Sword Art Online – Progressive - Volume 7 - Chapter 12

12

ARGO HAD ONLY BRIEFLY MET KIZMEL BEFORE THE fourth-floor boss fight, so it was more or less her first real encounter with the dark elf. But after interacting with other high-functioning AI NPCs like Myia, Theano, Nirrnir, and Kio, she welcomed the guest and took her presence in stride.

Even still, the Rat was surprised that Kizmel, a companion NPC from the “Elf War” campaign quest, agreed to help with the totally unrelated task of gathering wurtz stones. She kept looking over at Asuna and the dark elf knight, who were chatting happily as we searched for stones in the wide riverbed, and murmured things to herself like “Hmm” and “Well, well.” I wanted to believe that it wasn’t because she was getting some wicked ideas—like using Kizmel as a tool to gain more experience points.

As for the wurtz stones, they were little black rocks less than an inch in size. While they had a particular metallic shine to them, I had to agree that it would be extremely inefficient to try to search for them in the middle of the night. On top of that, there were faux wurtz pieces that looked the same except for the lack of that shine, plus river crabs that appeared identical in color and texture until they snipped at your fingers with their claws, just to make things that much more annoying.

Regardless, Argo had already found over twenty, so with the four of us together, it took less than an hour to reach the necessary total. Once our quest log had updated properly, Argo took out some bottled fruit juice from her inventory to celebrate, and we headed directly east into Volupta.

As she did when going into Stachion on the floor below, Kizmel wore a dark hooded cloak that hid her face and her armor. I was a bit nervous when we passed through the gate, but the NPC guards showed no sign of suspicion when we went through.

The west gate of Volupta was actually on the northwest corner of the city, because it had been built along the waterline. The white buildings and blue roofs were visible the instant you walked through the gate. Kizmel came to a stop in the small open space and simply observed for a moment.

“This is…a beautiful place,” she murmured. “Stachion had too many squares for my liking, but I would enjoy staying in this town for a time, I think. Is that the sea to the south?”

I wasn’t quite sure how to answer that. “Well, since it’s part of Aincrad, I don’t think you can call it a sea, exactly…but it is saltwater.”

“Then, most likely, this land was carved off the coastline when the Great Separation occurred,” she said.

“Oh,” exclaimed Asuna. “Of course, that’s right. Then maybe there’s a floor that’s just, like, one little island, which would leave the majority of it as sea.”

Logically speaking, that was sound. I was impressed by Asuna’s power of imagination. “That would make beating it really easy. I mean, once you leave the main town, the labyrinth tower’s got to be right in front of you, huh?”

Asuna and Kizmel both sighed with exasperation, and Argo just shook her head. I cleared my throat awkwardly and tried to save face by changing the topic.

“Um, oh yeah! If we get our hands on a pass, we should take Kizmel to the beach, too. You’ve never been in the ocean, have you?”

“No, of course not…But what do you mean by a pass?” the knight asked suspiciously. I explained the limited access system that applied to the entire beach, but it did not answer her question. “I am surprised the townspeople agreed to such a rule,” she said. “Who is forbidding them from going there?”

“Umm…the person we’re about to meet…I guess…”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted it. Kizmel was a proud dark elf knight. Nirrnir was a refined lady with even more pride than the elf. And Kio was a battle maid with absolute loyalty to her master. There was no way they’d all get along. It was a bad idea making Nirrnir look worse before they even had a chance to meet…but we couldn’t just leave Kizmel on her own outside the casino.

Praying that we’d never have to see either Kizmel or Kio—or both—draw their weapons in polite company, I said, “Well, um…shall we get going?”

It wasn’t even noon yet, but the Volupta Grand Casino had guests streaming in and out of the building. Fortunately, I didn’t see any ALS or DKB members. Asuna sent Liten a message to ask about them, and she replied that they held a late-night drinking session under the guise of a “meeting for reflection” after their massive loss at the arena. Both guilds were likely to resume activities after noon.

Of course, they only lost big in the sense that their fifty thousand chips (five million col) had all come from winning by following the cheat sheet—the actual loss from their assets was the original eleven thousand col they’d converted to chips. Of course, even that wasn’t chump change, and if it had happened to me, I’d be there drinking, too.

Were Lind and Kibaou planning on trying out the monster battle again today? Or were they going to forget about the totally broken Sword of Volupta and focus on beating the floor instead?

I was hoping it was the latter—not because I was judging them, but because I knew that there was cheating and conspiracy afoot in the arena. The Korloys were probably cheating in some way in a majority of the ten matches throughout the day, bilking their guests out of extra chips. The man who sold the ALS and DKB that cheat sheet had to be an agent of the Korloy family, too.

Then again, that man was at the west gate of Lectio, the first town of the floor. To get the cheat sheets for today, you’d have to walk all the way to Lectio and back. Lind and Kibaou weren’t going to do that, and I doubted they would jump into the arena without that betting information on hand. As I’d told Asuna this morning, I suspected the two were viewing that eleven thousand col as an expensive lesson learned. Or at least, I hoped they did.

We went into the Grand Casino. Argo showed off her pass and got us up to the third floor, where we walked down the dimly lit hallway of the luxury hotel and came to a stop in front of Room 17.

Like yesterday, Argo knocked on the door twice. From inside, Kio asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s Argo. Also, my companions…er, my three assistants.”

“You found another one?”

“Don’t worry, this one’s much more capable than Kirito.”

I briefly took offense to that before conceding that it was definitely true. The lock clicked, and the door swung open.

Argo went in first, followed by Asuna, Kizmel, then me. I checked the time—it was eleven thirty. We were ninety minutes ahead of the one o’clock deadline Nirrnir gave us. That didn’t mean she was going to pay us a bonus, and it was Argo who took the quest anyway. Asuna and I weren’t getting money, just the knowledge of how to find Snow Tree Buds.

The spacious suite was just as dark as last night, despite the midday hour. The windows were completely blocked with thick curtains, and only a few humble lamps—not bonfire shrooms—lit the room.

The large sofa in the middle of the chamber was empty. I blinked with surprise, and Kio addressed us with some contrition.

“Lady Nirrnir is still asleep. She will be awake by noon. Will you have some tea and wait until then?”

“Well, of course. It’s our fault for comin’ early,” said Argo. Kio’s eyes traveled past her and onto us—specifically, Kizmel, with her hood pulled low. The woman’s sharp eyes narrowed.

“Is that another adventurer?”

“…No…”

Kizmel hesitated, then slowly pulled back her hood. The reaction was instantaneous.

“Lyusulian!” Kio cried, placing a hand on her estoc. Kizmel did not grab the hilt of her saber but did pull her left foot back into a sideways stance.

I took a quick step forward and asked, “What’s Lyusulian?” Asuna whispered, “I think it’s a person from Lyusula.” Seeing the logic in it, I promptly asked Kio, “What do you call a person from Kales’Oh?”

The battle maid, despite her stern expression, replied, “A Kalessian.”

“Ohhh.”

“But why is there a Lyusulian here?!”

“Why? Uh, because she’s with us…”

Amid the uproar, the door on the left wall opened, and a small figure came into the living room, slippers slapping against the floor.

“What is all this noise about…?”

It was a yawning girl, with buoyant golden hair down past her waist, blindingly white skin, and brilliant eyes as red as gemstones. She held a large pillow with her left arm and wore a black nightgown. Above her head was a three-dimensional ? icon, the sign of a quest in progress.

Nirrnir, head of the Nachtoys, one of the two families who controlled the Volupta Grand Casino, stopped in front of the empty five-person sofa and faced us. She was the shortest of anyone here, but it felt like she was gazing down at us from on high.

Kio had been an instant away from drawing her estoc, but now she bowed in shame for the disturbance. She did not move away from her confrontational position with Kizmel, however.

And as for Kizmel, what she did left my mouth hanging open with shock.

I assumed she would merely watch Nirrnir in silence, but instead, she knelt on the carpet with one knee. She pressed her right hand to her chest and lowered her head deeply.

“I am Kizmel, knight of Lyusula. Please forgive me for disturbing your rest.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Asuna gape in surprise.

Nirrnir did have a certain air to her that was unlike any little girl I’d ever met, and she was the descendant of Falhari, the hero who founded Volupta, but at most, she was a casino boss, not a noble or royalty. Yet the proud knight knelt to her in a show of great deference. She hadn’t even done that for Viscount Yofilis.

Nirrnir, however, just nodded as though this were perfectly ordinary.

“Don’t worry, Kizmel. You were helping Argo’s group, weren’t you? Then you are my guest as well. Please raise your head and have a seat. Bring tea, Kio.”

“…Shouldn’t I take her sword, my lady?” asked Kio.

The young master stifled a yawn and answered, “No, you needn’t bother. A knight of Lyusula wouldn’t undertake an assassination.”

She dropped the pillow she was cradling onto the center of the five-seat sofa, which already had plenty of cushions, and sat down right next to it.

Kizmel stood up again, so we moved over to the couches. Argo and I sat on the three-person sofa across from her, while Kizmel and Asuna sat on the big one. Kio brought out cups for the table and poured us freshly made tea. I thanked her and took a sip.

This was a different tea from yesterday’s and smelled like citrus rather than grape, but it was just as tasty. But while it tasted good, what I really wanted was something to eat with it. From the early morning until now, the only thing I’d had was a nibble of extremely shocking narsos fruit. But I couldn’t order a meal here, of course, and Asuna looked perfectly fine despite having eaten no more than me. So I tensed my gut and held my hunger in.

This time, Nirrnir had tea instead of wine, probably because it was the middle of the day. After a short while, she had awakened enough to look at Argo and ask, “So…did you gather what I asked of you?”

“Of course. Should I take ’em out now?”

“Not just yet. Kio, two large bowls.”

“Right away.”

Kio went to a cabinet against the wall and took out two large silver bowls, which she placed on the table. Nirrnir held out a palm toward them.

Argo and I shared a look, then opened our inventories. I materialized a large cloth sack, and Argo produced a small one, which we emptied into the bowls.

Nirrnir first picked up one of the poisonous-looking narsos fruits, staring at it closely before putting it back. Next she plucked up a wurtz stone, examined it, and dropped it in the bowl.

“…Twenty ripe narsos fruits and fifty wurtz stones, just as I asked. Well done…Kio, the payment.”

The maid took out a small leather sack and handed it to Argo, who said “A pleasure doin’ business!” right as the ? mark over Nirrnir’s head vanished.

But a split second later, another ! appeared. The quest continued after this. Nirrnir took a sip of tea, then said, mostly to herself, “This will make the bleaching agent I need. The Rusty Lykaon will appear in the second match of the night, so there’s plenty of time. The problem is…I suspect the Korloys may be wary that their fur-dyeing scheme has been discovered.”

“Even if they are, can they withdraw a monster that has already been registered for the competition?” asked not me, nor Asuna, nor Argo—but none other than Kizmel.

We’d given her a basic rundown of the situation on the way to the casino, but this was truly a remarkable level of understanding. I didn’t want to believe it was just because she was an AI with all the answers available to her. Kizmel—and all the high-functioning NPCs in SAO—thought for herself, questioned, wondered, and sometimes made mistakes in the search of the best possible solution to any question.

And Nirrnir, who probably had an AI just as advanced as Kizmel’s, nodded and said, “That is correct. A beast once registered must appear in combat. In the long history of the Grand Casino, that rule has only been broken twice…Once was when a Korloy family servant forgot to give the creature its food, and their hold on the beast was broken before the match, requiring it to be exterminated. The other time was when a Nachtoy child snuck into the stables behind the casino and felt sorry for the creature, allowing it to escape. Both were very foolish mistakes.”

There was undeniable scorn in her voice. Kio looked like she wanted to say something, but recovered and returned to her usual stoic look.

Kizmel continued, “Then whether the Korloy family is wary or not, the plan to bleach the dye out of the lykaon’s fur—I did not know narsos fruit could be used to do such a thing—should not be affected in any way.”

“It will not…I believe. But I would rather be thorough.” Nirrnir looked at the girl next to me. “Argo, I doubt the Korloys are aware of you yet. Would you be willing to apply the bleach to the lykaon’s fur as well?”

“Mm, mmm…”

Argo’s noncommittal answer was probably because she was thinking of Asuna, Kizmel, and me, and we had a very important mission of our own to worry about. But according to Kizmel’s expectations, the dark elf key retrieval team would not arrive until midday tomorrow, and as a gambler who once bet everything at this monster arena, I wanted to find out the conclusion of this conspiracy.

I gave her a look that said We’re fine, so Argo nodded and turned to Nirrnir again.

“Sure thing. We’ll do it.”

“I am glad to hear it,” Nirrnir said, smiling, as the icon over her head turned into a question mark. She swallowed the rest of her tea, then clapped her hands. “In that case, we must mix that bleaching solution. Kio, prepare a pot.”

“Uh…we’re doing it here?” I asked with surprise, which earned me a withering look from the maid.

“Did you think we were going to make it in the casino kitchen? Where the Korloys would know about it within five seconds?”

“Oh…yeah. Good point. Of course.”

“As punishment for your foolish question, you are called upon to help, Kirito.”

There wasn’t a new quest log message, so that meant it wasn’t an official quest, just a task. But at this point, I had no good reason to refuse.

“I-I’d be happy to.”

“Then you may start by squeezing the juice from the narsos fruit.”

“Okay…but with what tool?”

“You have perfectly fine tools on the end of your arms.”

Apparently, I was supposed to squeeze them by hand. I wasn’t sure if that was really what they wanted, but I’d never seen any juicers or mixers in Aincrad.

“The juice will go in here,” said Kio, presenting me with a glass bowl. I picked up one of the narsos out of the silver bowl. Based on its pear-like texture, I suspected that if I squeezed it with all my strength, it would burst into chunks. So I held it over the glass bowl, adding pressure to my fingers bit by bit, until the light green lines running across the purplish-red skin split, forcefully expelling a milky white juice over my fingers and into the bowl.

A moment later, the spicy-sweet scent wafted up, and I was remembering how nice the flavor was, if not for the nasty electric-shock sensation…

Zzzap! My palms stung as though hit by supercharged static electricity, and I screamed and tossed the squeezed fruit.

“Aaaaah!!”

As I writhed, holding my right hand in the air, Nirrnir flopped over onto her side and cackled with laughter.

“Ah-ha-ha! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!”

“Aauugh…Y-you knew about this, Miss Nirr!”

“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! The way you went Aaaaah!! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!”

She kicked her legs uproariously and rolled back and forth. I wanted to jump onto her and tickle her until she cried, but I knew it wouldn’t be appropriate behavior toward a young lady in her nightgown, plus it would probably earn me some puncture wounds from Kio’s estoc.

As I withstood the remnants of the shocking sensation, I saw that Argo, Asuna, and Kizmel were also laughing. With a moment of horror, I looked up and saw that even Kio had her back turned to me and was trembling.

It’s fine, I told myself. As long as everyone has a nice little moment of entertainment to blow off stress.

Then I realized that there were still nineteen narsos fruits left to squeeze, and I exhaled heavily through my nose.