In the face of all this, I can only mumble in a low voice. I walked as leisurely as I could, trying not to be noticed by the friends around me.

Is this really the right path? How far have you come from the beginning to now? \"

"That's right. As a gamer, my gut keeps telling me it's here. ”

I echoed the sound echoing in my head as I moved on. His companions marched along, and the 'voice' came from one of them—one of them, to be exact.

"With the help of everyone and Lilan, we defeated all the enemies, but somehow"

Along with the 'voice', the girl's voice came to my ears. It was a companion I was traveling with, and the person I knew for the longest time, but his voice sounded worried. After more than ten seconds, the sound came to my ears again.

"Kirito, can I ask you one thing? \"

"Please?"

"Lost?"

"Yes"

After interrogation, I finally confessed and stopped walking. When I looked back, I saw a girl with black semi-long hair, wearing light-colored clothes, which looked very revealing, and a girl with dark blue hair cut into a short-wave bob and wearing a loose light blue dress. The girl was looking at me.

Shino, a girl with the same hairstyle and scantily dressed, who has seen it many times, has a very dissatisfied expression on her face.

"In that case, then you should hurry up, you already seriously don't know how far you have come."

Shino makes a lot of sense.

This 'Collapsed Walled Area of Olacion' is intricately designed to look like a labyrinth, perhaps to repel intruders. No matter how far you go, there are still many places where the stone walls have collapsed. I knew it was going to be like a labyrinth from the beginning, but I didn't expect it to be so intricate.

I apologized and tentatively bid farewell to Shino.

"I didn't expect it to be so complicated, if I looked closely at the field map, I might be able to understand, but I was careless."

Next to Shino, the dark blue and black-haired girl, the prime minister, looked a little worried.

"I don't know where we are now. How far can we go? ”

"Well, I don't quite understand I don't know what the prime minister is."

The Prime Minister shook his head. Of course, Shino doesn't seem to have found the right route either. Immediately after, the 'voice' sounded in my head.

"In that case, the first thing to do is to go back. There are a few branches along the way. Maybe there's a right path there.

I turned to the person making the "sound". There is a dragon. Although it is a dragon, its whole body is covered with white-gold fur, and part of its body is covered with armor-like carapace. It has horns like holy swords on its forehead and a long golden mane fluttering on its head.

Moreover, from its shoulders and back, a pair of large white wings grew, similar to the wings of a bird of prey, but the tips of the wings were made of golden energy, and there was a tail at the end that looked like it had been severed. The dragon is unique in that it has the outline of a wolf.

"Lilan, can you jump into the sky? You've been flying better than ever since you evolved."

"I used to think about it, but it doesn't seem to be influenced by evolution." I still can't fly in the sky of this field.

I was a little disappointed by the words of my reliable "acquaintance" Lilan. I thought I knew I wouldn't be able to do such a thing even with Lilan's strength, but I couldn't help but hold out hope.

When the regional leader of the Kurdish siege of the desert was defeated, Kem and his friends said that they obtained some kind of item and brought it to me. It's like an object made of steel. And there are two in number, and the shape is also different.

Kem said that the item was "like a part of the area boss's body" when it was delivered to me, and my friends and I couldn't help but shake our heads, but when we tried to manipulate it, we discovered that it was used as a "demon", which turned out to be a usable item. I also found out that it could be used for Lilan, so I didn't hesitate to use the project for Lilan.

This is where Lilan evolved. And, surprisingly, it just evolved once, and immediately evolved again, and as a result, it evolved in two stages at once. Prior to this, Lilan's name and appearance were 'Blade Wolf Dragon Upoote', but his name became 'Guardian Stegosaurus Upoote', and his appearance also changed to his current appearance. He has doubled in strength and has also become more reliable.

It's not over yet. As Lilan evolved, so did my interpreter, a sword made from Lilan's tail. It doesn't change shape like Lilan, but it doubles its status. It turned into a powerful magic sword that slid into the scabbard of my back.

She has something that makes her more reliable, but they are not Ariadne's clues that can break the status quo.

"If I can't use Lilan's wings, it's a blow to me. I don't know how long it will take to get to the right route."

"Please stop saying unreliable things."

As soon as Shino said this, my shoulders couldn't help but drop. That being said, I had to find the right route as soon as possible. But I don't know what to do to do that. "What the hell should I do?" Just as I was thinking this, I noticed the Prime Minister's gaze.

"Unreliable? Is Kirito unreliable? \"

Everyone couldn't help but pay attention to the premiere. Pleimir tilted his head slightly and said to Shino.

"Shino, what you just said is the exact opposite of what I said. \"

“？”

Shino said before that she was very dependent on Kirito. She says that as long as you are with Kirito, things will definitely go well, so you should also rely on Kirito. I've always relied on you, I feel\"

Shiina's face flushed slightly. Indeed, Shiina and Plemir sometimes go together to explore the city or the wilderness. At that time, Shino probably said all kinds of things to the prime minister, but to my surprise, she included me.

"Shiina, do you mean this? \"

"Uh, uh I did say something like that, but"

Now Shino says she can't rely on Kirito. Is this true? \"

When the prime minister asked, Shino looked embarrassed. It looks like he's thinking about whether he should say something or not. After answering this question, Shino boldly raised her head and looked at me.

\"The truth is, I can really rely on Kirito. Kirito, you have fought for me many times and protected me many times. No matter how strong the enemy is, I will not give up. You're protecting me. \"”

I will protect Shino. It's something I've decided since SAo, and it's my mission. It seems to be a commonplace thing now, but hearing it again tickles my heart.

"And, Prime Minister, you understand. Until now, Kirito has been desperately protecting you and fighting for you. \"

"Yes. Kirito has fought for me many times and has protected me many times. That's why I want to protect Kirito and fight for Kirito. \"

When the Prime Minister said this, my chest itched even more. But the two didn't care.

\"So, Prime Minister, you can trust Kirito. Kirito is stronger than anyone else and will not lose to any enemy. He is the one who can overcome any enemy and pave the way. \"

The Prime Minister shifted his gaze from Shino to me. When the Prime Minister saw my shadow reflected in her pale blue eyes, the corners of her mouth rose silently and smiled.

"Yes. Kirito has always been like this. He has always fought for me and protected me. I believe that I am here now because Kirito is with me. That's why I rely on Kirito. So far, and in the days to come. \"Future..."

I whispered the Prime Minister's name.

Am I really that strong? Indeed, strength and power are needed to protect them. That's why I've come this far because I want to be strong. As a result, I was able to protect them, but I also understood that it was not my power alone.

\"I'm not as powerful as Shino says. I also rely on Shino and Lilan. No, I don't just rely on them, I depend on everyone. All the people I depend on because you depend on me, lend me your strength, and I can protect you and Shina. So I want to do what I can to be strong for everyone. I've come this far because I can protect you and Shino. Because people have relied on me and lent me strength. ”

I took a step closer to the Prime Minister and put my hand on her head. If you think about that, you'll do it often.

"If you can rely on me, I can be stronger and do the best I can. So, don't hesitate and rely on me. ”

The Prime Minister nodded slowly, and the smile on his face grew stronger.

"Okay. It's up to you, Kirito. \"

When the Prime Minister told me this, I felt a warmth in my chest. When I finally let go of my hand, a voice rang out in my head.

''I feel the same way. I will continue to trust Kiritoro.

"I'm counting on you too, man. You don't have to call me master, though. ”

Lilan laughed. If she were in werewolf form, she would have a well-understood smile on her face. After glancing at Lilan from the side, I turned my head to face forward. Shino was also present.

\"I'm counting on you, Kirito, too. \"

"Ah, leave it to me. I will continue to protect you, Shino. In order to do that, I had to get stronger. \"

Shino nodded deeply and smiled. I had to be strong in order to smile at me, to believe in my Shino, and to those who also relied on me – and I felt the thought deeply.

Just after that. The Prime Minister suddenly began to leave us. I immediately stopped calling.

"Hey, what's wrong with the Prime Minister?"

\"I have to respond to Kirito who makes me depend. I will use my "power of unattained" to pave the way here. \"

"The Power of Mugamuchu". The appearance of this sentence made me almost laugh out loud. Shino and Lilan are also about to lose their minds. It seems that the prime minister does possess a huge, unexplained power, but it does not serve as many purposes as she thinks.

From before to today, I must have been teaching her that "inhuman power cannot be used to do anything, it is very inconvenient", but if I teach her inhuman power first, Alice's words seem to be stronger than expected.

"Although Kirito is the premiere, but \"

\"Ah, it doesn't seem to have come down yet\"

With that, I followed behind the Prime Minister.

When we got lost while exploring the fortress of Oltrum, we decided to go home.

The reason is that there was an email calling me. Alice rarely sends emails or logs in. I was surprised to see that the name displayed in the window indicated that the email had been received.

The message was simple: "I was able to log in today. I've brought an important person with me, so please go back to your house. "It doesn't say what the important person is or who he's referring to.

However, since it was sent directly by Alice, there must be something important going on. We abruptly stopped looking and went home.

As I walked through the meadow, which was almost the same as the 22nd floor of Ayn Grant, Shino told me something that she must have wondered about. It's about the premiere.

She told me that the mission in the premiere was in progress, but did not disclose. No wonder she thinks so. I also seem to be confused by the truth behind the Prime Minister's pursuit.

As Kem and his friends defeated the regional chiefs in the Kurdish Siege Desert, the first mission progressed. Where the regional boss is located, there is something that resembles a secret passage.

They seem to be heading inside, and they say that this is a temple-like place we have found so far, and that the deepest part is the same as usual, where a sacred stone is enshrined. I brought the Holy Stone back. Stone. The Prime Minister received the Holy Stone and has now collected all four Holy Stones.

However, even so, I still don't know what the priority is. There are no stories, and there are no hints as to why they are collecting sacred stones, or how much they should be collecting.

And, although Prime is an NPC, she is in a strange state from the start, without any initial settings, set to "empty".

Not only. She has become very emotional now, and her ability to grow is also outstanding compared to other NPCs. It's as if Prime Minister is Yui one by one design deviates from the original NPC standard.

I have come to this point and only think about completing her task, but when I think about it calmly, I can only say that the task of the prime minister is really strange. Sometimes he collects stones, sometimes he prays to a big tree, so what he does is not consistent.

What exactly is the premiere and what exactly is this mission? Alice had previously said, "If we can find the console, we might be able to find something", but that console was not found either.

If you ask Alice, you might be able to get further tips. While thinking about this and chatting with the people around me, I soon returned home.

When I opened the door and entered, there were already two figures. One of them was a tall woman with long black hair and a coat that looked like a white coat and was characterized by large breasts. That's what Alice called us here.

Just as we were about to call Alice, we realized who each other was – and we were surprised.

\"Private of the 1st class, Kirito-kun! \"

Next to Alice stood a little girl with long silver hair and reddish-purple eyes, dressed in a light-colored dress with a blue, white, and gold skirt, and a small hat.

Seven is an idol in ALo, Lilan's younger sister, one of the developers of SAo, known in the real world as a little genius scientist, named Seven Colors Arshaping.

"Xiao Qi, why are you here?"

Seven is busy with development and research and is unable to log in to SAo. I thought I wouldn't be able to play with Xiao Qi during the closed beta, but now I'm surprised to find out that he's here. The ALo idol caught our attention with a proud smile.

"Development has calmed down and I've been able to find enough time to log in. It's worth staying up late to develop and research. ”

Alice made a "hey-hey" gesture, and we laughed wryly.

Xiao Qi, who had caused a lot of trouble due to overwork before, was now told by her sister Lilan not to overwork and stay up late. This girl actually came, breaking her sister's orders and promises.

"If you do, Lilan will be angry again. \"

"Of course, you're going to be scolded from now on, and I'm just assuming you're going to be scolded."

As expected by Seven, everything was calculated. After thinking about it again, I turned to Alice. At this time, the patient, who is her personal doctor, and the daughter who is the creator, is already watching her.

"I just had time to log in today, so I came, and I met Xiao Qi. I didn't know the girl was here, so I was surprised. But I can say that I was lucky. You understand, right? ”

Alice asked with a slight wink. Seven is the developer of this game. Although he has relatively few permissions, he has a wealth of knowledge about the content of this game.

If it's Seven, she might be able to find the mysterious Prime Minister's mission. That's about it.

The important person Alice is talking about is number seven. It was a bit unexpected, but as Alice said, we were lucky. Now you may hear more about the premiere.

"That's right, Seven. I have something to ask you. You mentioned earlier that there is an unidentified NPC girl. Since then, we have been working on the task she gave us."

I was just about to say this when I saw something pass by me. When I turned back in surprise, Number Seven had already grabbed the Prime Minister whom I was about to speak.

"Hey, hey, what's this!?"

Xiao Qi was obviously panicked. The prime minister was suddenly caught by a person he had never met before, panicked, and the prime minister also looked confused.

"Xiao Qi, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong!? That's what I want to hear! ”

Seven grabbed the Prime Minister's face and began toying with her cheeks. The Prime Minister looked even more confused, and continued to stare at me with a misshapen face. It looked like they were asking me for help, but unfortunately I couldn't seem to be able to send a rescue boat.

Immediately after, even Xiao Qi turned his head to look at me, and we all looked at me side by side.

\"Kirito-san, what the hell is wrong with this girl!? \"

"So that girl is the quest NPC. So the girl's mission is strange. I collected a stone called the Holy Stone, but I couldn't see the story, and words like goddess appeared"

\"Holy Stone, Goddess!? Is this story true? Why are you pursuing this task now? Kirito-san, do you know what that mission is!? Why is there such a thing here? You mean? \"It's already there? ”

Xiao Qi quickly asked me, wondering if he was panicked or out of habit. It seems that he did touch some important secret.

"It's not just the face, it's the dress!!"

In addition, Number Seven grabbed her clothes from the Prime Minister's face. The prime minister probably didn't realize that he was going to take off his clothes, but just looked at Xiao Qi without shyness.

"There's no doubt about the design, but what's going on?"

"Xiao Qi, what's going on? Do you have questions? ”

Seven looked up to answer Shino's question.

"Everything was strange! Why is the ground mission that should be operational being carried out instead!? Why is the Ground Mission Sacred Stone Goddess here!? ”

Hearing this, we cried out in surprise.

Ground missions are missions that are based on the story. Of course, it is also planned to be realized in SAo, and I heard Xiao Qi himself say that it will be realized after the official server is launched after the end of the internal beta.

I can't help but be surprised that this is already happening, but it doesn't end there. The three words "Holy Stone Goddess" came out of Xiao Qi's mouth. As I progressed through the premiere mission, I learned about the existence of the goddess who was said to have bestowed the sacred stone on Angrud.

It was the premiere, she said.

"What do you mean? Holy Stone Goddess in Ground Mission, do you mean the Prime Minister is a goddess!? ”

Xiao Qi nodded and explained.

They told us about some ground missions, one related to the goddess of the sacred stone and the other to the creation of the twin priestess of the sacred tree, Ayn Grant, and we will see the faces in the premiere of their missions. It is said that her features are those of the goddess of the sacred stone, and her costume is that of the twin priestesses. Of course, such a thing is not possible in the current version of SAo.

However, it is even more unlikely that the prime minister. Things that shouldn't have been intertwined mixed together formed strange shapes in her body. A twisted thing where a goddess and a shrine maiden are mixed together. Xiao Qi said.

After that, we also chatted with Xiao Qi in detail about the characteristics of the prime minister and told him about his past girlfriends.

\"You say you don't have a memory? You don't have a memory of a shrine maiden or a goddess. \"

"Ah, he seems to be walking around the City of Origin without any memory. The first time we defended him, he was on the pitch. ”

\"It's getting weirder, I guess it's the Prime Minister. The girl's features are clearly those of the Goddess of the Holy Stone. The shape of her face, the color of her hair, the crying black child I don't even know who designed it, not even the designer, but that's exactly what characterizes the NPCs assigned to the 'Sacred Stone Goddess' in the ground mission. ”

"Then you don't know who designed it?"

Seven nodded in response to Lilan's question. The NPCs in SAo who are responsible for ordering important tasks and the NPCs who are involved in large missions have a special look designed by the world designer, making it easier to tell who is responsible for which tasks. The Prime Minister, an NPC involved in the ground mission, has also booked a special design.

However, when the world designers tried to design the NPC for the ground mission, the design was applied to that NPC, which is said to be the NPC in the current premiere.

Moreover, it is locked behind several powerful security systems, unable to change its character or design, and, not a single designer seems to have any idea of its design. I don't understand why the NPCs in "Ground Seeking" take on the current premiere look, or who created the design.

There seems to have been a dispute between the developers over this, but no matter how much they tried, they couldn't change the design, so they ended up letting the prime minister keep it in its current form.

"I would probably never have thought of the appearance of the Prime E, I don't know who designed it." For Shino's words, we can only nod. From the first time I met him, he had no values, no memories, and was assigned a ground mission that was not supposed to be performed during the closed beta phase. That alone is enough to make you think that the Prime Minister is an anomaly piled up existence, but that's not the end of it.

The Prime Minister's ability to grow is significantly higher than that of other AINpcs, and she began to develop feelings and thoughts very early on, and now it can be said that she has gained humanity. And it already looks like it's hard to say who designed it, and it's already getting to the point of restoration.

What we know about the Prime Minister is still full of anomalies. And, the development team other than Seven doesn't know this at the moment. When the development team wasn't paying attention, something unusual happened.

After that, one thing came to my mind. Seven has just spoken about the ground mission, saying that the prime minister has the physical characteristics of a "sacred stone goddess" and wears the costume of a "twin shrine maiden".

If she is not only a goddess, but also a twin shrine maiden, then her role as a twin shrine maiden means that she is one of the twins.

"Wait Xiao Qi, if the prime minister is not only a goddess, but also a witch, doesn't that mean that they are twins?"

"Indeed. Since becoming the "Sacred Tree Twin Shrine Maiden", this girl has had a twin sister or sister. Kirito-kun, I haven't seen a girl like the prime minister. \"？ ”

I can't answer Seven's question. We've been following the Prime Minister for a long time, and in order to protect her, we've made sure that she's with Relan when we're away. However, we have never been able to find the prime minister's twin sister, and Lilan and others have never reported anything similar.

Alice must have understood our situation, so Seven lowered her head slightly, and Alice opened her mouth to take her place.

"I did some development for this game, but I'm not in charge of ground missions, so I don't know the specifics. However, for the most part, the NPCs in charge of the goddess and the twin shrine maidens are unaware. "It didn't appear until the mission progressed, it must have been premeditated. Not only was the setting of the goddess and the twin witches confused, but they also didn't listen to the instructions of the managers and began to carry out the scheduled tasks. It was they who implemented it, so things are quite serious. It's serious. I don't know what would have happened if management found out about this. ”

"That is, is it possible that both the prime minister and the twin sisters will be erased?"

Lilan told her to take her mother's place. His expression looked sad. Alice and Lilan are right. If management is aware of this anomaly, the first thing they have to do is fix it. According to the content of the amendment, it is not surprising that the prime minister, who has grown to this point, was removed.

"Am I going to disappear? Will I be erased? ”

Plemir looked at Alice and Lilan with a confused expression. I've managed to avoid being discovered by development and management now, but it's only a matter of time. If that happens, the Prime Minister is about to think about what to do next, and Alice tells him to wait.

"No, there is a way to prevent the Prime Minister from disappearing, but it is too early to conclude that the management will remove him if he finds out. I understand why, number seven. ”

Hearing this, Xiao Qi tilted his head, but then his expression seemed to think of something.

"yes, yes! It's not fatal yet, so I don't know if I can get rid of it first. ”

From Seven's words, I also understood what Alice was trying to say.

While the premiership has progressed to this point, nothing will happen unless it progresses further. Until we find out the cause and content of the act, the premiere itself cannot be removed. If her presence is deeply connected to the quest system, then eliminating her would cause huge problems for the game itself, and there is even a risk that the game will not work.

That's why management can't remove her just because she's started. Alice looked at us, then nodded, and spoke again.

"Yes, I can't say anything unless I find the prime minister and her twin sister first, and the management can't start fixing or deleting the girl without revealing her true identity. That's why I used the internal console to \"Go check on this girl." Kirito-kun, I told you before, right? \"

"You mean to say that you told me about the console for the here and now?"

In response to my question, Alice scratched her head lightly and gave an "um" sound. I think it's a very subtle reaction.

"I thought I'd know the priority thing as soon as I turned on the host, but I didn't know that the priority caused such a serious situation. Even if I didn't say it at the time, I can tell you now. I would say so. ”

Xiao Qi walked towards me.

\"I'll investigate this issue myself, but I also hope that Kirito-kun and they can use the console to investigate. \"

"I want to ask you to leave it to us, but we don't know where the console is. Don't you know Seven? ”

"I understand, of course, that the console is located in the southern part of the Fortress of Otrum, where there is a door that is difficult to find and cannot be passed through by the average player. It's hard for the average player to find it, though. So, I'll give you the coordinates. Also, I'll give you the password. ”

Xiao Qi said this and handed me a note paper. I took it and was about to put it in the pantry, but then Lilan walked up to me.

"I'll take the coordinates and password, and we can calculate the coordinates."

"yes, I'll leave it to you to show you the way."

"Leave it to me."

I gave Lilan what I got from Seven. Lilan, by transforming into a "familiar" form, she can bounce enemies off one side and move forward. You won't have any difficulty coming here.

Immediately afterward, Alice asked me to make a suggestion.

"If you're going to the console, you'd better bring Yui, Strea and Jupiter with you. If we make a concerted effort, we should be able to find out the cause of the Prime Minister's strange situation. \"

These four people can operate the console to view the deep data and inspect the logs. I was already thinking about it before Alice told me.

When I heard the news again, I nodded and opened the message window. As I spoke to the three and operated the holographic keyboard, Shino shouted to the Prime Minister.

\"Prime Minister, you can wait with Teacher Alice and Xiao Qi. Let's go get something. \"

"Why? They might find out about me. Then why can't I go with them? ”

I don't understand the Prime Minister's protest, but what Shino said is what I want to say.

Fortress Otrum is the newest area, and the enemy strength is also the highest. It doesn't matter how many times we are defeated for us players, because we can respawn as many times, but a high-level NPC cannot be revived once it is defeated. The front line is always dangerous.

In addition, by using the console to investigate the Prime Minister's task mechanism, the Prime Minister risks facing a truth that she does not want to know. The premiere should not take place on a console.

After sending the message, I stood next to Shino and shouted to the prime minister.

"The place we are going to now is a dangerous place for the Prime Minister, I know you want to protect me, but you wait here, I will definitely investigate your situation and find out all kinds of circumstances."

The Prime Minister looked at me fixedly, but then looked a little sad, sighed, and said softly, "I understand. ”

"If Kirito and Shino want this, I can't help it. I guess I'll just wait here. \"

"I'll do my best to come back as soon as possible, so I'll ask you to stay at home until then."

The Prime Minister nodded again and bowed his head. Even though she's an NPC, she cares about me and tries to protect me, so the fact that I guess I'm going to an unknown place bothers her. However, this is not the place to take the prime minister, so in the end, there is no way.

"Okay, without further ado, let's go to the console. Let's go to the City of Origin and join the three of us. ”

After confirming that Shino and Lilan had responded to my orders, the three of us left the house. Prilia sent me off with a worried look on her face.

For her sake, I should grasp the situation and come back as soon as possible. With that in mind, I teleported through a portal in a nearby village to the City of Origin.

◇◇◇

When we arrive at the portal of the City of Initiation, we meet Yui, Streya, and Jupiter. The girls, who learned about the situation, immediately joined us. A group of six people went to the fortress of Otrum.

We arrived at the first area of the Otrum Fortress, inside the labyrinth of stone walls. I thought I was going to get lost again, but Lilan now showed up in his "familiar" form, offering to guide me and start walking. We received the coordinates of the seventh, and we knew the destination - Zhilan, who never lied, said so, and we followed him with peace of mind.

It's like a priority is underway. When I was on the task of the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister often acted as a guide and navigator, showing me the way.

It's a bit strange for Lilan to play this role now, but I'm able to continue to perform confidently, just like I did at the premiere.

After about ten minutes of walking with Lilan, we came to a stone wall. It's the stone door that Xiao Qi said is difficult to find. It looks exactly like the surrounding stone walls. Everything about it, from the texture to the shape, is the same as a part of the stone wall, and the door won't open unless you enter a code.

If that's the case, no player will notice that there is a door. They have very good safety practices. In front of the door, while admiring me, Lilan turned back into her werewolf form, opened the window, and typed in the string of codes that Seven might have taught him.

The door, which was indistinguishable from a stone wall, slid open silently, opening the way for us to the console.

When we all set out on the path that only developers can walk, after walking for a while, the door closed with the silence and movement of the automatic door. Now, other players won't come over and you can explore the console as much as you want.

However, at that time, I felt a little strange. I feel like the store closes a little late. It was supposed to close earlier, but it didn't close until we were far away. It looks like the security is solid, but I feel like the details are missing.

However, no one seemed to notice any discomfort except me, and I quickly regained my composure and focused on moving forward.

After walking for about a minute, we saw a stone in front of us. A small building appeared. The entrance to the building was about the size of a room in a house, and the entrance was open so I could see inside. When I went in, I immediately found what I was looking for.

A square stand with black marble-like veining, with a keyboard-like light floating on top. This is the admin's console I saw in the underground labyrinth on the first floor of Ayn Grant.

Relieved to learn that Xiao Qi's words and coordinates were not lies, Lilan, Yui, Strea and Jupiter rushed to the console and began to operate. Then, as if in response to the girls, sparse windows appeared all over the room.

"Are all four of you alright?"

It was Jupiter who answered my call. Jupiter, who has the highest information processing ability of the four, operates the console and the window with ease.

"No problem, I'm looking at the game's mission log, but since it's still in closed beta, it's easy to narrow down the information."

"However, I have completed more than 50,000 tasks"

Shiina, along with Shino, was surprised by Streya's report and smiled wryly at the same time.

"SAo" is a game that runs on the same base system as SAo, with the addition of "the Seed" on the core system. This "SAo" is also equipped with an automatic task generation feature that is very popular in SAo, and the momentum of task generation does not seem to have changed in "SAo".

"Although it is still in closed beta, this game actually has more than 50,000 missions!?"

"Yes, and, now, the number is increasing, ah, it's fifty-five thousand now."

Faced with the surprised Shino, Jupiter's answer left her speechless. If it exceeds 50,000 during the closed beta, it is likely to exceed the million mark when it is officially launched. When I thought of that moment, I broke out in a cold sweat.

Since they were just trying to sift through the massive amount of more than 50,000 pieces of data that the Prime Minister was seeking, I had to express my admiration for their high processing power.

"Ah, here, Daddy!"

"That's it, that's it!"

Hearing Yui and Lilan's voices, Shino and I immediately ran to them. I could see many English words and numbers flowing through the light window. Of course, I can't tell which is which. Jupiter and Strea are also looking at Yui and Lilan's open window, but they seem to know what's inside.

"Although it is the mission of Mr. Prime Minister, it is currently confirmed to be active. Moreover, there are some strange things that appear from time to time, is this a sign that the mission has been forcibly initiated and modified? \"

Listening to Yui's report, I tilted my head.

Although the main mission is a ground mission, what does it mean that it can be forced? Moreover, since it has been modified, even if it has not been developed, it is obviously abnormal.

"Is it okay to forcibly change the start?"

"You can't normally do it, but there's definitely a sign that it's been altered. And that's not all. ”

It was Jupiter who persuaded Lilan to take over. His hand rested lightly on his chin, looking mature.

"Some parts have remained the same, but there are also parts that have changed a lot. In particular, the 'visit to the sacred tree' was added as an afterthought. ”

"You've added something that you wouldn't have done that you wouldn't have wanted. Think about it, when Kirito's house was discovered, the prime minister said that he was praying to the big tree. \"

I nodded to Streya.

At that time, we were led by the Prime Minister to the northernmost point of the Jewel Peak group of lakes. I thought there must be a sacred stone, but when I arrived, I found myself in front of a huge tree. So, the prime minister suddenly decided to pray to the tree.

"So because of the impact of the mission change?"

"It was really strange, he suddenly went to the big tree and suddenly started praying. To make matters worse, he doesn't seem to understand anything either. It was forcibly added. If that's the case, I get the idea, but why the hell would you want to do that? ”

It was Yui who answered Shino's question. I looked around at the log displayed in the window.

\"yes. I can't help but wonder why some unnecessary events are cut and pasted in the tasks of Mr. Prime Minister. Prayers to the big tree are part of Mr. Prime Minister's ground mission "Goddess of the Holy Stone". This is not included in..."

"Huh? Hey, look at this! ”

Lilan suddenly raised her voice, and the sisters all turned to where she was pointing. We couldn't make out what was written on it, but they seemed to understand, and finally all four let out an exclamation.

I couldn't help but get impatient and asked the four.

"What's going on?"

It was Lilan who answered the phone, but he didn't look at me.

"The mechanism is broken, the prime minister is an NPC who plays the role of a goddess, and it was originally set according to this role, but the system forcibly changed it and became the 'Twin Priestess of the Sacred Tree'." It seems that they forced her to wear the same clothes that the 'Sacred Tree Twins wore to the shrine maiden', which was the same clothes that she wore at the premiere. ”

I exclaimed, "What? ”

Although Pleimir is a goddess and has the role and memories of a goddess, this character is erased by the system and replaced by the role of a twin shrine maiden. The Prime Minister's 'Null' is given unreasonably by the system.

This time Jupiter's pointing surprised us.

"It's this module that makes Prime Minister E behave like that, uh, but it's kind of weird. This is obviously a process that has nothing to do with the operation of [SAo], which is created for [SAo]. No. ”

"This thing is running on its own, and it looks like it's doing some huge computational processing. What's more, it's even sending and receiving data to the outside world. Sphere? And the amount is unusual, what is this? ”

Strea tilted his head, and so did we.

The Cardinal System is said to have a mysterious module inside the System that can operate independently, sending and receiving data to and from countless Amuspheres. Sending and receiving data to and from external Amusphere can be distributed computing, connecting multiple devices to perform huge computations.

But why is it necessary to do such a thing? What calculations do you do with distributed computing? And the premiere - what exactly is the relationship between the goddess and the twin shrine maiden? I can't read it at all.

"What is this module?" I was just about to speak, when Lilan let out another loud voice. The sisters followed suit and raised their voices again in surprise. The voices of the four echoed through the building, becoming extremely loud.

"What the hell is going on this time!?"

Just when Shino was finally about to vent her dissatisfaction, her daughter Yui turned around. He had a very annoyed look on his face.

"Mom, Dad, hard work!!"

After Yui's words, a window appeared in front of me, and I was speechless by the scene inside.

Inside the light window, a huge steel castle floating in the air fell to the ground.

At the sight of that flying castle, we were speechless.

"This is the Ayn Grant Collapse Simulation Test Module!! \"

Lilan, a resident of the Flying Castle, certainly said so. "Ayn Grant is about to be born from Ain Grant!? \"

The survivors of Ayn Grant, who heard my story, all shouted in shock in unison. As we operated the internal console, located at the coordinates given to us by the seventh, a large amount of surprising information appeared that kept us confused for a long time. This confusion is now spreading to his friends. I can't pass it on – I have no choice but to talk about it.

\"I didn't know that Cardinal wanted to build that Ayn Grant and we were forced to help! \"

Diabel was unusually panicked. The situation is pretty much the same for others. This reaction can be said to be quite natural. What I found was astounding.

The work we are doing is actually set up as a ground mission. The Ground Mission is a story that involves a person called the Goddess of the Holy Stone, and the Prime Minister is the NPC in charge of the mission.

However, the system rewrites the premiere from the goddess to the "Sacred Tree Twin Shrine Maiden", making her one of the twin shrine maidens. The real identity of that system is the Ayn Grant Honkai Simulation Module.

It was once incorporated into Al Grande, and when Al Grande was cleared, it began to move, causing Al Grove to collapse. Even in SAo, which uses the Ain Grant Replication Server, it continues to exist and operate in secret. Although Ayn Grant is nowhere to be found.

The module, which was tasked with destroying the Ayn Grant that was supposed to disappear, was not developed, but operated on its own, using countless Amuspheres for parallel distributed computing.

However, if you go back to the roots, it is also part of the cardinality system. After all, it must be the Cardinal who operates the crash module.

The current situation was revealed when Lilan, Yui, Strea, and Jupiter, who were said to have been born to Cardinal, conducted a thorough investigation of Cardinal.

As it turns out, Cardinal admits that SAo is the father of the final boss Relan of the world after heathcliff was defeated, and tries to activate the collapse module.

If something like this happens, most of the venue will disappear and the game itself will not be able to continue. The VRmmo field itself is going to suffer devastating?? Destruction. That alone is a big problem, but the problem doesn't end there.

Before that, there was another question, which was about to appear in the hands of the cardinals.

It is said that the twin shrine maidens of the sacred tree are the creators of Ayn Grant. The role has now been incorporated into the Prime Minister. When I investigated the content of the Prime Minister's mandate and our current situation, the truth came out.

The future of the future is the mythical story that when you collect all five sacred stones and pray at the prayer hall, the twin shrine maidens will fully awaken and create a new world.

Our amazement peaked when we found out about this story.

The cardinals of this world are causing contradictions. Although there is a world that I recognize after the final boss is defeated is Ayn Grant, it is not Ayn Grant. So it can't be destroyed. It must be destroyed, but nothing must be destroyed.

In order to solve this contradiction and cause the collapse, the cardinal spared no effort to create one, using Ainground as a material.

Ayn Grant, the nightmarish castle of steel that imprisoned us.

And, by pursuing the Chief Mission, we helped the cardinal galaxy Ayn Grant come into being.

\"So, do you mean to say that all the sacred stones you've collected so far were for the creation of Ayn Grant? \"

Asuna couldn't hide her confusion, and we could only nod. If the sacred stones are collected and gathered to become the two goddesses of the twin shrine maidens, the earth will be cut off and Ayngrant will be created. The Holy Stone is one of the materials used to make Ayn Grant.

"In this way, the original role of Prime Minister Chan has been rewritten, and it is terrible to be used by the system, it is terrible!"

Sirika stood beside the Prime Minister with a sad expression. The prime minister bowed his head and did not speak. I don't know if she was confused because someone said something she didn't understand, or if she was too sad to speak.

Immediately afterward, Klein scratched his head and said:

"What do you mean, such a thing is left unattended? Are you saying that the developers didn't notice it when they were developing? This leads to such a big problem. ”

"No, I didn't notice. The Cardinal system itself is a black box with hundreds of security features that are the same as those used in SAo."

"It's not something that the management of the game company here can handle, Cardinal. \"

After Jupiter finished explaining, Alice said. As Akihiko Kayaba's right-hand man, she created Lilan and his friend "MHHP", Yui and his friend "MHCP", and was one of the creators of the Cardinal system. Alice now looks just as troubled as Klein. It was Egil who called Alice.

"As far as I know, you created the cardinal system and helped create the SAo."

\"That's right. The cardinal system is a masterpiece that can be said to be the crystallization of the sweat and tears of Mr. Kayaba and us. It's a mobile world system with a lot of features that allow you to move the world independently. In the VR world, there are many layers of security measures to prevent easy operation. Mr. Kayaba and I have created the strongest security system. No wonder the management of this game didn't notice. It's an unsolvable puzzle. It's your opponent. ”

Before you know it, the attention of everyone in the room is focused on Alice. Alice, who had been leaning against the wall, walked towards us.

"Then, what the cardinal system wants to do is to forcibly turn the prime minister into a twin shrine maiden and force Kirito and others to help complete the task, thus creating the Ayn Grant that they want to destroy.

No matter how Cardinal controls everything in the world, it can't rewrite the setting of the entire world and execute it. I can't do something like cutting down the earth and creating Ayn Grant. So I decided to make as many changes as I could, and let Kirito do the rest. In order for Kirito and other players to realize the event that created Ayn Grant.

I'm going to turn the genesis of Ayn Grant into a player-hosted event. ”

A "yes" sound from all of them. All the top tasks I've accomplished so far have been reminders of the cardinal system. Without realizing it, we are forced to help in an event that affects the survival of this world. I also find it hard to believe that.

Meanwhile, Alice approaches the Prime Minister and finally stops in front of him.

"Seven says the design of the premiere is weird, but I don't know if that has anything to do with it. Well, anyway, if it goes on like this, Kirito-kun will see what happens. \"

"If the Prime Minister's mission continues, there will be a catastrophe in which Ayn Grant is created and destroyed. In that case, this realm of virtual worlds and VR technology will come to an end. \"

\"yes, I can't forgive myself. You think so, right? I don't know what caused this, but we had to stop it anyway. \"

We nodded to Alice.

We must avoid losing this wonderful virtual world because of the black box "Cardinal System" in the Kayaba. In that case, not only Pleimir, but also Yui, Lilan, Streya, and Jupiter here will not be able to survive. We will lose them. I can't allow that to happen.

I don't know about the others, but at least I've made a decision to stop the catastrophe that is about to happen at the hands of the cardinal. Immediately afterward, Lifa asked us to raise our hands.

But what should I do? We have made considerable progress on the task of Mr. Prime Minister."

"I don't think the Prime Minister's task will continue in the future. The Prime Minister's task is only advanced to this point, and if we do not do so, the Prime Minister's task will not progress. That's how it should be. \"

Filia's answer was correct. A major catastrophe that occurs at the end of the first task will occur because you have made progress in the first task. In this case, this can be prevented from happening if you don't proceed with the Prime mission.

Also, since the Prime Minister is protected by us, other players can't take her out and advance the mission as much as possible. If we don't act, even the cardinals can't do anything.

\"yes. First of all, we need to protect the Prime Minister and not continue the mission. But let's be honest, that's all. \"

Lizbet turned her gaze to me. I can say that everything is fine for the time being, but the problem remains. It was the presence of another goddess - the twin sister of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was protected, but the Prime Minister's twin sister was not protected and was not even found.

If the twin sisters fall into the hands of other players, they could be the trigger for the Cardinal disaster. The twin sisters must also be protected by us.

Probably thinking the same way as me, Shino answered Liz Bett in a way that everyone could hear.

"It's hard to say it's okay. We only have the prime minister, and we don't have another shrine maiden candidate, so to speak, 'another goddess'. If it weren't for that girl, it would be dangerous. ”

"Shino is right. First of all, we should find another goddess, which is the prime minister's sister or sister. As long as the two of them stay with us, there will be no problem for the time being, and the Prime Minister will be able to see her family. "So, I'm sure you'll be happy. ”

Hearing Yuki's words, everyone nodded.

That's it. For the Prime Minister, another goddess is a member of her family. Maybe for our own convenience, but if we can protect another goddess, the prime minister will be able to be with her family. It's not just these events that grieve her.

"Then I'll have to find the Prime Minister's twin sister, I've never seen or heard of anyone like that. Argo, Spiegel, do you know anything? ”

Keim turned to Argo and Spiegel, but Argo shook his head, and Spiegel bowed his head slightly in response.

After meeting for a while, I found out that Spiegel is also an informant who has a lot of information that we don't know. Argo, philia and Spiegel are now the three pillars of our information network. Of the two, Argo spoke first.

"Unfortunately, we don't have such information. We collect this information only just in case. ”

"I didn't either, I don't know where the prime minister's twin sister is."

"I think he probably really knew about it. Hey, Prime Minister. ”

Philia asked the prime minister about Spiegel's statement. Plemir, who was standing beside Alice and Sirika, kept his head down and didn't respond. It has been that way ever since. The Prime Minister hasn't said a word since everyone gathered in this house.

Asuna was probably starting to get suspicious, and she cried out as she approached.

"Prime Minister, what's wrong? Are you okay? ”

It was at this moment that Asuna touched the Prime Minister's shoulder with her hand.

A loud sound similar to the roar of an animal echoed throughout the first floor of the house.

Everyone, including me, was startled by the loud noise and turned their attention to the source. This is the premiere.

The goddess suddenly let out an unbelievable voice that attracted everyone's stunned eyes, and she slowly raised her head. He didn't look like he had any strength, and saliva was running down his mouth.

"Uh, I tried to hold back, but the bell started ringing."

"It's ringing, huh?"

"I've been hungry ever since"

I thought it was the roar of a monster, but it was actually the voice in the Prime Minister's stomach. It seems that the prime minister bowed his head because he was hungry and had no strength.

The truth was so shocking that everyone was stunned on the spot, and some even exclaimed: "Zuko! "I just felt like something strange was happening, so I wasn't completely unlucky.