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Accel World - Volume 23 - Chapter 7




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7

However, with only about 10 percent of his brain turned on, Haruyuki simply blinked several times before quickly squeezing his eyes shut again. His back was wrapped in a mysterious elasticity, and the right half of his body was pressed up against something soft and warm. It was an altogether good feeling that had no comparison. He wanted to sleep just another hour—no, two hours like this…

“Unnnnh…” Together with this hoarse voice, someone’s breath tickled his right ear, and Haruyuki opened his eyes once more.

As soon as he saw the unfamiliar ceiling and the curtains that were the wrong color, he remembered that this was not his own room in the Arita household, but rather Kuroyukihime’s house in Minami-Asagaya. When he slowly turned his head to the side, Kuroyukihime had her face resting on his shoulder, perfectly innocent in sleep.

His heart pounded hard once, but he didn’t roll off the cushion, shouting. Instead, an almost sad fondness and a determination to protect her filled his heart.

He operated his virtual desktop with his left hand so that he wouldn’t wake her and opened the message that had just arrived. The sender was “RM.” Wondering whose initials they could be, Haruyuki opened the message and gasped. Now he was completely awake and devoured the short text.

I GOT YOUR MESSAGE. THERE’S SOMETHING I’D LIKE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT, TOO. RM

RM… Rose Milady. There was no mistake. The Saint Amaterasu had kept her promise to Haruyuki and given Rose his message. He wanted to reply right away, but before that…

“Um, Kuroyukihime?” Haruyuki reached out and gently shook the shoulder of the slumbering girl. “I’m sorry to bug you when you’re sleeping… But I got a message from Rose.”

Instantly, the long-lashed eyelids snapped open—so forcefully that he could almost hear the sound they made.

After finishing a simple breakfast of hot tea and yesterday’s lemon tart, Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime left the house at 9:00 AM.

It was slightly overcast and temperate. According to the forecast, this weather was supposed to continue for the rest of the day, and there was no concern about rain. Kuroyukihime, in her school uniform to match Haruyuki, glanced up at the sky before smiling at him.

“It doesn’t look like it will be as hot as yesterday, thank goodness.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “How are we going to get to Sasazuka?”

“Mmm.” She thought for a moment. “Moving north to south is quite the hassle in Suginami. We could take the Metro to Shinjuku and then switch to the Keio Line, or take a bus to Kannana. At times like this, I’m jealous of Niko and Fuko, who have their own means of getting around.”

“The motorcycle’s Pard’s, and the car is also Master’s mother’s, isn’t—”

“Then I will get my license next year and you get a motorcycle,” she declared.

“I—I don’t have a license, though!”

“Oh-ho? You didn’t know? You don’t need a driver’s license to own a car or a motorcycle,” Kuroyukihime told him, grinning, before sending her fingertip racing through the air. “It’s a bit decadent for junior high students, but let’s take a taxi. My treat, of course.”

“Huh… Th-thanks…”

“Think of it as a thank-you for the provisions you brought last night.”

While they were speaking, he heard the quiet hum of a motor as a super-compact EV pulled up on the road in front of the town house. A driverless two-seater taxi.

When Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime got in and fastened their seat belts, the taxi quietly pulled out. The route and expected arrival time were displayed in the holo display/front windshield. Haruyuki was sitting in the driver’s side seat, but the vehicle was completely automatic, so there was no steering wheel or any pedals in front of him. Given that he had played through more than his fair share of racing games, his hands and feet itched to do something, but this was no time to be distracted by this sort of static.

“I wonder why Rose specified this side of Sasazuka.” With no driver, he was free to ask the question.

“Hmm.” Kuroyukihime folded her arms across her chest. “Generally, it would mean she intends to use a normal duel stage to contact us. But in that case, it would be enough to say ‘Shibuya Area One.’ No need to indicate the neighborhood specifically. Well, we’ll find out when we get there. Shibuya One is currently Nega Nebulus territory, so you and I have the right to refuse challenges. It won’t be a trap.”

“I guess not,” he said. “And speaking of territory, we’ll have to defend Shibuya One and Two, plus Minato Three, in the Territories this weekend?”

“Mmm,” the Legion Master murmured. “Shibs One and Two were yielded to us by Great Wall, but it seems like we’ll need to discuss again what to do after the battle with Oscillatory. They didn’t yield to us for free; we paid the Burst Points, so it would rankle to give it back for nothing.”

“But it was Graph who paid, right?”

“His points belong to me, my points belong to me,” Kuroyukihime declared, her face clear, and then furrowed her brow once more. “Setting the matter of Shibuya aside, Minato Three will definitely be attacked by Oscillatory. If they can maintain their battle formation until next Saturday, that is.”

“Platinum Cavalier said that not a single member would leave even if the five Legions launched an all-out attack,” he reminded her. “But just because he said that doesn’t mean that all the members’ll be able to keep winning all their duels. The Seven Dwarves are one thing, but the general membership won’t be able to hold out against successive challenges from high rankers. Of course, they could also just keep their global connection off, but then they wouldn’t be able to defend the Territories at all.”

“That’s just it. Once the general attack begins, no matter how solid the Legion’s union is, half of the members will be driven to total point loss. I’d hope that as many of those members as possible would leave of their own free will before that, but…” Kuroyukihime let out a self-deprecating sigh and then immediately continued. “Fearing the kings’ general attack, cut the global connection and withdraw… I did that for two years. If you hadn’t come to Umesato Junior High and gotten that incredible score in the virtual squash game, I would still be spending my days in obscurity—no, in ruin. Someone like me has no right to dictate the choices of the members of Oscillatory.”

“It’s the same for me. No, especially for me…” Haruyuki wrapped his arms tightly around his knees and held back the various feelings boiling up within him, carefully picking out each word. “If you hadn’t shown up in the squash corner that day and talked to me, I’d still be walking around staring at my feet. If you hadn’t given me the Brain Burst program, I never would have realized that the Accelerated World—the real world—is so big. I’m sure it’s the same for Oscillatory’s rank-and-file membership… Which is why it’s only natural to want them to realize that what their king and the Society are doing is wrong.”

“Mmm… I suppose. Yes, you’re right.” Still staring out the front windshield, Kuroyukihime moved her hand to gently clasp Haruyuki’s.

The automatic taxi headed southwest on the narrow road of the residential area and turned left at Inokashira-dori Street. From there, it was a mere five minutes to the Keio Line’s Sasazuka Station. When they got out of the taxi, the busy sounds of the neighborhood closed in on them. Restaurants and convenience stores and assorted shops lined the broad sidewalks, with many people coming and going between them.

“Rose just said ‘Sasazuka,’ yes?” Kuroyukihime asked. “We’re fifteen minutes early for the meeting. Should we just wait here?”

“Um, I’ll check.” When he launched his mailer and let her know that they had arrived, he got an immediate reply. “Oh! She says she’s at the Sasazuka Library by the station’s south entrance.”

“The library?” Kuroyukihime frowned for a moment, but then quickly nodded. “Let’s go then. There will definitely be social cameras in a public facility, so there’s no need to fear PK—a real attack.”

“I guess not…”

And even if there is, I’ll be your shield, Haruyuki resolved in his heart and started walking ahead of her.

When they crossed Koshu Kaido and slipped under the overhead Keio Line tracks, the tall, gray multiuse structure came into sight on their right. According to his Neurolinker navigation, the Sasazuka Library was on the fourth floor. Passing through the nicely chilled entryway, they took the elevator up, and found the entrance was immediately to their right. After exchanging a glance, the two Burst Linkers went inside.

Much of the space, which was larger than he’d expected, was taken up with tables for browsing; there were only a few bookcases up against the wall in the back. This was only natural given that new paper editions were practically extinct, but there was a service that allowed visitors to view electronic books for free within the facility, so about 60 percent of the tables were occupied by adults and students studying. Haruyuki cast a furtive glance around the room and discovered more than twenty girls who looked like they could be in junior high or high school, so he couldn’t decide which one was Rose Milady—or even if she was there at all. There were also private rooms along the wall on the left side for users of audiovisual material, but it was impossible to check inside these.

“How about we sit down, at any rate?” Kuroyukihime murmured, so he nodded and they sat down at a table alongside one another.

After letting out a sigh, he was about to send Rose a message to say they had arrived, but before he could, his mail icon flashed, and he reflexively tapped it.

ONCE YOU GET TO THE LIBRARY, GO INTO THE FOURTH VIEWING BOOTH. AT EXACTLY 9:35, THE DOOR WILL BE UNLOCKED FOR JUST THREE SECONDS.

“……”

Haruyuki wordlessly made his mailer visible and slid it to his side. After glancing at it, Kuroyukihime checked the time and groaned.

“Mmm. So, in other words, she’s telling us to do a full dive in the booth or accelerate. I’m reluctant to leave our real bodies defenseless. But we can’t exactly disobey her instructions.”

“I… guess. And there should be social cameras in the booth, too.”

While they were talking, the specified time approached, so they both stood up together. They walked over to the fourth viewing booth—or they started to, but then realized that if Rose was somewhere in the room, it would be possible to crack them in the real from this movement. But they couldn’t hesitate now. They took care to at least not look back as they moved, timed it right, and finally ended up in front of the booth.

The indicator light on the door was red for “in use,” but just as had been specified in the mail, the moment the clock hit 9:35 AM, it changed to green. Kuroyukihime immediately reached out and opened the door.

The small space was deserted; in the center sat a single large reclining chair, and on the table farther back was a flat monitor for non-Neurolinker users. He felt like he’d seen this before, and then it hit him: This was just like the private booths in the dive café that hosted the duel holy ground of Akihabara BG. That experience had been intensely close because he and Pard had forced themselves into a chair meant for one. Would the same scenario play out again here? He was still wondering over it when Kuroyukihime gave his back a push and got them both inside before closing the door. He heard the lock snapping back in place.

“Now then,” she huffed. “What’s the next instruction?”

The reclining chair before them spun halfway around and Haruyuki leapt back with a shriek, but Kuroyukihime’s hand came up and covered his mouth. Her other hand was thrust out like Black Lotus’s sword.

Seated in the chair was a fairly small girl, looking like she might be in elementary school or junior high; it was hard for him to tell. Her uniform was a bright, light-blue dress. Her hair was cut short, all one length, and the front covered her face, so he could basically only see her left eye.

After observing the frozen pair for two silent seconds, the girl said coolly, “I’m sorry for calling you out here. But this was the only place I could think of where we could talk securely in the real without spending any money.”

Her slightly husky voice sounded young for her age. But even so, it had the same sweet ring to it as in the Accelerated World. Haruyuki was certain that the girl before them was Rose Milady, and he relaxed his shoulders. Kuroyukihime also lowered her hand.

“Oh, it was no trouble to come here,” she said. “But I’m surprised you would reveal yourself to us. I simply assumed that from here we would do a dive call or accelerate.”

“A dive call’s risky. And a duel stage is even more dangerous. This was the only place to eliminate the possibility of pursuit or eavesdropping,” Rose replied and smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt with both hands before standing up from the reclining chair. “There’s only one chair, so you sit, Lotus.”

Kuroyukihime glanced at Haruyuki before shrugging slightly. “I would ask how you determined I’m Black Lotus… but I suppose there’s no point.”

“It’s just, no matter how you look at it, you’re Lotus and that’s Crow.”

The (likely) younger girl turned her clever gaze on Haruyuki and he shrank into himself.

“B-but I don’t think I look very much like my duel avatar,” he told her.

“I’m in the same boat.”

When she said this, he was forced to agree. Rose Milady’s avatar was tall and lean with thorns covering her entire body, a total one-eighty from the compact girl in front of him—Well, maybe not a full one-eighty, but certainly a hundred and fifty degrees different.

“Um, what grade are you in?” he asked automatically, and Rose glared at him from the gap in her hair.


“Why do you need that information?”

“O-oh, I just mean, if you’re cool with sharing,” he quickly backtracked.

“Ninth.”

“What?” he yelped in surprise.

Instantly, Rose’s left eye glittered with a dangerous light. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I—I just…”

Thought you were in elementary school was something he couldn’t very well say, and so Haruyuki gave voice to another thought that would likely not offend and was still also not quite a lie.

“The impression I got when you were talking with Raker in the Highest Level was that you were in high school, too, so…”

“Raker’s in high school?” she returned immediately, and he realized that he had accidentally leaked her real info, but it was too late.

He glanced at Kuroyukihime, but she just shrugged, so he nodded in resignation. “Sh-she is…”

“Hmph. And you?”

“Eighth…”

When Rose turned her silent gaze on her, Kuroyukihime replied smoothly, “Ninth.”

“I see. Are we going to exchange real names, too?”

“If that’s what you want, we would be amenable.”

Rose’s face took on a slightly thoughtful look, but she quickly said, “Then I’ll have you amended,” and ran a finger through the air.

The name tag that she sent had three characters in a rather standard rose-red font. He had no idea how to read the characters since there was no phonetic pronunciation accompanying them, but when he squinted at the roman letters below the Japanese characters, he discovered that they were apparently read “Tsubomi Koshika.” The mail address also noted on the tag was the same as the address she’d used to contact him.

When he sent his tag in return, Rose aka Tsubomi nodded at him and then looked at Kuroyukihime’s tag. “Is this really your real name?” She scowled. “It does have the resident registry approval stamp, but…”

“Let’s leave it at that,” Kuroyukihime said. “You may call me Kuroyuki or Hime, as you wish.”

“… Okay, Kuroyuki it is. Call me Koshika.”

“Tsubomi’s not allowed?”

“I hate my name.”

“Understood. Well then, Koshika, shall we get right to the heart of the matter?” Kuroyukihime remained leaning against the door of the booth rather than moving to sit in the reclining chair that had been yielded to her. “I think our business and your business might be one and the same.”

“What?!” Haruyuki shouted.

But Tsubomi’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. “I suppose they are.”

Here, Haruyuki, too, finally remembered the last words Rose Milady had spoken when they’d encountered her on the Highest Level the previous day: “I’ll do what has to be done for Orchid Oracle’s sake, and for Saffron Blossom’s.”

“K-Koshika,” Haruyuki said, and she finally turned her gaze on him.

“What?”

“Um…” He paused. “So do you mean you have some information connected to rescuing Oracle?”

For the first time since the conversation had begun, something resembling a smile—clearly somewhat wry—rose up on the petite girl’s lips. “Just as impatient in the real, hmm? Putting to waste the tactics Kuroyuki and I are attempting to use here.”

“Huh? Oh. I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine,” she told him. “I want to cut out all the niceties, too. It’s true, I do have some information on Orkki’s—Oracle’s—current situation. To trade for that, I want you to present your information to me.”

Haruyuki swallowed his breath, but Kuroyukihime’s reaction was as cool as ever.

“It depends on the kind of information you’re seeking,” she said. “But that is basically what we’d like as well. However, before we begin the information exchange, there’s one thing I’d like to confirm.”

She stepped away from the door and walked over to Tsubomi, who was still standing beside the reclining chair. It wasn’t that Kuroyukihime was particularly tall for a ninth grader, but Tsubomi’s stature was small enough that she could be mistaken for an elementary school student, so there was a significant height difference when they faced each other.

But Tsubomi looked up at the Black King with a resolute attitude that recalled the third of the Seven Dwarves. She cocked her head slightly to one side, almost as if to say What then?

“You have revealed yourself in the real to us like this and are trying to save Orchid Oracle, thought to be held by Black Vise aka Ivory Tower,” Kuroyukihime began, her voice extremely quiet but still clearly audible. “In other words, Rose Milady, I believe you have chosen the path of estrangement from Oscillatory and the White King?”

Haruyuki saw a shadow of fleeting anguish cross Tsubomi’s face. But that vanished immediately, and the small high ranker assented quietly. “Think that if you like. My priority is Oracle’s life, over the greater mission of the Legion.”

“Her… life? That’s…” Kuroyukihime’s voice cut out there, so Haruyuki shifted his gaze to the swordmaster.

He understood that the “life” Tsubomi Koshika had uttered was referring of course to Orchid Oracle aka Megumi Wakamiya’s life as a Burst Linker. But Tsubomi surprised him with what she said next.

“If things continue like this, Oracle’s life in the real world might be in danger, too,” she told them, voice low and strained. “Unless we hurry to stop the acceleration, there’s a possibility her soul won’t be able to return to her body.”

“H-her soul? What do you mean?” Kuroyukihime’s eyes grew wide.

“Soul’s a convenient expression,” Tsubomi said, shaking her head, a vexed look on her face. “But as far as I can understand, that’s the only word that works. Accelerated Burst Linkers think by using exclusive quantum circuits established in the Brain Burst central server, also known as the Main Visualizer. And with the end of acceleration, the connection to that circuit is cut, and the memories are synced…”

Haruyuki had a bit of a hard time digesting this explanation. He took a step forward from the wall opposite the girls where he’d been making himself small. “H-hang on a minute. Thinking with circuits, syncing memories… Are you saying we’re not using our own brains while we’re accelerated?”

“Put simply, that’s exactly it.” Tsubomi nodded. “This way, the BB system avoids the life span of the Burst Linker’s soul consuming large quantities of resources. The reason memories are a little muddied when you stop accelerating by physically pulling off the Neurolinker compared with bursting out normally is because there’s a lag in the memory sync process. Only the tiniest bit, but still.”

“Memory… sync…” This reminded Haruyuki of Rin Kusakabe when he’d seen for the first time in a while at the Legion meeting the previous night. She accelerated using the Neurolinker of her actual older brother Rinta Kusakabe, who was in a coma in the hospital, and dueled as Ash Roller. But she could only hazily remember the things that happened during acceleration. If the reason for that was because the memory sync didn’t work properly because of her unique circumstances…

Tsubomi turned her eyes from the silent Haruyuki back to Kuroyukihime. “Right now, Oracle is being used—no, abused—by the organization and connected to a quantum circuit that’s not her own. If this continues, the shape of her soul will become twisted, and the system won’t be able to sync her memories. Not only that, it’s even a possibility that she won’t be able to come back from the Accelerated World.”

“Not able to come back?” Kuroyukihime asked. “Even if her Neurolinker is pulled from her neck?”

“If you could pull it off and get her far enough away, then maybe.” Tsubomi shrugged. “But in that case, her memories wouldn’t be able to sync normally, and it might have some kind of negative effect on her personality. I can’t expose her to that sort of danger. We have to do whatever it takes to get Oracle to burst out from the Accelerated World normally.” She yanked up her face and grabbed Kuroyukihime’s arm. “That’s all the info I can provide right now. Now it’s your turn to cooperate.”

She nodded. “Understood. What do you want to know about Oracle?”

“More like where do I want to go: to Oracle in the real world.”

Upon leaving the Sasazuka Library, Kuroyukihime, Haruyuki, and Tsubomi Koshika got into another taxi on Koshu Kaido. Of course, it was also an automatic vehicle, though not a two-seater this time; it was a vehicle for four, with front and back seats. Haruyuki sat in the front passenger seat, while Kuroyukihime and Tsubomi climbed into the back.

“I see,” Kuroyukihime said softly as the car pulled out. “I wondered why Sasazuka, but it was because you guessed that Oracle’s house is in this area.”

“I did,” Tsubomi confirmed. “Way back in the day, before we joined Oscillatory, Oracle talked about the Sasazuka Library. So I figured she had to be nearby.”

“Hmm. But Oracle’s house—actually, I can just tell you her real name at this point.” Kuroyukihime operated her virtual desktop. “Oracle’s real name is Megumi Wakamiya. She’s a member of the literary club at Umesato Junior High in Suginami, where Haruyuki and I go to school, and she’s also the secretary of the student council.”

As she stared intently into the space where Megumi’s name was likely displayed, Tsubomi finally spoke, her voice extremely quiet. “Megumi… Wakamiya. She’s always loved books. Even in the Unlimited Neutral Field, she’d always be sitting and reading, holding this enormous book, although who knows where she got it.”

“In the Accelerated World? What kind of book was it?” Kuroyukihime asked.

Tsubomi blinked once before answering. “I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a title on the front or back cover. Instead, it had glass of all different colors embedded in it like patchwork. It was really pretty. But back then, I had zero interest in books, so I’d get in a bad mood whenever I found Oracle reading it. She never made a face at me, though. She’d just close the book and come with me to hunt Enemies or look for a shop.”

“You said that you didn’t know either why Oracle—Megumi—lost all her points after joining Oscillatory?” Kuroyukihime asked.

“Yeah. One day, she was suddenly gone. When I asked the Legion members what happened, no one—not even Cosmos—knew. I could only assume she’d been attacked by a powerful Enemy somewhere and lost all her points. I was pretty upset, and Cosmos promised she’d bring Orkki back someday. And then right before the Territories the other day, Orkki really did come back…” Tsubomi trailed off.

“But even that was one part of the White King and the Acceleration Research Society’s plot,” Kuroyukihime noted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Cosmos herself who drove Oracle to total point loss. Just like she did with your parent, Saffron Blossom.”

Tsubomi Koshika didn’t move to reply but rather hugged her knees to her chest as she curled up on the seat. When she did, she looked every bit the child, and Haruyuki turned back around to stare out the front windshield.

The taxi was running west along Koshu Kaido. The address for Megumi Wakamiya registered with Umesato Junior High was about two kilometers from Sasazuka in Suginami’s Shimotakaido. Because it was a weekday, the lanes were empty of traffic, and in a few minutes, the turn signal was blinking as they pulled to the side of the road.

They got out of the car, crossed the green area that had once been the Tama River, and entered the residential neighborhood. One of the stylish bungalows lined up opposite a large temple was their destination, the Wakamiya house. Even though they had been good friends for some time, this was Kuroyukihime’s first visit to Megumi’s house, and it was with a nervous look that she moved to press the button on the intercom. But then her finger stopped in midair and she looked at Tsubomi standing next to her.

“Koshika, according to what you said, Megumi’s been accelerated ever since the end of the Territories two days ago… Is that right?”

“Yes, I think so.” Tsubomi nodded.

“Then her family will no doubt have been wondering why—No, at this point, they’ll be looking for real reasons why Megumi hasn’t woken up in more than twenty-four hours.” She cleared her throat and pressed the button.

They heard the tinkling of the chime, and then a few seconds later, a woman’s voice in response.

Kuroyukihime explained the reason for their visit, and the woman—apparently, Megumi’s mother—informed them in a somehow businesslike tone that Megumi had been in the hospital since the day before.



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