After the lunch on the ninety-fifth floor was over, Ronye returned to her room on the twenty-second floor and caught her best friend trying to enter her bedroom through the shared living room.
"So, Tiese, how to make that small book that you were using right now......."
"Notebook"
"Eh?"
"I will not call it a book anymore, instead I will call it notebook in a sacred language. This name is short and fits it so well."
While she said so, Tiese took out the notebook from her pocket, and Ronye upturned her eyes.
"...... What, Ronye, why such a face?"
"No, that's OK, but.... when you use so many sacred words, more than Dusolbert-sama does for instance, or other young people do...... that just feels weird."
"Then we can tell the instructor as well."
"It’s not what I....... ── Anyway, let me know how to make it."
This way Ronye felt that she falls more and more behind her best friend by the knowledge of the general purpose Sacred Language, so she insisted. Grinning Tiese held the notebook on her chest with both hands.
"Of course, I can, but you know, it was quite a challenge to bind all these thick white hemp paper sheets..."
"... I understood. A raspberry tart of «honey’s» candy store."
"Deal."
Having nodded with a serious face, Tiese took a folded piece of paper out of the other side pocket. It was not a white hemp paper but a regular one because of its thinness and hue, and it was covered with neat small letters.
"Here, kind Tiese has written how to make a notebook for poor Ronye. The most important thing is to use thin and durable yarn."
"....... th-thanks......."
Ronye received it with a bit of surprise. Perhaps, Tiese had made this memorandum — which should be “memo” in the Sacred Language — for Ronye long ago.
"Thank you, Tiese."
Ronye firmly grabbed her best friend's right hand with both hands, thanking her again, properly this time. In response, Tiese smiled embarrassingly and blinked both eyes.
After obtaining the manufacturing method, she would surely want to go to the paper factory in the corner of the twelfth floor of the Cathedral right away to pick some discarded white paper, but that unfortunately had to be postponed. Having changed in the bedroom into a knight outfit for going out and wearing a gray cloak, Ronye went down the big stairs with Tiese who had the same look.
The left through the front door of the first floor, and the afternoon sun gently caressed the skin. It was February so the wind was still cold but they almost could feel how it gets warmer little by little every day.
Away from the front square neatly decorated with pure white tiles, cutting through the front grass lawn in the southwest direction. Usually, they would go to Tsukigake and Shimosaki in the dragon stables and stay with them till evening, but that day dragons had to wait a little more. Because they two of them had an important task to do.
Proceeding ahead, one could see as the spacious front yard is changed to orchards, with lined-up trees. Although most of the trees have dropped leaves in this season and the middle of winter is not rich in fruit, still there were many seasonal black apples and ice figs, spreading around faint sweet scent.
They just had a good lunch, but still unusual transparent light blue fig fruits sparkled a desire to eat at least one... and as they passed through the orchard withstanding the temptation, a huge wall became visible up ahead. This marble wall divided the grounds of the Axiom Church Central Cathedral from the outside world.
There were already figures of Kirito and Asuna near the corner where the south wall met the west wall.
The two of them wrapped in plain brown cloaks gently raised their hands when they noticed girls. Ronye and Tiese rushed through the last few tens of mel, stopped at the same time and lowered their heads.
"We’re sorry, we kept you waiting."
"It’s nothing, we also just came here."
Kirito grinned and added to Asuna’s words.
"We jumped off the Cathedral and saw Ronye and Tiese as we were going down."
Apparently, Kirito overtook them by the sky using his incarnational flight technique. One day Ronye already caught a glimpse of the surroundings from that height, even though she still couldn’t learn how to do an incarnational flight with aerial elements.
"So... why is this a meeting place?"
The destination of the four of them was the South Centoria city, and one had to go through the main gate in the middle of the southern wall to get there. But in this place where white marble walls joined at the right angle, there was no such thing as a passageway.
Perhaps, there is a hidden door we do not know about...... as she was guessing, Kirito shrugged and answered.
"The opening and closing of the main gate is conspicuous....... It is absolutely impossible to sneak in and out unnoticed because there are lots of tourists at this time in the square beyond the gate."
"Then, how about flying like before?"
There was some hope in the voice Tiese said that with. Certainly, four days ago, when they heard that a murder happened in South Centoria, Kirito jumped out of the terrace at the top of the Cathedral with Ronye on his left side as he was and went straight to the site by aerial element flight technique. The journey took just several tens of seconds, plus flying in the sky was a very exciting experience. It was natural for Tiese to expect something — but.
"Well, that'd be so conspicuous...."
While smiling wryly, Kirito added quickly:
"But today I think we will try a secret shortcut."
"Se...... secret shortcut?"
Tiese made round eyes suggesting that she was not disappointed. Prime Swordsman who changed the smile to a mischievous one lifted both hands without further explanation.
"Well, let's hold the hands, the four of us."
"............?"
Tilting her head a little, Ronye grasped Kirito's left hand and Tiese's took the right one. From the other side, Asuna took their hands and gave a slight nod, and four people formed a small circle.
Immediately afterwards, the green light blinked in the center of the circle continuously and the intense wind bounced the grass radially under their legs. Suddenly, Ronye's body was gently raised with the power of wind pressure coming directly from below.
"Wa! Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa..!"
Tiese shouted and began flipping both feet in the air. However, their bodies did not return to the ground and continued rising at about 1 mel per second.
Ronye, who was used to Kirito's ways a little bit better than her best friend, breathed deeply at the beginning of this new experience, but there was a chance to observe the situation. Beneath their bodies, the air was continuously released, creating a strong wind, but the crowns of the nearby trees were only moved with the natural breeze. If you look closely, there was a faint rainbow-colored light swirling just outside the four people. Someone — probably Kirito, created a cylindrical transparent wall around four people with the application of the Knight's secret "arm of mind" technique, which blocked the wind, so the freed aerial elements created a strong air current raising Ronye and others up vertically. In other words, in principle it worked in the same way as the elevator in Cathedral.
Tiese, who was scared, seemed to regain the control in less than ten seconds, and watched the area a while swaying her cheering face from one side to another.
"Ah, it’s amazing, I’m flying, Ronye!"
"Hey Tiese, do not let go of my hand!"
Ronye grabbed the hand of his best friend even firmer, and the four people continued to rise increasing speed little by little. The ground was already far down, but the white wall blocking the overview still didn’t finish. Looking up, the top of the wall drawing a straight line in the light blue winter sky was still terribly far away.
If Kirito-senpai's ability to concentrate or the spatial divine powers turns out to be not enough, I wonder what will happen... she forcibly interrupted the imagination and continued to glare at the top. The rise lasted for about 20 seconds, at the end they flew somewhat diagonally and finally crossed the edge of the wall.
Immediately afterwards, the wind pressure momentarily disappeared, and four people fell from about 2 mel. Girls could never imagine that practicing "Standing straight on the top of a pillar" would do any good, but this time there was not enough power to support her legs, and together with Tiese who stumbled upon landing, Ronye almost fell on her back.
But before she did, Kirito's right hand slightly supported her, and as soon as he saw the surroundings, Ronye let out a sound of astonishment.
"Wow............"
Speaking of the height, it was about the tenth floor of Cathedral — at most 50 mel. However, from the position they were able to overlook the cityscape of Centoria, spreading to where the eye can reach, till it looked distant and hazy. There was more. From the junction of the southern wall and the western wall where the four of them were standing, the wall of the same height extended straight in the southwest direction.
"...... Here we are on the top of the ‘timeless wall’...."
Tiese whispered that, and Kirito silently nodded.
Timeless wall. It was a large white marble wall that divided all the territory of Centoria in the eastern, western, northern and southern parts — and further into the vast four imperial territories. It was built not by piling the cut out stone, but rather The Highest Priest Administrator made it to appear during just one night.
It is said that this wall, which lasts as much as 750 kilolu from the outer wall of Central Cathedral up to the "Mountain Range at the Edge" that encloses the Human World far away, is impossible to destroy, hence the name of "timeless". It was forbidden to damage it or to climb it by the Taboo Index, and although there would be no one who tried to break it, Ronye understood that she just violated the second mentioned prohibition. Even if she was released from the Taboo Index binding when she became an Integrity Knight trainee, awareness that has been engraved for many years for years has not disappeared without a trace, so when Ronye looked at her feet she understood she instinctively began tiptoeing.
The marble that was assembled without any gaps in one millis, which should have been exposed to the weather for several hundred years, shined smoothly just as it was newly polished. Behind them, the corner of the wall nearby was sharp like a blade, preventing anyone from climbing.
At that time, a light noise was heard. Two light-blue birds flew down on the top of the wall from the sky. They jumped a little over the marble and watched Ronye with black eyes.
"...... Hu-hu, the Taboo Index truly has no effect on small birds."
With these words, Asuna gently touched their shoulders, and Ronye smiled at once looking at Tiese. She enjoyed the view once more and then understood it.
"Oh, is it that... Senpai is going to move on this wall until reaching the Inn in Southern Centoria’s 4th district?"
As she asked, Kirito turned around and laughed.
"Correct. As you walk here, they will not be able to see you from down there, and if you choose a good location, you will not be noticed by unexpected people when you get off."
"It’s not the first time, is it?"
With the slight delay after Asuna's pressing, he cleared his throat and said with an excusing expression.
"Ah, well, you see, the validation of the escape route is fundamental to the strategy...... Come on, let's hurry."
And Kirito began energetically walking ahead, followed by girls along with contritely looking Asuna.
There was an informal nickname given to each of the four of timeless walls dividing the Human World into four parts.
The northeast wall separating the Norlangarth North Empire and the Eastabarieth East Empire was the "Spring Wall". The southeast wall separating the East Empire and Southacroith South Empire was the "Summer Wall". The southwest wall separating the Southern Empire and the Wesdarath West Empire was the "Autumn Wall". And the northwest wall separating the Empire and the North Empire was the "Winter Wall".
It seemed that even the oldest knights Fanatio and Dusolbert did not know the reason why the four walls were called with names of seasons. Until the Human World Union Council was proclaimed, the timeless wall was an absolutely inviolable border, the Centoria citizens from the east, west, north and south did not have freedom of exchange in principle, and it was not possible to pass through the gate in each wall with the exception for merchants or wealthy tourists given passes of exchange.
Although the passage requirements of the gates have been eased considerably by that time, complete free passage had yet to be allowed. That was because the aftermath of the Rebellion of Four Empires was not quite completed. There was a possibility that the remnants of the Konoe Knight Order who raised the weapons at the Axiom Church might be hiding somewhere in the Human World and still obey the order of the emperor. They may also be involved in killing the old Yazen and kidnapping Lisetta.
While thinking this way, Ronye walked on the "Autumn Wall".
Since the wall had a width of 4 mel, there was no worry that one may fall unless approaching the edge, and nobody could see the figures of the four from the ground. Perhaps it was the cold wind that blew Ronye's thoughts away, so she just walked ahead absent-mindedly observing the scenery.
On the left side of the wall there was a South Centoria mainly made of reddish sandstone, and to the right was West Centoria built with blackish slate. The two towns separated by a single wall differed not only in color but also in the design of the build-up. Spacious Southern Centoria's houses built from cut square red sandstone blocks produced a liberating opening feeling, while built from thinly sliced precisely and carefully matched pieces of slate building of West Centoria with their roofs covered with neatly arranged tiles shaped alike to dragon scales, stood without much clearance, but the effort invested in those houses welcomed the awe of craftsmanship.
Kirito said that in addition to the appearance of buildings the four Centoria cities have completely different tastes of food. Ronye and Tiese were free to enter any of the four cities should they wish, but somehow when they got bored and decided to go out to the city they usually went to their native Northern Centoria.
But Integrity Knights expected to guard the peace all over four empires could not do even such a thing, Ronye again felt the need to talk to Tiese walking along, but Kirito leading them stopped ahead before she could.
"Now, this is the fourth district... somewhere here should be the inn......."
As he muttered this he looked around the streets of South Centoria. Ronye also turned around and watched the red-brown cityscape.
Inn, inn....... after viewing the city for a while repeating that in her mind, Ronye understood she has never been to the inn that was the scene of the incident. Four days ago, when a message arrived at Cathedral, the mountain goblin Oroi who was already considered the criminal was imprisoned in the Guards office, so Kirito went straight there.
"...... Um, senpai, did you come here without knowing the location of the inn?"
Ronye whispered that, and Kirito nodded to her turning his face to the right.
"Err, um, well. You see, there should be a signboard ‘INN’ by the inn, but it’s not that easy to notice looking from the top..."
"Look senpai, these buildings are so big like mountains, it’s unlikely they will have a signboard conveniently visible!"
To Tiese's fair remark, Kirito nodded "right......" turning to the left. Asuna sighed watching it and took out a folded piece of paper from her cloak.
It was of course not a paper wrapping but a large map, which she quickly opened.
Moreover, it was much finer than ones sold at town's bookstores. It seemed that every building, not just a road, is being drawn there one by one.
"Wow...... such a thing, where from?"
Asuna replied to Kirito’s question without changing the facial expression.
"During my study I little by little copied the map book that Sones-san found by chance during the arrangement of the large library. She said that the original map book was not hand-drawn, it was made by a previous librarian using an unknown technique."
"............ Oh, the one of previous generation......."
Kirito murmured and a look appeared on his face as if he remembered something, but immediately he rushed it away and put his face close to the map that Asuna unwrapped.
"Let’s see, this is the 4th district... this one is that street? So that is it that the inn is here...?"
He raised his head and looked at the eastern side of the wall again.
"Oh, probably it's on the north side of that junction. Thank you, Asuna."
To his gratitude in Sacred Language, she answered "You are welcome" in Human World language. After that Vice-Prime Swordsman folded the map back into the cloak.
They have clarified the location of the destination, but there was still a problem. From the wall 50 mel high they were standing on, they had to go down to the ground without being noticed by residents. If the same aerial elements technique as before when they ascended would be used, it will definitely be spotted by someone.
Looking at Kirito, they were wondering what on Earth are you planning to do? Prime Swordsman casually approached the edge of the wall and glanced down.
"Okay, now there is no one there. I jump first, then everyone else jumps when I give a signal."
"Eeeeeee!?"
As Tiese exclaimed in a strange voice, Kirito thrusted out his right hand with thumb up and casually stepped away from the wall. The brown outsole of his cloak disappeared in a moment, and only the dry wind passed by the three people remaining at the top.
Even after waiting a few seconds there was no sound similar to collision so Ronye with Asuna and Tiese approached the edge of the wall and looked straight down. There was Kirito light-heartedly waving at them from the road 50 mel below.
"Good grief......."
Asuna murmured that and straightened both hands towards Ronye and Tiese.
"...... He definitely used flying sacred art."
Tiese squeezed lips and took Asuna’s hand with the same determination as Ronye did a bit ago, so Ronye followed and grabbed Asuna's left hand. Surprisingly delicate, the silky smooth slightly warm hand clenched Ronye's right hand tightly, and the next moment Asuna kicked off the marble wall as easy as Kirito did.
Their bodies were gently raised — for a moment, and then three people immediately began to fall straight down. The wind groaned violently in their ears. The wish to cry out loudly was overflowing, but somebody might notice that, so she clenched teeth and kept silent.
No matter if one is an Integrity Knight apprentice, they won’t be alive after falling from a height of 50 mel to a hard cobblestone. I believe in you, senpai! In her mind Ronye cried without saying a sound aloud.
Kirito standing near the falling point lifted both hands into a bowl-like shape.
The feeling of something soft and transparent wrapped around their bodies. The falling speed gradually slowed down, the sound of wind weakened. Kirito accepted the three people with an "arm of mind".
Even the senior Integrity Knights are limited to as much as moving a single dagger with this technique, it must be a terrible power of mind to allow to slow down the falling of three at the same time. When the ground approached just under ten cen, Kirito opened his hands and three people landed steadily. After letting out several nervous and long breathes, Ronye asked their leader.
"....... Um, senpai, if you can do such thing, wouldn’t it be simpler to use just incarnation instead of aerial elements when we climbed the wall…?"
"Well, getting down and climbing jump straight up has different difficulty level of the imagi... of the concentration of consciousness. Even when it’s just one person I need to transform clothes into wings when flying with incarnation......"
Tiese stopped by Kirito who shrugged his shoulders.
"Kirito-senpai, next time I want to take off myself, please teach me the aerial element flight technique next time!"
"Eee?! T-that is not as easy as it seems...... b-but it's a nice thing to have a curiosity... Well then, let's hurry to the scene."
Asuna pulled the back of collar of Kirito, who began to walk to the North after saying some unnaturally sounding words.
"It is the opposite direction, Kirito-kun."
As they turned to the left to the wide road from a dark side road bordered by the Timeless Wall, they found that it was somewhat crowded. It was February, so one could think it would not be unnatural to wear long cloak, but the citizens of South Centoria walking along the road were unexpectedly light-dressed. The temperature should not drastically differ from the North Centoria because it was less than kilolu away, but the sunshine pouring from the skies to sandstone was somewhat warmer than when they were in the Cathedral.
Fortunately, four people crossed the South Centoria 4th district without running into the guards and arrived to the inn in question.
The three-floor building was quite large but as they only accepted tourists from the Dark Territory the accommodation fee stated on the entrance signboard was not even relatively high. Kirito, who removed the cloak hood, glanced at the red sandstone inn and opened the door without hesitation. Overlapping with the sonant sound of a bell,
"Welcome!"
— the cheerful voice echoed.
In front of the spacious hall there was a wide reception desk, and behind it stood the one whom the voice belonged to, a girl receptionist who seemed a little older than Ronye. She wrapped her reddish hair with a dark-green scarf and wore an apron dress of the same color.
As Kirito approached the reception, the woman asked with a smile:
"Are you staying? Four people?"
"Er......."
After a short hesitation, he approvingly nodded.
"Yup, four people. Is it okay if we stay for just one night?"
"Of course, I do not mind. Would you like to share the same room?"
"Yup, same room. If you can, we would like to take one on the second floor."
Ronye who thought that he would clearly identify himself and ask for cooperation with the investigation, repeatedly blinked watching Kirito talking to the receptionist. As soon as the room was decided, Kirito paid a total of six hundred sheers lodging fee, and the four of them were guided to the second floor.
The room that was prepared for them was in the southeastern corner, and plenty of Solus light was coming through the large window. There was a large round table with fruits in the front, and four beds that are neatly lined up by the wall.
As soon as the receptionist who finished the short tour deeply bowed and left, Tiese cheerfully exclaimed:
"It’s the first time I stay in an inn other than of the North Empire! The feeling of the room, the shape of the furniture, everything is quite different compared to the north!"
"Hey Tiese, you did not come here as a tourist!"
After hurriedly shutting up her best friend, she turned to Kirito.
"...... Um, senpai, what are you planning to do from now on? This room is not the crime scene, is it...?"
"Yup, it’s the different one. But there are ways to find out which room it was. So far, let's have some rest."
This Kirito’s answer largely summarized the situation. Asuna, who took off her cloak and swung a long hair, said:
"I am going to make tea, you join?"
— and headed to the cupboard in the corner of the room, Ronye chased after her with "I will help you."
According to the explanation given by the receptionist, when one wanted hot water, they were to bring a pot to the dining room at the first floor1, but Asuna just poured some cold water from the jug into the pot and produced a thermal element with a smooth incantation.
It was the basic technique of Sacred Art to heat water, but there still was a catch. When the generated thermal element is simply dropped into water, it reacts immediately with the water surface, creating a lot of steam, but the temperature of the water does not rise much. It is necessary to convey all the heat of the thermal element to water, which requires a bit of fiddling.
Sacred Art practitioners carried a valuable medium called the "fire sponge stone" produced exclusively in the Southern Empire and put it in water so that it gradually gave the power of heat element. Simply lifting the container and holding the thermal element under it will boil the water too, but it will take time. As they were watched what is Vice-Prime Swordsman doing with a show-me-what-you-have-there anticipation, Asuna continued with producing of two metal elements.
It was a nice way to make steel ball with metal element as a substitute for a fire sponge stone, but unlike fire sponge stones which could absorb thermal energy instantaneously, metal ball would not get hot so easily. And, of course, the metal ball does not float in the air like pure elements, so one needs something to support it during heating.
It would be sufficient to have someone nearby using tongs or spoon for that, but it was said that it is not nice to use tools other than sacred art medium in such cases. Sacred Art practitioners believed that everything from generation to completion must be completed by the incantation only. There is a fancy way loved by clerics for its impressiveness, to create a tiny whirlwind with aerial element, and mix the thermal element into the air flow while letting the metal ball to float on top, but such three-attributes technique is difficult to control preserving the ball on top of the whirlwind, so if one’s concentration is disrupted even a bit, one will soon find sparks scattering all around the room.
As Ronye, who quickly got ready to generate ice element to neutralize potential flame, carefully watched over what she was doing, Asuna manipulated the two metal elements with the left hand and kept them close to the thermal element she controlled with the right hand. In this state, two kinds of elements reacted and the hot metal drops were ready to scatter...... and that very moment:
"Form element, hollow sphere shape."
Asuna chanted an expression Ronye did not know, and the two steel elements fused together into a sphere of about 3 centimeters in diameter. As soon as it became a metal ball, it gained weight, and pulled by gravity it dropped into a pot.
"Oh, that...... Asuna-sama, where did the thermal element go...?"
Ronye hurriedly looked around but could not find the thermal element that was supposed to be floating in the air. Then Asuna glanced at Ronye's arms and pointed in the pot.
When she looked in, the metal sphere glowed red beneath the water. Small bubbles floated one after another around it, and eventually steam started to rise from the surface of the water.
"Maybe the heat element is in that ball...?"
"Yes, I confined the heat element within the metal sphere."
"...... such an art......."
While Ronye was getting surprised, water in the pot bubbled, and it was heated to the boiling state.
Normally, to make a hollow sphere with metal element, first they make a ball filled with contents using a "sphere shape" phrase and then inflate it with an "enlarge" while heating it at the same time. But this too is difficult to control and it tears easily, and even if it goes well you cannot put anything inside.
However, if you can make a hollow sphere from the very beginning, you can confine the thermal element in it by overlapping it at the moment of creation. It is safer than heating an iron ball with a whirlwind of thermal and aerial elements and it is efficient.
"It was ‘Ho...’... ‘Hollow’? Did Asuna-sama discover such an expression......?"
To this admiration and question, Vice-Prime Swordsman gently shook her head.
"No, Alice-san was good at the creation of hollow spheres, she said that she only told Ayuha-san that, and I was taught by Ayuha-san."
"Alice-sama............"
Ronye lost her words.
At the time of Foreign World War Ronye got an opportunity to exchange words with Alice Synthesis Thirty several times. The most impressive thing was that night in the tent with unconscious Kirito when they were exchanging memorable stories with Asuna and Human World Defense Army general Selrut, but Alice's terrible large-scale light attack that had annihilated the great army of Dark Territory in a blink of an eye at the defense battle by the Great Eastern Gate was also burnt in her memory.
Ronye and others low-grade clerics tried to guess what kind of technique would produce such a power. Of course, it is not where the knowledge of an apprentice knight reaches, but it can still be imagined that it would require to accumulate a huge number of light elements in some way and release them at the same time later. If that secret technique is based on a hollow sphere, it is no wonder Alice conveyed it to Ayuha alone.
"... So, is it really for good that I heard it...?"
Asuna nodded with a smile to this fearful question.
"Yes, when Ayuha-san taught me she asked me... not to misuse it. So Ronye-san, when the time comes, convey this phrase to those whom you trust."
"............ Yes...... Yes."
Ronye nodded while feeling hot gathering deep in the chest, and then.
Kirito who had been looking into the process from behind unexpectedly said in a relaxed tone.
"It’s still pretty slow...... about making hot water. Maybe if you cast 2-3 ‘fire arrows’ into the pot....... "
"Ah no, senpai, if you do that, it will get pure white in the room because of steam!"
It was Tiese who suddenly replied, and Asuna and Ronye laughed together aloud.
As they were enjoying some rest with cups of red tea (brewed with hot water boiled with Sacred Art) that looked like a special product of South Empire, the bell outside the window rang the 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
The melody was the same as in Northern Centoria — the Dark Territory one was the same as well since we talk of it — but the tone was slightly lighter and felt brighter. Before the echoing of the long trailing note disappeared, Kirito quickly got up and moved to the door.
"Okay, this inn has a break from 2 PM to 2:30 for employees, and they all gather in the waiting room on the first floor. Guests will also be on sightseeing and shopping, and now there should not be anyone in the hallway."
"... Hey, how do you know that?"
Having answered using sacred word "I heard it at check-in" to Asuna's question, Kirito approached the door. He opened it a little and checked the corridor, then nodded immediately and beckoned for Ronye and others to come. She felt uneasy to say the least as it wasn’t clear what to do, but had to follow after him, secretly hoping that they won’t have to do any absurd things inside the inn.
Kirito who came out in the corridor headed north away from stairs without any hesitation. As he checked the doors on the right one by one, eventually they saw a parchment which had inscription 『Out of service』 pinned to the fourth door. Just above that, there was a dully glowing metal plate engraved with the number 『211』.
"Here"
Asuna nodded to Kirito’s muttering. There was no doubt that this room is the crime scene of the old cleaner Yazen’s murder.
Prime Swordsman reached for a brass grip, but for some reason stopped moving. He brought the hand in front of his eyes and carefully peered at his fingertips.
"... What are you doing, senpai?"
To Ronye’s quiet question, Kirito merely muttered something like "No, nothing......" not saying anything clear. However, as soon as Asuna said "It's safe, no way could they reproduce unique fingerprints", he finally nodded and moved his hand to the handle again.
He twisted it to the left and right, but of course, it was locked and stopped halfway. Without thinking what to do next, Kirito silently stared at the keyhole ──
A few seconds later, the sound of an open lock sounded.
"Wow... Senpai, you can do even that with incarnation?"
To that Tiese’s voice reverbing with the mix of shock and admiration, Kirito answered, shrugging:
"The key and keyhole in this world is not a mechanical device, it’s part of a system, ehm...... of the whole thing."
Tiese made an unhappy face to that ambiguous reply, but the situation did not allow for more elaborate discussion. When Kirito twisted the handle again, it turned to the end this time and the door moved a little. He quickly looked around, peered in and encouraged others to get in.
The room girls stepped in behind Asuna was a very common room for two people. There was only one window on the eastern wall, there were beds on the left and right, and a table, somewhat smaller than the one at which the four of them drank tea just now.
At first sight, there was no difference in appearance compared to their room. Perhaps, there were no fruits on the table and the curtains were closed. However, Ronye felt that this was the scene of a horrible murder.
Kirito who came in the last gently closed the door. Asuna stopped near the table and turned around, silently nodding.
"... Is it really safe, Asuna?"
— Kirito said with a worried tone. Ronye as well as Tiese shared the same feeling.
Sacred Art department head Ayuha Furia mentioned that the load of the past reflection art discovered yesterday was too big. In Human World she was one of the best practitioner, and if she says so, it might not be easy to use even for Vice-Prime Swordsman Asuna having the God power.
But Asuna nodded again with her usual gentle smile.
"Yup, it’s OK. For Oroi-san who has to endure the limitations because of this... and much more for Yazen-san murdered, we must catch the criminal as soon as possible."
Having said so in a clear unwavering tone, she took a piece of folded white hemp paper from the leather bag hanging by the sword belt of her simple knight clothes. A glimpse over the unfolded sheet would reveal that it’s densely covered with many lines of sacred characters.
"............ Got it. Relying on you."
Kirito said the short phrase in a voice that made one feel the convincing confidence and signaled to Ronye and the other one to stand back to the wall.
Asuna left alone in the center of the room silently read the sacred words from the paper for over several tens of seconds, then folded it carefully again and put into a leather bag. Apparently, she had memorized the words of sacred art beforehand and that was simply the last review.
Sacred Art certainly has a clear difference in success rate, accuracy, and power when reading a technique written on a paper compared to casting a completely memorized art. Kirito mentioned the reason is because Sacred Art is also intertwined with the power of incarnation. Therefore, the memorization of the art wording is the basic for the practitioner, but the past reflection art Asuna started to chant was much longer than Ronye's expectation.
She could understand that first a crystal element was generated and formed into a thin disc but the continuation of the incantation was something she heard for the first time, so she could not understand it’s meaning. Regardless of this, the affluent intonation Asuna chanted the incantation with was fascinating. And then…
Suddenly the room got dark.
"............!!!"
— Tiese pulled the air in grasping the hem of Ronye's cloak. As ethereal darkness crawled around the floor, their legs became cold.
The sound of Asuna's voice, which began to bear the trace of rumbling and reverberation, broke for a moment.
Suddenly her upper body shook. Kirito moved his right foot half a step forward but stayed on the spot. Casting resumed, the darkness started to grow deeper.
Suddenly the crystal disc lying on the table floated up in the air without any sound. Elegant purple light flowed from it illuminating Asuna’s face from below.
Looking at her painful expression, Ronye also shrieked her lips. I would like to help Asuna, but this technique is only for masters. Besides, she is challenging the gods’ work itself peeking at the past events. The secret the Highest Priest Administrator built, securely sealed in the deeps of the Elders Council ──
Asuna, whose whole body was now constantly trembling, moved her hands to the disk. She rapidly moved thin fingers, and the overflowing purple light followed, flickering irregularly.
Suddenly a distorted voice sounded, as if heard from under the ground.
『…… ou…… rent…… a serf Yaze…… rial do……』
Male voice ── but only that could be understood. Then sounded another male voice, a doubtful one.
『Ah, err…… not…… myself…… a active tenant…… perial……』
『……erfs of pri…… belong to private ter…… end to dislike that, then right here……』
The voice of the first man, with unexpectedly increased clarity, said ruthlessly:
『…… enjoy the death……!』
A thud sounded, overlapped with the scream of the second man.
Immediately afterwards, the crystal disk turned into a myriad of fragments and crumbled. The arms of Kirito, who jumped like a wind to catch Asuna falling down to the floor, firmly supported her body.
Four people quickly left the room 211 where the darkness faded and hurriedly flew back to the first room.
Kirito laid Asuna, who was using his shoulders to move around, to one of the beds.
"It, it's all right now."
Kirito gently pressed down Asuna’s shoulders while she was trying to rise quickly saying so and turned his face to Ronye.
"Excuse me, will you bring us a glass of water?"
"Y-yes, just a second."
She ran over to the cupboard and poured some cold water that remained in the jug into the glass and brought it back. Kirito who took the glass slightly raised Asuna's body, bringing the glass closer to her mouth.
As she slowly drank three gulps of water, Vice-Prime Swordsman smiled at Ronye with a somewhat alive face.
"Thank you, Ronye-san."
"It’s nothing……"
Was the answer as she looked down. I’m useless for anything except such tasks, but at least I can say that there are cases where I can help the two of them in some way.
Since Asuna’s exhausted state was not due to decrease of the Life, it could not be recovered by Sacred Art. Kirito who should have been aware of it, but Prime Swordsman returned the glass to Ronye and holding his hands in the air silently generated three light elements. Those softly floated around lying Asuna, gently illuminating the beautiful face with closed eyes and glossy chestnut hair.
The light elements broke off from Kirito’s control and disappeared by scattering small light drops in less than one minute, but Asuna lifted the eyelids as if she gained some vitality from that shining.
"...Yes, I'm fine now."
"Do not push yourself, you'd better take some rest."
As Kirito quickly said this, Asuna completely raised her upper body.
"No, we have to hurry......."
Kirito tightened his profile to these words, and Ronye also gazed at Tiese.
"...... What did you see? Have you understood how the murderer killed Yazen by avoiding the Taboo Index?"
As this question came in, Asuna closed her eyes for a while as if to verify her memory and said in a slightly hoarse voice:
"In the glass disk, the first thing that I saw...... a man who cleaning the room moments ago. I think that it was Yazen-san. Then the second man, standing by the other side of the screen, said to Yazen-san: 『Thou, is not a serf Yazen of the Emperor’s domain?』...... like this."
"Emperor’s...... domain."
As Kirito repeated this quietly, Asuna nodded as well.
"Yup...... Yazen-san nodded at first, but then immediately denied it: 『No, I’m not. Myself is no longer an active tenant of the impreial domain』...... Then the second person said with a sort of...... sneering tone: 『Serfs of private territory belong to the private territory until they run out of Life, so if you tend to dislike that, then right here enjoy the death granted』and stabbed Yazen-san's chest with a dagger....... Yazen-san fell down on the spot and the man left the room holding the dagger. That was what I saw there..."
Asuna went silent, but no one tried speaking for a while.
Since no high-level cleric can tamper with the past events, it was confirmed that it was not Oroi who killed the old Yazen. It was a cheering evidence, but it undeniably the mystery has increased again.
Kirito, who was standing one knee beside the bed, raised his body and looked at the door of the room.
"....... The man who killed Yazen-san dropped the blooded dagger in the corridor, knocked nearby room and disappeared. The mountain goblin Oroi who was sleeping in the room noticed the dagger lying on the corridor, picked it up and was captured by South Centoria guards who came to check the place. That is what happened after Yazen-san's murder. "
Kirito’s explanation was enough to Ronye, but Tiese next to her said "But ..." uncertainly.
"Kirito-senpai, weren’t guards too quick to come to a murder location? The criminal who killed Yazen-san knocked Oroi-san's room and ran away, and it seems that only few minutes have passed before Oroi-san picked up a dagger......."
And it has be told, she was right. Kirito also nodded looking gloomily.
"That's right. It was supposed to have been that guards rushed here because a citizen reported to 4th district Guards office that there was a sub-human with a knife acting dangerously at the inn. But in fact, Oroi just picked up a fallen dagger, there was no dangerous behavior in his actions. In other words, it was either the murderer themselves or their partner reporting... ── Asuna, did you not see the murderer at all?"
When asked, Asuna nodded, regretting.
"Yup... I felt like I was always in front of the image floating on the glass plate... or rather......"
She slightly opened her mouth and blinked as if searching for words, but quickly sighed.
"... Sorry, I cannot say it better."
"No, you do not have to apologize."
Said Kirito, coming close to Asuna and gently hugging her.
"Even though I could not see the criminal directly, I could hear the voice, and I understood many other things. For example, ...... the culprit who killed Yazen-san did not utilize a complicated trick...... did not avoided the Taboo Index somehow, it just seems that he normally stabbed his heart..."
This was also true, come to think of it.
Asuna took risk and used Past Reflection art to find out both "how" and "why" the criminal killed the old Yazen. Still the motif remains unclear, but the method has been discovered. There was no trick used but rather just a stab with a dagger. In other words,............
"The culprit is not bound by the Taboo Index......."
Kirito confirmed Ronye’s muttering with a heavy voice:
"That's what it is....... I do not know yet the reason for that though..."
"I do."
Asuna interrupted, and the three turned their gazes to bed.
Vice-Prime Swordsman appearing almost recovered said while looking at the faces of three people with her tea-with-milk-colored eyes.
"...... I think, the words of the criminal who killed Yazen... I think that's why he could kill him."
"Words ...... 『Serfs of private territory belong to the private territory』...?"
"Yes...... The reason why the culprit could ignore the Taboo Index was because Yazen-san belonged to the aristocrat’s private territory and was a subject to the decision right of the one..."
"……Indeed!"
Kirito sharply inhaled and looked outside the window as if hoping to see the criminal standing there.
"It may not only be the old Yazen but as well any other former peasant released from private territories could be killed in the same way.... That's why Asuna said 『We need to hurry』"
"Yup…… If we don’t hit his hands before the next victim comes, that’s what I thought... but......."
It was clear to Ronye why Asuna bitten her lip. Moving the discussion ahead, she cautiously said:
"There are nearly 1000 former private territories peasants in the North Empire alone, quadrupling in Human World as a whole...... It is impossible to protect or give an escort to all of them."
Tiese stepped ahead on a side and said, flinging her hands.
"Besides, not all the people who have been released remain in Centoria. I heard that more than half have left the central capital and chose to have their own farmland where there is a free space. Even just searching for them, perhaps could take weeks..."
"In Human World...... I do not believe there is a family register."
Next to Kirito who speculated using unfamiliar words, Asuna also kept frowning for a while, but soon lifted her face.
"...But, if the purpose of the criminal is to spark the war once again between Human World and Dark Territory, they should not just blindly kill the former private territory tenants. That sin, it would be meaningless unless the responsibility is laid upon tourists from Dark Territory."
"Well then...... who we should protect are the Dark Territory people...?"
Kirito who heard the words of Tiese nodded deeply.
"Yes...... I actually thought of coming to this inn either today or tomorrow. To invite Oroi’s fellows who are waiting here to come and visit the Cathedral. Oroi's homesick...... hometown missing illness, I think, should be aided for a while with that......."
"But senpai, there are lots of tourists from Dark Territory......."
When Ronye said so, Kirito gently shrugged his shoulders.
"Surely. Fortunately, their numbers and accommodations are recorded properly, so the search is easier than for the former private peasants. As expected, it is impossible for all of them to stay in the Cathedral, so I think that we need to plan to schedule their return a little earlier beginning today so that they return home in order. If you construct a carriage formation with an escort getting them to the Great Eastern Gate, the criminal cannot mess around it."
"If that’s decided, let's move right away."
Kirito tried to quickly support Asuna who got up from the bed, but it seemed unnecessary. Even so, Vice-Prime Swordsman smiled with quiet "thank you" but quickly returned to a resolute expression.
"So... do you know the room where the mountain goblins are staying?"
"Of course. It is a room for four on the first floor, so it's probably just below here. The one that should have the guards in front of the door... half for the escort and half for the watch...."
"It could not be helped, but if we move them to the Cathedral, that need is gone. Let's go."
Ronye and others chased Asuna who began walking quickly.
However.
The four people who went down to the first floor saw an unattended corridor and a vacant cleaned room. The receptionist, questioned by Kirito, told them with a puzzled expression, that in the morning an official of the South Centoria administration brought a carriage and told them he takes three mountain goblins away.
- .I just understood I never called that out previously. For European readers: the floor numbering is — mostly — visually 1:1 in Japan, where “the 1st floor” is the first one available, not “the 1st one to live”. So, in this example, using British/Irish standards, that would be: they are located at the first floor and the dining room — as expected — is at the ground floor.