Translation of Sword Art Online’s volume 13, chapter 11.

1

My two eyes flashed open upon the onslaught of a sudden, violent shudder.

I had only planned on shutting my eyelids with my back against the wall, but I suppose I must have fallen asleep sometime. I had forgotten any details of that scary nightmare I saw the moment it rattled me awake… or so the lingering fear and unease clinging on in my head seemed to imply.

I briefly checked out the surroundings while rousing my upper body, but there appeared to be no difference from before.

I was atop a narrow terrace created on the outer walls of the Central Cathedral, probably around the eighty-eighth floor. The sun had sunk beyond the horizon in front for quite some time and the darkness covered the skies as though ink had been smeared over it. However, no matter how much I scanned through, I could see only multiple stars through the gaps in the clouds, lacking of the moon I impatiently awaited. I seemed to have heard the night’s eight o’clock bell a while ago, but it appeared it would still take more time before the moon goddess would begin resupplying the meager space resources she could.

Integrity Knight Alice, having agreed to a truce, might be expressing her wariness of me through physical distance as she sat, hugging her knees with her eyelids shut, at a position on the verge of entering a new gargoyle’s… no, «minion»’s reaction range if she went any further to the right. I personally hoped to grab hold of a clue to avoid that approaching battle, even by a little bit, through conversation in this lull, but it appeared she had no intention of being receptive to idle chatter. The problem would have been settled by simply pricking Alice with the dagger carefully produced by Cardinal and held by Eugeo if only he was here, though.

And just what was he doing about now—?

Now that I thought about it, in these two years ever since I met him in the forest south of Rulid, this might be the first time we had fallen into such a situation that we were barred from meeting each other regardless of our wills. We lined up on the grass or complained as we equally shared a narrow bed in some cheap inn during the long journey until we reached the capital and were always in the same room in the dormitory even after we enrolled in the Sword Mastery Academy. We spent time together as though it was a natural thing to do and I hadn’t been deliberately conscious of his presence, but being separated was strangely irritating.

No— It was beyond what a simple word like that could describe, I know for sure.

In this ultimate virtual world called the Underworld, I gained someone of the same gender whom I could call a close friend for what was likely the first time in my life. It was certainly embarrassing to state it out, but I couldn’t help but to admit it.

Before getting imprisoned within the death game, SAO, I had considered the male students of my school childish and had always kept them at a distance as mere associates.

That incurable tendency of mine didn’t change much even when imprisoned in that floating castle in a virtual world. Fortunately enough, I managed to befriend several extremely matured adults such as Klein or Agil, but still, I doubt we had reached a level of intimacy where I could expose the depths of my being. Even despite my deep intimacy with Asuna, the only time I could expose my inner weaknesses was right before Aincrad crumbled away, when both of our consciousness were on the verge of disappearing.

It wasn’t like I thought that I possessed some special ability unlike others or anything of that sort. In actual fact, there was nothing I could boast of in school, both athletically and academically.

Due to how I was able to count my rank among the top few percent, comprising of the clearing players, when taken captive in SAO, I must have been fascinated by the pleasure that came with excelling. The primary factors that boosted me among the top players were my «familiarity» from continual indulgence in VR worlds since fulldive-type games were developed and my «knowledge» accumulated from my time in SAO’s beta test, things utterly unrelated to my personal capabilities.

However, even after getting released from SAO, I couldn’t maintain myself, my persona, without continuing to prove my «strength in VR worlds». I was imprisoned by the complex those around me had, of recognizing me more as the hero, Kirito, who cleared the death game, instead of the flesh-and-blood, feeble Kirigaya Kazuto; or rather, I couldn’t even deny I might have been leading them on to do so myself. Despite how I knew in the depths of my heart, that perpetuating such bravado would put me further away from what truly mattered.

Hence, when I met Eugeo in this world and realized that I could comfortably stand before him without any pretension, as my real self, I was surprised and pondered on the reason.

Because Eugeo was an artificial fluct light unlike myself? Because he didn’t know the hero of SAO, Kirito? No, that wasn’t it. The greatest reason was definitely—because Eugeo possessed far more ability than myself in this Underworld, a world both real and virtual in a certain sense.

His natural talent with the sword was simply tremendous. No matter what was compared, be it our perception, our judgement, or our reaction speed, he would leave me, who had been through harsh battles in VR worlds, in the dust. If the circuit for combat mounted on my fluct light was said to be a silicon CPU from bygone days, Eugeo’s would be the latest diamond CPU. I might still look like the mentor at the current moment, but that was merely because I had a larger wealth of experience and knowledge; nothing more than that. If Eugeo continued to improve at his current pace, the day our roles reverse wouldn’t be too far off.

The extensive experience with combat burnt into my body ended up with that grand name, «Aincrad style», but I couldn’t help but to feel a mysterious happiness and profound satisfaction when Eugeo absorbed it like water on sand. The «swordsmanship» that formed the foundations of my ego for a long time, despite me thinking it really wasn’t anything more than a technique for games, seemed truly tangible for the first time only after it was refined and blossomed within Eugeo—I could even claim to feel that way.

If I could successfully solve all of the problems surrounding the Underworld and bring Eugeo’s fluct light over into the real world, I would have him dive into ALfheim Online—the interface for light cubes was almost certain to be compatible with VR worlds based on The Seed—and introduce him to Asuna, Leafa, Klein, and the rest. As my first apprentice who had inherited my skill with the sword, and a close friend.

I couldn’t wait until that moment. I believe that moment would be the first time when those many people who had supported and helped out would be truly……

“Why are you grinning away?”

A voice suddenly came from the right and I blinked my eyes, putting a stop to my daydreaming.

Turning my face that way, I saw Alice gazing at me with a somewhat disgusted expression. I roughly wiped my mouth with the back of my right hand and spoke.

“No, I was just… thinking a little about things from now on…”

“You must be quite an optimist to make that sloppy smile from that, or perhaps just a fool. When even escaping from this stone ledge seems doubtful.”

As usual, a bitter tone. I didn’t know Knight Alice’s former personality, the Alice from Rulid, but if her character stayed this way even after her memories returned, I could easily imagine her locking horns with those like Sinon or Lisbeth if she escaped to the real world with Eugeo and I introduced them to my comrades.

There certainly was a mountain of problems to get through before that ultimate good ending from my daydreams could occur. The one with utmost priority would be to escape from this terrace filled with rows of those repulsive minion statues, but along with the deficiency of the space resources needed to create pitons and all, my willpower-and-stamina resources… or to be specific, the hunger tormenting my empty stomach, was nearly at its limit.

Inconspicuously pressing down on my belly with my right hand, I replied with the most serious face I could muster.

“I believe we should be able to continue climbing the wall when the moon rises. It’s not that hard as long as we can create pi… those wedges. And it doesn’t look like there are any more minions set up above…. It’s just that, putting aside the problem regarding sacred power, thinking about climbing this steep wall for another few tens of mel alone is making me feel so hungry, I’m getting dizzy…”

“…That’s exactly what I find irresponsible about you. It’s merely skipping a meal or two, what are you, a child?”

“Yeah, yeah, well, I’m a kid after all, I mean, I’m still barely considered as a growing child, you know? Unlike you amazing integrity knights, my Life will fall like a brick if I don’t eat.”

“I will state this first, but us integrity knights, too, get hungry and have our Lives reduced if we don’t eat!”

The corners of her eyes coldly raised and Alice declared so.

In that moment, a cute noise came from around the girl’s stomach and I couldn’t contain an unintentional, stifled laugh.

The esteemed knight’s face instantaneously turned red and upon seeing her right hand swiftly grab hold of her sword’s grip next, I retreated around fifty centimeters in panic.

“Wah, wait, I’m sorry! I guess that makes sense, you’re still living even if you’re an integrity knight. It’s only natural to get hungry if you’re living.”

Shrinking while lining together those artless words, I noticed the sensation of something being squeezed in the left pocket of my trousers. Thrusting my hand in, wondering what it could be, I recalled what it was upon my fingers making contact and gave thanks to my own wisdom and greed.

“Ooh, it’s assistance from up above. Look, I found something good.”

What I pulled out were two steaming meat buns. Those I stuffed into my two pockets when I left Cardinal’s Great Library Room. Half were shared with Eugeo and eaten for lunch, but I totally forgot about those left over. They were more or less squashed after those numerous fierce battles, but I couldn’t very well ask for the world in a situation like this.

“…Why do you have those in your pocket?”

Alice had an expression like she was stunned from the depths of her heart and took her hand off her sword.

“I hit my pocket and there were two meat buns.”

Using that phrase that Alice definitely didn’t understand* as a smokescreen, I quickly displayed the

«window» of the meat buns and confirmed that they still had much of their Life remaining. They looked shabby, but as they were created from those precious, ancient book objects by Cardinal, their durability were shockingly high.

That said, chewing on these now cold and tough meat buns as they were wouldn’t bring out any taste. After some thought, I stretched out my left hand and chanted a command.

“System call. Generate thermal element.”

Even if it wasn’t enough for piton creation, there was apparently enough space resources for creating a small thermal element as a unreliable, flickering, orange point of light appeared atop my palm. Bring the two meat buns held in my hands closer to the thermal element, I started on the next command.

“Bur…”

–st; before I could continue, a hand reaching out from my side like a flash of lightning pinned down my mouth.

“Mghh!?”

“What are you, a moron?! They would be charred black in an instant if you do that!”

After scolding me with eyes filled equally with anger, stupefaction, and contempt, Alice snatched the meat buns from my right hand. Aah; the moment I let out that miserable cry, the thermal element in my left hand, too, vanished as though it dissolved into the air. The knight didn’t look at me any longer and brandished open her lithe left hand as she voiced out a melodious sacred art.

“Generate thermal element… aqueous element… aerial element.”

On three of her fingertips, from her thumb to her middle finger, appeared points of light, orange, blue, and green in color. I tilted my head in bewilderment over Alice’s intentions before she continued processing the three elements in a complex manner with additional sacred arts and her fingers’ movement. She first made a spherical swirl with the aerial element and made the two meat buns hover in there. Next, she threw the thermal and aqueous elements in too and the moment she touched them, she burst them.

Shuu! That sound rang out as the wind barrier immediately became blotted out in pure white. Though it appeared calm on the outside, scalding steam must be swirling within that barrier. I see, so this would cause the same effect as when using a steamer.

After around thirty seconds, the three elements finished their part and vanished as they scattered. The two meat buns falling onto Alice’s hands from midair had swelled in a perfectly round shape as though they were just made, with warm steam rising from them.

“L-Lemme have one already… wait, a-aaaah!?”

Upon spotting Alice trying to down both of the meat buns held in her two hands as I reached my hand out, I let out a pathetic cry. But fortunately, the great integrity knight stopped right before it reached her mouth and muttered “I’m joking” with a rigid face before presenting one to me. Snatching it while feeling relieved, I blew on it before taking a big bite into it.

Every existence in the Underworld was like a dream, relived from one’s extensive memories—my mind understood that, but the texture of steaming bun’s tender skin and juicy meat filling still momentarily invited me into paradise. The precious food ended up in my stomach—or to be accurate, a part in my fluct light’s memories in merely three bites, and I let out a deep sigh while tasting both a sense of satisfaction and a sense of dissatisfaction at the same time.

By my side, Alice, too, downed her meat bun in four bites and a doleful sigh escaped from her just like me. While feeling a profound emotion over how this amazing integrity knight who was like an avatar of battles had a somewhat girlish side to her too, I nonchalantly spoke.

“I see… I didn’t think it would be possible to steam a meat bun with just elements and no other tools. I guess that’s just as expected of the big sister of that Selka and her skill at cooking, don’t you…”

It happened in the moment I said that aloud.

The hand reached out at a ferocious speed once more and strongly gripped my nape. However, this time, Alice’s face expressed neither bewilderment nor contempt.

An intense light surfaced in her blue eyes like fireworks, her cheeks tinted pale-white, and her lips trembled slightly. Practically lifting me up with her right hand alone, the knight let out a hoarse voice.

“You, what did you just say?”

Here, I finally realized what a horrible slip of the tongue I had made, far too late.

There was nearly no mistake that the golden integrity knight glaring at me from twenty centimeters away was Alice Schuberg, Eugeo’s childhood friend and the elder sister of that sister apprentice from Rulid, Selka, but the person herself had no recollection of that. The moment she was taken away to Central Centoria eight years ago and made into an integrity knight through the «Synthesis Ritual», she would have had an important fragment of her memories stolen away and a «piety module» inserted in its place, becoming unable to recall anything from before the ceremony.

The current Alice believed herself to be summoned from the Celestial World to maintain the peace and order of the world, and to battle the invasion of darkness—no, she was made to believe so. To the girl, the authority of the Axiom Church and its highest minister, Administrator, was absolute, and there was probably no chance she would accept some story about Administrator kidnapping humans of high caliber from all over the world solely for the sake of satisfying her own desire to dominate.

In the first place, it was due to the expectation that Alice wouldn’t be swayed no matter how hard we tried, that Eugeo and I decided on the plan of using the daggers bestowed upon us by Cardinal to send Alice into a temporary frozen state. The current situation was in no way expected, but still, there was probably only one thing for me to do—avoid the battle against Alice while re-uniting with Eugeo, and creating an opportunity to use the dagger he held.

Agitated over how I had destroyed that entire plan with a single line, I desperately racked my brain. It was clear upon seeing Alice’s expression that this wasn’t a situation I could play off by saying that I messed up on my words.

No matter how I thought, there were no more than two choices. Whether to fight with Alice here and now, and make her faint without landing a fatal blow, then carrying her up to the ninety-fifth floor—or to gather my resolve and tell her everything.

The choice I would pick would depend on what Alice could believe. A fight if I believed her skill with the sword to be inferior to mine. Or a conversation if I believed her intelligence to exceed mine.

Upon thinking hard for several seconds, I decided. Taking Alice’s gaze, burning like a blue flame, head-on, I opened my mouth.

“You have a little sister, that’s what I said. I’ll tell you… I don’t know if you will accept any of it, but I’ll tell you everything of what I believe to be the truth.”

Perhaps sensing a certain something behind my brief words, Alice was the one who hesitated this time, before abruptly opening up her right hand after several seconds had passed.

The knight continued kneeling on both knees as she fixed her stare down on me who fell onto the terrace on my backside. I suppose this act of listening to my words in such a situation alone would already be straying from the proper conduct of an integrity knight. Her reason, recommending that she end my life with a single slash, must be going through a bitter battle against her desire to gain new knowledge within herself.

Perhaps having steeled her mind, Alice eventually lowered her waist slowly and spoke after assuming what resembled a formal sitting posture.

“…Talk. But take note… if I judge your words to be any sort of deception, I will cut you there and then.”

Hearing that low and stifled voice coming from Alice, I took in a deep breath and gathered strength in my core before curtly nodding.

“…Go ahead. If that judgement to cut me was truly made by your own self, that is. If you want to ask for the reason why I phrased it so… it would be because you have a instruction within yourself, passed down by someone else, yet hidden from your consciousness.”

“…Are you talking about the duty of the integrity knights?”

“That’s it.”

The moment I nodded, Alice’s eyes narrowed with hostility. However, at the same time, I spotted a faint wavering of emotion in the depths of those eyes. That was definitely Alice’s true spirit. With the intent of directing my words towards there, I continued.

“The integrity knights are existences summoned by the goddesses’ messenger, the highest minister of the Axiom Church, Administrator, from the Celestial World to preserve order and justice… that’s what all of you identify as, I believe. However, the only ones who believe so are those within the Central Cathedral. The thousands of people living in the Human World don’t think that the slightest bit.”

“What… drivel are you spouting?”

“You can just go ahead and ask anyone at all, go down into the world and ask those living in the capital this. Ask them what’s bestowed upon the champions of the Four Empires Unity Tournament held annually. They will answer with this. The honor of being appointed as an integrity knight of the church.”

“Appointed as… an integrity knight…? That couldn’t possibly be true, that is simply ridiculous. I have been acquainted with a great many integrity knights, but not a single one had claimed to be once human.”

“It’s the other way round. There wasn’t a single one who hadn’t been once human.”

I straightened my back and peered into the knight’s eyes. I desperately cried out towards Alice’s human spirit that definitely laid in their depths.

“Alice. I believe you have no memories of who gave birth to you in that Celestial World place or where you grew up. Your first memory is probably the scene of Administrator looking towards you and telling you that you’re a sacred knight sent from there or something like that, isn’t it?”

“……”

It seemed I had hit the bulls-eye as Alice raised her upper body slightly while biting her lips.

“…That’s… because integrity knights have their memories of the Celestial World sealed away by the goddess, Stacia, upon descending to this land and… can one day return to the sacred land once more after we carry out our duties as knights and obliterate all of those wicked beings of the Dark Territory… regaining our memories regarding our parents and siblings… that’s what the highest minister… had said……”

The golden knight’s resolute voice trailed off and vanished.

I understood in that instant. Integrity Knight Alice strongly sought memories of her family from the depths of her heart, even if she wasn’t self-conscious of it. That explained her sharp reaction towards Selka’s name earlier.

Picking my words with care, I continued the explanation.

“Administrator’s words were true on one count. The knights’ memories really are sealed away. But the one who did it wasn’t Goddess Stacia, but the highest minister herself. And it wasn’t the memories of the Celestial World that were sealed, but the memories of being born and raised among this world of humans. The same goes for the other integrity knights too, like Eldrie for example. He was born in a high class aristocratic family in Norlangarth North Empire, achieved victory in the Unity Tournament this year, and attained the honor of becoming an integrity knight.

“Those are… lies! How could have my disciple, Knight Thirty-one, possibly been born in one of those depraved upper class noble…”

“Listen here, Eldrie didn’t collapse during our battle because he got cut. There weren’t any severe wounds on his body, were there? It’s because my partner remembered his original name, Eldrie Woolsburg, and ended up stimulating the sealed memories of his mother. Eldrie tried to remember his mother. But he couldn’t no matter how hard he tried. That was only natural; those memories had been extracted from his soul by Administrator and kept safe on the top floor of the cathedral.”

“…Memories… of his mother…?”

Alice’s lips shivered slightly. Her two eyes drifted off my face and wandered through the air.

“Eldrie has… a human… a noble mother…?”

“It’s not just him. Probably half of the integrity knights were experts with the sword who won the Unity Tournament and most of those should be noble children specially educated with swordsmanship since they were young. In exchange for entrusting their children to the Axiom Church, the nobles attain a generous amount of money, goods, and land. That arrangement had already been in place for over a hundred years.”

“…I can’t believe it… that story of yours is much too preposterous.”

The golden knight, who had likely believed in a unblemished sanctity of the Axiom Church and integrity knights without the slightest misgiving, shook her head left and right like a child to reject the notion.

“The upper class nobles of the four empires… I cannot claim all of the aristocracy to be the same, but they are addicted to their languid, extravagant manner of living. That is the meaning behind our existences, we integrity knights are here to protect the Human World. And despite that… you claim Eldrie and the other knights were born out of those upper class nobles sunk in utmost depravity… that is impossible. I cannot possibly believe that.”

“The depravity of the upper class nobles was caused by the high social position and the numerous privileges granted to them by the Axiom Church. But that’s the exact reason why noble children can receive education in swordsmanship and sacred arts from childhood. In the remote regions, sacred tasks are bestowed upon child merely ten of year and they can’t afford the luxury of time to practice something like swordsmanship… And the most talented ones among those noble children participate in the Four Empires Unity Tournament and the sole victor is summoned to the Central Cathedral. …Alice, have you ever met any of those champions in the cathedral?”

Alice averted her eyes in slight unease at my question and softly shook her head.

“No… —But many ascetics and their apprentices live on the lower floors of the cathedral, so… couldn’t the champion of the Unity Tournament be striving in daily studies as one of their numbers…”

No, they aren’t. Immediately, I thought to deny it with that, but I closed my somewhat open mouth right away.

Eugeo and I had went through fifty floors without any detour—though we were dragged through twenty of those floors by the child knights, Fizel and Linel, paralyzed by their venomous swords—after taking back our beloved swords from the third floor of the cathedral without encountering any ascetics. However, I did have a guess on where their birthplace could be.

Most of those ascetics, likely on the lower floors of the cathedral only to toil away for the Axiom Church, were probably not adopted from outside the church, but were born and raised within it. Like Fizel and Linel. It would be like producing functional units within the tower from Administrator’s point of view, wouldn’t it?

Alice was definitely utterly unaware of the church’s darkness. There was no need to broach that topic now and place an unnecessary burden on her.

“…No, you have met with them, with the champions of the Unity Tournament. You just weren’t aware of it. You integrity knights should have your memories modified by Administrator’s hand not just during the «Synthesis Ritual»… but also after becoming knights.”

“Ridiculous!”

Alice clearly shouted with her face turned up.

“Impossible! The esteemed highest minister couldn’t possibly commit an act like fiddling with our…”

“She did!”

I cried out in return.

“After all, not only do all of you not have any memories of the tournament champions… but also of those criminals you have taken in!”

“Cri-Criminals…?”

Frowning, Alice closed her mouth once again. Turning my gaze straight towards her face appearing pale under the starlight, I sped on in earnest.

“That’s right. You brought my partner and I here to the church from the Sword Mastery Academy by flying dragon. I suppose you do remember that much, right?”

“…I couldn’t possibly forget that. The two of you were the first criminals I was ever commanded to bring in.”

“But Integrity Knight Deusolbert Synthesis Seven didn’t remember about you. Eight years ago…”

After pausing for a short while, I gathered my resolve and stated «that name».

“…He brought someone here with his own hands from Rulid Village in the northern outskirts; he brought here the young Alice.”

Alice’s face turned whiter than the marble wall after she heard my words. Her lips, lacking in color, trembled and a parched murmur escaped from them.

“Rulid Village… I was born there…? Deusolbert-dono brought me from there as a criminal…? In other words, I had once committed a taboo… that is what you claim…?”

I gently nodded at her faltering voice.

“That’s right. I said half of the integrity knights were champions of the Unity Tournament earlier, didn’t I? The remaining half were humans brought to the cathedral as criminals. Those who possess a will firm enough to oppose the Taboo Index would manifest unmatched power after they became knights. It must be killing two birds with one stone for Administrator, being able to give those humans, capable of swaying the influence of the church, another life as her mighty pawns. …Let’s talk about you.”

Alice could accept my words or reject them. This was the critical moment.

I stared hard at the integrity knight with as much strength as I could in my gaze. Sitting onto the stone terrace with a plop and contracting her shoulders forlornly, Alice looked back at me with half-shut eyes as though awaiting some sort of judgement to be passed down onto her.

“Your real name is Alice Schuberg. Born and raised in a small village called Rulid in the remote northern regions, practically at the foot of the mountain range at the edge. You’re the same age as Eugeo… my partner, so you should be nineteen this year. You were taken to the church eight years ago, so that means the incident happened when you were eleven. You went to explore the cave going through the mountain range at the edge with Eugeo… and after exiting it, you ended up going beyond it a little, over the border between the Human World and the Dark Territory. In other words, the taboo you committed was «Trespassing into the Dark Territory». You didn’t steal anything or hurt anyone… no, rather, you tried to help a darkness knight on the verge of death back then…”

There and then, my mouth fell shut.

Had I heard Eugeo describe Alice in such detail…?

Of course he had. There wasn’t any way I could had known exactly what happened a whole six years ago when I only woke up in the Underworld a mere two years ago. But despite that, I could vividly see the black knight falling while drawing a trail of blood and Alice running off there in my mind, as though I had witnessed the scene myself. It seemed I could even recreate the gritty noise of Alice’s hands making contact with the pitch-black ground of the Dark Territory in the depths of my ears.

The scene I conceived from Eugeo’s story must have mixed in with some memories of reality without my notice. I raised my face, convincing myself so, but it appeared Alice hadn’t the composure to mind that unnatural pause in my words. Her bluish cheeks trembled faintly and a feeble voice flowed out from her, barely audible.

“Alice Schuberg… That is, my name…? Rulid… the mountain range at the edge… I can’t remember, anything…”

“Don’t force yourself to remember, you’ll end up like Eldrie.”

I cut into Alice’s words in a fluster. It would be chaos if something happened like Alice’s «piety module» becoming unstable and rendering her immobile like in Eldrie’s case, inciting the other knights to come retrieve her upon sensing the abnormality. However, Alice glared at me with eyes that seemed to have regained some of their strength and spoke firmly even if her voice did tremble.

“What are you saying even after revealing so much. I… want to know everything. I have yet to believe your story… but I will make my decision only after you’ve spoken all that you have to say.”

“…Got it. That said, it’s not like I know that much about the old you. Your father’s the village chief of Rulid and his name’s Gasupht Schuberg. Unfortunately, I don’t know your mother’s name, but like I said earlier, you have a little sister. Her name’s Selka and she should still be serving as a sister apprentice in the church in Rulid, even now. I chatted with Selka when I was under the church’s care two years ago. She was a good kid who thought highly of her elder sister… you remained on her mind after you were taken away to the church. Apparently, you were also a sister apprentice when you lived in Rulid and you were called a genius in sacred arts. She was putting her all to follow in the footsteps of her elder sister, to become a splendid sister.”

Alice showed no response even after I had spoken out all I knew and shut my mouth.

Her trembling from earlier ceased and her porcelain-white face didn’t make the slightest movement. In all likelihood, she was trying to recall the numerous proper nouns I had voiced out from the bottom of her memories, but it seemed there was no chance for success there.

—So it was hopeless…

I muttered in my heart. I figured that it might be possible to awaken some memories, even with her «memory fragment» stolen, if I slowly gave her the information while she was in a calm state—but apparently, the seal Administrator applied possessed power beyond my expectations.

I guess the only one who could return Alice to her original self would be Cardinal with her supervisor authority. And that came attached with the catch of retrieving Alice’s memory fragment that was being safeguarded by Administrator somewhere.

It happened then. Alice’s lips moved, letting out a brief sound.

“Selka.”

And following that, once more.

“Selka…”

This time, those eyes that appeared dark blue lifted towards the starry skies up above.

“…I can’t remember. Neither her face nor her voice. But… this isn’t the first time I called out this name. My mouth, my throat… my heart, they remember.”

“…Alice.”

I swallowed my breath and called out, but as though my existence wasn’t reflected in Alice’s eyes any longer, she continued whispering, quietly.

“They had called it out countless times. Day after day, night after night… Selka… lka……”

My gaze was fixed upon Alice in incredulity as clear liquid, forming into beads, occupied her long eyelashes and spilled over, glittering as they caught the starlight. Her tears flowed on without stop, softly falling onto the marble between Alice and me.

“It’s true, isn’t it… I have a family… A father and a mother… and a sister related by blood… somewhere under these night skies…”

That faltering voice eventually turned into a feeble sob.

I instinctively reached out with my right hand and was brushed off by Alice with the back of hers.

“Look away!”

Shouting that out with a teary voice, Alice harshly drove her right hand into my chest and wiped her eyes time after time with her left hand. But those tears made no attempt to stop and the knight eventually hugged her knees with both hands, pressed her face into them and her shoulders began to tremble violently.

“Uu…. ughh… uuu…”

Before I realized, something blotted out my two eyes as well, watching the integrity knight sobbing away in a stifled voice.

I will—

I will defeat Administrator and bring Alice back to her hometown.

Gathering my resolve once more, I finally realized the reason behind the tears surfacing in my own eyes, belated as it might have been.

Even if everything went according to plan, the one meeting with Selka at Rulid Village would not be this crying golden integrity knight before my eyes. The moment she regained her sealed memories, Alice would recall those days she spent with Eugeo and Selka in Rulid, and in all likelihood, forget the months and years she served as an integrity knight for the church.

In other words, this personality, Alice as an integrity knight, would simply vanish.

It would return to how things were meant to be. Though I tried to convince myself so, I couldn’t stop myself from pitying the knight sobbing away with her back curled up like a child.

A hopeless pity for Alice Synthesis Thirty who must have continuously longed from the depths of her heart for the warmth of a family, lost and beyond her reach, during the many years she lived in this cathedral.

It took quite a while for those violent sobs to gradually diminish in volume and turn into a quiet weeping.

I, on the other hand, had successfully stiffened my slackened tear glands two or three minutes ago and switched my thoughts on our plans from now on.

The most ideal outcome I could think of now would be as follows.

We would resume climbing the wall upon the rise of the moon and return into the tower from the ninety-fifth floor. Somewhat avoiding the planned battle against Alice there, we would join up with Eugeo. Whether we use the dagger he held, meticulously made by Cardinal, on Alice would depend on the situation.

After that, we would either have to defeat our greatest hurdle, Integrity Knight Bercouli Synthesis One, or convince him—it would be a great help if Eugeo had driven him away, but I suppose holding that hope would be too much—then charging into the highest floor of the cathedral, where our ultimate enemy, Administrator, sleeps.

We would render the highest minister powerless while she continued sleeping, take Alice’s «memory fragment» that should be secured somewhere in the room, and return the girl’s memories and personality.

Finally, I would establish contact with Rath’s staff in the real world via the system console and get them to acknowledge the preservation of the current Underworld and the stop the incoming «load experiment phase»—in other words, the major invasion from the land of darkness…

It was a string of missions of extreme difficulty that made me feel faint just thinking about it. I couldn’t help but think how every one of those goals had less than fifty, no, thirty percent chance of succeeding.

However, I couldn’t stand not taking action any longer. That long, long period of time, this two years spent in the Underworld, no, perhaps ever since that day I logged in to the death game, SAO, instead, might have been all for me to meet with these new humans like Eugeo, and to gain a reason to protect them.

Kayaba Akihiko said this while gazing upon the collapsing Aincrad in the crimson sunset skies. That he wanted to create a true alternate world. I had no plans for succeeding that man’s purpose, but what could be labeled a «true alternate world» was taking place right before my eyes.

«The Seed», passed down to me by the copy of Kayaba’s personality made countless VR worlds germinate and bloom in the real world. And be it coincidence or inevitable, the light cubes storing the souls of Eugeo and the other inhabitants of the Underworld were compatible with the nexus of The Seed. If I sought some sort of significance from the SAO incident, beyond what Kayaba had been trying to achieve—I would definitely find it here, in this Underworld; that was what I felt.

I no longer had a path of return. After all, I had already come this close to the final goal, the highest floor of the Central Cathedral, spending a whole two years since I woke up in the forest south of Rulid.

However, if I had to bring up a pressing concern that I couldn’t ignore any longer, however insignificant it might be.

That would be the doubt if I truly desired to clear those many objectives from the depths of my heart; that would be my one and only question…



“…You’ve said this some time ago, haven’t you?”

Hugging her knees with her eyes turned down, Alice suddenly muttered so.

I put a temporary stop to those complicated, entangled thoughts and lifted my face. A frail voice that still sounded blubbery came at me.

“After the tower’s wall broke and we were thrown outside… you said that you had planned this revolt to correct the esteemed highest minister’s mistakes and to protect the Human World.”

“Yeah… I did.”

I nodded towards the golden hair flowing down Alice’s back. Several more seconds were spent in silence after that, before the knight slowly moved her lips.

“…I have yet to believe in everything you had said. However… it does seem to be the truth that minions from the land of darkness have been positioned on the outer walls of the tower… and that the integrity knights were not from the Celestial World, but gathered from the Human World with their memories sealed away. That is to say… I cannot deny that the esteemed highest minister have been deceiving us, her loyal servants, any longer…”

My breath stopped and I listened intently to Alice’s words.

Integrity knights, with their memories removed and a piety module inserted into their fluct lights, should compelled into an absolute loyalty towards Administrator. Fact was, no matter how hard Eugeo and I tried to persuade them, none of the integrity knights we had met thus far could verbally express doubts towards the church.

With that consideration in mind, it was a real shock Alice could voice out what she just did. Did the girl truly possess something other artificial fluct lights lacked? I stared on without a sound, looking on as the golden knight continued talking in a whisper while holding onto her two upright legs.

“But on the other hand, it is true that the primary order given to us integrity knights by the esteemed highest minister was to defend against the invasion from the Dark Territory. Over ten knights are battling at the mountain range at the edge atop their flying dragons even now. If the esteemed highest minister hadn’t formed the Integrity Knight Order, the Human World would have already been assaulted by the forces of darkness.”

“That…”

—That, however, isn’t how the world was supposed to be.

The resources for growth monopolized by the integrity knight, or to put it in plain words, the experience points, were originally meant to be given to many of the commoners. Like what Eugeo and I had done in the northern cave, the villagers of the world should have picked up swords on their own accord and fought with the invading goblin soldiers, becoming stronger. However, Administrator had robbed them of that potential.

But she wouldn’t understand even if I said that now. Turning towards me who was at a loss for words, Alice sent forth a soft yet grave voice.

“You had said the village named Rulid, where I was born and raised… and where my parents and little sister still lives in even now, was at the northern boundary, at the foot of the mountain range at the edge. In other words, it will be devastated straight away if an invasion from the Dark Territory starts. Who exactly will defend all of the remote regions, including Rulid, even if the two of you defeat all of the integrity knights and put a knife to the highest minister’s throat? Don’t tell me the two of you plan on destroying the forces of darkness on your own?”

The tears from her two eyes hadn’t dried yet, but Alice’s voice had a genuine resoluteness in it and I couldn’t give an immediate answer. Compared to Alice’s barefaced determination to protect the Human World, there was far too much I kept hidden.

Enduring the impulse to confess everything here—including how this world was actually artificial, I opened my mouth.

“Then let me ask in return… do you truly believe that the Integrity Knight Order, fully prepared for an assault, can repel a combined attack from the forces of the Dark Territory without the slightest doubt?”

“………”

Alice was the one at a loss for words this time. I returned my sight to the night sky in front and continued speaking while reaching out for a memory from two years ago.

“I said that my partner and I had fought with a squad of goblins that trespassed from the Dark Territory, hadn’t I? Even against goblins, the weakest troops of the forces of darkness, their swordsmanship and brute strength were to be feared. There are loads of them in the Dark Territory and on top of that, it’s filled with those darkness knights who ride on flying dragons like all of you and darkness arts users with their minions, right? If all of them attack as a whole, even if all of the integrity knights head out, with the highest minister herself following behind, there’s no way you would be able to defend completely with such a small army.”

Ninety percent of those were handed down by Cardinal, but it appeared Alice was of the same mind as she didn’t reply immediately as she always had. A short while was spent in silence before an anguished voice was wrung out, her face turned downwards.

“…True, even oji-sama*… even Knight Commander Bercouli seemed to have buried that same worry in the depths of his heart. The elite troops of the Dark Territory already number in the tens of thousands, and if they were to all march through the «Great East Gate», the Knight Order alone would probably not be able to hold them back, he said… —But even so, it’s true as well, that the Human World does not have anyone with laudable combat ability aside from us. You mentioned that children from the upper class nobles were educated in the sword and sacred arts earlier, but they pursue the beauty of a single strike which would hardly hold up in an actual battle. In the end, there is no choice but for us integrity knights to battle on our few flying dragons, trusting in divine protection from the three goddesses. I believe you do understand the situation, don’t you?”

“It’s as you say… the Human World as it is now probably doesn’t have a power capable of fighting against the forces of darkness aside from the integrity knights.”

I carefully answered, still looking forward.

“But that’s a situation brought forth by Administrator from her desires. The highest minister fears a power beyond her absolute control sprouting up in the Human World. That’s exactly why she’s gathered the champions of the Unity Tournament and offenders of the Taboo Index, sealed away their memories, and turned them into loyal knights. To put it in another way, Administrator doesn’t trust the humans of this world, not the slightest bit.”

“……!”

It seemed Alice sucked in a sharp breath. But she didn’t immediately rebut like always. Praying that my words had reached the girl’s heart, I continued piling them on.

“If the highest minister believes in the humans living in the Human World and form a well-equipped army, letting them have sufficient training, a force comparable to the Dark Territory’s should exist in the Human World about now. However, the highest minister didn’t. She allowed the upper class nobles, who should have been the first to pick up their swords when the time came to fight, to live their idle, indulgent lives, which then cause their souls to stagnate… Like those two Eugeo and I swung our swords at in the Sword Mastery Academy.”

The incident where Raios Antinous and Humbert Zizek brought disgrace to Tizei and Ronie’s modesty was a mere two days ago. If the load experiment phase had arrived without any change to the situation, and the Human World was exposed to a combined attack from the Dark Territory, countless of such tragedies would unfold.

“But… not everything is lost yet. There’s still time until the Dark Territory’s forces push in, though I don’t know if it’s a year or two… if the Human World tries its best to build up a large army by then…”

“Such a thing could never be possible!”

Alice finally shouted then.

“Haven’t you just said so yourself? About how corrupted the nobles of this world are?! Even when commanded to take up their swords because a war is starting, the four imperial families and the upper class nobles are sure to merely pretend to obey while guarding their own lives and assets!”

“Yeah, sure, most of the upper class nobles probably don’t have the guts to fight with the forces of darkness. But a part of the high class aristocratic families still retain their pride as nobles and there are plenty among the lower class nobles and the commonfolk who possess the will to protect their families and towns… and this world, at all cost. If the extensive amount of equipment amassed in this tower were to be all distributed among them and the integrity knights teach them their polished, real swordsmanship and sacred arts, it wouldn’t be impossible to build up a grand army within a year.

“Common… folks…?

I nodded deeply towards Alice, muttering in amazement.

“That’s right. Even if you don’t force them to enlist and recruit only volunteers, I’m sure you could gather quite a number. I mean, there are already guard corps in the towns and villages here and there. But… if things continue as they are, this has no chance of being realized.”

“……The esteemed highest minister… would never forgive it…”

“Yeah. It would probably be impossible to talk her around too. After all, an army that Administrator can’t force into devotion towards her would be just as scary as the forces of darkness to her. To sum it up, it leads to one conclusion. We can only destroy the absolute control of the highest minister, Administrator, and make full use of the meager remaining time to build up a defense capable of going up against the incoming invasion.”

Telling Alice so from her side, I couldn’t help but feel a great cynicism.

The organization that created the Underworld and conducted this majestic experiment, «Rath», apparently seemed to be intimately connected to Kikuoka Seijirou, an active member of the Self-Defense Forces. In that case, the experiment’s goal was unmistakably closely related to national defense in the real world. I could even imagine them making use of the artificial fluct lights themselves, like Eugeo and Alice, to control weaponry, for example.

Despite how I couldn’t accept such a thing at all, I was currently proposing that we should train tens of thousands of the humans in the Human World into soldiers.

Not knowing a single bit of my ashamed inner thoughts, Alice had her mouth closed, likely for a reason separate from mine.

The girl must be weighing between her loyalty towards the Axiom Church carved into her soul with the words of an intruder whom she had arrested with her own hands. Despite her disciplined expression, she must be going through conflicts and distress beyond what I could imagine in her heart.

Before long—

A short line reached me, riding atop the night wind.

“…Can I meet them?”

“Eh…?”

“If I cooperate with you… and retrieve my sealed memories, can I meet with Selka… my sister again?”

I strongly bit down on my back teeth in that instant.

Meet. Meeting her wouldn’t be a problem at all. But…

I was at a loss whether to tell Alice of my earlier prediction or not. However, I definitely didn’t have to patch the situation up with some irresponsible words. Steeling my resolve, I first nodded.

“…You can. If you get on a flying dragon, it would just be a day or two to Rulid. But… please, I want you to listen to this carefully.”

I stared hard at Alice’s face as she sat around a meter and a half away on my right, and voiced out the continuation to my words.

“The one reuniting Selka will be you, but not you. The instant you regain your memories, you will turn back to Alice Schuberg, before you underwent the Synthesis Ritual, and Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty will vanish with that. Your current personality will disappear along with your memories when you lived as an integrity knight and you’ll surrender that body to your original personality… This is cruel, but… you’re currently «Another Alice», created by Administrator’s hands.”

Alice’s shoulders jerked several times upon hearing my words.

However, she didn’t fall into sobs. A few seconds later, a hoarse voice rang out, as though she was trying her best to restrain her emotions.

“…Ever since I heard that about integrity knights being created by the esteemed highest minister… I’ve been thinking it would be something like that. I had stolen this body away from that girl by the name of Alice Schuberg and unjustly inhabited it for six years… that’s how it is, isn’t it?”

I could no longer find any suitable replies. Despite the tempest that must be raging within her heart, Alice still showed a stout smile.

“What was stolen must be returned. That… should be what Selka, my parents, your friend… and you, yourself too, are hoping for.”

“……Alice…”

“I just… have a single request, just one.”

“That is…?”

“Before this body is restored to the original personality of Alice… could you bring me to Rulid Village? And even if it’s while hiding… a single look is enough. I want to see what Selka… my sister looks like, and my family too. If you could grant me that much, that would be enough.”

Cutting off her words, Alice slowly turned towards me and looked straight at me.

In that moment, the moon that had risen into the eastern sky without my notice suddenly sent down a single streak of light through the clouds. Alice’s two eyes softened, red and puffy from crying like a child’s, and smiled once more as her entire body was surrounded by specks of gold. I couldn’t bear to look at that face any longer and turned my sight towards the moon overhead.

To return Alice her memories. That was the one and only desire of my unparalleled partner, Eugeo. In other words, going with that, it should also be my desire.

However, that would be the equivalent to the death of this integrity knight… no, this girl forlornly hugging her knees at my side. An unavoidable victim and an inescapable order of priorities. There were no more routes left to me.

“Yeah… I’ll promise you. I’ll swear on it.”

While looking up at the night sky, I told her so.

“I’ll definitely bring you to Rulid before your memories are restored.”

“…Make sure that you do.”

Turning my sight back towards Alice who underscored her request, I gave a clear nod.

The knight replied with a curt nod as well, before she took in a deep breath, put on an assertive expression, and spoke.

“Understood. Well, then… as of now, in order to protect the Human World and its residents, I, Alice Synthesis Thirty, will discard my mission as an integrity kni… gh… ah…!!”

The bold proclamation turned into a piercing scream all of a sudden. Her body, clad in that golden armor, bent backwards and her right hand pressed against her right eye. Was her ordered face being warped by some enormous, intense pain right now?

Despite my surprise, I instinctively recalled the scene I saw two days ago as I got up onto my feet.

Eugeo who sliced off the second-ranked elite swordsman-in-training, Humbert Zizek, in order to save Ronie and Tizei. By the time I ran in, his right eye had already blown off without a trace, the gushing fresh blood flowing down his cheek as crimson tears.

That night, Eugeo talked about it bit by bit in the academy’s disciplinary chamber. The moment he tried to cut Humbert, his right hand froze as though it wasn’t his own and his right eye burned with pain, he said. And before his eyes, unfamiliar sacred letters appeared, glowing deep red—

That same phenomenon Eugeo talked about might be assailing Alice right now. It was likely some sort of psychological block. Its trigger would be the act of opposing a regulation carved upon one’s soul.

“Don’t think about anything! Freeze your thoughts!”

I shouted so while approaching Alice and held onto her armored left shoulder with my right hand. And my left hand caught the tormented knight’s right wrist, gently pulling it away from her right eye.

“……!?”

On Alice’s eye that should have been sapphire-blue, I saw a flickering red light and swallowed my breath. I peered closer in order to ascertain the true form of that light.

Upon the perfectly circular blue iris in Alice’s widely opened right eye.

Delicate lines were lined up in a radial pattern on the outside, glowing red while they slowly rotated. There was no fixed pattern to the lines’ thickness and the way they were ordered, too, was random. As though—it was a bar code.

I had guessed that the one who inserted this psychological block into the Underworld people was the highest minister, Administrator, ever since I heard the story from Eugeo. However, I had absolutely no memory of spotting anything resembling bar codes in these two years.

—It wasn’t done by Administrator…? But in that case, just who…?

It was then, when I let out a short gasp.

The circular bar code ceased its rotation and drew a horizontal list of strange symbols atop Alice’s contracted pupil. The string of characters that surfaced, glowing deep crimson, appeared to be [SYSTEM ALERT].

I was momentarily confused about what it signified, but immediately noticed.

It was mirrored text. Alice’s eye, directly under the line of text, should be seeing it in a horizontally flipped form. In other words, it said [SYSTEM ALERT].

System alert. To me, it was a familiar, unpleasant warning that popped out every now and then when utilizing a PC, but it should be a nonsensical phrase to those in the Underworld, like Alice. In this world, only the «Common Tongue»—which would be Japanese, was used in daily life, while English, «Sacred Tongue», was treated by most of the inhabitants as something that impossible and pointless to understand.

If one studied the sacred arts, though one would be able to chant various English vocabulary, starting from the initial «system call», I doubt that person would be too aware of the exact meaning the words held. I had taught Eugeo some of the meanings behind the names of skills for the secret moves of the Aincrad style, the sword skills, but he always found it strange how I possessed knowledge of the Sacred Tongue.

In short, this string of characters, SYSTEM ALERT, would hardly make any sense to the people of the Underworld. In other words, the one who inserted this psychological block into Alice, Eugeo, and the rest was no Administrator, but humans from the real world—namely, someone within Rath’s staff; I suppose that would be how it was…

My rapidly whirling thoughts were interrupted by Alice’s weak scream from point-blank range.

“Aaah… my right eye is, it’s burning…! And… these are… letters…!?”

“Don’t think about anything! Empty your mind!!”

Crying out in a fluster, I held Alice’s petite face between my hands.

“What’s happening to you is probably similar to a psychological barrier activated when you tried to oppose the church. It should be trying to urge you into absolute obedience by causing pain to your right eye… your eyeball will burst out if you continue thinking!”

It only took a moment to explain that, but in this case, persistently insisting might bring about a reverse effect instead. No human could be disciplined enough to stop their thoughts when told to do so.

Upon hearing my voice, Alice shut her two eyes tightly. But the red words projected onto her eyes probably wouldn’t disappear from just that. The knight’s hands fumbled in the air and gripped onto my shoulders the moment they found them. My muscles grated from the force her monstrously strong hands put upon them each time a faint scream escaped her, but it was nothing compared to the pain Alice must be feeling.

Figuring it would help if I could calm down her thoughts, I shifted half of my thoughts to thinking up of any possible methods even as I firmly held Alice’s face between my two palms.

Alice and several other integrity knights had already broken the Taboo Index once. After all, they were taken away by the Axiom Church and underwent the Synthesis Ritual because of that.

However, Alice, in particular, shouldn’t have had her right eye burst off when she committed the taboo of «Trespassing into the Dark Territory» eight years ago. I hadn’t heard anything of that sort from Eugeo. According to his explanation, the young Alice had apparently tottered over the boundary line without thinking. In other words, that would mean that a clear intent to commit a taboo wasn’t in Alice’s mind at that time.

The psychological barrier currently assailing Alice likely reacted to a proactive intent to violate a rule she was given. The moment one held such intent, the right eye would first hurt and the red SYSTEM ALERT would then throw the target’s mind into disarray, planting a deeper awe for the taboo once again. Conducting a psychological barrier like this that could only be considered a work of god on the inhabitants of the Underworld who basically didn’t break laws would likely cement their obedience to no end.

But if this psychological had been handed down by Rath’s staff, it would bring up a huge contradiction.

After all, the goal of the experiment being conducted in this Underworld was likely the creation of artificial fluct lights capable of judging between the right and wrong of a rule they were given. Even after the people of the Underworld had tried so hard for a breakthrough, forcefully driving them back with such a slipshod, violent psychological block could only be considered as a mix-up in their priorities.

In other words, those who had inserted this system alert were purposefully impeding the success of this experiment—could that be it?

In that case, who exactly is that person and for what goal?

Heathcliff… Kayaba Akihiko’s duplicated consciousness came to mind for an instant, but I immediately rejected that notion. He and his desire to create a true alternate world would not hinder the progress of artificial fluct lights. In the first place, such a heavy-handed method was not to that man’s style. I suppose this had to be some influence or personal sabotage against that organization, Rath.

I could envision the existence of various hostile forces if the one directing Rath was the Self-Defense Forces member, Kikuoka Seijirou. For example, a group with internal opposition towards Kikuoka with in the Self-Defense Forces, a large company monopolizing the domestic defense industry, or if I let my imagination run wild, even a foreign arms manufacturer or intelligence agency wouldn’t be out of the question.

However, if those humongous influences had planned to hinder Rath, would they take such an intricate measure? If they possessed enough authority to insert an interference program into the artificial fluct lights, couldn’t they merely deal with it with haste and destroy the Light Cube Cluster, the true body of the Underworld?

In other words, that would mean that someone was intentionally delaying the experiment without the desire to completely wipe it out. Could that person be waiting for something by slowing down the experiment? Something on a large scale that required much preparation—for example…

The theft of the experiment’s results, including the Light Cube Cluster itself.

As I reached that conclusion, horrified, Alice’s weak voice suddenly came from between my hands.

“…Horrible…”

Startled back, I looked down at the integrity knight’s face.

Her eyebrows that had always maintained a graceful line were pressed together tight, drops of water resided in the corners of her eyes, and she had bitten down on her lips hard enough to draw blood.

Those pallid lips trembled and let out disconnected words once more.

“This is… horrible… To have not just my memories, but my consciousness, too… be manipulated by… someone else…”

Gripping my shoulders, Alice two hands strongly shook with grief, or perhaps anger.

“The one… who burned these red sacred letters into my eyes… was it… the highest minister…?”

“No… I don’t think so.”

I unconsciously shook my head.

“It’s an existence that created this world and observes it from the outside… one among the «gods» that had not made an appearance in the lore behind the creation of the world.”

“…Gods…”

Clear drops flowed down from Alice’s eyes without a sound.

“So the gods would not trust us… even after we, the integrity knights, spent these countless days fighting without end to protect this world they had wrought. Taking my memories of my family, and my sister, and on top of that, performing such a seal upon me… forcing me into obedience…”

I couldn’t begin to imagine how much shock, confusion, and despair Alice who had lived as a knight of the gods must be feeling now. Alice’s eyelids suddenly flashed open as I looked on without saying a word, unable to breathe.

The mirrored, horizontal words on the blue iris of her right eye shone vividly even now. However, Alice appeared to pay it no heed, merely staring at the skies in front—at the bluish-white moon floating among the black clouds.

“I am not your puppet!”

However hoarse it might have been, Alice still shouted with dignity.

“Certainly, I might be an existence created by someone’s hand. But I have my own consciousness too! I want to protect this world… I want to protect the many people living in this world. I want to protect my family and my little sister. That is the one and only mission I will strive for!!”

The glow of the text in her right eye increased in intensity while letting out a piercing, metallic noise. The bar code etched onto the outside of her iris, too, began to rotate rapidly.

“Alice…!”

Expecting that phenomenon to happen any time now, I cried out.

Without turning her eyes towards me, Alice whispered in a stifled voice.

“Kirito… hold me tight.”

“……Sure.”

I couldn’t do anything but nod. Taking my hands off Alice’s face, I moved them to the armor on her shoulders. Strongly holding down the knight’s body trembling in small jolts beyond that golden armor.

Alice shrugged her long, golden hair once, before proudly gazing up towards the skies and took in a deep breath.

“The highest minister, Administrator… and you nameless gods!! For the goals I must achieve… I will fight against you!!”

An unbounded proclamation that had a refined echo.

The moment it faded off, a deep crimson shaft of light left Alice’s right eye.

A warm splash of blood stained my cheeks.



2

Eugeo.

Eugeo…

What happened?

Did you have a nightmare…?



An orange light ignited within the lamp with a soft sound.

Standing in the hallway, Eugeo had the lower half of his face buried in the pillow his two arms wrapped around and peered into the room through the slightly opened door as though he was hiding away his body.

There were two plain, wooden beds in the room that certainly couldn’t claim to be spacious. The right one was vacant, with a freshly-washed bedspread laid folded there.

And a single, slender silhouette was upon the left bed, looking at Eugeo with her upper body raised. Her face couldn’t be seen too well due to the light from the lamp her right hand carried. From her glossy, pure white sleepwear, a somewhat opened dress with a low-cut neckline, peeked her bare skin that appeared even paler. Her long hair flowing onto the bed seemed as soft as silk.

Those glossy lips, just noticeable beyond the orange light, showed a gentle smile.



It’s cold there, isn’t it? Come, come closer, Eugeo.



That softly lifted bedspread seemed filled with a viscous, warm darkness, making him all the more conscious of the freezing chill streaming through the hallway. His foot stepped across the doorway before he knew it and Eugeo headed towards the bed with uncertain steps.

The lamp strangely dimmed as he approached, concealing the face of the woman sprawled over the bed with a creeping darkness. But Eugeo’s thoughts were simply filled with the desire to snuggle into that warm darkness and hungrily moved his feet. His steps became gradually wider as his viewpoint became gradually lower, but he didn’t feel it to be strange.

The bed he finally arrived at was absurdly tall and Eugeo threw down the pillow he held onto, stepping onto it in an attempt to climb up.

In that moment, a soft cloth fluttered over him from the top and sunk his vision in darkness. As though urging on his craving, Eugeo crept deeper and deeper into that darkness.

His extended fingers came into contact with warm and supple skin.

Eugeo embraced it in a daze and buried his face into it. The silky skin gently squirmed, as though it was enveloping Eugeo.

Led around by that enthralling sense of satisfaction and a longing several times as potent, Eugeo fervently clung on. Feeling a smooth arm hugging his back and another rubbing his head, Eugeo asked in his small voice.

“Mother…? Is that you, mother?”

The reply instantly came.



Yes… I am your mother, Eugeo.



“Mother… My mother…”

Sinking ever deeper into the warm and damp darkness, Eugeo murmured.

A doubt floated up like a bubble, from a corner of the bog that was his mostly numbed mind, and popped.

Was my mother… ever this slender and soft? Why do these two hands that should have been working in the fields day after day not have a single scrape on them? And… have my father who should have been sleeping in the bed on the right went somewhere? Where are my brothers who always got in the sleep whenever I tried to get mother to pamper me…?



“Is it really… you, mother?”



Yes, Eugeo. It’s your one and only mother.



“But… where is father? Where are my brothers?”



Hehe.

What a strange child.

Everyone

have already been killed by you, haven’t they?



Suddenly, his fingers felt clammy.

Eugeo spread open his left and right hands, lifted before his eyes.

Despite the lack of illumination, he could clearly see the deep red blood stickily dripping off his ten fingers.



“…Aaaaaaah!”

Eugeo jumped up with that scream.

He was engrossed in scrubbing his two sticky hands against his shirt. Only after wiping them countless times while screaming out, did he notice the moisture on his hands was not blood, but merely sweat.

Was that a dream—even after arriving at that conclusion, he still took some time before he thought to restrain his heart, beating like an alarm bell, and the cold sweat seeping out from himself. The lingering memory of that absurdly terrifying nightmare clung to his back with no sign of fading.

—Mother and father… I hadn’t even thought of them much since I left the village.

Muttering so in his heart, Eugeo closed his two eyes tightly and kept his breathing shallow.

When he was a young boy in Rulid, his mother worked on the fields, tended to the sheep, and even did the housework on top of that, hardly cuddling gently with Eugeo. They had slept in different beds even before he even achieved maturity and Eugeo had no recollections of being unsatisfied over that.

—So why did I see such a dream after all that…

Eugeo strongly shook his head and stopped his trail of thoughts. Dreams were up to the caprice of the moon goddess, Lunaria. This nightmare surely held no significance.

After his breathing had calmed down a little, the doubt over his current location bubbled up. He softly lifted his eyelids while still crouching.

What first entered his vision was a deep crimson carpet with an astonishing amount of density and an intricate pattern weaved into it. The carpet that he couldn’t estimate the value of, if bought at the textile shop in the fifth district of North Centoria, stretched on and on in his vision no matter how he tried to find its end.

He finally saw the far away wall only after he looked straight ahead.

Even if it was a wall, it was made from neither wood nor stone. Golden pillars in the shape of gigantic swords stood at regular intervals with glass panes inserted between them. As such, it could actually be considered as a line of windows rather than a wall, but a room where valuable glass was used this freely couldn’t be found even in the castles of the four emperors, could it?

Numerous clouds, dyed blue by the moonlight, were floating beyond the wall entirely composed of glass. This room was apparently higher than even the clouds.

He saw a bluish-white full moon floating in a corner of the night sky when he brought his sight up higher. An astonishing multitude of stars were silently flickering away around it. The light pouring down from the sky richly filled with stars was far too bright; he took a while before noticing it was the middle of the night. Judging from the height of the moon, it should be a little after twelve. The date had apparently turned while he slept and it was the twenty-fifth of the fifth month now.

Finally, Eugeo looked straight up. The ceiling drew a perfect circle far above and he couldn’t spot any stairs to proceed to the next floor. That could mean that this room was the highest floor of the Central Cathedral.

The wide ceiling vividly depicted a splendid piece of art. Knights glittering with light, monsters being driven away, and a mountain range splitting the earth… it seemed to illustrate the story of creation. Each place even had crystals embedded there, sparkling like the stars.

But for some reason, the presence of what should have definitely been essential for the subject of the painting, Stacia, the goddess of creation, was not in the middle as she should have been. That section had been painted out pure white and what would be like a void ruled over the entire painting.

Eugeo frowned for a short while before turning back. Raising his upper body from his posture of crawling on fours, his back came into contact with something and he looked behind in a fluster.

“……!?”

Eugeo was at a loss for words, with his body still twisted. Right behind him was the side of an astonishingly humongous bed.

The bed, circular in shape like the room, seemed to measure close to ten mel. Four golden posts propped up the canopy, golden as well, and flimsy, violet drapes dangled off that, creasing over each other. A pure white sheet, resembling silk from the east empire, covered the bed and faintly gleamed with the starlight streaming in from the windows.

And—a single silhouette lay down in the middle of the bed. He couldn’t see much more than vague contours, obstructed by the translucent, flimsy cloth hanging from the canopy.

Eugeo swallowed his breath and his body jerked up. He couldn’t believe that he didn’t notice someone else’s presence, despite being so close by for these few minutes. No, before even considering that, he had apparently been sound asleep for hours, leaning against this bed. Just how did it end up this—

Getting to that point in his thoughts, Eugeo finally recalled the final scene remaining in his broken memories.

—That’s right… I was fighting with that hero of that old story… with Knight Commander Bercouli.

—I was stuck to the knight commander by ice due to the Blue Rose Sword’s «memory release art»… then that small man wearing those gaudy jester clothes appeared before our Lives ran out… apparently called Chief Elder Chudelkin, who said those weird things. Then he stamped over the ice roses with his shoes as he came closer… and after that…

It seemed his memories stopped there. That jester might have carried him here, but he didn’t know why. He instinctively felt around his waist, but the Blue Rose Sword had disappeared away somewhere.

Bearing the sense of helplessness that assailed him in that moment, Eugeo focused his eyes towards the silhouette on the bed. Was it an enemy, or an ally… no, this was unmistakably the Central Cathedral, and likely the highest floor at all. Anyone in such a place couldn’t possibly be an ally.

He figured it best to escape the room while muffling his footsteps now, but his desire to know the identity of the sleeping silhouette won out. However, no matter how high he stretched out, he couldn’t see the face hidden behind the flimsy cloth dangling at the center of the bed.

Silencing his breath, he softly placed his right knee onto the bed.

Sinking deeply into the white silk sheet as though it was snow, Eugeo extended his arms in panic. Those hands, too, ended up sinking into the smooth fabric.

The terrifying nightmare from earlier vividly came back to Eugeo as he felt himself swallowed by the bed and his back involuntarily trembled before he quietly lifted his left leg onto the bed as well. Getting onto fours like that, he slowly, slowly headed towards the middle.

Cautiously crawling across the unbelievably massive bed, Eugeo couldn’t help but imagine how much down of the highest grade had been tucked in, under the sheets. It took a whole half year to produce a single, thin futon after slowly gathering the feathers that came off the domestic duck reared in his family’s rear garden back in Rulid Village, day after day.

Stopping his advance in front of the flimsy cloth dangling from the canopy for the moment, Eugeo shifted his attention to his ears. Though extremely faint, he could hear the regular sound of breathing. It seemed the other party still remained asleep.

Timidly, he reached out with his right hand. Sticking his finger under the flimsy cloth, he gently, gently lifted it up.

The moment the bluish-white light reached the middle of the bed, Eugeo opened up his two eyes.

A single female laid there.

Clad in light clothes in a shade of pale violet—the exact same color as the «Stacia Window»—and hemmed with silver thread, she had her pale, slender hands crossed over her body. Her arms and fingers were slim like a doll, but the two mounds propping up the flimsy fabric immediately above them were bountiful and he turned his sight away in panic. Her breasts, peeking out from her unreservedly opened neckline, too, shone white.

At last, Eugeo looked at the female’s sleeping face.

A sensation like his soul being sucked out descended upon him in that moment and everything else left his vision.

How could it be so perfect? He thought it beyond the limits of humans. Integrity Knight Alice, whom he fought on the eightieth floor, had faultless good looks as well, but her beauty still remained within the realm of humans. That was only natural; Alice was human, after all.

However, this existence sleeping a mere mel away was—

Could the greatest carver in the capital even bring forth such artistry after an entire lifetime of effort? Eugeo couldn’t find the words to describe even a sheer fraction of her beauty. Even if he tried to liken her lips to flowers, a flower with curves so lovely couldn’t be found anywhere in the Human World.

Both those eyebrows framing her shut eyelids and her long hair flowing onto the sheets looked as though they had been casted in pure silver. They gave off a cold gleam, reflecting blue from the dimness and white from the moonlight.

Before he knew it, Eugeo had his rationality stolen, like a fly captivated by sweet honey.

Only the desire to touch these hands, this hair, these cheeks filled his emptied head.

When he languidly drew closer on his knees, a fragrance he had never smelled before softly drifted in the air.

The fingers on his stretched out right hand would reach in just a little… reach that smooth skin in a little bit…



You mustn’t, Eugeo.

Run!



He heard someone shout from somewhere far away.

Small fireworks went off at the core of his mind and swept away some of the thick fog enveloping his consciousness. Eugeo opened his two eyes and instinctively drew back his right hand.

—This voice… where have I heard it before…

As he wondered so in a daze, his ability to think slowly returned to him.

—What… had happened to me…? What was I doing here…?

He lowered his gaze to the woman before his eyes to confirm the situation he was in and what resembled a viscous, deep drowsiness crept in his head once more. Averting his eyes in panic, he strongly shook his head in opposition.

—Think. Think.

—I should know this person. Someone sleeping alone on a lavish bed on the highest floor of the Central Cathedral. In other words, the one who holds the highest authority in the Axiom Church—not to mention the one who rules over everything in the Human World…

In other words, the highest minister, Administrator.

Eugeo repeated the name he finally recalled countless in his mind.

The instigator behind taking Alice away, stealing her memories, and turning her into an integrity knight. The mightiest sacred arts user who even the sage possessing immeasurable power, Cardinal, was no match for. The ultimate enemy of Kirito and Eugeo.

And that Administrator was sleeping before his eyes.

—Can I win… right now…?

He moved his trembling left hand towards his waist without thinking, but the Blue Rose Sword wasn’t there. It was either stolen by the chief elder, Chudelkin, or perhaps still under the ice still covering all of that large bath. Even if the opponent was asleep, without a weapon, he couldn’t…

No.

He still had one. A sword that was small yet mightier than sacred tools in a certain sense.

Eugeo moved his left hand from his waist to his chest and softly pressed down on his shirt’s fabric. The distinct sensation of a hard cross made itself known to his palm. The final trump card bestowed by Cardinal.

If this dagger was stabbed into Administrator’s body, she should be incinerated dead in an instant from the offensive art Cardinal would send in, bypassing space.

“……gh…”

But Eugeo let out a distraught sigh while gripping onto the dagger through the fabric.

This dagger should have been used on Integrity Knight Alice. Of course, not to burn her to death, but to put her to sleep through Cardinal’s arts and to restore her memories, turning her back into the old Alice. If that couldn’t be done, Administrator’s defeat would serve no meaning to Eugeo. It might be possible to turn Alice to her old self without using the dagger if the highest minister was eliminated, but he had no assurance it would.

Seized by the doubt that lacked an answer, Eugeo heard the mysterious voice yet again while biting on his lips, and noticed.



Eugeo… run……



But before that voice that seemed far too distant could make its way to his consciousness—

The sleeping woman’s silver eyebrows softly shook.

Those white eyelids slowly, slowly rose as Eugeo stared on in blank amazement. His vision was frozen in place, let alone his left hand, still holding onto the dagger. His ability to think, once restored, dispersed yet again and faded to nothing.

The woman closed her faintly opened eyelids for a moment, then gently blinked several times, as though to rouse Eugeo into action. And on the third time, those eyelids finally opened up completely.

“Ah……”

That sigh escaped from Eugeo’s mouth without him realizing it.

The now-exposed eyes were pure silver, a color he had never noticed in any human’s eyes before. Those mirror-like irises were tinted faintly in the brilliance of the seven prismatic colors, wavering as though on a water surface. A divine radiance that could make any rare gem in this world appear dull in comparison.

Before Eugeo’s eyes as he stayed frozen like a statue while still on his knees on the bed, the awoken woman swayed upright with wispy movements. Upon rising as though pulled up by some invisible force with her two arms still left under her breasts, her long, silver hair also softly flittered despite the lack of wind and streamed tidily down her back as a whole.

The woman—or girl, who appeared slightly more youthful with her eyes now open lifted her right hand to her mouth as though paying Eugeo no heed and let out a small yawn.

Her legs that were stretched out straight turned towards the right together. The balance of her slender body lurched and her left hand struck the sheets to support herself.

The girl turned her face to the left at last, looking straight at Eugeo while maintaining that bewitching posture.

Her pure silver eyes, fringed by a rainbow radiance. He could hardly think of them belonging to a human, due to the lack of pupils residing within them. They were unbearably beautiful, but prevented all access deeper into her heart as they reflected all light like a mirror.

Upon gazing at his own dumbfounded expression projected on those two small mirrors, the girl’s glossy, pearl grey lips made a slight movement. Her voice, sweet as honey and pure as crystal, with a hint of enticement, spoke.



“What a pitiful child.”



It took some time for him to understand what was spoken. However, without becoming aware of the languor in his thoughts, Eugeo replied in a daze.

“Eh…? Pitiful…?”



“Yes. How very pitiful.”



Throwing the hearts of any who hears it into disarray, it was filled equally with both an unsullied purity and the tone of a femme fatale.

Her glossy, pearl grey lips showed a faint smile as her honeyed voice flowed on.

“You are much like a withered potted flower. No matter how far into the soil you spread your roots, no matter how high you reach your leaves into the wind, you could not come into contact with a single drop of water.”

“…A potted… flower…”

Eugeo frowned and tried to understand the significance behind those mysterious words. His mind was still enveloped in haze, but the girl’s eyes summoned a stinging pain from somewhere within his heart.

“You understand. Exactly how much you thirst, how much you hunger.”

“…For what…?”



His mouth moved without his acknowledgement and questioned in a dry, hoarse voice.

The girl stared at Eugeo with her reflective eyes and replied with the smile still on her face.

“Love.”

Love… she said?

That’s like… saying that I… don’t know what is love…



“Indeed. You are a pitiful child who has never had the experience of being loved.”



That couldn’t be true.

My mother… loved me. Whenever I had a nightmare and couldn’t sleep… she would hug me and sing lullabies for me.



“Did that love truly belong to you alone? It didn’t, did it? It was actually what was left over after your brothers have taken their share, wasn’t it…?”



She’s lying. Mother… loved me, only me…



“You wanted her to love only you. But she didn’t. That was why you hated them. Those who took away your mother’s love, like your father. And your brothers.”



Lies. I… I don’t hate my father or brothers.



“Really now…? After all, haven’t you sliced him up?”



……

Who…?



“The one who had loved you and only you for the first time; that red-haired girl… You had cut that man who tried to steal her by force and sully her. Because you hated him. Because he had stolen away what had belonged solely to you.”



No… that wasn’t why I pointed my sword towards Humbert.



“But it was no panacea for your thirst. No one would love you. Everyone had forgotten about you. You have been cast aside, no longer needed.”



No… no. I… I haven’t been cast aside or…

That’s right… she’s wrong. I have Alice.



The moment he recalled that name, the viscous haze shrouding his consciousness felt as though it had cleared up a little and Eugeo shut his eyes tight. It wouldn’t be good being swept into this flow, he had to get moving now; the sense of danger filling his mind whispered thus.

However, before he could move for real, the beguiling voice slipped into his mind from his two ears once more.

“I wonder if that really is true…? Does that child truly love you and only you…?”

That reverberation hid faint laughter under its compassion.

“You have forgotten. I’ll let you recall them. Your true memories, buried deep within the depths of your heart.”

Eugeo’s vision lurched in that instant.

The luxuriously downy bed faded and he fell into a dark, deep hole without end.

The scent of fresh, green grass pricked his nose all of a sudden.

Verdant light filtered through trees flickered in a corner of his sight while the chirping of small birds overlaid the sound of footsteps over the undergrowth.

Eugeo was walking deep in a forest when he became aware of his situation.

His line of sight was awfully low and his steps were short. His legs stretching out from his shorts made from fiber were those of a child, slender and weak, when he took a look downwards. But the sense of unease immediately vanished, overwhelming irritation and loneliness filling his chest in its place.

For some reason, he hadn’t seen Alice at all since the day started.

Upon finishing his morning work, tending to the cows and weeding the vegetable garden, Eugeo rushed as fast as he could towards the usual gathering spot—underneath an old tree outside the village. However, Alice didn’t come no matter how long he waited. In addition, neither did his other childhood friend, that black-haired boy.

After waiting for the pair until the sun climbed up to its highest place in the sky, Eugeo tottered to Alice’s home while feeling an indescribable emotion. She must have been found out after playing some prank and got stopped from going out to play. That was what he had thought, but her mother who greeted him there said thusly with her head tilt in confusion.

That’s strange, she went off rather early today. Kiri-bou came for her, so I was sure she would have been with you too, Eu-bou.

Mumbling his thanks and leaving the village chief’s residence, Eugeo felt his unease turn into impatience and searched around the village. However, though the central plaza occupied by the guard chief’s son, Jink, and his henchmen was a given, he couldn’t find Kirito and Alice at any other playing area or hiding place.

Only one other place came to mind. A perfectly round grass patch they had recently found deep in the eastern forest that the other children didn’t approach. It was a secret place for the three of them, called the «fairy ring» by the adults and filled with various flowers and sweet berries.

Eugeo desperately ran towards there, halfway on the verge of tears. His body set into motion by his loneliness, doubts, and one more emotion, one he couldn’t fit a name to.

After running through the winding, small path, and reaching the secret, empty land surrounded by remarkably thick, old trees, a dazzling, golden light swayed in between the tree trunks in his path and Eugeo’s feet jerked to a stop.

That was unmistakably the radiance from Alice’s familiar golden hair. He instinctively silenced his breathing for some reason and pricked up his ears. Fragments of whispers, quietly exchanged, were conveyed to him on the wind.

Why… why?

With nothing but those words set on repeat in his mind, Eugeo walked closer to the vacant land with subdued steps. His heavy melancholy threatening to crush him, he hid himself behind the mossy trunk and peeked into the secret place flooded with light from Solus.

Alice was sitting in the center of the multicolored blooming flowers with her back to him. He couldn’t see her face, but there was no way he could mistake her flowing, straight, golden hair, her deep blue dress, and her white apron.

And by her side was a head covered in prickly black hair. His one and only best friend, Kirito.

His clenched hands were soaked in damp and chilly sweat.

The fickle wind sent Kirito’s voice to Eugeo’s ears as he stood still.

“Hey… we should go back soon. He’ll find out.”

And replying to him was Alice’s voice.

“We’re still safe. Just a little more… just a bit more, okay?”

No.

I don’t want to hear anymore.

But Eugeo’s legs refused to budge as though the tree’s roots had entwined around them.

In his sight he couldn’t turn away, Alice’s face softly approached Kirito.

He caught a shred of her quiet whispering.

The pair, snuggling together in the middle of flowers in full bloom, under the bright sunlight; it appeared just like a painting.

No.

Lies. These are all, lies.

Eugeo shouted out in the darkness. But no matter how he tried to deny it, his conviction that this scene was one dragged out from the depths of his own memories gushed up and streamed into his chest like cold water.



“You see… don’t you?”



Sniff.

The whisper with a tinge with laughter wiped away the forest scene.

Returning to the gigantic bed in the highest minister’s room on the top floor of the Central Cathedral, that golden radiance burnt into Eugeo’s eyes remained even with his eyelids shut. Along with Alice and Kirito’s whispering voices, echoing deep in his ears.

His voice of reason, that said he should have only met Kirito in that forest two years ago, long after Alice had been taken away to the church, failed to quench the dark emotions filling his chest. The girl with silver hair right next to Eugeo turned towards him with an expression filled with compassion as he opened his two eyes and let out ragged breaths.

“Now you understand, don’t you…? Even that child’s love did not belong to you alone. No… was there even any for you in the first place?”

The sweet voice sleekly slid into Eugeo, violently stirring up his thoughts each time. The boundless hunger and desolation clearly rising up within himself. The sensation of cracks rapidly spreading over his heart, flaking off and plunging down.



“But I am different, Eugeo.”



Her most seductive voice thus far seeped into his ears, like the drifting fragrance from a fruit filled with copious nectar.



“I will love you. I will give all of my love to you, and you alone.”



In Eugeo’s vision as he opened his half-clouded eyes in a daze, was the girl—Administrator, the highest minister of the Axiom Church, with her glossy silver hair and eyes gleaming away, showing a bewitching smile.

Moving her legs that had sunk into the soft sheets, she straightened her upper body.

Slowly bringing up her hands, she appeared to fiddle around with the ribbon keeping her breasts in place on her light purple silk sleepwear.

Her flexible fingertips gripped the ends of the ribbon made from silver thread and pulled slowly, gently.

With more than half of her wide neckline exposed now, the graceful, white skin quivered as they lured him in.



“Now, come, Eugeo.”



That whisper seemed both like the voice of his mother he had heard in the midst of that dream, and the voice of Alice that reached his ears in that illusion.

With his impeded consciousness, Eugeo stared at the thin, purple fabric fluttering down like flower petals around her dreadfully slender waist.

She was truly a flower—a large, devilish one that tempted and captured bugs and small birds with its ardent aroma and dripping nectar.

Although a part of Eugeo still felt that way, the allure of that flower, oozing from its pure white heart gingerly lingering amidst its violet petals, was far too intense and Eugeo’s thoughts, smashed into pieces from the earlier illusion, were wholly drawn into the viscid fluid.

You have never been loved before; that was why you could truly feel satisfied with what you have.

Administrator had said so. And Eugeo had gradually begun to acknowledge an aspect of that as fact.

Eugeo himself could frankly say that he loved his parents, brothers, and friends in his childhood. Looking at his mother being pleased at the flower he plucked and watching his father and brothers enthusiastically eating the fish he caught made him happy. He would even gather herbs in the forest and send them to the Jink and his circle, nasty as they were, if he heard that they caught a cold.



But what have they done for you? What exactly have they done for you in return for your love?



Right… he couldn’t think of any.

Before his eyes, Administrator’s smile readily bent once again and a scene from his past came back to him.

It was the year he turned ten, in the spring… the day he was bestowed his «sacred task» along with a crowd of children by the village chief in the plaza. The sacred task, «Gigas Cedar’s Woodcutter», spoken out by Gasupht, the village chief, as he looked down upon the nervous him from the platform, went contrary to his expectations.

But still, there were cries of envy here and there among some of the children. The woodcutter was an honorable sacred task passed down since the Rulid Village was founded and though it wasn’t a sword, he would still be presented with a real axe. Even Eugeo himself hadn’t felt dissatisfaction over it back then.

Grasping the parchment wrapped with a red ribbon, the proof of his appointment, tightly, Eugeo had ran back to his home on the outskirts of town and announced his sacred task to his family somewhat proudly.

Following a short silence, the first reaction came from the younger one among his brothers. He curtly clicked his tongue and cursed, saying that he thought it would be his last day handling the cleanup for the cows’ shit. The older one told his father that it would throw the planting plans for the year into disarray and his father, too, asked Eugeo when his job would end and whether he could help out in the fields then, in a groan. As though afraid of the men’s sullenness, his mother disappeared into the kitchen without saying a word.

Eugeo felt constantly ashamed in his home for the next eight years. And despite that, Eugeo’s wages as a woodcutter were controlled by his father and before he noticed, the number of goats had multiplied and the farm tools were swapped with new ones. Despite how, Jink, appointed as a guard apprentice, spent all of his wages on himself and ate white bread stuffed full of meat for lunch, and showed off his studded boots and a sword kept in a lustrous sheath. Despite how, Eugeo had to walk on in his worn out shoes and a jute sack filled with nothing more than the left over hard bread on his back before Jink’s presence.



“You see? Have any of those you loved done anything for you, even once? On the contrary, they took pleasure in your wretchedness and even sneered at you, haven’t they?”



Yes… that was exactly it.

Jink had said this to Eugeo after around two years after that summer of his eleventh year, when Alice was taken away by the integrity knight. There aren’t any women left to care for you any longer, with that girl of the village chief gone now, he said.

Jink’s eyes back then told him that he deserved it. The fact that Eugeo lost the privilege of being the one closest to the cutest girl in the village and a genius at sacred arts, Alice, brought joy to him.

In the end, not a single person in Rulid returned Eugeo’s feelings. Although he had earned the right to gain something equivalent to what he had given, it had been robbed from him without rhyme or reason.



“Then, couldn’t you simply return that despair and frustration to them? You wish to, don’t you? It would feel so good… imagine becoming an integrity knight and making a triumphant return to your home village atop a silver flying dragon. Imagine having all who have made a fool out of you crawl on the ground and pressing down on their heads with your shiny boots. With that, you could finally take back everything they have stolen from you thus far. And that’s not all…”



The beautiful, silver-haired girl slowly, gently let the two arms supporting her breasts fall, as though drawing him in. Those two mounds bounced like ripened fruits upon losing their support.

The highest minister reached her two arms straight towards Eugeo and whispered with while showing an enthralling smile.

“You can enjoy being loved for the first time as much as you want. A real, numbing sense of satisfaction from head to toe. I am different from those who have taken away from you without giving anything in return. If you could give me your love, you will have just as much in return. I will let you experience incomparable pleasure, beyond what you could possibly imagine now, if only you could grant me your deepest love.”

Even the final trickle of Eugeo’s ability to think was about to be drawn into that devilish flower. But still, a fragment of reason left in the depths of his heart put up a quiet resistance.



—What exactly… is love?

—Is it nothing more than something that could be assigned a value… like money…?



It’s not, Eugeo-senpai!

His sight turned towards the voice he heard and saw a red-haired girl clad in a grey uniform, desperately reaching out with her hand in the darkness on the other side.

But before Eugeo’s hand could stretch out, the thick, pitch black curtains descended upon the red-haired girl and she vanished, leaving behind only the shade of grief in her eyes.

And this time, a voice from someone else came from the opposite direction.

It’s not, Eugeo. Love is definitely not just something to be repaid.

Turning around, he found a small grassy space parting the darkness and a golden-haired girl wearing a blue dress standing in it. The girl’s blue eyes dazzlingly glittered as though they were the one and only exit to this bottomless swap and Eugeo roused his weary legs in an attempt to crawl towards her.

However, the black curtains fell down with a thud once more and the verdant field was erased. Eugeo was at a loss with the light’s departure and remained crouching where he was. He could hardly bear this searing thirst any longer. Upon recalling the continuous, unjust oppression, exploitation, and thief of what should have belonged to him from his childhood, his anguish and chagrin transformed into concentrated brine, scorching his throat.

At last, Eugeo began to steadily worm himself forth with his head hung down. Towards the flow of nectar emitting a fragrance of cloying sweetness.

Pushing through the smooth silk sheets, his fingertips extended forward and came into contact with refreshingly cool skin. When he brought his face up, the silver-haired girl with looks on par with a goddess showed a transcendental smile as she took Eugeo’s hand.

With his right hand gently pulled forward, he pitched forward without resistance. The unclothed body rece