After Shiina's words, Alice's expression was as if she had lost the ability to hear the children's voices.

"I see, I see, the head of the Knights of the Blood Oath, Heathcliff, is actually Mr. Kayaba. And Mr. Kayaba is the final boss of this game, huh? \"

"Yes. Everyone was very upset and shocked. ”

Alice took a sip of her wine, looked at the ice cubes inside, and sighed.

"There are quite a few people in town who believe that Heathcliff will eventually clear the level. But if you're saying that's how Mr. Kayaba becomes the final boss, then I think you're right. \"

Alice's gaze shifted from the ice cube to Kirito.

"Kirito-kun has seen through the true identity of Kayaba-san, and in order to unlock the game, he and Kayaba-san have launched a massacre."

Kirito nodded reluctantly, but Rifa immediately turned to face Kirito.

\"What big brother, why are you doing this!! \"

"Because if you defeat him, Lifa, Shina, Asuna, Diabel, the children here, and everyone trapped in Ayn Grant will be released.

"I had no choice but to accept it."

After Kirito finished speaking, Alice threw the ice cube into the cup.

\"In the final battle, when I was about to take out Kirito-kun, Kayaba-san suddenly disappeared. Left behind the shield "Mad Conqueror"

After that, Heathcliff's shield was recovered and given to Diabel, who fought with equipment similar to Heathcliff's. - According to myself, Heathcliff's items don't give the impression that they will go away, so they will be used after repainting.

"Yes. At that time, the grass field disappeared like a program with a memory destroyed. \"

\"Well, Kayaba-san, when you say that, I saw it on a video site when I was your age, and I couldn't help but laugh in a cheating video. But with this game, that's not possible. Should be

Ye Xiu swallowed all the food in his mouth and nodded.

"Yes, that can't happen. The cardinal system that oversees this world is constantly monitoring and preventing this from happening. ”

\"Well, it's my daughter, you know quite a bit. Well, I know more than you know. \"

Sasha looked at Yui and Alice alternately, tilting her head.

"Hah, cardinal system? Is Yui Alice-sensei's daughter? \"

Alice says "oops" and smiles at Sasha.

"Sorry, it's a trade secret here, so please don't think too much about it."

Sasha turned to face Alice and tilted her head.

\"Teacher Alice, what did you do?" \"

"What, psychologists and psychiatrists?"

Sasha tilted her head, a question mark on her face. Alice turns from Sasha to Kirito.

"Let's get back to business. As Kirito-kun said, something must have happened to Kayaba-san. But with the protection of the cardinal system, that is impossible. The answer we can draw from this is \"

Kirito thought of the answer in his heart, but the answer sent chills down his spine.

Basically, this game is governed by a cardinal system, but at the same time it is protected. So players can face the fall of this castle without worrying about bugs, but what happened to Akihiko Kayaba at that time would not have been possible if it had been protected by the cardinal system. There was only one answer to this, as Alice said, and in their opinion, this was what they feared the most.

"Wouldn't it, the cardinal system is down!?"

Alice placed the cup on the table with a serious expression.

"I think that's the closest thing to the right answer."

"Is it possible for the cardinal system to be paralyzed?"

"It's not an impossible story. In fact, the world is so intrusive that it attracts ALo players like Leafa and Araki. Security vulnerabilities were exploited, hackers and crackers entered. I've told you before that it's not an interesting story. ”

Lifa grimaced, as if remembering something. \"

"Yes, the fugitive! ”

"Yes, it seems that what I feared before has become a reality.

The "Broken Man", who was eyeing Ayn Grant, with his inherent technological power, entered and paralyzed the cardinal system to a certain extent, cracking Mr. Kayaba, stopping his movements, and eliminating him. Isn't that the kind of place? ”

Hearing Alice's words, those who knew the "fugitives" trembled. However, the children around her didn't seem to notice, and Lilan said with a sigh of relief.

As Lilan said, even if the "fugitive" appeared here at SAo, he would not make such a move for no reason. No, first of all, the "Runaway Man" suddenly appeared in the online world, and the name "Runaway Man" comes from the method of disrupting the Internet-related society. The truly mysterious existence is only mentioned by the media, and its address, mission, age, and even gender are unknown. Therefore, I do not know what the purpose of the destruction of the "fugitives" is, and I do not know what the reasons are.

Kirito said while thinking about such a thing in his heart.

"I don't know what the purpose of sabotage is, if there is some religious reason, if it's because terrorists like sabotage, or because I want to see social panic. Are you a happy criminal? ”

Asuna said to Kirito after taking a sip of the drink in the cup.

"I think the last point is the most important, in fact, the 'fugitives' are likely to fire politicians, attack the media, manipulate stock prices. When it comes to chaos, I can only think of you. "As a funny criminal who likes to disturb society."

Sabotage operations targeting important areas of the country, such as the police, the mass media, and politicians, panic if attacked. Listening to everyone's narration, Shino thinks that her extremely peculiar way of doing things is bringing chaos to society and the country, and that she is nothing more than a ridiculous criminal watching from afar. When I was in the real world, I found out in books and on the Internet that there was an interesting crime incident in which a terrorist attack was planned against a large candy manufacturer, leaving the police and the media exhausted.

In contrast to this information, the methods of the "fugitives" are also aimed at the police, the mass media and politicians, and their goals are in line with the events of the funny criminals of the past.

"Asuna and I have the same opinion. "The runaway is an interesting criminal.

Alice grimaced, as if she had thought of something.

"Think about it, a knowledge-hungry hacker AI will make a mess of the online society, making everything from the mass media to the police, fire departments, and even the railroad a mess, and finally knock out a satellite, the ground. The story is an animated film from about 15 years ago.

"Isn't [broken man] also a hacker AI?"

When Kirito spoke with her eyes half-open, Alice smiled wryly.

"Nope. I don't know what to say, but that's impossible. If I could do something like that, it would be a job I'd be proud of, Jupiter is here, Martell is somewhere in this world. Yes"

Hearing Alice's words, Asuna turned her head to look at Jupiter, who was sitting next to her. Jupiter was so engrossed in his eating that he didn't notice what I was looking at, but the child's mental age was the opposite, and he had almost forgotten what he could do.

It was possible to do such a thing when it was still under Alice's care, or rather, while it was in development, but Jupiter probably couldn't do it now. Originally, Asuna's real intention was not to let such an innocent Jupiter do such a thing.

"Is it possible that Martell escaped from SAo and did something like 'Breakfast Man'?"

Lifa's words made Alice frown.

"It is true that she was once released into the Internet world, but it was not until after the appearance of the 'Broken Man' that she gained the ability to hack and crack, and for the first two years, Martell was completely sealed and could not even enter the online world. And, I read, Martell's seal was broken because of the "Broken Man". Martell = EqualityThere is no such thing as "Martell". 'Runaways'. ”

After Alice finished speaking, she poured a drink that looked like black tea into the cup.

"Either way, the 'saboteurs' must be lurking in this world and starting to do bad things. If you find him, please talk to me, because the "Saboteur" is probably aimed at the world and the players who want to do bad things. "Living in this world."

Kirito and the others gasped. While the world is about to kill them, if the "ravages of people" become the beings that kill the player, then one day, they will be killed without warning. Just thinking about it makes me shiver from the bottom of my stomach.

"Well, I don't know if this is really the work of the 'Breakout', and I don't know if the purpose of the 'Breakout' is malicious. Yes, let's enjoy this barbecue party. ”

Alice said this and laughed, but after all, everyone couldn't forget the story of the "fugitive man", and the speed of delivering meat to her mouth was much slower. Among them, Yui didn't stop her chopsticks as soon as she didn't stop it, and the only ones were AI Yupiteru and Yui.

"That night, at 11:30."

At Alice's suggestion, Kirito and the others decide to spend the night in an empty room in the church. At first, they all said they were okay because they were going home, but Alice said, "You guys are already very tired from the intense fighting and the experience of not being able to adapt.

"Why don't you go to Tonight to rest and stay in church." So, Kirito and the others decided to follow Alice's advice and spend the night in the church.

At the time, Shino thought that Kirito's sister Rifa would live in the same room as them, but it turned out that she lived in the same room as Asuna, Yuki, and Jupiter.

Used by Kirito, Shino, Yui, and Lilan.

At first I didn't quite understand why, but then Asuna whispered, "After all this happens, spend more time with your family." "I see, it's Asuna's arrangement to get us back to the room.

To be honest, Shino wanted to spend time with Kirito, Yui, and Lilan, so I thought Asuna's arrangement was very thoughtful.

However, perhaps because she was satisfied with her stomach, Yui went to bed as soon as she entered the room. It didn't end there, probably exhausted from the battle, Kirito and Lilan fell asleep in the blink of an eye. I thought I would be able to survive the battle of life and death safely and spend time with my family again, but Shino was very disappointed because all my family members were asleep except for herself.

Since there was no way, Shino also turned off the light and wanted to sleep, but found that the bed was full. Of course, the reason is that Kirito, Yui, and Lilan are asleep in their usual state. If Shino is added here, a gorgeous river character can be completed. That's when I realized that the bed was about the same size as the one I usually use.

Shino quietly burrows into the bed without making any noise - so as not to wake up her beloved husband and daughter in this game. Maybe it's because there are already three people inside, and the quilt has always been comfortable and warm, and as soon as I put it on, my whole body warms up.

In front of me is the figure of my loved one, who is sleeping peacefully. After participating in this game, the people I love, the people who love me. Kirito, Yui and Lilan.

The warmth that these three people brought to me is something I would never get in the real world. When I got into this game, I wondered why I got into this world, but now I can't help but think that I would have fallen into this world sooner and that Kirito and I would have had a better life I almost regretted not seeing Lilan and Asuna anymore.

On the day of the event, there was a cold world with nothing but ice and snow - there is no doubt that it was Kirito and Yui who melted the ice and snow and turned it into a warm world. Yui, in particular, after doing something like this, is convinced that she has no right to call herself a mother, she calls herself a mother and acts like a real daughter. No, I think she's my biological mother.

Now that I think about it, when I was in the real world, I completely closed my mind. Yui opened the closed heart.

However, it all started with his encounter with Kirito. It is no exaggeration to say that I became who I am today because I met Kirito for the first time, and I came to believe that the time I spent with Kirito was the happiest time of my life.

"But at that time." When Kirito begins to fight Heathcliff, who admits that he is Akihiko Kayaba, he feels like he is no longer alive. Kirito is dead. Kirito disappears?? In front of me. He didn't want to believe it and blamed Kirito, but at this time, Shino's heart was filled with the fear that Kiritto would die.

At that time, if Heathcliff hadn't died, he stabbed Kirito in the chest with his own blade and cut off Kirito's life, just thinking about it reminded me of the fear at that time and filled my heart. Dominate. Very worried that I won't be able to do anything on my own.

\"Whenever I feel this fear, I always rely on Kirito. "Kirito can dispel this fear.

"Kirito is sleeping right now, but I want to wake him up. \"

"I want to hear Kirito's voice. \"

\"I want Kirito's warmth. \"

\"I want to spoil Kirito. \"

“！”

At this time, a voice sounded in Shino's heart. It's my own voice, not someone else's.

"I can't, I thought I wanted to be strong, but I couldn't do anything. If I did, I would be scared and unbearable."

"I've always wanted to be stronger." However, I was weaker than I thought I was, and I wasn't strong at all. Not only that, but after meeting Kirito and them, he was indeed able to get warm days, but because of this, he developed a strong fear of losing them.

\"What if I wake up tomorrow and find Kirito not there? \"

"What if I wake up and Yui isn't around?"

Just thinking about it makes my heart cut and my heart breaks. After coming to this world, Shino found that although it was true that a part of herself had become strong and able to open her heart, that part of her heart had become weaker.

"I, sure enough"

The corners of my eyes suddenly became hot, and I was about to cry. - That's when I noticed it again.

"By the way, this one too." When I was in the real world, I didn't cry much, but when I came to this world and saw Kirito, I cried a lot. It's not a trivial matter, but I'm more prone to tears than in real life.

"It's useless."

Shino muttered under her breath, remembering someone in her head. There is only one person in this world who is as important as Kirito Yui. That person owed me in the real world and still owes me a debt to me. At times like these, when you can't help yourself, if you go there, you will be well advised and healed.

"Let's go"

Shino stood up as quietly as she could, called out the window, put on her usual hoodie over her pajamas, dressed very simply and lightly, and left the room. The hallway outside the door was dimly lit by a few small lamps on the wall.

Luckily, everyone seemed to be asleep, there was no sign of anyone, and there was no sign of Asuna and the others coming out of the next room. Empty hallways in the middle of the night.

Shino tried not to let the footsteps pass through, and finally stopped in front of the door of the first room. This is Alice's room, the nurse administrator of the church and his former teacher, who has suffered a great emotional injury.

"At this time, he may be sleeping, otherwise he probably wouldn't have come out if I knocked on the door." Still, I'd like Alice to check how I'm feeling right now. Please come out and give me the answer. Shino prayed in her heart, and then gently knocked on the wooden door in front of her with her fist. I didn't say anything.

"Who is this time? Is it salsa? ”

A familiar voice came from inside. After a while, the door slammed open - the teacher, who had never seen anything like this, appeared, but he didn't care. Not only that, but the person on the other side also showed a surprised expression on my clothes.

\"Isn't this Shino?

Hearing this, Shino-Katsuno replied in a whisper.

\"Lady Eli, is it okay now? \"

Alice - Arily smiled as her eyes widened.

\"Is that so? Okay, Shino. I'll check it out for you, come in and sit down. \"

Shino nodded slightly, and stepped into Alice's room in this world, she had been here several times. The first thing that catches your eye is the antique furniture, but Shino doesn't care, and sits down on the sofa near the table in the center of the room. Alice immediately sat down next to me.

"Can't you sleep?"

Shino nodded slightly.

Alice replied as if she had guessed.

"Well, I did have a terrible experience. If not being able to sleep is a matter of course, is it a matter of course? What about Kirito-kun? \"

"Kirito is sleeping. I can't sleep alone. \"

I see. Ever since I met Kirito-kun, I thought that I would never see you again and that you would be doing well, but that doesn't seem to be the case. What is hidden in your heart? Is this still the case? \"”

"No, it's not about the real world. It's about the world. ”

"What about this world?"

"Yes"

After saying that, Shino confided everything to Alice. Things I've been thinking about since the end of the battle on the 75th floor, and everything I realized just now.

After Shino finished speaking, Alice sighed softly.

\"Kirito-kun, Yui, and Lilan, who love me so much, are all great, but this time I'm afraid of losing them. Is that what you mean? \"

Shino just nodded slightly. Alice continued.

"It is true that you can be happy while having someone who is important to you, but at the same time, many times you will worry about losing those people. Maybe it's just something to take for granted. ”

"Airi-sensei, I want to be stronger."

"Yes"

Hearing Shino's sudden words, Alice closed her mouth. Shino lowered her head and continued.

"I've been happy since I met Kirito. Kirito protected me. That's why I've always thought about protecting Kirito, so I'm going to get stronger. \"

Alice folded her arms.

"From the moment you come to the real world, you want to be strong. But isn't it a good thing that you wanted to be strong in the first place, in order to overcome the trauma so that you could live independently? "From being able to live to protecting the people you love?"

"yes, but I think I'm getting weaker."

"Are you weaker?"

"Yes. What if the happiness I have now suddenly disappears, what if Kirito dies in front of me, what if I wake up in the morning and find that Kirito is no longer there I shouldn't think about it, but I do. \".Yes"

Alice placed her hand on Shiina's trembling shoulder.

"Since when?"

"Heathcliff and Kirito fight, when Kirito was about to be killed. At that time, I really couldn't do anything but watch Kirito be killed. I thought I was trying to protect Kirito, but that time I really felt helpless.

"I see"

Alice was silent for a moment, then finally spoke again.

"Indeed, you are placed in a harsh environment from which you can never escape. And this is what Kirito-kun's existence continues to bring, and if Kirito-kun dies, everything will be over - it's so natural. Thinking about it this way, I'm also afraid of losing, there are too many things. ”

\"Is Teacher Alice too?" \"

"Oh, yes, that's why you have that idea. You are afraid of losing your happiness, and you don't want to lose it. When you're in the real world, that doesn't happen. ””

"When I'm in the real world, it's like I don't have anyone who matters to me." No, I thought it was important to me to protect my mother, grandfather, and grandmother from bank robberies, but when I went to high school in Tokyo and started living on my own, I didn't think that way anymore.

"It wasn't before"

That's why after meeting Kirito-kun, you had such an idea. Still, if you succumb to that anxiety, there's no point. \"

Alice hugged Shiina's body from the side. Alice's unique warmth envelops her whole body.

"It's natural to worry and fear that you're going to lose your happiness. It's not a weakness, it's that you're a lot stronger than you were in the real world. Because you get stronger, you start to have this ability. "Anxiety."

"Really"

"Yes, don't worry about fear and anxiety, you're getting stronger. If you become stronger than you are now, I am sure you will no longer have fear and anxiety. ”

"How can I do this?"

Alice strokes Shiina's back.

"It's simple. Believe in yourself and love yourself. ”

"Do you believe in yourself?"

\"That's right. Because until now, you have been denied every day, so you can't believe in yourself anymore. You're strong enough that you can even protect Kirito-kun if necessary. You can't believe it yourself. \"。

“”

"That's right." Until now, I have always believed that I am a murderer, a person who should not be happy, and I have always lived like this. I don't like myself at all, I don't have any confidence at all.

\"So, Shino. You should believe in yourself a little more and try to love yourself. If you do this, you will definitely get stronger, both physically and mentally. \"

"Really"

"Yes, it doesn't matter, you can, because you are a person who can be loved well, a person who can be loved, you have to love yourself to love others. Well, if you love too much, you're just a narcissist. ”

Alice's last sentence almost unconsciously shed tears, but Shino felt warm in her heart. Indeed, until now, Shino has not been able to believe in herself. As Airi says, a lack of confidence can lead to a fear of losing Kirito, Yui, and Lilan.

"You're not the type of person who shouldn't have self-confidence, and you also have a great power called shooting skills. It's okay, you can protect what is important to you before you lose it. Have faith. If it were you, I could

Shino grabbed Alice's hand.

"Somehow, I think I've figured out why."

"That's right, you're just a little unconfident in yourself. So from tomorrow onwards, let's go and fight with confidence. It's okay, you can protect Kirito-kun and them. \"

"Well, from tomorrow onwards, I'll try to believe in myself a little more."

"That's right, your breath, you are much stronger than you think, from now on, believe in yourself more, go to fight, you have the strength to protect what is important to you."

Shino smiled.

"It's kind of weird. When Ms. Alice said that, I felt full of energy. I guess I should try to believe in myself. \"

Airi smiled too.

"Well, that's what I am. So Shino, what about your worries? Will you be able to sleep tonight? \"

"I'm fine now, if I go back to my room to sleep, I should be able to fall asleep right away."

Hearing Shiina's answer, Alice slowly let go of Shiina's body. At this time, Shino looked at Alice's face, but there was a smile on her face.

"I see, then I'll go first today. You're tired of fighting bosses. \"

"I see. Thank you so much for today. ”

"You're welcome, come back if you have any questions, I'm your exclusive doctor."

Shino nodded, got up from the couch, and glanced back on the way to the exit.

"I'm sorry, Teacher Alice. \"

\"Ahh Shino, don't worry. \"

Alice - after Shiina hears Alice's words - Shiina quietly opens the door and enters the hallway, returning to the room where the person she is supposed to protect is sleeping.