-- Nineteenth floor, Larbek――――――

Today, Lalbek is one of the lower floors, and still has a special meaning beyond the usual floors - a cemetery.

Because of its special atmosphere and a lot of graveyard-like scenes, many friends of dead players will come here to bury their relics in the ground and let them be destroyed as a sign of worship.

For those who died silently alone, they were already lucky.

Somewhere on a small hill two kilometers outside the main block.

The leader of the DDA's raiders, the leader of the group with the highest defense in the SAO, has a heavy spear that makes it seem like Shurmit is dragging his legs to the top of the hillock.

He looked at something standing up under the jumble of low trees, and his body trembled violently.

It was a weathered, mossy stone tombstone. The Tomb of the Lady of the Golden Apple, the deceased swordswoman Grinseruda. The hazy moonlight that fell out of nowhere engraved the shadow of the cross on the ground. The occasional night breeze rustles the dead wood.

Originally, the trees and tombstones here were just ordinary terrain objects. The designer has no intention of casually placing a landscape-like decoration. But on the day of the Golden Apple's disbandment, days after Greenseruda was killed, the remaining seven decided to make it her grave and buried her sword - precisely, under the tombstone, so that its durability would fade away.

So there is no inscription on the tombstone. But if you want to apologize to Grinseruda, this is the only place.

Shumit knelt down weakly and crawled to the tombstone.

His forehead rested against the ground mixed with gravel, and after his teeth trembled a few times, he opened his mouth as hard as he could. Unexpectedly, he said in a very clear voice:

"I'm sorry...... It's me who is bad...... Forgive me, Grinthruda! I...... I didn't expect things to turn out like that...... I didn't even think about killing you!! ”

"Really......

With a wonderful echo, like a female voice from the ground.

Desperately holding back his consciousness and not letting his consciousness go away, Xiumit cowered and raised his gaze upward.

In the shadow of the winding tree trunk, a figure dressed in black silently appeared. A pitch-black full-body cloak. The sleeves hang down. At the bottom of the night, you can't see inside the cloak at all.

Still, Schumit felt strongly the cold gaze radiating from there. Covering his mouth with both hands that was about to let out a mournful sound, he nodded his head hurriedly several times.

"Really...... It's true, I don't know anything. I only ...... Just as instructed, ...... a little It's really just a little ......" "What did you do...... What did you do to me, ...... Xiumitt? ”

Slowly, with his eyes wide open, he saw a slender black line sticking out of the right sleeve of the robe.

It's a sword, but it's very thin. It's a one-handed weapon that almost no one uses.,Close penetration weapon "Estoc" [エストック]. On the circular section of the blade, which resembles a large needle, there are slight thorns that seem to draw a spiral.

The third is the "thorn of sin."

Babbling, a subtle scream from the depths of his throat, Shumit knocked his forehead to the ground as many times as he knew how many times.

"I ...... I was just...... On the day I decided to sell the ring, I found a note and crystals that I had put in my pocket somehow...... It has instructions on it.................."

"Who is it, Schimmer?" This time it's a man's voice.

"Whose instructions ......?"

The stiff neck tightened again, and Humit seemed to freeze.

He raised his head as heavy as steel and glanced over. Almost in the shadow of the tree, a second Grim Reaper appeared. Dressed almost identically, a black full-body cape. It's just that the height is slightly taller than the first place.

“…… Grimlock...... ”

Lowering his head again, Xiumit said in a silent voice.

"You too...... Are you dead too..................? ”

Death did not answer, but took a silent step. From under the cap, there was a distorted sound.

"Who is it...... Who is it that instructs you......? ”

"No...... I don't know! It's true!! ”

Schumit shouted sharply.

"Note...... The note was only written, and he followed behind the president...... After she checked into the hotel, when she went to eat and left the room, she secretly set the location of the crystals in the cloister inside, and then put the crystals in the guild's shared storage compartment, and that's all she could write...... I, that's all I did! I didn't even touch a finger of Grimseruda! Not...... Unexpectedly, the man not only stole the ring, but also killed her...... I, I didn't expect that! ”

Even when Xiumit tried to defend himself, the two Grim Reapers, did not move. The night breeze blew, stirring the withered shoots and the hem of the robe.

The sense of terror gradually rose and approached the limit, and a flash of thought flashed in his mind.

That day half a year ago. I took out the parchment paper from my waist pocket, and the moment I saw it, I was really surprised. At the same time, I was amazed at this ingenious technique.

Hotel rooms are usually automatically locked, and are usually set to be opened by friends/guild members, except for sleeping. With this, you can set the teleportation location of the cloister crystal in the room and invade while the owner of the room is asleep. Then, just use the transaction function and pull the other person's hand to the ring transaction confirmation button and press it.

Although there is a considerable risk of being discovered, Xiumit has a hunch that this is the only way to take away the props in the circle. The reward written at the end of the note is half the amount of the ring sold. If you succeed, you can get four times the amount in one go, and if you fail - the transaction will wake up and the only person who will be seen in the face is the person who wrote this jump, that is, the perpetrator of the theft. Even if this guy says something after this, he just has to insist that he doesn't know about it. If you just sneak into the room and set up a waypoint, you won't be left with any evidence or anything.

Although Xiumit was confused, this confusion was tantamount to betraying the guild and the guild leader. It's all about being able to enter the strategy group right away. There, as long as you contribute to help the game clear the level, it can be regarded as helping the president indirectly, and Shumit used this idea to justify his actions, so he did what was written on the instructions.

The next night, Humit learned of the murder of the president. Another day later, he found a leather bag containing the agreed amount on his bed.

"I ...... I'm very, scared! If I tell my partner about that note, I'll be targeted this time...... So, I really don't know who the person who wrote the note is!! Forgive me, Grinnseluda, Grimlock! I, really, really didn't want to be an accomplice to the killer. Trust me, please ............! ”

Humit kept pushing his forehead against the ground, uttering words mixed with a shrill scream.

Suddenly, a night breeze blew through, and the treetops made a rolling sound.

When the voice subsided, the gloomy echo so far disappeared completely as if it were a deception, and the female voice, which had lost its yin echo, sounded quietly.

"It's all recorded, Humit."

Heard - this is a voice that has only recently been heard. Schumit raised his face timidly, his eyes widening in astonishment.

Removing the pitch-black cloak, inside was the face of the victim who had indeed been killed by the robed Grim Reaper just a few hours earlier. Wavy dark blue hair, fluttering in the wind.

“…… ...... Yurco? ”

Shumitt, who spoke softly in a silent tone, then looked at the Grim Reaper, who was also revealing his true face, and was almost about to pass out, and said in a low voice:

“………… Cainz. ”

That's right, it's the two who seem to be dead on the surface......

――――――――――

Ye Chi continued to suck the tea, gloating at the two who had lost their appetite at all, "So according to my reasoning...... Actually, these two men were just trying to achieve some kind of purpose, and I guess it was probably related to Greseta's death...... You can't be trying to find the murderer, right? ”

"Well, that's well-founded, and in the conversation Yurco made a point of mentioning the ring—she didn't have to go into such detail, their purpose...... Probably to trick people who have ghosts in their hearts, right? ”

"So Shumitte, a man with a ghost in his heart, appeared." Kirito sighed, staring at the chowder stew in front of him, he had no appetite at all, and he didn't even owe it to pick up the fork......

"Now that even Yuerko is 'dead', as the 'last person' of the non-selling trio, Shurmit must be very panicked, and at this time, his words can be smoothly taken out, whether it is as a clue or directly for Shumi's crime...... In other words, they actually came to the conclusion that there are internal ghosts...... Don't look like a man......"

Ye Chi drank the tea, put the cup in the cup and pushed it aside, and immediately an NPC filled it up, he picked up the teacup again, and the old god always said, "Now all we have to do is wait, and when the two of them take action, we will escort them, after all, I really want to know how this matter will end...... Besides, if it's really related to POH and the smiling coffin, it's just the opportunity to kill ...... No, grab a couple of ......"

"Also...... I can't rule out the possibility of capsizing in the gutter, so if there is really a situation, Kirito will be responsible for moving the rescuers, Asuna will act with me, but don't come out in the dark, if I get trapped, it's up to you. ”

The two nodded solemnly, "Wrap it up on me." "Absolutely."

"Now our task is to wait...... I advise you to eat something as well, and there may be action in the evening...... From my observations of the cowardly Schumit, there is very little chance that he will survive the night without breaking down in this situation...... Asuna, you've added Yurko's friend, right? Keep tracking on and let us know if there's anything out of the ordinary. Ye Chi couldn't bear to watch the two of them hungry, so he arranged it like this.

At ten o'clock in the evening, just when Ye Chi's eyelids were already a little fighting-although he could farm monsters late, it didn't mean that he wouldn't be sleepy-Asuna suddenly said, "There's movement!" Nineteen-story tombstone mound! ”

Ye Chi instantly came to the spirit......

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The transitional chapter, which was supposed to end this event today...... It seems that the progress bar can't hold on......