Sword Art Online - Volume 9 - Chapter 1.2

Part 2
Just as I blinked once, the illusory scene abruptly disappeared, just like when it had appeared.
What was that just now? Even though the illusion had already disappeared, the overflowing feeling of nostalgia wouldn’t leave, the middle of my chest felt tight and painful.
A childhood memory—— I had a strong feeling when I saw the back of the three children walking along the river bank. The black haired boy walking on the right, wasn’t that me?
But such a thing can’t be possible. As there are no deep forests nor that clear river in Kawagoe, where I live, and I never had friends with those hair colors either. And before that, all three children were wearing the same fantasy clothes I’m wearing too.
If this is inside the STL, the illusion just now is the memory from the continuous Diving on the first weekend? But even thinking of it that way, due to the STL’s Fluctlight Acceleration function, I should have been inside for ten days at most. Such a short time wouldn’t be able to cause that throbbing pain in the chest from nostalgia like just now.
The situation seemed to proceed further and further into an inexplicable direction. Am I really who I thought I am? as such doubt returned to me, I fearfully looked into the surface of the river beside me, however, I couldn’t see the difference as the face reflected off the undulated stream was distorted.
As I tried to forget the prickly pain of the remaining memory for now, the continuous sound that reached my ears became clear. When I tried to listen to it again, this sound also made me feel nostalgic, but I didn’t know if I had heard this sound of wood being cut before. I shook my head slightly before starting to walk upstream again.
While I was moving both feet single-mindedly, I had a chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery once more, then I noticed that my direction had veered off to the left. Apparently, the source of the sound wasn’t from the river bank, but seemed to be a place slightly deeper inside the forest on my left.
The strange sound I tried to count on my fingers didn’t continue to echo constantly. It repeated for exactly fifty times, then was followed by a gap of about three minutes, before resuming another fifty times. Finally I was certain that it could be nothing but a human-made sound.
During the three minutes of silence, I walked in the general direction of the sound, then made some minor adjustments when the sound resumed. I had already separated from the river bank and returned to within the forest. I proceeded silently as I reunited with the strange dragonflies, the blue lizards and the giant mushrooms.
“……Forty-nine, ……fifty…”
An unaware low voice counted at the exact same time as the fiftieth strike had ended, it was then I noticed that the gap in the grove of the trees up ahead became brighter. So that’s the forest exit? Or it could possibly be a village. I quickened my feet toward the light.
I clambered over the tree roots which were raised up like stairs and when my face came out of the shadow of the old tree trunk, in front of my eyes was —— a scene that could be said to be unbelievable.
Although the forest ended right there, there was no village. However I didn’t have time to feel disappointed, as I absentmindedly stared with my mouth open.
It was a circular open glade in the forest. It was certainly wider than the place I woke up a while ago. The diameter should be about thirty meters. Also, the ground which was covered in green and golden moss was different from the forest I had walked past, there were no ferns, vines, nor short shrubs at all.
Then, at the center of the clearing, my gaze was fixed on something that rose up high.
What a huge tree!
Estimating with my eyes, its diameter shouldn’t be less than four meters. The trees I saw until now in this forest were all broadleaf trees with rugged and gnarled trunks, but the huge tree stretched high up in front of my eyes was a needle-leaved tree. Its bark was of a dark color close to black, and upon looking up, I could see that its branches spread out over each other high up into the sky. While I thought the Jomon cedar in Yakushima and the sequoia cedar in America I saw from images and videos were huge, I didn’t think the overwhelming presence of this tree could be something in the realm of nature, and I felt that it emanated the presence of an emperor.
My gaze went from the top part, which completely obstructed the view above it, back to its base. I noticed the roots that were like big snakes wriggling about spread like a mesh in all direction, barely reaching the forest boundary where I stood. Or rather, as this tree had absorbed all the fertility, no other plant but moss could grow, resulting in the large clearing in the middle of the forest.
Thinking about intruding into the garden of the emperor made me waver slightly, but the temptation to touch the trunk of the great tree led my feet forward. Although I tripped several times due to the meandering roots below the moss, it didn’t stop me from looking up above my head, I slowly proceeded.
I, who was approaching the trunk of the great tree while sighing many times in admiration, had completely forgotten to be cautious about the surroundings. As a result, it was already too late by the time I realized it.
“————!?”
My line of sight, which suddenly returned to looking straight ahead, met the face of someone whose pupils were watching me from behind the tree trunk. I swallowed my breath. Being startled, I retreated half a step before falling to the ground. My right hand was about to take something from my back, but of course, there was no sword.
Fortunately, it seemed the first person I met in this world didn’t show hostility nor caution, just tilting his head in wonder.
His age should be the same as mine —— I looked at the boy, aged around seventeen, or eighteen. His soft-looking ash brown hair was slightly wavy. His clothes were the same unbleached short sleeved tunic and trousers as mine. He used the roots of the tree as a bench to sit on, and in his right hand was something round.
What was strange was his appearances. Although his skin was cream colored, he couldn’t be considered a westerner and at the same time, he couldn’t be an easterner either. I looked at the dark green eyes on his thin and tender features.
The moment I saw his face, my head…… the insides of my soul felt a throbbing pain. However, that feeling vanished as soon as I tried to catch it. I patiently tried to forget it, as for now, I opened my mouth to declare that I had no hostility against him. ——But, what should I say? And before that, what language should I use? I had no idea at all. As I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly like an idiot, the boy spoke first,
“Who are you? Where did you come from?”
That slightly foreign intonation was —— in perfect Japanese.
I received the same shock as when I first looked at the jet black great tree, and became absentminded for a while. In this place, which no matter how I looked, wasn’t Japan, hearing my native language in this different world was something I didn’t expect at all. Once I got used to hearing the words flowing out of the mouth of this boy, who was wearing exotic clothes akin to western Europe during the Middle Ages, it felt like non-reality, as if I had jumped into a dubbed western film.
However, this was not a situation I could become engrossed in. This was where I practiced thinking. I began to desperately rotate my brain, which I felt had become rusty these days.
Assuming this world is a virtual world created by STL, in other words, «Underworld». The boy in front of me is either, ? a test player during the Dive, and possesses the real world memories just like me, ? a test player but his memories were restricted, becoming a resident of this world, or ? an NPC being operated by the program.
If it’s the first then it’d be quick. Just explain my strange situation to him and ask him for a way to log out.
But if it’s the second or third, the situation won’t be that easy. Toward the human that acts as an inhabitant of Underworld or an NPC, if I suddenly said something he couldn’t understand like Soul Translator’s abnormality or a way to log out, it might cause an intense cautiousness which will make gathering information later on become difficult.
So, it’s necessary to choose some safe words to talk to this boy and assert his position. As I secretly wiped the cold sweat off my palm using my trousers, I put on a smiling face and opened my mouth,
“Umm…… my name is……”
I hesitated for a moment. Japanese style or western style, what is the common way used in this world? I then gave my name while praying that it would be suitable for both ways,
“——Kirito. I came from over there, but at the moment I’m a bit lost……”
As I spoke, I pointed at a direction behind me, probably to the south, and the boy looked at me in surprise. After placing the round object in his right hand down, he stood up with an agile movement, then pointed in the same direction as me.
“There…… the southern forest? Are you from Zakkaria?”
“N-No… it’s not like that.”
My face became stiff at the sudden dilemma, but I managed to answer,
“That, erm…… I also don’t know where I came from…… I found myself collapsed in the middle of the forest when I woke up……”
‘Oh, is something wrong with STL? Just wait for a sec, I’ll connect to the operator.’ ——was a reply I had expected from the bottom of my heart, however, the boy still looked surprised, he asked while still gazing at my face,
“Hmm…… don’t know where you come from…… what about the town you were living in up until now……?”
“A-Ah…… I can’t remember. The only thing I know is my name……”
“……That’s a surprise…… The «Vector’s Prank», huh. Even though I’ve heard about it before…… but this is the first time I have actually seen it.”
“V-Vector… prank……?”
“Eh, you’ve never heard about it from your hometown? It’s what my village calls a person who one day suddenly disappears, then later on, suddenly appears in the forest or the field. The god of darkness Vector loves to play pranks on humans by kidnapping them, pulling out their memories before throwing them out in a faraway land. Longgg ago, an old woman in my village disappeared.”
“H-Heh…… Then it’s possible that I’m also like that……”
My situation is getting more suspicious, I nodded as I thought so. The boy in front of me no longer seemed to be a test player who was role playing. As my emotion was driven up the wall, I started saying something a little more dangerous,
“Also…… there’s some trouble, and I want to get out of here once. But… I don’t know how to do so……”
I desperately prayed that this would make him understand the situation, the sympathy showed in the boy’s green eyes as he nodded while saying,
“Yeah, not knowing the way, it’s natural to get lost in this deep forest. But it’s alright, if you go north from here, you will find a road.”
“N-No… erm……”
Well, just do it then, I said out the main keyword,
“……I want to log out.”
To the word I bet my ray of hope on, the boy tilted his head before asking,
“Log…… what was it? What do you mean?”
It seems it’s confirmed by this.
He is either a test player that is a pure inhabitant without any idea about this being the «Virtual world», or an NPC. While I was careful not to let my disappointment show on my face, I somehow added on a few words to deceive him,
“S-Sorry, it seems I used the wrong wording for this region. Hmm…… I mean is there a village or a town somewhere I could stay in.”
It was painful for me to say it. The boy then nodded in appreciation.
“Heh…… It’s the first time I heard such a word. Your black hair is also unusual around here…… it could be possible that you were born in the south.”
“Y-Yeah, that may be so.”
I gave a stiff smile as I looked at the boy who was smiling without any ill will, then, he frowned in pity.
“Hmmm, a place to stay. Although my village is just to the north, as there are no travellers around here, there is no inn. But…… if you explained your circumstances, perhaps Sister Azariya would help you and let you stay in the church.”
“I-Is that so, that’s great.”
Those were my true feelings. If there was a village, it could be possible that there might be staff from RATH Diving in, or they might be monitoring the village from the outside.
“Then I’ll go to the village. Is it directly north from here?”
My gaze moved towards the almost opposite direction to where I had came from and there I saw a narrow path stretched out before me. However, before my feet could start moving, the boy made a gesture using his left hand to stop me.
“Ah, wait a bit. There are guards at the village, it might be difficult to explain if you suddenly went there alone. I’ll go with you and help explain the circumstances.”
“That would help a lot, thank you.”
I smiled as I thanked him, at the same time, muttered in my mind, Apparently you’re not an NPC. Your replies are too natural for the pseudo-personality program which can only act on the preset responses, and the active action toward me just now also wasn’t NPC-like.
Although I don’t know whether he Dives from the development office in Roppongi, or from the main office somewhere in the bay area, the owner of the Fluctlight which moved the boy in front of me has a really kind personality. As soon as I escape safely, I want to thank him properly.
As I was thinking about this, the boy made a gloomy face again.
“Ah…… but, I still can’t go right now though…… As I’m still working……”
“Work?”
“Yeah. I’m on a break now.”
I moved my gaze to something wrapped with cloth beside the boy’s feet, two items of which one seemed to be a portion of round bread could be seen, So that’s what he held at first. while the other object was just a water canteen made from leather, a pretty simple menu for a lunch.
“Ah, did I disturb your meal?”
I shrank my neck, while the boy smiled timidly.
“If you can wait until I finish work, I’ll accompany you to ask Sister Azariya to let you stay at the church…… but it would be about four more hours.”
I actually wanted to go to the village and search for the person who could explain this situation to me as soon as possible, but the feeling that I wanted to avoid having further conversations that were like treading on thin ice was even greater. Four hours wasn’t a short time but when thinking about the consciousness acceleration function of STL, the time in reality that would elapse would be about an hour and several minutes.
Also, for a reason I didn’t understand, I also felt like I wanted to talk with this kind boy a bit more. I nodded as I said,
“It’s fine, I’ll wait. I may cause you trouble, but I’ll be in your care.”
Then, a smile brighter than earlier appeared on the boy’s face as he nodded in return.
“I see, then… just sit there for a while. Ah…… I still haven’t told you my name.”
The boy extended his right hand, as he continued,
“I’m Eugeo. Nice to meet you, Kirito-kun.”

As I grabbed his strong hand, which contrasted with his slender looks, I repeated the boy’s name several times in my mouth. It wasn’t in my memories, I didn’t know what language it came from, but somehow I felt the name was familiar with my tongue for some reason.
The boy who called himself Eugeo pulled his hand back and returned to sit at the base of the great tree, before taking out the round bread from the cloth wrapping and offering it me.
“N-No, I can’t…”
I hurriedly waved my hands, but the boy showed no sign of withdrawal.
“Kirito-kun must be hungry, right? You haven’t eaten anything yet, have you?”
Just as he said that, I unintentionally held my hand over my abdomen to suppress the overwhelming hunger. Even though the water from river tasted good, I couldn’t say it could fill me up.
“No… but……”
I was still refraining myself, but the hand pressed the bread forward even more, I then accepted it unavoidably. The boy —— Eugeo grinned and shrugged.
“It’s okay. Even though I said it like I want you to eat, in truth, I don’t like this anyway.”
“……Then I’ll gratefully accept. To be honest, I’m really hungry to the point where I could collapse at anytime.”
‘That’s what I thought,’ As Eugeo laughed and sat down on the root in front of the tree, I added,
“Also, just Kirito is fine.”
“Oh? Then you can just call me Eugeo too…… Ah, just wait a bit.”
Eugeo lifted his left hand to stop me from putting the round bread into my mouth.
“……?”
“Well, since it’s not the ‘Pan’ that can last long, just to be sure.”
As he said that, Eugeo’s left hand moved while his right hand held the bread up. His index and middle fingers stretched and aligned neatly with the other folded fingers. With his hand in that shape, he drew a trace which looked like the alphabets S and C in mid-air.
In front of me, who was watching dumbfounded, his two fingers tapped lightly on the bread which made a strange metal striking sound and a pale purple translucent rectangle appeared. Its width was about fifteen centimeters, while the height was about eight centimeters. According to my knowledge, this familiar looking rectangle, along with the alphabets and Arabic numerals being displayed on it using a simple font I could understand right away. This was —— without a doubt, the so-called «Status Window».
With my mouth left opened, I thought to myself,
——Then it’s concluded. This place isn’t reality nor the real other world, but the virtual world.
My body felt lightened with relief as soon as that acknowledgement had settled down at the bottom of my abdomen. Now I’m ninety-nine percent convinced. Really, without this clear evidence, the anxiety would eat up my whole body.
While the circumstances about the Dive still remained unknown, in the meantime, I had better get used to this virtual world and enjoy the situation. First off, I should try opening that window, I stretched two fingers of my left hand straight.
I imitated what I saw by tracing the S and C shape, fearfully tapping my bread, resulting in a sound resembling that of a bell’s, and a purple window floated up. I brought my face close and gazed at it.
The displayed string of characters were unusually simple. It was just [Durability: 7]. I could easily understand that it was the endurance value of this bread. As I thought what would happen when the value reached zero while gazing at the figure; in front of me, Eugeo doubtfully asked,
“Hey, Kirito. Don’t tell me this is the first time you have see the sacred arts of «Stacia Window»?”
When I lifted my face, I saw Eugeo with his head tilted as he held the bread in one hand, his window had already disappeared. I quickly made a face that looked like ‘Don’t say something nonsensical like that.’ When I touched the surface of the window, it turned into sparks of light and scattered away, I felt slightly relieved.
Fortunately, Eugeo didn’t show any more doubt and nodded.
“There’s still quite a lot of «Life» left, so there’s no need to hurry eating it. But if this was summer, it wouldn’t have this much remaining though.”
Perhaps the «Life» he mentioned is the number displayed next to the item’s durability, and the status window displaying those is called «Stacia Window». Seeing the action command that called the window out being declared as sacred arts, Eugeo wouldn’t know that was the function of the system, but acknowledged them as a religious or magical phenomenon.
There’re still many things to think about, but better shelve them for now and deal with my near-term hunger first.
“Then, itadakimasu.”
I brought the bread into my opened mouth as soon as I finished saying that, but the hardness of the bread caused my eyes to darken. However, I couldn’t spit it out either, so I forcefully bit and tore it off. I was unintentionally impressed by the sense of wobbling teeth in this realistic virtual world.
It was similar or perhaps even harder than the whole grain bread bought by my younger sister, Suguha. The hungry me operated my jaw to chew the thing which was crunchier than necessary, although its taste was passable. With some butter, or a slice of cheese…… no, just grilling it a little bit should be much better, as I thought various ungrateful things, Eugeo, who also frowned while biting the bread, said as he gave a bitter smile.
“It’s not very good, right?”
I hurriedly shook my head.
“N-No, it’s not like that.”
“It’s fine, no need to force yourself. I usually buy them from the Pan shop in the village before leaving, but as I leave in the early morning they only have the Pan left over from yesterday for sale. At noon, I don’t have enough time to go back to the village either……”
“Heh…… Then it should be better to bring a boxed-lunch from home……”
To my casual words, Eugeo lowered his eyes with the bread in his hand. I shrank my neck unsure if I blurted something rude, fortunately, he soon lifted up his face and gave a little smile.
“A very longgg time ago…… at noon, there was a person who would bring a boxed-lunch here. But now……”
The green pupils shook, they were filled with a great sense of loss, in that moment, I forgot that this was the artificial world as I leaned my body forward.
“That person… what happened……?”
After I asked, Eugeo looked toward the treetop far above his head in silence for a while, then he slowly moved his lips,
“……My childhood friend. The girl, who was the same age as me…… we were always playing together from morning until evening since we were young. Even after I was given the Sacred Task, she would still bring a boxed-lunch here everyday…… But… six years ago…… during my eleventh summer an Integrity Knight came to our village…… and took her to the capital……”
Integrity Knight. Capital.
Those words of unknown nature were the kind that bore the mark of those who maintained the regularity and the capital of this world, I stayed silent to encourage him to continue.
“It was…… my fault. On one rest day, we both went to explore the northern cave…… but we got lost on the way back and ended up on the other side of the Mountain range at the Edge. You know, right? The Dark Territory where it is written in the Taboo Index not to set our foot on. Although I didn’t exit the cave, she tripped and her palm pressed on the ground outside…… But just because of that… the Integrity Knight came to the village and tied her up in chains in front of everyone……”
Eugeo crushed the half-eaten bread in his right hand.
“……I wanted to help her. I thought it was fine if he took me along with her, and planned to use the axe to attack him…… but… hands too… feet too… I couldn’t move them. All I did was just… watch her being taken away… without saying anything……”
His face was void of any expression as he gazed up into the sky for a while but soon after, a faint self-deprecating smile floated to his lips. He then tossed the crushed bread into his mouth and chewed it while looking downward.
I didn’t know what I should say, so I also took a bite of the bread, and thought as I chewed with all my strength.
The existence of the status window proved that this is a virtual world created by the realistic technology, it could be some experiment by someone. However, why did such an «Event» like this happen? After I swallowed the bread, I hesitantly asked,
“……Do you know what happened to her……?”
Eugeo shook his head slightly as he faced downward.
“The Integrity Knight said she’d be executed after the interrogation…… But, what kind of execution, I don’t know. I once… heard from her father, the village chief Gasupht…… that she is already dead…… ——But Kirito, I believe that she’s still alive.”
The next moment,
“Alice is… definitely alive and is somewhere in the capital……”
I inhaled sharply the moment I heard that name.
Again, I felt a strange feeling running in the center of my head. A sense of irritation. A sense of loneliness. And more than those, a sense of nostalgia that shook my soul——
It’s just my delusion. I persuaded myself, It’s just what remained after the shock. There is no reason for me to have a personal relationship with Eugeo’s childhood friend, or in other words, «Alice» who is the inhabitant of this world. Surely it was just the reaction to the common name Alice. Yes —— didn’t Asuna tell me yesterday at Dicey Café? «RATH», the company which developed the STL, and the virtual world «Underworld», weren’t those names taken from the novel?Alice in Wonderland??

Her name fitting with the other two names is a surprising coincidence, there might be a meaning behind it. Also, I noticed another piece of information from Eugeo’s words.
Just now he said six years ago, when he was eleven. It means that he’s now seventeen, but that’s just too long —— his manner of speech is like he has all the memories of those ten years of life, just like me.
But something like that can’t be possible. From what I’ve been told, the Fluctlight acceleration function could speed up to three time, in order to simulate this world for seventeen years, it would require six years in the real world. However, it shouldn’t have been three months since the roll-out of the STL experimental machine yet.
What should I think about this?
This isn’t the STL I know, but inside of an unknown FullDive machine, moreover, it has been running for seventeen years. Or, maybe what I’ve heard about the FLA function being three times was a mistake, and it actually could accelerate more than thirty times. But either of them is equally unbelievable.
Inside my head, anxiety and curiosity were rapidly expanding. I wanted to log out right now and ask the person outside to explain the situation, on the other hand, I also wanted to stay inside and continue chasing after the questions.
After I swallowed the last piece of the bread, I fearfully asked Eugeo,
“Then…… don’t you want to go looking for her? At that… capital.”
I thought ‘Crap,’ right after I asked that. As my words pulled out an unexpected reaction from Eugeo.
The light brown haired boy looked at my face absentmindedly for several seconds then soon after, he whispered ‘Unthinkable.’
“……This Rulid village is at the north edge of the northern empire. Going to the capital to the south, even if we used a fast horse it would still take a week. If we walked, it’ll take two days to reach the closest town, Zakkaria. It’s impossible to reach that place even if I leave the village on the dawn of a rest day.”
“Then…… just make some proper preparations for a long journey……”
“Hey Kirito… You look similarly aged as me, weren’t you given a Sacred Task at the village you live in? Abandoning the Sacred Task and going out on a travel isn’t something we can do, is it?”
“……T-That’s true.”
While I was nodding, I carefully observed Eugeo’s reactions.
It’s obvious from the start that this boy isn’t just a simple NPC. From his abundance of expressions and his natural replies, he couldn’t be anything but a real human.
But at the same time, his actions seemed to be bound to absolute rules which are more effective than the law in the real world. Yes, it’s similar to how the NPC in VRMMO can’t deviate from within their movement boundary.
Eugeo said he wasn’t arrested because he didn’t trespass into the area restricted by the «Taboo Index». In other words, that Index is the absolute rules which binds him, perhaps it has direct control over Fluctlight. While I don’t know what his Sacred Task…, no, what his occupation is, I couldn’t imagine what job would be more important than the life and death of the girl who was always together with him since birth.
To confirm it, I carefully selected my words and asked Eugeo, who was drinking from the water canteen,
“Umm, in Eugeo’s village, other than Alice-san, is there anyone else who broke the Taboo…… Index and was taken to the capital?”
Eugeo made rounded eyes again, before wiping his mouth and shaking his head.
“Nope. In the three hundred years history of Rulid, the only time the Integrity Knight ever came to the village was six years ago, this is what Garitta-jiisan said.”
As he finished his words, he passed me the leather canteen. I received it and pulled off the cork-like plug after thanking him. I then brought it to my mouth and drank the liquid, which wasn’t cold but had a fragrance, as if it was mixed with lemon and herb. After three gulps, I returned the canteen to Eugeo.
While I wiped my mouth with an innocent look, the insides of my chest were blown by the storm of surprise for god knew how many times.
————Three hundred years!?
Without the so-called «Setting», but instead actually simulating across that long period, then the actual acceleration of the FLA function should be several hundred times…… or might even reach a thousand times. In that case, if that rate was applied during my continuous Dive test on the first weekend, how much time could I actually feel inside? At the same time I shuddered, I felt light goosebumps on my arms, but I didn’t have time to admire that realistic physiological reaction.
As I obtained more information, the mystery seemed even more complex. Is Eugeo actually a human, or a program? Also, what exactly is the purpose of creating this world——
I couldn’t know more than this without going to the village Eugeo calls Rulid and making contact with other people. From there, it’d be great if I could meet people from RATH who know of the situation…… As I thought so, I somehow managed to smile before saying to Eugeo,
“Thanks for the food. But I’m sorry I took half of your lunch.”
“No, don’t worry. I’m quite sick of that Pan anyway.”
He replied with a very natural smile as he quickly collected the lunch wrapping.
“Then, sorry but just wait for a while. Until I finish my afternoon work.”
Eugeo said as he stood up with an agile movement, I then asked,
“Now you mentioned it, Eugeo’s work…… the Sacred Task, what is it?”
“Ah, right…… you can’t see from over there.”
Eugeo smiled again while beckoning me. I tilted my head as I stood up and walked around the trunk of the great tree behind him.
Then, being struck by another surprise, my mouth was left wide open.
On the trunk of the huge tree, which was as black as a dark night, there was a cut about twenty percent or more into its diameter —— around a meter deep. The black wood inside was reminiscent of coal, the thick layers of the annual tree rings were glossy like metal.
My gaze moved down from the cut, to an axe set against the trunk. Although its simple single-edged shape wasn’t used for battle, the very large axe blade and the long handle were both made from the same greyish-white material. As I stared at its mysterious radiance, like it was a stainless steel matte finish, I somehow felt it was carved from a single lump of the raw material.
Eugeo’s right hand grabbed the axe by it’s handle which was bound with black shiny leather, and shouldered it. He then walked to the left edge of the one and a half meter cut, spread his legs, lowered his waist, and tightly clenched his hands on the grip.
The slim body bent, the axe, which was drawn greatly backward, took a moment to gather the momentum before it sharply tore the air. The blade, which looked heavy, cleanly hit at the center of the cut, Gaan! a clear high-pitched metallic sound reverberated. No doubt, this is the true nature of the strange sound that led me here. A wood cutting sound, my baseless intuition was correct.
In front of me, who was observing in admiration, it could be said Eugeo handled his body perfectly, he repeatedly hit while maintaining the pace and trajectory beyond the accuracy of a machine. Drawing back took two seconds, gathering force one second, swinging one second. His chain of actions were so fluent it was as if the sword skills also existed in this world.
Exactly fifty times at a pace of four seconds each time, the axe continued hitting for two hundred seconds, and after the final strike, Eugeo pulled the axe out of the deep cut and let out a long breath. He then set the tool against the trunk and sat on top of the root nearby. The beads of sweat on his forehead were shining as he caught his breath. While I was watching him, I thought swinging that axe must be more difficult than I had imagined.
I waited for his breathing to settle before asking,
“So Eugeo’s work…… no, Sacred Task is «Woodcutter»? Is it cutting the trees in this forest?”
Taking a handkerchief out of the pocket of his clothes and wiping his face, Eugeo titled his head slightly and replied after thinking for a moment,
“Yeah, well… it can be said like that. But the tree concerning the Sacred Task that I have spent seven years trying to cut down is just this one.”
“Ehh?”
“The name of this huge tree is «Gigas Cedar» in the sacred words. But the elderly in the village call it the evil tree.”
……Sacred words? Giga……Scedar……?
Eugeo gave an understanding smile toward me, who was in doubt, as he pointed straight upward to the treetop far overhead.
“The reason they call it as such is because it absorbs all of Terraria’s blessing from its surrounding ground. So nothing but moss would live under the branches of this tree, and the trees within range of its shadow wouldn’t grow taller either.”
Terraria, while I don’t know what that is, it seems my first impression after I saw this tree and the clearing isn’t wrong. I nodded to encourage him to continue.
“The adults in the village want to expand the wheat fields to this forest. But it’s futile as long as this tree still stands. So they want to cut it down, but as expected from the evil tree, its trunk is terribly hard. If a normal steel axe is used, its blade would break and no longer be usable in just one hit. Because of that, they spent a large amount of money to order this axe, which was carved from an ancient dragon’s bone, from the capital, and assigned «Cutting duty» to someone to keep cutting at it here daily. And that would be me.”
I rotated my gaze between Eugeo, who carelessly said it, and the one quarter cut on the great tree.
“……It means, in the past seven years Eugeo spent every day trying to cut this tree, and you only got this far in that time?”
This time Eugeo made round eyes and shook his head in surprise.
“No way. If this cut required only seven years, then I’d feel a little more encouraged. Listen, I’m the seventh generation for this cutting duty. Ever since Rulid was found on this land, for three hundred years, each generation of the people with cutting duty came here everyday. Perhaps, the progress when I become a grandfather and pass over the axe to the eighth generation would be……”
Eugeo used his two hands to make a gap about twenty centimeters wide.
“About this much, I guess.”
I couldn’t even let my breath out anymore.
In a fantasy type MMO, even though the craftsman and miner production jobs were generally recognized as jobs which required enduring working single-mindedly, spending a whole life and still unable to cut down a single tree was just far beyond normal. As this was the artificial world, it must be someone’s intention to place this tree here, although for what purpose, I still had no idea at the moment.
——But, anyway, I had an itching feeling like something was crawling down my back.
Partly due to impulse, I said to Eugeo, who stood up and grabbed the axe after he had rested for three minutes.
“Hey, Eugeo…… could you let me try for a bit?”
“Eh?”
“Um, I took half of your lunch. So I should use my muscle to help with half of your work too, right?”
I felt as if it was my first time offering to help someone to do his work —— and it was probably so —— Eugeo had his mouth slightly opened, but soon after he hesitantly replied,
“Hmm…… well, although there’s no rules forbidding someone to help with the Sacred Task…… well, this is unexpectedly difficult. At first I couldn’t even strike at the right place.”
“We won’t know until we try, right?”
As I grinned, I stretched out my right hand and grabbed the handle of the «Dragon Bone Axe» which Eugeo held out while he still had a doubtful expression.
The axe was heavy, despite its looks that it was made out of bone, and weighed down my right hand. I quickly grabbed the leather grip with both hands and made a small swing to confirm the balance.
Even though I had never used an axe as my main weapon in SAO and ALO, I should be able to hit a stationary target without any problem. I stood on the left of the deep cut, then mimicked Eugeo’s pose by spreading my legs and slightly lowered my waist.
Eugeo still had a doubtful expression, but at the same time he also looked amused. After I had affirmed that he was far enough away, I lifted the axe high over my shoulders, then I clenched my teeth and put as much force as possible into my arms, before swinging the axe down, aiming at the center of the deep cut on the trunk of Giga Scedar.
Gagi, with a dull sound, the axe blade hit at a place about five centimeters away from the cut. Orange sparks scattered while a violent feedback assaulted my hands. I couldn’t bear it and dropped the axe, before putting both wrists, which were numb to the bone, between my feet and groaning,
“O-Ouch-ouch-ouch.”
Unsightly, looking at me who couldn’t even do a single strike, ‘Ahahaha……’ Eugeo laughed amusedly. When I turned my reproachful glance toward him, ‘Sorry,’ he indicated with his right hand, but still continued to laugh.
“……You don’t have to laugh that much……”
“Hahaha…… no, sorry sorry. Kirito, you didn’t use force from your shoulders and waist. You need to use force from your entire body…… hmm, how should I explain it……”
While watching Eugeo repeat a slow swinging movement of the axe, I belatedly realized my mistake. Perhaps the strict law of physics and the contraction of the muscle were not simulated in this world. As this was a realistic dream created by STL, the most important thing had to be the power of my imagination.
Finally as the numbness left my hands, I picked up the axe off my feet.
“Just watch, this time I will surely hit……”
As I grumbled, this time I tried as hard as possible not to be concerned about the force. I kept focusing on the movement of my entire body in my consciousness while I made a big and slow drawing movement. Before entering the motion of the horizontal slashing attack type sword skill, «Horizontal» which I used frequently in SAO, I drew power from twisting my waist which was added into the rotating momentum of my shoulders and passed through my wrists towards the blade of the axe… and striking into the tree——
This time I hit the tree bark far away from the cut, Gain, the axe bounced off after it made an unpleasant sound. However, my hands didn’t go numb like the first time, it seemed I had completely neglected the aim because I focused only on the movement of my body. This time too, Eugeo sure has more things to laugh at, I turned my head while thinking this, but Eugeo made an unexpectedly serious face as he gave a comment,
“Oo…… Kirito, just now wasn’t bad. But, you didn’t watch the axe as you swung. Your gaze must not move off the center of the cut. Try again before you forget it!”
“O-Okay.”
The next one was also crude. But after that, Eugeo still gave advice here and there as I continued swinging the axe, I forgot how many times it was before the axe finally managed to make a high-pitched metallic sound as it struck at the center of the cut, sending off some small black fragments.
After that I took turns with Eugeo and had a chance to watch fifty of his excellent axe swings. Then I took the axe and made another fifty swings.
We repeated this for some time, and by the time I realized it, the sun had already reached the horizon, and the clearing was bathed in a hazy, orange tinted light. As I drank the last gulp from the big water canteen, Eugeo also finished his last strike, and then said,
“Alright…… this makes two thousand.”
“Eh, we did that many?”
“Yeah. Five hundred from me, and five hundred from Kirito. Together with the morning part, striking the Gigas Cedar two thousand times each day, that’s my Sacred Task.”
“Two thousand times……”
I looked at the big cut on the jet black great tree again. No matter how I looked, it wasn’t any deeper than when we had first started. What an unrewarding job, while I was astonished, the cheerful voice of Eugeo came from behind.
“Actually, Kirito has good muscle. Of the last fifty times, you made a good sound two… three times. Thanks to you, today I had a lot of fun.”
“No…… but it should have finished a lot faster if Eugeo did it alone. Sorry, I was supposed to help but instead I was holding you back……”
I apologized in embarrassment, but Eugeo just smiled as he shook his head.
“Didn’t I tell you I couldn’t cut this tree down within my life span? Because half of the cut we did today would recover during the night…… Oh ya, I’ll show you something good. I’m not supposed to open it too often, though.”
While he said that, Eugeo approached the great tree and stretched his left hand. After he used two fingers to slice the symbol, he struck the black bark of the tree.
I see, this tree is also set up with durability, I rushed over to Eugeo as I thought that. Along with a bell-like sound, the status window floated out, no the «Stacia Window», I peeked at it along with Eugeo.
“Ue……”
I inadvertently groaned. The figure displayed on the window was some two hundred and thirty-two thousands, an absurd amount like that.
“Hmmm, it’s about fifty less than when I looked last month, huh……”
Indeed, Eugeo also said in a tired tone.
“Kirito, this means…… even if I spent a whole year striking it, the Life of Gigas Cedar would decrease by about six hundred. By the time I retire, over two hundred thousand would still remain. Now you understand…… just half a day of slightly less progress isn’t a big deal at all. My opponent isn’t just a tree, but the «Titanic great cedar» after all.”
When I heard those words, I realized the origin of the title of the Giga Scedar. It was a combination of Latin and English. The word didn’t cut at Giga, but Gigas Cedar…… the giant cedar.
In other words, to the boy who is standing before me, aside of the Japanese language he uses fluently, English and other languages are some kind of spell incantations, the «Sacred Words». Then perhaps he doesn’t realize that he is speaking in Japanese. The Underworld language…… no, the Norlangarth empire’s language? But wait a sec, just now he called the bread «Pan». Pan is probably not an English word…… is it Portuguese? Or Spanish?
As I was having a spree of derailed thoughts, before I noticed, Eugeo had already finished packing up and said,
“Kirito, sorry for the wait. Let’s go back to the village.”

After that, while shouldering the Dragon Bone Axe, and carrying the empty water canteen, as we walked back to the village Eugeo cheerfully talked about various things. About his predecessor, the elder named Garitta who was adept at using axe; about how he was slightly unhappy that the children of the same age in the village thought that Eugeo’s Sacred Task was easy; while I kept responding to his stories, my mind still focused on the same thought.
It was the question about what was the purpose of this world, how it was being operated.
If it is to verify the STL’s «Mnemonic Visual» technology, then it had already achieved perfection. As I already sense its indistinguishable from the reality all too well by now.
Regarding the internal time of this world, at least three hundred years had been simulated, the terrifying thing is that great tree —— considering the amount of Eugeo’s work could do against the durability of Gigas Cedar, I think it would continue for close to a thousand years.
While I don’t know what the upper limit the Fluctlight acceleration function can reach, in the worst case, the person who Dives into this world with sealed memories could spend the entire life inside. Certainly it wouldn’t cause any danger to the muscles in the real world, and as the memories were blocked until the time the Dive ended, the person would probably feel like it was just a vague «Long dream» —— however, what would happen to the soul, the Fluctlight which experienced that dream? The aggregation of light quanta which made up human consciousness, wouldn’t it also have a lifespan?
No matter how I think, what had been done to this world is just too overexerted, unreasonable, and inconsiderate.
By braving such danger, there must be a purpose —— but what is it? At Dicey café, Sinon said, to create just a realistic virtual space, the AmuSphere would already be feasible. There must be «Something» that could only be achieved by spending infinite time in the virtual world which matches the level of the real world——
I suddenly lifted my face, I could see the orange light spreading over the gap in the forest ahead of the narrow path. At the gap of the roadside near the exit, there was a building which seemed to be a storage hut standing there. Eugeo walked toward it and casually opened the door. As I took a peek from behind, there were a few ordinary iron axes, a small bladed tool which looked like a machete, and group of tools such as rope and a bucket, among them, there was an elongated leather package which I didn’t know the contents of.
Eugeo placed the «Dragon Bone Axe» between them, and closed the door shut. When he then turned around and came back to the path, I quickly asked,
“Eh, is it alright not to lock the door? It’s a very important axe, isn’t it?
Eugeo rounded his eyes in surprise.
“Lock? Why?”
“Why… wouldn’t it be stolen……”
I said until I finally realised. A thief didn’t exist. Because, it must be written in the «Taboo Index» he mentioned earlier to forbid the act of stealing. To me who had interrupted my own sentence, Eugeo made a serious look and gave an answer I was expecting,
“There is no way such a thing would happen. Because I’m the only one who opens this hut.”
‘That’s right,’ as I nodded in response, a question welled up in my mind.
“Err, but…… didn’t Eugeo say there are guards at the village? If there are no thieves then why is such a job needed?”
“Isn’t it obvious? To protect the village from the forces of darkness.”
“The forces of…… darkness……”
“Look over there, you see it, right?”
We just walked past under the last tree as Eugeo lifted up his right hand.
In front of my eyes were the wheat fields. They were still young, the green heads which had yet to swell were swaying in the wind. The scene which was greatly pleasing, in the dusk sunlight looked just like the sea. The path stretched into the meandering expanse of the fields, where I saw a small elevated hill far up ahead. When I focused on the hill which was surrounded by a grove of trees, I saw sand textured buildings gathered together and there was a noticeably tall tower at the center. Apparently, this seems to be where Eugeo lives, the Rulid village.
But where Eugeo pointed at was beyond the village —— at the faint pure white line of a mountain range in the far off distance. The steep mountain ridge which looked like a saw stretched to the left and right edges of my vision.
“That is the «Mountain range at the Edge». On its other side is the place where the light of Solus can’t reach, the land of darkness. Even at noon, the sky would be covered by dark clouds, the light from the heaven is red like blood. The ground, the trees, are all black like charcoal……”
Eugeo should have recalled a certain event in the distant past, as his voice became weak and trembled.
“……Living in the land of darkness are the cursed demi-humans like goblins and orcs, along with other terrifying monsters…… also, the dark knights who ride the black dragons. Of course the Integrity Knights who are protecting the mountain range have prevented them from invading, but sometimes, some seem to be able to slip through the underground caves. But I haven’t seen any yet though. Also, according to the legend from the Axiom Church…… once every one thousand years, when the light of Solus weakens, the forces of darkness led by the dark knights would cross the mountain range and start their attacks against us. In that great war, the guards in the village, the sentinels from all towns and the imperial army would be led by the Integrity Knights to fight against the hordes of monsters.”
As he tilted his head in doubt, Eugeo asked,
“……It’s the tale which even the smallest child in the village knows. Has Kirito also forgotten about this tale?”
“Y……Yeah, I felt like I heard about it before though…… just… a bit different in details, I guess.”
I fearfully tried to dodge his question, Eugeo expression changed into a smile like he had no doubt, before nodding.
“I see…… Perhaps, it could be possible that Kirito didn’t come from Norlangarth but one of the three other empires.”
“T-That may be so.”
While I was nodding, I tried to drive him off this dangerous topic and pointed to the hill which we were now considerably closer to.
“That is Rulid village, right? Where is Eugeo’s house?”
“What we see is the south gate, my house is near the west gate, so we can’t see it from here.”
“Hmm. The highest tower is… Sister…… Azariya’s church?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I focused my gaze at the top of the tower, there was a symbol which was a combination of a cross and a circle.
“It’s somehow… even more elegant than I had thought. Someone like me can really stay there?”
“Don’t worry. Sister Azariya is really great person.”
It might not be easy, but if Azariya-san had the same belief in the intrinsic goodness of other people like Eugeo, then the problem wouldn’t occur if I gave sensible responses. But, right now I’m the guy who lacks sensible ideas about this world.
Ideally, if Sister Azariya is the RATH’s resident observer, then the story would be easy. But perhaps, the staff whose purpose is to observe shouldn’t be assigned important roles like the village chief or the sister. The possibility that he would be one of the very plain villager is higher, I have to find out by any means possible.
But that’s only if they actually placed an observer in this small village…… as I worried, Eugeo and I crossed the moss covered stone bridge which spanned over the narrow waterway, and set foot into «Rulid village».