Editing Sword Art Online:The Day Before (section)

===Part 3===

This is the wrong place.

That was the most reasonable explanation, so I apologized to Asuna and descended the hill, searching the fields nearby for two hours.

However, not only was there no log house, I wasn't even able to find any other forks leading to a new small path. Climbing up the first hill another time in melancholy, I gazed through the surrounding landscape yet again.

"......It was here, definitely..."

My voice unthinkingly escaped from my mouth.

A broad, lawny garden (merely empty land without a house though), within which a dense forest of coniferous trees stretches out; the towering pillars that support the outer circumference of Aincrad were visible beyond the grove of trees and at the very end was the infinite sky extending forever. This view remained fresh in my memory despite the gap of one and a half year.

But that particular crucial log house did not exist. I doubt it would have any effect, but even after I tried stepping into that blank space and walking to its absolute middle, the house showed no sign of spawning.

As I stood there frozen in a daze, the crunching sound of someone stepping over the undergrowth closed in, stopping right behind me.

I couldn't bear to turn around. Let's move to a log house on the twenty-second floor, just the two of us; those were the words of my proposal. If that house did not exist, wouldn't the marriage proposal itself seem like a sham?

"Asuna... —It's true. That house really was here."

It happened when I feebly spoke that line out, with my eyes lowered.

Cutting in right before me, Asuna slapped down onto my shoulders before she held my face within her palms, raising it up. Those hazel eyes were no different from usual, shimmering with a gentle light.

"I do believe you, isn't that obvious?"

She gave that simple declaration, released her hands, took a few steps back and continued.

"It must have been demolished due to some sort of circumstances with the system. It's a pity, but still, it's a very lovely place even without the house, so I'm glad that I got you to bring me here, really."

She spun around atop the emerald grass, her skirt fluttering. The scene of the afternoon rays of sunlight shining upon her long hair and silver bosom, reflecting off what hung at her waist, the glittering sheath of the rapier, «Lambent Light», was practically beautiful enough to be used for a promotional video for the game without requiring any editing.

—And I doubt she read that thought of mine, but after Asuna stopped to face me, she knocked on the belt pouch at the right side of her waist and spoke.

"Hey, we came all this way, so let's take some photos to commemorate it. I brought a photo crystal along."

"Ah, aah... That's right..."

I responded with a smile, but perhaps sensing something from my voice and expression, there appears to be traces of concern on Asuna's face.

"Was it that much of a shock? That the house disappeared..."

"Eh, no, not really, it wasn't really..."

I kept my face and hands as composed as still water, but the anxiety did not leave Asuna's expression. If this is how things are, it wouldn't be possible to simply smooth over my inner thoughts anymore, so I gave up and nodded.

"Well... I thought of various things for today in my own way. But it wouldn't work out without the house here, so..."

"Oh? Like what?"

It was difficult explaining with those large eyes staring at me so intently, but there was no use in getting embarrassed now after I've even proposed to her. After lightly clearing my throat, I tried to first enter the explanation system-wise.

"Let's see. «Marriage» in SAO is rather simple if you just consider the method. Switching to the Communication tab from the Main Menu, pressing the Marriage button at the bottom of the various invitation options and then target the other party... with that, it's finished if the other party presses the OK button. There's no need to even send any documents to the government office..."

"You wouldn't even have to give your greetings at my home, going, 'Please let me have your daughter!', huh."

As Asuna abruptly interjected with those words, I inadvertently imagined that forced event (not to mention the one who played the father role was somehow the leader of KoB, Heathcliff), making jolts run down my spine, causing me to shiver. Seeing that, the daughter... no, Asuna giggled, so after audibly clearing my throat, I returned to the main topic.

"An-Anyway! It's because the process of marrying takes only around five seconds that, well, how should I say this, I want to make it so that it'll remain in Asuna's memories forever; that's what I was thinking of. But unfortunately, we are unable to hold a grand marriage ceremony, so at the very least, I hoped to properly buy a new home and figured that it would be best getting married in front of that house, so..."

The latter half more or less ended up as murmurs while I looked downwards, but I somehow managed to finish speaking and exhaled a breath of air.

Immediately following that, I received a high-speed tackle which made me unsteady on my feet. The unexpected impact sent me falling onto my back, onto the grass, but it seemed like Asuna wasn't planning on delivering knuckle attacks after getting in a mounted position on me; she laid on my chest and gave a succinct whisper.

"......I'm happy."

"Eh, no, well, that's just what I was thinking of."

"Like I said, I'm happy. After all, Kirito-kun thought that far and tried so very hard to search for that house for me."

When I took a proper look, misty tears were running down Asuna's eyes as she grinned right before me. In response to this, I pressed my chest against her as well, wrapping her slender frame within my two arms.

We stayed that way, embracing each other for over two minutes on the grassy plains as a gentle breeze blew through, before Asuna's soft voice reverberated next to my ear.

"This is enough."

"Eh...?"

"I already feel like I'm blessed right now. So, shall we have the marriage here and head back for today? We can look for a house another time."

It's true that the afternoon rays bathing the upper floor's underside have been gaining quite the yellow tint to it. Nightfall will likely approach in another hour or two.

"I guess... you're right."

I rose gently while still hugging onto Asuna and inspected the verdant garden that grew out, as if to encircle the coniferous forest.

If we persist, we would definitely be able to find another player home that fulfils the condition of being «a detached house without monster spawns despite being outside the area, in a place with barely any visitors». It wasn't like we couldn't put a request to Argo the information broker either. Even if she's the «Rat», she wouldn't sell the coordinates to our new dwelling, probably.

Hence, like what Asuna mentioned, there was no need to get all hung up on that phantasmal log house. This lawny garden was memorable enough by itself; even if SAO were to be cleared, it should remain in Asuna's—and thus, my memory for a long time to come.

......However.

That is that, and this is this. Something remained stirring in a corner of my mind, completely unrelated to the marriage. If I have to describe it, I would say it was similar to an uncleared quest, with its solution unfound despite effort put in, festering under the log window.

"......Kirito-kun?"

My gaze recoiled with a start when my name was called out all of a sudden. Before I knew it, the thought, «I can tell exactly what you're thinking», showed itself on Asuna's expression right before my sight and my body stiffened up once again.

"Y-Yes?"

"...You were probably thinking, that is that and this is this, or something like that, weren't you."

Gulp.

A face that suited that particular emotion seemed likely to form, hence I seized the initiative of making a poker face.

"Eh, ju-just what would you be talking about?"

"I understand, you know. About your desire to find out the reason behind the disappearance of the house that was supposed to be here, at least."

—And so, it appears that I possessed no talent for poker. Denying it any further in this situation would simply deepen the humiliation as I have already learnt, so I acknowledged it with a nod as well.

"Well, that is to say, yes... Y-You see, it's way too strange, having a player home vanish by itself and all. You said that it was due to circumstances in the system earlier, but there aren't any GMs in SAO, so it's impossible for it to have been demolished through the management's instructions. Even if it's said to be the result of a program performing a cleanup, it's not like a house with unlimited durability could rot and neither earthquakes nor volcanoes occur in Aincrad... also, as for any of the other possible causes... let's~see..."

I was about to enter my usual conjecture mode as I spoke, but Asuna's index finger shot forward onto my mouth.

"Alright, pause! ...Well, we've been together for a long time. I understand that you aren't one to leave something like that alone, at least..."

Before she could finish her light sigh, I cancelled our poses.

"Th-Then, I know this is our precious break time, but could I... have just a little time to investigate?

Asuna softly went on about how she knew it would turn out like this and how it would just change the whole point of us coming, before taking in a deep breath of air and announcing thus.

"You'll only get until the end of tonight to investigate!"