"What are you hesitating for, Kirito?"
The perceptive Kizmel immediately noticed the hesitation on Kirito's face and quickly deduced the reason behind it.
She gently, yet firmly, said, "My identity issue will be resolved eventually. The most urgent matter now is saving Miss Nirrnir's life… That gentle lady's life should not end here."
"Besides… at this point, the relationship between you and Miss Nirrnir is no longer just that of employer and mercenary, is it? Rather, it's more like—friends."
"…Kizmel."
Kirito looked at Kizmel with a deeply conflicted expression.
Clenching his fists, he didn't know what to say.
Not knowing the details of Kizmel's situation, Kio sensed something was off from their conversation.
Tilting her head in confusion, she asked, "What's going on?"
"…Sigh," Kirito let out a soft sigh and began explaining Kizmel's current situation to Kio.
Originally, Kirito and Kizmel had planned to ambush a squad of fallen elves around noon the next day in order to retrieve some important items—four Elf Keys.
But now, because Nirrnir's life was in danger, Kizmel had given up on the plan.
After listening to Kirito's explanation, Kio pursed her lips and leaned back on the sofa in silence, gazing at Kizmel for a long while.
After some time, she straightened up again and slowly asked:
"…Do you all know about the 'Newu Simin'?"
The group, including Akimi, looked confused, except for Kizmel, who nodded and answered, "'Newu Simin'… refers to those who belong neither to the Dark Elves nor the Forest Elves—in other words, the fallen elves. To them, it's an extremely serious insult and provocation, so almost no one uses that term anymore."
"That's right," Kio said, sipping the red tea from her cup before continuing, "Remember when Miss Nirrnir mentioned earlier that Bardun was hoarding wealth to prolong his dwindling life?"
Everyone nodded.
Akimi stroked his chin and said:
"Yeah, of course. Using money to extend one's life sounds impossible, which made it very memorable."
"I asked the lady for details before, but she only called it some kind of 'Newu Simin' trick and didn't elaborate. But now that we look at the situation, it's likely Bardun made some sort of deal with the fallen elves."
Kirito added, "I also heard something similar from the guards in the Dark Elf prison—something like how humans are always easily fooled by these kinds of things."
"Only the fallen elves use such excuses to deceive people," Kizmel said with a shrug.
"But in the eyes of many humans, there's no real difference between fallen elves, dark elves, and forest elves. So they think that elves must have some kind of way to prolong human life."
The two boys immediately put on curious expressions and asked, "So is there really a method like that?"
Kizmel was rendered speechless by their question.
Her lips moved for a while before she turned to Asuna and the others beside her and said, "I didn't expect them to be exactly the kind of people the fallen elves find easiest to scam…"
Hearing that, Asuna rolled her eyes at Akimi, showing a look of disdain as she said, somewhat speechlessly, "Come on, Kizmel already said that it's just an excuse the fallen elves use for scams—can you stop asking questions like a child?"
But Akimi, completely unaware of his own foolishness, turned to Kirito and said seriously, "Exactly, Kirito. You're acting like your brain didn't fully develop, and your cerebellum didn't develop at all."
"…"
Kirito froze for a moment, then gave Akimi a deadpan look, like that "subway, old man, cellphone" meme, and said in a low voice, "Isn't there a possibility that… that this whole undeveloped brain and cerebellum thing also applies to you?"
Akimi, still completely oblivious, waved his hand confidently and said, "No way, absolutely impo—"
But before he could finish, Asuna walked over to him.
Akimi instinctively gulped, thinking, Oh no, I'm done for.
Without hesitation, Asuna punched him in the stomach and, with a kind smile and a sweet but firm voice, said word by word, "You. Better. Reflect. Properly."
If it weren't for the throbbing vein on her forehead forming a visible cross symbol, her gentle expression might've actually been convincing.
Seeing Asuna like this, Akimi coughed twice awkwardly, immediately straightened up, sat properly on the couch with his hands on his knees like a good kid, and said, "Yes, yes, I get it. I'll reflect."
The ever-mischievous information broker let out a sly laugh and said, "Oho Who would've thought that among all the top-tier players, Akimi's actually henpecked I wonder how much this piece of info could sell for in Korul~"
"Argo!!!"
Asuna's face turned beet red upon hearing Argo's words.
She suddenly charged at her, tackled her onto the couch, and started pinching Argo's cheeks, stretching them to both sides.
"Waaah!"
Argo let out a startled cry and tried to pry Asuna's hands off, but no matter how much strength she used, she couldn't budge Asuna's slender fingers.
Left with no choice, she mumbled incomprehensibly toward Akimi:
"Hey hey… Aki-bou! Your girlfriend's gonna kill me! Do something, quick!"
But Akimi simply stared at his nose and focused on staying calm, pretending not to hear—because let's be honest, he was in no position to help.
Asuna's battle power when she was angry had long surpassed the limits of normal humans.
He wasn't about to throw himself into the fire.
"Ar…go…"
Asuna growled through clenched teeth at the information broker pinned beneath her.
Then she let go of Argo's cheeks, slid her hands under her armpits, and started tickling her.
"Hahaha…! Hic… hahaha…! Hic!"
Argo collapsed on the couch, squirming like a worm—she had completely given up resisting.
After all, there's a saying: "Life is like being assaulted by a succubus—if you can't resist, then you might as well enjoy it."
After tickling for a while, Asuna finally vented enough of her anger and slowly let go.
Seeing this, Argo raised an eyebrow and thought, My turn. Draw—wait, no, counterattack!
She took advantage of Asuna's relaxed state, suddenly jolted upright, and pushed Asuna away.
Then she lunged forward and pinned Asuna down beneath her—thus, the roles were reversed.
Argo let out a mischievous "hehehe" laugh as she rubbed her hands together and reached her sinful hands toward the still-dazed Asuna's armpits.
But whether it was on purpose or by accident, her hands didn't end up under Asuna's armpits—they landed on that pair of large buns instead.
Argo froze for a moment, then actually gave them a squeeze or two.
This made Akimi, watching from the side, visibly jealous—he wanted to do that too.
While Asuna was still stunned, Argo quietly pulled her hands back.
A shadow passed over her face out of nowhere.
She crouched in the corner of the couch, ignoring the now-fuming Asuna, and placed her hands on her own chest, comparing with a gloomy expression.
She mumbled, "I don't believe it… I don't believe it… She's over two years younger than me…"
(Though, well… small ones have their own charm too…)
Asuna shot a cold glare at Argo, then mercilessly flicked her hard on the forehead.
After all that chaos, the unease, anxiety, and tension in the air had noticeably lightened.
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