Chapter 47 - Catching Butterflies

"Kirito's telling the truth, Drifter, we all saw it. That guy, whatever his name was, he deliberately lowered Kirito's HP, and then tried to kill him with a single blow."

Unable to believe what he was hearing, Drifter stared at each of his party members in turn. Unfortunately, they didn't seem like they were joking.

"B-But... That would be murder!"

At this time, Drifter could no longer retain his calm. Just thinking that while he was away drinking and enjoying himself, one of his friends was almost killed, and by a player's hand, on top of that, caused him to feel immense guilt.

No one said anything in response to Drifter's exclamation. Kirito also didn't continue his story, as what happened next was very clear. Kirito was alive and well, so that other player's fatal attack must have missed or been blocked. As for who the almost murderer was, Kirito kept referring to him as 'that player', so he shouldn't know it either.

After a few dozen seconds of panic, Drifter forced himself to calm down. He grabbed Kirito by the shoulders, and hugged him briefly. Then, he looked at his party, his friends.

"From now on, we stick together, no matter what we are doing."

"Agreed."

After that somewhat emotional moment, the party set off to continue the << Elf War >> campaign quests. At the moment, they had to complete another fetch quest, something along the lines of catching some rare species of butterfly. Drifter didn't really pay attention to the lore.

"Right, with everything that happened, I almost forgot I also have something to tell y'all. It should be considered good news."

"Oh?"

Without wasting time, Drifter explained what went on the last night, especially Shivata's proposition. Kirito didn't say anything immediately, and instead looked at the others. While he was getting more comfortable in his role as party leader, he still felt he had to ask for their opinion regarding such an important decision.

"What do you think?"

"I think we should accept. Even though we will lose some experience and equipment from the labyrinth, we can always buy the items we need from Agil. I'm sure he will be happy to help."

"Hmm, I agree with Nautilus."

"Same. Not to mention, if we focus solely on completing the << Elf War >> campaign quests on this floor, it's likely we will be finished before the rest even finds the boss room."

Seeing Asuna nod in agreement with what the other three were saying, Kirito turned to Drifter, the only one who had yet to say something.

"Drifter, what are your thoughts?"

"I also think it's in our best interest to accept. More than anything, I think having the DKB and ALS withdraw from the campaign is the best thing that could happen. I already thought that before, and I'm even more sure of it after hearing what you went through yesterday. We need to avoid conflicts between players at all costs."

"All right then, it is decided. You added Shivata to your friend list last night, didn't you, Drifter? Send him a message saying we agree, please."

Nodding, Drifter did just that. The DKB player's response came almost immediately, a mix of gratefulness and joy. He also had good news, saying that Kibaou had agreed - though begrudgingly - to abandon the << Elf War >> campaign and focus on the clearing efforts.

"Great! I really didn't want to deal with cactus-hair more than necessary!"

Asuna sighed in relief, and the others echoed her sentiment. Kizmel, seeing that they had finished their private conversation, rejoined them.

"Has your discussion reached a good ending? You look happier, Asuna."

Without a doubt, Asuna was the one who was the most sullen after last night's events, even more so than the direct victim, Kirito. Although Kizmel didn't find anything strange with the infighting between humans - humankind was well-known for that particular trait - she knew it came as a shock for the girl, and the rest of her friends.

"Hm, I am, Kizmel."

"That's good. We have a lot to do today. Once again, I must deeply thank all of you for offering your help."

"Don't sweat it, Kizmel. Let's go catch butterflies!"

Asuna's enthusiasm was contagious, and soon everyone forgot the darker topics they were discussing earlier. The party set off to the quest area, eager to start the day.

...

"Kizmel! This is not what I had in mind when you said we were catching butterflies today!"

The previously cheerful fencer was now screaming in panic as a one and a half meters long butterfly gripped her by the leg and tried to carry her away, upside down. Meanwhile, her party was struggling between deciding if they helped her or hugged their stomachs laughing. That was because the giant butterfly was simply unable to take off while holding Asuna, so the whole situation looked comical, with the fencer hopping on one leg while raining blows on the monster.

The monster in question could be considered a mini-boss, and not even a dangerous one. At least not to them, who had faced Illfang and Asterius. It was called << Fluttering Butterfly Queen >>, and it was the insect they were supposed to capture. According to Kizmel, those types of monsters were frequently used by the forest elves to scout ahead and send messages.

"Stop laughter and help me!"

"Hahahaha!"

Chuckling even louder than before, Drifter nevertheless raised his spear and pierced through one of the monster's wings.

The mob screeched, and let go of Asuna to try and stab Drifter with its legs. Unfortunately for it, Kizmel and Kirito took the opportunity to cleave down on the extended limbs, cutting them off. After a few more attacks, the heavily wounded mini-boss perished, leaving behind only a normal-sized butterfly, which Kizmel promptly stored away in a pot, and a rolled-up piece of paper.

"You all... Why are you still laughing?! I won't make sandwiches again if you don't stop!"

"Noooo! Please, pardon us, Asuna!"

While the party begged for forgiveness under the world-ending threat of losing their snacks - no one was sure why, but Asuna turned out to level extremely fast in << Cooking >>, so her meals were something to look forward to - the dark elf had opened the message, and was reading it. As she did, her expression changed, passing by surprise, shock, fear, and settling on anxious. Panicking, Kizmel yelled.

"Quick, we need to return to the camp!"

"What? Why?"

"What happened, Kizmel?"

"The forest elves are after the << Secret Key >> again!"

Kizmel had barely finished speaking when she set off in the direction of the dark elf camp. The party had no choice but to chase after her.

"What?!"

"But didn't the commander send it back to your kingdom?"

Confused, the party stared at the dark elf. While running ahead, Kizmel shook her head.

"We knew there were spies of the forest elves disguised amongst our ranks, so we spread fake news that the key had been sent back via special means. Actually, the real << Secret Key >> is going to the << Western Spirit Tree >> today, protected by a small convoy. I even came out here with you today to complete the trick, but the forest elves somehow saw through it! The message said they are going to attack the convoy!"

Almost at the same time, the party received a notification saying that they had received a new quest: << The Western Spirit Tree >>. Furthermore, it was a timed quest, and if they failed it, they would've failed the entire << Elf War >> campaign.

Seeing that, the players exchanged glances, and picked up the pace. They had just agreed to be the one to finish this campaign, and even the ALS had withdrawn for their benefit, so they couldn't afford to drop the ball now. Furthermore, Kirito had already told them about this quest, though the time limit was an unwelcome addition. They were surprised, but not overly so.

After arriving at the dark elf camp, they discovered that, to no one's surprise, the convoy had already left. They then set out to the west, hoping to reach it before the forest elves' programmed ambush. Drifter knew that was a vain hope, as no quest would be that easy, but Kizmel didn't, so she was still urging them to go faster.

Eventually they caught up to the convoy. That was mostly because it was now a flaming pile of debris and bodies - the kind that didn't despawn so it could give the whole scene a grim look.

Frowning, Drifter surveyed the wreckage. Even if there was no blood, it still wasn't a pretty sight. There were a dozen dead elves spread around, as well as a few wolves, the trusty companions of the dark elves. Clearly, a violent battle had taken place.

Kizmel knelt by one of her fellow dark elves, and closed her eyes while muttering something. Drifter kept a serious expression throughout the entire process. Those were just NPCs - in fact, not even that, as they hadn't even 'lived' at all, only been created by the Cardinal System to set the scene - but to Kizmel they were real, so even if it was just for her, he had to show respect.

Activating his << Searching >>, Drifter overlooked the small battlefield, and quickly discovered traces of where the attackers had gone. It also appeared that some of the original escorts of the convoy had survived and were pursuing the enemies.

Kirito had noticed the same clues as him, because as soon as Kizmel got up, he put a hand on her forearm and pointed north.

"They went that way. There's a trail of that shiny blue liquid you mentioned you use to track prey."

"Some of my people must be following them. We must rend aid to them immediately, and recover the << Secret Key >>!"

"That's what I'm thinking too. Let's go!"

"Wait, you two! Didn't you notice something strange?"

They were about to set off again, Kizmel anxious to pursue the ones who had harmed her kind, when Nautilus stopped them. The shield-bearer was crouching next to a dead elf, and appearing very uncomfortable to be so close to a corpse.

"What's wrong?"

"Kizmel, correct me if I'm wrong, but this one doesn't look like a forest elf. And she's not a dark elf either."

"Uhm?"

Not only Kizmel, but the entire party was curious, and approached the body. Just like Nautilus said, the dead elf didn't look like either of the two kinds they knew. Her skin tone was somewhere in between the dark elves' and forest elves', a light-brown color. However, dark veins were clearly visible, especially on her hands and around her eyes. Overall, it was an eerie sight.

"This! It's not possible! What are they doing here on the 3rd floor?!"

Suddenly, Kizmel let out an exclamation of shock. Reeling back, she covered her mouth, eyes wide open. Then, she went around the battle site, checking out all the deceased elves. As she did so, her astonishment grew.

"Kizmel? Do you know her?"

Taking several deep breaths to calm down, the dark elf first nodded, then shook her head to deny the claim.

"Not her specifically, but I know her kind. Fallen elves."

"Fallen elves?"

"Yes. Remember how I told you the reason why my people and the forest elves are at war?"

"Yeah, because of the << Secret Keys >>, ain't it? You want to keep them safe and stored, while the forest elves want to use them."

"Indeed. But the fallen elves... They worship an evil god, which is why they look this way. This woman... She was probably a dark elf before passing through the fallen elf rituals and becoming... This."

It was plain to see that Kizmel absolutely despised the fallen elves. In fact, she looked disgusted.

"But if you want to keep the keys safe, and the forest elves want to use them, what do the fallen elves want? And why did we find a message about their plans in a forest elf's butterfly? Are they allied?"

"I-I don't know. Fallen elves haven't appeared for generations. They were a story mothers told their offspring to make them behave. I have never seen one of them before, let alone understand what they are thinking."

Kizmel was clearly shaken by what had happened. Still, she soon recovered her demeanor of a veteran royal knight, her expression changing to one of resolution and no small amount of anger.

"Whatever it is that the fallen want, we can't allow them to get it. Follow me!"