Sword Art Online - Volume 8 - Chapter 1.5

Part 12
The three shadows walked down the hill and vanished into the night. I continued to stare at the orange cursor that came with the Searching Enemy Skill effect.
I once met the leader of Laughing Coffin, PoH, and exchanged words with him, but this is the first time I've met his subordinates; the poison dagger user with the childish attitude and appearance, and the Estoc user wearing a very tattered robe. Of course, their names weren't indicated in the cursor. To play it safe, I intended to ask Schmitt their names later, but after thinking about it, we'll probably be fighting for real the next time we meet. To be honest, I really don't want to know the names of these two people when we will have to kill each other using swords.
Thus, I've watched them until the Searching Enemy Skill cursor's range could no longer detect them.
Criminal players normally couldn't enter the streets and villages that have the «Anti-Criminal Code» in them. Once they stepped inside the area, they would be attacked by a large number of NPC guards that were as strong as demons. All the transfer gates on each floor were all located in the main streets of each floor, so if those three wanted to move to another floor, they could only use a teleport crystal to move to 'a village outside the area', use a very expensive corridor crystal, or walk down the dungeon tower that were cleared to move up and down.
I guess they probably used the first method, but this alone would mean that they had to use up 6 teleport crystals going to and fro, and to those guys, this isn't a small expense. I swallowed my saliva and watch the 3 cursors disappear from my sights before subconsciously heaving a sigh of relief.
Seriously, these are guys that I didn't expect to show up at all. Those three guys actually knew that Schmitt —— a forward leader of the Divine Dragons Alliance Guild with the highest HP and defenses, would appear at this location.
However, I guess it's possible to know immediately where the source of this information came from.
I turned my sights away from the wilderness that was covered in darkness, summoned the window and quickly responded to Klein, who should be bringing more than 10 people here, with, [Laughing Coffin escaped. Wait in town].
I then take out the antidote potion from my pouch and put it in Schmitt's hand. I looked at this hulking guy drink it down with trembling hands and looked away to the other two who were slightly further away.
It couldn't be helped that I had some sarcasm in my tone to the two players who dressed up as death gods and were looking really pale now.
"Nice to meet you again, Yolko-san, and...nice to meet you for the first time, Caynz-san."
Yolko, who should have scattered into many polygons several hours ago and disappeared, looks up at me and grimaced.
"I wanted to apologize to you after everything was over...you probably wouldn't believe me even if I said so."
"Whether I believe you or not, I'll have to see what you treat me. Let me say this first. Don't give me some suspicious looking ramen or okonomiyaki."
Standing beside the dazed Yolko, the stiff looking guy takes off his black robe —— the first murder victim of this 'inside area' incident Caynz lowered his head.
"We've met for the first time —— probably not, Kirito-san. Our eyes did meet at that moment."
The words that were said in such a calm manner caused me to finally recall.
"Speaking of which, it was really like that. You died by, ah, no, you teleported away the moment your armor was destroyed, right?"
"Un, that's right. I had a premonition at that moment that you might see the truth behind this fake death."
"You've overestimated me. I was completely fooled."
This time, it's my turn to give a wry smile. The air that had finally calmed down tensed up again with the clinking of the armor on Schmitt.
"...Thank you for saving me there, Kirito...but how did you know that those three would come here?"
I looked back at the giant's face that was looking straight at me and pondered on what to say.
"It's not that I knew, but a possibility I deduced. If I had known that PoH would be the enemy, I would have run away in fear, too."
This vague answer that came out unconsciously was not without a reason, too.
What I'm going to say is probably going to bring a huge shock to the three of them —— especially Yolko and Caynz. The two of them who wrote the entire script and proceeded with the act with them as the lead didn't notice that there was a 'producer' behind this, hiding in a corner. I heaved a sigh and started to narrate with a voice as calm as possible.
"...It was just 30 minutes ago when I felt that it was weird..."

The incident ended, so I should hand things over to Yolko, Caynz and Schmitt.
On the second level of an inn that had a clear view of a certain bar on the 20th floor, I said this to Asuna and leaned my back on the chair.
They probably wouldn't start killing each other. Then, it's better of the person who started this 'ring incident' and triggered this 'inside area incident'. I noted confidently, and Asuna answered 'yeah' and nodded in agreement.
In the midst of the silence —— I suddenly felt that inside my chest, there was some really thin piercing feeling inside me.
There should be something I had to think about. There was definitely something I had to think about. But I didn't know what it was. It was that kind of anxiety.
What Asuna said just now when we were watching the bar seemed to be related to the feeling right now. I just had this thought and inadvertently said to her. "Well..."
"...What is it?"
I looked at the KoB sub-leader-sama, who sat on the chair and looked up. I used about 80 percent of my analytical ability to analyze this sense of disagreement and asked a very thoughtless question.
"Asuna, have you, gotten married before?"
The response to this question was a bone-chilling stare with killing-intent. She also stood ready to attack with a tightly clenched right fist with body leaning forward.
"JUST JOKING! FORGET ABOUT IT! IT DOESN'T COUNT!"
I hurriedly shouted as I was grabbed by the front while my hands and head were shaking frantically, and I hurriedly added on.
"It's not like that, nothing really behind this...didn't you just mention about marriage?"
"I did say so. So what?"
She continued to stare at me viciously. I started to tremble, but continued to force myself to say,
"Erm...to be specific, it's something you said...something romantic and plastic or..."
"NOBODY SAID THAT!"
In the end, Asuna nearly caused the Anti-Criminal Code to activate as she kicked my calf and corrected my memory.
"I said that it's romantic and pragmatic! I'm telling you, pragmatic means 'practical'!"
"Practical... The marriage in SAO?"
"That's right. In a certain sense, there's no room to hide as the item storage is shared."
"Storage...shared..."
That's the thing.
These words were stinging my chest, the origin of that little sharp pain.
Married players would have their item storage space unified company, and the quantity would be counted as for 2 people. While it's very convenient, it's very prone to marriage scams where rare items were stolen and the spouse ran away.
I had been wondering about this system all this time.
Overwhelmed by this overpowering anxiety, I asked again.
"Then...what happens to the storage when a couple gets divorced?"
"Eh...?"
It seemed like it was completely unexpected as Asuna widened her eyes. She tilted her head slightly and placed her fist that was about to hit me under her chin before saying,
"Erm well...I do remember there are a few options, like Auto-allocations, Item choosing or something like that...there are others, but I don't actually remember..."
"I want to know more about this. What should I do...oh yeah, Asuna, how about we try it?"
I didn't know if I could consider myself smart or lucky for not continuing.
«The Flash» let out a killing intent that was many times stronger than before, holding the scabbard of the named blade «Lambent Light» tightly in her left hand. She smiled and said,
"What do you want me to do with you?"
"...How about we...send a mail to Heathcliff and ask him?"
——Just one minute later, we got a mail in response. On it, the item storage division during a divorce was clearly stated. As expected of the man who was basically a living encyclopedia of the system.
Besides the Auto-value allocations and Item choosing Asuna mentioned just now, it seemed that there was an Auto-allocation by percentage. In other words, it even included the possibility of a divorce fee. This was a really pragmatic system.
I continued to listen to Asuna, who was reading the message, and continued to think.
Of course, these were options that can be chosen when both parties agree to a divorce. If they don't agree with the allocation, the system would not allow them to divorce. However, it's impossible for all examples of divorce in this world to be settled in such a rational manner. If it's such that one side had to divorce but the other party doesn't agree, there isn't any family arbiter or something like that in this world.
What answered this doubt was the last paragraph of words in Heathcliff's mail.
"...«On a side note, unconditional divorce can only happen if one party sets the item allocation ratio to zero percent for himself and 100 percent for the other party. In this example, once the divorce is set, any other items that can't be stored will all drop beside the user. Kirito-kun, if someone asks for an unconditional divorce out of you, I suggest you head to a single-person's room in an inn to hide for the time being»...that's what it's written."
Asuna, who finished reading the mail, gave a vague expression as she closed the window.
I subconsciously stared at that face and continued to mutter a certain part of that message.
0 for oneself, 100 for the other party. 0 for oneself...100 for the other party...
"Ahh...!"
What was a sting that felt out of place as it stung my chest suddenly became a sharp pain.
A small little prick suddenly increased in size. My heart started to turn anxiety into doubt, which then turned into surprise thanks to belief, and finally materialized into fear.
"Ah...ahhh...!!"
I shouted as I kicked the chair down, standing up and grabbing Asuna, who was in front of me, on the shoulders. «The Flash», who was so shocked that she cringed back, let out a cry that was different from before.
"Wait...what, what is it...don't tell me you thought of something here..."
I didn't have time to think about the meaning behind these words and could only let out a moaning-like voice,
"100 for oneself and 0 for the other party. There's only one way to make this form of divorce."
"...Eh...? Wha, what did you say...?"
I grabbed onto those slender shoulders tightly and pulled that petite face over to me before whispering in her ear,
"By death. The moment the marriage partner dies, the storage will revert back to its original size. Whatever items that can't be stored will drop. That means...that means..."
My trembling throat swallowed saliva, and I continued,
"...In other words, the moment the leader of the «Golden Apple» guild, Griselda, was killed by someone, the ring inside her storage wouldn't go to the criminal...it'd go to either her marriage partner, Grimlock, or materialize and drop on the ground as an object.
The hazel-colored eyes right in front of my eyes slowly blinked twice.
The doubtful expression on her face suddenly became a serious chill.
"The ring...wasn't snatched away...?"
Upon hearing this almost voiceless question, I couldn't immediately respond. I moved my hands away from Asuna and stood up, leaning my back on the window sill before whispering,
"No...it's not like that. You can still say it was taken away. Grimlock, he took away the ring that existed in his storage. He wasn't the culprit behind this illusionary 'inside area incident', but the culprit behind the 'ring incident'."
The rapier dropped down from Asuna's left hand, letting out a heavy metallic sound as it landed on the ground.

"...I was still feeling strange about this just 30 minutes ago... I say, Caynz-san, Yolko-san, those two weapons you two have...the spiked short spear and dagger, where did you get them from?"
On hearing me ask, Yolko exchanged looks with her partner, and answered,
"...To carry out our 'fake inside area PK' plan, it was necessary for us to have a continuous pierce damage type weapon. We visited many weaponsmith-sans, but couldn't find these kinds of unique weapons...if we ordered them, the weapons would have the name of the creator on it, and once someone asked the person who made the weapons, he would immediately know the ones who ordered it, us, the victims."
"In this situation, we could only contact someone who hasn't been seen since the guild got disbanded...the husband of the leader, Grimlock-san. We explained to him our plan and requested him to make the necessary piercing weapons. We didn't know where he was, but the friend list still had his name on..."
Caynz continued on with the explanation and finally mentioned this name. I gathered my concentration on my ears and paid attention.
"Grimlock-san, he didn't actually approve of this. On the message he replied us, he just wrote that he hoped that she is rested in peace. But after we continued requesting him, he finally made the two, no, three weapons for us, and the day the weapons were sent to us just happened to be 3 days before Kains-san died."
From these words, I could tell that Yolko and Caynz viewed Grimlock as the victim when his wife was murdered.
I took a long breath and forced out words from my mouth that would bring about a great shock to both of them.
"...Unfortunately, the reason why Grimlock was against your plan wasn't because of Griselda-san. The exaggeration of this 'inside area PK' would bring about a lot of attention, and may end up with somebody discovering the truth. That's because, when it's not a divorce, but death that removes the linked storage...what will happen to the things inside?"
"Eh...?"
It seemed that Yolko didn't quite understand the meaning behind this sentence as she tilted her head slightly.
It's not unreasonable though. No matter how affectionate couples were in Aincrad, it's really rare for people to take the next step that was marriage, and there would be fewer people who'd divorce. Also, it's extremely rare that the reason was because one side died. Let alone me, even Asuna believed that the ring drop definitely landed in the killer's hand the moment Griselda-san was killed.
"Listen... Griselda-san's storage also belonged to Grimlock. Even if Griselda-san was killed, it's impossible for the ring to be taken away, because the moment she died, it would be transferred over to Grimlock. Schmitt...you said you got a monetary reward for assisting in this plan, right?"
On hearing my question, the hulking figure sitting on the ground cross-legged nodded blankly.
"If he was able to prepare so much money, it seemed that the ring was really sold. The only one who could do this is Grimlock, who got the ring. He also knew that Schmitt was the accomplice in that plan, so that meant..."
"It was Grimlock...? That guy, he was the one who sent that memo...and sent Griselda out of the area and killed her?"
Schmitt groaned with a hoarse voice. I pondered for a while and denied this.
"No, he didn't do this directly. If Griselda, who was sleeping inside the inn, was moved out of the area, she may have woken up out of a sudden, and it would be troublesome if his face was seen. I guess the real murderer was a red who was requested to do this job. But even if that's the case, it still doesn't reduce the weight of Grimlock's crime..."
"..."
Schmitt didn't say anything as he merely looked up at the sky blankly.
This devastated expression appeared on Yolko and Caynz's faces as well. A few seconds later, Yolko shook her wavy dark purple hair, getting more agitated in the meantime.
"How is it possible...such a thing, you're lying! Those two were always together...Grimlock-san was always following her from behind...and also...that's right, if he was the real culprit, why did he assist us in our plan!? If he wouldn't help us, we wouldn't be able to do anything, and the 'ring incident' wouldn't see the light of day, right?"
"Did you two describe the entire plan to Grimlock?"
On hearing my sudden question, Yolko shut her mouth tightly, and gave a slight nod.
"...Then, he should have known what would happen if the plan succeeded. In other words, the final scene would be such that Schmitt, who was filled with guilt, would come over to Griselda-san's grave to confess his sins and get questioned by Yolko-san and Caynz-san. In that case, he could think of a plan to bury the 'ring incident' into complete darkness. The accomplice, Schmitt, and the ones who wanted to know the truth, Yolko-san and Caynz-san. He just needed..to shut you three up."
"...I see. So...so that's why, those three..."
I glanced at Schmitt, who looked completely confounded as he said these words, and nodded with a depressed feeling.
"That's the case. The reason why the top three of the «Laughing Coffin» appeared was because Grimlock leaked the information to them. A DDA executive-level prey is here at this place without any allies...I guessed there was a contact link the moment he requested them to kill Griselda-san."
"...How is this..."
Yolko, who lost all her strength in her knees, collapsed onto the ground, and Caynz used his right arm to support her. However, that extremely pale face of his could be clearly seen even under the moonlight.
Yolko grabbed Caynz's shoulder and asked with a very lifeless voice,
"Grimlock-san...wanted to kill us...? But...why...? And...why did he kill his spouse just to get the ring...?"
"I can't deduce the motive behind this, but he, who never left the guild base to prove his alibi during that 'ring incident', probably won't just sit back and watch. Besides, this was a chance to deal with the three of you and bury two incidents in one go. So...for the details, just ask him personally."
The moment I just said this, my ears heard two sets of footsteps coming from the west slope of the hills.
The first thing that entered my eyes was the red and white knight uniform that was still radiant looking in this night scene. Obviously, that was Asuna «The Flash», wielding a rapier with a silver blade that looked extremely clear. As far as I know, this is the thinnest and most elegant looking blade in Aincrad, and also the most savage weapon that could pierce through all sorts of defenses.
A man was walking here as well, seemingly being forced to by the sharp tip of the rapier and the sharp stare of the user.
The very tall and thin figure was wearing very long-edged leather clothing and a hat with a very large edge. The face that was hidden under the shadows had something that would reflect moonlight from time to time, probably glasses. The overall impression he gave was that he was more of a hitman in a Hong Kong movie than a craftsman. Of course, that may be because I already had a biased impression beforehand.
The colors of both their cursors are green. I was already prepared to let Asuna become an orange player to prevent that guy from running away —— of course, if that had happened, I would have definitely helped her perform whichever task was necessary to revert to her original alignment —— so after seeing this, I couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief, but I immediately tensed up again and stared at this man walking up the hill.
Under the silver-framed spectacles was a face that looked gentle, no matter how one looked at it. The eyes that were long, narrow and looking somewhat droopy, looked rather kind as well. But the slightly small black pupils deep inside the glasses did have a certain kind of existence that could summon my cautiousness.
The man stopped three meters in front of me, first looking at Schmitt, then Yolko, Caynz and finally, the grave that was covered with moss before saying,
"Well...it's been a long time, everyone."
A few seconds later, Yolko finally answered back in a calm and deep tone,
"Grimlock...san. You...you, are you really..."
The one who killed Griselda, took the ring, and planned to eliminate the three of us here to cover up this incident?
Even though it wasn't stated, everyone understood from this question. As for this question, this man —— the sub-leader of the ex-«Golden Apple», the blacksmith Grimlock didn't answer immediately.
He watched Asuna sheath her blade behind him and moved towards me before smiling, and said,
"...That's a misunderstanding. I just felt that I have a need to understand the outcome of this situation, which was why I came here. The reason why I obediently listened to that terrifying onee-san here is just to clear this misunderstanding."
——Ohh, he's denying it? I was really shocked inside. There's no actual proof to show that he leaked the information to PoH, but he can't deny about the system settings in the ring incident.

"YOU'RE LYING!"
Asuna immediately shouted back.
"Weren't you hiding amongst the bushes just now? If I didn't use the Reveal technique, you wouldn't have stepped out."
"Of course it couldn't be helped. I'm just an ordinary blacksmith, and as you can see, I don't have a single weapon on me at all. Why must I be told off by you so thoroughly for not appearing in front of some orange players?"
He answered calmly and reluctantly opened his arms with the leather gloves on.
Schmitt, Caynz and Yolko couldn't say anything as they just continued to listen to Grimlock defending himself. They were probably still in disbelief that their ex-sub-leader requested savage red players to kill them. They never thought of that and were probably unwilling to believe this. It's not weird for them to be like this.
I reached my left hand out to stop Asuna, who looked like she still wanted to say something, and finally said,
"Nice to meet you for the first time, Grimlock-san. I'm Kirito...just an outsider —— but it's true that we can't link your appearance here with the attack by «Laughing Coffin» as we have no evidence to prove these two cases. Even if we ask them, they probably wouldn't testify."
In fact, if Grimlock's friend list could be visualized and we checked the friends' messaging, there should be a player's name that accepted requests for «Laughing Coffin», but unfortunately, I don't know which name it was.
However, even if we left aside the attempted murder on Schmitt and company, there shouldn't be any excuses for the 'ring incident'. I believed this was the case, and continued,
"But last autumn, the 'ring incident' that caused the «Golden Apple» guild to disband...definitely has something to do with you. No, you should be the mastermind behind this. No matter who killed Griselda, the ring definitely landed in your hands since you had a shared storage with her. You actually hid that fact, secretly sold that ring and handed half of the money over to Schmitt. This is something that can't be done by anyone other than the culprit, and there's only one reason why you're involved in this 'inside area incident'...you wanted to shut the mouths of those people involved and bury the past into the darkness, am I right?"
After I said that, a heavy silence descended on this hill of wilderness. The blue moonlight that was shining down from somewhere showed an obvious grim on Grimlock's face.
Soon, his lips curled strangely, and a voice that felt like it could cause the temperature to drop rang.
"I see. Such an interesting theory, Mr. Detective-kun...but unfortunately, there's a loophole in this reasoning."
"What?!"
I instinctively asked back. Grimlock glanced at me and used the right hand covered with the black glove to press his hat down.
"It's true that I shared the same storage with Griselda, so when she was killed, all the items that were stored inside her storage should come to me...this reasoning is right. However..."
A sharp stare came at me from the round lens reflecting the moonlight, and the tall and thin craftsman continued on in a monotonous tone.
"What if that ring wasn't kept inside the storage? In other words, what if it was materialized as an object and equipped on Griselda's finger...?"
"Ahh..."
Asuna let out a slight sound.
I, who was stumped by this unexpected question, could only let out such a similar empty voice. It's true that in this incident had many aspects that I didn't consider as well.
A player with equipment materialized as objects would definitely drop these equipment whether they were killed by monsters or other players, without exception. If Griselda was equipped with that ring, it wouldn't be transferred over to Grimlock's storage, but land in the killer's hand. This kind of reasoning is valid as well.
Did he realize that the tide has changed? Grimlock's lips curled up slightly, but that expression soon vanished. The blacksmith used his right hand to hold his forehead up and shook his head sadly.
"...Griselda was a speed-type swordsman. It's not unlikely for her to try out the high agility boost of the ring before she sold it, right? Listen up, when she was killed, everything she had did indeed come to me, but the ring wasn't there. That's how it is, Mr. Detective."
I subconsciously gritted my teeth. I tried to find a way to refute Grimlock's claim, but if I wanted to prove that Griselda was equipped with a ring or not, I'll probably need the criminal who actually killed her —— probably some member of Laughing Coffin.
Upon seeing me remain speechless, Grimlock raised his hat slightly, looked at the other four people around, and bowed curtly.
"Then, I'll take my leave. It's a pity that you weren't able to find out the mastermind behind Griselda's murder, but even Schmitt's remorse alone would be enough to let her soul be at peace."
As we faced the back of the craftsman who pulled his hat down and turned around neatly——
It was as if a certain strong feeling was hidden in her serenity as Yolko simply said,
"Please wait...no, hold it right there, Grimlock."
The man who stopped turned his face slightly. The seemingly gentle eyes under the glasses suddenly gave an annoyed look.
"Is there something else? If it's just a baseless accusation out of emotions, that can't be considered. To me, this place is sacred ground."
Grimlock said this with an arrogant and fluid tone, and Yolko stepped forward.
Is she about to do something? She looked at the white hands that were raised to her chest, and then again looked forward. Those deep blue eyes were giving a glow of strength I had never seen till now.
"Grimlock, you just said that the leader equipped the ring, so it wasn't transferred to you, but taken away by the killer. But...that's impossible."
"...How? What proof do you have?"
Yolko watched Grimlock turn around slowly, and said with a harsher tone,
"When we got that ring drop, the guild members were all discussing about what to do, remember? Caynz, Schmitt, and I were opposed to selling the ring because we thought we should increase the strength of the guild. At that moment, Caynz really wanted to use it for himself, but said that he wanted to let the leader use it —— the strongest swordsman in the «Golden Apple» was the leader, so it was best for her to use it."
Right beside Yolko, Caynz showed an awkward expression. But Yolko didn't mind at all as she continued to say with action.
"As for those words, I could still remember every single word the leader said. That person smiled as she said this —— in SAO, one hand can only be equipped with one ring. My right hand is equipped with the seal of the guild leader, and...the marriage ring on my left hand can't be removed, so I can't use it. DID YOU HEAR THAT!? IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR HER TO TAKE OFF EITHER OF THESE TWO RINGS AND TRY THE ABILITY OF THIS RARE RING, IMPOSSIBLE!"
The moment the sharp words rang, everyone present, including me, gasped.
It's true that on the main menu equip figure, there are one each on both the left and right hands. If both of them were taken up, it's impossible to equip a new ring. However——
This reasoning was still too weak.
It's like my thoughts were heard as Grimlock said softly.
"I thought you wanted to say something. 'Impossible'? If you really want to say this, how about you say this? ——I, who's married to Griselda, would never hurt or kill her. What you just said was a baseless accusation."
"No."
Yolko responded with a very soft voice. I held my breath to watch this petite female player, and she slowly shook her head violently.
"No, that's not it. I have proof...the killer who killed the leader felt that the items that were dropped were worthless and left them at the scene. Luckily, a player who knew the leader's name found these items and sent the leftover items over to the guild home. That's why we used this place...used this tombstone as the grave. At that time, we put her sword at this tombstone, and let it disappear as the durability wore out. Bu...but that's not all. I even buried something...something she left behind that I never mentioned before."
After saying that, Yolko turn around and knelt down beside the small tombstone and started digging with her hand. As everyone watched silently, Yolko finally stood up and handed the object over for everyone to see. It was a glossy silver box that shone under the moonlight.
"Ah...«Eternal Storage Trinket»...!"
It was just like what Asuna said. What Yolko took out was a storage box that only a master-class craftsman could make to preserve the durability of an item. It was a cuboid that was 10cm in size, so it couldn't store large items. However, it can store a few things that were the size of accessories. Even when placed in the wilderness, the durability will never drop, and the items wouldn't disappear on their own.
Yolko reached out her left hand and opened the lid of the silver box.
What lay on the white silk were two glowing rings.
Yolko first took out one of them—a larger silver ring. At the flat surface of the ring, there was a mark of an apple on it.
"This is the thing the leader always equipped on the middle finger of her right hand, the seal of the «Golden Apple». I kept the same thing, too, so you can tell once you compare them."
After putting it back, she took out another one —— a long and thin ring that glowed golden.
"And this —— is the wedding ring she would always wear on the left ring finger, you know, Grimlock! Your name is clearly engraved on it, too!...These two rings were at the same place —— THAT'S THE UNSHAKEABLE PROOF THAT THE LEADER WAS WEARING THEM EVEN AS SHE WAS TAKEN OUT OF THE AREA AND KILLED! ISN'T IT!? IF NOT, TRY ARGUING BACK!!"
At the end, she was screaming hysterically in tears.
A large number of tears flowed down Yolko's cheeks, and she reached her hand with the golden ring out for Grimlock to see.
At this moment, nobody spoke up. Caynz, Schmitt, Asuna and I could only watch both of them in their confrontation with our eyes widened.
The tall and thin craftsman's lips were still curled as he remained there for more than 10 seconds. Finally, the lips trembled slightly before opening up.
"That ring...I think it was during the funeral when you asked me, Yolko, whether I wanted to take Griselda's wedding ring. I answered that we should let it disappear naturally with the sword. If at that moment...I said I wanted to take it away..."
Grimlock lowered his head deeply and buried his face inside the hat, collapsing onto the ground as if the strings controlling his tall body had snapped.
Yolko placed the golden ring back into the box, closed the lid and held the box tightly before looking up at the sky with her twisted teary face, saying with a voice that had lost its sharpness.
"...Why...just why, Grimlock. Why, did you really want to snatch the ring to exchange it for money, and kill the leader...your own wife, for the sake of that?"
"...Money? Did you say money?"
As he continued to kneel, Grimlock said with a hoarse voice, and then started laughing.
He raised his left hand, summoned the menu window, and after a short time of operating, what appeared as an object was a leather bag that's just slightly big. Grimlock grabbed it and threw it onto the ground. Amidst the heavy sound, there are some clear metallic sounds in them. From this, I could deduce that the bag had a large amount of money.
"That's half of the money earned when it was sold. Not a single coin has left it."
"Eh...?"
Grimlock looked up at the puzzled and frowning Yolko, and then looked over at us and said in a hoarse voice,
"It's not because of money. I...I had to kill her, while she was still my wife."
The round glasses glanced at the moss-riddled tombstone for an instant and quickly turned back, and the craftsman continued his words.
"Griselda, Grimlock. The Gri at the beginning isn't a coincidence. She and I, we used the same names in the net games we played before SAO. And if the system allowed it, we were always husband and wife. That's because...she was my wife in the real world."
I was thoroughly shocked deep inside as my mouth opened slightly. Asuna gasped as well as Yolko and the rest looked extremely surprised.
"To me, she's an ideal wife without a flaw. It's like she was designed as a wife who would follow the husband, who was extremely cute and obedient and never quarreled. It's just that...when we were trapped in this world together...she changed..." Grimlock shook his face that was almost covered by the hat and sighed,
"The one who was scared and trembling when we entered this forced death game was me. What sort of talent was hidden in her...whether it was the battle ability or decision making, Griselda...no, «Yuuko» far exceeded me. Also, that's not it. Later, she went against my opposition, creating a guild and enlisting members before starting to train. She...as compared to the real world, was filled with even more life...looking extremely fulfilled...as I stood beside her and watched her, even I had to admit that the Yuuko I loved had disappeared. Even if we cleared the game and returned to the real world, the quiet and obedient Yuuko would never come back.
The shoulders of the longcoat that had buttons in front trembled slightly. Was he mocking himself or feeling the pain of his own loss? I couldn't tell. That soft voice continued,
"...Can you understand what I was scared of? If I returned to the real world...and if Yuuko raised the proposal that we're to divorce...I would never be able to endure the shame. Then...while I was still her husband in this world where killing is legal, I wanted to seal Yuuko in my memories. This wish of mine...I suppose no one can blame me, right...?"
The slow and horrifying confession ended, and during this time, no one was able to say anything.
And what I heard was the hoarse voice coming out from my throat.
"Shame...shame? Because your own wife stopped listening to you...you killed her just for this reason? She trained herself and her friends so that we can all be released from SAO...and hoped to join the clearing group one day, and you...killed her...for such a reason..."
I used my left wrist to hold down the right hand that was about to reach for the sword on my back.
Grimlock slowly lifted his face, the bottom of the glasses reflecting a soft light, and muttered at me,
"Such a reason? Of course not. That's an ample reason. One day, you'll understand, Mr. Detective. When you get love and are about to lose it."
"No, you're the one in the wrong, Grimlock!"
The one who argued back wasn't me, but Asuna.
The exceptionally pretty face gave an expression even I didn't know of, and the rapier user said calmly,
"What you harbored for Griselda wasn't love, just possessiveness. If you loved her, take off the glove on your left hand. You probably threw the same ring away which Griselda didn't take off even as she was killed."
Grimlock's shoulders jerked slightly, and just like me, his right hand was holding onto his left.
However, his hand didn't do anything else. The craftsman remained silent and didn't take off the leather glove.
The one who broke the silence again was Schmitt, who didn't talk up til now.
"...Kirito, can you leave this guy's punishment to us? Of course, we won't lynch him, but we'll definitely make him atone for his sins."
This calm voice didn't have any sense of the absolute terror it had several minutes ago.
I looked up at the muscular guy whose armor let out some sounds and nodded slightly.
"I got it. I'll leave it to you then."
Schmitt nodded wordlessly and grabbed Grimlock's right hand to pull him up. After checking that the craftsman with his head lowered wouldn't run away, he simply said, "Sorry to trouble you," and left the hill.
Yolko and Caynz, who buried that silver box back in, walked towards us, bowed deeply and exchanged looks with us. Yolko then said,
"Asuna-san, Kirito-san. I'm really sorry...I don't know how to thank you two. Without you two, we would probably be killed here...and Grimlock's crime won't be revealed."
"No...luckily you managed to remember those two rings in the end. Nicely done. If you return back to the real world, you can be a prosecutor or lawyer."
On hearing this, Yolko smiled and shrugged.
"No...you two may not believe this, but at that moment, I seemed to have heard the leader's voice and remembered the rings."
"...I see..."
Both of them bowed again. Asuna and I then watched them walk down the hill, following Schmitt from behind.
Soon after, the 4 cursors all disappeared into the town. On the hill in the wilderness, there was only the blue moonlight and the steady night wind.
"...I say, Kirito-kun."
Suddenly, Asuna whispered softly.
"If you...if you get married with someone and found out something about her that you didn't know about, how will you think?"
"Eh?"
This question that I had never considered before caused me to be stunned. I had only lived for 15 years, and this delicate question of life is something I couldn't understand completely.
But after thinking about it, I finally said an answer that more or less lacked thought.
"I'll probably think that I'm lucky."
"Eh?"
"Tha...that's because if we're married, it means that both of us like the areas we can see, right? So if we find a new side after that, and if we still like each other...won't it be tw, twice the love?"
I know that it's really a stupid explanation, but Asuna merely frowned, tilted her head and smiled.
"I see. That's weird."
"We...weird..."
"Well, it's nothing much. Let's not talk about this...a lot of things have happened, and my stomach is grumbling. Let's go get something to eat."
"Tha, that's right. Then...that Algade's specialty that looks like okonomiyaki without the sauce..."
"Rejected."
As expected, Asuna refused it, and suddenly grabbed my shoulder from before.
Shocked, I turn to look behind, and what was in front of my eyes——
The umpteenth inexplicable scene ever since I got involved in this 'inside area incident' appeared in my eyes.
In Aincrad, all sorts of senses are digitalized data that can be indicated through process codes, so it's impossible for supernatural phenomenon to happen.
So is this a bug in the server I see? Or is it an illusion in my breath?
Not far away, on the north side of the hill, under the old trees gathered there, beside a moss-riddled tombstone standing there...was a translucent female player giving off a slightly golden light.
Her slender body has the bare minimum metallic armor. The long sword is tied at her waist, the shield is on her back, and her short-haired head has a serene and beautiful face. Her eyes has a strong glow that I know most players have.
The eyes of a clearer who wished to use the blade to end this death game.
This female player who's giving a serene smile watches Asuna and me wordlessly. However, after a while, she extends her right hand over to us to seemingly hand something over.
Asuna and I reached our right hands out, and as we felt the warmth, we clasped onto it tightly. This warmth entered our bodies, lighting the fire within our chest. We opened our mouths and said out the words the form within us.
"Your will...we'll definitely carry it on. One day, we'll definitely beat this game and release everyone for you to see."
"Un, definitely, so...please watch over us, Griselda-san."
Asuna's words rode through the night wind and reached the female swordsman. The transparent face showed a large smile——
And in that instant, nobody was there.
We put our hands down and remained spaced out over there for quite some time.
Soon after, Asuna clasped my hand tightly, smiling and saying,
"Let's go back. We have to work hard tomorrow."
"...Yeah. I want to clear that level by this week."
We then turned before walking down the hill, heading towards the main town.


(END)