Sword Art Online – Progressive - Volume 4 - Chapter 11

11 
“WELL, I WOUND UP WITH THE THING…so what do I do now?” 
Holding it in my hand, I looked up at the mirrored silver pole, which stood planted in the stone floor. 
I was the only person remaining in the boss chamber of the fifth floor. I’d sent the rest of the team up the spiral stairs, reassuring them I’d follow in minutes. 
The stone-built chamber was utterly silent now, without a trace of the ferocious battle with the golem just minutes earlier. With the tension gone, I was now heavy with fatigue. I hobbled over to the wall, using the flagpole as a cane, and sat down with a spoken “There we go.” 
The solitude was for me to think about a few things. 
First, Hafner had taken a vote, and the unanimous opinion was that I should be forced— Er, allowed to keep the guild flag. I tapped the side of the heavy pole with my left thumb to bring up the property window. 
At the top was the item name, F LAG OF V ALOR . 
It was categorized as a long spear, but according to the info from the beta, the attack power was extremely low. It was the magical effects that were truly extraordinary. That was the same as before, too—so long as it was planted in the ground during battle, any guild members within fifty feet of the flag would receive its benefits. This chamber was about a hundred feet across, so if the flag bearer stood right in the middle, the whole interior would be covered by the effect. 
To register the flag to a guild, all it took was for a player with guild leader status to hit the REGISTER button at the bottom of the property window. The pure white banner would automatically change to the colors of the guild, and the flag could not be reregistered with a different guild. In other words, if Kibaou registered the flag and the ALS later merged with the DKB into a new guild, the flag would be useless to them. That could be circumvented by disbanding the DKB and having all its members join the ALS, but that would never happen. 
In that sense, Okotan’s idea to use the flag as a tool to merge the two guilds wasn’t technically wrong, just realistically very unlikely. Hafner and Okotan had reached a sort of mutual understanding, but that was a miracle brought about by the success of our tremendous mission to defeat the worst boss yet with a tiny group. Once we started on the sixth floor, they would return to their guilds and resume status as rivals. 
But surely today’s events would not go to waste. They had been implanted deep into the memories of those involved and would someday bear flowers, I told myself. 
I opened my window and placed the guild flag onto it. With a little bling , the massive flagpole vanished into the inventory window. 
All I could do for now was stash it, but it took an act of will to put away an item with such incredible stats. It was imperative that I find an ideal use for it. 
The clock on my window said it was past eight thirty. The ALS could come charging up the stairs at any moment. 
The second thing on my mind was how to handle them. 
I had the option to race up the spiral staircase and take the teleport gate on the sixth floor back down to Karluin. But if I did that, Kibaou’s group would not know what happened. They might go crazy looking for a way to summon the boss. That wasn’t something I wanted on my conscience. 
I supposed I had a responsibility to explain that I had jumped the gun on their plan to jump the gun. So I leaned back against the wall and shut my eyes, waiting for the ALS to arrive. 
After a while, I heard the sound of footsteps. 
It seemed rather early for them, but then I grew suspicious. There was only one set of steps, and it was coming from above, not from below. 
When I opened my eyelids, I saw a fencer in a light purple cape descending the spiral staircase from the sixth floor. 
“Asuna…” I willed the strength into my legs to stand. “What is it? Didn’t you go to the city up there?” 
She shrugged her caped shoulders as she stepped off the staircase and approached. 
“I heard an interesting story as we were climbing the stairs, so I thought I’d tell you about it.” 
“Oh…? Wh-what kind of story?” 
Asuna stopped next to me and turned around so she could lean back against the wall. 
“It’s about the source of Okotan’s character name. What do you suppose it is?” 
“Huh…? W-well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious. He didn’t seem like the kind of person who would be quick to anger, as the ‘oko’ would imply…Hmm. Does he like o- kotatsu , those low tables with the heater underneath?” 
“Bzzzt!” 
She crossed her index fingers in an X and grinned. “It’s the name of a river that flows into Lake Shikotsu in Hokkaido. He grew up near there and had a soft spot for the place.” 
“Ohhh…Now that you mention it, Kotan sounds like an Ainu-ish name…But did you really come back here just to tell me that?” 
“Of course not,” she said, contradicting her earlier statement, but didn’t elaborate. 
It was a reminder to me that she was truly an enigma. But before I could come up with a reply, she suddenly asked, “You stayed behind to negotiate with the ALS squad, didn’t you?” 
I tilted my head at an awkward angle, neither a nod nor a shake. 
“Er, I wouldn’t…say that…necessarily…” 
“I wouldn’t have anything to do up in town anyway. I’ll join you,” she declared. 
“Uh…” 
The ALS would be furious when they learned we had beaten them to the punch, of course, but it wouldn’t turn dangerous…I thought. But that depended on how serious they were about getting the guild flag. Did they just want to ensure the DKB didn’t get their hands on it—or were they determined to seize it at any cost? 
Even if it was the latter, I couldn’t believe they would turn their weapons on a fellow player outside of town. They were game clearers, not bandits. On top of that, I knew that Asuna would not listen to any orders to leave. 
“…Thanks. Just don’t provoke them, please…” I pleaded. Asuna murmured that she understood. 
For the next five minutes, we waited along the wall, chatting about mindless subjects. 
Eventually, the sound of many clanking footsteps approached from the descending staircase. Two, no, three—it had to be the ALS scout party. 
The lightly armed fighters raced into the room in a triangle formation, looking around sharply. From my spot on the wall, I called out, “Hi, guys.” 
The men all looked in my direction, and their eyes and mouths went huge. The captain type lowered his sword and gasped. “B-Blackie?! What are you doing here?! Where’s the floor boss…?” 
“Sorry. Already beat him.” 
“…” 
After a full five seconds of silence, the captain sighed and shook his head. One of the two in the rear mumbled, “Y’know, I just had a feeling…” 
One minute later, the full, twenty-four-man ALS core group and the duo from the true pioneer group faced one another across the descending staircase. 
Some of the men dressed in matching moss-green and dark metal gear whispered among one another in the back, but the spiky-haired guild leader Kibaou stood boldly in the center, his arms crossed, eyes and mouth shut tight, maintaining his silence. 
Figuring it was a good opportunity to refresh my memory on the names and faces of the main ALS members, I turned to Asuna and whispered, “Do you know any of their names aside from Kibaou?” 
“Umm…the one to the right of Kibaou with the trident is Hokkai Ikura. The one with the scimitar on the left is Melonmask. And to the left of him with the short spear is…Schinkenspeck, I think…?” 
“…Well, I’m glad they’re not all named after food,” I muttered, suddenly struck by a pang of hunger. 
Asuna promptly added, “Schinkenspeck is a type of Austrian smoked ham. It’s well spiced and quite delicious.” 
“…When we get back, we have to eat dinner…” 
Before Asuna could reply to that suggestion, Kibaou’s eyes flashed open, and arms still crossed, he shouted, “At any rate! It seems clear y’all beat the boss, so I will tell you congratulations! But if you don’t explain a few things right here an’ now, we won’t be able to go traipsin’ back to town!” 
“Uh…yeah, I get it. I’ll explain whatever I can,” I said. Kibaou thrust out his hand, index finger upright. 
“First! You ain’t gonna tell me it was just you who beat the boss all on yer own. Where’d you get the muscle?!” 
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that,” I replied. Kibaou’s eyebrow arched, but he withheld comment and straightened another finger. 
“Second! It ain’t a coincidence that ya beat the boss just before we showed up! How’d ya know we were gonna tackle the boss tonight?!” 
“Sorry, can’t tell you that, either.” 
His eyebrow twitched again. Half the members with him looked ready to explode with anger, while the other half shook their heads in disbelief or resignation. I heard one of them yell to take the questions seriously, but Kibaou silenced him with his hand and held up a third finger. 
“Those were just the warm-up. But this one you can’t back out of answerin’…The floor boss musta dropped an item called a guild flag. What happened to it?!” 
“…” 
Now it was my turn to fall silent. 
Not because Kibaou had caught me in a trap, but because I knew it was necessary for me to be honest about it. There was a danger to doing that, however slight. In the worst-case scenario, the twenty-four players could draw their swords to PK me. If that happened, I needed Asuna to escape up the spiral stairs. 
Simulating how that reaction would play out inside my head, I nodded. 
“Yeah…it dropped.” 
The ALS members murmured, stunned. I held up the index and middle fingers of my right hand and swiped them straight down. 
My menu appeared with a bell chime, and I used it to materialize the item I’d just placed inside it. 
The murmuring increased when they saw the ten-foot-long silver flagpole appear in a shower of light. I gripped the pole around the middle, closed the window, and loudly stomped the butt of the Flag of Valor onto the stone floor of the boss chamber. 
“This is the guild flag. As I’m guessing you already know, planting it on the ground like this provides four buffs to all guild members within fifty feet of the flag. It’s an extremely helpful item against bosses, but once registered to a guild, it can never be changed.” 
My explanation was rather abbreviated, but even then, the ALS members were stunned into muttering for a third time. Some of them looked up at the pure white banner, clearly envisioning it dyed with the color and logo of the ALS. 

But Kibaou had the presence of mind to hold steady. He snorted and got to the business at hand. 
“Well, well, well. You got yer prize, just like a true beater. So, since you refuse to join any guild…whatcha gonna do with that thing?” 
This was the centerpiece of the conversation. 
I sucked in a deep breath, tensed my stomach, raised the guild flag—and slammed the butt against the ground with a crack . 
“I am not opposed to leaving this flag in your care, Kibaou. However, I have two conditions.” 
“Let’s hear ’em.” 
“While there are two, I need only one to be satisfied. The first is if a future boss drops the same item. In that case, I will offer this flag freely to the guild that does not receive it, so that the ALS has one and the DKB has one.” 
I heard cries of “When will that happen?” and “That’s just wasting time until then!” from the back. But Kibaou only nodded, prompting me to continue with a glance. I took another deep breath and delivered my second condition. 
“Or if the ALS and DKB join forces to form a new guild. In that case, I will give you this flag instantly and without further requirements.” 
Over three seconds of heavy silence passed. 
It was torn to shreds by a cavalcade of bellowing voices. 
“We…we can’t do that!!” 
“Merge with those elitist pricks?! You’re joking!!” 
“Go and suggest the same thing to them! They’ll tell you you’re crazy!!” 
Two dozen angry men inched forward. At my side, Asuna grew noticeably stiffer. I continued to stand tall against the shouts, mentally measuring the distance to the staircase. 
Just then, a high-pitched shriek cut through the rabble. 
“I…I know the truth!! They’re not planning to give us the flag from the start!! They’re demanding the impossible from us so they can keep it and start their own guild!!” 
That ugly, eardrum-piercing voice was familiar to me. 
It was the voice that revealed I was a former beta tester in the first boss chamber. 
The voice that suggested the Legend Braves’ scam had caused a fatality in the second boss chamber. 
The voice that claimed Asuna and I were trying to monopolize the Elf War campaign quest in the third boss chamber. 
Breaking through the crowd was the dagger user, whose name was Joe, I recalled. He wore a leather mask with holes for his eyes and mouth, which made him look ridiculous but also hid his facial features. 
Joe pointed a finger at me, bent like a claw, and shouted, “We don’t gotta listen to their nonsense, Kiba! There’s only two of ’em! There are plenty of ways we can take that flag back!!” 
Wait. 
I’d heard that screeching voice somewhere else, too. Not in a big group like this…but in town, or the wilderness, or a dungeon… 
Just as my mind was about to seize on some kernel of understanding, a deep, threatening voice growled, “You mean by force, Joe?” 
“Exactly!! We got four full parties here, and there’s only two of ’em. It would be easy to…” 
“You idiot!!” Kibaou thundered, grabbing Joe by the shirt. He lifted the smaller avatar and practically head-butted the leather mask. “Yeah, the info on the guild flag you brought us was accurate, but no matter how important it is, if we draw swords on another player, that makes us nothin’ but a buncha thugs and criminals! Sit yer ass down and think about why the ALS exists again!” 
He thrust Joe away and turned back toward us, lowering his head despite the grimace on his features. 
“Sorry about forcin’ you to hear that nonsense. As far as those conditions go…can I assume you’d tell the DKB the same things?” 
“Uh…yes, of course.” 
“Then I’ll let you hold the flag for now. Wouldn’t hold out hope for that merger, though.” 
By Kibaou’s standards, it seemed like a rather easy resignation, but I suspected that it was just a sign that he, too, thought of the flag like an unstable bomb. 
While not all of them looked entirely satisfied, the other members had no choice but to fall silent at their leader’s order. Joe glared at us briefly before returning to his position. 
Kibaou crossed his arms again, puffed out his chest, and barked, “We’re goin’ back now! Nice work, y’all!” He started for the stairs leading down. I was in the process of putting the guild flag back into my inventory and looked up with a start at the spiky head. 
“Actually, they should have activated the sixth-floor gate already, so if you want to return to Karluin, it might be faster that way.” 
“I see.” 
Kibaou spun around on his heel and headed for the spiral stairs instead. When he passed by me, I thought I saw his lips quietly form the word thanks , but that was probably my mind playing tricks on me. 
It took a while for twenty-four sets of feet to disappear up the stairs. When silence arrived at last, I felt the tension within me finally snap, and I let out a long breath. 
“Ahhh…Well, out of all the possible outcomes I considered, that was definitely one of the better ones. I still have to tell the DKB about this, but for now—nice work, Asuna. Let’s take a little rest and then…” 
“ Go back ,” I was going to finish, but the words caught in my throat. 
The fencer had been standing there and listening during the entire conversation with Kibaou, her presence regal and confident. 
But now two tears trailed silently down her pale cheeks. They formed drops under her slender chin—glittering as they collected the light from the vast chamber—then fell, one and then the other. 
“A…Asuna…?” I whispered, completely dumbfounded by why she would be crying. 
There’d been some tension in the showdown with the ALS, but Kibaou had kept a cool head, so I’d never felt in danger for my life. The boss battle before that had been a much more terrifying ordeal. And Asuna had never raised a peep of concern during the long fight, so why cry now? 
Eventually my mind ran out of steam and went blank. She looked straight at me, not bothering to hide her tears. Despite the situation, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that those wet hazel-brown eyes were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in the world. 
Her pale lips parted, vibrating the virtual air. 
“Why…why…” 
She clenched her eyes shut, dripping large orbs of fluid, then raised her voice. 
“Why do you have to be talked to like that…? After how hard you worked…After you risked your life to fight for the sake of the group, for the sake of everyone trapped in here…After you bowed to them and apologized…Why do you deserve this?” 
It took some time for those words, spoken in a voice like a tiny silver thread pulled to its absolute tautest, to form meaning in my head. 
Asuna was crying for my sake. 
But that understanding did not tell me how I should have reacted. Her wet cheeks scrunched up. 
“This is wrong. They make their guilds, pull all their friends in, do whatever they want, bicker with each other…and you ran yourself ragged for their sake, only to get accused like that…It’s wrong. It’s absolutely wrong,” she protested, shaking her head. Asuna looked up at the ceiling and pursed her lips, helpless to stop the streaming tears. 
Finally I succeeded in sucking in a breath. I took a step toward my partner and managed to put my thoughts into words. 
“…That’s what I chose to happen. I chose not to join a group. I’m not fighting because I want people to recognize me…or praise me. As long as I can protect myself and those around me, the rest doesn’t matter to me.” 
I had kept that ugly bit of ego hidden from Asuna all this time. I didn’t have a shred of dedication to others or self-sacrifice. The reason I avoided joining either of the two big guilds, and formed my own boss party, and nearly killed myself fighting, and apologized to the group afterward was for no other reason than my own survival. 
“So…I don’t have the right to be recognized or praised. You don’t need to cry for…” 
An impact against my right shoulder cut me off. Asuna was clenching her fist. 
“I’m the one who decides who I should cry for!” she shouted, her face a mess. She used her other hand to rub at her eyes and attempted a smile. The hand still pressed against my shoulder opened up and grabbed the surface of my coat instead. 
“In that case…I’ll be the one to praise you, Kirito. I’ll do whatever I can for you…whatever you say.” 
Later—much, much, much later—Asuna would confide to me, “ A part of me was worried about the possibility that you would say something really crazy ,” with a gentle, beaming smile. 
But at this moment, I wasn’t capable of saying anything crazy. The best I could do was offer her a very awkward smile. 
“…Just you saying that is enough for me. I don’t want you to do anything for me…” 
“Then, sit down!” she ordered abruptly, pushing hard. I gave in to her force and lowered myself to one knee. 
Suddenly, her hand left my shoulder. It circled behind my head and pulled me against the light steel plate covering her chest. 
Her left hand slowly, gently, tenderly stroked my hair. She repeated the motion over and over and over. 
The softness of her hand. The scent like spring sunshine. The warmth of her body touching mine. 
As I soaked in these sensations, I eventually came to the realization that tears were brimming in my own eyes. 
The exhaustion that had set in over the fifty-five-day battle that had taken me from the first floor through the fifth. 
And the support, healing, and courage that the fencer’s presence had brought me throughout that time. 
These things kept me locked in place, submitting to Asuna’s embrace for a long, long time. And throughout, the movement of her hand never, ever stopped.