Chapter 121 – Leafa's Extinguished Spark of Love
"So, where should I start?" "Starting with the objective would be best, then we can fill in the details little by little." "That sounds right. Leafa, it might be a bit hard to understand, so please bear with me." "Hmm, if I don't get it, I'll ask questions along the way, so it's okay."
"Ah, feel free to interrupt me with questions anytime. First, our true objective is to rescue Titania, who is trapped at the very top of this World Tree." "Huh?"
Hearing Hachiman say something strange suddenly, Leafa was instantly confused.
"Well, that reaction is normal. Simply put, Titania isn't an NPC right now but a player. There's a real person inside." "A real... person? Huh? Ah?" "Exactly. The player inside Titania is being held captive against their will for a long time." "But Titania is the Fairy Queen — she should be an NPC..." "Normally, yes. The trigger for this is a screenshot taken by Yukino and the others."
"A screenshot?" "Yes, remember when a few players tried to fly from the outskirts to the top of the World Tree? At that time, Yukino, Yui, Iroha, and Komachi were the ones acting." "Eh? That event was done by Yukino and the others?" "Yes, in fact it was us, Leafa-san."
"At that time, Komachi took screenshots from high altitude, and it turned out the person in the photo looked very much like someone I know. To confirm this, we absolutely had to complete this large-scale mission." "But the large-scale mission isn't implemented yet... Ah! Could it be that because it isn't implemented, there's no worry about revealing that Titania isn't an NPC? So they set the difficulty so high that no one can clear it?"
Hachiman was surprised at Leafa's sharp intuition. "Good guess, Leafa. That's pretty much it. About the difficulty — it's probably also to avoid revealing the unimplemented fact, and meanwhile they're conducting illegal activities in secret."
"Illegal activities?" "Saying illegal is too mild — it's serious criminal behavior." "To that extent? Who exactly is trapped up there?" "The ones trapped up there... are SAO players."
"Huh? Could it be..." "Leafa, you know about this, right? The hundred players still trapped in SAO who haven't woken up yet."
"Are you saying... how could that be..." "That 'how could that be' is exactly it. At least one of those hundred is definitely imprisoned here. When I flew up just now, I talked with her — it was definitely the real person." "What? You were able to talk?"
Yukino, who was listening in, interrupted in surprise. "Actually, just now I obtained an ALO ID card, and by using it through Yui, we can temporarily communicate with the upper side."
"So that's how it is. In other words, does that mean there's a way to break through the deep wall of the mission room?" "Break through... the wall?!" "Yes, Leafa. Yui originally was part of the SAO core system, so as long as you get the ALO ID card, you can break through the wall to go upward. Because ALO's servers are replicas of the SAO servers, this is why we're so fixated on the large-scale mission."
"That kind of thing... is impossible..." "Maybe hard to believe, but it's true. When we first logged into ALO, our skill values were almost maxed out. Probably the SAO data stored in the NerveGear was applied here." "So you all..." "Yes, me, Kirito, Klein, Agil, and Silica — all five of us are SAO survivors logged in via NerveGear."
Hearing the words "SAO survivors," Leafa's heart started to beat faster. Could these people know her brother? Or rather... Leafa gazed intently at Kirito again. If the person imprisoned above is that Lisbeth-san, then Kirito might...
"Um... the person trapped above, what's her name?" "The one above is Asuna — the one married to Hachiman."
As Kirito answered instead of Hachiman, Leafa relaxed slightly, but once she understood the implication, she was shocked and asked again: "Married!? Hachiman-kun's wife!?"
"Yeah, there's such a system in SAO." "Exactly. I came here precisely to rescue Asuna."
"So that's why you're wearing that NerveGear again? Aren't you scared?" "Saying I'm not scared would be a lie, but for me, there is no choice but to wear it."
"I see... that's amazing." "If it was just me, I probably wouldn't have the courage, but I have trustworthy companions."
Hachiman glanced around at his friends, and everyone happily nodded. "Apart from the companions here, there's external support from Argo, who seems to have also given the ID card to Asuna."
"Could it be that the government collaborator is this Argo-san?" "Yes, although I was surprised too, it seems that's the case."
"How many companions does Hachiman-kun have?" "Well, Leafa, during the SAO era, I had seven companions: Kirito, Klein, Agil, Silica, Argo, Asuna who's trapped above, and one more who's actually among the hundred trapped. Although in-game their existence can't be confirmed, as long as we rescue Asuna, the government will act based on her testimony and that companion can also be saved. So right now, our priority is rescuing Asuna."
"Right, we absolutely have to save Asuna, and definitely free Lisbeth too."
Hearing Kirito say Lisbeth, Leafa's heart thumped heavily. Lisbeth... Kirito did say Lisbeth just now. So Kirito really is... "Um... Kirito-kun..." "Yes? What is it, Leafa?" "Kirito-kun, you're not... related to her as... your brother...?"
"Huh? Wait... Leafa, are you... Suguha?" "Oh?" "The person we met briefly in the hospital is Kirito's younger sister?"
Amid the commotion, Leafa nodded to Kirito. "Yes, I'm Suguha, brother."
"Really? I didn't recognize you at all." "Hmm... I see... but I... somehow I feel... strange, why am I crying..."
Leafa realized she had been crying without knowing when. Kirito looked helpless seeing this. "S-sorry, I'm logging off for today..."
Saying this, Leafa logged out. Kirito looked awkwardly at everyone left, and the women seemed to have noticed something: "Kirito-kun, you better go home and talk with your sister." "Yeah, if you hurry now, you can still make it." "Please go quickly!" "Got it, Hachiman. Sorry, I'm going right now." "Ah... okay, be careful on the way."
After logging out, Kirito immediately applied for permission to go out of the hospital and rushed home.
Among those left, only Klein was still puzzled. "Hey, what's going on exactly?" "I think I understand, Klein." "I sensed it too, Klein-san." "Agil and Silica got it as well."
"Klein, maybe Leafa has romantic feelings for Kirito and was hurt when she found out he was her brother."
"Ah—"
Hachiman's guess was somewhat off — since he had never deeply talked with Suguha in real life, he naturally didn't realize Leafa had already known Kirito was her cousin. "Anyway, this is not something for us to interfere with. Let Kirito handle it." "Right, let's focus on the practical matters first."
On the train, Kazuto (Kirito's real name) was thinking about Suguha. He had no idea why she was crying. 'No, even if there's nothing between Suguha and me, maybe there's something between Kirito and Leafa.'
Kazuto came to a conclusion similar to Hachiman's, but having little romantic experience, he didn't know how to face Suguha. 'Anyway, I just have to talk it out properly.'
When he got home, his parents were not back yet. He took a deep breath and knocked on Suguha's door.