Chapter 18

The float sitting on the surface of the lake didn't even twitch. The

more I watched the gentle light reflect off the still surface, the

sleepier I felt.

I yawned wide and pulled in the rod. The only thing at the end

of the line was a sad silver hook. No sign of the bait that I'd

placed on it.

We'd been living on the twenty-second floor for ten days. I'd

removed my Two-Handed Sword skill from its slot—I hadn't

touched it since a long-past period of experimentation—and set

Fishing in its place to catch our food. So much for being an angler

and living off the land: I'd barely caught a thing. My proficiency

was more than 600, so while I wouldn't be catching any whopping tuna, you'd figure something would bite. Instead, I watched

the pail of bait I'd bought at the village slowly run empty.

"This is a waste of time," I muttered, tossing the rod aside and

rolling over. The breeze off the lake was chilly, but the thick overcoat Asuna knitted me with her Tailoring skill was nice and

warm. She was working on her skill just as I was, so it wasn't up

to store-bought quality, but it got the job done.

It was the Month of Cypress in Aincrad, November in the real

world. Winter was close at hand, but the season shouldn't have an

effect on fishing here. I supposed that I'd used up all my luck

snagging my lovely wife.

I rolled over, unable to hide the shameless grin this train of

thought produced, when I suddenly heard a voice from overhead.

"Are they biting?"

I lurched upward with a start to see a man standing over me.

He was wearing a heavy coat and a cap with earflaps, and he

carried a fishing rod, just like me. The real surprise was the man's

age. He had to be in his fifties, at least. The lines of old age were

carved into the face behind the wire-rim glasses. It was extremely

rare to find such an elderly person in the midst of a game populated by hardcore players. In fact, I'd never seen anyone as old as

him. Unless…

"I'm not an NPC," he said, reading my mind. He made his way

down the embankment.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just really surprised…"

"No, I don't blame you. I've got to be the oldest person in this

thing, by a long shot."

He laughed heartily, his solid body shaking. The man sat down

next to me and pulled a bait box out of his waistpouch, fumbled

with the pop-up menu, and attached the bait to his rod.

"Name's Nishida. I'm a fisherman here. Before this, I was head

of network security for a company called Tohto Broadband. Sorry

I can't give you my card."

He laughed again.

"Ahh…"

I had a feeling I knew why he was here. Tohto Broadband was

a network management company partnered with Argus. They

were responsible for the network lines leading to SAO's servers.

"My name's Kirito. I just moved down here from up above. Mr.

Nishida, are you…involved in maintaining SAO's connections…?"

"I was the man in charge of that, yes." He nodded. I felt conflicted about this. He must have gotten trapped in this world just

by doing his job.

"The bosses told me I didn't actually have to log in, but I'm the

type who can't be satisfied unless I see my work with my own two

eyes. Well, I sure paid a price for that one."

He laughed again and cast his rod with magnificent expertise.

This was a man who knew how to fish. Apparently he liked to

talk, as he continued without waiting for a response.

"I believe there's about twenty or thirty other older fellas like

me who got caught in something they shouldn't have. Most of

them are biding their time down in that first town, but I just can't

keep myself from a good day of fishing."

He tugged on the rod.

"I've been on the search for good rivers and lakes, and that's

what brought me all the way up here."

"I see…And there are no monsters on this floor."

Nishida simply grinned at that statement.

"What's the word? Are there any good spots up higher?"

"Hmm…the sixty-first floor is all lake—more like a sea, really—

so I imagine there are big fish to catch there."

"Aha! I'll have to pay it a visit."

Suddenly, his line jolted downward. Without missing a beat,

Nishida tugged the rod up. Not only was he probably an adept

fisherman in real life, but his Fishing skill was likely through the

roof.

"Whoa, it's a big 'un!"

I leaped to my feet in a hurry, but Nishida calmly spun his rod

and yanked a large, sparkling blue fish out of the water. It flopped

around at his feet, then disappeared as it was automatically transferred to his inventory.

"Nicely done!"

Nishida smiled shyly.

"Nah, it's all just a numbers game here," he said, scratching his

head. "The problem is, I can catch 'em, but not cook 'em. I'd love

to have some good sashimi, but there's no point without any soy

sauce."

"Ahh…well…"

I hesitated. We'd moved down here to avoid attention, but I

had a feeling this fellow was not interested in gossip.

"I feel like…I might have something that'll get the job done…"

"You don't say!"

Nishida's eyes flashed behind the lenses as he leaned forward.

Asuna was initially alarmed when I came home with a guest, but

she soon recovered and gave him a smile.

"Welcome home. Who is this?"

"Ah, this is Mr. Nishida, a fisherman. And…"

I turned to Nishida, unsure of how to introduce Asuna. She

stepped right in and gave the elderly man another smile.

"I'm Asuna, Kirito's wife. Welcome to our home." She gave

him a crisp bow.

Nishida's mouth dropped as he stared at her. She was wearing

a plain skirt, hemp shirt, an apron, and a scarf—a far cry from her

gallant KoB uniform, but beautiful all the same.

He snapped back to his senses after several blinks.

"Oh, pardon me, I got lost for a moment there. My name is

Nishida, and your hospitality is appreciated…"

He laughed and scratched his head.

Asuna easily transformed Nishida's catch into dishes of

sashimi and simmered fish. The scent of her fragrant soy sauce

filled the room, and Nishida's nostrils flared widely as he sucked

in the air.

It tasted less like freshwater fish than a fatty, seasonal yellowtail. According to Nishida, this type of fish required a skill of

more than 950 to catch, and we forewent conversation for a few

minutes, choosing to savor the meal instead.

Eventually all the dishes were picked clean, and Nishida gave a

deep sigh of satisfaction, cup of hot tea in hand.

"Ahh…I needed that. Thank you for the meal. Never thought

I'd see soy sauce in this place…"

"Oh, it's homemade. Please, take some."

Asuna brought a small bottle out of the kitchen and handed it

to Nishida. She wisely did not mention the ingredients. She

smiled and thanked him in return for the fish.

"Kirito's hardly brought me anything from the lake."

I sipped my tea unhappily, the conversation's whipping boy.

"The lakes around here are too hard to fish in."

"Oh, I disagree. The only really tough spot is the big one, the

one you were trying this afternoon."

"Wha…"

Nishida had stunned me into silence. Asuna grabbed her

stomach, chuckling softly.

"Why would they have programmed it that way…?"

"Well, the thing about that lake is," Nishida whispered conspiratorially. We leaned closer. "That's where you'll find the Big

One."

"Big One?" we repeated simultaneously. Nishida pushed his

glasses up and flashed us a confident grin.

"At the tool shop in town, there's one type of bait that costs

head and shoulders above the rest. I was curious, so I had the

idea to try it out for myself."

I swallowed.

"But I couldn't catch a thing with it. Tried it out all over the

place, then it occurred to me that it was probably for the one lake

tougher than all the others."

"And…did you catch something?"

"I got a bite." He nodded, then looked disappointed. "But I

couldn't haul it in. Took my rod with him. I caught a glimpse of it,

and it was bigger than big. No doubt about it; that thing is a monster in its own right."

He extended his arms to indicate its size. Now I understood

why Nishida had simply grinned at me when I told him there

were no monsters on this floor.

"Wow, I want to see it!" Asuna said, her eyes sparkling.

Nishida turned to give me an inquisitive look.

"You confident in your Strength stat, Kirito…?"

"Uh, well, confident enough…"

"Then why not join me? I'll do everything to get a bite, and you

can handle the heavy lifting."

"Ahh, you want to use the switch tactic with the fishing rod? Is

that even possible…?" I wondered.

"Let's do it, Kirito! This sounds fun!" Asuna bubbled, excitement in her eyes. She was always ready to try something new. I

couldn't deny that my curiosity was piqued as well.

"…Shall we?" I asked. Nishida beamed widely and laughed.

"That's the spirit!"

That night, Asuna wriggled into my bed, complaining about the

cold. Once we were fully nestled together, she finally gave a contented sigh. My wife blinked her eyes sleepily, then smiled, remembering something.

"…I guess there really are all types here…"

"He was a jolly guy, wasn't he?"

"Yeah."

We giggled for a few moments, then stifled it.

"I've been fighting up above for so long, I completely forgot

that there are still people trying to lead normal lives," I muttered.

"I'm not saying that we're special or anything, but I think

being a high-enough level to fight on the frontier means that we

have a responsibility to them."

"I've never thought of it that way…I always prioritized getting

stronger for my own personal survival, nothing more."

"I think there are plenty of people putting their hope in you,

Kirito. Including me."

"Hearing that just makes me want to run away."

"Oh, jeez."

I brushed her hair as she pouted, and inwardly prayed that

this life would continue just a bit longer. Sooner or later, we'd

have to return to the front line, for the sake of Nishida and all the

other players. But just for now…

Agil and Klein had sent messages warning us of the difficulties

in clearing the seventy-fifth floor. But in all honesty, my life here

with Asuna was the most important thing to me.