Sword Art Online – Progressive - Volume 5 - Chapter Pr

“PAH-CHOO!” 
I spun around to ascertain the nature of the odd sound behind my back. 
The fencer who was my temporary partner had her hands over her nose. A few seconds later, she arched her back and loosed another “Pah-choo!” 
“…Was that a sneeze, or are you saying you want patchouli for your bath tonight?” I quipped, earning myself a glare. 
“I don’t like patchouli.” 
“What about pumpkin spice?” 
“Nope.” 
“Maybe parsnip?” 
“Nope…Hey, that’s not even a thing!” she snapped, bringing the joke full circle. Asuna, the level-18 swordswoman, sighed. “It was a sneeze…I think. I’m not sure.” 
“Huh? Wh-what does that mean? Shouldn’t you be able to tell if you sneezed or not…?” I wondered, seriously this time. I came to a stop in the middle of the path. 
Just an hour or two ago, the central street of Karluin, the main town of the fifth floor of Aincrad, had been packed with people, but now it was completely empty. The countdown party with fireworks to celebrate the arrival of the year 2023 was over, and the players had cleared out, returning to their inn rooms—or back to the wilderness to hunt. 
Asuna and I watched the fireworks from the old castle ruins outside town and waited for the area to grow quiet before we left. This was because we’d had a dangerous, unexpected encounter in the ruins. Even with my excellent Search skill, it would be harder to detect someone trailing us in a crowd. 
I casually checked behind me as I waited for Asuna to reply. To my surprise, she had a very rational response: “Sneezes are involuntary bodily functions designed to either raise your body temperature when it’s cold or expel a foreign object from the nasal cavity, right? Neither are necessary for a player avatar to do.” 
“Oh. Well, I guess…that’s a good point…” 
“So if the SAO system is artificially reproducing some kind of sneezing function, I’m not certain that can be called a ‘real’ sneeze…That’s my point.” 
“I see…” I murmured, impressed. Then my own nose started to tickle. It was either the chill or the repetition of the word sneeze that was making me conscious of it. Eventually, I couldn’t hold it any longer. 
“Broosh!” I exploded. 
Asuna grinned smugly at me. “What’s that? Are you saying you want bruschetta for breakfast tomorrow?” 
“…What’s bruschetta?” 
“It’s a kind of Italian finger food.” 
“That actually sounds kind of good,” I murmured, imagining what this bruschetta might look like and unconsciously tugging the collar of my coat tighter before I realized what I was doing. “Hey…is it just me or is it kinda cold here?” 
“…Yes, it’s rather chilly…” 
Asuna wore a hooded wool cape, but it was over a miniskirt that didn’t seem to defend much against the elements. A man who was smooth and considerate would put his own coat on her without saying a word, but as a loser gamer and shut-in, I wasn’t equipped with any skills that I couldn’t earn in a video game. 
Fortunately, before I said or did anything to embarrass myself, Asuna opened her menu and adjusted her equipment mannequin. Light covered the pale legs exposed by her leather battle skirt, then faded into white tights. 
There shouldn’t be any artificial fibers in this world, given the setting, but somehow, the skintight material seemed to shine in the light—I couldn’t help but stare. Before, she would’ve retaliated with a cold look, sharp words, and perhaps even some kind of physical attack—but this time, Asuna just cleared her throat and looked up at the bottom of the floor above, visible in the dark. 
“…Well, it is the beginning of the year, so you would expect it to be cold…and yet, the fourth floor was quite warm when we were down there recently. How does Aincrad handle the seasons of the year?” 

“Um…it was August in the beta test, but even though the sun felt hot at midday, it wasn’t, like, unpleasantly hot. And it was nothing like the suffocating muggy heat of midsummer in real life.” 
“Hmm…I suppose if it were really that hot, nobody would be able to bother with full plate armor and the like.” 
“Good point. Makes me wonder what those old European knights did during the summer…” 
“The Knights Templar of the Kingdom of Jerusalem lost to Saladin’s forces because the heat sapped their strength.” 
“Ah…I see.” 
As usual, Asuna had plenty of facts to back herself up. I started getting the nasty feeling that she might eventually learn more about Aincrad than even I knew, so I quickly brought us back to the matter at hand: 
“The point is…Aincrad does model the seasons to an extent, but I don’t think it actually simulates heat and cold to a level that is uncomfortable. I mean, this isn’t nearly as bad as the midwinter weather we’d be feeling in the real world, right?” 
“Even dressed like this, the worst it does is make me sneeze.” 
“But there are exceptions. I seem to remember reading about floors that are winter or summer all year round…according to a magazine article or something…” 
“Hmm…” 
Asuna glanced up once more, then wondered, “You didn’t find this floor of eternal summer during the beta test?” 
“Well, it was summer at the time…but I do remember a beach on the south side of floor seven. It had white sand, coconut trees, and a bunch of players enjoying their summer vacation in swimsuits.” 
“The way you say that makes me assume you didn’t take part,” she noted insightfully. 
“Well, a guy celebrating his vacation all alone is kinda sad, right?” I admitted. “It’s fine. I was focused on getting through the game.” 
This desperate excuse made Asuna grin enough to forget the cold. She patted me on the back. “South side of the seventh floor? I’ll remember that. If it really is an area of eternal summer…” 
“…Then?” 
“Mmm. I think I’ll keep it under wraps until then. Let’s get going to the next main town. The sixth floor starts in earnest tomorrow…er, today.” 
The fencer walked off at a brisk pace, and I had to rush to catch up, feeling skeptical. It had been more than a month since our temporary partnership began, and I still couldn’t tell what she was thinking most of the time. 
But I guess that’s part of her charm, I thought, which was uncharacteristic of me. I shook my head, and my nostrils began itching again. It was harmless enough in the safety of town, but if I sneezed in a dungeon while trying to hide, the consequences could be disastrous. I’d have to study how to suppress the urge. 
I tried holding my nose, then my breath, but neither worked. Eventually, my itchiness meter reached its peak. 
“Vah-kesh!” 
Asuna stopped and turned around to look at me with a 60 percent annoyed glare and 40 percent enigmatic smile. 
“Are you that excited about summer vacation?” she asked. 
“N-no, I…” 
“Then we’d better get through the sixth floor as quickly as we can.” 
“I’m telling you, it’s not like that!” 
But no matter how much I protested, the smirk never left the fencer’s face. In the end, I wasn’t even sure if I really wanted the seventh floor to be an everlasting summer paradise or not.