[What…what is this?]
" There's nothing. It's just as you can see. Come, stand up!"
Asuna was forcing me to change into a new set of clothes. Although the design was the same as the old coat I was used to wearing, the color was almost dazzling white. Apart from a small red cross on each side of his collar, there was also a huge red cross on his back. Needless to say, this was the uniform of the Blood Alliance Knights.
"... I, didn't I ask them to give me something as plain as possible..."
[This is already considered plain. Yes, it suits you!"
I collapsed onto the chair weakly. As usual, we are still on the second floor of Ajir's grocery store. I've already occupied this place as an emergency shelter. Therefore, the poor shop owner had no choice but to set up a simple bed on the first floor. The reason why she didn't chase me out was because Asuna would come here almost every day to look for me and help with the work in the shop. To him, there was no better publicity effect than this.
After I moaned in my chair, Asuna sat down on the armrest that seemed to have become her designated seat. Perhaps it was because I looked like I was celebrating a festival that she felt quite happy. She kept shaking her chair with a smile on her face. Not long after, she gently put her hands together as if she had thought of something and said,
[Ah, I haven't properly greeted you yet.] As a member of the same guild, I hope you can give me some pointers.」
As she suddenly lowered her head and bowed to me, I could only quickly straighten my back and answer,
[They, the same.] But then again, I'm just an ordinary member, and you're the vice leader…"
I reached out my right hand and touched her back with my index finger.
[I can't do this kind of thing in the future-]
[Wow!]
My superior jumped up as he shouted, knocked his subordinate on the head, walked to the chair opposite him, and sat down. Then he puffed up his cheeks.
There was a brief silence in the lazy light of the late autumn afternoon.
It had been two days since his defeat in the battle with Heathcliff. According to my personality, it's impossible for me to go back on my word now. Thus, I followed the conditions proposed by Heathcliffe and joined the Blood Alliance Knights. The guild gave me two days to prepare. Starting tomorrow, I have to follow the instructions of the headquarters and begin the raid of the 75th floor maze area.
Join a guild?
Asuna noticed my sigh and glanced at me.
[... It should be my fault for dragging you down...]
" No, this is a good opportunity for me too. I've almost reached my limit in solo combat…"
" I'm relieved to hear that... um, Kirito..."
Asuna's light brown eyes looked straight at me.
[I hope you can tell me. Why don't you want to join the guild…Why do you want to avoid the crowd…I think it's not just because you're a closed beta player and a unique skill user. Because Kirito's personality was obviously very good.」
I lowered my head and slowly rocked the chair.
"…A long time ago…It should be more than a year ago. I joined a guild before…"
Even I was surprised to be so honest. I think that's because Asuna's gaze melted the pain that surged up every time I touched these memories.
"Because I happened to help that group of people in the maze, they invited me to join…It's a small guild with a total of six people, including me. The name is also very interesting. It's called 'The Black Cat Guild of the Moonlit Night'.」
Asuna chuckled.
[The guild leader is a very good guy. The two-handed staff user named Kita was someone who would prioritize the guild members no matter what happened, so he was very trusted by everyone. He told me that most of the members are long-range wielders and are looking for a vanguard…"
To be honest, his level is much lower than mine. No, it should be said that I worked too hard to level up.
If I told him my level, Kita would probably give up on inviting me to join. However, at that time, I didn't know if I was tired of sneaking into the maze alone every day, so the atmosphere of the Black Cat Group that felt like returning to my own home made me very envious. They seemed to be friends in the real world, so their conversations didn't have the distance that was unique to online games. This was what attracted me deeply.
Actually, I don't have the qualifications to ask for warmth from the crowd. When I decided to level up as a solo player, I had already lost the right to do so. However, he still suppressed the voice in his heart and hid his level and the fact that he was a closed beta tester. He joined their guild.
Keita told me that he wanted to change one of the two spearmen in the guild to a Shield Swordsman and hoped that I could be the instructor of that Swordsman. This way, there are three people in the vanguard, including me, and we can form a team with a fairly balanced offense and defense.
The spearman I was responsible for training was a quiet girl with shoulder-length black hair called Sachi. When they first met, she smiled embarrassedly and said that although she had played online games for a long time, she could not make many friends because of her personality. When I wasn't in the guild, I was with her almost all the time and taught her one-handed sword skills.
Speaking of which, I actually have a lot in common with Sachi. It was as if they were used to shutting themselves off, reticent, and even afraid of loneliness.
Once, she suddenly revealed her inner thoughts to me. She said that she didn't want to die, that she was afraid of this death game, and that she didn't want to go to the training area outside at all.
Regarding her confession, I can only say one thing to her: I won't let you die. I, who had tried my best to hide my true level, couldn't say anything more. After hearing my words, Sachi cried for a while before breaking into a smile.
After a period of time, one day, the five members of the guild, excluding Kita, sneaked into the maze together. As for Kita, he brought the money he had saved up with great difficulty to negotiate with the seller about buying the house for the guild headquarters, so he didn't move with us.
Although the maze we went to was a floor that had already been cleared, there were still unexplored areas inside. Just as we were about to leave, a member found the treasure chest. At that time, I advocated not opening it because the monsters in the maze near the front line were all very high level. The members 'trap removal skills were also very worrying. However, only Sachi and I were against it. After the vote, we decided to open the treasure chest with a vote of three to two.
In the end, it was the worst alarm trap among all the traps. As soon as it was opened, a sharp alarm sounded, and countless monsters rushed into all the entrances of the house. We can only prepare to use emergency evacuation to escape.
However, he did not expect this to be a double trap. Inside the room was a space where crystals were rendered useless.
The number of monsters was so high that we couldn't hold on any longer, and the members fell into panic. I used an advanced sword skill that I had been hiding all this time, hoping to open up a path of blood. However, the members who were in a panic state didn't even have the time to escape from the tunnel. Their HP fell to zero one by one, and they disappeared into pieces with miserable screams. At that time, I was thinking that I had to at least save that girl, so I kept waving the sword in my hand.
However, it was still too late. She desperately reached out her hand to ask for help, but the monster's sword still mercilessly cut her down. Before she shattered tragically like a glass statue and disappeared, her eyes were still convinced that I would save her. She trusted me so much and hoped for my help. It was because my words were unfounded and weak, and in the end, it really became Chen Yan's promise.
Keita prepared the key to the new headquarters and waited for us to return in the hotel that we had always used as our headquarters. When I was the only one left alive to return to the hotel and explain what had happened to Kita, he listened without saying a word. After I finished, he asked me,"Why are you the only one who came back alive?" I told him my true level and the fact that I had participated in the closed beta.
Keita glanced at me as if she was looking at a monster and only said one sentence.
A cheater like you is not qualified to join us.
This sentence was like a steel sword that split me apart.
"... that person... what happened to him later...?」
[He committed suicide.]
Asuna, who was sitting on the chair, trembled.
[He jumped down from the periphery. I think he must have cursed me in the end..."
He felt that he could no longer make a sound. The memories that had been sealed in the depths of his heart had awakened because of this first confession. So I clenched my teeth. Even though I wanted to reach out to Asuna and ask for her salvation, I could only clench my fists tightly as I thought to myself," You're not qualified to do this."
[I killed everyone. If I hadn't hidden the fact that I was a cheater, they would have believed that the trap was really dangerous. It was me... I killed Kita... and I was lucky..."
I opened my eyes wide and squeezed the words out of my clenched teeth.
Asuna suddenly stood up, took two steps forward, and cupped my face with her hands. Her beautiful face with a serene smile leaned in front of me.
[I won't die.]
The voice sounded like a murmur, but it was unusually clear. My stiff body suddenly relaxed.
"Because I…I'm the one who wants to protect you.」
After saying that, Asuna hugged my head tightly to her chest. I felt a gentle and warm darkness covering me.
When he closed his eyes, he could see the members of the Black Cat Guild sitting at the hotel counter that was glowing with orange light.
I will never be forgiven. There was no chance of atonement.
Even so, in his memories, they seemed to have smiles on their faces.
The next morning, I put on a bright white coat and set off with Asuna to the 55th floor, Grantham.
From today onwards, I will act as a member of the Blood Alliance. That being said, the original rule of having five people in a team was changed to two because of Asuna's special privilege, so the actual situation was no different from before.
However, what awaited us at the guild headquarters was an unexpected order.
[Training...?]
"That's right. Including me, a total of four members will form a team. We will start from the 55th floor's maze area and break through until we reach the 56th floor's main street area.」
One of the four people sitting with me told me this during my previous meeting with Heavencliffe. He was a tall man with messy curly hair. He looked like an axe warrior.
[Wait a minute! Godfrey! Kirito, let me…"
Faced with Asuna's relentless pursuit, Godfrey raised one of his eyebrows and replied in a sharp, or rather, unceremonious manner,"
"Even if you're the deputy leader, you can't ignore discipline. As for the actual strategy of forming a team, it was fine. But at least let me, the person in charge of commanding the vanguard, assess his strength. Even if it was a user of a unique skill, he still did not know if it would come in handy.」
" With Kirito's strength, he won't cause trouble for a guy like you..."
I stopped Asuna from going crazy and said,"
[If you want to see it, then I'll let you see it. However, I don't want to waste time in this low-level maze. It shouldn't be a problem if he broke through in one go, right?」
The man named Godfrey closed his mouth with an unpleasant expression. In the end, he only left the words,"Gather at the west gate of the town in 30 minutes" and left with heavy footsteps.
[What attitude!]
Asuna angrily kicked the iron pillar beside her.
[Sorry, Kirito. If I had known earlier, I would have listened to you. The two of us would have just escaped..."
[If I do this, I will be cursed to death by the guild members.」
I smiled and placed my hand on Asuna's head.
" Sob, sob, I thought we could be together forever today... Then I'll go with you guys..."
[I'll be back soon. Wait here for a moment."
[Hmm…Be careful…]
Asuna nodded with a lonely expression. After waving at her, I left the headquarters.
However, when we gathered at the designated location, Grantham West Gate, I discovered something even more surprising.
Clyre, the last person I wanted to see, was standing next to Godfrey.
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