Shino let go of me and put her hand on her shoulder.

"You don't look like Vashak Casals or the Tooth King. Of course, the power you have is very powerful, and if you are not careful, you can get out of control. I've been able to use it, and I've saved and protected a lot of people. From now on, I will continue to protect our other players. That's right, Kirito. ”

Indeed, so far, I have mastered Lilan's power, worked hard to master it, fought a lot of boss fights, worked hard to not let everyone around me die. And I also promised that in this world and even after returning to reality, I will continue to protect Shino as a person.

"That's right. I've been fighting, thinking I'm going to protect everyone, I want to protect you. ”

"Then you should keep doing it, you should do it."

Shiina, gently moving her hands to her cheeks and caressing them calmly. I felt like I was surrounded by warmth, the exact opposite of the uncomfortable feeling I had before.

“...... Now, you have a terrible dream, and you are surprised because you have had a terrible experience. That's why the next time you wake up, you'll be fine. You shouldn't be so anxious anymore. World"

"Maybe so"

"Let's go to sleep again. I'm sure you'll be fine tomorrow morning. ”

I nodded, but there was still a hint of uneasiness in my heart. I think if I fall asleep, I'll have nightmares again.

\"Hey Shino, can you let me sleep in the same bed with you, Yui and Lilan?

"Okay."

Shino smiled softly. Seeing this, I got out of bed, climbed into the bed where Yui and Lilan were sleeping, and slid my body into the covers. Immediately after, Shino slid her body in front of me, and I, Yui, Lilan, and Shino formed a river. The bed Yui used was very warm and reassuring because Yui was already there.

"Yui, I hope you won't be surprised when you wake up."

"Don't be surprised, on the contrary, you may unknowingly find yourself sleeping with us, and you may be happy."

"In that case, that's fine"

I fell into a frenzy at the sight of Yui's cute sleeping face and the smile of my beloved Shino, but when I regained consciousness, I heard the breathing of Lilan, who was the first to worry about me. When I felt the warmth, my consciousness instantly faded and my eyelids suddenly became heavy.

"My power isn't just for killing people and monsters." I will use this power to protect everyone and bring them back to the real world safely.

As soon as I thought about it, my consciousness fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up with Shino, Yui, and Lilan, I was refreshed. As Shino said, I didn't wake up from a nightmare. Well, I don't quite remember what this dream was about.

"But when I woke up, I was a little surprised." It was still 5:30, and I woke up two hours earlier than Shino and Yui. And I felt refreshed and awake, so I guess I couldn't sleep anymore.

"Will you wake up?"

I got out of bed with a low voice, didn't make any sound, and went down to the first floor. This Ayn Grant recreates the early morning sunrise in May.

Walk to the window, stretch out in the sun by the mountain, and sit down on my usual couch. As always, Shino showed no signs of waking up. I'm thinking about doing it, but I'm not in the mood to pretend and I'm not in the mood to sleep.

If I could, I would like to make them breakfast when they wake up, but I won't make any. After all, I had to ask Shino to cook a delicious meal, and for some reason I felt a little frustrated.

"What should I do?"

As I propped my elbows on the armrests of the couch and placed my palms on my hands, my mind was filled with fog. I was taken aback by the images I had seen before—or rather in the dead of night—of Lilan's runaway dreams. I still can't forget

"Think about it, why do I have such dreams?" I don't have too much anxiety about Lilan, and I don't plan to let Lilan do anything wrong from now on. Is there still the impression of killing the "smiling coffin"?

The image of the destruction of the "Coffin of the Smiling Smile" was so shocking that it will forever remain in my mind and make me feel that my life is in danger. At that time, the sense of crisis has been haunting my heart, did it ring a warning bell for me? If yes, that dream

"Sometimes it's like this"

I wanted to talk to someone, but there were surprisingly few people around, Diabel and Asuna seemed to be busy with the strategic meetings of the Holy Dragon Alliance and the Knights of the Blood Oath, while Shino, Yui, and Lilan, the people who always listened to me, were sleeping. I couldn't speak because I was stuck. Even so, if you wait for them to wake up, the unpleasant feeling somehow grows bigger.

(Ah, I see)

"It's Alice." Alice is Shino Shina's most trusted psychiatrist, one of the game's developers, and Yui's biological mother. Perhaps Alice will be able to figure out why Lilan went on a rampage and where this unpleasant feeling came from.

"Alice, are you awake?"

Because Alice is the head of a church in a children's shelter, she may unexpectedly wake up early and prepare for various things. No, I may be busy, but I should be able to book a consultation.

I immediately opened the message window, wrote a letter to Alice, and typed the text with the light keyboard. "Good morning, if you have time this morning, I'd like to invite you to meet with me, okay?"

I thought she might wake up early because she was the hospital director, but Alice was also human, so she probably hadn't woken up at this time. I'm sure it will take me more than 2 hours to receive a response to my message.

As soon as I thought about it, I received the news that I almost fell on the couch. I wanted to know what happened or who sent it, I opened the message window and found the letters "Alice". Is she awake?

"Let's see"

Expand the message window and check the text inside.

"Good morning. You wake up early, don't you? I just woke up and Sasha and the kids were sleeping, so I was free. If you don't find it inconvenient, I don't mind if you come to the first floor now. \"

It seems that Alice has no problem consulting at this time. I thought he was busy because he was a director, but I was surprised and a little disappointed by how freely he spoke. But it would be nice if I could consult.

Shino: They woke up after 7:30, and if they came back in two hours, they wouldn't be angry or worried.

"Let's go for a minute"

Whispering, I put on my resort clothes, gray t-shirt and black pants, walked out the front door, walked through the fields, came to a town that was the equivalent of a village, passed through the portal, and flew to the first level of nostalgia.

The one-story city "Arhan, the city of origin" is characterized by stone buildings and trees lining the streets. When I got to the turnover, I couldn't help but be taken aback. The last time I visited, it looked like a ghost town with no people, and now, despite the early morning, there are a lot of people and adventurers coming and going, as well as street vendors. Moreover, when it comes to street vendors, all of them are players whose business skills seem to have improved.

(Really)

In the past, it was like a dictatorship ruled by an army of hooligans. However, Zink and Uriel disbanded and rebuilt their army, expelling thieves such as the Tooth King, and it was not just the thieves who died. Despite the unscrupulous means, it freed the first-tier city from military oppression and brought it back to life. If that's the case, it can be said that it is a town where children can spend time easily.

"This is what the city looked like after liberation."

Muttering, I happily walked through the bustling town to the church run by Alice. Passing through the crowd of people and being greeted by the vendors, I was soon in front of the church. Normally I can hear the noise of children inside, but now it is silent.

I walked into the church, thinking it would be quiet in the morning, and walked through the quiet corridors so as not to wake up the children and other kindergarten teachers. By secretly turning the enemy search skill, I was able to detect the presence of a player from within.

"Alice-san, I'm Kirito. \"

Knock knock, I knocked lightly on the door, and there was a response inside.

"Come in, Kirito-kun. \"

The familiar female voice is that of Alice, Shino's specialist. Judging by the news, it seems that he has woken up.

"Excuse me"

When you open the door and enter the room, the first thing that catches your eye is a set of antique furniture, which is arguably the best feature of Alice's room. Its chic, old-fashioned look made me feel like this room was a different place, going back in time to a bygone era. Among them, there is a bed that seems to have been used in the West in the past, and the figure of Alice, the target of today. But....

"Ugh"

"Alice in her underwear." No, to be precise, she put something like a white dress over her panties, but the fabric was thin and looked translucent, and both the panties and Alice's body lines were clearly visible. Moreover, Alice's underwear is red in color, mixed with the white dress, which looks reddish pink. No matter how you look at it, this outfit will definitely amaze people if they are seen by men. It seems that I am one of them, and in the blink of an eye, saliva overflows from my mouth, and I swallow it immediately.

"Yes, Alice Sand. \"

When I walked into the room, Alice was wearing almost exclusively her underwear, and she turned to face me. Maybe it's because I woke up, I feel really good.

\"Good morning, Kirito-kun. I didn't expect you to message me at this time. Thanks to this, I greeted you in my pajamas. \"

"Yes, I'm sorry. I didn't expect Alice to get up so early. \"

"I just woke up a little early today.

"Is that so? Or do you sleep like this all the time? ”

Alice looked at her body and nodded.

"yes, but what's the problem?"

"You can almost see your underwear in that outfit, don't you?" Even though Alice Sand is in charge of a church with children, isn't she?

I felt my face turn red and wanted to look away. However, when I barely held back and turned my face to Alice, I saw a mischievous expression.

"What's wrong, Kirito-san? Are you excited to see my body? \"

"It's not like that."

"Hehe" laughed, Alice opened the item window, manipulated the equipment model, and clicked the "OK" button. Immediately after that, Alice's outfit changed to the one I usually saw, and my attention shifted to it.

"To be honest, I only wore that outfit in a futon. I must apologize. ”

With that, Alice stood up, clicked on the item window, walked to the table in the center of the room, and sat down on the couch. Soon after, a teapot and teacup appeared near the center of the table. Alice picked up the pot and poured it into a cup. The orange-red tea was poured out of the spout with a "pop", and when the tea was one-eighth of the way through the cup, Alice stopped tilting the body and pushed the cup to the opposite side with her remaining hand.

"Come, sit down. This is tea, can you drink it? ”

"I'm going to enjoy having this"

I answered Alice's words as I sat down on the sofa in front of Alice, holding a teacup and enjoying the aroma of tea while drinking tea. I usually drink coffee, but maybe because of that, the aroma and taste of black tea feel somewhat elegant.

"So Kirito-kun, what the hell is going on? \"

"Oh yes. Actually, I had a nightmare last night."

"Nightmares.

"Uh, how do you know?"

"It must have been a nightmare battle for you. Moreover, you are on the back of the rampaging Lilan, swayed by the rampaging Lilan, and can only watch him repeat the slaughter. For the most part, I think it was like a dream. ”

As a psychosomatic medicine teacher and psychologist, I can guess my dreams from recent events.

"Yes. I had a dream that I was fighting a boss and when I jumped on Lilan's back, Lilan flew into a rage and killed everyone around him. ”

Alice nodded slightly.

"Well, you're worried that Lilan's power will get out of control."

"Do you understand?"

"People tend to fear that something like this will happen again after a terrible situation. You are one of them. I think I might do that.

I'm here. ”

"That's right." Even after waking up from a nightmare and talking to Shino, the clump of uneasiness in my heart showed no signs of going away. The next time Lilan and the human dragon become one, Lilan will probably kill everyone as violently as he did with the smiling coffin.

"I want to believe in Lilan myself, and I believe in Lilan.

"I understand that anxiety and fear, if there is a way to get rid of it, there is one."

"That's?"

"Honestly, take Lilan on the field, jump on his back and try to act together. Since you are afraid that Lilan will get out of control, you have to realize that there is no such possibility. Yuichi's way to do this is to do exactly what you've been doing and trying. If nothing happens, the fear in your heart will disappear. Re-running it will be fine. ”

"Replay? May I? ”

Alice put her hand on her cheek.

"I don't know. First, I had to find out why Lilan was out of control, but I didn't know why, and I was looking for a way to find out, so for now, I'd make sure Lilan didn't get out of control. Then you're relieved. Even so, I didn't notice anything unusual about that child when she woke up, so I thought she'd be fine."

Alice sighed softly and smiled at me.

"Moreover, you weren't swayed by the rampaging Lilan, you persevered to the end and finally stopped Lilan, didn't you? At the time I felt like you should stop it, what do you think? ”

"It's true that I was desperately attacking and preventing the replay." But it just happened to be going well, and if it happened again, I wasn't sure I would be able to stop it, and it was even possible that the rampaging Lilan would kill me before then.

"It just happens to be going well, so I can do it again"

"Bushwood, I know you're worried about having so many things you don't understand. But, Kirito-kun, isn't Lilan your best partner? Despite what happened to him there, he still believes in you. She's such a girl. I think that's the worst pattern, you can't trust that. ”

Alice covered mine with her own hand.

"Instead of regretting not believing it, believing it and regretting it. That's what you're saying to everyone when you're trying to rescue thinkers. Don't trust your partner, instead of regretting being in a terrible situation, be yourself. "It's better to trust a partner who trusts you and regrets it after a terrible experience, isn't it?

Alice's words took me aback. Yes, even with all this happening, Lilan still believes in me, and he still believes in me. But I couldn't believe Lilan because I thought he would be like that again.

"I'm sure we're going to have a boss fight from now on." Lilan's powerful power has helped and protected many capture groups to date. If I didn't use Lilan's power out of fear of driving Lilan mad, it would do more damage than driving Lilan mad, and I might kill the people I was supposed to protect.

"I see, I can't believe Lilan. But Lilan always believed in me."

\"That's right. So don't be afraid, Kirito-kun, I'm sure Lilan is okay now, just try riding on her back to release your power. If you believe in you, she will definitely answer you. \"

When Alice smiled, the remaining anxiety in her heart, which had suddenly become great, seemed to dissipate, like a fog lifting. If it were now, I wouldn't be afraid of Lilan. Even on Lilan's back, I think I'll be able to fight as usual.

"Thank you, thank you Alice Sand. Somehow, I felt like I could trust Lilan. \"

"I can believe it. After all, I'm a kid who has fought with you to this day, and I'm on Ayn Grant to this day. \"

As she spoke, Alice smiled again. When you get home, trust Lilan and try to jump on his back again. If there is nothing, I have to apologize to Lilan and apologize for my doubts.

"But after that, something came to mind." Alice is a former staff member of Argus and the programmer who created Yui and the other MHCPs (MHHPs that are sealed in this world). Maybe....

\"Well, Alice Sand. \"

"What's wrong, Kirito-san? Are you still worried? \"

"No, Alice, do you know who Lilan is?"

I told Alice all the mysteries I'd always wanted to know about Lilan. Alice listened until I was done, and when I was done, she finally spoke.

"Understanding the story is like he has a heart, sometimes healing the player, becoming emotional, fighting together...... Again, I thought, he is a kid with very advanced artificial intelligence. Hey, Lilan

Alice lifted her head slightly and put her hand on her chin.

"As far as I know, it's very similar to the MHCP pattern I made. However, this is extremely unlikely. ”

"How can you say that?"

"It's true that MHCP was created on the basis of MHHP, so it has the ability to learn and the ability to think in imitation of emotions. However, the models we prepared are all humanoid. But you're Lilan, you know, it's a dragon type.

"Then Lilan can't be MHCP"

"Ahh At first you compared "Lilan" to an event mission character, but that may not be the case. The planners and designers say that they have placed some event missions like grand quests in other games. I think I did. ”

"Don't you know?"

"I don't know. Others were doing test games, and I was too busy making mhhp and mhcp to do it. Designers and programmers secretly created advanced AI, and then did you set it up as a grand mission-level event mission role? ”

Of course, this game was originally made as a normal mmoRpG, so it is not surprising that there are such event missions. However, this is like a mission, and like Lilan, will it use ultra-advanced AI to the point where it can rival mhcp? If you do, reality will come to the surface, but if you ask me if I need to do something that far......

"She seems to have lost her memory, why don't you continue to force her to regain her memory? That's all I can say. ”

\"Is that so, I thought Alice-San would understand, but it seems that I will have to figure it out on my own. \"

"yes, it's important to think and reason, well, it looks like you've got over your concerns."

"Yes, thank you. But there's one more thing I'd like to ask. ”

"What is it?"

"I told Alice something I've been hiding in my heart for a long time."

\"Miss Alice, why have you been following Shino Shiina? In general, I think a counselor or psychiatrist treats any type of patient equally\"

The next moment, Alice lowered her head. However, I could see the mouth, and I could see the corners of the mouth gradually rising.

\"Why do I keep following Shiina? \"

Alice looked up as she spoke. Her face was as seductive as ever, with a suspicious smile on her face. With this face, Alice suddenly came to the couch where I was lying on her stomach and crawled towards me. I felt the illusion of slippery air entering my heart from this sudden movement.

Alice's big breasts are closing in on me, but her face is more stunning than that.

"I saw her because I liked her."

"I like you...?"

"I like that girl as much as you do. It's great that such an innocent girl actually killed someone with a pistol. No matter where you look for a certain girl in Japan, there is only that girl."

Alice brought her face close to me. Alice's breath with a strange smell hit me in the face.

How would such a girl's appearance reflect in your eyes? Hey, Kirito? \"

"Never." Is that why you look at Shino, Shino? Since Shino is a so-called murderer who kills people with a pistol, then she will be attracted to her, so care about her?

Alice heard that Serizawa was Shino's most trusted doctor, but he himself!

\"That's why you chose Shino, Shina!? \"

When I inadvertently expressed my anger, Alice left me without saying anything and got up from the couch. Then he turned around. Her face became calmer than before.

"I'm sorry to surprise you. Half true, half lies. ”

Alice looked out the window. I felt his gaze on Shino on the twenty-second floor.

"Even though she was in self-defense, she shot and killed someone, leaving a huge scar on her heart. Shino was the most symptomatic of the patients who came to see me. Maybe it's because of her that she has such a peculiar past that she's emotionally traumatized, and I sympathize with her. ”

Alice turned to me.

"Often, counselors and psychosomatics try not to empathize with their patients.

\"But I can't do that to Shino. "When I heard about the child's past, I immediately understood that this child was not the same as a normal patient. In the end, I was disqualified as a counselor, and I feel the same way. But I don't regret being able to sympathize with her and be friends with her. ”

Alice chuckled softly. Her smile is no longer the same as before, but cheerful.

\"That being said, she still found someone important, and I won't allow Kirito-kun to make her sad and hurt her heart. \"

"Yes"

"As long as you understand. Then, Kirito-san, this exam is over. Please return to Shino as soon as possible. \"

I left Alice's room almost empty, but immediately began to think about the relationship between Shino and Alice. The reason why Shino has an attachment to Alice is because Alice is a doctor who sympathizes with Shina. So far, he has only talked to doctors and only spoken politely, so the presence of Alice, who sympathizes with him, must be the warmest thing for Shino.

However, at the time, when Alice approached me, I felt that her face was too real. I immediately denied that this statement was a lie, however

(Really, what is that person?) Is that face really fake? ）

With this in mind, I left the church and headed to the portal to the second floor. At that point, my fear of Lilan was completely gone.