The Senate’s Secret, May 380 HE

A violent shiver overtook my body, and my eyes snapped open.

I'd merely closed my lids with my back leaning against the

wall, and somehow I'd fallen right to sleep. It was like one of

those nightmares where you forget all about it as soon as you

awaken. Its only remainder was traces of fear and panic.

I sat up and looked around; nothing seemed different. We

were on the narrow terrace ledge running around Central Cathedral at about the eightieth floor. The sun had gone over the horizon long ago, leaving the sky as dark as freshly ground ink. But no

matter where I looked, the only light I found coming through the

cloud layer was stars, no moon. I felt like I'd heard the eight

o'clock bell a while ago, but it would still be some time before the

moon goddess blessed us with her meager resources.

The Integrity Knight Alice, as a sign of caution toward me, was

kneeling so far away that she was nearly in the reaction range of

the nearest gargoyle—er, minion—with her eyes closed. I wanted

to use this downtime to speak with her and hopefully find a clue

that would allow us to avoid hostilities, but she was clearly not interested in chitchat. If only Eugeo were here, he could've used his

dagger from Cardinal to prick Alice and solve the issue immedi-

ately.

And what was he doing now…?

Now that I thought about it, in the two years since I'd met him

near Rulid, there had never been a situation in which I couldn't

see him immediately if I wanted—until right now. We slept outdoors on our long journey to Centoria, complained about sharing

a cramped inn floor, and even shared dorm rooms the entire time

we were at Swordcraft Academy. It was simply a given that we

were always together, and although I didn't always think about

him, I felt oddly lonely now that we were apart.

No—it wasn't that simple.

Here in the Underworld, the ultimate virtual realm, I'd finally

found the very first person of my gender that I could truly call a

best friend. It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but that was the

plain truth of it.

Before I'd been trapped in the deadly game of SAO, I considered all the other boys at school to be childish. I was reserved in

my interactions with them. That standoffish nature of mine didn't

change much once I was trapped in that virtual floating castle. I'd

met men like Klein and Agil who were good, well-adjusted souls

that I found common ground with, but we never reached that

level of true friendship when you bare your secrets to the other.

Even with Asuna, the deepest relationship I'd ever had, I wasn't

able to confess my inner weakness until just before the moment

Aincrad crumbled and our minds were about to vanish.

I didn't think I had some kind of special power or ability that

nobody else did. Between athletics and scholastics, I didn't stand

out in any particular area at school.

But when I became a prisoner of SAO, I was immediately

ranked among the top players of the game pushing our progress

forward, a pleasure that I believe bewitched me. And yet, the

qualities that helped me stand out were the sum experience of totally immersing myself in full-dive games from the moment they

first appeared, and the specific SAOknowledge I stockpiled as a

beta tester prior to release. None of it had to do with my innate

talent or ability as a person.

After I gained my freedom from SAO, my reputation for

strength in VR had to be continually upheld, lest I lose that valuable image. I was trapped by the knowledge that others knew me

not as the weak, mortal Kazuto Kirigaya, but as Kirito the hero,

champion of the game of death. And I couldn't deny that I had

been leading them (and myself) to that conclusion, even though I

knew deep down that the more layers of that artifice that built up,

the further I got from the truly important things.

So when I first realized after meeting Eugeo that I didn't have

to pretend to be anything, I was amazed—and wondered why.

Because unlike me, Eugeo had an artificial fluctlight? Because

he didn't know Kirito the SAOhero? No, the greatest reason was

that here in the Underworld, a place that was both real and false,

Eugeo was blessed with far greater ability.

His natural talent for the sword was tremendous. Perception,

decisiveness, reaction speed: I'd been fighting through plenty of

VR worlds, but he was greater in all categories. If my fluctlight's

battle processor was a current-model silicon CPU, then Eugeo's

was a next-generation diamond CPU. I was still playing the role

of instructor to him, but it was only because I had more experience and knowledge. If Eugeo kept improving at his current pace,

it wouldn't be long before our positions were switched.

Like sand sucking up water, Eugeo had absorbed all the combat strategies I'd built up over the last few years, which I

grandiosely called the Aincrad style. I couldn't help but feel a

strangely deep joy and satisfaction in his progress. This swordplay had been the source of my personal pride, and yet nothing

more than gaming techniques—and it felt like Eugeo learning and

making them his own had turned that skill into something real

for the first time.

If I could solve all the problems afflicting the Underworld and

escape safely with Eugeo's fluctlight intact, I wanted to have him

dive into ALfheim Onlineinstead—I was certain that the lightcube

was capable of interfacing with all Seed-based VR worlds equally

—so that he could meet Asuna, Leafa, Klein, and all the others.

Here's my first pupil and best friend, I'd say to them.

I couldn't wait for that moment to arrive. At that point, for the

very first time, I'd finally be on the same level as the many people

who supported and helped me…

"What are you grinning about?"

I blinked, startled out of my reverie by the sound of a voice to

my right. I turned to see Alice, who was watching me with an unpleasant look. I quickly brought up a hand to rub at the corner of

my mouth as I protested, "Er, I was just…thinking about some

stuff ahead…"

"Based on the slack-jawed smile I was seeing, you're either a

tremendous optimist or a tremendous idiot. At a time when our

escape from this stone ledge is far from guaranteed."

The respite of our perch had not dulled her tongue. I wasn't familiar with the Alice from Rulid, who was the original basis for

Alice the knight, but if her personality was like this after being restored, I could easily foresee a situation back in the real world,

post-escape with Eugeo, where she'd clash with some of the more

stubborn members of our group, like Sinon and Lisbeth.

On the other hand, there was still a veritable mountain of

problems to solve before I even got close to that ultimate good

ending. Our first order of business was to escape this terrace with

its creepy minion statues, but not only was I still waiting for the

spatial resources needed to generate more climbing hooks; my

own mental and physical resources—such as my gurgling empty

stomach—were also rapidly reaching their limit.

I nonchalantly rubbed my belly with a hand as I composed the

most serious expression I could. "I think we'll be able to resume

climbing when the moon is up. It's not too hard of a process as

long as I can make those wedges. It doesn't seem like there are

more minions up above…The biggest problem, as I see it, is that

I'm so hungry, even the thought of climbing this sheer wall another few dozen mels is making me dizzy…"

"…It's that side of you that displays your lack of discipline. So

you missed a meal or two. Are you really such a child that you

cannot function at all without it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just a kid, blah-blah-blah. I happen to be

smack in the middle of my growth period. And unlike you fancy

Integrity Knights, I actually lose life if I don't eat regularly."

"Just so you're aware, Integrity Knights feel hunger, and we

lose life if we do not eat, too!" Alice snapped back.

At that moment, a cute, high-pitched squeak emitted from her

midsection, and I couldn't stop myself from chuckling. Instantly,

her face went red and her hand snapped over to the hilt of her

sword.

I scrambled backward about fifty cens and stammered, "Wwait, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! You're right—you're just as alive as

anyone else. Of course you get hungry, too."

I hunched myself smaller, and in the process noticed the sensation of something moving in my left pocket. When I touched it,

I instantly recognized the texture and thanked my past preparation and stubborn greediness.

"Ooh! Manna from Heaven. Look what I've got here."

I pulled out two steamed buns. I'd stuck them in my pocket

before we left Cardinal's library. Eugeo and I ate half of them earlier in the day, but I'd completely forgotten about the other two.

They were a bit impacted by all the fierce combat earlier, but I

wasn't going to complain.

"…Why did you have those in your pocket?" Alice asked, looking utterly annoyed by this sudden revelation.

"Tap your pocket, and you get two buns," I said cryptically,

referencing a children's song that I was certain Alice wouldn't understand, then displayed the buns' window to ensure they had

enough life to guarantee safety. They looked shabby now, but

Cardinal had crafted them from some very high-value tomes in

her library, and their durability rating was astonishingly high as a

result.

Still, a cold, hard steamed bun wasn't going to be tasty the way

it was. After a bit of thought, I spread my fingers and chanted,

"System Call. Generate Thermal Element."

There wasn't enough magical power in the air for a full climbing hook, but there was for one little bit of heat. A flickering bit of

light appeared over my palm. I moved it closer to the buns in my

other hand and said, "Bur…"

But before I could finish the word burst, the knight's hand

shot over my mouth, as quick as lightning.

"—Mmph?!"

"Are you utterly stupid?! You'll be charred to a crisp!" she

snapped, eyes full of fury and annoyance and disdain. She

snatched the food from my hand. I moaned in disappointment,

right as the tiny heat element evaporated.

The knight didn't even look at me as she zipped her hand and

recited, in singsong fashion, "Generate Aerial Element…Thermal

Element…Aqueous Element."

Between her thumb, index, and middle fingers appeared lights

of orange, blue, and green. To my befuddlement, Alice then continued the command and manipulated the three elements in complex ways. First the wind element formed a spherical vortex, inside of which she floated the two buns. Next she added the heat

and water elements, and when all three were mixed, she unleashed them.

With a little fssh!the wind barrier soon turned pure white. It

looked quaint and peaceful, but I knew that inside, it was a swirl

of heat and steam. In other words, she had constructed an impromptu steaming device.

Thirty seconds later, the trio of elements had concluded its

duty, and it expanded until disappearing. The buns fell into

Alice's outstretched hand, as puffed and round as if they were

brand-new, and wafting steam.

"H-h-here, give it— Wha…Whaaaa—?!" I wailed as Alice made

to devour both of the steamed buns before I could so much as

reach out to them. She stopped just before they reached her

mouth and said, in a tone that suggested dead seriousness, "I'm

joking." Then she handed me one, which I took with great relief

and blew on before taking a hefty bite.

I understood that everything in the Underworld was a kind of

dream object taken from a vast collection of memories—but even

still, the soft, steamed bun and juicy, succulent meat sent me into

a brief state of nirvana. It took just three bites for the precious

food to vanish into my stomach—or more accurately, return to

the fluctlight memory field—leaving me with just a combination

of satisfaction, disappointment, and one very hearty sigh.

It took Alice four bites to devour her bun, and she exhaled the

same way I did. I was struck that the Integrity Knight, practically

an avatar of pure battle, could have such a girlish side.

"Ah, I see," I remarked. "You can steam a bun without even

any tools. I guess it makes sense that you'd be Selka's sister, after

how good she was at cooki—"

Midsentence, a hand shot out and grabbed my collar. This

time, it was not annoyance or disgust that marked Alice's features. Those blue eyes were furious as exploding sparks, her

cheeks were pale, and her lips were trembling. She practically

hoisted me up with nothing but her right hand and rasped,

"What…did you just say?"

Only then, at that belated moment, did I finally recognize my

terrible slip of the tongue.

The golden-haired Integrity Knight staring a hole in me from

less than a foot away was none other than Alice Zuberg, Eugeo's

childhood friend and sister to the apprentice nun Selka—but she

herself had no memory of this. Eight years ago she was taken to

Centoria and subjected to the Synthesis Ritual that made her into

an Integrity Knight by taking away her most precious memory

and installing a Piety Module that blocked the rest.

As far as she knew now, Alice was a knight summoned from

Heaven to uphold the peace and order of the realm and fight

against invasions from the darkness. According to what had been

implanted in her mind, the Axiom Church and its ruler, Administrator, were all-powerful and trustworthy. She would never believe the truth: that Administrator was finding promising people

around the world and transforming them into her pawns to uphold her own power and greed.

In fact, it was because we could sense that talk alone would

not convince Alice that Eugeo and I planned to use Cardinal's

special daggers to temporarily paralyze her. We certainly didn't

plan on the current situation, but my objective remained the

same: avoid fighting Alice, regroup with Eugeo, and create an opportunity for him to use his dagger on her.

Sensing that I could have destroyed that plan with one illtimed slip, my mind raced for a solution. The expression on her

face made it clear that I couldn't wriggle out of this by claiming I

had misspoken.

It seemed there were only two options. I could either fight

Alice here, knock her out without killing her, and carry her up to

the ninetieth floor—or I could suck it up and tell her everything.

My choice would depend on what I believed about her. If I believed her skill with the sword was below mine, I should choose

battle. If I believed she could be reasoned with, I should choose

dialogue.

A few seconds of deliberation later, I made my choice. With

the full might of Alice's flaming blue eyes upon me, I said, "You

have a sister. I'll explain…I don't know if you'll believe it, but I

will tell you everything I believe to be the truth."

However this statement struck her, Alice mulled it over for

several seconds and then released me. I dropped flat on my butt

onto the stone, where the knight looked down on me from her

kneeling position. Even hearing me out in this situation seemed

like it was outside the bounds of an Integrity Knight's activities.

She was locked in a battle between her logical duty to vanquish

me with her blade and the desire to know what was unknown.

Eventually, desire won out. She slowly lowered herself to a

proper sitting position and hissed, "Speak. But be warned…if I

sense that your words are meant to mislead me, I will not hesitate

to cut you in two."

I sucked in a long breath and held it. "That's fine…if your decision to attack me comes from your own true heart. And the reason I say that is because inside of you is an order that was implanted in you by someone else, an order you're not aware of."

"…Are you speaking of the Integrity Knight's duty?"

"That's right," I said. Alice's eyes narrowed with hostility. But I

could detect an emotional hesitation lurking behind them. That

would be Alice's true feelings. I hoped that my words would break

through to that part of her.

"Integrity Knights are summoned from the celestial realm by

Administrator, the pontifex of the Axiom Church, in order to

maintain order and justice…or so you understand. But only the

people here within Central Cathedral actually think that. The

thousands and thousands of people living across the realm don't

see it that way."

"What…nonsense are you talking about…?"

"Go down there to the city and ask anyone in Centoria what

the prize is for the winner of the annual Four-Empire Unification

Tournament. They'll tell you that the winner receives the honor of

being made an Integrity Knight."

"Made into…an Integrity Knight…? That's nonsense. That

can't be right. I've interacted with many of the knights, and not a

single one has ever said they were a human being before that."

"It's just the opposite. Not a single one of you started as anything other than human," I said, back straight, staring her right in

the eyes. I was desperately trying to break through to that human

part of her, deep inside. "Alice, you don't know who gave birth to

you in the 'celestial realm,' or where you were raised. I'd bet your

oldest active memory is Administrator telling you that you are a

holy knight summoned from Heaven."

"…"

I was correct, judging by her reaction. She leaned back just a

little and bit her lip. "I…was told…that when an Integrity Knight

is summoned to earth, Stacia removes her memories of Heaven…

and that when the evil ones of the Dark Territory are vanquished,

and I have completed my duty as a knight, I will be returned to

the holy place…and remember my parents and siblings again…according to…the pontifex…"

Her normally crisp voice faltered and trailed away. Suddenly I

knew. Somewhere deep in Alice's heart, in a place she wasn't

aware of, she was desperate for her family memories. That must

have been why she had reacted so powerfully to the mention of

Selka's name.

Choosing my words carefully, I explained, "Only a part of what

Administrator told you is true. Yes, your memories were kept

from you. But it wasn't because of Stacia; it was the pontifex herself who did it. And it's not your heavenly memories that are hidden but your human memories, of being born and raised here. It's

the same for all the other Integrity Knights, too, like Eldrie. He's

the son of a noble house in the Norlangarth Empire. He won the

tournament this year and earned the honor of being made into a

knight."

"No…that's a lie! My apprentice, Knight Thirty-One, could not

be a descendent of the decadent nobles…"

"Listen to me: When we defeated Eldrie in combat, it wasn't

because we killed him. Did you see any major wounds on him?

My partner remembered his real name, Eldrie Woolsburg, and

that stimulated his memories of his mother. He wanted to remember her, but he couldn't. That was because Administrator

took that memory out of his soul and keeps it at the very top of

the cathedral."

"…His memory…of his mother…?" she murmured, lips trembling. Her eyes were wandering on empty air. "Eldrie's…noble…

human…mother…?"

"And that doesn't just go for him. I'd bet at least half the

knights are champions of the swordfighting tournament, and the

majority of those would be noble children who were raised with

the best possible education with the blade. The noble houses re-

ceive considerable wealth and status from turning their children

over to the Axiom Church. That system has been in place for over

a century now."

"…I can't believe it…I just cannot accept the story you are

telling me," the Integrity Knight said, shaking her head like a

stubborn child at the notion that the Axiom Church and its

knights weren't utterly divine. "Not all the upper nobles in the

four empires are like this, but many lead slothful and decadent

lives. It is why we Integrity Knights are necessary to protect the

human lands. And now you claim…that Eldrie and others in the

knighthood…are actually from those degenerate noble houses…?

It is not possible. I cannot believe it."

"The reason those noble families are decadent is because the

Axiom Church gave them too much prestige and power. But because of that privilege, their children grow up with excellent instruction in swordplay and sacred arts. In rural villages, children

are given their callings at age ten and barely ever have time to

practice fighting with swords, by comparison. And only the most

gifted of those noble children can appear in the Four-Empire

Unification Tournament, and the single champion of that event is

invited to Central Cathedral. Have you ever met one of those

champions within the cathedral?" I asked.

Alice looked away, uncertain, and shook her head. "No…but

there are many monks, nuns, and their apprentices living on the

lower floors…so perhaps those champions are down among them,

enriching their lives through study…"

I nearly spoke up on the spot to deny that but thought better

of it. Eugeo and I had come straight up the stairs to the fiftieth

floor after we'd retrieved our swords from the cathedral's third

floor—with only the distraction of the child knights Fizel and

Linel around the twentieth floor—and we hadn't encountered any

of the holy workers. But I could still speculate about their source.

My suspicion was that the majority of the monks and nuns un-

dertaking the basic duties of the Axiom Church weren't hired

from the outside but were born and raised within the Church, just

like Fizel and Linel. Administrator probably viewed them like

practical-use production models she could replicate.

Alice wouldn't know about that dark side of the organization, I

figured. I didn't need to bring up the idea and tax her mind more

than necessary.

"No, you've met champions of the tournament. You're just not

aware of it. All the Integrity Knights' memories are being manipulated and adjusted by Administrator on a constant basis, not

just during the ritual."

"Nonsense!" she shouted, raising her head. "That is impossible! The holy pontifex would never toy with our memories the

way you describe…"

"She is!" I shouted back. "You're not just missing your memories of the tournament champions…You also don't remember the

criminals you've brought back to the tower!"

"C-criminals…?" she said, faltering. I stared right into her face,

which was pale even in the moonlight.

"That's right. Yesterday morning, you brought my partner and

me here on your dragon from Swordcraft Academy. You remember that, don't you?"

"…I would not forget it. You were the first ones I have ever

been ordered to escort to prison."

"Yet, Deusolbert Synthesis Seven didn't remember you. When

eight years ago…"

I paused, then steeled myself to say the name.

"…he was the one who took young Alice from Rulid Village in

the far north, himself."

She went whiter than the marble wall. Her bloodless lips quivered, and she croaked, "Rulid…That's my true hometown…? And

Deusolbert escorted me from there as a criminal…? In other

words, I once violated a taboo…? Is that what you are saying?"

I waited for her to finish each and every question. "That's

right. Remember how I said half the Integrity Knights were tournament champions? The other half are people who were brought

to the cathedral as criminals. They had the force of will to violate

the Taboo Index, and that gives them exceptional power as

knights. It's two birds with one stone for Administrator: She

turns a potential threat to the Church's rule into a powerful personal agent. Now…let's talk about you."

This was it. The moment Alice would either accept my argument or deny it.

I fixed her with as firm a stare as I could possibly muster. She

sat flat on the stone ledge, her shoulders hunched and forlorn,

eyelids heavy, as though waiting for some final judgment.

"Your real name is Alice Zuberg. You were born and raised in

Rulid, a small village at the foot of the End Mountains far to the

north. You're the same age as Eugeo, my partner, which would

make you nineteen this year. You were brought here eight years

ago, meaning you were eleven when the incident happened. You

and Eugeo went spelunking in the cave through the End Mountains…and at the other end of the cave, you just barely crossed the

boundary between the human realm and the Dark Territory. So

the taboo you broke was 'infiltrating the Dark Territory.' You

didn't steal anything or hurt anyone…In fact, you were trying to

save the dying dark knight…"

Now it was my turn to clam up. Did I really hear that many details about Alice's story from Eugeo…?

Surely I did. I awoke in the Underworld two years ago—I

couldn't possibly know what happened six years before that. But

for some reason, there was an image in my brain of a knight in

black falling from the sky in a shower of blood and Alice rushing

toward him, as vivid and specific as if I'd seen it myself. I even

heard the scraping sound of her hand brushing the black soil of

the Dark Territory.

Somehow, the imagery of Eugeo's story must have gotten

mixed up with my memories from reality, I told myself. I looked

up and saw that Alice was so shaken by all this that she wasn't

bothered by the way I trailed off. Her cheeks were sallow, twitching.

"Alice Zuberg," she whispered. "That's…my…name? Rulid…

End Mountains…I can't remember any of it…"

"Don't force yourself to remember, or you'll end up like Eldrie," I warned, cutting her off. If Alice's Piety Module turned unstable and stopped working like his, there might be trouble—especially if the other knights sensed it happening and came to get

her. But Alice merely looked at me with slightly more control

than a moment before.

"Why would you say that now?" she demanded, her voice

trembling. "I…I want to know everything. I don't believe what

you've said yet…but I will make my decision on that once I've

heard the whole story."

"All right. But to be honest, I don't know that much about your

past. Your dad is the elder of Rulid, Gasfut Zuberg. I don't know

your mother's name, unfortunately, but like I said earlier, you

have a little sister named Selka, who is probably still a sister-intraining at the church in Rulid. When I stayed there two years

ago, I talked with her a lot. She was a good kid, and she cared

about her sister; she'd been worried about you ever since you

were taken away. When you lived in Rulid, you were also an apprentice and were considered to have a genius talent for sacred

arts. She was trying her hardest to inherit that position and take

over for you in your absence."

That was all I knew. Alice said nothing for a while. Her earlier

unrest was gone now, and that porcelain-white face was utterly

still. She seemed to be trying to dredge up anything she could remember about those proper names, but it wasn't producing any

results.

It didn't work, I realized. I'd been hoping that even without

that missing memory fragment, if I calmly gave her bits of relevant information, she'd eventually recall some of those memories.

Evidently, Administrator's memory block was stronger than I realized.

The only one who could restore Alice was Cardinal, who had

admin privileges. And that would still require the missing memory fragment that Administrator was keeping locked up.

Just then, Alice's mouth opened.

"Selka."

She did it again.

"Selka…"

Her darkened eyes pointed to the stars overhead.

"…I can't remember. No face, no voice. But…it's not the first

time I've said that name. My mouth…my throat…my heart remembers."

"…Alice," I said, but she didn't seem to even be aware I was

there anymore.

"I called it all the time," she whispered. "Every day, every

night…Selka…Selka…Sel…"

Clear drops clung to her long lashes, sparkling with the light of

the stars before they fell. I felt like I was seeing something unbelievable. The tears kept coming and coming, dripping with tiny

patters onto the marble between us.

"It's true…I have a family…a father and mother…and a sister I

share blood with…somewhere out there under these stars…," she

choked, until her voice turned to sobs.

Before I knew what I was doing, I had reached out to her, but

she batted me away with the back of her hand.

"Don't look at me!" she sobbed, smacking me in the chest with

her right hand while she rubbed at her eyes with the left. The

tears never stopped, however, and eventually she buried her face

in her knees, shoulders shaking.

"Nng…hnk…aaah…"

As the Integrity Knight continued to quietly sob, I came to the

realization that liquid was pooling in my eyes as well.

I'll do it. I'll stop this Administrator and take Alice back home,

I swore, my mission renewed, as I understood what was making

me emotional, too.

Even if the plan went successfully, it wouldn't be this sobbing

Integrity Knight whom I reunited with Selka in Rulid. Alice would

recover her lost memories, remember how she grew up with

Eugeo and Selka, and probably forget about her years of service

as a knight.

That would essentially be the destruction of Alice the Integrity

Knight.

She'd be returning to the way she ought to be, I reminded myself.

But I couldn't help but feel pity for the weeping knight curled up

in a miserable ball.

For all the years she had spent at Central Cathedral, Alice Synthesis Thirty had been pained by the deep, subconscious desire

for the company of the family she could never see again. I

couldn't help but sympathize.

Eventually, much later, her racking sobs subsided in volume, to

be replaced by silent weeping. My own tears had already dried a

few minutes before that, so I decided to focus on what should

happen next.

If there was an ideal outcome out of anything I could reasonably envision, it would be as follows: Once the moon rose, we'd

resume climbing and reenter the tower at the ninety-fifth floor.

Somehow, I would avoid resuming battle with Alice there and

meet up with Eugeo again. Whether or not we used Cardinal's

special dagger in his possession would depend on the circumstances.

After that, the biggest obstacle remaining would be to defeat

Bercouli Synthesis One or persuade him not to fight us. It would

be great if Eugeo had already beaten him, but I couldn't count on

that. Then we'd reach the top floor of the cathedral, where our ultimate foe, Administrator, slept.

We'd have to neutralize the pontifex before she awoke, find

Alice's memory fragment, wherever it was hidden in the chamber,

then use it to restore her memories and personality.

Lastly, I'd use the system console to make contact with the

Rath staff, preserve the state of the Underworld, and get them to

prevent the imminent stress test—a massive invasion from the

Dark Territory…

Each one of these missions was astonishingly difficult; all of

them together was hard to fathom. I had to assume that each individual goal had a probability of 50 percent, if not 30 or lower.

But I wasn't allowed to stop in my tracks now. The two years

I'd spent in the Underworld—in fact, the very long time ever since

I'd first been locked in that game of death—had all been leading

up to this encounter with a new kind of humanity so I could save

them.

As Akihiko Kayaba had stared at the collapsing Aincrad

against the red of the sunset, he'd claimed he wanted to create a

truly alternate world. I wasn't carrying on his mission, not in the

least, but I had to admit that a true alternate world was exactly

what I was seeing here.

Kayaba's digital copy left The Seed with me, and it ultimately

brought about an infinite array of VR worlds across the Internet.

And whether by fate or by coincidence, the lightcube format that

stored the souls of the Underworldians was compatible with The

Seed Nexus. If there was some greater meaning to the SAOIncident beyond whatever Kayaba hoped to achieve, I got the feeling I

would find it here in the Underworld.

I couldn't turn back now. Two long years after I woke up in the

forest south of Rulid, I was finally bearing down on the last floor

of Central Cathedral, the goal of my long journey. But if there was

any tiny but unavoidable problem along the way, it was that out

of those many laudable goals, there was just one I wasn't entirely

certain I wanted to achieve…

"…A while ago, you mentioned something," Alice said abruptly,

looking down with her arms wrapped around her knees.

I abandoned the tangle of thoughts I was trying to unravel and

looked over at her.

A few moments later, she continued, voice slightly nasal from

being blocked up. "After the wall broke, and we fell through it…

you said you planned this rebellion in order to correct the pontifex's mistake and protect the human world."

"Yeah…that's right," I said, noticing the blond hair that fell

down Alice's back.

After several seconds of silence, she continued, "I do not believe…everything you've said yet. But…with the minions of the

lands of darkness on the outside of the tower…I must admit that

your claim that the Integrity Knights are just regular human beings with their memories manipulated seems to be true. In other

words…I cannot deny that our master has been deeply deceiving

us in order to make us her faithful servants…"

I held my breath. By removing their memories and inserting

the Piety Module into the fluctlight of the Integrity Knights, Administrator forced them to be absolutely loyal warriors. No matter what Eugeo and I said to any of the knights we'd met thus far,

none had expressed a single word of doubt toward the Church. In

that sense, it should've been stunning to me that Alice said what

she did. Perhaps she had something in her that the other artificial

fluctlights did not.

She didn't undo the grip around her upright knees as she

whispered, "But on the other hand, our primary duty as commanded by the pontifex is to protect against an invasion from the

Dark Territory. Even now, more than a dozen of my fellow

knights are riding their dragons, fighting over the End Mountains. If she hadn't created the Integrity Knights, the dark forces

would have invaded our lands long ago."

"Ah, well…"

…That's because this isn't the way the world is supposed to

work.

Those growth resources—i.e., experience points—the Integrity

Knights were monopolizing were supposed to be distributed

throughout the populace. The people of the realm should have

taken up swords and fought against invading goblins, the same

way Eugeo and I did in the northern cave, to get stronger. Administrator had taken that possibility away from them.

Alice wouldn't understand that on the spot, though. Instead, I

had to hold back my rebuttal as she continued, quiet but firm,

"You claim that my birth home, the place where my parents and

sister must still live, is at the foot of the mountains to the far

north. In other words, if an invasion begins, they would be the

first to fall victim. Even if you defeat all the Integrity Knights and

turn your blades on the pontifex herself, who will protect all the

distant rural villages like Rulid? You don't expect to vanquish the

entire forces of darkness just with the two of you, I hope."

The tears in her eyes weren't totally dry yet, but there was a

newfound willpower in her voice. Still, I couldn't give her an answer right away. Compared to Alice's open determination to save

the people of the world, I still had secrets to hide.

I had to fight the sudden urge to truly spill it all and explain

that this entire world was a creation. Instead I said, "Then let me

ask you this…If you fight with the full might of the Integrity

Knights, do you believe that you can absolutely, without fail, fight

off an all-out invasion from the Dark Territory?"

"…"

Now it was Alice's turn to be at a loss for words. I looked back

to the stars and traveled the memories I'd built over the last two

years.

"I told you about how my partner and I battled a band of goblins from the Dark Territory. Even those goblins, the lowest members of the forces of darkness, were frightfully skilled and powerful with their weapons. The Dark Territory is full of them, and

those dragon-riding black knights, and dark sorcerers controlling

their own minions, right? If they all attack at once, then even with

all the Integrity Knights together, plus Administrator, you're not

going to be able to hold back the tide."

The vast majority of this information was just repeating what

Cardinal had told me, but Alice seemed to accept it as fact in

stride; she didn't bite back the way she often did. After a few moments of reflection, she murmured, "It's true that Uncle…er,

Commander Bercouli seems to have his own doubts. The Dark

Territory already has tens of thousands of elite forces, and if they

breach the eastern gate all at once, even the knights may not be

able to keep up…But on the other hand, there is essentially no

other worthwhile power in the human realm aside from ours. You

mentioned that the children of elite noble houses receive special

training in the sword and sacred arts—but their skill is aesthetic

in nature and not suited to true battle. We will simply have to

work together, with the few dragons we have, and trust in the

blessings of the three goddesses. You understand the situation,

don't you?"

"You're correct…There's nothing here to counteract the armies

of darkness aside from the Integrity Knights," I said, gazing

straight ahead. "But that's a situation that Administrator created

by design. Your pontifex was afraid of any kind of power that

threatened her absolute rule over the Human Empire. That's why

she gathered tournament champions and rebels against the

Taboo Index, removed their memories, and rebuilt them into

faithful knights. Or to put it another way, Administrator does not

have an ounce of trust in the people of this world."

"…!"

Alice sucked in a sharp breath. Once again, she didn't have an

instant rebuttal. Praying that I'd struck a nerve deep in her soul, I

continued, "If she trusted the people who live here, she would

form well-equipped militias and allow them to train, and perhaps

there would be a battle force capable of countering the Dark Territory's now. But she didn't do that. She allowed the higher nobles

—the people who should be first to fight if a war erupts—to be

slothful and decadent. Now their souls are corrupted…just like

the two Eugeo and I attacked at the academy."

Raios Antinous and Humbert Zizek's attempted rape of Tiese

and Ronie was just two days ago. If the stress test arrived and the

Dark Territory invaded the human realm, scenes like that would

occur everywhere, in horrifying numbers.

"But it's not too late to do anything about it yet. I don't know

how much time we have until the Dark Territory invades,

whether it's one year or two…but if we can arrange a large human

army by then, perhaps…"

"We can do no such thing!" Alice cried. "You just said it yourself. The nobles are all craven and corrupt! If a war begins and

the four imperial houses and nobles are called upon to take their

swords and fight, they will oblige only in name and ensure that

their lives and fortunes are kept intact!"

"You're right that most of the higher nobles have no real intention of fighting. But some do have their pride, and among the

lower nobles and common people, there are those with the will to

protect their families and towns…and this world as a whole. If the

wealth of weapons stored in this tower is distributed to them and

you folks teach them your true swordfighting and sacred arts, it's

not unthinkable that we could have a proper army built up within

a year."

"The common…people…?" she repeated.

"That's right," I said. "Even if we just take volunteers rather

than conscripting an army, we should be able to build quite a

crowd. There are already guard garrisons in the towns and villages all over. The problem is…at this point, such a strategy is impossible to employ."

"Because…the pontifex…would never allow it…"

"Right. We couldn't even persuade her based on its wisdom.

An army that can't be forced into absolute servitude is just as terrifying to Administrator as the forces of darkness are. That leaves

just one conclusion: We must break Administrator's absolute

rule, effectively use what time we have left, and build a defensive

force for the upcoming invasion," I declared, but I couldn't help

but feel irony in that statement.

Rath, the company behind the Underworld, had a close connection to Seijirou Kikuoka, an officer with the nation's Self-Defense Force. That meant this entire operation had to have deep

ties to national security in the real world. Perhaps they even

meant to utilize artificial fluctlights like Eugeo and Alice to control their weapons of war.

I couldn't possibly condone such a thing, and yet I was arguing

that tens of thousands of civilians should be turned into soldiers

for a massive war.

Alice had no idea of this inner dilemma; she was silent for her

own reasons. No doubt she was balancing a scale with her souletched loyalty to the Axiom Church on one side, and on the other,

the words of the intruder she'd escorted here by her own hand.

Her expression was controlled, but I knew I couldn't fathom the

true depth of her anguish and indecision.

Eventually, I heard a brief phrase on the night breeze.

"…see her?"

"What…?"

"If I help you…and we regain my hidden memories, will I be

able to see Selka…my sister again?"

I had to clench my jaw. She could do it. Of course she could

see her. But…

I wasn't sure whether I should relate my earlier prediction, but

the last thing I wanted to do just then was mince words. I steeled

myself and said, "Yes…you will. If you use your dragon, it will

only take a day or two. But there's something you need to hear

first…"

I stared right into Alice's eyes, about four feet to my right, and

continued, "It's not exactly you who will be reuniting with Selka.

The moment you get your memory back, you'll return to being

Alice Zuberg from before the Synthesis Ritual, and Alice Synthesis Thirty will cease to be. You'll lose your memories of being an

Integrity Knight and return this body to its rightful persona. It's

cruel to say, but…the you right now is a false Alice created by Administrator."

Her shoulders trembled at various points as I spoke. But there

were no more sobs. Seconds later, she spoke in a voice with all

emotion restrained.

"Once you told me…that the Integrity Knights were a creation

of the pontifex…I had a feeling this might be the case. That I stole

this body from a girl named Alice Zuberg…and have monopolized

it for six long years."

I had no idea what to say to this. No doubt she had a storm of

feelings, but Alice only gave me a brave smile. "I must return

what I have stolen. That would be the wish of Selka…her parents…your friend…and you, I suspect."

"…Alice…"

"But…I have just one request."

"Which is…?"

"Before you return this body to the persona of the original

Alice…will you take me to Rulid? And then, in secret…I wish to

see Selka, my sister…and my family. If you can do that for me, I

will be happy."

She ended there and slowly turned her head to look at me. In

that very instant, the moon cast a ray of light between the clouds

to the east. With her entire outline framed in golden beams,

Alice's red and swollen eyes softened, and she smiled just a bit. I

couldn't take it and had to look up at the moon.

We'd get Alice's memory back. That was the only thing that

Eugeo truly wanted—and therefore, what I wanted as well.

But it would also be a death sentence for the Integrity Knight—

no, the young woman—clenching her knees next to me. An unavoidable sacrifice, and an inescapable set of priorities. I couldn't

do anything about it.

"Yes…I promise. I swear to you," I said, eyes to the sky. "I'll

take you to Rulid before we return the memories."

"…You'd better," she warned. I looked at her and nodded. She

returned the gesture, took a deep breath, and put on a brave face.

"All right, then. In order to protect the realm…and all the people

within it, I, Alice Synthesis Thirty, hereby abandon my title and

rank of Integrity Kni— Aah!!"

Her proclamation quickly turned to a shriek. Her golden

armor rattled as she bolted backward and covered her right eye.

Devastating pain twisted her beautiful features.

I was momentarily stunned into rising off my seat, until I recalled an incident from a few days prior.

Eugeo had cut off the arm of Humbert Zizek to save Ronie and

Tiese, and by the time I'd reached him, his right eye had blown

clear out of its socket, and tears of vivid blood were spurting

down his cheek.

In the school's detention cell that night, Eugeo had described

what he'd felt. The moment he tried to attack Humbert, his arm

went cold and dead as if it didn't belong to him, and his right eye

burned with agony. Floating in front of him were bright-red, unfamiliar sacred letters…

Alice had to have been experiencing the same phenomenon. It

was some kind of mental block, I suspected, triggered whenever

the individual tried to fight against the orders carved into her

soul.

"Don't think about anything! Shut off your mind!" I shouted as

I approached, holding down her left shoulder. With my other

hand, I grabbed her wrist and forced it away from her right eye.

"…?!"

Alice's sapphire-blue eye was no longer the same—instead,

there was a blinking red tint to it. I gasped and leaned in to get a

better look.

Along the edge of Alice's circular blue iris, there was a series of

fine, radiating red lines that rotated slowly. They weren't of equal

width, and their arrangement looked random. It was almost like…

a bar code.

Ever since Eugeo had described what had happened to him,

I'd assumed it was Administrator who'd installed this mental

block on the Underworldians. But I couldn't ever recall seeing

anything resembling a bar code during my two years there.

So this…isn't Administrator's doing…? But then, who…?

I gasped.

The circular bar code stopped rotating, and a strange string of

symbols passed over Alice's contracted pupils. The bright-red series of letters looked like

For a moment, I was unsure how to read them—until I realized

they were mirrored. Alice's retina was on the other side of the letters, so their direction was reversed from her point of view. The

letters spelled out SYSTEM ALERT.

It was a phrase I was long familiar with from using PCs, typically accompanied by an unpleasant dinging sound. That phrase

should have no meaning to Alice and the Underworldians,

though. In their lives, all Japanese words were considered the

"common language," while English was known as the "sacred

tongue." Hardly any of the citizens actually understood the definition of the words; they considered them unnecessary.

When learning sacred arts, the initial System Call and its subsequent English commands were essentially treated like sounds,

and their meanings were ignored. When I taught Eugeo the various sword skills that I identified as special techniques of the Aincrad style, he always marveled that I understood things about the

sacred tongue.

So this SYSTEM ALERTwarning was meaningless to the Underworldians. That meant the mental block installed in Alice and

Eugeo wasn't from Administrator but from people in the real

world—members of Rath's staff…

Alice let out a high-pitched scream right in my face, cutting off

my thoughts. "My…my eye, it's burning…! And I…I see some

kind…of writing!"

"Don't think! Empty your mind!!" I shouted, placing my hands

on either side of her dainty face. "What's happening to you now is

a kind of mental barrier that happens to those who try to defy the

Church. It's causing that pain in your eye in an attempt to enforce

your unconditional obedience…If you keep thinking about that,

your eye's going to burst!"

Unfortunately, given the circumstances, the more I warned

her, the more it could backfire. No human being was so in control

of their mind that they could stop thinking about something on

command.

Alice squeezed her eyelids shut. But that wasn't going to remove the red letters superimposed over her eye. Her hands

floated out into the air and clutched at me when they brushed my

shoulder. With each little shriek of pain, more and more force

was pressed through her fingers, making my bones and muscles

creak. But I knew that my suffering was nothing compared to

hers.

I applied pressure to her face with my palms, hoping that it

might at least calm her thoughts a bit. In the background, I desperately considered the turn of events.

Several of the Integrity Knights, including Alice, had already broken a taboo before. I knew that because it was how they'd been

brought before the Axiom Church and given the Synthesis Ritual.

But in Alice's case, there had been no splitting pain in her

right eye when she committed the crime of trespassing into the

Dark Territory eight years ago—at least, nothing compared to

Eugeo's. According to him, Alice crossed the boundary line without even realizing it. In other words, at the moment of the violation, her mind had no conscious understanding or intent to break

that taboo.

Most likely, the mental barrier she was suffering was a reaction to intentionally trying to break a taboo. The instant she got

the idea, the pain in her eye started, followed by the SYSTEMALERTwarning, to instill fear of the taboo. As obedient as

the Underworldians already were by nature, this magic-seeming

mental block had to be sufficient to keep them almost perfectly

subservient.

However, if the mental barrier was the work of Rath's employees, that created one very significant paradox. The purpose of the

Underworld test was, I suspected, to create artificial fluctlights

that could break rules—or more accurately, that could judge a

constructed morality system for themselves. If you had an Underworldian close to a breakthrough, what would be the point of a

crude, violent mental block that forces them backward?

Wouldn't that mean whoever constructed this alert system was

intentionally delaying the success of the experiment? Who would

such a person be, and what was the point?

I briefly considered the replicated persona of Heathcliff, Akihiko Kayaba, but cast that aside. He wished for the creation of a

true alternate world, so he wouldn't interfere with the evolution

of the artificial fluctlights. And this sort of forceful handiwork

wasn't his style. Perhaps it was some kind of group or individual

hostile to Rath, performing sabotage.

If Seijirou Kikuoka was running Rath as an SDF officer, I

could imagine any number of hostile forces. There could be some

other internal group opposed to Kikuoka's project, a major military company trying to maintain a stranglehold on the defense industry, perhaps even some foreign weapons manufacturer or intelligence agency.

But if such powerful forces were involved in sabotaging Rath,

would they really go to these subtle and particular lengths? If

they had enough power to install a sabotage routine in the artificial fluctlights, surely it would be easier just to destroy the

lightcube cluster itself and be done with it?

In other words, the intention of this mystery saboteur was

merely to delay the project, not shut it down entirely. Were they

waiting for something to happen? Some massive counterproject

that required plenty of time to prepare? Perhaps…

The theft of the complete experiment results, including the

lightcube cluster. A chill ran through my hands as they held Alice,

who suddenly wailed, "How cruel…"

I came back to my senses and glanced at her. Those graceful

eyebrows were twisted in pain, little droplets sat at the corners of

her eyes, and she'd bitten her lip so hard, it was bleeding.

That lip trembled, the skin pale, as she continued, "How

cruel…to have…not just my memories…but even my mind manipulated…by someone else…" Her hands on my shoulders trembled,

out of either sadness or anger. "Was it…the pontifex…who burned

this red sacred script…into my eyes…?"

"No…I don't think it was," I admitted on the spot. "It's one of

the powers who created this world and observes it from the outside…One of the gods that don't appear in your creation story."

"…Gods." Clear drops fell from her eyes without a sound. "We

knights engage in endless battle to protect the world the gods created…and yet, they do not have faith in us? They take my memories of family away, then place this terrible hex on me…to force

my servitude…"

Alice lived her life as a holy knight—I couldn't imagine how

much shock, disbelief, and despair she must have been feeling. As

I watched, my breath caught in my lungs as Alice's eyes bolted

open.

The letters running across her right iris were still a brilliant

red. But she stared right through the message into the sky—at the

pale moon floating between the heavy clouds.

"I am not a puppet!" she announced, her voice clear and

strong, if ragged around the edges. "Perhaps I was constructed.

But I still have a will! I wish to protect this world…and the people

in it! I wish to protect my parents! My sister! That is my primary

duty!!"

With a high-pitched metallic whine, the letters on her eye

glowed brighter. The rotating bar code around the edge of her iris

sped up.

"Alice!" I cried, sensing what was about to happen.

Without looking back at me, she whispered, "Kirito…hold me

down firmly."

"…Right."

There was nothing else I could do. I let go of Alice's face and

moved my grip to her armored shoulders. Through the golden

plate, I squeezed her tight as she trembled.

She gestured up to the sky, long golden hair waving, and

sucked in a deep breath.

"Administrator…and you unnamed gods! For the sake of my

mission…I swear to oppose you!!"

Her declaration of independence rang out, crisp and clear.

Barely a moment after the words left her mouth, the red glow

in Alice's right eye surged into a burst of flame.

A spray of hot blood moistened my cheek.

2

Eugeo.

Eugeo…

What's wrong?

Did you have a bad dream…?

With a soft thrum, orange light filled the lamp.

Out in the hallway, Eugeo buried the bottom half of his face

into the pillow in his arms and, without emerging from the darkness, peered through the slightly ajar door into the room.

It wasn't very big and featured two simple wooden beds. The

one on the right was empty, its freshly washed blanket crisply

folded. The bed on the left held a thin figure sitting upright,

watching Eugeo. The face was hidden due to the light of the lamp

in the figure's hand. The shining white pajama top was slightly

open at the chest, revealing even whiter skin. The long hair that

hung down to the bed looked as soft as silk.

Beyond the glow of the lamp, the only thing visible were her

full lips, curled into a gentle smile.

It must be cold over there. Come here, Eugeo.

Underneath the covers, the bed was full of rich, warm, inviting

darkness, which only served to remind him of the chilly breeze in

the hallway. Just then, he was through the door, tottering toward

the bed on uncertain legs.

For some reason, the closer he got, the weaker the lamplight

became, and the darker the face of the woman on the bed. But

Eugeo kept moving onward, driven by the desire to nestle into the

pleasant darkness. His steps got shorter and shorter, and his

viewpoint fell lower and lower, but he didn't find this strange.

When he reached the bed at last, it was terribly tall. He threw

down his pillow and used it as a stepping stool to clamber up the

side of the bed. Then a soft layer of cloth covered his head, plunging his vision into blackness. He crawled farther, farther into the

dark, urged by a kind of primal longing.

His outstretched fingers brushed warm, soft skin. Eugeo clung

to it, buried his face in it. The smooth skin wriggled and folded to

welcome him in. Clinging to it brought him a numbing satisfaction, and twice as much longing. Smooth arms circled his back

and brushed the top of his head.

"Mother…? Is that you, Mother?" he asked, his voice tiny.

The answer was immediate.

That's right…I'm your mother, Eugeo.

"Mother…my mother…," he mumbled, sinking deeper and deeper

into the warm, clammy darkness. As his mind went dull and

numb, one little piece of it raised a concern, as dull as an air bubble rising from a muddy swamp.

Was his Mother always so thin…and soft? She worked the barley fields every day—why were her hands so perfectly pristine?

And…what had happened to his father, who should have been

sleeping in the bed on the right? Where were all his brothers, who

always got in the way when he sought comfort from this

woman…?

"Are you…really my mother?"

That's right, Eugeo. I'm your mother, and your mother alone.

"But…where's Father? Where did my brothers go?"

Ha-ha-ha.

Oh, you silly boy.

Remember?

You killed them all.

Suddenly, his fingers slid.

He held up his hands and spread them apart.

Even in the darkness, he could clearly see the bright-red color

of blood dripping from his fingers.

"…Aaaaaahh!!" Eugeo screamed and bolted upright. He frantically rubbed his clammy hands against his shirt. After several

shouts and much hasty friction, he finally realized that it was not

blood smeared on his palms but sweat. He was lying on the

ground in the fetal position.

It was just a dream. And yet, the wild beating of his heart and

the sour sweat exuding from his skin showed no signs of calming.

The remnants of a horrifying nightmare stayed stuck to his back,

chilling and unpleasant.

I've hardly even thought of Mom and Dad since I left home,

he realized, then clenched his eyes shut and panted. Back in

Rulid, his mother was so busy with fieldwork, taking care of the

sheep, and doing all the housework that she hardly ever had time

to dote on Eugeo like that. At the time of his oldest memories, he

was already sleeping in his own bed, and he'd never had a problem with it.

So why would I have a dream like that now…?

He shook his head, trying to dispel the vision. A person's

dreams were decided by the whims of Lunaria, the moon goddess. There was no meaning to that nightmare, surely.

Once his breathing was steady again, his mind turned to the

question of where he was. Without uncurling his body, he lifted

his eyelids.

The first thing he saw was a dark-red, stunningly deep carpet,

woven with an intricate design. He couldn't begin to guess what

the textile merchants in District Five of North Centoria would

charge for such an item. He gradually raised his head, but there

was no end to the carpet. Only when his head was fully level did

he finally see a wall in the distance.

The "wall" wasn't wood paneled or made of stone blocks. It

was an arrangement of golden pillars made to look like gigantic

swords, connected by massive sheets of glass. That made it less of

a wall than a very long, continuous window. In any case, he

doubted that even the emperors' palaces made such decadent use

of valuable glass.

Beyond the glass wall was a carpet of clouds glowing blue in

the moonlight. So this chamber was located above the cloud

layer. Hanging in the night sky above was a full white moon. A

stunning canopy of stars sparkled around it. The rays of light

coming down from the display above were so strong that Eugeo

was late to realize it was still the middle of the night. Based on the

position of the moon, it was probably just after midnight. So

while he slept, the date changed, making it the twenty-fifth day of

the fifth month now.

He looked straight up. Far above, the ceiling formed a perfect

circle, with no sign of any staircase up to the next floor. Did that

make this the very top floor of Central Cathedral?

There was a vivid painting on the vast ceiling: shining knights,

vanquished monsters, mountains jutting from the earth. It

seemed to be a depiction of the creation of the world. There were

even crystals embedded into the surface here and there, twinkling

like stars.

But based on the content of the painting, there was one absolutely pivotal figure who was not present in the center, where

she belonged: Stacia, goddess of creation. That part of the painting was done all in white, leaving a bizarre void that drew attention away from the rest of the work.

After puzzling over that for a bit, Eugeo got up from his hands

and feet, then spun around in a panic when something brushed

his back.

"…?!"

He gaped. Right behind him was the side of a shockingly large

bed. It was circular, like the room itself, and nearly ten mels in diameter. Four golden pillars supported a golden canopy, with several layers of fine purple fabric hanging between them. The bed

itself was wrapped in a white sheet of what looked like silk from

the eastern empire, which shone softly in the moonlight coming

through the window.

And lying in the middle of that bed was a single figure. The

sheer hanging fabric blocked the light, revealing nothing but the

general silhouette.

Eugeo sucked in a sharp breath and jumped to attention. He'd

been here for at least a few minutes, and he hadn't sensed the

other person's presence at any point. That was hard enough to

believe, but even more difficult was the realization that he'd been

sleeping against the side of the bed for hours. How had that happened…?

At last, Eugeo recalled the most recent memory from his

vague, jumbled chronology.

That's right…I fought against Commander Bercouli…the hero

of yore. I used my sword's Memory Release to freeze us both…

and just before both our life numbers ran out, some little man

dressed like a clown—Prime Senator Chudelkin? He waltzed in

and said some very strange things. Then he crunched the ice

roses with his shoes…and…

That was the end of his memories. Perhaps the clownish man

had brought him here, but the reason was unclear. Without

thinking, he rummaged around his waist, but there was no sword

there.

Plagued by a sudden sense of vulnerability, Eugeo squinted at

the figure on the bed. Was it friend or foe…? But this was Central

Cathedral, and likely the top floor, at that. Nobody he found here

would be an ally.

He considered sneaking right out of the room, but his desire to

know the identity of the sleeping figure won out. No matter how

he stretched, though, he couldn't make out the face behind the

hanging fabric.

He held his breath and put his knee on the bed. It sank deep

into the white silk, like a layer of powdered snow, and Eugeo had

to reach out and prop himself up on his hands. They, too, sank

into the smooth fabric.

The memory of that terrible dream and the sensation of its enveloping bed returned to him in a flash, and he shivered. Eugeo

put his other leg on the bed and slowly crawled toward the center.

As he crossed the impossibly large bed, Eugeo had to wonder:

If the bed beneath him was filled with the finest, softest down,

how many feathers would there be in total? When he carefully

collected the loose, fallen feathers from the ducks the family kept

out back in Rulid, it had taken half a year to make one thin,

shabby blanket.

He stopped just before the sheer hanging curtains and listened

closely. At the very edge of his hearing was the sound of smooth,

regular breathing. The mystery person was still asleep.

Carefully, so carefully, he slipped his right hand under the curtain and lifted it, achingly slowly. When the light of the evening

finally landed on the interior portion of the bed, Eugeo's eyes

bulged.

It was a woman.

She was dressed in a light-purple nightgown—the same color

as a Stacia Window—hemmed with silver thread, with pale and

delicate hands folded atop her stomach. Her arms and fingers

were as slender as a doll's, but the swelling mounds pushing up

the gown were rich and full, and he hastily looked past them

without lingering. At the wide-open neck, her skin was smooth

and dazzlingly white.

Lastly, he looked at her face. Instantly, he felt as though his

soul were being sucked out of his body. He went into tunnel vision, unable to sense anything else.

What incredible perfection. She didn't even seem human.

Alice the Integrity Knight had an unassailable beauty, of

course, but hers was still a beauty that existed within the human

spectrum. And that was natural—Alice was a human.

But this person sleeping no more than a mel away was…

The finest sculptor in Centoria could spend his entire life in

pursuit of total mastery and still be unable to create such beauty.

Eugeo couldn't think of the words to describe even a single feature of her face. He would say that she had "lips like flower

petals," except that Eugeo did not know of any flowers with such

delicate, pristine curves.

The lashes on her closed eyelids and the long flowing hair that

spilled over the bed looked like molten silver. It gleamed coldly in

the blue darkness and white moonlight.

Like some kind of fly lured by sweet nectar, Eugeo was

stunned, unable to think. The only thing filling his empty head

was the desire to reach out and touch that hair and cheek, to feel

them with his own skin.

He slid forward a bit more on his knees, until a scent like

nothing he'd ever smelled before rose into his nostrils. His outstretched fingertips were closer…almost there…on that smooth,

flawless skin…

No, Eugeo!

Run!

He felt like a voice had shouted from somewhere in the distance.

There was a burst of sparks inside his head, driving away just a

bit of the thick fog clouding his mind. Eugeo's eyes blinked and

bulged, and he abruptly drew his hand back.

Why did that voice…sound so familiar…?he wondered in a

daze, his ability to think slowly returning. What…happened to

me…? What am I doing here…?

He stared at the woman sleeping before him, trying to reconcile his presence there, and suddenly felt another heavy layer of

sleep threatening to engulf him. He tore his eyes away and shook

his head in an attempt to fight it off.

Think. I've got to think. I should know who this is. It's a person sleeping alone on an extravagant bed on the top floor of

Central Cathedral. In other words, this must be the most powerful figure in the Axiom Church—and the ruler of all the human

lands in existence…

It was the church pontifex, Administrator.

Eugeo repeated that name over and over, now that he could

remember it. This was the person who stole Alice, took out her

memories, and made her into an Integrity Knight. The most powerful caster of sacred arts, whom even the wise and unfathomable

Cardinal couldn't defeat. The ultimate enemy of both Eugeo and

Kirito.

And here she was, sleeping right before him.

Could I…beat her now?

Without thinking, he reached for his waist with his trembling

hand, but he found no sword there. Either Chudelkin had taken

it, or it was still at the bottom of the Great Bath, buried under ice.

Even asleep, she was too much for Eugeo to handle without a

weapon…

Wait.

There was still one. A very small one, but in a sense, a weapon

more powerful than any Divine Object.

Eugeo reached up to his chest and pressed down on his shirt.

The sensation of a hard cross pushed back into his palm. It was

his final ace, Cardinal's secret weapon.

If he stuck this dagger into Administrator's body, Cardinal's

special attack arts would cross time and space to burn her alive.

"…!"

But he could only exhale in anguish, the dagger clutched in his

hand through his shirt.

The knife was supposed to be for Alice. She wouldn't be killed,

of course, merely put to sleep by Cardinal's magic so her memories could be restored, returning her to the original Alice. If he

used it on Administrator, that might stop her, but it would hold

no meaning to Eugeo. Perhaps there was a way to bring Alice

back without the dagger once Administrator was out of the picture, but there was no guarantee of that.

As he hesitated, grappling with a question with no easy answers, he thought he heard that strange voice again.

Eugeo…run…

But before the message from that terribly faint voice could take

root in his consciousness—the woman's silver eyelashes twitched.

Eugeo could only gaze on in dull surprise as her pale eyelids

slowly opened. He couldn't even move his eyes, much less the

hand holding his dagger. The mental acuity he'd fought so hard to

regain began to shred apart again.

The woman's lids closed before they had opened all the way,

then resumed their upward drift, teasing him. By the third blink,

they were entirely open at last.

"Ah…"

Eugeo didn't even register the sound that tumbled out of his

mouth. The woman's eyes were a pure silver color he had never

seen in any human iris in his life. Around that mirrorlike surface

was a pale rainbow shine that wobbled and rippled like water.

They gleamed with such a beautiful richness that every gem in the

world paled in comparison.

He was petrified like a statue, kneeling atop the bed, as the

woman slowly rose to a sitting position in a way that suggested no

weight at all; her upper half hovered up as if pulled by some invisible force, while her hands stayed folded over her stomach.

That long silver hair hung down her back in one solid flow, trailing with a breeze that wasn't there.

With her eyes opened, the woman (or girl—she looked younger

now that her eyes were open) lifted a hand to her mouth and

yawned slightly, without a single acknowledgment of Eugeo's

presence.

She folded her knees to the right, shifting her center of weight

so that she had to prop herself up with her left hand on the cover.

It was in that seductive pose that the girl finally turned her head

to look straight at Eugeo.

Her flat silver eyes with their rainbow-colored edges didn't

look like they belonged to any human being—there were no

pupils. Despite their beauty, they reflected all the light like mirrors, allowing no glimpse into her emotional center.

He gazed into his dumbfounded reflection in those little mirrors as the girl's pearly lips parted. She spoke in a gorgeous voice,

as sweet as honey and pure as crystal.

"You poor child."

It took some time for him to understand what she'd said to him.

Without realizing how slow his wits were working, he repeated,

"Huh…? Poor…?"

"Yes. Very pitiful."

Her voice had a beguiling quality, a combination of innocent

beauty and sultry seductiveness. The gleaming pearl lips curled

into a subtle grin, emitting more of that honeyed tone.

"You are like a wilted flower in its little bed. No matter how

you extend your roots into the soil, no matter how much you

stretch your leaves into the breeze, you cannot touch a single

drop of dew."

"Flower…bed…"

His brows knotted as he tried to puzzle out the meaning of her

words. The fog shrouding his mind still hung thick, but something in her words brought a stab of pain to his heart.

"You understand. You know just how thirsty and starving you

are."

"…For what…?" he heard his own voice say.

She stared at him with those mirror eyes, grin still in place.

"For love."

For…love?

As though…I don't know…what love is…

"Precisely correct. You don't know what it means to be loved, you

poor child."

That's not true.

Mom…loved me. When I had a nightmare, when I couldn't

sleep…she would hold me and sing me lullabies.

"But did that love truly belong to you, and you alone? It didn't,

did it? It was spread among all your siblings, and you just hap-

pened to receive it by default…"

That's a lie. Mom loved me…She loved only me…

"You wished she only loved you. But she didn't. So you hated your

father, your brothers, for stealing your mother's love."

Liar. I…I don't hate Dad or my brothers.

"Is that true…? But you slashed him."

...

Slashed who…?

"There was that red-haired girl who might've been the first one to

love you and only you…and you slashed the man who tried to take

her by force. Because you hated him. He stole what would have

only been yours."

No…that's not why I swung my sword at Humbert.

"But it didn't satisfy your thirst. Nobody loves you. They all forgot

about you. They decided they didn't need you, and they cast you

aside."

No…that's not true. I…I wasn't abandoned…

That's wrong…I know it is. I have Alice.

The recollection of that name seemed to clear away some of the

thick fog shrouding his mind. Eugeo clenched his eyes shut. A

warning voice in the back of his head said he had to do something, had to act.

Before he could do anything, that bewitching voice slid in

through his eardrums again.

"Is that really true…? Does she really love only you…?" she

said, pity mixed with a bit of mockery. "You're forgetting. So I'll

help you remember the true memories you've buried deep in your

heart."

Then his vision tilted.

The luxurious down bed vanished, replaced by a deep, dark

hole through which he fell without end.

Just then, he smelled fresh grass.

The sunlight was green where it hit the earth through the

leaves, and his ears were full of the twittering of birds and the

rustling of grass underfoot.

He was running alone through a thick forest.

His point of view was strangely low, his paces short. He looked

down and saw skinny little child's legs sticking out from a pair of

short trousers. But soon it felt natural again, and the only thing

he felt was overwhelming haste and loneliness.

For some reason, he hadn't seen Alice all morning.

Once he finished his morning chores of caring for the cows

and pulling weeds in the herb garden, Eugeo raced off for the

usual meeting spot: the great old tree outside of town. But no

matter how long he waited, Alice did not show up. Neither did his

other childhood friend, the black-haired boy.

He waited for them until the sun reached the highest point in

the sky, then he trotted off toward Alice's house, filled with a

strange sense of unease. She had probably gotten in trouble for

some mischief and was forbidden from going to see him. But

when he reached her house, Mrs. Zuberg simply shook her head

and said, "That's strange. She left quite early this morning. Kiriboy came along, so I was sure you'd be with them."

Eugeo mumbled his thanks and left the village elder's house,

then continued his search, the feeling of unease turning to panic.

But Kirito and Alice were nowhere to be found—not in any of

their playing spots or hideouts, and certainly not in the center

square, where Zink and his sidekicks liked to hang out.

There was only one other place he could think of. That round

little clearing deep in the woods to the east, where the other children didn't dare go. It was their secret spot, full of flowers and

sweet fruit, a place the adults called the Fairy Ring.

He raced straight there, feeling the sniffles coming. He was

urged on by loneliness, suspicion, and the presence of some third,

unknown emotion.

When he finished running down the twisted trail and approached their secret clearing around an especially thick old tree,

he spotted a golden shine between the trunks and came to a stop.

That was the familiar gleam of Alice's golden hair. For some

reason, he held his breath and listened. Traces of murmured

words reached his ears on the wind.

Why…? Why?he repeated to himself as he snuck up to the

clearing. Self-pity and misery threatened to crush him as he hid

behind the mossy trunk and peered into the clearing, which was

overflowing with Solus's light.

Alice sat in the middle of the profusion of colorful flowers with

her back to him. He couldn't see her face, but the long golden

hair, blue dress, and white apron couldn't belong to anyone else.

Next to her was a head of spiky, coarse black hair. His best

friend in the world, Kirito.

Cold, clinging sweat flooded his palms.

Kirito's voice traveled to the edge of the clearing, nonchalant.

"Hey…we should head back soon, or we'll get busted."

Alice replied, "We're still fine. Let's stay a little longer…Just a

bit?"

Oh no.

I don't want to be here.

But Eugeo's feet might as well have been tree roots stuck into

the ground.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight of Alice's head

leaning closer to Kirito's.

Little shreds of whispering.

It was like a painting, two small figures leaning together in the

bright sun, surrounded by brilliant flowers.

No, no, no.

This is a lie. It's all lies, he shouted from somewhere dark. But

no matter how hard he tried to deny it, the certainty that this was

some truthful memory summoned from the very depths of his

mind grew firmer, filling his chest like bile.

"There…you see?"

She giggled. The forest scene vanished into a smug whisper.

Eugeo was on the massive bed in the middle of the pontifex's

chamber atop Central Cathedral, but he couldn't dispel the

golden shine from his eyes when he closed his lids. His ears still

heard phantom whispers from the two.

His voice of reason claimed he met Kirito two years ago, well

after Alice was taken away, but it failed to vanquish the dark feeling that filled his heart. He heaved and panted, eyes bulging,

while the silver-haired girl gazed at him with pity.

"Do you understand now…? Even her love does not belong

only to you. In fact…one wonders if there was any love for you to

begin with."

That sweet voice slid into his mind, each lilted question and

insinuation wreaking havoc on his thoughts. Suddenly, boundless

hunger and loneliness stood out in stark relief to the rest of his

emotions. The surface of his ego cracked and fell away, leaving

only the raw desire underneath.

"But I'm not like her, Eugeo."

Her most provocative suggestion yet came gushing into Eugeo's

mind with the scent of juicy fruit dipped thick in honey.

"I will love you. I'll give you, and only you, all the love I have."

Through half-clouded eyes, Eugeo saw the beautiful girl with the

silver hair and eyes—Administrator, highest power of the Axiom

Church—give him a mind-melting smile. She shifted her legs

against the soft sheet and straightened her back. Her hands came

up to the chest of her purple silk nightgown to play with the ribbon that held it closed. With graceful fingers, she pulled at the silver ribbon, teasing it open ever so slowly. The full white bosoms

that peeked out of the wide collar swayed enticingly.

"Come to me, Eugeo."

Her whisper was like the voice of his mother in his dream and

also like the murmuring of Alice he'd heard during his vision.

In a daze, Eugeo watched the sheer purple cloth fall away from

her frighteningly slim waist like flower petals. She really waslike

a flower—the devilish predatory kind that lured in small birds

and insects with its powerful perfume and succulent nectar.

Part of Eugeo was able to recognize the danger as such, but the

gravitational pull of that delicate, pale fruit in the midst of the

purple petals was so strong, in a mind so frayed by the earlier illusions, that he felt like he was sinking deeper into some sticky

liquid.

You've never been loved in a way that truly satisfies you, Administrator had said. Now Eugeo himself was beginning to admit

this was true. When he was younger, he really did love his parents, brothers, and friends without reservation. The sight of his

mother delighted at the flowers he picked for her, and his father

and brothers happily eating the fish he caught, filled young Eugeo

with joy. He even went into the forest to find healing herbs when

Zink the bully and his friends would get sick.

But what did they do for you? After the love you showed them,

what did they do for you?

That. That was the part he couldn't remember.

Again, Administrator's gentle grin twisted, and a scene from

his past flooded up to greet him.

It was the spring of his tenth year, the day that all the children

in the village were brought to the clearing so that the elder could

assign their callings. He watched nervously as Elder Gasfut

glanced down at him from the podium and announced a significant surprise: "Carver of the Gigas Cedar."

Still, some of the children around him made envious comments. The carver was a prestigious, hallowed position that had

existed since the founding of Rulid, and while he wouldn't get a

sword, he'd at least get to swing a real ax. Eugeo wasn't disappointed at the time, by any means.

He raced back home, clutching the parchment roll tied with a

red ribbon, proud to show it off to his family. After the initial silence, it was the middle brother who spoke first. He clicked his

tongue and complained that he thought it was going to be the day

he didn't have to shovel the cow poop anymore. Then the eldest

brother noted that this threw off their plan for the year's planting.

His father grunted and asked Eugeo when that job would end and

whether he would have time for the fields after he got home. His

mother disappeared into the kitchen, wary of their wrath.

In the eight years since, Eugeo's role at home had always been

small. And yet, the earnings he made as carver went into Father's

care and eventually turned into more sheep and new tools for the

farm. Meanwhile, Zink the apprentice man-at-arms got to spend

all his salary on himself, feasting on white bread with thick slices

of meat and showing off his fancy hobnailed boots and his sword

with its smooth leather scabbard. Meanwhile, Eugeo drudged

around on his worn-down shoes, with nothing but stale, leftover

bread in his lunch sack.

"There, you see? Did the people you loved ever once do anything

for you in return? Or did they actually take joy in your misery and

mock you instead?"

Yes…that's right.

Two years after Alice was taken away by the Integrity Knight,

in his eleventh summer, Eugeo remembered Zink telling him that

now that the elder's daughter was gone, there was no girl left in

the village who would care for him. The look in his eyes made it

clear that he thought Eugeo deserved it. He'd been best friends

with Alice, the prettiest and most talented girl in the village, and

Zink was delighted at his downfall.

Ultimately, no one in Rulid ever repaid Eugeo's sentiments.

He had the right to receive what he offered in a fair exchange, but

instead, he was denied that privilege.

"Then what's wrong with giving back some of that misery and

frustration you've been feeling? Don't you want to? I bet it would

feel good to become an Integrity Knight and fly back to your

home in all your glory, riding that silver dragon. You can make all

those people who humiliated you crawl around in the dirt so you

can step on their heads with your shiny boots. Only then can you

finally regain all that's been stolen from you. And that's not all…"

Slowly, flirtatiously, the silver-haired girl removed the arms covering her chest. Without their support, her soft, shapely curves

bounced like ripe fruit.

Administrator held out her arms to Eugeo and gave him a luxurious smile. "At last, you can know the joy of being truly loved,"

she whispered. "It's true fulfillment that numbs you from head to

toe. I'm not like those people who only took from you. If you love

me, I will give back every bit of love in return. The deeper and

more truly you love me, the greater pleasure I will show you, bliss

that you could never even imagine."

Every last drop of Eugeo's mental strength was being sucked

up by the demonic flower. Only the tiniest last shred of reason remaining deep in his heart tried to fight back.

Is that really…what love is about?

Is it really like money…something with numerical value to be

traded…?

He thought he heard a voice cry, That's not true, Eugeo!—and he

turned to see a red-haired girl in a gray uniform lunging for him

out of the darkness. Before he could reach back, many thick black

curtains fell between them, leaving only the sadness of the girl's

eyes in his mind.

Next it was a different voice from a different direction: You're

wrong, Eugeo. You don't give your love in order to get something in return.

He spun around in the darkness to catch a glimpse of a field,

where he saw a golden-haired girl standing in a blue dress. Her

blue eyes shone like the one exit from this bottomless swamp,

and Eugeo willed strength into his wilted legs to join her.

Once again, the black curtains fell, erasing the green pasture.

Without a guiding light, Eugeo halted in the dark. He could no

longer stand that burning thirst. The knowledge that he'd been

unfairly abused, taken advantage of, and deprived since childhood turned his self-pity and misery into brine that seared his

parched throat.

At last, Eugeo hung his head and began to crawl. Bit by bit, he

crept toward the oasis of nectar and its sweet, heady perfume.

His fingers parted the smooth sheet of silk and brushed chilly

skin. He looked up, and the silver-haired girl with the beauty of a

goddess gave him a transcendent smile and took his hand. She

pulled him gently, and he toppled forward without a fight. Her

utterly naked body enveloped Eugeo, embracing him in its pliable

softness.

At his ear, she whispered sweetly, "Don't you want it, Eugeo?

Don't you want to forget all the sad things and just have your way

with me? But not yet. I told you—first you have to love me. Just

repeat what I tell you. Put your full trust in me and pledge me

your everything. We'll start with the initiation of the sacred art."

The only reality for Eugeo by this point was the sweet, soft

sensation that surrounded him in every way. Dully, as though it

came from someone else, he heard himself croak, "System…Call."

"That's right…Now continue…Remove Core Protection."

For the first time, he sensed her voice faltering and the presence of some kind of emotion.

He mumbled the phrase's first unfamiliar word.

* * *

"Remove…"

When he gave up and submitted to her orders, he felt his existence getting lighter and thinner. That hunger and thirst that had

plagued him for so very, very long melted and vanished into the

sweet nectar. But so, too, did some very important feelings he'd

held deep inside his heart.

Was this really…the best idea…?

The tiny little spark of doubt flamed up in his hollowing insides, but the next word was already tumbling out of his lips before he could answer his own question.

"Core…"

I'm just tired of being sad. Tired of being in pain.

There was no guarantee of love here. He would not find the

love he was promised. And even…even if Alice regained her memory, would she even care about him? Would she want the man

who'd violated the Taboo Index to attack Humbert and had

fought against many Integrity Knights in open rebellion against

the Church? Or would she fear and despise him…?

He would rather stop right here than have to face that outcome.

Through the haze, Eugeo could vaguely sense that if he said

the third word, his two-year journey would come to an irreversible end. But if doing so could allow him to forget his sad,

painful past—and he could soak in this silver-haired girl's love—a

part of him was fine with that.

"That's it…now come, Eugeo. Come into me," she whispered

into his ear, the sweetest and most delectable of sounds. "Welcome to eternal stasis…"

As he said the third and final word, a tear fell down Eugeo's

cheek.