"Are you ready?"

"Uh-huh. ”

Kirito and Clyde nodded in agreement, and Lifa was about to take off after confirming that-

"Lifa!"

Suddenly, someone almost fell out of the elevator and stopped her, and Lifa lowered her feet to the ground again.

"Ah...... Reagan ......"

"It's too much, it's not too late to tell me to go. ”

"Sorry - I forgot ......"

Regan, whose shoulders were completely out of strength after hearing her words, raised his face and regained his strength, and said with a rather serious expression:

"Lifa, I heard you're out of the team?"

"Hmm...... Although half of it was forced by the circumstances at the time. So what are you going to do?"

"Needless to say, my sword is only for you, Lifa......"

"What—I don't need it at all. ”

Again, Lyfa's words made Reagan almost fall, but not enough to frustrate him.

"Anyway, even if that's the case, of course I'm going to leave with you...... I'd love to say that, but there's something I'm really concerned about......"

“…… What's the matter?"

"There is no definite evidence yet...... I'd like to find out a little more, so I'd better stay in Sigroot's team for the time being. Miss Kirito, Mr. Clyde—"

Reagan turned to the two of them with the most serious expression he could show.

"She has a bad habit of liking to cause trouble, please pay more attention!"

"Uh-huh. I know. ”

Kirito nodded with a look of amusement, and Clyde had a smiling expression.

"-Also, I want to talk to you about it, but she's mine!"

The scream at the end of the sentence was caused by Riffa stomping on Regan's feet with all her might.

"You don't talk nonsense there! I should be in the neutral zone for the time being, send me an email if there's anything!"

After a quick finish, Lifa spread her wings and slowly floated. She turned her head to Regan, who looked reluctant, and waved her right hand vigorously.

“…… When I'm not around, I have to practice flying at will. Also, don't get too close to the territory of the fire elves!

"Li...... Lifa needs to take care of herself, too! I'll be there in a minute!"

It wasn't long before she could meet the tearful character herself at school, but there was still a sense of parting grief in her heart, so Lifa had to hurriedly turn her face in another direction. She looked to the northeast and fixed the angle of her wings and began to glide.

Kirito, who immediately rushed to her side, asked with a forced smile on his face:

"You say he's your friend in the real world?"

"Hmm...... Sort of. ”

"That's ......"

"What do you mean by this......"

"No, I just feel envious. ”

"He really likes Miss Lifa, doesn't he? Uh~ This kind of youthful love, ah~ reminds me of the past······ And Miss Lifa, do you like him just as much?" asked Clyde with a teasing expression.

"I—I don't know!"

Lifa finally yelled when she couldn't take it anymore, and then sped up trying to hide her shyness.

Although he has long been accustomed to Regan's unabashed attitude, for some reason the presence of two people next to him makes Lifa feel very embarrassed, not to mention that the girl who looks exactly like her sister also showed a thoughtful expression.

Lifa can't help but have the illusion that her sister knows that someone likes her.

When I came back to my senses, I realized that I had left the town and came to the edge of the forest. Riffa spun around for half a circle, maintaining a backward flying posture, staring at the emerald street that was gradually moving away.

The thought of leaving Si Yiluban, where she had lived for a year, tingled her chest with a feeling of nostalgia, but the excitement of setting out for the unknown world diluted the sting. She said goodbye to the town in her heart, and turned away again.

"-Come, hurry up, fly quickly, and you'll be able to reach that lake in one flight!"

Lifa pointed her finger at the glowing lake in the distance and began to shake her wings with all her might.

The two kept up with Lifa's speed and started talking in the back.

"Clyde, will your friend be waiting at the lake?"

"You'll know when you get there. Clyde smiled mysteriously at Kirito's question.

"I don't think so, I think we should have been waiting at our destination for a long time, right? Kirito looked disdainful again.

"Tsk! I guessed it. Clyde pouted.

"Huh? I don't know you yet, the last time you made me mistakenly think that all my teammates were killed, only to see them at the door of the boss's room, do you know what I thought? I thought they were ghosts!"

"Haha! do you remember this—"

"Suddenly I feel like you're underwhelming······· By the way, Clyde, how many people do you have here?"

"Twenty or thirty, probably, after all, they said they were coming, but they didn't give an exact number. Clyde shrugged.

“·······” Kirito stares at Clyde with dead fish eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, I don't know. Clyde looked away.

"So, is there any news of Asuna? Don't tell me that your team hasn't investigated Asuna until now. Kirito's eyes froze, and this time he stared at Clyde with a serious expression that he couldn't 'joke at all'.

"Found it, the culprit makes you guess that the disgusting man, Shinyuki Sugo. ”

"Then why didn't you save her?" Kirito continued to question, completely ignoring the 'Shinyuki Sugo' in Clyde's words.

"If I could, I would have saved it a long time ago, but don't worry, now that we've been contacted, it's only a matter of time before Asuna is forced to come out, so it's up to you then, Kirito. With that, Clyde patted Kirito on the shoulder.

"Huh?!Rely on me?!"

"Save your best friend from the hands of the big demon king, isn't this the story of the hero~ After all, we will give you a foundation in the back, and then you just need to deal with the demon king with peace of mind, as for the other party, the dog jumps off the wall ······in a hurry." Speaking of this, Clyde sneered, "I've already injected poison into this world, and I'm still afraid of his GM permissions?"

“········” Kirito was silent, but judging by her expression, she should have breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's fine······ This is ····· That's it. Halfway through, Kiritsu spat out the staccato words from his mouth.

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