42 Chapter 41 - Recovery Meeting

21 October 2023

Horizon's Edge guild base, 30th Floor

The lounge that I had entered in didn't seem as peaceful as before.

It usually only served a few players in its lifetime, but now it had a little more people, who were scattered all over the furniture in the relatively small room.

It was also the first time the room had a considerably tense atmosphere as well.

I recognized the Company leaders and vice commanders instantly, whose faces easily revealed their distress. Their agitated conversations filled the room in a barrage of buzzes as I stepped in. Irokei followed behind me and closed the door once she was in. She was quite stiff in her steps, trying not to glance at the players who might be looking her way.

On the far end of the room from where I entered sat a female player, with her elbows resting at the table she was sitting at, her hands being put together by interlocked fingers. Her head leaned on her hands in front of it, which seemed like she was sleeping during a class in school. Raising her head, she stood, nodding straight at my presence.

I nodded back at her. The room went silent, upon noticing her actions.

The player stroked her green hair once, before setting her hands on the table. She spoke in a very clear voice, which reverberated in the lounge.

"Alright, let's get this meeting started."

All eyes were on the guild leader, as she prepared to start her speech. She took a large breath, and as she breathed out, leaked out a brief smile while holding her chest with her left hand.

It was her first time organizing a guild meeting as the guild leader of Horizon's Edge. Anyone wouldn't blame her from being a bit nervous about it.

"As most of you should have known by now, my name's Misuko, and I became the guild leader since the 36th Floor was cleared...well, that's not a great way to start, is it?"

The lounge stayed silent. Some of the players lowered their heads a little. Misuko cleared her throat, before starting off her speech proper.

"We'll start off with the clearing of the 40th Floor first, which happened a few days ago. I understand that a few of us have participated in that boss raid....."

The guild leader paused, before continuing on. "....And thankfully, there were no casualties this time. So what did we get from the boss raid?"

A few players stepped forward, including Narnia, who was sitting by the bar area. Narnia brought down her menu, and placed a few items on the table in front of Misuko. They looked metallic, much like those jail bars in the 40th Floor Labyrinth.

"These should have gone to the smithy by now." Narnia said. "But I held on to them for the meeting. I'll send them to our blacksmith afterwards."

"Please do." Misuko nodded. "Glad to see you guys safely back after that boss raid."

The materials disappeared out of sight after Narnia had retrieved them back. The players who had participated in the 40th Floor boss raid went back to their seats, amid the tension in the air.

"And now, " Misuko announced, setting her hands gently on the table. "There's an incident I would like to address. One that happened on the day of the boss raid." She looked straight at me, her eyes never showing any seriousness as she spoke. In fact, she spoke as if she didn't want to single me out in the lounge. The lounge was small enough to echo back sounds, after all, and she probably didn't want that to happen.

"You were there, weren't you? Land Company leader Zenalyth."

".....Yeah."

I could imagine Irokei fidgeting a little behind me, and staying more silent than I ever thought her to be. As I stepped forward, Misuko said something that I might never expect coming.

"I'm just glad you two got out safe."

So she knew that Irokei was involved as well. Well, I guess she must have heard a gist of what had happened. Irokei was now standing beside me, staring at the guild leader before earnestly nodding at her without a word.

"Thanks for worrying for us." I put my right hand on my head as I spoke, clearly not used to such concern that Misuko had for me and Irokei. "You mind if I explain the whole story?"

"Yeah, that would help." Misuko replied.

I explained the whole story--or rather--made a brief summary of it. The ambush, the betrayal, the dangerous duel that was still stuck in my mind. I told them all, making hesitant pauses while telling the parts. By the time I had finished my report on the event, Misuko's left hand was at her chest again, this time curled into a fist.

"So, there were 3 deaths, then? On the day that it happened." Misuko asked me.

"And 2 of them were suicides, done by the attackers themselves." I confirmed. "But as for the last one..."

The guild leader took another deep breath, while briefly looking up at the ceiling of the lounge. Facing her comrades once more, she made sure that her voice was crystal clear before she spoke.

"This is serious. Very serious....There has never been a player death caused by murder, for as long as I have been here. Not even the orange guilds have ever done such a thing before. If this gets out to the info brokers, we'll be in more trouble than you can ever imagine."

That definitely went without saying. The trouble that orange guilds usually cause was nothing compared to a player kill, which was completely unheard of since the launch of SAO.

Until a few days ago, of course.

Misuko scanned the lounge before continuing, "Please promise me that none of this gets out of this lounge."

Everyone stayed silent. I couldn't bring myself to speak as well. We all realized the severity of the incident, and we didn't need each other to know the importance of keeping it confidential.

Misuko looked straight at me once more, and started to ask me questions again.

"About the attackers.....do you know which guild they're from?"

"No...." I started to answer. "They refused to tell. I don't know about the other one, but the one I fought with had a guild icon I didn't recognize."

"What were their levels?"

"Probably around the same as mine. Hard to tell."

"What about their motives for the incident?"

"They were ordered to murder the whole party, including me and Iro. That's all I know."

The array of questions that Misuko had put out for me to answer set a bit of awkwardness in the lounge, especially for me. I knew that I was the only one who could explain the incident, but the pressure of being that was piling up on my shoulder.

Misuko continued her seemingly soft interrogation. "What about the other survivors? I mean, your clients?"

I blinked a little in slight surprise. I guess she knew that I was a Drifter, but it felt strange for her to refer to them as my clients out loud.

"They're currently recovering on the 35th Floor." I brought down my menu to check my friends list. "They were fighting the other attacker, apparently. I'm meeting them later to settle some business with them, plus I'll make sure that they don't spread the incident out in the open."

"Please do." Misuko nodded at me once more. She then set her hands on her hips, as she addressed the lounge with the same clear voice.

"It seems that other than us, the guild that the attackers belonged to is involved as well. As such, we should find out the name of that guild, and prepare for any unforeseen circumstances that might happen in the next few days."

The guild leader relaxed, and sat back on her chair, "Meeting adjourned. Hope to see you guys soon."

As the lounge emptied out, Irokei and I silently stayed, and after the crowd was gone, went over to Misuko, who was still sitting at her table, her head leaning on her interlocked hands and she waited without a word.

"You okay?" I asked, staring at the guild leader.

As Misuko lifted her head, her green ponytail fluttered, meeting the wind that had just breezed through the window behind her. I caught the wind as well, and felt as if I had lost some tension from the meeting just a minute ago.

"Please don't push yourself too hard..." Irokei spoke, although her voice was as soft as ever.

"I'm fine." Misuko smiled at me and Irokei. "I just need to get used to this from now on. Akiko's watching me, after all."

Upon hearing the late guild leader's name, Irokei and I exchanged glances. We all had still remembered the boss raid that cleared the 36th Floor, led by Akiko when she was still around. Me and Irokei were there as well, but we were only practically watching the fight between Akiko and the floor boss that was in front of her. Despite the overwhelming might that boss had, the 36th Floor was eventually cleared, but it resulted in the sacrifice of Akiko herself.

I gave a light sigh, "I'm sure that Akiko had found reason in choosing you as her successor in leading Horizon's Edge."

Leaning on her chair, Misuko stared up at the ceiling in silence. She chuckled a little, before facing us.

"Guess I need to find out why she chose me...." She said, smiling ever so brightly. Her eyes were quite about ready to release the flood welling up inside them.

That boss raid had already happened about a month ago, but she hasn't completely gotten over it yet. We all had felt the pain of losing one of our most important comrades in the guild, but it seemed that Misuko just can't let the pain go, even if it was supposed to fade away by then.

"Welp....." I commented as I smirked. "Maybe she chose you 'cause you're just her closest friend. Akiko really had it easy choosin' her successor."

I noticed tinges of red appearing on both sides of Misuko's cheeks. "Is that how the Land Company Leader is supposed to talk to his superior?" She stood up as she spoke, her voice a bit faltered. Her tears were finally flowing down her cheeks in two straight streams.

Irokei just sighed while tilting her head at me. I could hear her mumble, her face clearly showing disappointment in my words.

"Some joker you are...."

"So I'm really not great at this kind of stuff, huh?" I mumbled back, feeling a bit sheepish. I had the recent incident to worry about, but I just can't leave Misuko grieving for her friend forever.

As Misuko touched her tear streams with her hands, I walked up to her table, and placed a recording crystal, and after activating it with a touch, showed a picture of all the guild members posing in front of the guild base. Akiko was in it, wrapped around with a smiling Misuko by her side.

"I'm probably not one that can say this without really doing it myself, " I nodded at Misuko with a smile of my own. "But you should cheer up a little, Guild Leader."

I turned and headed for the door, waving as I went. Irokei made a slight bow at Misuko and waved as well, before following me out the door.

As I was about to close the door, I could see Misuko facing the window, with the wind blowing through her, green hair and all. She stood embracing the breeze with her arms.

The recording crystal she was holding now contained something that she would never, ever forget in her lifetime.

===========================================================