"Yo."
"Pfft..."
"What's so funny all of a sudden...?"
After school, Shana showed up at their base in GGO. Hearing his greeting, Sinon couldn't help but burst into laughter because it sounded exactly like Hachiman-kun.
"No, it's nothing."
Sinon imagined Hachiman-kun obediently watching the house right beside her real body and smiled happily.
"I hear you've been eagerly joining pick-up parties lately. How's it going?"
"Well, not bad, I guess. There was talk about forming a squadron together, but I turned it down since it would make it harder to come here casually."
"Ah... Should we officially form a squadron after all?"
A squadron was essentially what would be called a guild in ALO. Forming one came with many benefits, but Shana had refrained from officially creating one so far.
"Isn't it fine like this? Let's just stay a 'phantom squadron.' It feels more legendary and cool that way."
"Is that so?"
It seemed no one else was coming today. Pitohui was absent due to a live performance, and Shizuka and Benkei were apparently out with friends for the first time in a while. Ikoma seemed to be gathering information in the real world to figure out uses for the massive amount of materials he had obtained. Rosalia might be conducting espionage somewhere, but she wasn't here.
Sinon stared at Shana, secretly hoping for some progress in their relationship.
However, Shana naturally didn't make any moves on Sinon. He simply relaxed, sprawling lazily on the sofa.
Actually, perhaps because they were compatible, Shana felt a mysterious sense of comfort when it was just the two of them. That was why he was lounging around doing nothing, but even Sinon failed to notice this invisible affection.
In reality, his affection for her rivaled what he usually felt for Yukino or Yuiyui, but naturally, Sinon, having zero romantic experience, couldn't possibly understand that. If Shizuka had been here, she would have muttered, "Sinon-non is a force to be reckoned with..."
"Hey... aren't you going to do anything?"
Seeing Shana like that, the words slipped out of Sinon's mouth. She immediately clamped a hand over her mouth in panic.
(Oh no! What am I saying... Shana might think I'm a pervert...)
She had inadvertently asked if he was going to make a move on her. Blushing, she stole a glance at him to gauge his reaction.
Shana's reply was this:
"I don't plan on fighting today, so I'm just going to take it easy."
"Eh?"
"Hmm? You just asked if I wasn't going to do anything, right?"
"Ah..."
Sinon replayed her words and realized that, yes, Shana would interpret them that way. Logic and emotion, however, were two different things.
"Right. That's the kind of person Shana is..."
"Hah? What kind of person is 'that kind of person'?"
"Nothing! Never mind!"
"I-Is that so? Sorry."
Wondering what her deal was, Shana returned to his original position and closed his eyes. But the next moment, Sinon grabbed his head and forcibly pulled him down toward her.
"Whoa!"
Immediately after, Shana's head landed on something soft. He opened his eyes in surprise to find a beet-red Sinon looking down at him.
"...Wh-what was that for, all of a sudden?"
"I-I just thought you could relax more this way!"
"I-I see... Sorry for making you worry."
Seeing Shana look troubled, Sinon panicked further and snapped at him, masking her embarrassment with anger.
"If you think so, then relax properly!"
"No... about that..."
"Wh-What? You got a complaint or something?"
"I don't have a complaint. I don't, but, uh... your thighs..."
Sinon looked down at her own thighs. It was strange to say it herself, but this avatar's thighs were nicely fleshed out and seemed very comfortable to sleep on. But in this case, the problem wasn't Sinon's subjective opinion, but what Shana thought.
Sinon asked timidly.
"Um... are they uncomfortable?"
Shana replied flusteredly.
"N-No, that part is... no, there's absolutely no problem with the comfort. The problem is, uh... the sensation, or rather, the exposure..."
"Exposure?"
Sinon stared at her thighs again and realized something.
Shana's head was resting on her thighs... yes, directly on her bare skin.
She suddenly remembered what her usual outfit looked like. Here in GGO, she always wore revealing clothes she would never dare wear in real life. Naturally, her thighs were fully exposed, as if showing them off to Shana.
"Ah... ah... ah..."
"You finally realized? So, I appreciate it. I really appreciate it, but more than that, it's embarrassing... you know?"
Saying that, Shana tried to lift his head. Seeing this, Sinon instinctively pressed his head back down onto her thighs to stop him.
"Whoa!"
"Wh-What is the problem with my thighs!? I don't think there's any problem at all, not a bit, not a hair, not a single speck!"
"What kind of weird Japanese is that...?"
"Shut up! Here, touch them directly and check! Stroke them, squeeze them, do whatever!"
As she shouted, Sinon grabbed Shana's hand and pressed it against her thigh.
"Wait, hey, that's bad! Get a hold of yourself, Sinon!"
"Just hurry up and enjoy the texture!"
Sinon seemed to have lost track of what she was doing. With swirling eyes, she frantically kept pressing Shana's palm against her thigh.
A voice called out to the pair.
"You two... no matter how you look at it, you look like a pair of idiots in love..."
The moment they heard that exasperated voice, Shana froze. Sinon, too, stopped moving as if she had suddenly returned to her senses.
Fearfully, they turned toward the source of the voice.
There stood Rosalia, arms crossed, looking at them with a mixture of disbelief and resignation.
"...Oh, Kitty Cat."
"Hey! Don't call me by my real name inside the game!"
"Uh, um... well..."
"Ah, don't worry about it. I know you've been like this lately, so I don't mind."
"Do... do I look like that to other people!?"
Sinon seemed shocked by Rosalia's words, but Rosalia grabbed Sinon's hands tightly and spoke with a serious expression.
"Our future depends on your actions, especially with that dangerous Shizu around! Ignore everything and push, push, push!"
"F-Future...?"
"Exactly! If you can make him think, 'Wow, polygamy is great, let's make it happen,' then there's hope for our future! And I'll sneakily join in at the very end... hehehe..."
"Ro... Rosalia-san?"
"Sinon, ignore her. Ignore her. She's always been disappointing like this. Now, let go of my hand, I want to get up."
Sinon blinked blankly at Shana's words.
"Why do I have to listen to your orders?"
"Wha..."
Sinon grinned mischievously at Shana.
"Opportunities like this don't come often, so I'm going to stay like this for the rest of the day. From here on out, it's all my turn."
"Sigh... do whatever you want..."
Watching the two with a hint of envy, Rosalia waited for the right timing to speak up.
"Here, you two. This is the list of players who have registered for the second BoB as of today."
"Oh, must have been tough work. Thanks as always."
praised by Shana, Rosalia blushed and turned her face away.
"I-It's not like I did it for you or anything..."
"I see. Well, you're my servant, so I guess it's natural."
"Wha..."
Shana began browsing the data he received while still lying down. Rosalia protested vehemently.
"Hey! Isn't the difference in how you treat me and Sinon a little too extreme?"
"Sinon isn't my servant. Pito gets the same treatment as you. Boom, refuted."
"Ugh..."
Sulking, Rosalia sat down at Shana's feet and began hitting his legs. Shana didn't seem to mind and let her do as she pleased. Watching them, Sinon laughed happily.
Scanning the participant list, Shana noticed something.
"Come to think of it, Pito's name is here, but Sinon's isn't."
"Yeah. I was thinking of going to register today. I have some questions I want to ask, so... if you don't mind, will you come with me, Shana?"
"Sure. Let's go then."
"Is it okay?"
"I don't have anything else to do."
Hearing that, the two girls released Shana, and the three of them stood up.
"Alright then, Rosalia, keep gathering info."
"Roger."
"Okay, let's head to the Governor's Office."
"Yeah, thank you."
Rosalia wandered off alone, and the remaining pair headed toward the Governor's Office.
"Come to think of it, is this the first time we've walked alone together?"
"We were alone when we first met, but we didn't walk anywhere. So yeah, this is the first time we're walking in the city together."
"I see. Then, since it's a first..."
Saying that, Sinon happily hugged Shana's arm, linking hers with his.
"Oi, hey, let go."
"No way. The world already thinks I'm your woman. It would be more unnatural to walk apart here."
"I never asked for that reputation..."
"You're a King, aren't you? You need to act more dignified and imposing."
"'King,' you say..."
Shana sighed and decided to let Sinon do as she pleased.
When they arrived at the Governor's Office, Shana leaned against a nearby pillar, waiting for Sinon to finish her input. Sinon beckoned to him. Wondering what it was, Shana approached.
"Is there something you don't understand?"
"It's this part here. Is it really okay to input my real name and address?"
"Hmm? Ah, the prize application. Is there something you want?"
"Yeah. There's something I want more than equipment or items. Actually, it's not so much that I want it, but that I feel like I should have it."
"This prize... it's a model gun, right? I see. You plan to overcome your trauma with it?"
"I don't think I can overcome it with just this, but I might get used to it a little. I thought... I shouldn't give up on making that effort..."
"I see... Yeah, I think that's good."
Saying that, Shana patted Sinon's head. At that moment, he felt a tremendous surge of killing intent.
He almost drew his weapon, but remembering he was in the city, he stopped his hand. Seeing Shana's reaction, Sinon tilted her head and asked:
"What's wrong?"
"I feel a familiar bloodlust from somewhere."
"Eh? I don't feel anything... Really?"
"Yeah. It's probably one of them."
"By 'them,' you don't mean..."
"Don't look away from my face. They'll notice."
Shana instructed Sinon to finish her input quickly.
"About your earlier question. Honestly, I don't really like this system that makes you input real-world info inside a game either. But if anything happens, I will definitely handle it for you. So input it with peace of mind. If worst comes to worst, you can just move near my place."
"Near Shana's house...? Okay, I'll move right now!"
"'Right now'? If you do that, you won't get the prize sent to you."
"Ah, right..."
"Well, it won't come to moving houses. Come on, hurry up and finish."
"Yeah!"
Next, Shana contacted Rosalia.
"Where are you now? How long until you can get to the Governor's Office?"
"I'm nearby, so I can be there immediately. Did something happen?"
"They are probably nearby. I recognize this bloodlust."
"Really? Understood. I'm coming right now."
"When you get here, ignore us and just photograph everyone around us indiscriminately. There's a chance your face is known as part of my faction, so don't forget to hide it."
"Roger."
Just then, Sinon finished her input and spoke to Shana.
"Done. What do we do?"
"Rosalia will be here soon to photograph everyone around us. Until then, pretend we're chatting happily so they don't realize we've noticed them."
"Understood."
Hiding their tension, the two acted like a close couple. Amidst the killing intent, Shana sensed other dark emotions—envy, jealousy—but being used to such feelings directed at him, he dismissed them as trivial.
Then, a message came from Rosalia.
"Kept you waiting. I've finished photographing everyone."
Hearing that, the instant Shana felt a spike in the killing intent again, he moved to shield Sinon and swept the area with a sharp gaze.
Immediately, the bloodlust vanished. Shana remained alert for a while but eventually relaxed his stance.
"With this many people, I guess we can't pinpoint them easily."
"Don't worry about it, Shana."
"Well, honestly speaking, it's not like anyone will die if we leave them alone. Wanting to track their movements is just my own self-satisfaction, really."
"It's definitely better to know something than nothing. We just have to keep being careful."
"Yeah."
Sterben and Noir had described Shana noticing their bloodlust as "dangerous," but that was actually an underestimation.
The two were so wary of Shana that they failed to notice Rosalia. Although they weren't pinpointed, their photos—along with those of the other random players—were now in Shana's hands as candidates.
Rosalia returned to the base first to begin the identification process. Shana and Sinon also began to retrace their steps to return to base.
Shana seemed deep in thought, walking somewhat distractedly. Thinking it looked dangerous, Sinon gently took his arm, linking hers with his just as before, and softly guided him so he wouldn't bump into anything.
Shana didn't notice and continued walking, led by Sinon.
(I hadn't even felt their presence for a long time, so I half-thought they had lost interest in a game where you can't kill people. I didn't expect them to show up at this timing. I'll try to track their movements if possible, but hopefully, they'll just learn to enjoy the game purely from now on.)
Suddenly, Sinon stopped, causing Shana to stop as well.
"What's wrong?"
"Um, over there..."
Shana followed Sinon's gaze and saw XeXeed and two others standing there. For once, XeXeed said nothing, just staring at Shana.
(Why is he looking at me with a face like that? Does he need something?)
Only then did Shana realize Sinon was clinging to his arm.
XeXeed stared at Shana and Sinon—who looked for all the world like lovers—then looked meaningfully at Yukko and Haruka standing beside him. Whether they understood his intent or not, the two girls stepped back with slight looks of distaste.
In that instant, XeXeed showed obvious dejection. He shouted at Shana with intense frustration:
"Don't think you've won with this!!"
Then, looking back at Shana and Sinon enviously multiple times, he walked away.
"...What was that about?"
"Fufu, I wonder."
Since Shana returned to his thoughts after that, he never told Sinon to let go. They resumed walking and returned to the base together on good terms.
Remembering her prior engagement, Sinon looked at Shana with eyes full of expectation.
"Hey, I promised to go hunting tonight. Do you want to come with me, Shana?"
Yes, the punchline duty fell to our usual suspect!
After stepping on the gas abruptly, I think the next few chapters will be a bit calmer (probably).
Next Time: "It is an Underestimation"
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