As some of you know, I had made a summary of Progressive volume 7 just when it came out. I was planning to compile it into a blog post version for ease of accessibility, but then I realised that I skipped most of chapter 1 because nothing was going on back there... and then I realised that I had only shared brief excerpts from the other earlier chapters, rather than writing a coherrent summary of how one thing led to another, so I figured I'd expand upon that closer to the release of PV8 to double as a refresher before the new volume came out on 10 June. But due to all these delays from our manga team, I had to get on this task far sooner than I had been expecting. I was hoping to release this the week before the next Progressive book came out to fill the slot, so I could enjoy reading the book in peace without having to worry about needing to prepare some translation to maintain our weekly releases, but, well, that went down the drain... oh well. Seeing as we're already getting illustration previews, I guess it's a good enough time for this release.
For those who have read my original commentary as I was reading the book, I greatly revamped the summary for the first 5 chapters. The later chapters were mostly okay as is, so I only did some cleanup, maybe added a sentence or two for better transition with them. Though, since PV8 is coming out in a couple of weeks, you may want to re-read the whole thing for a refresher for better enjoyment of PV8 when it comes out.
Notice: This is a summary, not a proper translation. Even if I ended up making it more like a full-blown retelling than an actual summary.
-Gsimenas
Table of contents:
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
Chapter 1
Asuna: "HOOOOOT!"
That was Asuna's first reaction upon arriving at the floor. Despite the fact that it was still 5 January, it was as hot as in the middle of the summer of the floor. Kirito explained that, as he had mentioned earlier, some floors represent the current season in the real world, while some don't. The 7th Floor was one of those floors that didn't. It was cooler at night when the two had visited the floor in the previous volume, but it wasn't cold despite being winter either.
Asuna: "But it's 5 January. It feels like 27 degrees here."
Kirito (internally): That's an awfully specific number.
There were barely any players around, so Asuna ran over to a nearby tree for some shadow and operated her menu, before taking off her hooded cape and revealing that she was now wearing a thin breastplate and a knee-high leather skirt.
Asuna (looking at Kirito): "How about you take off that coat of yours, Kirito-kun? I feel hot just looking at it."
Kirito: "Eh, but... while your Little Red Riding Hood may just be a fashion statement, Asuna, my coat is my main armour...... My Defence is gonna go down hard if I take it off."
Asuna: "It shouldn't be a problem while we're in the Inner Area of a town though."
At this point, Kirito took off his Coat of Midnight, leaving him with a thin shirt with a breastplate and a pair of long pants, which did make the heat more bearable.
Asuna: "......You don't seem all that different, huh......For starters, a full-on pitch-black ensamble feels like a heat trap. Don't you feel like wearing some other colour for a change, Blackie-san?"
Kirito: "Y... you're one to talk Asuna, considering you've only been going for anything in the red spectrum ever since we met."
Asuna (looking at her red tunic): "I do sometimes go for a different colour."
Kirito: "O-oh, really......?"
Asuna: "When I'm relaxing at my own inn room, you see. But outside, I have to go for clothes with the highest defence value, so not like I can do anything about it."
Kirito: "T-the same applies to my clothes though!"
Kirito (internally): (Goes on an introspection if he actually needs to wear black clothes beneath his coat. Considers the possibility that black clothes give him peace of mind, because they remind him of his middle school gakuran uniform.)
At this point, Asuna decided to change the topic by proposing to get going.
Kirito: "Go......where?"
Asuna: "It's the first time we've been to this town, right? Well, to be accurate, it's our second time here...... but anyway, I'm obviously talking about lunch. So, know any good places?"
Kirito: "Ah...... ehm......Lexio is famous for... is famous for, if I'm not mistaken......"
Kirito (thinking): Hmm... what was Floor 7 even like... I used it as a base for a while in the beta, but I strangely can't remember much of anything about it... it feels like someone sealed off my memories... Oh right, that was me. Something really bad happened to be during the beta here...
Kirito: "Sorry to burst your bubble, but there was nothing in this town during the beta that would be notable enough that you could say the town was famous for them. In the first place, Lexio here isn't even the main town on the 7th Floor.
Asuna: "Wha, but, it's the Main Town, remember?"
Kirito: "In name, that is. But let's get some grub before I explain that whole thing. Ehm... as I recall, there's a place selling pitta sandwich-ish stuff, then there's a place selling chicken rice-ish stuff over there, and over there should be a place selling spicy stew-ish stuff.
Asuna: "......That's a whole lot of 《-ish stuff》 there."
Despite finding the whole description fishy, Asuna latches onto the "chicken rice" stir fry, asking whether it was Japanese-style or Singaporean-style.
Asuna: (explains the difference between Japanese and Singaporean "chicken rice" stir fry)
Kirito (internally): Wow, back on Floor 1, Asuna said stuff like "I didn't come to this town for good food", but now the average SAO player wouldn't stand a chance against her knowledge on cooking. Why did she pick up 《Sewing》 as a hobby skill instead of 《Cooking》 though. And why is she levelling a mostly niche Two-Handed Lance too......
Anyway, Kirito answered that it was probably Singaporean, so they settled for this restaurant.
Kirito: "So, you like Hainankai?"
Asuna (exasperated): "You got it jumbled. It's either Hainan chicken rice, or Khao man kai! It's not me that likes it, but my Onii-... I mean, my family. So, I felt like giving it a try after all this time."
Anyway, the two decided to head over to the restaurant.
-------
Asuna: "Well, this aroma definitely make it seem like an actual chicken rice place.
Kirito: "Don't get your hopes up for a hundred percent authenticity."
Kirito (internally): (Feels his hunger gauge reaching its limit)
Kirito summarises the events that followed the boss battle. Basically, they beat the boss around 23:00, after which they climbed up to the 7th Floor, but then used the Teleport Gate to go back to the 6th Floor to take Theano and Myia home and then headed straight to an inn due to exhaustion. And now they came to Lexio without even getting breakfast, as they slept in and then lazed about in the morning.
The two arrive at a restaurant named 【Ｍｉｎ’ｓ Ｅａｔｅｒｙ】. Kirito looks through the menu.
Kirito: "......Basil rice? Is this 'basil" thing the basil that you put on pizza and stuff?"
Asuna: "......Probably. The spelling matches up, after all."
Kirito: "But....... ain't basils just a bunch of leaves! Leaf rice and chicken rice being priced the same is just bonkers, no matter how you slice it!"
Asuna: "Don't dump your complaints on me............oh. I get it, this probably isn't just any leaf rice. It probably refers to gapao.
Asuna then explains what gapao is, while Kirito remarks that the beta test version of this restaurant didn't have that kind of dish.
Asuna: "I'm at my limit already. If you don't pick your order within five seconds, I'll do it myself."
Kirito: (panicking whether to go with Singaporean chicken rice, or gapao rice)
Kirito: "Uh, how about we order both and split?"
Asuna: "Nice idea. (in a slightly lower volume) Let's go with large portions."
-------
After lunch, Asuna complained about how Kirito had claimed that the town didn't have any food that it was famous for when the thai food they had just now definitely seemed like a local specialty. Although Kirito responded that the food wasn't as delicious in the beta, he did have to agree that the fact the restaurant had rice was a pretty big deal nonetheless. Though Kirito tried to excuse himself by bringing up that the thai restaurant was using long-grain rice and you can't really say you had some rice if it's not short-grained rice. Asun in turn wondered how he even knew the difference between the two types of rice when he didn't know the thai dishes, so Kirito explained that he had some rice planting experience at his elementary school. Asuna complained that her school didn't have such a thing, though she did go bug hunting in rice fields. At this point, Asuna realised that she was going too far into real world topics again, so she changed the topic to Kizmel. Kirito tried to ease her nerves by bringing up her words from the 6th Floor that only the knight commander and queen herself had the right to repimen [sic] (コンセキ, konseki) her for her actions, but he messed up the quote, so Asuna corrected him that the word she used was "reprimand" (譴責, kenseki). This did, however, encourage Asuna to stop fretting about it and instead just take action, so she proposed getting started on going through the 7th Floor. The chapter ends with Kirito proposing to go to a store and renew their gear.
Chapter 2
Kirito
Level 22 Swordsman (One-Handed Sword), Skill Slots:5
Skills: 《One-Handed Sword》, 《Martial Arts》, 《Search》, 《Hiding》, 《Meditation》
Gear: 《Sword of Eventide +3》
《Coat of Midnight +6》
《Fortified Breastplate +4》
《Skintight Shirt +2》
《Trousers of Shadowthread +5》
《Spiked Shortboots +3》
《Ring of Brawn》
《Sigil of Lyusula》
Asuna
Lever 21 Fencer (Rapier), Skill Slots:5* (6)
Skills: 《Rapier》,《Light Armour》, 《Sewing》, 《Sprint》, 《Two-Handed Lance》, *(Meditation)
Gear: 《Chivalric Rapier +7》
《Woved Hooded Cape +2》
《Thinly-made Breastplate +6》
《Fencer's Tunic +4》
《Plated Leather Skirt +4》
《Prancing Boots +3》
《Earring of Ripples》
《Ring of Luminescence》
《Sigil of Lyusula》
*Parentheses refer to the skill stored in the Crystal Bottle of Kales'Oh.
Of these items, Kirito's breastplate, shirt, and boots, as well as Asuna's cape, tunic, and skirt are all store-bought, while the other stuff are either boss drops or quest rewards. Since the store-bought stuff is not as good as drops and quest rewards, it's common practice to visit NPC shops upon arriving at a new floor to check if they have anything better (prefferably, at a reasonable price) in stock. However, despite visiting the biggest store in town, the two didn't find anything that caught their eyes. Unlike the restaurant, the gear stores apparently didn't get an upgrade in the retail version of the game. At that point, Asuna complained how Kirito remembered Stachion to the finest of details but barely remembered anything about Lexio. Kirito didn't want to get into the tragedy that befell
And so, Asuna and Kirito followed the main road and arrived at the town gate within a few minutes of walking, as Lexio wasn't all that big. However, there were actually two gates there. The gates looked mostly identical, but the top part of the gates were adorned with different marble sculptures. The sculpture on the right featured a shabby, hunched man supporting himself with a cane as he walked through a rainstorm. On the other hand, the sculpture on the left featured a dazzingly dressed up man chugging a huge glass of wine in a reclined position. There were two roads originating from these gates, but there was nothing stopping people from crossing over to the other road midway or anything, though the road on the right eventually led to forests and bald mountains, while the one on the left went through a prairie as far as the eye could see. Both roads could be used to reach the Labyrinth on the western end of the floor, while the Dark Elven campaign quest was set at the middle of the floor, so there was no difference in the distance they would need to cross to reach the elven base. But Kirito explained that the reason there were two gates nonetheless was to emphasise the fate awaiting the players at the end of the road. Basically, the road on the right leads through a monster-filled area, while the one on the left leads to a town twice or thrice the size of Lexio with a casino, barely any monsters getting in their way en route. Apparently, >80% of the beta testers chose the casino one... and most of them got hooked on the casino... and went utterly broke because of it. And half of the beta testers ragequit afterwards, as the rumour goes.
Asuna (stepping in front of Kirito after five seconds of silence): "By the way, which one did you pick?"
Kirito: "............I lost... everything of mine. I lost all my cor and rare items, only being left with a single sword that served as my main weapon. But I still went for the next floor. I may have lost at the casino, but I didn't lose at the game."
Asuna: "Right."
Kirito: "E-Excuse me?"
Asuna: "We're taking the road on the right."
Ignoring what Kirito referred to as his "heroic saga", Asuna began walking towards the gate with the cane man.
Kirito (internally): Well, not like I have a right to oppose her. I won't have a chance to make a fresh start from being butt naked this time. But my gamer soul doesn't want to accept that I'm staying a loser.
Kirito: "Beach."
Asuna: "......Haah?"
Kirito: "I mentioned it at some point before, remember? The southern side of the 7th Floor has a sandy beach with palm trees. That's part of "Volupta" ...... the casino town. Well, it's not an actual sea, but more like a lake that extends to the edge of the floor...... but the water was salty."
Asuna: "The beach... though, wouldn't there be a lot of people there, considering that it's so hot?"
Kirito: "Well get this, in order to get a permit to enter the beach, you need to earn quite a lot of chips at the casino. I don't think the DKB or ALS guys would let themselves get hooked on gambling......"
Asuna: "Doesn't that mean that we'd have to gamble at the casino ourselves if we want to get into the beach."
Kirito: "W-well, yeah, but...... but Asuna, didn't you say something when I mentioned the beaches last time? As I recall, didn't you say something about doing something at the beach if Floor 7 turns out to be a floor of eternal summers......"
Asuna (caught by surprise and shifting her gaze unnaturally): "Uuu"
Kirito: "U-uuh?"
Asuna: "U～～～～"
Kirito: "Uu～u～?"
Kirito gets poked by Asuna.
Asuna: "......How much would that permit be worth in cor?"
Kirito: "Ehm...... if it's the same as the beta, 1 casino chip is worth 100 cor, so....... 30,000, I guess?"
Asuna: "Sirty sauzand!"
Kirito: "H-hold on. The beach permit isn't obtained by exchanging cor for it; rather, you get it for winning 300 chips at the casino. Think of it as, ehm, a VIP bonus or something......"
Asuna: "......So, that means if we obtain a permit, we can just convert our chips back to cor, right?"
Kirito: "Unfortunately, you can't exchange chips for cor, but you can exchange them for high-worth items that you then sell."
Kirito (internally): If you can actually manage to win 300 chips in a row, that is!
Asuna: "Hmmmh......"
Kirito (internally): Well, if she still picks the road on the right, I won't have any way to argue against her anymore......
10 seconds later.
Asuna (looking at the casino road gate with a guy splurging on luxuries): "......Even if we do win 300 chips, we're not going to have a blowout like that, got it."
Kirito: "......O-okay?"
Asuna: "Well, let's go (goes for the casino gate)."
-------
Along the way to the casino town,
Asuna: "......If the weather were just a bit cooler, this might be our most worry-free trip yet."
Kirito: "We had a carefree trip throughout the Floor 2 fields too, though we did occasionally encounter berserk cattle......"
Asuna: "Oh, how nostalgic, the cow floor, huh. I'd sure like to eat that humongous shortcake again."
Kirito: "The 《Tremble Shortcake》, huh. Oh, since we're at it, maybe we should have gone back to Urbus on Floor 2 through the Teleport Gate to get a luck buff from the cake before heading for the casino."
Kirito (internally): Naisu aidea, no?
Asuna: "That buff only lasts for fifteen minutes, remember. We're definitely not going to make it in time to use it."
Kirito: "You never know, if we went full speed, we might still make it for our first bet."
Asuna: "So you really do just want to mess about at the casi-......"
Just then, two of them suddenly drew their swords and stood back-to-back upon hearing some wing-flapping in their surroundings. While the road to the casino town had barely any monsters spawning, barely any didn't mean zero. Nor did it mean that the monsters that did spawn were pushovers; their stats were appropriate for the 7th Floor and their attack patterns were complex enough to warrant caution. At this point, Asuna warned Kirito to duck. Just as Kirito held in the urge to look around and ducked, something passed over him at great speed. It was a rhinoceros beetle, about fifty centimetres long with transparent wings. And a sharp horn about as big as its body sticking out from its head. The pale red cursor displayed its name: 【Verdian Lancer Beetle】.
Asuna: "What's a Verdia?"
Kirito: "It's the name of the prairie......or at least it should be. Whoa, it's coming for us again!
Asuna: "Oooh, how do you use it?"
Kirito: "Well, of course, you munch down on....... (remembers that they're in a death game) For real though, using it is pretty simple, though the same applies to pretty much every kind of crystal. Option 1: tap on the crystal with your finger and choose the 《Use》 option from the pop-up. Option 2: hold it in your hand like this and touch whomever you want to use it on with your other hand, unless you want to use it on yourself, then just say He-.... oh shit! (throws the crystal away)"
Asuna: "W-why did you just throw the crystal at me out of the blue!"
Kirito: "O-oh, well.... just saying 'Heal' with it in hand is enough to use it. That was close, I almost ended up using it up despite my HP being full to the brim......"
Asuna: "Sigh. You know, didn't you use it numerous times in the beta?"
Kirito: "I wouldn't say numerous. It was still a valuable commodity by the time we got to Floor 10, after all...... Both I and the other testers died on quite a few occasions because we were stingy with our crystals, saving them for a rainy day."
Asuna: "We have to be careful about that this time. If you or your partner are ever in danger, you never should hesitate to say He-...... oh shit!! (throws the crystal back to Kirito like a hot potato)."
Kirito: ".................."
Asuna: ".................."
Several moments of silence later.
Asuna: "Wouldn't it be best to just put it away already?"
Kirito: "G-good point."
So, Kirito gave Asuna the crystal, arguing that those in the rear have a better grasp of the situation and when to use crystals. Then they decided to spend some time hunting monsters in the area, hoping that the drop rate for the crystals was boosted.
-------
1.5 hours and 15 Verdian Lancer Beetles + 10 Verdian Poisonwasps + 5 Greasy Wormlizards later, they didn't get any more crystals to drop for them. At that point, Kirito suggested continuing on with their trip or they wouldn't be able to reach the town before it gets dark.
Asuna: "Does something bad happen when it gets dark?"
Kirito (internally): I can't bring myself to tell her that the town of Volupta looks really beautiful when illuminated by the evening sun...
Kirito: "Uh, I'm worried that we could get lost, since it's our first time using this road."
Asuna: "Well, there's only one road around anyway, so we're probably going to be fine...... but sure, I don't mind."
Also, since they didn't encounter any players throughout their farming, the two also came to the conclusion that the other Clearers had taken the other road, though Kirito was dumbfounded why no one was using the casino town road at all, since the only merit of the other road was that it lacked the temptation of the casino. As Asuna remarked that Kirito's description made it sound like they were facing the risk of going bankrupt, Kirito urged Asuna to march on, claiming that they had more to do there than just the casino.
P.S. For the record, the road leading to the casino town is referred to as the 《Tailwind Road》, while the road leading to the mountains is called the 《Headwind Road》.
Chapter 3
Kirito: "Listen, Asuna, that casino will be testing our mental fortitude in every possible way. Be sure not to let your blood rush to your head, but also don't succumb to cowardice; just be calm yet bold and......"
Asuna (blocking Kirito's mouth with her right hand): "Enough of that. Let's just earn those three hundred chips, take a break at the beach, and then head to see Kizmel."
Kirito: "............Yes, ma'am."
-------
The moment the two walked through the town gate, Kirito was assaulted by the alluring aromas coming from the various stalls, eateries and bars.
Kirito (internally): Hey stomach, didn't you just get some superb chicken rice and gapao rice! Oh wait, it's been six hours since then...
So, Kirito was about to propose going out to eat before heading to the casino, when Asuna suddenly had the same idea. Since Kirito didn't really know anything about the food in town what with all the panicking and chickening (so much for "calm yet bold") he had at the casino in the beta, he decided to entrust Asuna's guts to find them a good place to eat. The northern "uptown" part of Volupta was the residential area, while the downtown southern area was the market district. The restaurants are basically all congregated on the main street running east-to-west. And the closer the restaurant is to the casino, the higher the grade of its menu... and its price tags. The ones next to the casino are basically moneysinks. Just when Asuna picked a place to eat, they suddenly heard Kibaou's cheerful voice as he offered to pick up the tab for the guild from that very restaurant. Just as Kirito was busy being astounded that one of the two big guilds would skip out on quests and levelling at the first town and instead come to the casino town, when he was expecting them to head along the Headwind Road, they heard noise coming from a more classy restaurant on the opposite side of the road. And celebrating their victory inside was none other than the DKB.
Asuna: "They said something about their victory today. Did they bring down some Field Boss or something, I wonder."
Kirito: "I don't recall any FilBos around Volupta worth making a party over."
Asuna: (frowns at Kirito's random abbreviations)
Intrigued by what the two guilds were celebrating for, Kirito decided to contact the one girl who's always in the know.
-------
So, Kirito contacted Argo to organise a meetup, but Argo replied that she's "in some hot stuff right now", so she asked to meet up 15 minutes later at some place called the "Pots N Pots" at the fountain square to the south-west. So, just five minutes later, the two reached the fountain square. Asuna runs up to the fountain,
Asuna: "Look, there's so many silver and bronze coins in here!"
Kirito: "Don't jump in to pick them up; the guards will come running after you."
Asuna: "Like I would! (pokes Kirito)....... It sure is lovely, like the Trevi Fountain."
Kirito: "Oh, even I know that one. It's that thing in Rome, right."
Asuna: "Correct. I'll throw in some coins too."
Asuna takes out two silver coins worth a hundred cor each.
Kirito: "Whoa, you're just gonna throw away an entire two hundred cor!? This thing doesn't actually give any buffs or anything."
Asuna: "It doesn't matter! (throws the two coins over her back into the fountain)"
Kirito: "......There was no reason two throw an entire two coins away......"
Asuna: "There's a legend about the Trevi Fountain that says your wish depends on the number of coins you throw in."
Kirito: "Oh, what would those be?"
Asuna: "One for getting the chance to come to Rome again someday. Two for a precious......look up the rest yourself."
Japanese Wikipedia: "One coin for getting the chance to come to Rome again someday, two for always being together with a person precious to you. [...]"
Kirito: "How do you expect me to look up this stuff in Aincrad......"
Asuna: "You could just look it up after you return to the real world."
Kirito: "That sure sounds like a long-term plan."
Just then, Kirito noticed that they only have one minute left till their appointed meeting time with Argo, so the two scramble looking for it. When they fail to find it that easily, Kirito managed to track it down in some alley by the aroma wafting in the air. Argo arrived just a few moments later.
Argo: "Soz soz, twenty seconds latE!"
Asuna: "Oh, no worries, we just got here."
Argo: "I see, well Aa-chan, long time no s-...... well, not reallY, seeing as we last parted just yesterday, huH."
Kirito: "Sup, sorry for interrupting you when you were in some hot stuff."
Argo: "Oh no biggie, I was just plannin' on wrappin' it up anywaY."
Kirito: "So, did you win?"
Argo: "Broke even, I guesS? I was only prepping for my research, thougH."
Asuna (shocked): "Ah, wait, so you're telling me the 'hot stuff' was referring to the casino? Argo-san, were you gambling (kakegoto)?"
Argo: "Calling it kakegoto makes it stink like a crime. Call it gyanburu, girL."
Asuna: "That's the same thing though."
Apparently, Argo had been doing some research for the first edition of her 7th Floor guidebook that she was planning to release later that night. This suprised Kirito, as he had assumed that the two guilds had come to the casino town by following Argo's guidebook. Argo just assumed that some other beta tester must have spread the word and so she proposed going inside the restaurant, as she was hungry. The menu for the restaurant was written on the wall and it basically followed a standardised format: Meat and Extras. So, it had stuff like Chicken and Tomatoes, Chicken and Beans, Chicken and Mushrooms and so on. After the chicken portion came beef, fish, mutton, rabbit, deer, and partridge.
Kirito: "So, "rabitto" is usagi, "diā" is shika, right...... what's "pātorijji" though?"
Asuna: "As I recall, that should be yamauzura (mountain quail)."
Kirito: "A mountain uzura...... how is it different from a nōmaru uzura?"
Asuna: "Because it can be found in the mountains, perhaps, don't know."
Kirito: "I-I see."
So, Argo ordered Beef and Potatoes, while Asuna ordered Rabbit and Herbs, prompting NPC shop owner behind the counter, which startled Kirito as the NPC was on the small side and so Kirito didn't notice them. Panicking, Kirito ordered "Partridge and Parsnip", half out of curiosity, half out of desperation that he wouldn't be getting any dinner if he kept dawdling on what to order. The restaurant is apparently named Pots N Pots because all its dishes are served in bread pots. Basically, "pot stews".
Kirito gives a try of his own pot stew and likes the taste. Then he notices a white, semicircular ingredient in the stew that looks like something between a potatoe and a turnip.
Kirito: "So, this is what a parsnip looks like?"
Asuna (giving a pitying look): "So you ordered it without knowing what it was?"
Kirito: "Yeah."
Asuna: "That's a lizard tail."
Kirito: "Whu (pushes his spoon away). What kind of combo is 'Quail and Lizard' anyway......"
Asuna and Argo burst into laughter.
Argo: "Pullin' Kii-bou's leg sure feels great, huH. It's just a planT."
Kirito: "Wha, really?"
Asuna: "Yeah, really. In Japanese, it would be called satou nijin (sugar carrot) or Amerika boufuu (American umbellifer)."
At this point, Argo proposed that the three of them shared each of their pots with the others to get a taste of all of them.
At the end of their meal Asuna asked Kirito to pick which pot was the best and he decided that the rabbit stew was the best because he liked its texture the most.
P.S. Asuna was the one who ordered the rabbit.
Now outside after their dinner,
Kirito: "Ah, that sure was satisfying.... Thankies for introducing us to a decent restaurant, Argo."
Argo: "It's surprisingly hard to notice it when it's right behind the plaza, doncha thinK? I won't ask for payment for this piece'a info, maN."
Kirito: "Well, thanks."
Asuna: "Oh!"
Kirito: "W-what's the matter."
Asuna: "......I'm kinda getting the feeling that we didn't actually get in touch with Argo for dinner."
Kirito and Argo: "Oh!"
Since it would be a drag to find a cafe now that they've already left the restaurant, the group decided to head over to an inn instead. Along the way, Asuna asked if the residents in town don't complain that the casino has full monopoly over the beach, so this prompted Argo to explain that the town is actually controlled by the casino, since the whole town's economy is based around it and its patrons. Despite this revelation, Asuna decided not to give up on her plan to get into the beach, since she realised that the world in the game doesn't just on a pre-determined script and so she wants to see and hear everything with her own eyes and ears. At that point, the trio arrived to the inn Argo recommended to them.
Chapter 4
Kirito: It seems like I'll be able to avoid situations that surpass a second year middle schooler's processing capabilities, unlike the Dark Elf Camp on Floor 3 and the castle on Floor 6......probably.
Upon entering the room, Asuna was astounded by the view of the sandy beach and the sea through the tripple windows on the other side of the living room. As Asuna ran up to the large window and immersed herself in the gorgeous night view, her figure seemed to melt into the picturesque view. As Kirito found myself gazing at her absentmindedly, he felt a gaze pointed at his right cheek and turned in that direction.
Argo: "Oh, nothinG. Nihihi."
Argo then took off her hooded cape and headed to the kitchen corner of the living room. Since Aincrad didn't have any freezing magic or coolers, Kirito asked Argo to just bring some water as is, since it was still too hot for tea. But the little Onee-san had a little surprise up her sleeve. She brought over a jug of water and three glasses to the sofa at the centre of the living room and called Asuna over from the window. She then poured some water into one of the glasses and took out a flower bud from her inventory, which she then dropped into the glass. The flowers soon rose to surface with some bubbling, now fully opened up in their full beauty. Looking from above, they looked like crystalised snow. Argo urged them to give the drink a try, so Asuna did and found out that the drink was now cool. Then Kirito got his refreshing drink and found out that it tasted like minty shaved ice. After gleefully finishing two thirds of his drink in one go, Kirito asked Argo about the flower and found out that it was called a 《Snowtree Bud》 and it cooled off a glass of water that it was placed in, plus offered two buffs for drinking the entire drink. Upon finishing his drink, Kirito found out that the two buffs were Heal over Time + Fire Resistance, the latter of which was quite rare. Since Argo still had more where that came from, Kirito was interested in finding out where they came from, but Argo refused to give away that piece of intel for free. When Kirito asked for the price tag, but Argo instead offered to sell it for some manual labour, as she needed help with a quest.
According to Kirito's inner monologues, there were quite a few quests in SAO that could not be completed by solo players. Making an impromptu party with someone is an option to get around that, but he would have joined one of the two guilds by now if that was actually easy for him to achieve. At this point, he also thought about Asuna, finding it strange that she played solo for an entire month despite having a tenfold high communication skill than Kirito, though he assumed that one of the reasons for this could have been the stark difference between male and female playerbases within the Clearers. Two months into the game, only a very few female players had joined the two big guilds. There was no actual difference between their capabilities, but Kirito speculated that the whole aura of exclusiveness was stopping female players for signing up for frontline work. He believes that a female leader is needed to change this.
Back on the subject of Argo's quest, Kirito assumed that it had something to do with the casino...which didn't actually require much insight, considering that basically all the quests in this town were related to the casino in some way. Kirito hoped this quest wouldn't be as long as the Curse of Stachion one, to which Argo responded that she believed they would probably be able to wrap it up quickly. Eventually, Kirito remembered why he had called Argo out in the first place, so he finally asked her why the two guilds were celebrating so much. Argo in turn remarked that there was only one plausible reason for anyone to celebrate in this town: the two guilds had struck the jackpot on their first day at the Casino... specifically, the pièce de résistance of the casino: the Monster 《Battle Arena》. There were some changes to the casino since the beta, such as the Monster Arena events now being held both in the afternoon and in the evening, so the guilds had participated in the afternoon matches. And that Monster Arena was the exact same gambling game that cost Kirito all his stuff back in the beta.
Chapter 5
Just as Kirito continued thinking about the PKer that arose during that battle, the girls finally stepped out of the bath. Asuna stepped out of the bath in a mini-one-piece and knee-high leggings, while Argo was in a sleeveless shirt and shorts.
Kirito (internally): That's an unusual look for Argo (stares)
Argo: "What's the matter, Kii-bou, findin' yerself enchanted by my fine legs, are yA?"
Kirito (self-aware that he sounds like a grade schooler with this line): "I-I'm not feeling enchanted by anything! I was just thinking that it must be nice to feel the breeze when you're dressed like that."
Kirito: "...... If I take off anything more, I'd be left in solely my underwear, you know."
Asuna (suddenly raising her eyebrows): "Nobody said anything about taking your clothes off! I'm just saying that you should get dressed in something else!"
Kirito: "Aw, but I don't have any spare clothes....."
Asuna and Argo (internally): Oh, boys...
-------
A little past eight o'clock, the trio left their inn and proceeded towards the casino. Since they weren't planning to leave, Kirito put his main sword back into his inventory and took out a short sword he had lying around instead. Eventually, they arrived at their destination.
Kirito starts sweating.
Kirito (internally): "Me, of all people......scared......?"
Asuna: "Does the casino have a dress code?"
Kirito: "A dress code? (Does she mean a DLC costume code? Oh wait, she meant regulations on attire) Oh, no, it doesn't."
Meanwhile, they heard Kibaou cheering about how they were planning to strike it rich during the night matches and get his hands on "that bigass sword". Kirito didn't remember there being any prize that fit the bill in the beta, but when he asked Argo about it, she told him to check on it himself. At that point, they noticed ten men from the DKB, led by Lind the 《Caligraphy Clubist》, Shivata the 《Track and Field Clubist》, and Hafner the 《Soccer Clubist》, going in the same direction as the ALS had. The nicknames are Kirito's own creation but he does want them to spread among the other Clearers, since he's sore that they always call him 《Blackie-san》.
Since both of the guilds were headed for the Battle Arean, Kirito wondered how many chips they had earned by now out loud.
Argo: "The guilds both earned over a thousand chips, according to what I've gathereD".
Kirito: "A sau-.... if they've won so much already, they could just cash in already...... As I recall, the top prize was worth a thousand chips, right?"
Asuna: "And enough for a beach entry permit, too."
Argo: "Sorry to break this to ya, but yer info is outdateD, guyS. Seems like ya now need thirty thousand chips for the VIP treatment, including the beach entry permit."
Asuna: "......Si-sirty saus-......"
Argo: "To top if ofF, the top prize was updated toO. You need a whole hundred thousand chips for it now, maN."
Kirito: ".....A han-handred sausan-......You serious, that's basically ten mega cor."
At this point, Asuna did the math on how many chips they'd need for VIP permits for the three of them and decided to drop the idea of gambling entirely and instead head for the next town, since it would make more sense to just buy a seaside house with that kind of money. But just when Asuna was about to storm off, Kirito reminded her that they still needed to help Argo with her quest. Relunctantly, Asuna asked what they needed to do at the casino.
-------
Argo declared that she would explain everything inside, so they followed after her and entered the casino. The entry hall had a fountain plaza with a giant chandelier. Beyond the fountain were the doors to the casino's playroom. To the right were stairs leading to the upper floors, while to the right were stairs leading down to he Battle Arena. Passage was unrestricted to the downward stairs, but a bouncer was guarding the stairs to the right. The second floor featured the VIP-exclusive high-stakes playroom, the third featured the hotel, while neither Argo nor Kirito were aware of what was on the fourth floor. Argo led the two through the big doors on the first floor to reach the exchange point inside the playroom, no other players in sight there.
Kirito sees shiny golden sword at the top of the display case. He can't reach the sword to tap on it, but spends several moments standing up on his fingers anyway.
Argo: "Ya know, Kii-bou, ya could just get an item pamphlet from the counter."
Kirito: "Why didn't you tell me earlier."
Pamphlet: 【Ｓｗｏｒｄ ｏｆ Ｖｏｌｕｐｔａ】【１０００００ＶＣ】 (VC stands for "VolCoins"): [The sword that belonged to Falhali, a hero who vanquished Water Dragon Zaliega and founded Volupta. Heals the user's wounds, cures all poison, and guarantees a critical strike when swung.]
Kirito: "U~~~~ugh...can't really tell how well it fares from just this. It does kind sound awesome, but I need to see the proper specs to... Asuna, I'll let you climb up my shoulders if you wouldn't mind tapping on that sword for me?"
Asuna: "No way."
Kirito wasn't able to tell what is the attack value of the sword, nor how many upgrade attempts it comes with, but all the buffs explained the high price set for it. While the gaudy design for the sword wasn't to Kirito's liking, its broken stats would guarantee better survivability for the wielder, which was far more important to them right now.
Kirito (internally trying to calculate his chances of getting enough dough to buy the sword): If I bet all my money on either red or black on the roulette to double my chips, I'd have to guess it right 7 times in a row...
Kirito: "......Asuna-san, how much is 0.5 to the power of 7?"
Asuna: "Huh? Ehm.....0.0078-something-something, I guess?"
Kirito: "Thanks. So, that's approximately 0.8 percent, huh....."
Asuna (after several seconds): "Hey, you just tried calculating your chances of winning 7 times in a row with a fifty-fifty chance per try!"
Kirito: "Oh, I surprised you figured that out."
Asuna: "Of course I would, wait, 0.8% is ridiculously low!"
Kirito: "W-what's the harm in letting a guy dream?"
Asuna: "Which will just result in you getting the idea that 'Betting 100 cor won't hurt anyone'!"
Argo (trying to restrain her laughter): "MaaaN, I never get tired of watching you twO. Do me a favour and keep your duo goin', kay?"
Kirito: "Well...... we're not planning to dissolve our party anytime soon......"
Asuna: "As long as a certain someone doesn't go bankrupt in a casino, that is."
-------
After taking a look at the golden sword, the trio returned to the lobby, where Argo had to be reminded that she had brought her two companions there for a quest. Argo sent a party request so they could all share her quest, and then she guided them down to the basement floor, where the Battle Arena was located, just as the first match of the night division monster battles was about to begin. The ALS and DBK bigwigs were all gathered there. When Kirito looked around and pointed out that there were no NPCs with quest marks around, Argo explained that the quest NPC was actually located in a different location. When Kirito followed up with a question on what they were doing in the Battle Arena then, Argo replied that they were doing an 《Errand》. At this point, Kirito explains in his internal monologue that there are four quest types in SAO: "Collection", "Elimination", "Escorting" and "Errands". The quest Argo is doing has them on an Errand, in this case. Specifically, this Errand quest is of the "Investigation" subtype. The same type of quest as the Curse of Stachion.
Kirito (internally): Pain in the ass. I pray that this won't be as long as the Curse of Stachion.
Argo explained that the upcoming match would feature a battle between two monsters (《Bouncy Slater》 (pillbug) vs 《Rusty Lycaon》 (African wild dog)). But one of them would feature some kind of con that would give it an unfair advantage. Their quest had the following job for them: [In the first match of the Battle Arena's night division, figure out what kind of con was committed with the Lycaon]. As the announcer warned the casino patrons that the bettings would be closing in five minutes, Kirito wondered whether he should have bet on the Lycaon with the intel they got from the quest, but Argo immediately warned him that this would fail the quest and they only had one shot at it, if her hunch was right, so she invited Asuna and Kirito to have extra eyes on the fight to help her notice what was wrong with it.
The fight first started out in the Lycaon's favour, as it ripped the pillbug's legs one by one. But then the pillbug folded up into a ball and started shooting itself like a cannonball... or more like a pinball, since it could bounce on any walls and ground (hence the "Bouncy" in the name). The pinball bug almost had the dog cornered, but then it started spinning in midair with its jaw open at the very end, creating an impromptu drill (a move that not even Kirito and Argo were aware of). In the end, the Lycaon won the battle, as the quest had anticipated.
Meanwhile, Kirito looked over at the ALS and DKB tables... and noticed that BOTH parties had actually WON that bet, which surprised even Argo, as she was sure at least one of them was going to blow their earnings in this match. Either way, no one in Argo's party actually managed to figure out what kind of con was committed in the battle... until Kirito saw a "blood" effect on one of the metal poles. The problem with this was that there are no actual "blood effects" in SAO, instead any "blood" is usually just some background fluff... so Kirito borrowed Asuna's handkerchief and wiped the "blood" off the pole. Thereupon, he discovered that it wasn't actually blood, but a dye. At that moment, Argo's quest log updated, prompting her to report to her client in the VIP hotel on Floor 3.
Chapter 6
As Kirito continued with pondering on various things, the gang climbed back up to the lobby, where Argo approached the bouncer guarding the stairs to the upper floors and presented a gray, metal plate to him, which allowed them to pass. They ignored the high-stakes playroom on the second floor and reached the third floor, where Argo took them to Room 17.
Argo: (knocks on the door twice)
?: "Who's there?"
Argo: "It's Argo, girL. And two tag-alongs.....I mean, helperS."
The door was unlocked and the trio headed inside, where they found what seemed like a 12 year old girl, named Nirrnir, in a black summer dress, wavy golden hair, and deep red eyes, as well as her battle maid named Kio, armed with an estoc. Kio relieved them of their weapons before letting them see her master, which startled Kirito, as he didn't notice the maid by the door at first.
Kio (having taken Kirito's shortsword): "......Just some ordinary steel, I see."
Kirito (internally): Well, sorry it's not orichalcum.
Kio (having placed the sword on a rack beside the door): "Be sure not to disrispect Nirrnir-sama (pronounced "Niruh-niru")."
The trio approach Nirrnir.
Nirrnir: "Welcome back, Argo. Have you found some helpers?"
P.S. Lycaons are monsters that inhabit some place named the Skeleton Prairie in the western side of the floor.
Hearing this, Nirrnir drank some wine that Kio had poured into a glass for her... and barely restrained herself from smashing it to the ground.
Nirrnir: "......You've done it now, Old Man Korloy."
The story goes as so:
Once upon a time, the hero Falhali, the founder of Volupta, took down a water dragon named Zaliega and married the girl that had been offered as a sacrifice to the dragon. The girl gave birth to twin boys, who got along poorly from an early age. For along time, the two quarreled over who would become Falhali's successor. However, before passing away, Falhali made a will that forbade the two from fighting each other directly. Instead, they were to have tamed monsters fight in their stead; whoever won three out of five battles would become the next ruler of Volupta.
P.S. Descendants of Falhali have inherited the ability to tame monsters.
However, both of the twins were cautious about their tamed monsters, so they decided to first hold some trial matches to see if they could actually hold their duel in a fenced pen outside their mansions. The monsters broke the fence and caused some trouble, but this did not result in any casualties... however, it did result in attracting a lot of attention from the folks. So much so that people even turned up from Lexio and Plamio to see the fights for the entertainment value. This basically ended up as a festival with stalls and gambling propping up.
Seeing this, the two twins thought: why hurry with their duel when they can put it off and rake in cash from the fights? And so came about the Monster Battle Arena, while the twins took over the gambling business and turned their mansions into the Grand Casino. Eventually, the two twins passed away and the casino was inherited by their descendants, which eventually came to be known as House Nactoy and House Korloy respectively. Lady Nirrnir Nactoy is the current head of House Nactoy.
Both Houses continue to face each other in the arena with the monsters they have tamed. The pillbug from the match was Nirrnir's monster, while the Lycaon belonged to House Korloy. Though, the houses employ others to capture the monsters, while the heads tame them in-town. Nirrnir would love to head out herself, but Kio doesn't allow her for fear of her being assasinated.
Bardun Korloy (バーダン・コルロイ, Bādan Koruroi) apparently became obsessed with extending his lifespan as his death drew near. He wants to earn a ton of money for something that would allow him to do so, which resulted in him pulling cons in the matches to ensure he won, since the victor gets 10% of the betting pool.
To ensure fairness, both houses have a list of monsters on the floor, which they then grade into 12 classes depending on their power. Each House has to make pairs for battles by selecting monsters from the same grade. But Bardun isn't playing fair, as he chose a monster from a higher-ranked group and disguised it to look like a weaker momster.
This backstory completes Argo's quest, but a new one pops up. Nirrnir wants to expose Bardun's con by using a dye bleacher just before the next match that would feature the same Lycaon. So, she asks Argo and co to collect ingredients for it. One of the ingredients was was 《Ultz Stones》 (ウルツ石) that could be found in the west, but the stone could only be found in daylight due to being awfully dark, so Bardun's men would notice if Nirrnir ordered her own men to gather the rocks. Meanwhile, the second item, Nawsoth Fruit (ナーソスの木の実), could only be found in the Dark Elf forest at the centre of the floor. But Dark Elves attack either house on sight due to all their taming business in the forest. Nirrnir noticed that Kirito and Asuna were equipped with Sigils of Lyusula, so she assumed they would have no fear of being assaulted by the elves upon entering the forest. When Argo agreed to take on the new quest, Nirrnir asked for twenty Nawsoth Fruit and fifty Ultz Stones by one o'clock in the afternoon the following day, as the whole crafting process would take several hours. At that point, the trio took their leave from the room, Kio having to remind Kirito to reclaim his shortsword before leaving, to head to bed, as they had a lot of work ahead of them.
Chapter 7
Kirito: "Oh wait, hold on. Can we go check on how the ALS and DKB's bets are going?"
Argo and Asuna: (glare)
Kirito: "Oh, no, it's that I'm jealous; they have to have some kind of reasoning behind how they're making a killing, right?"
Argo: "WelL.....can't say they don'T. Though the final match isn't over yet, you knoW."
Kirito: "It's just going to be a tiny peek, okay!"
The trio heads down to the basement.
Woman: "Why, if it isn't Kirito-san."
Kirito (internally): (flinch) Uh, I think I've seen this orange-haired girl somewhere before?
Kirito: "......Who would you be again?"
Woman: (points at her cursor)
Cursor: 【Ｌｉｔｅｎ】
Kirito: "O-oh, why if it isn't Liten-san!"
Asuna: "It's rude to forget someone's face like that, Kirito-kun!"
Kirito: "I-it's not like I forgot it. If she were in her full-plate armour, I'd have been able to tell who she was in a snap."
Argo: "SO, you're basically saying you don't remember her face, huH."
Kirito: "Because I barely ever see her bare face."
Argo: "Then start off by looking at the Cursor, maN."
Asuna: "You're making it clear that you couldn't remember her based on the name on her Cursor."
Liten (bursting into laughter): "Ahaha..... I see you guys are the same as always."
Kirito: (secures a one meter distance between him and Liten)
Liten was apparently planning to leave the basement, as she couldn't bear to watch the final match, so the quartet moved over to the casino bar in the playroom on Floor 1. After some drinks:
Kirito (internally): Hmm, let's start off with some general talk about Volupta as a leadup to the monster arena talk.
Argo: "Say, Lii-chan, why are Kibaou and Lind so hooked on MonBattleS? Neither of them look like the type of guys who'd just dump all their money on gambling, ain't that righT?"
Kirito (internally): Isn't that a bit too sudden!?
According to Liten, when the guilds gathered at the gates in Lexio in the morning, some NPC approached them and offered them a Book of Secrets for 100 cor. Despite its low price, the book had a list of all the fights at the casino for the day, the characteristics of each monster, predictions who would win, a map of the road to Volupta, a description of the monsters that may appear along the way, and even a guidebook for the town...
Kirito: "So, you're saying that Kibaou and the others made their bets according to that book of secrets and made a killing out of it? I'm getting jealous here."
Asuna: "Perhaps that NPC doesn't sell the Book of Secrets to greedy players?"
Kirito: "So, I guess that confirms that you're considered greedy too, Asuna-san."
Asuna: "............"
Kirito: (expects to get smacked in the sides)
Asuna: "As proof that I'm not greedy, I'll share this with you. (adds a citrus from her drink to Kirito's beer)
Kirito: "Hey, what's the big idea!"
Asuna: "It might just get more tasty."
Kirito: "As if...... (tries the beer) ...... Whu, it's not half bad."
Asuna: "Told you. I'm pretty sure there are cocktails made from beer and orange juice."
Kirito: "You totally just remembered that."
Liten (laughing): "Ahahaha, you guys sure make a great pair, huh."
Asuna: "N-not really (coughs)"
The guilds have been placing all their bets according to the book of secrets and have already earned 50 000 chips, which meant they only needed one more successful bet to have enough for the sword. But some members (Hokkaiikura, Schinkenspeck, Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte) began to argue that the final match could actually be a trap. But Liten ran out before she learnt which option their guild went with in the end.
Then their talk turned to the PKer that had infiltrated the DKB. The DKB apparently does their recruitment through examinations that they invite players to through fliers. The PKer passed one of these tests at the end of the year, before Floor 6 was unlocked. It's unclear whether he knew about the Floor 6 cube before he infiltrated the guild, though Kirito did consider the option that the poncho guy perhaps had his way of getting intel.
The group then discussed why people would get into PKing in SAO and so Argo brought up four categories of players, one of which was the type of player who got a kick out of killing others. At the end of this conversation,
Asuna: "Liten, are you going back?"
Liten: "Oh, no...... if we win, the others will come here to get their prize, so I'll just wait here."
Asuna: "I see. In that case, we'll be excusing ourselves here."
Kirito: "Huh, you're not interested in the results?"
Asuna: "Well, Kirito-kun, you'd cry your eyes out of jealousy if you saw someone getting that 100,000 chip sword right in front of you."
Kirito: "I-I so wouldn't cry! At worst, I'd just stomp the ground."
Asuna: "That's more than enough pathetic as it is."
Afterwards, Asuna and Kirito returned to their inn, while Argo and Liten stayed behind to wait for the results. 40 minutes later, as everyone could see coming from lightyears away, Asuna and Kirito learnt that both guilds lost. Big. As in, basically all of their >50 k chips.
Chapter 8
Kirito (internally): Strange, I always sleep so well in SAO.
Kirito tries to go back to sleep, but feels something shaking him.
Voice right by Kirito's ears: "Kirito-kun, would you wake up already, geez."
Kirito: "Fuoh!? (tries to jump out of bed but instead butts heads with Asuna)"
Both: "OUCH!"
Apparently, Asuna couldn't sleep and wanted to depart early, because she was worried about Kizmel.
Kirito: "Though, Asuna, you haven't slept a wink, have you? I'm worried about crossing an unknown field at night when you haven't had any sleep...... How about you sleep for at least an hour?"
Asuna: "No dice. I can't sleep."
Kirito: "Can't sleep, huh..."
Kirito (internally): Well, I guess we should just set off then.
Asuna: "......Though, I think I might get just a bit of sleep."
Kirito: "In that case, let's meet up at the living room in an ho-......"
Asuna lies down in Kirito's bed and falls asleep.
Kirito: Would you please sleep in your own room, not here (swallows his words as he doesn't have the heart to wake her up now that she's sleeping)
Kirito (ten seconds later): "Now I can't sleep."
Chapter 9
Kirito "Yaaaawn."
Asuna (energetic): "Kirito-kun, you slept three times as much as I did and yet you're still sleepy?"
Kirito: "It wasn't 3 times; at best, it was 2.5 times."
Kirito (internally): I couldn't get any decent sleep after you fell asleep in my bed... but that's not something that I'd dare say.
Kirito: "On the contrary, how exactly did you get so energised after just a mere hour of sleep?"
Asuna: "Hmm, that hour kinda gave me a pretty nice energy boost."
Kirito (internally while thinking about not spoiling Asuna's fun with the campaign quest): If you find a pleasure that's hard to find, you've got to take good care of it.
Argo (in Kirito's mind): "Nihhihhi"
Kirito (internally): I've got to mentally prepare for Argo's teasing when we get back...
Kirito and Asuna discussed the whole monster arena gambling thing. Kirito proposed the idea that the whole book of secrets thing was posted by men on the casino's payroll. They'd seduce the players by giving them 9 accurate predictions and then cash in on the last bet by advising them to bet on the wrong monster. Since the Casino only gets a 10% handling fee from all the bets, Kirito assumed that Korloy also had his people take part in the betting itself to rake in all the earnings in the final match by betting for the opposite of what the players did.
While walking out of town, Kirito scares a guard at the gate by greeting the guards there. The guard was apparently sleeping on the job and flinched at being called out, as he thought that his boss was chewing him out.
30 minutes of walking northward later, the two saw a change of scenery. The undergrowth got deeper and more trees started to appear. At this point,
Kirito: "Ehm, about the 《Forest of Shaky Boulders》 that we're heading to, one important thing to note about it is....."
Asuna: "That the boulders are shaky, right."
Kirito: "Yes, indeed."
Asuna: "Sorry, sorry."
Basically, the forest is a marshland, which makes it very difficult to walk through it... and there are deep holes around here and there. So, the main route of passage is a line of boulders that goes from each of the four entrances to the dungeon all the way to the Dark Elven palace. The problem is that some of those boulders are unsteady, so if the player doesn't tread carefully, they could fall down to the ground. Such a player wouldn't suffer fall damage, since the boulders are only 2-3 meters high and the water breaks the fall, but going back up takes a lot of work (need to go all the way back to the entrance to find a climbable boulder, or have someone from atop the boulders throw some rope to the player).
Kirito: "Climbing back up takes a lot of work and if you walk through the marshland...... well, anyway, you can tell if a boulder is shaky by taking a good look at it, so let's head on carefully."
Asuna: "Hey, hold it right there."
Kirito: "Y-yes?"
Asuna: "You just tried omitting something, didn't you? What were you about to say back when you were talking about walking through the marshland?"
Kirito: "............Ehm. Um, aside from those bottomless holes I was talking about, the water in the marshland also contains some half-transparent wriggle-wrigglies that kinda look like a Melibe japonica...... Do you know that one? What a Melibe japonica is?"
Asuna: "............I don't."
Kirito: "In that case, look it up when we get back to the real world. It won't be a problem as long as you don't fall off the boulders."
Asuna: "............I'll do just that."
The Forest of the Shaky Boulders is a very thick thicket. There are so many trees there that one can't make out what's inside the forest from outside. The trees basically form a wall and the only way to enter the forest is through special openings (or tunnels) in the four cardinal directions. The tunnels seem pretty dark at first glance, but Kirito advised Asuna not to take out a torch, because of reasons she would soon find out. As they continued walking through the dark tunnel, their footing changed from soft dirt to firm boulders. A moment later, a pale green light lit up. The light came from a [Send-Off-Fireshroom], a mushroom that lights up either when someone approaches it, or if it's close to another lit-up mushroom. On the other hand, any other source of light prompts the mushroom to turn off its own light, as Kirito later demonstrated.
Following the trail of mushrooms, the duo left the confines of the tunnel into the forest proper. After several moments of standing still there, the mushrooms light up in a chain reaction, causing the forest to look light a starry pale-green night sky. Kirito here demonstrated what happens if the player were to take out a torch: all the mushrooms quickly go dark, so if one cluelessly walked in with a torch, they'd never know that the forest itself has a better lighting source. The torch only illuminates one's immediate surroundings, while the mushrooms illuminate the entire forest.
Kirito: "......And these here are the boulders that give the 《Forest of Shaky Boulders》 dungeon its name; about..... hmm, I'd say one in seven of them are shaky."
Asuna: "Shaky, you say; how much do they shake, exactly?"
Kirito: "Ehm...... 'Gurah!', no I wouldn't say it's on that level, huh. Something in-between 'gurari' and 'gurori'."
Asuna: "............And now without onomatopoeia."
Kirito: "Ehhhhm.......well, as long as you know that they're shaky, you could hold it together with some balancing."
Apparently, there are several ways to tell which of the boulders are shaky, but the method that Kirito uses is paying attention to the distance between the boulders. The non-shaky ones are placed firmly against each other, while the shaky ones have a small gap in-between them. Then Kirito showed Asuna how to cross them: basically, as long as one keeps the centre of weight right at the middle, it's stable enough to cross.
After Kirito somewhat clumsily but safely crosses the first shaky rock, Asuna gives it a try next... and crosses it without the slightest shaking of the boulder.
Asuna: "How many points do I get for that?"
Kirito: "That would be ninety-nine."
Asuna: "......Why minus one point?"
Kirito: "Because you did it better than your sensei."
Now, while Kirito said that one in seven boulders were shaky, the difficulty was ramped up in the retail version of the game, as more of the boulders are shaky and so the two encounter their next shaky boulder right afterwards. However, as Asuna was nimbly crossing it, Kirito noticed that the boulder after it was also a shaky one. Kirito refrained from calling out to Asuna, fearing that the sudden action would have the opposite effect on her, so he watched on, hoping that Asuna herself would notice the pitfall. However, she didn't. Instead, she tried making room for Kirito on the next boulder... which caused it to tilt and drop Asuna to the marsh. Despite the surprise turn of events, Asuna managed to keep her cool and safely landed on her feet.
Kirito: "Asuna, you okay!?"
Asuna: "......I'm fine, but my buttocks are wet now."
Kirito: "T-that so. It'll dry off when you step out of the water. I'll throw you some rope, so don't move from that spot."
Asuna: "Roger."
However, while Kirito was working on getting some rope from his inventory,
Asuna: "Nihih (bolts upright with her arms folded at her chest)"
Something had just touched her feet. Kirito jutted out from atop the boulder to take a look, noticing a figure beside Asuna's boots: 【Ｈｅｍａｔｏｍｅｌｉｂｅ】 with a light pink cursor.
Kirito: "Asuna, don't move! That monster may be gross, but a single one of them poses mostly no danger!"
Asuna: "What do you mean mos-......Uhyai!"
(Hematomelibe wriggles up Asuna's right leg)
Asuna: "Whoa.......NOPENOPENOPENOPE!"
Kirito (narrating): I looked up the name Hematomelibe after I encountered them in the beta and found that Melibe was the name of a species of sea slugs, while hemato was a prefix that stands for "blood", so I guess Hematomelibe stands for "Blood sea slug". Oh, and Melibe japonica is a thing that actually exists.
Asuna: "NOPENOPE! NOOOOOPE!"
Hematomelibe: (wriggles its way up Asuna's leg to her absolute territory and starts feeling its way around)
Asuna: "Hyah......"
Kirito: "Hang in there just a bit more! That thing is just trying to suck a bit of blood, no big deal!"
Asuna: "Mi......MINYAAAAAAAA!!"
Kirito (narrating): Hematomelibe are the absolute weaklings of the monsters that spawn on Floor 7: basically zero defence, a drop of HP, and their only method of attack is to suck blood. If you ignore the discomfort, they don't warrant any fear——as an individual.
Kirito: "Oh shit...... (jumps down without a shred of hesitation)"
Kirito: "Asuna, you okay!?"
Asuna: "Y-yeah...... Wait......Kirito-kun, if you come down here yourself, who's going to pull us up?"
Kirito: "We'll start over from the entrance. We're going back right this instant!"
Hematomelibe swarm: :monokuma: At this point, Kirito scraps his plan of escape and chooses to fight with their backs against the boulders to avoid getting surrounded from all sides. Regular attacks are mostly enough to deal with them, but now that they're agitated by their nakama blood, they all start jumping on them. While they're not too much of a problem on an individual basis, if too many of them latch on to the player, the added weight will cause them to collapse into the water and drown.
Asuna: "Roger. I'd like to have a word with you after all this."
And so, the two end up fighting a swarm of slugs. Though, Kirito is only 70% focused on the slugs, while the other 30% is dedicated to simping on Asuna('s skills).
Kirito (internally): Asuna is too good for me... yet I want always see her talent from her side, I don't want to hand her over to anyone else.
Some time later.
Asuna: "............Is it over?"
Kirito: "............Probably."
Asuna: "Good thing they were soft. [My rapier's] durability hasn't gone down."
Kirito: "Oh, yeah...... indeed. Wonder how many of them did we take down......."
Asuna: "I stopped counting at around fifty."
Kirito: "Well, anyway, otsukare. Naisu faito."
Asuna: "You too, Kirito-kun.......(timidly) Also, I'm sorry."
Kirito: "For what?"
Asuna: "For not following your orders back there. If I had just stood still as you told me to back with the first one, I wouldn't have summoned such a huge swarm of them."
Kirito: "O-oh, no, that wasn't your fault, Asuna. If I had just told you about the Hematomelibe's appearance and traits in the first place......oh, is that what you wanted to 'have a word with me' about?"
Asuna: "Ah...... that's right, about that! Kirito-kun, you more than likely held back from bringing that up back there because you thought I'd be grossed out, but I don't need such consideration from you, okay! I do admit that my resistance traits against gross monsters are on the low side, but I had no intention of stopping there even if you did tell me about them, okay!"
Kirito: "......So, does that mean I can talk about ghost monsters too?"
Asuna: "Nguh.....(several moments later) F-fine by me. Better that than getting jumpscared by them without warning....... By the way, does that mean they come up here too?"
Kirito: "They do............ (three seconds pause) NOT (forms an X with his arms)!"
Asuna: (divine speed punch just short of causing any damage)
With the melibe all gone now, the two returned back to the entrance, where they could climb back up via stairs, and started over. Twenty minutes of boulder crossing and fighting some bugs later, they reached the Dark Elf Fortress, the 《Halin Arboreal Palace》. It's basically a palace that's constructed inside a bigass tree (bigger than Zumfut's baobabs). The two decided to put off their collection quest and meet up with Kizmel first, so they walked up to the gate. Back in the beta, the gates opened up just as Kirito approached them, but this didn't happen this time. Asuna called out to the elves, introducing themselves as Kizmel's companions. The gates opened up, revealing a dark room with only a single orange light in the distance.
As the duo stepped inside,
Kirito (internally): Hmm, that's just a regular old flame. Why would you use one when it would cause all the mushrooms to stop glowing.
(Sharp spears get pointed at them from the darkness)
Kirito (internally): Oh. So the flame was ignited to turn off the shrooms.
Dark Elf: "So you are the Humankind swordsmen Kirito and Asuna, I take it! I hereby arrest you for the crime of colluding with the Fallen Elves alongside Knight Kizmel, and stealing the Keys!"
Chapter 10
Kirito and Asuna: (surprised that the quest is just running with all the changes to the script)
Asuna decided that she didn't want to just sit there and wait when it was their fault that Kizmel had been arrested, so the two agreed to make their escape. The cells bars were made off wood, so Kirito tries cutting it with a knife.
Asuna: "Doesn't seem like we can unlock it without a Picking skill, no matter how you slice it."
Kirito: "Presumably, yeah... But that doesn't change the fact that we don't have the time to take on the Skill and level it up from scratch."
Asuna: "I think that the fact the bars are made out of wood really is an important point. Happen to have a saw on you?"
Kirito: "I do not...... If I knew this would happen, I should have pilfered a saw from the shipwright grampy on Floor 4."
Asuna: "Just buy one, like a normal person."
After considering several ideas on how to break out of the jail, Kirito came up with using fire. Not burning the bars though; Kirito's idea was to scorch it instead by holding the flame next to it, which would greatly reduce the wood's durability. Scorching enough bars to make a hole big enough for them to step out would take too long, but the lock was wooden as well...
But upon taking out his torch, Kirito realised one problem: lighting in the prison was provided by the mushrooms... which turn off if there's another light source in the room... and this causes a chain reaction that could go all the way to the prison guardroom. So, Asuna kept watch on the mushrooms in the corridor to ensure that Kirito would turn the torch off when too many of the mushrooms went out. After seven rounds, the lock gave and the duo got the door opened.
Their next goal was to retrieve their weapons, which were located in a storage room right next to the guardroom. While passing the guardroom, they overheard the guards talking about how they were their first new prisoners in thirty years. They also mentioned how humans were gullible, always falling for the promise of a chance to extend their lives if they were to collude with the Fallen Elves.
Asuna and Kirito then went into the storage room, which didn't even have a lock, as they discovered. The room was full of stuff that hadn't seen any use in decades. They could still faintly hear the guards from the other room, so they surmised they couldn't afford to make any noise. They split up and started searching for their weapons... which Kirito eventually found at the very back of the room. Meanwhile, Asuna herself found something as well, so Kirito went over to her. There, Asuna had apparently found an Elven Stout Sword (the one that Kirito had given to Kizmel as a replacement) and a saber (the one that belonged to Kizmel but was broken by Kysarah).
Kirito gave Asuna's rapier back to her and then pulled out both the Elven Stout Sword and Kizmel's rapier from the swordrack. But he accidentally caused another sword to tilt....To stop the sword from causing a domino effect and making noise that would attract the guards, Asuna bent over and stopped the falling weapon with her fingertips... but then Asuna started tilting herself... so, still holding Kizmel's saber in his right hand, he supported Asuna from falling over... but since he didn't have time to be picky, his hand ended up catching Asuna at her breastplate.... so he felt both the breastplate's firmness, and the elasticity of what it was protecting...
Anyway, once they got back to a safe position, Asuna remarked that the sword she had stopped from falling was pretty heavy. Kirito took it into his hands and noted that it was a saber that was heavier than even his Sword of Eventide. While it was dirty, Kirito thought that it might work better as a replacement for Kizmel than the Elven Stout Sword, so he decided to throw it into his storage just in case.
The two had yet to find their sigils and there were a whole load of boxes and bags in the room, so Kirito was about to give up looking for it due to a lack of time... until Asuna proposed: "In that case, why not just put the boxes and bags themselves into our storage and check their content later? Though I presume it would be impossible to take everything."
Kirito: I presume RPG scenario writers wouldn't have expected anyone to come up with that idea.
Afterwards, Asuna and Kirito basically stuffed 2/3 of the storage room's contents into their own storage. Now, assuming that Kizmel was also held in some nearby cell, seeing as her weapons were in the storage room as well, the duo set out to look for her in the other cells. They checked cell after cell, but couldn't find anyone around at all... until they reached the final cell... but their hopes were dashed in just two seconds, as the elf inside was obviously a guy: 【Dark Elven Prisoner】. The two were about to ignore the guy and continue looking for Kizmel, but the guy noticed them...
Prisoner: "You aren't elves, huh. Who are you."
Kirito: "Oh, no one in particular. If you'll excuse us."
Prisoner: "If you don't answer me, I'll call the guards."
Kirito: "Ehm...... I'm a Humankind swordsman named Kirito, and this is Asuna."
Prisoner: "What are you doing here?"
Kirito: "Just kinda looking for a person......"
Prisoner: "Who?"
Kirito: "A Royal Guard named Kizmel. She should have been brought here within the past day......"
Prisoner: "Kizmel...... family name?"
Kirito: "W-we don't know."
Prisoner: "Hmmh...... then I don't know either......Were you the ones brought in just now?"
Kirito: "Y-yes."
Prisoner: "In that case, this Kizmel of yours isn't held here. You're the first new prisoners this place has had in the thirty years I've been here."
Asuna tried asking him why he was in the prison, but he refused to answer. Kirito tried asking for more info and learnt that the priests had their own prison in their quarters on the 7th floor. He presumed that she might be held there, if her crimes were in their jurisdiction. The guy also asked how they had escaped, going into a laughing fit when he learnt that they smuggled stuff in with their "Charm of Mystic Scribing". As Kirito pondered whether he should actually free this prisoner to have him tag along with them, Asuna suddenly asked him a question.
Asuna: "Umm, do you have to have an elder or younger brother?"
Prisoner (surprised): "What gave you that idea?"
Asuna: "I know a Dark Elf who looks just like you."
Kirito (internally): Huh? We do? (goes over all the Dark Elf guys he knows) Hmm, none of them look like him... (lightning bolt in his mind) Wait, there was one more guy...
Asuna: "I haven't learnt his name yet, but he's working as a blacksmith at a camp on Floor 3. He forged this sword for me. (helds out her Chivalric Rapier)"
Prisoner (after examining the sword): "Indeed, this is a sword forged by Landeren. He used to be a good for nothing...... but I guess even a klutz can improve in thirty years. Hmmh."
Kirito (internally): Wait, I remember that "Hmmh"... oh, so that's why I got that deja vu.
Prisoner: "If my younger brother has been in your care, I've gotta pay the favour back. I'll help you look for Knight Kizmel."
Asuna: "Well, we do feel grateful, but it's your brother who's been helping us though....."
Prisoner: "Even an Elven blacksmith can only forge a very few swords on this level. I'm sure this experience has allowed my brother to grow by leaps and bounds."
And so, the prisoner asked them to retrieve a sword from the storage room they had just visited. Specifically a saber... that sounded just like the one Kirito had put away for Kizmel into his own storage. Using this saber, the prisoner broke the prison bars with a high-level curved sword technique named 《Slashing Ray》 at godspeed and without causing any noise.
Kirito (internally): Show me your stats.
The three of them then exchanged introductions. The prisoner was named Lavik, which also changed the text beside his cursor from 【Dark Elven Prisoner】 to 【Lavik; Dark Elven Fugitive】.
Kirito: "So, how are we getting to floor 7 where Kizmel is held?"
Lavik: "Might be held, I said. First, let's get some intel from those damn guards."
Kirito: "Wha!?...... A-are you going to bribe them or something?"
Lavik: "If you two have enough money to buy a mansion at the lakeside on Floor 9, then sure."
Kirito and Asuna shake their heads. Lavik: "Then let's do our talking with swords."
Chapter 11
While climbing down the fifty meter height, Kirito decided to practice climbing whenever he has time so he wouldn't be panicking so much when climbing from great heights next time. Kirito (internally): "If I can manage to become good enough at this to climb up and down the pillars at Aincrad's circumference, I'd be fine climbing any cliff......"
Of course, Kirito slipped and fell down right at that moment. But he was only 10 cm above ground by that point.
Kirito: (feeling awkward)
Afterwards, the quartet took the western boulder path and safely reached the western tunnel to the forest. But then Kirito asked for a little detour to gather some Nawsoth fruits he needed for the casino quest.
Lavik: "Hoh, for a Humankin, someone sure has fine taste. Nawsoth fruits have a sharp taste, but once you get used to it, you can never get enough of that stimulation. I'd like to get some to eat myself after all this time."
Kizmel (with an expression as if she were eating a sour persimmon): "Uhm......I'm not that fond of Nawsoth fruit......"
Lavik: "Don't be like that, Knight Kizmel, Nawsoth fruit gives the body energy. Which is just what you need right now."
Kizmel: "But Lavik-dono, there are some obscene leech monsters in the marshland."
Lavik: "Muuh...... the Hematolibe, huh. Sure, those are a pain...... We could keep them away with some mint oil poured into the water; does anyone have any?"
Kirito and Asuna shake their heads.
Lavik: "That so...... it's an essential for the sentinels patrolling the Forest of Shaky Boulders, so there should be some at the palace. How's about we go back and get some?"
Kizmel (exasperated): "Lavik-dono, we need not go that far."
Just then, Kirito and Asuna came to the conclusion that some of the boxes and bags they got from the prison might have some mint oil, so they looked over their haul. While looking through his own inventory, Kirito came across the two sigil rings. Just then, Asuna found the mint oil in her inventory. Asuna took a look at Kirito's window and was pleasantly surprised to see the sigils.
Kirito was just about to hand over one to Asuna, but then he suddenly stopped. Kirito couldn't tell which was whose. As Kirito stood there hesitating, Asuna stuck out her left hand.
Asuna: "Who cares which one I get, they both work the same anyway."
Kirito puts one of the rings on Asuna's left index finger.
Asuna flinches
Lavik had a good nose for ripe Nawsoth, so they found a tree in just three minutes. A single drop of mint kept the slugs away for thirty seconds each, so they had no problems on that front. The Nawsoth fruit is reddish-purple with yellowish-green stripes, so everyone but Lavik considered it bad news.
Biting into one, Lavik threw another one to Kirito as a buff icon appeared beside his HP bar. Kirito gave the fruit a shot, since there were plenty to go around. Its texture was like that of a pear, its aroma was like that of a lychee and pepper... as Kirito kept describing the taste in detail and even considered it one of the best fruits in Aincrad......
(Jolt!) He felt like his tongue was struck by an electric shock.
Then a buff appeared on his own HP bar.
【Nawsoth Tonic: Provides a slight increase to paralysis and stun resistance】
Kirito (internally): Negligible much!
Meanwhile Asuna and Kizmel's expressions: No way I'm eating this.
Kirito (internally): I'm so going sneak one onto Asuna's plate one day.
With the fruit gathered, the quartet left the forest. Kizmel thanked Lavik for his help, but the guy warned her that she was now a fugitive and that her true hardships in clearing her name would only begin. She mentioned the Fallen Elf that beat her and Lavik apparently knows her. He stated that no elf could beat that Fallen Elf in a one-on-one among the Forest and Dark Elves, due to her cursed power.
Kizmel: "In that case, Lavik-dono, are you saying that I should just turn tail and run each time I encounter Kysarah!?"
Lavik: "I didn't say that. Knight Kizmel. You have already obtained a power that neither the people of Lyusula, nor the people of Kales'oh have ever had at hand."
Kizmel: "A-and what would that be......?"
Lavik "A connection.... a bond with Humankind. Us elves have always looked down on people from other races since before we got trapped in this floating castle. Both, Humans, Dwarves, and even fairies like Villi and Sylphs...... But other races have their own power like no other. I'm not referring to the Art of Mystic Scribing or the Art of Farscribing. Which means......"
At that point, Lavik took his leave northward. Kizmel then suddenly mentioned that Lavik was likely a former commander of the Sandalwood Order of Knights, Lavik von Cortasius. Lavik apparently has some connection to Yofilis, though there are no official records on why he was imprisoned.
P.S. Reminder that Lavik's brother knew Yofilis by name.
They then discussed what to do next. Kizmel said that one of the two other orders would be assigned to continue gathering the keys, but all the message travel times and decisions to be made meant that the orders would only arrive at the key's location the following day. So, Kirito decided to make use of them as bait to draw in the Fallen Elves, rescue the Dark Elves if need be, and tail the fleeing Fallen Elves to their hideout to retrieve the stolen keys.
[In-between discussion skipped]
Kizmel: "Hu, huhuhu.... as always, Kirito. In your case, the 《power like none other that Humans have》 might just be your cunningness."
Kirito (internally): Whaa, that's a mean thing to say about a naību little boy like me...
Asuna: "Ahaha, no doubt about it. I never would have thought of such a plan."
The plan was accepted, but since Kirito and Asuna had some other quest to do first and they'd have to wait till the following day for their plan, Kirito invited Kizmel to head to the casino town after helping Argo with her own errand.
Chapter 12
After Kizmel sneaked past the guards with her hooded mantle,
Kizmel: "Oh my...... this truly is beautiful. Stachion on the 6th Floor was all too square and stuffy so I couldn't feel at ease there, but this is the kind of town I would like to stay in for a while. Is that the sea I see to the south?"
Kirito: "Seeing as it's on Aincrad, I don't think you can actually call it a sea......but it does technically consist of saltwater."
Kizmel: "In that case, it is likely that a piece of some sea was cut out of the ground during the 《Great Separation》."
Asuna: "Oh, so that's it. In that case, if there were a floor that only cut off a single small island, the majority of its ground area would consist of a sea then."
Kirito: "That'd make floor clearing a cinch. It would basically mean that the Labyrinth would be right outside the main town, right?" Asuna and Kizmel: (exasperated sigh)
Argo (internally): Oh, brother (shakes her head).
-------
Argo and co arrive at Nirrnir's hotel room.
Argo: (knocks on the door)
Kio: "Who's there?"
Argo: "It's Argo, girL. And three tag-alongs.....I mean, helperS."
Kio: "That's one more than last time."
Argo: "No worries, this one's a much more prim and proper person than KiritO."
Kirito (internally): Say whut! Well, that is an undeniable truth.
After Kio let the four of them in,
Kio: "Nirrnir-sama is still resting. She will be awake by 12 o'clock, so could you wait for a moment over some tea?"
Argo: "Oh mY. It's our fault for coming too sooN."
Kio (looks at a hooded Kizmel): "Is this gentleman an adventurer too?"
Kizmel: "......Oh, no....... (removes her hood)"
Kio: "──A Lyusulian! (moves her hand towards her estoc with a sharp yell)"
Kirito: "What's a Lyusulian?"
Asuna: "I guess it means "person from Lyusula".
Kirito: "Oh, I see! (to Kio) So what would a person from Kales'Oh be called then?"
Kio: "......A Kalesian."
Kirito: "Oh, I see."
Kio: "More importantly, why did you bring a Lyusulian here!"
Kirito: "Don't know how to answer that one; all I can come up with is that she's a fri-......"
Nirrnir (coming in with a giant pillow in her hands and wearing a black negligee): "What is with all this noise......?"
Kio: (bows to Nirrnir but still keeps an eye on Kizmel)
Kizmel: (kneels on the carpet) "I am a knight of Lyusula, one who is known as Kizmel. I express my heartfelt apologies for disturbing your rest."
Nirrnir: "Oh, don't worry about that. You helped Argo and friends with their task, right? In that case, you are also a guest of mine. Please stand up and then make yourself comfortable on the sofa. Kio, bring some tea for everyone."
Kio: "......Are you sure I need not hold onto her sword?"
Nirrnir (trying to hold in a yawn): "No need, knights of Lyusula aren't ones to engage in assassination anyway."
Afterwards, Argo and Kirito brought out the items Nirrnir had asked for, which completed the quest... only for another 【!】 to appear over her. Nirrnir expressed a concern that Korloy might be wary of their con with fur dying coming to light, but, on the other hand, it was against the casino's rules to withdraw a monster from a fight after it had already been registered for it. There had apparently been only 2 cases in the casino's history where this rule had been broken:
1) Korloy's servants forgot to feed a monster and it broke out of its taming and went on a rampage just before the match, so it had to be put out.
2) A child from the Nactoy family once took pity on the monsters and let them out.
Kio: (looks like she has something to say about that)
Either way, while Korloy couldn't withdraw his monster, Nirrnir wished to prepare for the worst, so she asked Argo and co to bleach the monster in her stead, as House Korloy had yet to become wary of them. Everyone agreed with that proposal, so Nirrnir asked Kio to get a pot and begin crafting the bleach.
Kirito: "Whu...... you're going to do it here?"
Kio: "You can't possibly be expecting us to do it in the casino's kitchen? Korloy's men would catch onto us in five seconds, you know?"
Kirito: "O....oh, right. M'lady has a point."
Nirrnir?: "As punishment for the stupid question, you help out too, Kirito."
Kirito: "W-with pleasure."
Nirrnir?: "Then, for starters, squeeze the juice out of the Nawsoth fruit."
Kirito: "Sure, but...... where're the tools for that?"
Nirrnir?: "You have some fine tools at your fingertips, don't you?"
Kirito starts peeling the fruit. The juice gushes out, some of it landing on his hands.
Kirito (internally): The fruit tastes nice, now only if it didn't have that electric shock thingie...(Jolt!, a super powerful static electricity jolt pierces his hands.)
Kirito: "Ttsuaaah——！！ (writhing in agony)"
Nirrnir (collapsing in her sofa as she bursts into laughter): "Ahaha, ahahahahaha!!"
Kirito: "Hauooo....... Ni-Nir-sama, you knew this would happen!"
Nirrnir: "Ahahahahaha, 'tsuaah', he screamed, ahahahahaha!!"
Kirito: (gets the urge to tickle Nirrnir to death, but holds back as Nirrnir is still in a negligee and he fears that Kio would open a hole in his body with her estoc if he did)
Argo, Asuna, Kizmel: (laughing)
Kio: (averting her gaze, but her back is clearly quivering)
Chapter 13
Kirito got some gloves for the other 19 fruit.
Kirito: You could have given me those in the first place...
Nirrnir: Where's the fun in that?
Since the bleach cooking would take several hours, the girls got invited to the hotel spa. Kirito technically got an invite too, but he politely declined and went to the bar to get some grub.
There, he encountered Hafner from the DKB standing by the roulette machines. At first, he was going to ignore the guy, but then he recalled that the DKB had been planning to go out clearing the floor at noon... but it was already 12:50. So, he approached the guy.
Kirito: "Sup, Haf-san."
Hanfer: (flinch) (turns around) "......Oh, it's just you, Blackie-san. We're not buds, so don't use nicknames for me."
Kirito: "Says the guy using a nickname for me."
Hafner: "......Your partner ain't with you?"
Kirito (internally): Can't exactly tell him she's in "Bathing time"
Kirito: "For a bit, yes. More importantly, Haf-san, you all alone yourself? I heard the DKB was planning to roll out after noon.
Hafner: "Yeah...... most of our members are out there going through quests and levelling up."
Kirito: "So, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be watching over the younglings as the sub-leader?"
Hafner: "Like I have a choice, I've got a different job here."
Kirito: "Job......? Here? (looks at the roulettes)"
Hafner: "Gambling isn't my goal here. Word is that you spend some time playing around here before the MonBats, the book of secrets seller will show up......Damn it, I said too much. Get lost already, will ya."
Kirito: "W-wait, hold up. By book of secrets seller, do you mean that pops that approached you yesterday at Lexio's western gate?"
Hafner: "Hey, Blackie-san, how do you know that."
Hafner didn't know who was spreading the rumours, but both the DKB and the ALS are interested in them. Apparently, the NPC approaches people gambling at the casino, so the guild members are trying to catch him in hopes of getting the book for the day's matches.
Hafner: "I know you're probably implying that we haven't learnt our lesson, but Blackie-san, have you SEEN the specs of that broken sword?"
(...)
Kirito: "......But didn't you lose all your chips by following the predictions of that book? Do you have any proof that the same won't repeat itself today?"
Hafner: "Seriously, how do you know all this stuff......."
After leaving Hafner at the casino with a minor tip on the gambling games, Kirito got suspicious about all this and remembered Nirrnir mentioning that the monsters are kept in stables in the casino's backyard in her totally-not-self-reflectionary remarks. At that point, Kirito decided to investigate these stables. He climbed over the wall outside the casino that isolates the backyard, and decided to go snooping around, as he feared House Korloy still had something up their sleeve that could really hurt the two major guilds. He also started thinking about the PK guild and Fallen Elves.
Kirito: Those guys can't possibly be involved in this to trip up ALS and DKB from an unexpected direction, can they? Nah, I'm just jumping at shadows here.
(To be continued in Progressive volume 8)
Hello! Is there an estimate as to when an official/unofficial english translation of volume 7 will be released?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your hard work!
Previous Progressive LN translations by Yen Press came no sooner than 9 months after the original release in Japan. So, anywhere between 6 to 9 months from now would probably be a decent guess. Yen Press does list releases about 4 months or so in advance.
DeleteIs Sao progressive 7 available in English?
DeleteIt's coming out in January.
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