Hachiman arrived in town and sent a brief report of his return to Asuna.
As he started walking toward the teleport gate to the first floor, a figure caught his eye—likely a player requesting a weapon enhancement.
So that's the rumored craftsman, Hachiman thought. Might as well take a look.
Settling discreetly onto a bench, he decided to observe.
Why does that guy look so miserable? Wait, did he just move oddly? And that weapon he's working on… something feels off.
Hachiman couldn't pinpoint the source of his unease. Then, in the next moment, a clear metallic chime rang out, and the weapon shattered into fragments.
What the hell? I've never heard of a weapon breaking during enhancement. Better check with Argo.
He fired off a message to Argo with the details and headed back to his inn to rest. Lying on his bed, Hachiman mulled over the incident.
I've watched Liz enhance weapons plenty of times, but something about this was different. I just can't figure out what.
Lost in thought, he noticed two new messages. The first, from Asuna, proposed gathering materials tomorrow for Hachiman's weapon enhancement. The second, from Argo, noted that she'd been getting a lot of inquiries about similar incidents and would investigate further, incorporating Hachiman's information. Exhausted, he replied to Asuna and drifted off to sleep.
The next day, Hachiman and Asuna tackled the long-delayed task of collecting materials for his weapon enhancement, necessary for acquiring his martial arts skill. They returned to town, having made quick work of it. Apparently, while Hachiman was out questing, Lisbeth's blacksmithing skill had reached a level sufficient for enhancing weapons.
"So, Asuna, can your weapon be upgraded soon?" Hachiman asked.
"Well, I still need a rare material dropped by bee-type monsters," Asuna replied. "Liz says her weapon isn't great against them, so she suggested we go together once you're back."
"Makes sense. Let's wrap it up tomorrow, then."
"Sounds good. Thanks!"
As they spoke, a tall figure approached from ahead.
"Hey, long time no see, you two!" a familiar voice called out.
"Egill!" Asuna exclaimed.
"Been a while, Egill," Hachiman added.
It was Egill, a fellow player they'd bonded with during a boss battle. He filled them in on recent developments: Kibao had formed the Aincrad Liberation Squad with plans to establish a guild; Lind, another player, had taken up Diavel's mantle to lead a rival group; and a field boss reconnaissance was scheduled for later that day.
"Compared to the first floor, where we had to start from scratch, the pace of progress has really picked up," Egill said.
"Yeah," Hachiman agreed. "You joining the recon?"
"Nah, jumping in mid-recon might look like I'm butting in. I'll sit out the field boss but join for the floor boss fight."
"Same here," Asuna chimed in.
"Fair enough," Egill said, lowering his voice. "Between us, I don't really click with those guys. I'll do the recon but skip the field boss fight."
They chatted about the church and exchanged miscellaneous updates before Egill promised to meet again soon and left. The sky had darkened considerably, and as Hachiman and Asuna prepared to part ways, Argo appeared.
"Argo, huh?" Hachiman said.
"Yo, you two! Got a sec to talk?" Argo asked.
"Sure," Hachiman replied.
"Yeah, no problem," Asuna added.
"It's about that blacksmith from yesterday, Haa-bo," Argo began.
"Blacksmith?" Asuna echoed, confused.
Hachiman quickly filled her in on the previous day's events.
"Losing a weapon due to a failed enhancement? Liz never mentioned anything like that," Asuna said. "Is that even possible?"
"From what I dug up," Argo explained, "there's only one case where a weapon is guaranteed to be lost: when you try to enhance a weapon that's already out of enhancement attempts and fail."
"And if it succeeds?" Hachiman asked.
"It doesn't get enhanced, but it doesn't break either."
"So, what about this case?" Asuna pressed.
"Impossible," Argo said. "From what I've found, no one else has reported this happening—only that one craftsman."
She continued, "Since he's the only one skilled enough to take on enhancement requests, people just shrug it off as something that happens."
Hachiman frowned, processing the information. "Anything else on this guy?"
"His name's Nezha, goes by Nehza," Argo replied. "He's part of a team called Legends of Braves. Word is, their group's been doing pretty well lately."
"Argo, are you saying…" Asuna trailed off.
"Yup. There's a chance they're swapping out the weapons and selling them for profit."
"That's low," Hachiman muttered.
"It's fraud!" Asuna snapped, her voice sharp with anger. The thought of her cherished weapon being stolen that way clearly struck a nerve.
"Hold on, Asuna," Hachiman said. "I'm not defending him, but when I first saw him, he looked… miserable. Like he didn't want to be doing it."
"You think he's being coerced?" Asuna asked.
"Or maybe he's got some kind of debt or guilt, but deep down, he hates it," Hachiman suggested.
"Doesn't make it right," Asuna said firmly.
"Agreed," Hachiman said. "Argo, got a plan?"
"I want to see it for myself, and I want you, Haa-bo, to get a closer look. How about we set something up? You in?"
"Count me in. What's the play?"
Argo pulled out a one-handed straight sword. "I enhanced this with my own materials for testing. I want you to request an enhancement from him on my behalf."
"Fine, but how do we prove it's a scam?" Hachiman asked.
"As long as I don't equip another weapon, I retain ownership of this one, right? So, after the enhancement, we move somewhere else and materialize it. If it's gone, weapon destruction is possible. If it's still there, it's proof of fraud."
"Let's use my inn," Asuna suggested. "It's the most spacious."
With the plan set, the trio moved to execute it.
"Hey, I've got a request. You free?" Hachiman approached Nezha.
"Yes. Shopping or maintenance?" Nezha replied.
"Enhancement. I brought the materials."
"…Very well. Let me see the weapon."
Looking at Nezha's face, Hachiman thought, He really doesn't want to do this. He also noted that Nezha had only asked about shopping or maintenance, avoiding the word "enhancement."
"Properties?" Nezha asked.
"Speed," Hachiman replied.
As expected, the weapon shattered with a metallic clang. Hachiman had prepared to act shocked and saddened, but even though it wasn't his weapon, the sight hit him harder than he'd anticipated, a pang of real pain cutting through him.
"Alright, let's materialize it," Argo said later at the inn.
The weapon, supposedly lost, appeared without issue.
"That settles it," Hachiman said.
"Thanks, Haa-bo," Argo replied.
"Hachiman, did you notice anything else?" Asuna asked.
"Yeah… I think he was fiddling with some menu with his left hand, sneaky-like."
"Like this?" Argo demonstrated, quickly navigating her menu to swap weapons.
"Nah, faster. Like he pressed one or two buttons, max."
"No way… Quick Change?" Argo mused.
"Quick Change?" Asuna echoed.
"Yeah," Argo explained. "You know how you picked reduced cooldown for your skill proficiency, Asuna? Quick Change is an option in that category—it lets you swap weapons instantly. But a blacksmith using Quick Change? That's weird."
"Sounds like he didn't start out aiming to be a blacksmith," Argo added.
"Really?" Hachiman asked.
"Yup. Thanks for today, you two. I'll dig deeper into this angle."
"Let me know if there's anything else I can do," Hachiman said.
"You're kinda burned with him now, Haa-bo, so I'll loop in Kii-bo next. But if anything else comes up, I'll hit you up."
Argo thanked them and left. A heavy silence settled over Hachiman and Asuna.
"Why would someone do that?" Asuna murmured.
"Dunno," Hachiman replied. "There's gotta be a reason, though. When I first saw him, he only asked about shopping or maintenance—probably couldn't even bring himself to say 'enhancement.' And when I made the request, he looked… broken. Even after it was done, I felt it too. It wasn't even my weapon, but watching it shatter… it hurt."
"It's like no one comes out of this happy," Asuna said softly.
"Yeah. All we can do is trust Argo and Kirito to sort it out."
"They're pretty amazing, so I believe they will," Asuna said, her voice brightening slightly.
The conversation lifted their spirits a bit. They discussed the next day's plans, and Hachiman returned to his inn.