Gently stroking Yui's sleeping little face, Xia Qianshi raised his head and stayed on Akihiko Kayaba's face.

"I selectively deleted her memories."

As if seeing the doubts in Xia Qianshi's heart, Kayaba Jinghiko put his hands in his pockets and said slowly.

"I believe there are some memories, and you don't want her to remember them, do you?"

“…… Thank you. ”

Indeed, that memory was too much for them and for Yui.

But then, it should be a relaxed and happy daily life for the family, right?

However, at this moment, Asuna suddenly pointed to his body and lost her voice and said, "A thousand things, your body ——?! ”

"My body?"

Xia Qianshi subconsciously raised his arm in front of his eyes, and then, the whole person was stunned.

Not only his arms, but his entire body seemed to turn into a pale golden light, and the light turned into a little starlight and dissipated, and his body gradually faded.

"What the hell is this—"

Akihiko Kayaba frowned.

- This scene is somewhat similar to when Kirito and the others quit the game before, but he clearly hasn't opened Xia Qianshi's permission to quit the game.

"Looks like I'm leaving this world......"

Xia Qianshi was slightly stunned, and then such a realization flashed in his heart, but this was something that had been expected a long time ago, and he had already been mentally prepared.

Taking a deep breath, he said to Akihiko Kayaba, "Is it okay to finally agree to my two requests?" ”

Akihiko Aoba nodded, "As long as I can do it." ”

"First request, please extract that child's data, at least to the extent that it can be resurrected in other games."

"No problem."

Akihiko Kayaba quickly operated the system, and it didn't take long for Yui to turn into a brilliant crystal, "This is the child's body, and today's VR games are all based on my research, so theoretically no matter which game you go to, you can resurrect her - in addition, I will back up her data to a USB flash drive and send it to your real-life address." ”

"Thank you."

Xia Qianshi took the crystal in front of him, looked at her with nostalgic eyes for a moment, and then handed her into Asuna's hands, "That USB flash drive, please send it to Asuna as well." ”

Kayaba Akihiko vaguely guessed something, but he didn't say it, but nodded silently.

"Second request ......"

Xia Qianshi paused, and then said, "I want to see this world again." ”

"As you wish."

As if using a teleportation crystal, a second after Kayaba Jinghiko's voice fell, Xia Qianshi found himself in an incredible place.

There is a sunset that will set the sky on fire.

Under the feet of the thick crystal floor, under the transparent floor, there are clouds dyed red by the setting sun slowly flowing by.

Looking up, you can see the sky dyed red by the setting sun stretching infinitely into the distance.

The endless sky has a change from vivid vermilion to blood-red and then to purple.

There was also the sound of a breeze.

Except for the clouds that shimmered with a golden-red glow, there was nothing in the sky, and a small crystal disc floated, and he stood on the edge of the disk.

"Great view, right?"

Kayaba Jinghiko's voice sounded in his ears, his gaze looked straight ahead, and following his eyes, Xia Qianshi could see something floating.

The object had the shape of a cone cut off from the tip of the cone, and was made up of countless overlapping floors.

If you look closely, you can see that there are many mountains, forests, lakes, and towns between the layers.

"Ayn Grant...... "Xia Qianshi used an extremely complex voice to spit out this ranking.

"The game will delete the data after thirty minutes." Kayaba Akihiko glanced at Asuna who came over, "During this time, I won't bother you." ”

With that, his figure disappeared into the space.

"A Thousand Things ......"

Asuna walked over as if to say something, but before she could speak, a whimper had completely blocked her throat, and bean-sized tears kept sliding down her eyes.

"Sorry...... It's already been said...... Face this moment with a smile...... But...... But...... I'm really sad......"

"Stupid ......"

Tightly embracing Asuna, who was flashing with tears and threw herself on her chest, Xia Qianshi leaned down, her lips ran down her eyelashes, eye sockets, cheeks, and then slowly fell on her cherry lips.

After a long kiss, the two finally separated, hugged each other and sat down on the edge of the disc.

There was still a lot to say to each other, but in this limited time, both of them chose to remain silent, turning their gaze instead to the infinite sky red by the setting sun, and the castle that floated in the air.

"Do you remember a thousand things?"

Asuna snuggled her head on Xia Qianshi's shoulder, pointed to the castle at the feet of the two, and said:

"That's where we first met, and I was so mad at you that I thought you were deliberately playing tricks on me."

"That's when I owe you 10,000 kol."

"It's not 10,000 kol, it's 60 million...... No! It's 100 million kol! ”

“…… It's a debt that will take a lifetime to pay. ”

"So no matter where you go, you have to come back as soon as possible, otherwise this money will only increase, and in the end it will be so much that you won't be able to pay it off in your life!"

"Hmm...... It seems that there is only that. ”

Asuna smiled softly and said, "And there, our original home, you remember a thousand things, right?" ”

"Well, I remember when you cheekily moved in just to use the bathroom."

"Who...... Who's cheeky? ”

Asuna grabbed Xia Qianshi fiercely, pointed to another place, and said, "That's where we first teamed up." ”

"Hmm."

"That's where we first held hands."

"I remember."

"It's our second home."

"Don't worry, I won't forget."

"And there, where we got married."

“……”

Until a certain moment, when the voice next to her no longer responded, large tears finally fell from Asuna's eyes and dripped onto a crystal clenched in her hands.

"Yui...... You have to wake up soon......"

The girl stroked the crystal in her hand and choked up and muttered, "Mother wants to tell you a story, a story that happened to two swordsmen, who knew each other, fell in love, and then got married. ”

Under the faint light source, the center of the crystal emitted a warm flash of light as if in response to Asuna.

(End of Sword Art Online, SAO)