Editing Sword Art Online:The Day Before (section)

===Part 2===

And, so.

It's been a night since the proposal, it's the twenty-fourth of October, sometime after 2 PM. Asuna and I visited the twenty-second floor together.

We called upon the Knights of the Blood headquarters in Grandum, on the fifty-fifth floor yesterday and have already settled the request for both of us to temporarily withdraw. Even if it's temporary, we properly left the guild system-wise, with the guild emblem, the red cross, not existing on our color cursors any longer.

We exited the teleport gate at the main town, Coral Village, and as we walked towards the large lake to the southwest, I casually asked Asuna at my side.

"Hey, how long has it been since you joined the KoB, Asuna?"

"Let's see..."

Shaking her chestnut-colored hair, the fencer lightly tilted her head.

"I think the leader invited me in February last year, so... it would be close to a year and a half, I guess. It was right after the boss battle on the twenty-fifth floor ended, so..."

"I see... The KoB was made right after half of the «Force» got annihilated, wasn't it..."

I glanced up at the underside of the floor above.

Three floors above this peaceful one was the twenty-fifth floor of Aincrad that ended up being the next true trial for the players of the clearing group, ever since the first floor.

Abnormally strong mobs, compared to those on the twenty-fourth floor, obstructed our progress immediately after we left the main city and the field's topography was as complex as a maze; its difficulty created multiple casualties even while we were en route towards the next town. There were barely any NPCs we could obtain information from, while on the other hand, there were plenty of pitfall terrain traps which led to poisonous swamps and by the time we somehow managed to reach the labyrinth tower on foot, the clearing group players were at the end of their rope.

We roused ourselves with all the spirit we could muster, and the one who motivated everyone was the player who led the guild, «Aincrad Liberation Corps»—that's right, it wasn't a «Liberation Force» yet, back then—who was named Kibaou. His wanton cursing of everyone in that Kansai dialect got them into the mood through those "You bastard!" lines, empowering them to get back onto their feet.

However. That was how Kibaou, who was unmistakably regarded as the leader of the entire clearing group back then, got hooked onto false information spread by someone with the twenty-fifth floor's boss battle right before him. With only forty or so guild members that couldn't even make up an entire raid group, they rushed into the boss room first. As a result, over half of the Liberation Corps died... and the main force of the clearing group, inclusive of Asuna and me, finally caught up to them at that point, and although we didn't escape without quite a number of casualties as well, we managed to take the monstrous boss down somehow.

But the joy from crossing Aincrad's quarter point was lacking in everyone. The boss room was permeated in the cries of resentment from Kibaou, echoing throughout the place.

That was where he parted from the clearing group, bringing along the comrades who were still alive, he left for the first floor on the distant bottom. And thus, they merged with the mutual aid organization, «MMO Today», active in the Starting City—it was from that huge congregation, that the «Force» was eventually formed.

"...The entire clearing group certainly was in a state of despair at that point... The ones fighting on the front lines were suddenly reduced to two-thirds of what they were and no one even found out who was to blame for setting up that trap, so I guess that was only to be expected. ...Everyone had sullen expressions even on the first field boss strategy meeting on the twenty-sixth floor... but, that was when the newly-formed guild, KoB, proudly marched in. All of the members were fortified in customized white and red equipment; that really had an impact, huh..."

As we walked on the lake's bank, I recollected what had happened back then and spoke about them in halting sentences. However, the one at my side kept awfully quiet, so I turned to take a glance and strangely enough, Asuna was growing red at her cheeks and subtly looking elsewhere. I snickered in my mind and continued on, pretending not to notice.

"...Especially that sub-leader who stood at the head of the group; all of us... putting Klein and I aside, even Agil was mesmerized, you know. An outfit that was the exact opposite of all of those plain ones till then, that pure white sleeveless bodice with that deep red miniskirt and those white knee highs to top things off... in that single moment, how should I say this, the hearts of those clearing group that were becoming divided all came together and..."

Smack! And a blunt-type attack came flying at my left shoulder, stopping just short of causing damage and interrupted my words. When I took a look, that particular sub-leader had her face in a shade of deep red and her right hand clenched into a fist.

"Geez! Honestly, that time was incredibly embarrassing, you know! I thought that the leader would naturally be at the front, but then with his usual composure, he went, 'I believe we could achieve a much greater effect if Asuna-kun were to stand at the front', having that serious look on, so I went out there in despair!"

"Ha-Hah... —That reminds me, that equipment really was custom-tailored, right? Who came up with the design?"

"......All of the other guild members held meetings for the design countless times while keeping it a secret from me. When they first showed it to me, I rejected it with a 'I can't wear something like this!' and was told, 'The cost of even a single set of this was colossal!' by Daizen-san with tears in his eyes, so I had no choice but to..."

"...I-I see."

It seems that even the guild, Knights of the Blood, said to be truly the strongest with their ironclad rules, were up to pretty humorous antics at the start. That said, there was no mistaking how the debut of the KoB increased the morale of the entire clearing group at that time and have always stood at the front lines of this death game ever since then. —Even at this very moment, parties with figures clad in red and white must be carrying out fierce battles on the seventy-fifth floor, opened not so long ago...

I glanced up at the underside of the upper floor once more. It seems Asuna had read my inner thoughts from merely that. While gently holding onto my left hand with her now unclenched right hand, she spoke.

"You defeated the seventy-fourth floor's boss mostly by yourself, Kirito-kun. You barely had even two or three pixels left in your HP bar. Even if you get away from the clearing for a little while, no one would complain."

"...If the reason for my break were to be exposed, I'll probably get complaints from everyone around, though."

I gave that retort sprinkled with laughter and returned Asuna's gesture. The sub-leader showed an expression unsure of whether to get angry or embarrassed and I gave a short chuckle.


After going about halfway round a large lake, with a diameter of likely one kilometer, noticeably imposing Japanese cedar—or at least, coniferous trees that looked like them, were sprouting up high. When stared at closely from somewhere near those grand roots, the wide path of the lake shore could be seen splitting into a thin, narrow path heading southwest.

"...You found this path? You sure are just as observant of these sorts of hidden routes as always."

I took those thoughts as a compliment and puffed out my chest.

"Back then, I didn't even have «Detection» Mob<!-- source text was a typo --> from the Searching skill, so I found it with only my eyes and instincts. You can see the house right after climbing that hill."

With that, Asuna's face beamed with joy in an instant as well, this time.

"I wonder what the house is like, I'm really looking forward to it! Let's hurry!"

"......Hey, Asuna-san, it's really a log house with nothing unusual, so even if you anticipate it that much, nothing will..."

"Well, it has always been my dream to live in a log house ever since I was small. I would be totally, completely and absolutely satisfied if it just has a Russian stove<ref>A unique type of oven/furnace used for both cooking and heating. Originally "pechika".</ref> and a rocking chair!"

Asuna quickly climbed the hill as she spoke, making me chase after her in a hurry. A rocking chair can just be bought from a furniture store, but really now, I can't possibly be expected to recall if there was a Russian stove. No, it's not definite that there wasn't one. The reason why I found the log house just ahead a year and a half before was for the sake of this very day. If this is the guidance of fate, there must be a Russian stove there as well.

While praying for the existence of a chimney atop the log house's roof, I ascended the hill several seconds after Asuna. I moved beside Asuna, who was standing still in silence and searched for a chimney with my eyes opened wide.

——However.

It wasn't there.

Not the chimney.

What spanned out before our eyes was a round space covered in verdant undergrowth, without even a single man-made object of any sort... in other words, the house itself did not exist.