Chapter 3

The pair of birds spread their wings on top of the white table,

chirping morning songs.

She held out her hand. As soon as her finger traced down the

brilliant jasper, the birds took flight without a sound. They

danced up in an arc and spun off in the direction of the light.

She stood from the chair and followed them for several steps.

But before very long, the thin golden bars blocked her path. The

birds flitted through the gaps into the outside air—higher, higher,

and off into the distance…

Asuna stood in that spot for several moments, until the birds had

melted into the color of the sky, and then slowly turned on her

heel back to the chair.

The round table and chair were made of white granite, chilly

and hard. To the side was a magnificent covered bed, also pure

white. Those were the only items in the room…if you could call it

a room.

It was perfectly round, with enough space to take twenty steps

across the—you guessed it, perfectly white—tiles before reaching

the gleaming metallic bars. The space between the bars was just

wide enough that Asuna could have squeezed through if she tried,

but the system prevented her from doing so.

The intersecting golden bars stretched vertically before meshing together overhead in a dome. At the top was an enormous

ring with a frightfully large branch running through it that supported the entire massive structure. The knobby, winding bough

cut through the view above until it joined the trunk of the gigantic

tree, so large it blotted out a section of the otherwise endless sky.

Which made this room a giant golden birdcage, hanging from

the branch of an impossibly large tree—but no, that description

wasn't right. The birds who came to visit could come and go freely

between the metal bars. It was a cell designed to hold a single

prisoner: Asuna.

A fragile, elegant, beautiful, but cruel cell.

Sixty days had already passed since Asuna woke up here, but she

wasn't sure of that number. There was no way to write down the

count, so she had to remember it herself. On top of that, the game

did not run on a full twenty-four-hour clock, so even if she slept

and woke based on her body's circadian rhythm, the mornings

and nights didn't match up.

Every time she woke, she told herself what day it was, but she

was losing confidence in her number. What if she was just repeating the same day over and over? What if she'd already spent years

in here? The more she fell into the haze of confusion, the further

back in her memory slipped those precious days she'd spent with

Him.

The last moment they'd been together…

As the floating castle Aincrad had crumbled into dust and the

world melted into light and nothingness around them, Asuna had

held him close, waiting for the moment it all ended.

She'd had no fear. She'd known that she'd done what she must

and lived the life that she needed to live. She was almost happy to

die, as long as it was with him.

The light had enveloped them, their flesh disappeared, their

souls intertwined, and they had flown up, up, up…

Then his warmth was gone. In an instant, it was dark all

around. She'd reached out desperately, calling his name. But the

cruel, relentless current had grabbed her, pulling her away

through the darkness. There were intermittent flashes of light.

When she felt she was being taken somewhere unfamiliar, she'd

screamed. Eventually, a spray of rainbow light had swelled in

front of her, and she'd plunged through it—to land in this place.

The wall that supported the gothic canopy over the bed also held

a large mirror. The person she saw in it was slightly different

from before. Her face and long, chestnut-brown hair were the

same. But she was dressed in an uncomfortably sheer one-piece

white dress. There was a ribbon red as blood adorning the breast.

Her bare feet were cold against the chilly stone tiles. She had no

weapons to speak of, but there were strange transparent wings on

her back. They were closer to an insect's wings than a bird's.

At first, she thought she was in the land of the dead. But now

she knew that was not the case. There might not be a game window when she waved her hand, but this was clearly another virtual world apart from Aincrad. It was a digital prison created by a

computer. And she was being held against her will by an act of

human malice.

Which meant she could not give in. She couldn't submit and

crumble before evil. So Asuna bore the terrible loneliness and impatience that hounded her every day. Even that was becoming

more and more difficult, however. She could feel the poison of despair slowly tainting her heart.

She sat on the cold chair, folded her hands on top of the table,

and, as she always did, said a silent prayer to Him.

Hurry…Hurry and come save me, Kirito…

"That's the loveliest look on your face, Titania," the voice said,

echoing through the birdcage. "The look right before you burst

into tears. I wish I could freeze it and put it on display."

"Why don't you do it, then?" she answered, turning to face the

voice.

On the side of the cage that faced the World Tree was a small

door. A smaller branch running off the large one extended to the

door, stairs carved along its length.

A tall man was entering through that doorway.

He had wavy locks of rich golden hair, with a crown of platinum around his brow. There were wings like Asuna's on his

back, but they were more like a butterfly's than translucent. They

were as lustrous as black velvet, with brilliant emerald-green patterns running across them.

His face was so perfectly elegant that it screamed artificiality.

A shapely nose extended down from his smooth forehead, and his

long, slender eyes glimmered with the same green color of his

wings. The illusion of beauty was ruined only by the sneer plastered on his narrow lips. It was twisted and spiteful.

Asuna looked at him for an instant before turning away, as if

avoiding an unpleasant sight. She spoke flatly, without inflection

or emotion.

"You're the system admin; it's well within your power."

"Why must you be so cold, my dear Titania? Have I ever

placed my hands on you against your will?"

"Does it matter? You've locked me in here. And stop calling me

by that stupid name. I'm Asuna, Oberon…I mean, Mr. Sugou."

Asuna looked again at the face of the Fairy King Oberon, the

avatar of Nobuyuki Sugou. She did not avert her glance this time.

She gave him the full brunt of her gaze.

His mouth twisted in distaste as he spat, "How very unenchanting. In this world, I am Oberon, King of the Fairies, and you

are Titania, my queen. We are the rulers of Alfheim, the object of

envy to every player in the game. Isn't that good enough for you?

When will you open your heart to me and be my proper partner?"

"You will be waiting until the end of your days. All I feel for

you is scorn and disgust."

"How headstrong of you." He smirked with one cheek again

and then stretched out a hand to Asuna's face.

"But these days I wonder…"

She tried to turn away, but he caught her under the chin and

pulled her face straight toward him.

"…if it might be more fun just to take you by force."

Asuna's head was fixed in place as though by an unseen omnipotence. The fingers of his left hand snaked forward to touch

her. From cheek to lips, his slender fingers lingered on her skin.

The somehow slimy sensation of his otherwise-clean fingers sent

a chill down her spine.

In her disgust, she shut her eyes and clenched her teeth. After

several rubs of her lips, Oberon ran his fingers down the nape of

her neck. In time, they arrived at the red ribbon tied just over her

cleavage. He tugged ever so slightly at the end of the ribbon—

once, twice—as if enjoying her shame and fear.

"Stop," she said hoarsely, unable to bear it.

Oberon chuckled, deep in his throat, and released the ribbon.

He pulled his hand away and waggled his fingers, his voice mirthful.

"I'm only joking. I said I wouldn't take you against your will,

didn't I? You'll come around to me soon enough. It's only a mat-

ter of time."

"If that's what you think, you're truly insane."

"Ha-ha! You won't be singing that tune for long. Very soon, I

will control your emotions in the palm of my hand. Look, Titania." Oberon placed both hands on the table and leaned over it.

He swiveled his head around the birdcage, leering widely. "Can

you see them? Thousands and thousands of players, diving into

this expansive world, enjoying the game. The thing is…none of

them has any idea that the full-dive system isn't just a tool for

mere entertainment!"

Asuna's mouth clamped shut at these unexpected words.

Oberon spread his arms theatrically.

"Of course it's more than that! This game is nothing but a byproduct. The NerveGear and AmuSphere, these full-dive interfaces, focus their electron pulses into very limited regions of the

brain's sensory regions, meaning that we're only providing them

with virtual environment signals. But…what would happen if

those shackles were released?"

There was a dangerous, unhinged gleam in Oberon's wide,

emerald-green eyes. Asuna felt an instinctual fear grip her insides.

"It means we can access much more than the brain's sensory

fields. Thought, emotion, memory: We can control all of it!"

Asuna could find no response to the madness of his statement.

She had to take several breaths before any words came to her lips.

"But no…you can't get away with that…"

"Who's going to say no? Research is advancing in several

countries around the world. The problem is, what the research really needs is human subjects. After all, one must be able to put

their thoughts into words for us to understand them!"

He practically leaped from the table, cackling in high tones,

striding in circles around Asuna as he spoke.

"And there is great variety in higher brain function among individuals, which necessitates a great number of subjects. However, this is the brain we're tinkering with. One cannot snap one's

fingers and obtain human test subjects. Which means human

progress in this field has been woefully slow. But then…what

should I see when I'm watching the news but a story about ten

thousand ideal test materials!"

Asuna's skin crawled again. Finally, she could see where

Oberon was taking this.

"Mr. Kayaba was a genius, but he was also a fool. How could

he utilize that incredible potential just to create a stupid game? I

couldn't touch the SAO server itself, but it was quite easy to tamper with the router such that when the players were released, I

was able to seize a number of them before they got away."

The fairy king made a large cup with his hands, running his

tongue over them as though savoring an invisible liquid.

"Oh, how I waited for that damnable game to be beaten! I

didn't get all of them, but I did get a good three hundred, at least.

Certainly more than any real hospital or laboratory could hold.

Long live the virtual world!" he ranted, the heat of his delusions

driving him to a soliloquy of madness. She had always hated this

tendency of his.

"Thanks to you former SAO players, my research has progressed in leaps and bounds in only two months! I've embedded

brand-new artificial implants within human memory and, in

doing so, succeeded in creating a rudimentary form of direct

emotional control. How fabulous it feels to control the human

soul!"

"You can't…You won't get away with this. Father will never let

you continue such mad research."

"He will if he doesn't know a thing about it, of course. The project has been undertaken in absolute secret, with a tiny team answering directly to me. We can't commercialize it otherwise."

"Commercial…?"

"There's a major business in America eagerly awaiting our results. We're going to make a fortune selling them the research—

along with RCT itself, at some point."

"…"

"Soon I'll be a member of the Yuuki family. I'll only be a sonin-law at first, but eventually I will be the rightful heir to RCT in

name and fact. With you as my wife. So what's the harm in doing

some dress rehearsals in preparation for the big day in real life?"

Asuna stifled the shivers running up and down her back, and

then shook her head quickly but firmly.

"No…you can't. I won't let you do this. Once I get back to the

real world, I'll expose all of your wicked deeds. The world will

know."

"Oh, come now. You still don't get it? The only reason I told

you about the experiment is because you'll be forgetting everything right away. And all that will remain is your devotion to…"

Oberon stopped talking mid-sentence, his head cocked in silence. He held up his hand and opened a game window, then

spoke into it.

"I'm coming. Wait for orders." He closed the window and resumed his leer with a soft purr. "I hope my point has sunk in by

now: You are going to love and serve me with a blind, devoted

passion. But naturally, I have no desire to use your brain as my

first test subject. So I'll be praying that you are already more subservient at our next meeting, Titania."

He gave her hair one last stroke before turning to leave.

Asuna did not watch him as he strode across to the door. She

was too busy steeling her heart against the terror that his final

words commanded.

The door clanked shut heavily, and silence returned.

Suguha left the kendo club, back in her school uniform, bamboo

shinai case slung over her shoulder. The breeze through the

school's valley brushed her cheek comfortably.

It was one thirty in the afternoon, and with fifth period already

in progress, the campus was quiet. The first- and second-year students were in class, and any third-years who elected to come to

school were in special focused seminars to prepare for high

school entrance exams. Only the students with advancement recommendations already in place, like Suguha, were free to stroll

around the grounds at this hour.

She felt at ease, but Suguha didn't like coming to school just to

hang out. If she came across a classmate, there was guaranteed to

be a sardonic comment or two directed her way. But the school's

kendo club advisor was very dedicated and couldn't stand to be

out of the loop with his favorite pupil heading off to join a kendo

powerhouse high school. As a result, Suguha had been ordered to

visit the school dojo once every day.

According to him, Suguha's blade had picked up an eccentricity recently. Secretly, Suguha shrugged it off and agreed with him.

Nearly every day, she was spending at least some amount of time

in Alfheim, mixing it up in wild aerial battles without a hint of

proper form or discipline.

Fortunately, this hadn't had an effect on Suguha's ability as far

as the kendo club was concerned. Just today, she had scored two

consecutive points on the club adviser, a man in his thirties who

had once ranked highly in the national tournament himself. She

was rather proud of her victory.

Lately, she found it particularly easy to see the opponent's

strikes. When locked in battle with a powerful foe, she felt her

nerves stretching to their limit, and it was almost as though time

itself slowed down.

She thought back to her match with Kazuto a few days prior.

She had given him her best shot multiple times, and he'd evaded

every one. His reaction speed was so fast, it was almost as though

he sensed time on a different scale. It made her wonder: What if

the experiences during a full dive had some kind of effect on one's

real body upon returning…?

Suguha was idly walking toward the bicycle rack, lost in

thought, when a voice called out from the shadow of the school

building.

"…Leafa."

"Aah!"

She was so startled that she jumped back a step. It was a

scrawny boy with glasses. Those sagging, hangdog eyebrows that

he shared with Recon were even droopier than normal.

Suguha put her hand on her hip, exasperated. "Didn't I tell you

not to call me that at school?"

"S-sorry…Suguha."

"Why, you…"

She put a hand on her shinai case and took a threatening step.

He panicked, a terrified smile frozen on his face.

"S-s-sorry! I mean Kirigaya."

"…What is it, Nagata?"

"I-I have something to tell you…Can we find someplace more

comfortable to talk?"

"You can tell me here."

Shinichi Nagata slumped his shoulders, looking pathetic.

"…In fact, you already have a recommendation for high school.

What are you doing here?"

"Um, I've been here all day. I needed to tell you this, Su…Kirigaya."

"Ugh! Don't you have anything better to do with your time?"

Suguha took several more steps backward until she could sit

down on the tall edge of the flowerbed. "So, what is it?"

Nagata sat down next to her at an awkward distance and said,

"Sigurd decided we should go hunting again this afternoon. They

want to hit up an underwater cave. Plus, there won't be much

concern about salamanders there."

"I told you to text me news about hunts. Sorry…but I'm not

participating for a while."

"Huh? How come?"

"I've got to go to Alne…"

In the center of Alfheim, there was a large neutral city at the

foot of the massive World Tree. That was Alne. Not only was it

quite a long distance from Swilvane, but there were several points

along the journey that were impossible to fly over. It would take

several days to make the trip.

He stared at her in openmouthed disappointment for several

moments, then sidled closer. "Y-you mean you're still working

with that spriggan…?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I'm acting as his guide."

"W-what are you thinking, Lea—Su—Kirigaya?! Y-you can't

spend the night with that weird stranger…"

"Why are you blushing? Stop imagining me in stupid situations!"

She whacked him on the chest with her shinai case. He stared

at her with open resentment, his eyebrows at perfect forty-fivedegree angles.

"When I suggested going to Alne earlier, you totally brushed

me off…"

"Because we'd be flattened over and over if I was with you!

Anyway, that's what I'm doing, so let Sigurd and the others

know."

She hopped up, briefly waved good-bye, and took off at a trot

for the bicycle rack. His scolded-puppy look needled at her heart,

but there were already rumors floating around them at school.

She had no desire to close that distance with him.

I'm only escorting him there. That's all.

She repeated the words over and over, trying to convince herself they were true. But every time she thought of Kirito and his

mysterious black eyes, she couldn't contain her fidgeting.

Suguha quickly undid the lock on her bike, parked in the corner of the large bicycle area. She swung a leg over the seat and

took off, pedaling at a stand. The winter air was prickly on her

cheeks, but she paid it no mind. Out the back gate she went, then

raced down the steep hill without using her brakes.

I just want to fly, she told herself. The thought of another

breathless parallel flight with Kirito, at top speed, set her heart

racing.

She made it home just before two.

Kazuto's bicycle wasn't in the backyard. He must still have

been at the gym.

He'd basically recovered the build he had before the SAO Incident, but that was apparently not enough. He still felt a difference

between his real self and his virtual self.

That was natural. It was impossible to make one's body capable of the same things as a virtual avatar—but she understood

how he felt. More than a few times, Suguha had felt that urge to

fly in real life and nearly fallen off her bike.

She entered the house through the yard, tossed her kendo dogi

into the washing machine, and hit the button. Back in her bedroom upstairs, she removed her gray school uniform and skirt,

putting them back on the wall hanger.

She put her hands over her chest, feeling for her pulse. The exertion of her bike ride home should have subsided by now, but

her heart was still pounding at about ninety beats per minute.

Suguha didn't want to admit that her racing heart had nothing

to do with the exercise. She took several deep breaths, but the

more she thought about it, the faster it became.

What am I thinking? I'm only showing him the way to Alne.

Plus, I already have my big brother to think about. Wait, no, I'm

not supposed to think about him! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Eventually this line of thought drove her to exasperation, so

she put on a baggy T-shirt and plopped onto her bed.

The AmuSphere was resting on top of her headboard. She

powered it up, put it on, and closed her eyes. One more deep

breath, and then the magic spell.

"Link start!"

After the connection phase was finished, she opened her eyes

as Leafa, fairy warrior. The vivid surroundings of the Lily of the

Valley greeted her.

There was no one in the seat across the table, of course. There

was most of an hour to go before they were scheduled to meet up.

But she had preparations to make for the journey.

Outside of the tavern, the town of Swilvane was bathed in gorgeous morning light.

A day in ALfheim Online lasted about sixteen hours, perhaps

to bring variety to those players who could only log in at a specific

time of day. Sometimes it would be the same time in game as it

was in the real world, and sometimes—such as now—it was completely off. The time readout in the menu gave both real time and

Alfheim time. It was confusing at first, but Suguha liked this system.

She zipped around from store to store and wrapped up her

shopping in time to make it back to the tavern. Just as she pushed

open the swinging door, a figure in black was materializing at the

table in the back.

Kirito blinked a few times after his login and smiled as he recognized Leafa approaching.

"Sweet, that was good timing."

"Nope, I've been here awhile already. I was just doing some errands first."

"Oh, I see. I suppose I need to get outfitted, too, huh."

"Don't worry about the usable items; I got us a healthy supply.

Oh, but—" She cast a glance at Kirito's starter equipment. "We

might want to buy you some better gear."

"Yeah, I'd love to get something better. This sword is not going

to cut it…"

"Do you have money? I can lend you some if you need it."

"Umm…"

Kirito swung his left hand to open the menu and perused it for

a moment. For some reason, he frowned.

"…Is this the money in this game? Yrd?"

"That's it. Got any?"

"Uh, actually, I do. Quite a lot."

"In that case, let's get you some gear."

"Um, okay."

Kirito stood and started examining himself all over, as though

suddenly remembering something. Finally, he peered into his

shirt pocket.

"Hey, Yui. Time to go."

The little black-haired pixie popped her sleepy face out of the

pocket and yawned widely.

Once Kirito had outfitted himself with a proper set of equipment at Leafa's favorite armory, the town was fully drenched in

the light of the morning sun.

It wasn't a fancy set of armor. Just a clothing-style top and

bottom with better defensive properties and a long coat. Most of

the time was taken up by Kirito's exacting search for the right

sword.

Every time the player who ran the store handed him a new

long sword, he'd give it a single swing and say, "Heavier." He only

finally gave in and compromised on a greatsword nearly his own

height in length. It was immensely imposing and dark, probably

meant for the giant players more commonly found in the gnome

and imp factions.

Damage in ALO was calculated only from the weapon's attack

power and the speed of the swing. This gave an advantage to

sylphs and cait siths, who had the highest agility of all the races.

So as a balancing measure, muscular players were given better

control over the massive weapons with the highest damage stats.

Even a sylph could fight with a hammer or ax with enough

work on his skills, but his strength—a fixed, hidden statistic—

would be too low to make those weapons worth using in battle.

The spriggans were among the more versatile of the in-game

races, but Kirito's body type was clearly built for speed, not

strength.

"Can you actually swing that thing?" Leafa asked, exasperated.

Kirito nodded coolly. "No problem."

She had no choice but to take his word for it. He paid the

shopkeeper's price and hoisted the massive blade onto his back.

The tip of the scabbard nearly dragged along the ground.

He's like a child playing at being a warrior, Leafa thought,

stifling a laugh.

"Well, I think we're ready to leave! Put 'er there, partner!" She

held out her right hand, and Kirito shyly returned the gesture.

"Nice working with you."

The pixie zipped out of his pocket and flew over to smack both

of their hands in celebration as she spoke.

"We can do it! To the World Tree!"

Massive sword on his back and diminutive pixie on his shoulder,

Kirito followed alongside Leafa for several minutes, until she

spotted the shining, jade-green tower ahead.

It was the Tower of Wind, the symbol of the sylph homeland.

No matter how many times Leafa saw it, she never failed to marvel at its beauty. When she gave Kirito a sidelong glance, however, the spriggan was distastefully eyeing the tower wall he'd

been so intimate with the day before. She jabbed him with an

elbow, holding back her laughter.

"Want a lesson on braking before we get flying again?"

"…Not necessary. I'm sticking to safe flying from now on," he

answered brusquely. "What's up with the tower? Are we doing

something here?"

"You'll want to use these towers for long-distance flight. The

extra altitude makes all the difference."

"Aha, I see, "he nodded. Leafa gave him a push on the back.

"Let's get going! We'll want to be out of the forest by nightfall."

"Well, I don't know the terrain at all, so show me the way."

"You're in good hands!" She tapped her chest and turned to

look beyond the tower.

The majestic silhouette of the sylph lord's mansion was clear

against the morning sun. The owner of the mansion was a female

player named Sakuya, someone Leafa had known throughout her

time playing. She thought briefly of stopping by to give her regards before leaving, but the flag bearing the sylph crest was

nowhere to be seen on the flagpole sprouting from the center of

the building's roof. It was an indication of the rare occurrence

when the master was not home for the day.

"What's up?" Kirito asked quizzically, but Leafa shook her

head. She made a mental note to send a message to Sakuya later,

then turned back to the business at hand and strode through the

door of the tower.

The ground floor of the structure was a wide, circular lobby

with a variety of shops lining the wall. In the center of the lobby

were two elevators that presumably ran on magic, sucking in and

spitting out players at regular intervals. It was early morning in

Alfheim but evening in the real world, so the milling population

was starting to grow as more people logged in.

She pulled Kirito by the arm toward the elevator on the right.

It had just descended to their level when several figures suddenly

moved into place to block their path. Just before she collided with

them, Leafa spread her wings to come to a stop.

"Hey, watch it!" she snapped instinctively, then recognized the

tall man who had stepped in her way.

He was far above the average sylph height, with rough but

masculine features. He was either very lucky or very rich to have

obtained looks like those. His body was clad in thick silver armor,

and a large broadsword hung from his waist. There was a wide

silver band around his forehead, and flowing, dark green locks

extended down to his shoulders.

The man's name was Sigurd. He was a frontline fighter in the

party Leafa had been working with for the past few weeks. She

noticed that the others he was standing with were those very

same party members. She looked around to see if Recon was

among them, but there was no sign of his characteristic goldengreen hair.

Sigurd was a power player, a constant rival with Leafa for the

title of the strongest sylph. And unlike Leafa, who avoided the

struggles for control over the sylph populace, he willingly took

part in the game's politics. The current sylph lord—elected by

popular vote monthly, with the power to set taxes and determine

their use—was Sakuya, but Sigurd was a visible figure as her

right-hand man, an ultra-active player in the community.

His vast playtime earned him skill numbers and equipment

that Leafa could never hope to match. Whenever they dueled, it

was always a protracted, painful affair in which Leafa tried to use

her superb athleticism to overcome his stalwart defense. As a

hunting partner, he was a reliable force, but his pushy, bossy personality was distasteful to Leafa, who wanted to be free to pursue

her own whims. The present arrangement was certainly a lucrative one for her, but she'd been thinking it was about time to part

ways.

Fittingly, the smile on Sigurd's face as he loomed imposingly

over her was tilted into his most imperious and haughty sneer.

This was not going to be fun, she knew.

"Hello, Sigurd," she grinned, but he did not return the pleasantry. Instead, he launched into his business with a growl.

"Are you leaving the party, Leafa?"

He was clearly in a foul mood, and she briefly thought of reassuring him that it was only going to be a brief trip to Alne and

back. But the weight of all her concerns was too much, and Leafa

found the simpler answer was to nod and own it.

"Yeah…I suppose. I've made plenty of money doing this, so I'm

going to take it easy for a bit."

"How very selfish. And you don't think that will harm the

other members?"

"Wha—? Selfish…?!"

That set her off. At the dueling tournament two months ago,

after Leafa had defeated Sigurd in a close contest, he approached

her later to admit that he was scouting her for his party. She'd

thought she made it clear to him that she had conditions: She

would only participate in the party's activities when convenient

for her, and she could leave whenever she wanted. It was supposed to be a no-strings-attached arrangement.

Sigurd raised his bushy eyebrows and continued, "You're already well known as a member of my party. If you leave us without a good reason and join another party, it shames us and ruins

our good name."

"…"

Leafa was speechless. The arrogance of such a claim…But deep

down, a part of her had known this moment was coming.

After she'd been in Sigurd's party for a while, Recon—who'd

also been admitted as her sidekick of sorts—had given her a serious warning.

He'd said it was a bad idea to get in too deep with this group.

He suspected that Sigurd hadn't scouted Leafa for her battle ability but for her intangible marketing value for his brand. Not only

that, but by recruiting the warrior who'd beaten him as a teammate—no, a subordinate—he protected himself against any loss of

prestige from that defeat.

Leafa had tried to laugh off the suggestion, but Recon persisted. In a hard-core skill-oriented MMO like ALO, female players were a rarity, which made their in-game value based more on

their pop-star status than their abilities. According to Recon, a

girl as talented and, more importantly, attractive as Leafa was

rarer than a legendary weapon, making her a desired piece of eye

candy, not to mention the target of less savory desires, which of

course he did not share, being a true friend who only wanted a

real, platonic relationship and none of those other benefits, you

can be assured.

Leafa had given him a solid blow to the liver with all of her

weight to stop him from elaborating on that particular train of

thought. Once that was taken care of, she considered his point.

First of all, she didn't get the sense that she was inspiring any

kind of celebrity treatment. On top of that, there were enough

things to keep track of in an MMORPG that she didn't feel like

complicating matters further. She'd decided to keep taking part in

Sigurd's group, and there hadn't been any major problems…until

now.

Faced with a furious Sigurd, Leafa felt the heavy, clinging web

of hassles descending upon her. The only thing she wanted from

ALO was the feeling of flight, of escape from pressure. To cast

aside her troubles and fly as far as she desired. Nothing more.

But it seemed that was a naiveté born of ignorance. Perhaps it

was just a fantasy of hers, that this virtual world where everyone

had wings would be enough to help her forget the gravity of real

life.

She thought back to the older boy from the kendo dojo who

had picked on her in elementary school. He'd been invincible

since joining the dojo, until he could no longer beat Suguha—

younger and, even worse, a girl. So he'd gathered his friends to

play a mean prank on her on the way home. That boy's mouth

had been arched in the same arrogant smile that Sigurd wore

now.

So this place is just the same…

Leafa cast her head down, devastated by frustration and disappointment. Suddenly, Kirito, who had silently melted like a

shadow behind her, spoke up.

"Companions aren't items."

"Huh…?"

Leafa spun around, wide-eyed. In the moment, she didn't understand what he meant. Sigurd growled in surprise.

"What did you say?"

Kirito stepped forward between Leafa and Sigurd, staring

down the imposing figure who stood a full head taller than him.

"Your fellow players aren't swords or pieces of armor. You can't

just lock them down in equipment slots."

"H-how dare you—!" Sigurd's face went an instant red at Kirito's direct challenge. He swiped his long cape back and placed a

threatening hand on his sword hilt.

"Miserable, trash-digging spriggan! Quit wasting your time

with scum like him, Leafa! He's likely just another renegade ex-

iled from his home territory!"

His insult was so furious that he seemed on the verge of drawing his blade at any moment. But Leafa had lost her composure

and shouted back.

"Watch your mouth! I'll have you know Kirito is my new partner!"

"What…?" A blue vein was pulsing on Sigurd's forehead as he

grunted in shock. "Leafa…are you abandoning our territory?"

Those words caused her eyes to go wide.

Players in ALO were widely separated into two groups, based

on their play style.

One of those groups was made of people like Leafa and Sigurd,

who used their race's territory as a home base, worked with others of their own kind, and paid yrd tithes to their race's government to increase the group's power within the game. The other

kind of player left the territory for neutral ground and worked

with parties of mixed races. The former looked down on the latter

for being aimless, calling them renegades—either for leaving

home of their own accord or being exiled by the lord of the territory.

Leafa felt little affiliation to the general collective of sylphs;

she stuck around because she liked Swilvane and didn't want the

disruption of pulling up her roots and leaving. But Sigurd's accusations accelerated her desire to be free of this nonsense, forcing

her to confront her inner conflict.

"Yes…that's right. I'm leaving," she said simply.

Sigurd's lips twisted to expose his clenched teeth, and he drew

his broadsword. He glared at Kirito with eyes aflame.

"I had no intention of bothering myself with the buzzing of insignificant flies, but your brazen attempt at thievery cannot be

overlooked. Surely you are prepared for the possibility of being

cut down where you stand in another race's territory…"

Kirito answered Sigurd's theatrical menace with only a shrug

of his shoulders. Leafa nearly rolled her eyes at his sheer nerve,

but she put her hand on her katana anyway, just in case she had

to attack Sigurd. The air was tense.

Suddenly, one of Sigurd's fellows piped up quietly from behind

him.

"Now's not a good time, Sig. You can't just kill an unresisting

player in public like this…"

Perhaps sensing that trouble was about to erupt, a ring of observers had formed around them. Proper duels or accusations of

spying aside, Kirito was nothing more than a simple tourist, and

an act of open aggression from Sigurd would not reflect well on

him.

Sigurd glared at Kirito, teeth gnashing, but reluctantly returned his sword to its sheath.

"Make sure you stay well out of sight out there," he shot at Kirito, before turning his attention to Leafa. "If you betray me now,

you'll rue your choice later."

"Much better than regretting my choice to stay."

"Then you ought to practice begging on your hands and knees

for when you want to come back to the fold," Sigurd menaced,

then spun around and headed for the tower's exit. His two party

members looked at Leafa as though they wanted to say something, but ultimately they gave up and ran after Sigurd.

Only when they were out of sight did Leafa let out a heavy

sigh. "I'm sorry for getting you involved in that…"

"No, I shouldn't have fanned the flames the way I did. Are you

sure about this, though? You're really leaving your territory?"

"Uhh…"

Leafa struggled to find something to say at first, then pushed

Kirito on the back without any elaboration. They made their way

through the circle of observers and hopped onto the elevator. She

hit the button for the top floor, and the large stone circle that

served as the elevator platform glowed green and shot up through

the clear glass tube.

Less than a minute later, the elevator came to a stop, and the

glass wall opened without a sound, letting in the white morning

sun and a pleasant breeze.

Leafa quickly paced out onto the observation deck on the

tower's top level. She'd been to this landing countless times, but

the open panorama in all directions never failed to make her

heart spring to life.

The sylph territory was in the southwest region of Alfheim. To

the west was a stretch of plains that abruptly met the sea, an infinite expanse of blue water. To the east was an endless forest bordered by the purple haze of a mountain range. Beyond them,

looming even larger and virtually the same shade as the sky

above, was one enormous shadow—the World Tree.

"Wow…what a view," Kirito marveled, squinting as he scanned

the horizon. "The sky's so close, I feel like I could reach out and

grab it…"

He stared out at the blue with eyes full of longing. Leafa extended her hand into the air and said, "Right? When you gaze out

at this sky, it makes everything else seem insignificant in comparison."

"…"

Kirito gave her a concerned look. She smiled back to reassure

him. "It's for the best, really. I was looking for the chance to leave

anyway. I was just too afraid to make the plunge on my own…"

"I see. But now you really burned your bridges on the way

out…"

"After his reaction, I doubt there was any peaceful way to leave

the party. I wonder," she started to mumble, mostly to herself.

"Why does everything have to come down to control-or-be-controlled? I mean, we have these wonderful wings…"

It wasn't Kirito who answered her but the pixie named Yui,

whose face was propped up on his wide jacket collar. "Humans

are very complicated things."

She spun into the air with a jingle and landed on Kirito's other

shoulder, crossing her arms and muttering, "I do not understand

the nature of humanity to make the search for the hearts of others

such a complicated process."

Leafa stared at Yui, briefly forgetting that she was only a program.

"The search for…?"

"I understand that the root cause of much human behavior is

the desire to interact with the hearts of other people. This is the

foundation of my understanding. In my case…" Yui suddenly put

a hand on Kirito's cheek and gave him a dainty kiss. "I do this. It

is a very simple and clear way to demonstrate that desire."

Leafa's eyes went wide with surprise, but Kirito laughed uneasily and flicked Yui's head.

"The human world is a bit more complex than that. If everyone

tried it, they'd cross the harassment code and get banned."

"It's a matter of sequence and style, right?"

"Please don't pick up nonsense like that, Yui."

Leafa finally found her voice and butted into the conversation.

"Th-that's quite a remarkable AI. Are all private pixies like her?"

"No, she's especially weird," Kirito remarked, picking up Yui

by the lapel and depositing her back into his shirt pocket.

"I…see. Searching for the hearts of others, huh?" she repeated,

then stretched her back out.

Leafa's personal desire was to fly as far as she could across this

world. Did this mean that underneath that exterior, she simply

needed to connect with another person? Kazuto's face suddenly

flashed through her head, and she felt her heart leap within her

chest.

Perhaps what she really wanted…was to use these fairy wings

to fly over all those obstacles in real life, until she finally reached

Kazuto's heart.

"Yeah, right…"

I'm overthinking, she told herself. I just want to fly. That's all.

"Hmm? You say something?"

"N-nothing…Let's get going, shall we?"

She cast a smile toward Kirito and looked up into the sky. The

clouds that had been glowing gold during the sunrise had dissipated by now, leaving only unbroken blue. It was going to be a

lovely day.

There was a monument on the platform called a Locator Stone

that Leafa instructed Kirito to use—it would bookmark his location so that he could return later. Once that was done, she

stretched and beat her four wings.

"All ready?"

"Yeah."

Kirito checked with the pixie in his pocket to confirm she was

ready as well, but before they could start flying…

"Leafa!"

A figure behind them was practically falling out of the elevator,

he was in such a rush. Leafa lowered herself back onto the platform.

"Oh…Recon."

"Th-this isn't right! You could have told me before you left."

"Sorry, Recon! I forgot."

He tried to pull himself together, and when he looked up at

her, it was with a serious expression on his face.

"I heard…you're leaving the party?"

"Half out of impulse, really. What are you going to do now?"

"Isn't that obvious? My sword exists only for you, Leafa…"

"Ugh, I didn't ask for that."

Recon slumped his shoulders again, but this wasn't enough to

stop him.

"Well, I'd like to go with you, of course…but there's something

weighing on my mind."

"…What's that?"

"I'm not certain of it yet…but I need to be sure. So I'm going to

stay in Sigurd's party for a bit longer. Kirito?" Now he fixed Kirito

with his most serious gaze. "She has a bad habit of jumping into

trouble. So watch out."

"Um, yeah…got it," Kirito nodded, seemingly entertained.

"And just so you know, she's my—Gack!" Leafa's boot landing

on the bridge of his foot, hard, cut him short.

"Enough out of you! I'll be in neutral for a good while, so send

me a message if anything happens!" she chattered hastily, then

spread her wings and took to the air. Leafa waved down at Recon,

who was looking up unhappily. "And make sure to keep practicing your Voluntary Flight, even while I'm gone. Also, stay away

from salamander territory! 'Bye!"

"S-stay safe, Leafa! I'll catch up to you soon!" he wailed, tears

in his eyes. I'm going to see you at school tomorrow, you dip,

Leafa thought, but she was surprised to find a touch of emotion at

the parting, and she turned away before it could develop into anything. She set her sights to the northeast and spread her wings for

a glide.

Kirito pulled up to her side within moments, clearly struggling

to hide a grin.

"Is he a real-life friend of yours?"

"…You could say that."

"Ohh?"

"…What? Is that interesting to you?"

"Just thinking that it's…nice."

Yui spoke up from Kirito's pocket. "I can understand his emotions. He likes you, Leafa. What do you think of that?"

"I-I don't care!!" she shouted, increasing her speed to hide her

embarrassment. She was used to Recon's open attitude about his

feelings, but she felt strangely self-conscious when he did it with

Kirito around.

In quick order, they had left the town and were surrounded by

the green of the forest. Leafa flipped around onto her back and

looked at the shrinking jade city.

Something like wistful longing pricked her heart when she

thought of leaving Swilvane, her in-game home for the past year,

but that pain was washed away by the excitement of a journey to

new, unfamiliar surroundings. She said a silent good-bye and

turned back over.

"Let's hurry! We can make it to that lake in a single flight!"

She pointed at the sparkling water far in the distance and beat

her wings.

Asuna simply closed her eyes and shut out the sensation of the

clinging, clammy fingertip sliding along the underside of her arm.

They were on the enormous bed in the middle of the birdcage.

Oberon was stretched out on his side, long green toga in a disheveled state around his body as he held Asuna's hand and

rubbed her skin. His handsome face was even creepier and more

loathsome than usual—he was clearly enjoying toying with her,

knowing she would be at his mercy if he chose to take her.

When Oberon had entered the cage and sprawled out on the

bed, she initially resisted his command to join him. When he

started fiddling with her arm, she nearly punched his lights out.

The only reason she swallowed her disgust and obeyed him

was the knowledge of his mercurial temper: She was afraid of him

stealing what little freedom she still possessed. In fact, it was al-

most as though he was waiting for her to resist. He would wait

until he'd drunk his fill of her displeasure, then use his system

privileges to have his way with her. At least for the moment, she

was free to walk around the inside of the cage. She had to keep it

that way…if she wanted any chance of escape.

But there were limits to what she could stand. If he touched

her body, she would put her right fist smack in the middle of his

face. Until then, she remained as still as stone, until Oberon gave

up on getting any reaction from stroking her arm. He let go and

sat up.

"Why do you have to be so headstrong?" he pouted. That voice

was the one thing about Oberon that perfectly matched her memory of Sugou, and it made her sick all over again. "It's not even

your real body. There's no lasting harm. Isn't it boring spending

all your time in here? Haven't you ever thought about just enjoying it?"

"You don't understand. Real or virtual makes no difference. At

least to me."

"Why? Because it will ruin the purity of your heart?" He

chuckled deep in his throat. "Well, I'm certainly not letting you

out of here until I've solidified my position a bit more. I think it

would be smarter of you to learn how to enjoy it while you can.

The system here is really quite deep in its simulation, didn't you

know?"

"I have no interest in that. Besides, I'm not going to be in here

forever. I have faith that he'll come for me."

"Oh? Who will? Kirito the Hero, you mean?"

Asuna's body trembled unconsciously at the name. Oberon's

leer widened as he sat up straighter. He began speaking faster

now, satisfied that he'd finally found her button and knew how to

push it.

"What was his actual name…? Kirigaya? I met him the other

day. On the other side."

"…!!"

The moment she heard that, Asuna lifted her head and looked

straight at him.

"I tell you, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that the hero

who beat SAO was that scrawny little boy! Or is that just what all

hard-core gamers look like?" He egged her on, delight plastered

over his face. "Where do you suppose I saw him? In your hospital

room, right next to your body. I wish you could have seen his face

when I told him I was going to marry you next month, as you lay

in your bed next to us! I've seen dogs with their favorite bones

taken away who looked less pitiful than he did. I nearly burst out

laughing!"

His body shook and gyrated with mirth as he let out odd little

gasping giggles.

"So you actually believe that little kid's going to come save

you! I'd bet good money that he doesn't have the guts to even put

a NerveGear on his head ever again! To say nothing of him ever

actually finding you here. Hey, that reminds me, I still need to

send him a wedding invitation. I'm sure he'll be there—he'll want

to see you in your wedding dress. I mean, we have to give our precious hero something to hang on to, don't we?"

Asuna lowered her head once more, turned her back on

Oberon, and faced the large mirror that hung from the bed's

canopy frame. The strength drained from her shoulders, and she

squeezed the cushions tight.

"Alas, the security cameras were off, so I didn't get a recording

of his utter disappointment. I could have brought you a video

souvenir. Maybe I'll try that next time. But for now, I'm afraid I

must take my leave, Titania. Do try to fight the loneliness until I

visit you in two days' time."

With a final chuckle, Oberon turned over and walked to the

door, his toga swaying.

Asuna watched him grow smaller in the mirror as she made a

point of sobbing. Inwardly, she screamed a silent exultation.

Kirito…Kirito is alive!

That had been her greatest concern since she'd been taken

prisoner in this new world. The possibility that she'd been sent

somewhere else while Kirito was simply gone forever had slowly

but steadily dripped its toxins over her heart, even as she told

herself it wasn't true.

But without realizing it, Oberon had just wiped that worry

clean from her mind.

For such a smart man, he could be truly stupid—he'd always

been that way. He just couldn't resist the urge to talk down to

others. He played coy in front of Asuna's parents, but Asuna and

her brother had been witness to Sugou's haughty insults on many

occasions.

This was a perfect example. If he really wanted to break

Asuna's will, he shouldn't have run his mouth about Kirito. He

should have told her he was dead.

Kirito was alive. He was back in the real world.

She repeated the words over and over to herself, savoring

them. Each time she did, the flame inside her heart grew hotter

and brighter.

If he was alive, he wouldn't turn a blind eye to what was happening. He would find this game and come for her. That meant

she couldn't just play the helpless prisoner. She had to do what-

ever she could to escape.

She faced the mirror and pretended to be grief stricken. In its

reflection, she could see Oberon turn around at the door and

glance at her to check on what she was doing.

Next to the door was a small metallic plate with twelve tiny

buttons. There was a passcode that he typed in each time to open

and close the door.

It seemed rather unnecessary to Asuna. Why not simply set

the properties of the cage such that only an admin could open the

door? But Oberon seemed to have his own exacting standards for

this place, and he did not want to betray the illusion of the game.

In here, he was the king of the fairies, the tyrant who ruled his

queen with an iron fist.

Another flaw stemming from his foolish arrogance.

Oberon lifted a hand to fiddle with the pad. He was far enough

away from Asuna that the game's distance filter blurred the details of which buttons he pressed. He knew that she couldn't tell

from there, and thus he thought his cage to be inescapable.

That much was correct—if she were looking directly at Oberon.

But he didn't have much experience with the actual details of

the virtual world that the NerveGear created. There were many

things he didn't know yet. Such as, for example, the fact that mirrors were not treated as optical effects.

Asuna was pretending to cry while squinting directly into the

mirror at close range. Oberon was crystal clear. A real mirror

would not make a distant object any clearer, no matter how close

you sat, but the game treated the surface of the mirror as a pristine reflection. The normal distance obfuscation the game's engine used was not applied to the reflection. As a result, she could

see perfectly, down to the movements of his fingertips.

She'd had this idea quite a long time ago. But until today,

there'd been no natural way for her to be next to the mirror when

he was at the door. She couldn't miss this opportunity.

8…11…3…2…9.

She repeated the buttons that pale finger touched, over and

over. The door opened, Oberon passed through it, and it shut

again with a heavy clank. Through the bars, she saw the fairy king

walk along the branch, his black-and-emerald wings waving, until

he passed out of sight.

Asuna patiently waited and waited for the metal bar pattern

painted on the floor of the birdcage by the light of the sun to

change.

She had not gained much information to this point.

This was another VRMMO much like Sword Art Online titled

ALfheim Online, and shockingly enough, it was actually in business and taking new users. Oberon (Sugou) was using the ALO

server to imprison the minds of about three hundred former SAO

players, and he was planning to use them for illegal brain experiments. That was all.

When she'd asked why he would risk the danger of running illegal experiments inside a well-known video game, he'd simply

snorted at her. "Please. Do you have any idea how much it costs

to run a system like this? Millions and millions of yen for a single

server! But this setup will allow me to further my research and let

the company make money at the same time. Two birds with one

stone!"

So it came down to profit. This worked in Asuna's favor, however. There would be no way out of a completely closed environment, but since this game was connected to people out in the real

world, she would have a chance.

She'd managed to sneak enough information out of Oberon to

know that days passed here faster than in the real world. That

meant it would be difficult to determine the real time outside, but

once again, it was Oberon himself who provided her with the

means to solve the problem.

She knew that he came to her once every other day, after work,

using a company terminal. He valued his regular schedule and

was punctual to a fault, so she was confident that his visits were

at the same time each day. That meant the smartest time to strike

was after he left for home and went to sleep.

He wouldn't have orchestrated this conspiracy all on his own,

of course. But it was clearly a criminal act. She didn't think that

the entire maintenance team of ALO was involved. It would only

be a few…and if they all reported to Nobuyuki Sugou directly,

they couldn't possibly monitor ALO all night long. No office employee could work full-night shifts every day of the week.

If she could just escape the birdcage when they weren't watching, find her way to a system console somehow, and log out…And

if that weren't possible, there must be some way to send a message to the outside. She rolled over onto her stomach, face buried

in the pillow, and simply waited for time to pass.

Leafa watched Kirito fight with half wonder, half disbelief.

They were in the air over the Ancient Forest in the northeast

stretch of sylph territory, just before the woods gave way to

rolling plains. Swilvane was far in the rearview mirror, the jade

tower well out of view by now.

Because they were deep in the neutral territory between safe

havens, the monsters were of a high level. Kirito was fighting

three Evil Glancers, giant one-eyed winged lizards. The beasts

were each as strong as the boss of the starter dungeon in the

sylph homeland.

They were quite powerful, naturally, but the real menace they

posed was in their Evil Eye ability, a magical curse attack that

temporarily reduced the victim's stats. Leafa kept her distance to

provide backup, casting a curse-nullification spell every time Kirito got hit, but she was beginning to wonder if that was even necessary.

Kirito swung his mammoth sword with berserk abandon—the

words defense and evasion did not exist in his dictionary. He devastated the lizards with his tremendous swings, and he didn't

seem to even register their long-distance tail attacks. The maelstrom of his charges often enveloped multiple lizards in a single

blow. Most frightening of all was the sheer damage every hit inflicted. There had been five Evil Glancers to start with, and in no

time at all, they were down to one, which turned tail and fled for

the trees when it fell below 20 percent HP, shrieking piteously.

Leafa held out her hand and fired a long-range homing vacuum

spell. Four or five glowing green boomerang-shaped blades converged on the lizard's body, shearing away scales. The blue reptile

burst into a cloud of polygonal shards, and their fifth battle of the

day was over just barely after it had begun.

Kirito loudly sheathed his blade and bobbed through the air

over to Leafa, who gave him a brief salute.

"Nice work."

"Thanks for the backup."

They slapped palms and smiled.

"You know what? You fight like a crazy person," Leafa remarked. Kirito scratched his head.

"Y-you think so?"

"Normally you're supposed to prioritize evasion and dart

around, but you're just hit, hit, and hit."

"Hey, it finished the battle quicker, right?"

"That might work against a group of the same monster. But if

you go up against close- and long-range foes at once, or a party of

other players, they'll snipe at you with magic."

"Can't you avoid magic?"

"There are different kinds of spells. The really heavy blasts

that fire in a straight line can be dodged if you see them coming,

but not the good homing or area-of-effect spells. If you run across

a mage using those spells, you have to keep moving at top speed

and try to time it so you don't get caught."

"Well, there was no magic in the last game I played…I've got a

lot of new stuff to learn, I guess." He scratched his head like a

child being faced with a particularly tough test question.

"I'm sure you'll pick it up in no time. You've got very good

eyes. Do you play sports or something?"

"Nope, not at all."

"Oh…well, whatever. Let's keep going."

"Yeah."

They nodded and flapped their wings. Beyond the edge of the

forest, the golden-green of the plains beckoned them, reflecting

the light of the sun in its descent.

There were no more monsters after that. They emerged from the

Ancient Forest and headed into a rocky hillscape. The mountains

were designed so that they loomed well above the flight altitude

limit, so the pair had to land in a corner of the plain that served

as the foot of the range.

Leafa skidded to a landing, boots sliding on the grass, her

arms outstretched. Oddly enough, even though it wasn't a real

part of her body, she couldn't shake the sensation that the base of

her wings was tired. A few seconds later, Kirito landed and used

the opportunity to stretch out his back.

"Heh, tired?"

"Nope, not a bit!"

"Good to hear…but as a matter of fact, we're done flying for a

while."

Kirito's eyebrows rose at Leafa's words. "Oh? Why?"

"See these mountains?" She pointed at the series of peaks

capped in white, looming over the plains. "They're taller than the

altitude limit for flying, so you have to go through a cave to get

past them. It's the trickiest part of the journey from sylph lands to

Alne—or so I hear; I've never been past this point."

"All right, then. Is the cave long?"

"Very. There's a neutral mining town inside where you can

rest, though. How are you for time, Kirito?"

He waved his left hand to check the clock in his menu and

nodded.

"Seven o'clock outside. I'm fine for now."

"Let's keep going, then. Wanna rotate out here?"

"Rotate…out?"

"It means taking turns logging out to rest. This is neutral territory, so you can't just log out immediately. Instead, by taking

turns, the person online can protect the other's empty avatar."

"Ah, got it. You can go first, Leafa."

"All right, see you in twenty minutes, then!"

She opened her window and hit the log-out button. Next came

a confirmation warning, which she accepted, and the scenery

around her flowed far, far away, until it became a single point and

disappeared.

Suguha popped awake on her bed and leaped up, almost too impatient to remove her AmuSphere. She left the room and snuck

down the stairs. Midori's magazine deadline was coming up, so

she was still at work, and Kazuto was in his room. It was silent

downstairs.

She opened the refrigerator and pulled out two bagels, sliced

ham, mustard, and a few vegetables. She sliced the bagels

quickly, spread a thin layer of mustard, and topped it with the

ham and veggies. Each bagel sandwich went on its own plate. She

then poured some milk into a pan and set it on the induction

stove before heading back up the stairs.

"Big brother, what do you want for dinner?"

There was no response. She shrugged and returned to the

kitchen, assuming he was asleep. The gently steaming milk went

into a big mug, which she carried to the living room table with the

plates of food. After a brief grace, she ate her simple dinner in

barely ninety seconds and dumped the dish into the sink before

rushing to the bathroom. Even in the virtual world, the rigors of

battle made her sweat, so she always needed to clean up and

change clothes after a long dive.

She stripped off her clothes at light speed and leaped into the

shower room, spraying the hot water directly on her head.

Midori would scold Suguha if she let the VRMMO take attention away from meals or bathing, so she made sure to schedule

any group activities before the evening. But this case was different. This journey with Kirito would last all of tomorrow, if not the

day after. Normally, Suguha was not a big fan of long-term party

play, and she balked at multiday activities, but this was different

somehow. In fact…

I'm excited about it, she told herself, shower water running

over her closed eyelids.

When she opened her eyes, they stared back at her in the mirror directly in front of her. In those black pupils she saw eagerness and just a bit of apprehension.

Suguha's stature was far from large for a kendo athlete, but

compared to Leafa the sylph, she was rather big-boned. When she

moved her shoulders, stomach, or thighs, the muscles rose to the

surface of the skin. She thought her breasts had grown quite a bit

recently, too.

She couldn't help but feel that the inescapable reality of that

body reflected her own inner conflict, so Suguha shut her eyes

tight again.

Well, it's not like I'm in love with him. I'm excited about the

new world I'm about to venture into, not the person it happens

to be with. That's all.

Those words weren't just something she tried to tell herself.

They were the honest truth.

Looking back, every day used to be that way.

The stronger she grew, the wider her range of activities. Just

flying through the sky over unfamiliar territory was a thrill. But

as she became one of the strongest sylphs in the game, along with

her knowledge came hassles. In time, she felt she was just going

through the motions. The obligation to fight for her race became

an invisible chain shackled to her wings.

The term renegade, used to refer to those who abandoned

their homeland, was an English word that could also mean

heretic. People who gave up on the duty placed on their shoulders

and were exiled in response…She'd thought of them as simple

traitors, but now she wondered if those renegades were actually

just guilty of nothing more than a sense of pride.

Her mind wandered over this topic while her hands kept busy,

scrubbing her hair and body and washing off the suds. She

grabbed a dry towel off the wall and fiddled with the wall panel

next to it. A slit on the ceiling started blustering hot air down on

her. Once her hair was mostly dry, she wrapped herself in the

large towel and ran back into the living room. She checked the

clock: Seventeen of the allotted twenty minutes had already

passed.

Suguha wrapped the other sandwich in plastic and ripped a

note off the pad. She scrawled, "Eat this if you get hungry, big

brother," and stuck it under the plate.

She flew up the stairs and slipped into a fresh outfit, crawling

onto her bed and putting on the AmuSphere, still in suspended

mode.

The connection test crawled by with agonizing slowness.

Through the rainbow ring she went at last, and the gentle breeze

of the plains tickled Leafa's nose.

"Thanks for waiting! Any monsters?" Leafa asked, rising from the

one-legged crouch that the game always started in. Kirito was

lying on the grass nearby, and he removed a green straw-like object from his mouth to speak.

"Nope, all quiet here."

"What's that?"

"I bought a bunch of them at a general store before we left.

The NPC said they were a specialty unique to Swilvane."

"I've never heard of that."

Kirito tossed the pipe to her. She caught it and put it in her

mouth, hoping a blank face would hide her fluster. The drag of air

she took tasted of sweet peppermint.

"Now it's my turn to log out. Thanks for standing guard."

"Yep, see you soon."

When he logged out, his body automatically assumed the

standby crouch. Leafa sat down next to him and gazed up at the

sky, puffing on the minty pipe, until she was startled by the tiny

fairy who wriggled her way out of the shirt pocket of Kirito's still

form.

"Pwaa! Y-you can move without your master?"

Yui nodded, hands on her little waist, as though this was obvious to anyone.

"Of course—I'm me. And he's not my master; he's my papa."

"Speaking of which, why do you call him Papa? Is that what he

set your relationship to be?"

"…Papa saved me. He said I was his child. Which makes him

my papa."

"I…see…" Leafa lied. "Do you love your papa?"

She intended it as an innocent question, but Yui fixed her with

a deadly serious gaze.

"Leafa…what does love mean?"

"Um, it means…" She trailed off and had to stop and think.

"You want to be with someone at all times. Your heart races when

you're around them…Stuff like that, I guess."

Kazuto's smile crossed her mind—and for some reason, it

overlapped with the face of the avatar kneeling next to her, eyes

closed. Leafa held her breath. When she realized that the affection for Kazuto she'd kept hidden in her heart for so long might

be happening with Kirito as well, she had to shake her head to

clear it. Yui was puzzled.

"What's the matter, Leafa?"

"N-n-nothing at all!" she yelped. The next instant—

"What's nothing?"

"Aaah!!"

Leafa literally leaped up into the air when she noticed Kirito

had raised his head.

"Well, here I am. Did anything happen?" he nonchalantly

asked the panicked Leafa, rising to his feet from the standby position. Still perched on his shoulder, Yui squeaked, "Welcome back,

Papa! I was just talking with Leafa about what it means to be in lo

—"

"I-I said it was n-nothing!" Leafa hurriedly cut her off. "Yyou're back fast; did you actually eat?" she asked Kirito to change

the subject.

"Yep. My family left some food out for me."

"That's nice. Well, let's get going. If we don't get to the mining

town before too late, it'll be a pain to log out. C'mon, we're almost

to the mouth of the cave!" she jabbered hastily, to Kirito's and

Yui's surprise. When they didn't react, she spread her wings and

beat them a few times.

"Uh, okay. Yeah, let's go," he agreed, looking hesitant. He

spread his wings, but then turned back toward the forest they'd

come from.

"…? Is something wrong?"

"I feel like…" He scanned the line of trees with a scowl and a

squint. "Someone was watching us…Are there any players nearby,

Yui?"

"No, I don't detect any signals," the pixie reported, shaking her

head. Rather than being reassured, Kirito looked even more suspicious.

"You felt it? Is there a sixth sense inside this game?" Leafa

asked. Kirito rubbed his chin.

"It's not worth just writing off…Say that someone's watching

you, for example. The system has to scan us, to read the data it

gives to him. Some folks say your brain can sense that process

happening…in theory."

"If you say so…"

"But if Yui doesn't see anyone, I guess I must have imagined

it."

"Well, it could have been a tracer," she muttered. Kirito raised

his eyebrows.

"What's that?"

"It's a tracking spell. It takes the form of a tiny familiar and

tells the caster the location of the spell's target."

"Sounds convenient. You can't get rid of them?"

"If you can spot the tracer, sure—but the higher the caster's

magic skill, the farther distance the spell will work from the target. In the wide-open outdoors like this, it would be basically impossible to stop."

"I see…Well, it might have been my mind playing tricks on me.

Let's keep going."

"Okay."

They took flight. The white mountain range loomed overhead,

as sheer as cliffs, with a yawning black cave mouth smack in the

center. Leafa beat her wings, accelerating toward the evil-looking

cave, which seemed to be emitting an ominous chill.

After a few minutes, the group was at the aperture in the rock.

Right in the center of the nearly vertical mountain face was a

square hole, as clean as if a giant had chiseled it out. It was three

or four times Leafa's height in both directions. Only up close did

it become apparent that the sides of the cave were decorated with

eerie carvings of monsters. Directly overhead, a much larger

demon head menaced all who entered.

"Does this cave have a name?" Kirito asked.

"I think it's called the Lugru Corridor—Lugru being the name

of the city down here."

"Ahh. This really reminds me of an old fantasy movie…" He

grinned.

Leafa looked at him sidelong. She bet he was talking about

that really famous trilogy, based on an even older set of books.

Kazuto had the complete collector's edition box set, and she'd

snuck it out of his room once to watch the series.

"I know the one. They go through the mountains and into an

old underground mine, where a giant demon of fire attacks them,

right? Well, you won't find any demons here."

"That's a shame."

"There are orcs, however. If you're that eager for them, I can

let you handle the fighting." Leafa turned her head and started

marching into the cave.

It was chilly inside the passage, and the light from the outside

did not penetrate far into its depths. Darkness closed in around

them. She was about to raise a hand and cast a light spell when a

thought occurred to her.

"Have you been pumping up your magic skills?" she asked Kirito.

"Uhh, if it's the starter magic I got from this race, at least,

yeah…Haven't used it much, though."

"Spriggans are good with magic for caves and dungeons and

the like. You've got to have a better light spell than my wind

magic."

"Do you know what I should use, Yui?" he asked, scratching

his head. Yui popped her head out of his pocket and took on her

best educator's tone.

"You should at least read the manual, Papa! The light spell

is…"

She enunciated the syllables of the spell clearly, one at a time.

Kirito repeated them awkwardly with his hand in the air. Soon a

pulse of pale light spread from his hand, and when it enveloped

Leafa's body, she could see much better than before. Apparently

this was not a simple source of light, but a kind of night-vision

spell that enhanced their sight in the dark.

"Wow, that's useful! You spriggans aren't half bad after all."

"Hey, that kinda hurts."

"Hee-hee! But you really should memorize the spells you have.

Even crappy spriggan magic might actually mean the difference

between life and death…once in a blue moon."

"Wow, that hurts even worse!"

They traded jabs as they descended down the twisting passage.

In time, the light from the entrance was gone from sight.

"Uhhm…Ahr-dena-r…ray…"

Kirito was poring over the glowing purple game manual, muttering the unfamiliar words of the spell to himself.

"It's not going to work if you stumble over each and every part.

Don't try to just mechanically memorize all the sounds of the

words. Learn the meaning of all the Words of Power; then it's

easy to figure out the spells based on the combinations and their

effects."