there's a possibility you can revive her."

"Huh?"

Silica snapped to attention. She looked up into his face, mouth

half open.

"It's not common knowledge, since it was only just recently

discovered. On the south end of the forty-seventh floor, there's an

outdoor dungeon called the Hill of Memories. It's actually pretty

difficult for a pleasant name like that, though…Anyway, there's a

flower that grows on the top of the hill, and it's supposed to resurrect famil—"

"R-really?!" Silica shrieked, hopping to her feet before he

could finish. A light of hope was shining on her heart once again,

which moments ago had been plunged into mourning. But…

"…The forty-seventh floor…"

Her shoulders slumped. That was twelve floors above, well out

of her safe range. Just as she looked back to the ground dejectedly, the man murmured and put a hand to his head.

"Hmm…For travel cost and a bit extra, I could go get it for you.

The problem is, I hear the flower won't bloom unless the beasttamer who's lost her familiar goes there herself…"

Silica smiled at the surprising kindness of his words.

"It's okay. I'm grateful for the information. As long as I work

hard and level up, I'm sure someday…"

"It's not that easy. You only get three days after the familiar

has died to bring it back. Once you reach that point, the item

name goes from Heart to Memento…"

"What? No!" Silica shouted.

Her current level was 44. If SAO was a typical RPG, it would

be balanced so that the floor number corresponded with the

player level best suited for it. But given the permanent conse-

quences for dying, you wanted to be a good ten levels above your

current floor.

Which meant that if she was going to the forty-seventh floor,

she'd need to be level 55 at the lowest. But it was simply impossible to gain more than ten levels in three days—two, if she was giving herself enough time to actually get to the hill with the flower.

Silica was very diligent in her adventuring, and it had taken her

an entire year to reach her current state.

Silica slumped to the ground in despair once again. She picked

up Pina's feather and with both hands, she cradled it to her chest.

She rued her stupidity and helplessness, and the tears came

again.

Somewhere above, she heard the man rising to his feet. She

wanted to thank him again before he left but didn't have the

willpower to open her mouth.

Instead, a shining, translucent system window popped into

view: a trade prompt. She looked up to see that he was manipulating the same window above. Various items were appearing in

the trading list: Silverthread Armor, Ebon Dagger…She had never

seen any of them before.

"Um—" she started, but the man cut her off bluntly.

"This equipment should give you a boost worth five or six levels. If I go with you, we'll probably manage."

"Wha…"

Silica just stood there, mouth open. She stared at him, uncertain of his intentions. The system recognized her focus and

brought up a green cursor to the upper right of his face, but in

typical SAO fashion, it only displayed a simple HP bar—no name

or level.

It was hard to guess his age. The commanding presence of his

trim blacks, coupled with a relaxed manner, spoke of someone

much older, but the eyes hidden behind his long bangs were

naive, and the feminine roundness of his face suggested adolescence. Silica summoned the courage to ask.

"Why…are you doing all of this for me…?"

She was wary above all else. Much older men had approached

Silica on several occasions, and one had even proposed to her. At

age thirteen, this meant nothing but terror to Silica. She'd never

even gotten a love letter from a classmate at school.

Eventually, Silica learned to avoid male players who seemed to

have ulterior motives, and it was common knowledge that any

deal in Aincrad that appeared too good to be true, probably was.

He scratched his head again, searching for the right answer.

He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. Looking away,

he finally muttered, "Well, this isn't some comic book…so if you

promise not to laugh, I'll tell you why."

"I won't laugh."

"You look…like my little sister."

It was such a silly reason that Silica couldn't help but burst

into giggles. She tried to cover her mouth, but it wasn't enough to

stop them from escaping.

"Y-you said you wouldn't laugh…"

He slumped his shoulders and sulked, a pained expression on

his face. That just made her laugh harder.

He's not a bad person after all…

It was while Silica was stifling her giggling that she decided it

was worth a shot to trust the man's good intentions. She was al-

ready prepared to die. She had nothing else to lose, and this was

her only chance to revive Pina.

She gave him a slight incline of the head and said, "Thank you

for your help. First you saved my life, and now this…"

Silica looked down at the window and entered all of her col

into the trade margin. There were more than ten pieces of equipment on his side, and they all seemed to be rare items you

couldn't buy elsewhere.

"Um, I realize this is nowhere near enough for all of those…"

"Nah, I don't need the money. These are all leftovers, and it

sort of fits the reason I came here, anyway," he muttered mysteriously. He hit the OK button without accepting the gold.

"Thank you…This is all too much. Um, my name is Silica."

Just a little bit, she was expecting him to be surprised at the

name—"You're that Silica?!"—but it seemed he hadn't heard of

her. For a second she was disappointed, and then she reminded

herself that being conceited was what had gotten her into this

mess.

The man nodded, then extended a hand.

"I'm Kirito. Guess we're working together for a bit."

She grabbed his hand, and they shook.

The man named Kirito pulled a map of the Forest of Wandering out of the pouch hanging off his waist, checked to see which

direction the exit of the forest was, and started walking. Silica

trotted after him, putting Pina's feather to her lips and silently reassuring it.

Just wait, Pina. I'll bring you back, I swear…

The main city of the thirty-fifth floor was a pastoral farm town,

full of houses with white walls and red roofs. It wasn't that large

of a place, but it was currently a hotbed of mid-level player activity, so it was swarming with people.

Silica considered Frieven to be her hometown, down on the

eighth floor. But since she didn't have the money to actually buy a

home there, it was really no different from buying inn rooms on

any other floor. The biggest difference was the taste of the food

served by the NPC proprietors, and Silica found this cook's

cheesecake to her liking. She'd been in town for two weeks before

finally starting on the Forest of Wandering.

Silica walked down the large avenue to the teleport square

with Kirito in tow, looking around curiously. Soon, players she

recognized began calling out to her. Word had gotten around that

she was unaffiliated again, and the party invitations were flowing.

"U-um, I appreciate the interest, but…" Silica did her best to

politely decline the offers, then glanced to the side at Kirito. "I'll

be in a party with him for a little while."

The disgruntled crowd protested, then shot suspicious looks at

her new partner.

Silica had seen his ability for herself, but his unassuming looks

and reserved manner did not currently project an aura of

strength to the crowd.

He wasn't even equipped with any expensive-looking gear—he

wore no visible armor, just an old, faded leather coat over his

shirt. A single sword was slung over his back. Not even a shield.

"Hey, you." A tall man with a greatsword who was the most

persistent of her suitors approached Kirito and looked down on

him. "I haven't seen you around before, and I don't appreciate

your cutting in line. We've been after her for ages."

"That said…that's just the way the cards fall sometimes, you

know…?"

Kirito scratched his head, uncomfortable with the attention.

Silica turned to the accoster, slightly disappointed that Kirito

hadn't given him more of an argument.

"Um, I asked him to join me. Sorry!"

She bowed deeply one more time, then grabbed the sleeve of

Kirito's coat and walked away briskly. The men waved longingly

after her, announcing they'd send more messages. She cut across

the teleport square and down the main street, which stretched

northward.

Once the crowd of players was no longer in sight, Silica gave a

sigh of relief and looked up at Kirito.

"I-I'm sorry about all of that."

"No worries." Kirito grinned at her, as if to show it didn't

bother him in the least. "I didn't realize you were so popular, Miss

Silica."

"Just call me Silica. And I'm not…They're just inviting me to

be their mascot, to make them look better. And…I let that attention get to my head…and wound up alone in the forest…and that's

when…"

Thoughts of Pina brought back the tears.

"It'll be all right," Kirito said, perfectly calm. "We're going to

bring Pina back. Don't worry about it."

Silica wiped away her tears and smiled at him. Oddly enough,

she couldn't help but believe him.

Eventually, a two-story building much larger than the others

came into view on the right side of the street. It was the Weathervane, Silica's inn of choice. Suddenly, she realized that she'd

brought Kirito here without checking with him first.

"Oh, um…where is your home, Kirito?"

"I always stay on the fiftieth floor…but it'd be a pain to go

back, so I'll just stay here for the night."

"Great!" Silica clapped her hands. "The cheesecake here is fantastic."

But just as she was pulling Kirito into the inn, a group of four

or five people emerged from the item shop next door. It was the

party she'd been working with for the previous two weeks. The

men in front headed toward the square, oblivious, but the woman

in the back just happened to turn around, and Silica looked

straight into her eyes out of reflex.

"…!"

It was the very last person she wanted to see: the spearwoman

she'd squabbled with, leading to her breakup with the party in the

Forest of Wandering. She hid her face and tried to sneak into the

inn without comment.

"Oh, is that Silica?"

She had no choice but to stop now.

"…Hello again."

"Well well, you made it out of the forest. How fortunate of

you."

The woman with flashy red curls of hair, whose name was

something like Rosalia, chuckled with a sneer.

"No use crawling back to us now, though. We already divvied

up the items."

"I told you I didn't want any! Excuse me, I'm busy."

She tried to cut the conversation off short, but the woman

wouldn't let her go. When she noticed the empty space on Silica's

shoulder, a nasty leer crossed her lips.

"Oh? What happened to your little lizard?"

Silica bit her lip. A familiar couldn't be placed in item storage

or kept elsewhere. If she didn't see Silica's friend around, there

was only one explanation. Rosalia knew that, of course, but she

played dumb, a smile sneaking across her lips.

"Uh-oh, does that mean what I think it does…?"

"She died…but—!" Silica glared at the spearwoman. "I'm going

to bring Pina back to life!"

Rosalia's smug eyes widened slightly. She gave a soft whistle.

"Oh, so you're going to visit the Hill of Memories. Can you actually handle it at your level?"

"She can," Kirito cut in. He stepped forward, swinging his coat

in front of Silica. "It's not that hard of a dungeon."

Rosalia gave Kirito an appraising look, and her red lips twisted

into another sneer.

"Oh, did she lure you into working with her, too? You don't

look all that tough."

Silica was shaking with helpless anger. She hung her head, trying to fight back tears.

"Let's go." Kirito put a hand on her shoulder and guided her

into the inn.

"Good luck, I guess." Rosalia chuckled after them, but they

didn't turn around.

The first floor of the Weathervane was one large restaurant.

Kirito sat Silica at a table in the back, then went up to the NPC at

the desk. He checked them in, clicking the menu above the

counter, then returned.

When he sat back down across from her, Silica prepared to

apologize for that bit of unpleasantness, too. But Kirito held up a

hand to stop her, and he was smiling.

"Let's get something to eat first."

The waiter came by at that moment with two steaming mugs.

They were filled with a curiously scented red liquid.

Kirito gave a toast to the formation of their new party, and Silica took a sip of the hot beverage.

"…Tasty…"

The spiced scent and sweetly sour flavor reminded her of the

hot wine her father had let her taste ages ago. But Silica had tried

every drink on the menu during her two-week stay and didn't re-

member this particular flavor.

"What is this?"

Kirito gave her a wry smile. "NPC restaurants let you bring in

your own bottles. This is an item of mine called Ruby Ichor. A cup

of it will raise your agility stat by one."

"B-but that must be so valuable…"

"Hey, keeping liquor stuffed in your inventory doesn't make it

taste better with age. Besides, I don't know many people, so there

are few occasions to open it up…"

He shrugged theatrically. Silica giggled and took another sip.

The strangely familiar flavor seemed to loosen her heart,

shrunken and hard after a day of much sadness.

Even after the cup was empty, she kept it clutched to her chest,

trying to savor its warmth. She looked down at the table and muttered, "Why…would she say such awful things…?"

Kirito's face turned serious. He put down his cup.

"Have you played any other MMOs aside from SAO?"

"It's my first."

"I see. Well, lots of people change personalities when they take

on a new character in an online game. Some turn good, some turn

evil…That's the basis for the term role-playing game, see. But I

think things are different with SAO."

His eyes hardened for an instant.

"I mean, even trapped here…I do realize it's impossible for

every single player in the game to work together toward the goal

of clearing. But even then, there are far too many who delight in

the misfortunate of others, those who steal…even those who kill

others."

Kirito stared right into Silica's eyes. Within the rage, she could

see the color of an intense sadness.

"I think those who commit evil here are the ones who are truly

sick in real life," he spat. But then he noticed the intimidated look

on Silica's face and apologized with a smile.

"Then again, I don't have much room to talk. I'm not out there

saving people left and right. I've even abandoned my partners to

die before…"

"Kirito…"

Silica realized dimly that the black swordsman before her had

to be harboring some incredible anguish. She wanted to share her

sympathy but cursed her shallow vocabulary for not having the

words she sought. Instead, she found herself grabbing his fist on

top of the table with both hands.

"You are a good person, Kirito. You saved me."

He tried to pull his hands back briefly, surprised, but stopped

just as quickly. A gentle grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"And now I'm the one being cheered up. Thanks, Silica."

In that instant, Silica felt a painful throb deep in her chest.

Her heart began beating faster for no apparent reason. Her face

was hot. She hastily let go of Kirito's hand, then clutched hers to

her breast. But that deep ache would not disperse.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, leaning over the table. She

shook her head vigorously, trying to summon a smile.

"I-it's nothing! I'm just hungry."

Once they'd finished dining on stew and black bread with cheesecake for dessert, it was already past eight o'clock. They decided it

was best to get an early rest before tomorrow's visit to the fortyseventh floor, so they headed up the Weathervane's stairs. A long

procession of doors lined the wide hallway.

Kirito's room just happened to be next to Silica's. They looked

to each other once more in tandem, and, laughing, said good

night.

Before she changed into her nightwear, Silica decided to practice some combos with the new dagger Kirito had given her. She

tried to focus solely on the extra weight of this unfamiliar

weapon, but the throbbing pulse in her chest wouldn't leave her

alone.

Despite the distraction, she eventually managed to pull off a

five-hit combo without a mistake. Silica opened her window and

unequipped her gear, then flopped into the bed in just her underwear. She smacked the wall to call the pop-up menu, then turned

out the lights.

She thought she'd sink right to sleep, given her fatigue, but for

some reason, that relief did not come.

Every night since she'd become friends with Pina, she'd slept

cradling that warm, fluffy body. Now her bed felt large and

empty. After endless rolling back and forth, Silica finally gave up

and rose to a sitting position. She looked at the wall on the left

that separated her room from Kirito's.

I want to talk to him some more.

She was slightly alarmed at the realization. She'd only known

him for half a day, and he was a boy. She'd always been careful

not to get too close to them, so what made this enigmatic swordsman any different? Silica couldn't explain how her own mind

worked.

She glanced at the lower right-hand corner of her vision to see

that it was nearly ten o'clock now. The footsteps of players passing through the street below her window had died out, and the

only sound from outside was the distant howling of a dog.

That would be silly. I should just go to sleep.

But contrary to her thought process, Silica silently slipped out

of her bed. I'll just knock real quietly, she told herself. She

checked her equipment menu and put on the cutest tunic she

owned.

A few steps into the candle-lit hallway, she hesitated before his

door. Many moments later, Silica finally raised her right hand

and gave two hesitant knocks.

By default, all doors in the game are completely soundproof

and do not let voices in or out. The only exception is within thirty

seconds of a knock, and Kirito's response came almost immediately. The door opened.

Kirito had taken off his equipment and was wearing a simple

shirt. His eyes grew wide when he saw her.

"Is something wrong?"

"Um…"

Silica panicked, just now realizing that she had no good excuse

for coming over. Saying that she "wanted to talk" was just too

childish to admit.

"Um, well, uhh…you see…I w-wanted to ask about the fortyseventh floor!"

Fortunately, he accepted her reason without further question.

"Oh, sure. Want to go downstairs, then?"

"Well, actually, I was hoping to talk in your room," she answered automatically, then hastily added, "b-because we wouldn't

want anyone overhearing that valuable information!"

"Uh…well…that's true, but…"

Kirito scratched his head uncomfortably but finally muttered,

"Okay then," and opened the door wide to let her in.

His room was exactly the same as hers: The bed was on the

right, and a single tea table and chair were on the other side of it.

There were no other fixtures in the room. The lantern built into

the left-hand wall was giving off an orange light.

Kirito gave Silica the chair and sat on the bed, then opened his

menu. He produced a small box with familiar ease.

The box contained a small crystal ball. It glinted with the light

of the lantern.

"It's so pretty…what is it?"

"It's called a Mirage Sphere."

Kirito clicked the sphere with his finger to bring up another

menu. He hit some buttons and pressed OK.

The orb began glowing blue, and a holographic image appeared above it. The picture seemed to be of an entire floor of

Aincrad. The towns and forests were depicted in fine detail, down

to the individual trees. It was nothing like the simple maps you

could view from your system menu.

"Wow…"

Silica was spellbound by the transparent blue terrain. She felt

that if she squinted hard enough, she might even be able to make

out tiny people traveling the roads.

"This is the main town, and here's the Hill of Memories. We

take this path here…but there are some tricky monsters around

this area…"

Kirito pointed out the various features of the forty-seventh

floor with his finger, easily recalling all the pertinent information.

His calm, steady voice filled Silica with a gentle warmth.

"…and once we cross this bridge, the hill will be in sight—"

Suddenly, his voice cut off.

"…?"

"Shh…"

Kirito had a finger to his lips, his face stern. He cast a sharp

glance at the door.

Like a bolt of lightning, he burst off the bed and to the door,

wrenching it open.

"Who's there?!"

Silica heard thumping footsteps racing away. She hurried to

the doorway, sticking her face around the frame beneath Kirito's

body, and saw a figure just before it rushed down the staircase at

the far end of the hall.

"Wh-what…?"

"I think we were overheard…"

"B-but…I thought you couldn't hear voices through doors…"

"If your Eavesdropping skill is good enough, you can. But few

people bother to level it up that high…"

Kirito walked back inside and closed the door. He sat down on

the bed, lost in thought. Silica seated herself next to him, her

arms wrapped around her body. She was plagued by looming unease.

"But why would someone eavesdrop on—"

"I think we'll find out soon enough. Hang on, I'm going to

write a message."

He gave her a dry grin, put away the crystal map, then opened

a message window. His fingers flew over the holo-keyboard.

Silica curled into a ball on the bed behind him. Memories from

her long-lost real life were flooding back. Her father was a freelance news writer. He was always hunched over an ancient computer, tapping the keys with a grimace on his face. She had always

liked watching his working form from behind.

Her fear was gone now. As she gazed at the side of Kirito's

face, Silica was wrapped in a long-forgotten warmth and was

asleep before she knew it.

3

Silica slowly opened her eyes at the sound of the ringing chime in

her ears. The morning alarm was only audible to her. It was seven

o'clock AM.

She pushed the covers off and sat up. Silica was not a morning

person, but she was in a surprisingly good mood today. Her mind

felt cleansed and clear in the way that only a good, deep sleep

could provide.

Yawning widely, she turned to step out of the bed, then

stopped with a jolt.

The morning light streaming through the window illuminated

a sleeping figure, seated on the ground with his top half propped

up against the bed. She was about to scream, thinking it was an

intruder, only to remember where she had fallen asleep last night.

I dozed of in Kirito's room and never left…

With that realization, her face grew as hot as though a monster

were blowing fire breath on it. Knowing the graphical engine of

SAO tended to exaggerate facial emotions, she wouldn't be surprised if actual steam was coming off of her. Kirito must have left

her in the bed as she slept, then decided to take the floor instead.

Silica covered her face with both hands and writhed in embarrassment and guilt.

After half a minute, she collected her thoughts and slipped out

of the bed. Tiptoeing around to the other side, she bent down to

look at him.

The dark swordsman's sleeping face was so unexpectedly

cherubic that Silica had to stifle a giggle. His hard glare made him

seem much older when awake, but right now he didn't look that

far off from her own age.

It was fun to sit there spying on her oblivious prey, but Silica

knew they had more important things to do and gently prodded

his shoulder.

"Kirito, it's morning."

His eyes instantly snapped open, then blinked rapidly for several seconds as he stared at her. His dazed expression suddenly

turned to alarm.

"Oh…s-sorry!" He bowed. "I was going to wake you up, but you

were sleeping so peacefully. I tried to carry you back to your

room, but the door was locked, so…"

The game ensured that it was impossible to break into a room

rented out by another player, so if you weren't on the guest's

friend list, there was no way to force your way inside. Silica hurriedly waved her hands.

"N-no, it's my fault! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hogged your

bed…"

"Don't worry about it. You don't wake up with aches and pains

here, no matter how you fall asleep." Kirito rose to his feet, cracking his neck in seeming contradiction to what he'd just said. He

raised his hands and stretched, then looked down at Silica as

though remembering something.

"Well, first off…good morning."

"Oh! Good morning."

Together, they laughed.

The pair went downstairs to eat a hearty breakfast in preparation

for the Hill of Memories on the forty-seventh floor, then walked

out into the bright sunlight of early morning. The daytime players

who were just getting their daily adventures started and the

nighttime players who were coming home from a long hunt

crossed paths in the street with very different expressions.

They stocked up on potions and the like from the item shop

next to the inn before heading for the teleport gate. Fortunately,

they were able to get there without the pushy suitors from yesterday harassing them. Silica stopped short just before jumping into

the glowing blue portal.

"Oh…I don't know the name of the town on the forty-seventh

floor…"

She was about to bring up her map to recall it when Kirito held

out his hand.

"Don't worry, I'll lead the way."

Hesitantly, she took his hand.

"Teleport: Floria!"

A bright light flashed and swallowed them both. After a momentary tugging sensation, the visual effect wore off, and Silica's

vision was filled with a different explosion of color.

"Wow!" she exclaimed with delight.

The teleport square of the forty-seventh floor was full of

countless flowers. Narrow lanes in four directions framed the

open space, and the rest of the curved plaza was walled off into

large brick flowerbeds overflowing with an infinite array of unfamiliar flora.

"This is incredible…"

"Most people call this floor the Flower Garden. The whole

forty-seventh floor is covered with flowers, not just the town. If

you've got time, there's even the Forest of Giant Flowers on the

north edge."

"Maybe some other time."

Silica smiled at Kirito and bent over a nearby flowerbed. She

stuck her face into a pale flower that resembled a bluebottle and

breathed in its scent.

The flower was exquisitely rendered, with five delicately

veined petals, white stamens, and a light green stalk.

Of course, not every flower in this very flowerbed was so lovingly detailed, to say nothing of the countless plants and buildings that existed throughout Aincrad. The system simply didn't

have the sheer resources required to handle so much detail, no

matter how high-functioning the SAO mainframe was.

To avoid this overload but still provide its players with a feeling of realism, SAO employed a feature called the Detail Focusing

System. If a player showed interest in an object and looked at it

closely, the game would automatically adjust and render the object in finer detail.

When Silica had first heard about that capability, she actually

held herself back from squinting at everything in sight, feeling

guilty about causing extra stress on the system. But here, she was

unable to stop herself, flitting from flower to flower like a bee,

adoring each one in turn.

Once she'd had her fill of the sweet scent, Silica finally stood

up and looked around the plaza again. Most of the people

strolling the narrow paths among the flowerbeds were couples,

hand-in-hand or arm-in-arm, chatting delightedly. So it was one

of those spots. Silica snuck a glance at Kirito, who was standing

idly at her side.

Do we look like the others? she thought, then felt her face explode with heat. Silica tried to hide her embarrassment with a

rousing rallying cry.

"L-let's head out into the fields, then!"

"Uh, sure."

Kirito blinked once but quickly nodded and took off at her

side.

Even past the teleport plaza, the streets of the town were filled

with flowers. Silica thought about her meeting with Kirito yesterday as she strolled through the exploding color. It was impossible

to think that it hadn't even been a full day ago—that's how important the black swordsman had become to her.

She threw a sidelong glance at him, wondering if he felt the

same way, but his face was that same placid mask that defied any

reading. Silica hesitated but eventually spoke.

"Um…do you mind if I ask about your sister, Kirito?"

"Wh-why her, all of a sudden?"

"Well, you said I reminded you of her. So I was curious…"

The topic of the real world was the greatest taboo in Aincrad,

for several reasons. Primarily, there was the fear that if you reinforced the "falseness" of SAO by harkening to the real world, it

might subconsciously loosen one's grasp of the true finality of

death in this world.

But even then, Silica still wanted to know about this sister she

resembled. She wanted to know what he sought from her in return, whether it was to be a surrogate family member or not.

"Well…we weren't really very close," he eventually mumbled.

"She's actually not my sister, but my cousin. She was raised in our

family from birth, for…certain reasons, but she probably doesn't

know the truth. Maybe that's why I've always kind of kept my distance from her. I didn't even like coming face-to-face with her at

home."

He sighed faintly.

"Plus, my grandfather's the strict type. He forced the both of

us to start taking kendo lessons at a nearby dojo when I was

eight, but I could never get into it; I quit after two years. Well, I

got a good whupping for that one…My sister cried her eyes out

and stuck up for me, saying she'd practice hard enough for both

of us. After that I got heavily into computers, and she really did

stick with kendo—she was placing highly in national tournaments

right before Grandpa died. He must have been happy about that…

Anyway, I've always felt inferior to her since then. That just made

me more self-conscious around her…and here I am now."

Kirito stopped for a moment, then looked down at Silica.

"So maybe I helped you because I'm just satisfying my own

needs. I guess I'm doing this out of the guilt I feel toward my sister. Sorry, I know it's weird."

Silica was an only child. She didn't entirely understand the

feelings Kirito mentioned, but she felt she could understand a bit

of what his sister was going through, for some reason.

"I don't think your sister blamed you for what happened. I

mean, you can't work that hard at something without enjoying it.

She must really love kendo," she said, trying to find the right

words as she went along. Kirito grinned.

"All you do is cheer me up…Maybe you're right. I hope you

are."

Silica felt the warmth in her chest begin to spread. She was delighted that he had opened up to her.

Eventually, they reached the southern gate of town. A silvery

arch hung over the path, vines bursting with white flowers twined

over the slender metal frame. The main street continued through

it, into the green hills to the south before vanishing in the spring

haze.

"Well…here's where our adventure starts."

"Yep."

Silica let go of Kirito's arm and pulled herself together before

nodding.

"Between your level and that equipment, none of the monsters

here should be unmanageable for you. But…"

He rummaged in the small pouch fixed to his belt, pulling out

a sky-blue crystal and dropping it in Silica's palm. It was a teleport crystal.

"You never know what might happen out there. If something

unexpected occurs, and I tell you to get out of there, use this crystal to jump back to this town. Got that? Don't worry about me."

"B-but—"

"Just promise me that. I've…lost an entire party before. I don't

want to make that mistake again."

Kirito's face stayed hard, and Silica had no choice but to nod.

He repeated his demand for a promise, then smiled to put her at

ease.

"All right, let's go!"

"Okay!"

Silica grabbed the dagger on her waist and swore inwardly that

she wouldn't panic like she had yesterday. She was going to use

all of her strength to fight.

However…

"Aaaaagh! Wh-what is that?! It's so creepy!!"

Just a few minutes after they'd headed south into the fortyseventh-floor wilderness, they had their first encounter with a

monster.

"Eeeek! Get away from meee!"

A simple description for the unsettling thing that pushed its

way through the tall grass might be a "walking flower." Its dark

green stem was as thick as a human arm, and the countless roots

that split off from the base gripped the ground firmly. Atop the

stem—or torso, if you wanted to call it that—was a huge yellow

sunflower-like head with a gaping, toothy mouth in the middle,

the interior a poisonous shade of red.

Two meaty-looking vines snaked out of the middle of the stem,

suggesting that the monster attacked with its arms and mouth.

The man-eating flower leered widely and lunged at Silica, brandishing its tentacle-like arms. Silica's love of flowers only made

her recoil harder in disgust at the delicate plant's grotesque caricature.

"I said, go away!" She swung her dagger wildly, eyes mostly

closed. Kirito's exasperated assurance soon followed.

"Don't worry, it's super weak. Just aim for the whitish part

right beneath the flower, and—"

"B-but it's so grooooss!"

"You're never going to last if you can't handle this. Some monsters have multiple flowers, some are like giant flytraps, some

have a million slimy tentacles…"

"Yeeeeek!!"

Kirito's descriptions were giving Silica goose bumps. Her panicked sword skill was predictably, woefully inaccurate. In the momentary pause after she unleashed the skill, the flower slipped in

close, wrapping its two vines around her legs and lifting her up

into the air with surprising strength.

"Wu-hah!"

Silica's vision spun upside down, and the system's virtual

gravity callously did its work, sliding her skirt downward over her

belly.

"Gwaaaa!"

She shrieked, extending her left hand to hold the skirt in place

while she swiped out with the right, trying to sever the vine. Her

unfamiliar position made that difficult. Face red with frustration,

Silica finally shrieked for assistance.

"H-help me, Kirito! Don't look, but help me!"

"That's…kind of impossible," he murmured, covering his eyes

with one hand. The giant flower shook her left and right in apparent entertainment.

"W-would you…just…knock it off?!"

Silica removed her hand from her skirt to grab the vine, then

severed it with a slash. She felt herself fall, but the flower's neck

was now in range, so she tried another sword skill. It struck true

this time, and the giant flower head rolled away before the entire

creature exploded. Silica plopped to the ground amid the flying

polygons, then turned to Kirito.

"…Did you see them?"

The swordsman in black peeked at Silica through his fingers.

"…No, ma'am."

After another five encounters, Silica was getting used to the appearance of the monsters, and their progress was much faster.

She did think she was going to pass out when the urchin-like

monster slimed her from head to toe with its tentacles, though.

For the most part, Kirito stayed out of the battles, only stepping in to deflect blows with his sword when Silica was in trouble.

Experience was awarded in proportion to the damage dealt when

fighting with a party. By fighting these high-level monsters and

doing nearly all the work, Silica was gaining EXP at a rapid rate,

and she had already leveled up once.

A ways down the red brick path, they came to a little bridge over a

running brook. On the other side of the bridge was a much larger

hill than the others, and the path wound up it to the top.

"That's the Hill of Memories."

"It doesn't seem to have any branching paths from here, does

it?"

"Nope. Just one straight trail all the way to the top, but they

say you have to fight a considerable number of monsters. Let's be

cautious."

"Got it!"

Soon. Soon Pina would be alive again. Her pace quickened.

As Kirito warned, the encounter rate rose rapidly as they made

their way through the wildly colored flowers up the hill. The

plantlike monsters were bigger than before, but the black dagger

that Kirito gave Silica was stronger than it looked, and one good

combination attack was enough to take down most of their foes.

Speaking of surprises, Kirito also proved to be far more powerful than she'd realized.

She knew that he was at a high level when she first saw him

dispatch two Drunk Apes with a single blow, but they were now

twelve floors higher in Aincrad and he still wasn't breaking a

sweat. When they ran across multiple monsters, he would leave

one and blast the others, returning to supervise Silica seconds

later.

But the stronger he proved to be, the more suspicious she became. What had such a powerful swordsman been doing down on

the thirty-fifth floor? He made it sound like he had some business

in the Forest of Wandering, but she'd never heard of any particularly rare items or monsters emerging from its shadows. She

vowed to ask him when this adventure was over.

The incline grew steeper as they made their way up the hill.

They fought off ever-fiercer foes and wound their way through a

copse of tall trees to see the top of the hill ahead.

"Wowww…"

Without thinking, she rushed forward several steps and raised

a joyous shout.

It was like a field of flowers in the sky. Trees surrounded the

vicinity, but the entirety of the open space was completely full of

beautiful flowers.

"We finally made it, huh," Kirito said as he approached from

the rear, sheathing his sword in the scabbard on his back.

"And is this where…the special flower is…?"

"Yeah. There's a big rock in the middle somewhere, and the

flower's on top of—"

Silica took off running before he could finish. Sure enough, she

could see a shining white boulder in the center of the field. When

she reached the chest-high rock, her breath ragged, she peered

over to see what was on top.

"Huh…?"

There was nothing there. A few small blades of grass peppered

the hollowed-out top of the rock like strings, but there was no

flower to be seen.

"It's not here…Kirito, there's nothing here!" she called out to

him as he reached the rock. The tears came welling up again, unstoppable.

"That can't be right…There, see?"

Silica followed his glance back to the rock to see…

"Ah."

A new bud was stretching upward from the tender grass even

now. The focus system kicked in at her gaze, and the bud sharpened into much finer detail. Two pure white leaves opened like a

clam, and a thin, sharp stem sprouted out from between them.

The plant grew thicker and taller before her eyes like a timelapse video she once watched in science class, and eventually a

large bulb formed at the end. Bizarrely enough, the sparkling

white tear-shaped bulb was emitting a crimson light from within.

As Silica and Kirito held their breaths, the tip of the growth

bulged—and with the chime of a bell, it popped open. Motes of

light danced in the air.

The two were frozen still for a moment, content to gaze upon

the tiny white flower, a delicate miracle unfolding before their

eyes. Seven thin petals opened like starlight, and the gentle glow

from within the flower spilled out, to melt into the air.

Silica looked up at Kirito, unsure if she should really touch

such a beautiful thing. He flashed her an encouraging smile and

nodded slowly.

She returned the gesture and reached out to the flower. The

instant she touched the threadlike stalk, it crumbled as if made of

the thinnest ice, leaving only the glowing flower in her palm.

Holding her breath, she traced the surface with a finger. Silently,

the info window popped open: PNEUMA FLOWER.

"With this…I can bring back Pina…"

"Yep. You just have to sprinkle the dew that builds up inside

the flower onto the heart item. But there are lots of tough monsters around here, so we should probably head back to town be-

fore that. Just a bit more patience, and we'll be back before you

know it. Let's go!"

"Okay!"

She opened her inventory and placed the flower on top. Once

it had shown up in the list, she closed the window.

Silica was dying to use the teleport crystal to return instantly,

but she stifled her impatience and started walking. That crystal

was exorbitantly expensive and for emergencies only.

Fortunately, they met far fewer monsters on the return trip.

Combined with the increased pace of the downward slope, they

were back at the foot of the hill in no time at all.

Another hour on the road to town, and I'll see Pina again…

But just as she was crossing the bridge over the brook for the

second time, her heart leaping in her chest, Kirito's hand came

down on her shoulder from behind. She turned around with a

start to see a stern glare on his face, pointed toward the grove of

trees surrounding the path on the other side of the bridge. He

called out a command in a low, menacing voice.

"Whoever's lying in wait over there, show yourself."

"Huh…?"

Silica hurriedly focused on the grove, but she couldn't see anyone. After a few tense seconds, the leaves rustled. A player cursor

sprang into being—green, so it wasn't a criminal.

To her shock, Silica recognized the figure that appeared.

Hair as red as fire, lips the same shade, black leather armor

that gleamed like enamel, and a thin cross-shaped spear in her

hand—

"R…Rosalia? What're you doing here?!"

Rosalia ignored Silica's bewilderment and simply smirked.

"Your Search skill must be pretty impressive to see through

my Hiding attempt, swordsman. Have I underestimated you?"

It was then that she at last turned to Silica.

"I'm guessing that you succeeded in procuring the Pneuma

Flower, Silica. Congratulations."

Silica took several steps backward, suspicious of Rosalia's motive. She had a bad feeling about this, and a second later, that fear

was confirmed.

"And now, I need you to hand over that flower."

"Wh…what for…?"

Now Kirito stepped forward to speak again. "That's not going

to happen, Rosalia. Or perhaps I should refer to you by your

proper title: leader of the orange guild, Titan's Hand."

Her eyebrows shot upward and the smirk disappeared.

In SAO, players who the system recognized as committing certain crimes—theft, assault, murder—were branded with an orange player cursor rather than green. Because of that, criminals

were called "orange players" and their guilds "orange guilds." Silica was aware of this, but she'd never actually seen one for herself.

"Huh…? But…her cursor is…green…"

"Not everyone in an orange guild is actually orange. The green

members identify their marks in town, slip into parties, then

guide the victims to an ambush point. Our eavesdropper last

night was one of her friends."

"But…oh my God…"

Silica looked at Rosalia, stunned.

"Th-then…the entire two weeks you were in our party, it was

just…"

Rosalia flashed that venomous smile again.

"That's right. I was gauging the strength of the party, waiting

for you to fatten your purses with more gold for the taking. Today

was supposed to be my collection day, but"—she licked her lips

—"I had to change my plans when the most promising part of the

group dropped out, didn't I? And it seems I made the right call.

The Pneuma Flower's quite a rare item, and demand is high.

Good intelligence is worth its weight in gold!"

She stopped there, looking at Kirito, and shrugged.

"And knowing all that, you still went along with her little act.

Are you really that dense? Or did she tempt you with that sweet

young body?"

Silica saw red rage at Rosalia's insult. She was about to draw

her dagger when Kirito grabbed her shoulder.

"Neither." He was still calm. "I've been looking for you, Rosalia."

"And what does that mean?"

"Ten days ago, you attacked the Silver Flags guild on the

thirty-eighth floor. Four of them were killed; only the leader escaped."

"Oh…that penniless lot." She didn't even raise an eyebrow.

"Well, their leader hung around the teleport gate on the latest

floor, tearfully begging anyone who came by to help him get re-

venge."

Kirito's voice was cold now, a sharpened blade of ice that

threatened to cut anything it touched.

"But when I decided to take up his request, he didn't ask me to

kill you. He wanted me to put you and your cohorts into the jail

beneath Blackiron Palace. Can you understand what he's going

through?"

"Not really," Rosalia said, uninterested. "What are you getting

so worked up about, anyway? It's pathetic. There's no proof that

the people you kill here are actually dead. Even if it's true, they

can't try us in court when we get back. And don't get me started

on how silly it is to preach about justice and laws when we don't

even know if we can get back. People like you are the worst—the

ones who bring all their logic with them into a world like this."

Her eyes flashed menacingly.

"So you took that weakling at his word and tracked us down,

did you? You must not have anything better to do. Well, I'll admit

that I took your bait…but what do you think you're going to accomplish, just the two of you?"

A sadistic leer spread across her lips. Twice, she waved her extended finger high in the air.

The next instant, the overgrowth at the sides of the path beyond the bridge rustled wildly as numerous figures emerged from

hiding. Several cursors popped into Silica's view. Nearly all of

them were glowing a malevolent orange. There were ten in all. If

Kirito hadn't noticed the ambush, she would have skipped right

over the bridge and into their trap. The only other green cursor

among all that orange belonged to a man with the exact same

spiky hair she'd seen vanishing around the corner of the inn hallway the previous night.

The ten new bandits were all men wearing outlandish clothes.

They clinked and jangled with a variety of silver accessories. Most

unpleasant of all, they were leering at Silica, their gazes lingering

on her body.

Silica hid behind Kirito's coat, trying to swallow her disgust.

She whispered to him, "There are too many of them, Kirito. We

should teleport!"

"It's all right. Keep your crystal ready, but don't use it until I

give the command," he said calmly, patted her on the head, then

started walking across the bridge. Silica could only stand there. It

was crazy. He was going to get himself killed.

"Kirito!" she shouted after him. The sound rang out across the

field.

"Kirito?" muttered one of the bandits. He stopped smiling, his

brows crinkling together as he looked around, trying to recall a

fragment of information. "That outfit…a one-handed sword with

no shield…the Black Swordsman?"

The man's face turned pale and he scrambled backward several steps.

"I-I-I don't think this is such a good idea, Rosalia. He's a

beater…one of the old beta testers, and a front-line clearer, to

boot…"

The rest of the group froze at that. Silica was just as shocked.

She could only stare out at Kirito's back, which was hardly very

big.

She'd had a suspicion from their fights that he was a very highlevel player. But she could never have dreamed that he was a

"clearer," one of the top swordsmen or women in the game who

took it upon themselves to venture into unexplored labyrinths

and beat boss monsters to advance the progress of the game. But

she'd heard that clearers only used their strength to push the

front line forward and were almost never seen on the mid-level

floors…

Rosalia looked as stunned as the others, openmouthed for several seconds, before recovering and shrieking, "A clearer would

never waste his time down here! He's just another one of those

cosplay idiots who thinks he can scare us by dressing up as someone more powerful! And even if he is the Black Swordsman, what

can one man do against all of us?!"

Emboldened by her argument, the large ax-wielder at the head

of the orange players bellowed.

"Th-that's right! If he's a clearer, it means he's got tons of

money and items! It just means he's an even juicier target!"

The rest of the bandits echoed his sentiments, drawing their

weapons. The numerous blades glinted wickedly.

"We can't do this, Kirito…we've got to run!" Silica pleaded,

squeezing her crystal. Rosalia was right; no matter how tough

Kirito was, he couldn't beat a dozen opponents. But he didn't

budge. He didn't even draw his sword.

Taking that as a sign of resignation, the nine orange players

aside from Rosalia and the spiky-haired man plunged forward,

screeching war cries. Their boots pounded on the bridge.

"Raaah!"

"Dieeee!!"

They formed a semicircle around the motionless Kirito, hacking and jabbing his body with their swords and spears all at once.

He wobbled and lurched with the impact of nine weapons.

"Noooo!" Silica screamed, covering her face with her hands.

"Stop! Stop it! He…he's going to die!!"

But of course the men were deaf to her pleas.

They were drunk with violence, some laughing maniacally,

some jeering insults, but they all continued raining down blows

on Kirito. Even Rosalia, who had walked up to the middle of the

bridge, wore a look of unbridled glee, sucking on her finger as she

took in the slaughter.

Silica wiped her tears and gripped the hilt of her dagger. She

knew that jumping into the fight would do absolutely nothing,

but she couldn't watch it any longer. But just as she was about to

leap forward, she noticed something and pulled up short.

Kirito's HP bar hadn't moved a bit.

No, that wasn't quite accurate. The ceaseless blows were doing

damage, but only a few tiny pixels were coming off his bar, and

every few seconds, it would shoot back to full again.

Eventually, the bandits realized that their assault was having

no effect and stopped, confused.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and kill him!"

At Rosalia's irritated order, the rain of blows began anew, but

again there was no apparent effect.

"Wh…what's going on with this guy…?"

One of the bandits stumbled backward, his face twisted at the

sight of something unnatural. The hesitation spread, and the

other eight eventually stopped attacking and kept their distance.

A silence fell upon the bridge. At the center of it, Kirito slowly

raised his head. His voice was soft.

"Four hundred points in ten seconds—that's the total damage

the nine of you combined to inflict on me. My level is seventyeight, and I have fourteen thousand, five hundred hit points.

With my Battle Recovery skill, I automatically regain six hundred

points every ten seconds. You could attack me for hours and

never win."

The men looked on in stunned silence. Finally, the

greatsword-wielder who seemed to lead the rest of them spoke,

voice gravelly.

"That…that can't be possible…It's crazy…"

"Exactly," Kirito spat in reply. "But all it takes is an increase in

certain numbers to make the crazy possible. That's the inherent

unfairness of level-based MMOs at work!"

His voice, dark with some barely contained emotion, caused

the men to falter. The looks on their faces went from shock to

fear.

"Tsk!" Rosalia clicked her tongue and grabbed a teleport crystal from her waist. She held it high and said, "Teleport—"

But before she could finish, the air rippled audibly, and Kirito

was standing right next to her.

"Aaah!"

He snatched the crystal out of her tensed fingers, grabbed her

collar, and started dragging her back to the other side of the

bridge.

"L-let me go! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Kirito silently tossed Rosalia into the midst of the frozen men,

then jammed his hand into the pouch on his waist. He pulled out

a blue crystal, but it was a much deeper color than the blue of a

teleport crystal.

"This is a corridor crystal, which took all the money my client

had. It's set to exit into the prison of Blackiron Palace. You're all

going to jail. The Army will see to you once you're there."

Rosalia bit her lip for several seconds, then spoke up, a confident smirk on her red lips.

"And if I say no?"

"I'll kill every last one of you."

Her smile froze.

"At least, I'd want to…but in reality, I'll have to use this."

Kirito pulled a small dagger out from under his cloak. On

closer look, it seemed to be coated in some light green substance.

"It's a paralysis poison. Level 5, so you won't be moving for

quite some time. It'll certainly last long enough for me to toss

every one of you into the corridor. So there's your choice: walk in

on your own or get thrown in."

There was no bravado left in the group. They hung their heads

silently, so Kirito put the dagger away and held up the deep blue

crystal.

"Corridor open!"

The crystal shattered and a vortex of blue light appeared.

"Damn it…"

The tall ax-wielder slumped his shoulders and stepped in first.

The remaining orange players followed him, some spitting a final

curse before they went. The green eavesdropper walked in as

well, leaving only Rosalia behind.

The redheaded thief still boldly refused to budge, even after all

of her companions had disappeared into the portal. She sat crosslegged, glaring up at Kirito defiantly.

"If you're going to do it, do it. But if you attack a green player,

you'll be oran—"

Before she could finish, Kirito grabbed her by the collar again.

"I'm a solo player, you know. One or two days of being orange

means nothing to me."

And he yanked her up, dragging her toward the gate. Now

Rosalia was struggling, flapping her limbs in vain.

"W-wait, stop, stop! Forgive me! Please! I…I know—why don't

we team up? With your skill, we could take down any guild—"

But she never had the chance to finish. Kirito shoved her headfirst into the corridor, and a few moments after she disappeared,

the corridor flashed brighter and winked out of existence.

A lonely quiet arrived in their wake.

The birds twittered and streams burbled as though the raucous confrontation had never happened. But Silica couldn't move.

She was filled with conflicting emotions—the shock at Kirito's

identity, the relief that the bandits were gone—and she just

couldn't open her mouth.

Kirito turned to look at her for several silent moments, then

spoke in barely more than a whisper.

"I'm sorry, Silica. I used you like bait. I was thinking of telling

you the truth about me…but I thought you'd be frightened."

Silica could only shake her head in vigorous denial. A whirlwind of conflicting feelings was tearing up her insides.

"I'll take you back to town," he said, starting over the bridge.

She called out to his back.

"I…I can't walk."

He turned around, laughing lightly, and offered a hand. Only

when she squeezed it back did Silica find the strength to smile

again.

They were silent nearly the entire way back to the Weathervane

on the thirty-fifth floor. She had plenty of things to say, but Silica

felt like her throat was stuffed with tiny pebbles.

When they reached Kirito's room on the second floor, the sun

through the window was already red with dusk. When she gazed

upon his silhouette, black against the sunset, she finally summoned a trembling voice.

"Are you really…going to leave, Kirito?"

There was silence. Eventually, the silhouette nodded.

"Yes…I've been away from the front line for five days now. I

have to return to clearing the game…"

"Right…of course…"

What she really wanted to say was, Take me with you!

But she couldn't.

Kirito's level was 78. She was level 45. That was a 33-level gap.

The distance that separated them was cruelly stark. If Kirito took

her to where he was fighting, she'd be slaughtered by the first

monster they met. The wall that separated them in this game was

taller and thicker than any found in the real world.

"…I…"

Silica bit her lip, trying desperately to hold back the emotions

that threatened to burst out of her. That turned into a pair of

tears that trailed down her cheeks.

Suddenly, she felt Kirito's hands on her shoulders. He whispered to her, calm and low.

"Level is just a number. The strength we gain here is only an

illusion, Silica. There are things much more important to be

found. The next time we meet, it'll be in the real world. We can be

friends again there."

She wanted to throw herself against the black swordsman's

chest. Yet Kirito's calming words soothed the painful wrenching

of her heart somewhat. She told herself that she wouldn't ask for

any more than this, and she closed her eyes.

"Yes. I'm sure we will—I'm sure we will."

She stepped back, looked up at him, and was finally able to

give him a smile with all of her heart. He grinned in return and

said, "C'mon, let's bring Pina back."

"Finally!"

Silica nodded and waved open her main window. She scrolled

through her inventory, found Pina's Heart, and materialized it.

After placing the pale blue feather on top of the table, she produced the Pneuma Flower.

Crimson flower in hand, Silica looked up to Kirito.

"Just sprinkle the dew inside the flower, onto the feather. That

will bring Pina back."

"Got it…"

She gazed at the long blue feather and gave a silent speech.

Pina…there are so, so many things to tell you. About my incredible adventure…and the man who saved me—my big

brother for a day.

And with tears in her eyes, Silica tilted the flower over the

feather