Chapter 32 - Aftermath Upgrades

23 July 2023

Mishe, 35th Floor

"Been a month since we last met, huh, Z?"

Argo spotted me entering the tavern first. She might have been here for quite a while, expecting my presence as she helped herself to probably a beer (which doesn't get you drunk no matter how much you drink it).

I was trudging into the place with seemingly heavy feet. Having just learnt that navigating through the Wandering Mists Forest could be a pain, even with the map in my system menu at my side, I couldn't have complied with Argo's meeting time if not for the fact that the party I was travelling with decided to end their farming early.

The geography of the Wandering Mists Forest just couldn't be underestimated, for some goddamn reason.

As I strolled towards Argo, a weight of a different kind, having being carried on my back for the whole afternoon, surfaced in my awareness. My new spear, and probably my best one yet, named Binarium Edge, remained dull in its shades of blue in the semi-dim limelight of the tavern.

The spear really was quite special. Each of its two ends was attached with a slightly curved blade identical to each other, which gave its magnificent design when it was crafted. And the fact that it being a double-bladed spear gave the user flexibility in using either of its blades during combat and using weapon skills.

Honestly, I was amazed by how good Tekion was in his craftsmanship, and his never-ending research into the SAO weapon crafting system proved that. But crafting a double-bladed spear from using my old spear, Crystal Poleshard+10 and a bunch of adamantine ore from the 27th Floor was still out of pure luck.

Perhaps Tekion had found a way to optimize the stats of a crafted weapon by deciding the amount of adamantine ore to be used for the crafting, but luck was still a factor determining the usefulness of a weapon. A weapon's stats are always randomly generated upon being crafted, but they can be controlled through certain means.

Truth be told, a double-bladed spear was a rare occurrence in SAO, though it seemed no different than a normal one when being wielded. For now, at least. There was no telling what that kind of spear can do, since it has an extra blade.

I managed a decent reply the moment I sat in front of Argo.

"Yeah....yeah, it has."

A month. A month after I finished the Kesoko campaign quest. A month after I last saw Argo on the 32nd Floor. Strangely enough, I didn't get to see her again right after I left Kesoko, but here we were, suddenly deciding to meet up as if we were old friends. I wasn't sure if our customer-seller relationship was still standing after so long.

Argo placed her beer on the table and looked at me intently. Assuming that she wasn't as drunk as she looked, I raised my hand to call the NPC bartender over to order drinks for myself.

"So, how's Kesoko?"

An expected question to be asked. It was the last quest I purchased information of from Argo after all. I decided to give her a summary of what happened, to save time on telling a story that would be a week long.

".....And the Armament Swap skill worked great, as expected." I finished off. "You did the Kesoko quest too right? I'm interested in how you did the quest."

Argo didn't respond at first. She grabbed the handle of the beer cup gently, her eyes being really empty. I still didn't believe that she was drunk, though.

"So you had different NPC companions than me, huh....."

"....Yep."

"And they lived through the last stage of the quest, right?"

"....Yep....wait, what?"

I hadn't seen Argo in this state before. Was the death of a player's NPC companions to be expected to happen in the Kesoko campaign quest?

"Why did you choose to protect them?" Argo asked, still looking at her beer.

".......Why not?"

Was what I finally replied after a long while.

And a sudden realization kicked into my mind.

"Argo...." I started to ask. "Did your NPC companions....um...not survive in the quest?"

During the Kesoko campaign quest, I was under the impression that Mikane and Hakuro wouldn't die so easily. But that invasion in the final stage of the quest had almost proven me wrong. I had saved Mikane from being killed by the demons, but still......

"I thought it was inevitable."

Argo was holding her drink with a tighter grip.

"If I hadn't left Hiyari to her own devices, she wouldn't have been....."

She didn't sob, or cry, or even shed a tear. But her silence told me that her time in Kesoko didn't go quite well, especially in the invasion.

As I paid the NPC bartender for the same beer that Argo had, I thought about the Kesoko campaign quest again. I wondered if the villagers living there were really NPCs. Their behaviour, their actions, their feelings. I would treat them as though they were really human, no doubt about it, and it seems that Argo had the same attitude as mine as well.

The wait for Argo's silence of solemnization seemed to stretch itself, but I made up for it by sipping on my beer, which in my opinion was as bitter as its counterpart in the real world. Then again, I wasn't that experienced in drinking anyway.

The tavern was still bustling with nightlife activity, but my ears couldn't help but focus on the depressed player in front of me, even though there was no sound to be heard from her.

"Hey, Argo....." I said softly, after a while of silence.

"I was told that I was the seventh player to visit and receive training from Master Ojisei in Kesoko. How....early did you do the campaign quest?"

It wasn't after another while of silence before Argo lifted her head. Her eyes weren't swollen with tears, but I knew better than to judge Argo's feelings with just her face.

"...Right after the 31st Floor was cleared...well, not that immediate. I'm thinkin' the same day I first visited the Sakura Plains. Found the tori gate myself, but someone beat me to the punch. So, I was the second player to do the Kesoko quest."

My eyebrow raised the moment she said that. It must have been weird for me to think that Argo the Rat would always be the first to get to such hidden areas first, but that first player might have been lucky to discover Kesoko.

I called for the bartender once more. Argo was returning to her stare at her beer again, feeling the downest of downs than I thought she could be. It wasn't like her to feel that way, but I understood the sentiment completely, having met the people of Kesoko myself as well.

"Just saying, but...." I started my really unprepared speech. "The people in Kesoko...they may be NPCs, but they're more human than we thought them to be. For you to remember your time with them after so long is really amazing."

Noticing the bartender had arrived at our table, I held my empty beer mug at him.

"Another refill for me and her, each, please. I'll pay for both."

Argo jerked her head up this time, as if all the sadness had washed away from her face.

"No, no, no, I can pay for my own drinks...!"

"I insist that it's my treat here, no objections." I assured her with a warm smile.

As the bartender proceeded to pour the beer, Argo leaned on the table top with a sigh. She tilted her head up to the ceiling, and assumed a relaxing posture.

I was sure that the smile that she made at that moment made my night, even if it is for a little bit.

"Goddamnit, Z. Goddamnit...."

I raised my filled beer mug from the table, expecting Argo to do the same.

Turning back to face me, Argo held her beer mug with her slightly shaken hand, and raised it in front of mine. As both mugs collided gently at the same time, my last thought on the Kesoko campaign quest flashed before my mind.

It was great while it lasted, but the memories I made in that village would last way longer than that.

That was true significance of the aftermath of my adventure.

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