Sword Art Online – Progressive - Volume 8 - Chapter 19

19

WE GOT THROUGH THE SECURITY CHECKPOINT WITH Kio’s pass, climbed the huge spiral staircase to the third floor, then informed the check-in counter where we were going, and made our way to Room 17 on the south side of the floor.

It occurred to me that we were paying many more visits to Nirrnir’s chamber than the platinum suite we’d coughed up so much money on at the Ambermoon Inn, but that would only last until the end of this quest series. And according to my instincts, the climax was near. Things had taken a big detour when I freed the lykaon, but going by the pattern of proper storytelling, an inspection of the stable should turn up undeniable evidence of wrongdoing. Then the judgment of Falhari the Founder would kick in, something unexpected would happen, a major story event would occur, and we’d launch into some kind of huge battle, which, if won, would spell the end of the quest. At least, that was my assumption.

If there was any concern on my end, it was that the “Curse of Stachion” quest on the previous floor had completely ignored typical story logic, but I wanted to say that was only because the PKers had interfered permanently by killing the lord of the town. They hadn’t shown up at all in Lady Nirr’s quest, so I could only pray that this story ended safely.

Contemplating all this as I marched down the dark hallway to Room 17, I knocked and answered the replying voice with, “Kirito and Asuna and Kizmel.” A fancy, heavy lock clicked loose.

Kio the battle maid opened the door, then frowned as soon as she saw me. “Kirito, have you been drinking during the day?”

“Huh…? Y-yes…but not enough to smell bad…”

For one thing, drinks in this world only tasted like alcohol; they didn’t produce acetaldehyde in the body. If the game was simulating alcohol effects, too, then it made no sense that Nirrnir, who looked no more than twelve years old, was chugging glasses of wine like water with no visible effect.

But my guess was completely wrong.

“It is not the spirits I smell, but the anise. Have you been drinking ouzo down in town?”

Anise? I wondered, until I realized that must be the name of the particular herbal flavor in that strong drink.

There was a mixture of fictional plants in this world, like narsos and Celusian, and real plants, like juniper and aspen. I couldn’t tell in the moment if anise was one or the other, but either way, she was right that I’d been drinking ouzo at Menon’s, so I fessed up.

“Y-yes, I have.”

“I knew it. I won’t tell you to avoid it, but it is strong and best saved for the evening.”

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

I bowed and glanced sidelong at my companions. Asuna had twice as much as I did—and Kizmel at least three times, but they both looked as stoic as though they had no idea what I’d done.

I felt like the fact that I could resist telling Kio, “They were drinking, too!” was a sign of how mature I’d become as a person. But before I could think on it more, from the back of the large room, a young voice hailed, “Welcome back, Kirito, Asuna, Kizmel.”

Kio held out her right hand, motioning us toward the enormous couch. As usual, Nirrnir was slumped on the cushions with a sluggish demeanor. When she saw me, her nostrils perked up adorably.

“Yes, you do smell like ouzo. That takes me back. I haven’t had ouzo in a long time,” she said.

That one surprised me. Ouzo was a drink several times harsher than wine, and she said it had been a “long time.” How old could she have been when she drank it? Aincrad might not have any laws against underage drinking, but that seemed like something her parents should be aware of. Then I remembered that Nirrnir’s father and mother were already out of the picture. Kio might be acting as her protector, but a maid was not the same thing as a guardian. And who was I to act like her parent? I was just an errand boy.

I glanced at the floating ? over Nirrnir’s head and asked, “So…how did negotiations with the Korloy family go?”

“We argued somewhat, but as I expected, they ultimately agreed to allow an emergency inspection. It will start ten minutes after the end of the final daytime arena match, so it will be five o’clock regardless of how long the fight drags on. Are you ready, Kirito?”

“R-ready whenever you are…But I’m not inspecting the stables all by myself, am I?”

“Of course not. In fact,” Nirrnir acknowledged, making a face, “they added the condition that I must be present as well. So the entire inspection party will be two of our handlers, two armed soldiers, you, Kio, and me.”

“Uh-huh…”

I felt better about having more people around, but I couldn’t guess what the Korloys were doing here.

“Why would they make that demand, though? The more people inspecting their stables, the higher chance we might find some evidence of wrongdoing, right?” I wondered.

Back in her usual standing spot, Kio scowled and said, “They intended it as a mean-spirited hassle.”

“Huh…? But the stables are in the basement of this very building, right? It can’t be that far that it’s a hassle for you…”

Nirrnir might have been a refined young lady, but she was still strong enough to walk up and down stairs, I thought. But Kio fixed me with a fierce glare.

“That is not what I mean.”

“Then what…?”

“It is nothing you need to concern yourself with, Kirito,” said Nirrnir herself, putting an end to the discussion. I clammed up, and she asked me a different question.

“With that said, where is Argo?”

“Oh, she said she was going to see the monster arena,” I replied. Asuna quickly added, “If we need more people for the inspection, I will go in her place.”

“No, the inspection will be fine. I have a different job for you to do, Asuna and Kizmel.”

“Yes? Anything.”

Whoa, don’t promise too much! I thought with trepidation, but Nirrnir’s request was actually exceedingly simple.

“I want you to watch this room for me. Typically, both Kio and I almost never leave this place unattended, but not long ago, when we left together, someone poisoned my wine.”

“P-poisoned?!” I squawked, but then I remembered that Kio had said the Korloys were attempting to kill Nirrnir. She herself bravely said she’d welcome a direct attempt over a bunch of trickery and poison. Apparently, it was more literal than I realized.

“B-but you were all right?”

“Well, I’m alive right now, aren’t I?” Nirrnir said, then bobbed her shoulders and added, “But if Kio hadn’t noticed the needle hole in the cork, I might have gulped the poison right down. I put a nice ribbon on the bottle and gave it to Bardun as a present.” She giggled at the thought of it.

Asuna told her, “Very well. Kizmel and I will stand guard at your room while you are gone.”

“I appreciate it,” said the girl. She then looked at Kizmel. Normally, in this situation, the dark elf would give one of her elven salutes. Instead, she said with concern, “Meaning…that their request for you to personally join the inspection party was for a plot of that kind? And now that they will corner you in the underground stables, where you cannot escape?”

“I did consider that possibility as well,” Kio said, briefly downcast, and shook her head, “but there is no point for the Korloys to do such a thing. Their assassination must come at unidentifiable hands. If they attack Lady Nirrnir, and everyone knows it, then by the laws of the Grand Casino, the Korloy family would be forever stripped of their claim.”

“I see…but you will still be venturing into enemy territory. You oughtta be cautious.”

“That is exactly what we intend to be.”

Kizmel and Kio traded firm, determined nods. It shouldn’t have taken me this long to notice how alike they were.

Just then, there was a knock at the door and a man’s muffled voice. “Miss Kio, it is Huazo. The daytime matches have just finished.”

“Understood. We’ll be right out,” she answered crisply, checking that her estoc was in place on her left hip. She turned to me and asked, “Kirito, do you only have that shortsword?”

“No, not at all,” I said, looking down at myself in the bright blue shirt and white pants. I opened my equipment mannequin and quickly adjusted it.

With a little whoosh, my trusty sword appeared on my belt. It was woefully mismatched with my resort wear, but it was better there than on my back, I supposed.

Nirrnir straightened up on the sofa the moment she saw the Sword of Eventide on my person. “Oooh. That’s a sword for Lyusulan nobility. Did you steal it?”

“Wha…?”

What an accusation! I thought, feeling as outraged as Kibaou was on a regular basis—but I held it in.

“C-certainly not. It was a que…er, a reward for doing a job.”

“Hmm. Well, be ready, if it should come to that,” Nirrnir said. She lifted up her feet, then swung them down to stand with alacrity. Kio had prepared a thick cloak that she put over the girl. The black velvet looked stifling for such a hot floor, but I had to admit that the oversize hood looked very cute on her.

I hurried after the two as they headed for the door. Asuna and Kizmel sent me gazes that said, Be careful. The mission was guiding her around the basement stables, so there shouldn’t be danger, but as Nirrnir warned earlier, there was no guarantee that things wouldn’t go south.

I gave them a thumbs-up and proceeded out of the chamber.

Waiting in the hallway was a young man with a bold face, a full head taller than me. He didn’t look like an animal handler, so I presumed he was one of the guards who was accompanying the investigation. Unlike the guards at the entrance to the casino, he wore just a dark gray uniform and breastplate, rather than shining, ostentatious plate armor. The emblem of the Nachtoy family, a black lily on a white field, was sewn to either shoulder, and the weapon on his belt was a thin sword that seemed like the midpoint between rapier and longsword.

“Thank you, Huazo,” Nirrnir said. “Where is Lunnze?”

He straightened up and answered, “Waiting before the stables, with the others.”

“Ah. Then, let’s go.”

She turned, flipping her cloak, and started walking down the hall, followed by Kio and Huazo. I brought up the rear, attracting the attention of the soldier, who leaned forward and whispered to Kio.

“Sister, who is he?”

“Call me by my name while on duty.”

“Yes, Miss Kio. I’m sorry.”

Huh? They’re siblings?! I was stunned. But now I could see that Huazo’s short-cropped hair and Kio’s were the same shade of dark brown. I inched just a bit closer so I could hear Kio’s response.

“That is Kirito. He is an adventurer Lady Nirrnir hired to help us solve this matter.”

“…Even though we are more than capable of dealing with it ourselves, without needing to rely on an outsider.”

“We must find evidence of wrongdoing in the short span of an inspection. An outsider is more likely to find certain things we take for granted.”

From what Kio was saying, she hadn’t told Huazo about my infiltration of the Korloy stables or that I had freed the lykaon that was living proof of their cheating. I told myself anew that I really needed to perform this next task properly in order to make it up to them.

Nirrnir took us down the darkened hallway, not to the spiral stairs down to the entrance of the casino, but farther into the hotel. We passed a space where it smelled very mildly of bathwater, then took a right turn, followed by a left, stopping at a door at the end of the hall.

The hotel owner pulled an old key out of her cloak, stuck it into the lock, and turned. It made a heavy click that sounded loud in my ears. Beyond the door was a dimly lit spiral stairwell. This one was far more cramped than the one at the front of the building. Nirrnir proceeded down it with assured steps.

Kio and Huazo followed their master, so I brought up the rear and waited for the door to close behind me before timidly heading down the steps. There was no central pillar in the stairwell; the steps just stuck out from the walls, and there was no handrail. I peered down the middle and saw nothing but darkness below. If it was empty from the third floor of the Grand Casino down to the first, there had to be a drop of at least thirty feet. A missed step and a headfirst landing on the stone floor meant certain death.

This is still better than climbing down the outside of Harin Tree Palace! I told myself, keeping my hand firmly on the side wall as I followed the others down. I was losing track of how many circulations we’d done when the floor finally came into sight, and I could breathe a sigh of relief.

There was a similar door on the first floor, which Nirrnir again unlocked. She turned the doorknob and pushed it open, revealing a hallway that looked similar to one I’d seen before. There were four doors on the right-hand wall and one on the left.

“I will go first, my lady,” said Kio, passing her master and standing before a door on the right wall. She paused, listening carefully, before opening the door.

A small amount of reddish light came through the crack. Kio passed through the frame, followed by Nirrnir, who had her hood pulled low, and then Huazo.

As I followed, the last to leave the hallway, I murmured, “Oh, it’s here…”

It was a space that looked suited for storage, wide enough for a carriage to fit inside. In fact, it was meant for a carriage. This was the monster-loading entrance that I saw before breaking into the Korloy stables. The reason the hallway looked familiar was because it was built to the same specifications as the one on the Korloy side.

The loading bay, which had been so dark four hours ago, was currently wide open, letting in a nearly blinding amount of orange light. The open door was facing west, so it was directly in the line of the setting sun, coming through the outer aperture of Aincrad.

In the center of the huge loading bay, two groups were facing off, outlined in the sunlight.

The three closer to us were wearing the same dark gray uniform as Huazo. One carried a sword, while the other two had coiled whips.

Beyond them were ten figures in deep red uniforms with golden breastplates. All of them had swords. The shoulder emblems they bore were of a red dragon on a black field. So the three closer to us were the Nachtoy soldier and handlers taking part in the surprise inspection, while the other ten were Korloy soldiers.

Suddenly, there was a whip crack, and the soldiers in red parted, allowing yet another silhouette to stride forward, back to the sun.

“It’s been a while, Miss Nirr,” said the crisp, baritone voice of a tall, thin man with white hair and whiskers. The elderly gentleman wore a perfect three-piece suit of dark brown, and his mustache and beard were immaculately trimmed. He looked about five feet eleven, nearly as tall as Huazo. In all honesty, he was a good 50 percent more impressive than Cylon, the lord of Stachion.

“And I see you are looking healthy, too, Bardun,” Nirrnir replied. She stepped forward but stopped about six feet before the crisp line of sunlight that fell onto the floor.

So the older man was the master of the Nachtoys’ rival clan, Bardun Korloy. Just in case, I kept my eyes focused on him, which brought up a yellow color cursor with the name BARDUN on it.

Of Bardun, Nirrnir had said, “He is obsessed with gathering all the gold he can to buy scant moments of life, and he’s lost sight of everything else.” But based on the image he cut here, he did not seem to be close to death or in any desperate need for gold.

Bardun took another step forward and spoke in that rich, flavorful voice. “You have my deepest apologies for my family’s impropriety. It has caused a monster registered to compete in today’s matches to be unable to appear. I certainly did not expect that anyone lurking in this town would be bold and wicked enough to sneak into my stables and free the monster.”

The bold and wicked person himself wanted to hunch his neck with guilt, but I had to play it cool right now. As usual, Nirrnir was unfazed and spoke with maturity beyond her years.

“That little pooch of yours was winning so many matches that I suppose some wealthy merchant wanted him as a guard dog. But if you withdrew him to sell him off in secret, that might have offered you one last chance to strike it rich.”

“How dare you suggest such a thing!” came a shout—but not from Bardun nor any of his soldiers. Behind the elderly leader, a short, portly, middle-aged man in a black tailcoat leaped forward. He screeched, “You make it sound as if the Korloy family only engages in the coliseum in order to make money! Retract that comment at once!”

Above the little man’s head, his cursor said Menden. Based on his clothes, he appeared to be a butler, but there was a fancy-looking rapier on his left side, and if anything, he seemed more like a mansion owner than his counterpart. Kio strode up to her master’s side and shot back, “Lady Nirrnir said nothing of the sort, Mr. Menden. Let us proceed with the inspection, please.”

“Inspection, she says! Menial maid! You are being allowed to examine the stables by Master Bardun’s generosity!”

“Enough, Menden,” commanded Bardun, raising his hand, and the butler fell silent at once. “We bear the fault in this instance, for allowing the brigand to infiltrate and flee. If they are willing to see the stable as the price for allowing us to substitute a different monster, we would be happy to allow them.”

“Yes, sir,” said Menden, raising his hand in a theatrical gesture and prompting the Korloy soldiers, who had parted five to a side, to make a ninety-degree turn and march to line up beside the door on the far wall.

Bardun gestured toward the door, which was carved with the same red dragon insignia. His attitude seemed to say, Go on in, if you can. But there was nothing on the stone floor that blocked our way.

He isn’t going to order his soldiers to attack, is he? I wondered.

Kio moved her hand. Instantly, Huazo and his three followers lined up directly behind her. I rushed over to take up the rear, and the gray-uniformed animal handler right in front of me whispered, “Scoot closer.”

From the side, the five of us were so close we looked like we were pressed chest to back. That would make it hard to walk, but this was how it had to be, apparently. I took a big step forward and filled the gap between the handler and me.

The six of us lined up as tight as a human wall, and at Kio’s second signal, we began to move forward. We took small, frequent steps, inching forward. On our right, Nirrnir walked at the same slow speed, wearing her black cloak.

After six feet or so, I passed out of the shadow of the loading bay wall, and red sunlight hit my left cheek. I turned my face in that direction, where the massive sun was visible through the outer aperture of Aincrad, far in the distance. Even as it was setting, the heat was intense; I had to assume that was the effect of the eternal-summer floor.

“Last one; get closer!” hissed the handler in front of me again, and I looked back in alarm. But I could barely do as he said—the front of my shirt was brushing the handler’s back every now and then. I completely sealed the gap, preparing myself for the possibility of a tumble.

You couldn’t walk in this position unless everyone marched in step. I tried my best to match them, counting off One, two, one, two inside my head. It was like a centipede race from sports day in elementary school.

Up ahead, the Korloy soldiers were stifling mocking chuckles. Their master, Bardun, was stone-faced, but even his butler, Menden, couldn’t hide the smirk behind his tiny, groomed mustache.

What kind of quest is this anyway? I wondered, continuing the tight march, until we crossed the sun from the loading bay entrance and entered the shadow again. Again, the handler hissed, “You can back away now.”

This time, I could hear the voice a little clearer, and my first surprised thought was, It’s a woman? I inched backward and looked at the cursor over the handler’s head, which said LUNNZE, but I couldn’t be sure based on that. On the other hand, I seemed to recall Kio saying the name Lunnze earlier…

Just then, Nirrnir stumbled on my right. On pure reaction, I leaped forward and held up her tiny body. Lunnze cried, “Lady Nirrnir!” That drew Kio’s attention.

But Nirrnir just clutched at my shirt and rasped, “I’m fine. Go.”

“……Yes, my lady,” said Kio, proceeding quickly for the door. Behind her, surrounded by Huazo and Lunnze, I followed with Nirrnir.

I glanced at the lines of soldiers in dark red as we passed. Some of them were still smirking, but others were glaring with outright hatred. Surely they weren’t going to attack, but there were only seven of us to twelve of them. I kept my eyes moving to either side, making sure I was ready for anything.

Standing behind the soldiers lined up on the right was Bardun Korloy. My eyes met his.

Seen up close, his three-piece suit was spotless, and his coif and facial hair were immaculate. But there were many deep wrinkles around his forehead and mouth, making him look older than my first impression of him.

Even still, the power in the gaze coming from those sunken eye sockets was sharper than a steel harpoon. Nirrnir was so much younger, she could be his granddaughter or even great-granddaughter. What was the emotion in his gray eyes when he stared at her…Hatred? Or envy…?

“Hurry, Kirito,” said Kio, sharpening my focus. The battle maid stood to the side of the wide-open red dragon door, watching me. I nodded and picked up my pace.

Past Kio and the doorway, I found myself in a familiar darkened hallway. After walking six feet to the right, I stopped and asked Nirrnir, who was still propped up on my arm, “Are you all right? If you’re feeling sick, you should leave the inspection to us and return to your…”

“I’m fine now.”

Nirrnir slipped away from my arm and leaned against the wall instead. But from what I could see through her hood, her face was noticeably paler than usual, and the HP bar over her head was about 10 percent lower. An unfamiliar debuff icon below the bar was presumably the source of the damage, but what did a black circle surrounded by thornlike triangles mean…?

While I puzzled over that one, Kio followed us through the hallway and strode up to Nirrnir, giving her something.

“Here, my lady.”

It was a black bottle, small enough to fit in your palm. There was no label or identification, so I didn’t know what was inside. Nirrnir just shook her head and straightened up, stepping away from the wall.

“I’m fine. I will be better soon. Let us hurry with the inspection.”

“……Of course.”

She inclined her head and put the bottle away, but I could see the concerned look on Kio’s face. I was worried, too, of course. It was clear that Nirrnir was suffering from some kind of illness, and that was presumably why she did not regularly leave her hotel room. Belatedly, I realized why Kio described the Korloys’ demand that Nirrnir be present as a “mean-spirited hassle.”

The black debuff icon was not going away, and her HP continued to fall, very slowly. I wanted her to go back to her room right away, in all honesty, but she wouldn’t listen to me, I knew. We just had to follow her instructions and find evidence of wrongdoing as soon as possible.

“Take the lead, Kirito,” whispered Kio. I did as she said and looked around the hallway.

There were four doors side by side on the opposite wall from the entrance, but anything that might serve as evidence—such as a jar holding Rubrabium Dye—wouldn’t be left right out in the open in a place like this. If we were going to find anything, it had to be underground.

I gave Kio and Nirrnir a knowing look, then moved farther down the hall. Through a door carved right into the stone hall, there was a dingy spiral staircase. There was no handrail here, either, but I’d already used it once, and unlike the other, this one was no more than fifteen feet. I swiftly made my way down the steps, wary of a sneak attack, and reached the floor of the basement.

From what I could see, the cell-lined hallway was empty. I proceeded in a ways before turning back to see Kio, Nirrnir, Huazo, Lunnze, and the other two follow me inside.

“…Mmm. So these are the Korloy stables,” Nirrnir murmured, flipping back her hood and surveying the area, then sniffing the air. Her little face scowled. “Their cleanliness and ventilation leave much to be desired. They are looking after their monsters poorly.”

“Y-you can tell these things?” I asked, stunned. Nirrnir made an unpleasant face and replied, “It smells like blood.” Before I could say something else, a rich baritone voice issued from behind us.

“You’ll have to pardon me, Lady Nirr. If you’d given me another day, I would have seen them cleaned out.”

Bardun Korloy and his butler, Menden, came into the hallway behind us, along with five of their soldiers. They’d left the majority of their force upstairs, thankfully, but it meant there were fourteen people in the stables in all. The walkway itself was reasonably wide, but I couldn’t help but feel like we were cramped.

If it wasn’t coincidence that there were seven members each of the Nachtoy and Korloy sides, we might be set up for a battle event. Setting aside Nirrnir and Bardun, we had two handlers with whips, so they had more combat ability than us. If it turned into a fight, I’d have to neutralize two, or hopefully three, of their soldiers right at the start.

While my mind worked on calculations, Bardun spoke again. “Because we must prepare for the night schedule of the monster arena at seven o’clock, I can only give you two hours to inspect, Lady Nirr. Go ahead, sniff around my stables all you like. But my skill of ‘Employment’ has already worn off on some of these monsters. I cannot guarantee your safety if you go into their cells, and if you harm any of them, I will have to seek damages for violation of our laws.”

“Very well,” Nirrnir said, shrugging off Bardun’s threat. “And if any one of your men interferes with our inspection, we will consider that to be a violation of our deal, and I will retract my permission to use a substitute monster. That means you will need to prepare a new Rusty Lykaon before the final match tonight. If this is understood, would you please return to the entrance of the stairs?”

“Rrrrgh…” grumbled Menden the butler. But Bardun gave a little signal, and the five soldiers retreated to the very edge of the hallway.

Once Nirrnir was satisfied, she turned back and looked at me with dark red eyes. Despite being only an NPC, I could practically sense her unspoken message: I’m counting on you to take it from here.

Part of me thought, You sure you wanna do that? But the situation turned out the way it did because of my actions, and I had a responsibility to fix it. Fortunately, the time limit was quite long for an investigation-type quest. I just had to find some evidence of wrongdoing within the next two hours—most likely more Rubrabium Dye.

Once again, I examined the area.

The hallway was a good fifty feet long. There were six cells on each side, for twelve in total, each containing one of the monsters for the daytime and nighttime fights. The end was a simple stone wall, and I couldn’t see any storage or a break room area. So any evidence would be hidden within the cells. Bardun’s warning about being attacked by monsters was apt, but at this point, I’d just have to go in and test my luck…

But…no.

The situation might have been unplanned, but upon further reflection, it would have turned out this way even if I’d done nothing. The original plan was to sprinkle the decolorant on the Rusty Lykaon during the arena fight, revealing that its fur had been dyed. But in that scenario, the Korloys would not have admitted fault, either. Most likely, we would have needed to come down here to look for evidence of rule breaking anyway. I ought to assume I was back on the main path of Lady Nirr’s questline.

In that case, it was highly likely that entering the monster cages was the path to failing the quest. There was no way I could avoid being attacked by a monster whose “Employment” (taming) had worn off, after all. The Rusty Lykaon, actually a Storm Lykaon, had only escaped because it was outdoors. Trapped in the cage, it would certainly have attacked me.

The key evidence was not inside a cell, but outside. In that case, it was probably the first-floor storeroom I’d passed—or maybe behind the spiral staircase. And that meant that the way the Korloy soldiers blocked the doorway to the stairs was very suspicious, indeed.

“I’m sorry, Lady Nirrnir, but I think the evidence might be on the ground flo…”

I paused there, quite unnaturally.

“…What?” said my client, raising a skeptical eyebrow. I apologized to her again, then spun on my heel.

At the end of the long hallway was a wall of gray stone, nothing else. But when I infiltrated this place just four hours ago, wasn’t there something else there? A door…no, a square entrance. I seemed to recall seeing something I thought was strangely small.

“…There it is!” I said softly, racing down the passage.

Along the way, I recognized that one of the cells on the left wasn’t just a tiny chamber but also the waiting room to load the next monster into the arena cage, but that wasn’t a problem for now. I passed by it, rushing to the back wall and pressing my hands against the gray stone.

The stacked, seamless blocks were cold and hard and did not budge to any amount of pressure. But there had undoubtedly been a little doorway here. If it was a hidden door, then presumably one of these blocks functioned as a switch to open and close it. They were usually in the corner and usually had some physical marking as a hint.

First I looked at the wall on the right, then on the left. One of the stone blocks on the left edge was just barely shining, reflecting the light of the lamp, unlike the others. In a flash, I brushed the surface with my fingers and found that the surface in the middle was smooth and worn down, unlike the rough texture elsewhere. Certain now, I gave it a push.

With a heavy clicking sensation, the block went in about an inch.

I could feel faint vibrations through the soles of my shoes. The center part of the stone wall began to rumble, audibly sinking into the floor.

Within five seconds, there was an opening less than three feet tall and wide in the wall. It was pitch black inside, but I immediately detected complex smells in the air. Among them was a trace of that sharp, sweet spice. I felt fairly reassured that the Rubrabium Dye was in here.

Even if I hadn’t been here before, I knew I would have found the hidden door within the two-hour limit, but I couldn’t deny the possibility that I’d go into the monster cells first. In that sense, my unplanned sojourn into this stable earlier was the silver lining of the storm cloud…or a blessing in disguise…or…

I turned my back on the wall, thinking pointlessly about which idiom was the most apt for the situation, and waved at the others, standing in the middle of the hallway.

“There’s a hidden storage area here!”

Promptly, both Nirrnir and Kio smiled. They hurried over, followed by Huazo and Lunnze.

I waited next to the wall opening, suppressing my urge to jump right into the storage room and look for the jar of dye. If I leaped first and made a mess of things, the consequences would be worse than just a scolding. I had to procure the evidence not just in front of Nirrnir and her people but in sight of Bardun Korloy, too.

Speaking of which—I stretched to look past the others and saw that Bardun’s group was still in position at the other end of the hall. Their hidden storage had been spotted in no time, but they didn’t seem to be worried. Was this an expected part of their plan? No…they didn’t seem relaxed. They seemed to be waiting for something.

I frowned, squinting at the ceiling above. There were no falling traps up there, of course. If there were pits in the floor, I would have fallen into them first, and the only thing on either side was iron bars.

To my right, there was a large, goatlike monster lurking in the back of its cell. It did not react when I looked it in the eyes; its “Employment” was still effective.

On the left, it should have been empty, because that was where I’d broken the Rusty Lykaon free. I checked it just in case, but of course, there was…

Something there. Long and narrow, curled up in the darkness. A coiled rope, perhaps? I focused on the bundle, just in case—and no sooner had the red cursor appeared than the shadow zipped away, leaving it behind.

It slid along the floor in silence, bunched up briefly, then jumped like an uncoiling spring, emerging into the center hallway through the bars of the cell. The narrow body gleamed like silver in the lamplight.

It was a snake—the Something-or-Other Serpent I saw when I snuck in here the first time. But the last time, it was in the cell with the tighter mesh walls, one cell over. Why was it in a normal cell? And why did it stay still when I walked past it earlier—and waited until now to jump out?

I put my hand on the hilt of my sword without the answers to these questions. As I drew my weapon, I called out, “Kio, snake!”

Without waiting, I took a big step forward and sliced upward from left to right. The sharp end of the Sword of Eventide just managed to nick the snake’s body. But the thin snake, barely an inch wide, just made a metallic kching! sound.

It’s so tough! I gritted my teeth and pushed with all my strength. The sword slid along the snake, creating sparks, and finally caught it between the scales, cutting loose the back third of the creature.

But the snake’s flight did not stop. It adjusted its course, writhing in the air, and fell toward Nirrnir.

“Hah!”

Kio unleashed a sharp cry, then thrust her estoc, free of its sheath, with phenomenal speed. The extremely narrow weapon was glowing with a pale white effect. That was the rapier sword skill Linear—no, wait, it was the high thrust Streak.

The estoc jutted forward just as fast as if thrust by Asuna, the expert, and pierced the center of the remaining two-thirds of the snake as it flew, undulating, through the air.

The extra force of the attack rippled through the room as a shock wave. That attack would have gone straight through heavy plate armor.

But it was too much power for this particular moment.

Rather than simply pinning the snake’s body, the thrust split it right in two. The third of its body with the head was still alive somehow, falling upon Nirrnir.

“Hissss!”

In the real world, it could never have hissed so loudly, but this one did, its mouth open as wide as possible. Long, sharp fangs glinted ominously in the light.

Behind Nirrnir, Huazo and Lunnze leaped for their young master, faces stricken with desperation. They were not going to make it in time. The hooked fangs plunged onto the shoulder of the black cloak.

Abruptly, so quickly I almost couldn’t see it, Nirrnir’s right hand darted out and snatched the snake in midair—the eighteen inches left of it, at least.

Her reaction speed was incredible. It would be hard enough to fight off a snake flying at that speed with your sword, but to grab it with your bare hand? Neither I nor Asuna could do it.

“Lady Nirr, just—”

Hold on to it! I was about to shout. But the small remaining portion of its body that was movable, just four inches at best, curved as far as it could and sank its fangs deep into Nirrnir’s wrist. A moment later, its HP bar dwindled to zero, and the shortened body of the snake burst into blue particles.

“Lady Nirrnir!!” Kio screamed. She cast her estoc to the floor and reached out for her master. Stunned, I watched Nirrnir’s thin lips twist into an ironic smile. She whispered, her voice barely audible.

“…Well done, Bardun.”

And then the young master of the Grand Casino, Nirrnir Nachtoy, collapsed into Kio’s outstretched arms.