Sword Art Online

Morning Dew Girl (Aincrad 22nd Floor, October 2024) Part 1

Asuna has always set her morning alarm to seven-fifty.

If you were to ask why it's at such a vague time, it's because Kirito's morning alarm goes off right at eight. Waking up ten minutes beforehand and looking at him, asleep beside her while she's still in bed, is a hobby of hers.

This morning, Asuna once again woke up to the mellow sound of woodwind instruments and continued lying down, gazing at Kirito's sleeping face while resting her head on her hands.

She fell in love half a year ago. They became clearing partners two weeks ago. And only a mere six days had passed since they got married and moved here, within the forest of the twenty-second floor. Despite being her most beloved, she was certainly still in the dark about many things related to Kirito. For one, as she peered over his sleeping face, she gradually became less sure of his age.

Just a while back, due to his uncaring and aloof nature, she had figured that he should be a little older than her. However, the sight of Kirito, deep in sleep, extruded such naive innocence, that he could only look like a young boy, no older than her.

Asking for something like his age probably— would not be a problem. However, breaching into affairs of the real world was frowned upon, and besides, the two of them were already husband and wife. Rather than age, to meet again after returning to the real world, exchanging information from actual names and addresses to contact details, would be much more reliable.

However, Asuna was not quite able to bring herself to say that out loud.

She was afraid that after speaking of matters from the real world, this «married life» would feel like nothing more than a flimsy figment of her imagination. To the current Asuna, her single, most important reality, were these gentle days in this forested home; even if it became impossible to escape from this world, with their actual bodies welcoming death, she would still be satisfied, being able to continue living this way till the very end, passing on without regrets.

That was why she would not wake up from this dream just yet— Thinking so, Asuna softly stretched out her hand and caressed the sleeping Kirito's face.

Even so, it sure was a childish sleeping face.

There was certainly no need to doubt Kirito's strength at that moment. The extraordinary amount of experience accumulated from playing through the beta test period, as well as the numerical stats acquired through continuous fighting, and to use those effectively, his judgment and determination. He might have lost to the leader of the Knights of the Blood, «Holy Sword» Heathcliff, but Kirito was the strongest player that Asuna knew of. Regardless of how grim the battlefield may get, she would never feel nervous with him by her side.

However, as she gazed at the curled up Kirito lying down, somehow, the feeling that he was just like a naive and fragile little brother boiled up within her, struggling to burst out from her chest. The feeling that she must protect him.

Gently breathing, Asuna leaned over, covering Kirito's body with her arm. She softly whispered.

"Kirito-kun... I love you. Stay with me forever, alright?"

At that moment, Kirito trembled lightly, slowly opening his eyelids. The couple exchanged glances, with their faces right before each other.

"Waa!!"

Asuna pulled back frantically. Shifting to a kneeling posture on the bed, she spoke as her face blushed scarlet.

"Go-Good morning, Kirito-kun. ...Did you... hear that just now...?"

"Good morning. Just now... eh, did something happen?"

Facing the Kirito, who rose up and replied while stifling a yawn, Asuna wildly flailed her hands around.

"N-No, nothing happened!"

Finishing a breakfast of sunny-side-up eggs with rye bread, salad, and coffee and tidying up the table in a couple of seconds, Asuna clapped her hands together.

"Well! Where shall we play today?"

"Oh, you."

And Kirito gave a wry smile.

"Don't talk about something like that so bluntly,"

"But everyday has been so much fun, you know."

These were Asuna's real and pure thoughts.

Just thinking back brought out painful memories, but during the one and a half years, from the time she became a prisoner of SAO to when she fell in love with Kirito, Asuna had forged and hardened her heart.

Sacrificing sleep to strengthen her skill levels, being chosen as the sub-leader of the clearing guild, Knights of the Blood, she had plunged into the labyrinths at a pace fast enough to cause even members to give up at times.

All that was in her heart was solely to clear the game and escape; thus, she concluded that all other activities unrelated to that cause were useless.

With these thoughts running through her mind, Asuna could not help but regret not being able to chance upon Kirito earlier. The days after meeting him were so vibrant, so filled with surprises that they surpassed even her previous life in the real world. If it was with him, the time spent here could all be considered rare experiences.

That was why to Asuna, finally being able to get a day where both of them could pass time together, each and every second could be thought of as a precious jewel in itself. She wanted to go, as a couple, to more and more places together and talk about many different topics.

Asuna placed her hands on her waist and spoke while pouting.

"Then doesn't Kirito-kun want to go somewhere and play?"

In response to that, Kirito grinned broadly and waved his left hand, calling out a map. Switching it to its visible mode, he presented it to Asuna. The floor's arrangement of forests and lakes were displayed on it.

"Right about here."

What was pointed out was a corner of a forest, not too far away from their home.

Being one of the lower floors, the twenty-second floor was naturally quite wide. The diameter of the entire area was possibly over eight kilometers long. A humongous lake existed in the middle and to the southern coast lay the main town, «Coral» Village. On the northern coast was the labyrinth. The rest of the area was covered by a beautiful coniferous forest. The little home belonging to Asuna and Kirito was in an area on the southern edge of the floor, and what Kirito was currently pointing to was to the north-east, roughly two kilometers away.

"Well, it's about a rumor I heard about in the village yesterday... In this part, where the forest thickens... "It" seems to come out."

"Hah?"

To the subtly smiling Kirito, Asuna doubtfully responded.

"What does?"

"...A ghost."

Rendered speechless for a moment, she timidly asked.

"...That means, a monster of the Astral type? Something like a wraith or a banshee?"

"Nope, it's the real thing. A player... that is, a human spirit. Apparently a female."

"Aah..."

Asuna involuntarily winced. Towards topics like this, Asuna was confident only of being affected worse than the average person. She was bad enough with them to think up random reasons to ditch the clearing of the old castle labyrinth, stretched over the sixty-fifth and sixty-sixth floors, renowned for its horror theme.

"B-But you see, this is the virtual world of a game. Something like— a ghost coming out, something like that could never happen."

Forcing herself to keep her smile, she started protesting vehemently.

"Just how true is that, I wonder..."

But Kirito, who knew that Asuna was weak against ghosts, enthusiastically went on the offense.

"For example... A player who died with unfulfilled regrets, possessing the Nerve Gear still attached and switched on... wandering through the field, night after night..."

"Stop th—!"

"Wahaha, sorry about that, it was just a bad joke. Well, I doubt that a spirit will really appear, but if we're going somewhere, it's best to head for a place with a higher chance of something interesting happening, right?"

"Aaah..."

Curling her lips into a pout, Asuna shifted her focus outside the window.

Despite winter soon approaching, the weather sure was fine. The sunlight seemed warm and gentle, pouring down onto the garden's lawn. A time most unsuitable for events such as the appearance of a ghost. Due to how Aincrad was structured, although it was impossible to see the sun directly except during early morning and evening, thanks to the adequate ambient lighting, the field was vividly lit up.

Asuna turned back towards Kirito and replied, with her head held up high.

"Alright, let's go. To prove that there's no way something like a ghost could actually exist."

"And that's that. —If we don't find it today, we'll go in the middle of the night next time, yeah?"

"No way!! ...I won't be making any food for a bully like that."

"Gah, scratch that. You didn't hear anything."

Giving Kirito one final scowl, Asuna broke into a grin and laughed.

"Well, let's finish up the preparations. I'll be grilling the fish, so Kirito-kun, cut the bread, okay?"

Quickly stuffing a lunch box with fish burgers, it was nine o'clock in the morning when they left the house.

Stepping onto the lawn in the garden, Asuna turned back to Kirito and spoke.

"Hey, let me ride on your shoulders."

"Let you ride on my shoulders!?"

Kirito replied wildly, returning the question.

"You see, always looking from the same height gets boring. It should be a piece of cake with Kirito-kun's physical strength stat, right?"

"Well, that might be true... Geez, just how old are you..."

"Age doesn't have anything to do with it! Isn't it fine? It's not like anyone is watching."

"Al-Alright, I guess.."

Astounded, Kirito squatted down and turned his back towards Asuna while shaking his head. Raising her skirt, she lifted her legs onto his shoulders.

"There we go. But I'll be sure to hit you if you look back, alright."

"Aren't you being unreasonable...?"

Grumbling about the situation, Kirito nimbly rose, resulting in an instant rise in the point of view.

"Waa! Look, you can even see the lake from here!"

"I can't see it!!"

"Then I'll do it for you later too."

"..."

Placing her hands on Kirito's head, who was slumped over with exhaustion over the current events, Asuna spoke.

"Now, it's time to depart! Set a course, north by north-east!"

Laughing cheerfully aboard the shoulders of Kirito, who was steadily walking forward, Asuna was able to grasp how precious these days were, being able to live together. She could wholeheartedly believe that this was the time she had felt most «alive» in all the seventeen years of her life.

Strolling along the path— well, Kirito was the only one who was actually put in effort, but— After about ten minutes, one of the numerous lakes dotting the twenty-second floor finally came into view. Perhaps tempted by the gentle weather, there were already several players who were there since morning, casting into the lake, lures dangling in the water. The path curled around the lake, heading uphill, quite a distance away from the lake shore. But as they approached, players who noticed turned towards them and waved. It seemed that everyone they saw smiled at them and some were even laughing aloud.

"...This isn't like no one's watching at all!!"

"Ahaha, so there were people around... Hey, Kirito-kun, wave back at them too."

"There's no way I'll do that."

Despite his complaints, Kirito showed no sign of wanting to let Asuna down. Asuna understood that he was actually amused by the turn of events.

The path soon sloped downwards, towards the right, heading into the deep forest. Weaving through the space between the enormous coniferous trees resembling cedar, towering over all else, they strolled on lightly. The rustling of leaves, the murmuring of a small stream, the chirping of small birds. All of these sounds served as a complement for the forest scenery, dyed in the colors of autumn.

Asuna turned her eyes towards the treetops, which were closer to her than usually.

"The tree sure is big... Hey, do you think you can climb it...?"

"Hm... Mm..."

In response to Asuna's query, Kirito thought about it for a while.

"It's probably within the limits of the system... Want to give it a try?"

"Nah, let's leave that to next time. —Now that I think about climbing."

Asuna stretched her body while mounted on Kirito's shoulders and looked towards the outer edge of Aincrad, through the gaps between the trees.

"Those things around the edge, the ones that look like supports, they are connected all the way to the next floor, right? I wonder... just what would happen if we climbed up those?"

"Ah, I tried that before."

"Eeh!?"

Bending her body, she turned and peered at Kirito.

"Why didn't you invite me too."

"Well, it was from when we didn't know each other that well yet."

"What, that's just because Kirito-kun kept running away."

"...D-Did I really do that?"

"That's right. I always tried inviting you, but you weren't even willing to accompany me for tea."

"Th-That's... We-Well, putting that aside."

Steering the conversation that had started taking a strange turn back onto the original topic, Kirito continued.

"If you were to judge based purely on the results, it was a failure. Climbing from the parts where the rocks were more rugged was surprisingly easy, but after climbing for around eighty meters, an error message came out, going all, 'You can't go beyond this area' and pissing me off."

"Ah ha ha, so as expected, cheating doesn't work, huh."

"It's not a laughing matter. My hands slipped from the shock and I fell magnificently..."

"E-Eh!? Wouldn't you usually die from something like that?"

"Yeah. I thought I was doomed. If I was another three seconds late with that Teleport Crystal, I would have become a new recruit on the list of players killed in action."

"Geez, that was dangerous. Make sure you don't repeat it, alright?"

"That's what I wanted to say!"

Strolling while exchanging their aimless conversation, the forest gradually became more dense. Even the cries of the elusive birds around, as well as the sunlight, leaking through the treetops began to fade away.

As Asuna glanced around once again, she questioned Kirito.

"Hey, that... place in that rumour, just which way is it?"

"Well, it's..."

Kirito waved his hand, checking their bearings on the map.

"Ah, we're pretty close by. We'll reach it in a few minutes."

"Hmm... Hey, about this case, were there any details on it?"

She didn't really want to hear about it, but not knowing anything made her just as uneasy, prompting her to ask.

"Well, about a week back, a woodworking craftsman (woodcraft) player seemed to have come around here to gather some logs. The lumber that can be harvested from this forest are of fairly good quality, and while the player was engrossed in the task, it grew dark... The player hurried to return, but covered by the shade of the trees... there was a fleeting sight of white."

"..."

This was already the limit for Asuna, but Kirito mercilessly continued.

"The player got flustered thinking that it was a monster, but apparently, that wasn't it. It was a human, or rather, a little girl, as the player had mentioned. Long, black hair on white garments. Slowly walking towards a grove of trees. If it wasn't a monster, it could only be a player, the player thought, gazing at her."

"..."

"—There wasn't a cursor."

"Ee..."

A soft cry unintentionally leaked out from her throat.

"There's no way that's possible. Despite thinking that, the player got closer. And even called out to her. Doing so, the girl ceased all movement... she gradually turned around towards him..."

"Th-Th-That's e-eno..."

"Then, the man finally noticed. The girl, as the moonlight shone down onto her white clothes, the trees next to her— could be seen right through her."

"——!!"

Stifling a scream, Asuna gripped onto Kirito's hair tightly.

"It's the end of me if she turns around, he thought and ran away. Finally getting away far enough to spot the light from the village, he figured that he was safe and stopped... wheezing, he turned to look behind..."

"——h!?"

"And there wasn't anyone there. And he lived happily ever after."

"...Ki-Ki-Kirito-kun, you idiot—!!"

Jumping down from his shoulders, she raised her fist, seriously getting ready to let loose a punch at his back— at that very moment.

Deep within the depths of the forest, gloomy, despite it still being midday, at a distance from the pair, something white peeked at them from the side of the trunk of a coniferous tree.

Assaulted by an ominous aura, Asuna became frozen with fear. Even if it was not as much as Kirito's, Asuna's perception skills too, were rather refined through experience. Passively toggling the usage of the skill on, she could improve the clarity of whatever she focuses on.

Something white appeared to be fluttering in the wind. It was not a plant. Nor a rock. But cloth. Or to put it in detail, it was a one piece dress with distinct lines. Peeking out from the hem were two slender, long— legs.

The girl stood still. Almost as Kirito had described, she was a young girl clothed in a white one piece dress, unmoving, silently staring at the couple.

Feeling faint as her consciousness leaked away, Asuna somewhat managed to open her mouth. She let out a raspy whisper.

"Ki... Kirito-kun, over there."

Kirito quickly followed Asuna's gaze. Immediately, he too, froze up.

"Th-This has gotta be a lie..."

The girl did not move. Standing roughly ten meters away from the pair, her gaze was fixed on them. At that very moment, Asuna braced herself, thinking that she would definitely faint if the girl came any closer.

The girl's body swayed— unsteadily. Like a mechanical doll that had run out of energy, she tumbled to the ground, with a motion unlike that of a living being. A light thud gently resonated out.

"There's..."

At that instant, Kirito narrowed his eyes.

"No way something like that's a ghost!!"

And ran as he yelled out.

"Wa-Wait up, Kirito-kun!"

Despite the pleas to stop from Asuna who was left behind, Kirito rushed towards the fallen girl, without even looking back.

"Geez!!"

Asuna reluctantly stood up and chased after him. Despite her heart still trembling, she had never heard of a ghost that could faint and fall over. That could not be anything but a player.

Late by several seconds, upon reaching the shade under the coniferous tree, she found the girl already cradled within Kirito's arms. She was still unconscious. Her eyes, shaded by long eyelashes, were still closed, with her arms feebly hanging straight down. Gazing earnestly over her figure, wrapped in the one piece dress, Asuna reconfirmed that it was not translucent in any way.

"I-Is she alright?"

"Hmm..."

Kirito spoke, peering into the girl's face.

"Well, to be frank... There's no need for breathing in this world, neither do hearts beat..."

Within SAO, most human physiological functions can be reproduced, but are omitted. It is possible to deliberately take a breath, along with the sensation of air flowing through your respiratory tract, but the avatars have no need to breathe subconsciously and will not do so. Likewise, for the beating of the heart, despite the sensation of it beating harder through tension or excitement, there was no way to feel that of others.

"But still, she's not vanishing... so she should still be alive, I guess. But this... certainly is strange..."

Finishing his comment, Kirito tilted his head to the side.

"What's strange?"

"She can't be a ghost, seeing as I can touch her like this. But still, the cursor... isn't coming out..."

"Ah..."

Asuna once again concentrated her vision on the girl's form. However, the color cursor that would definitely appear when dynamic objects in Aincrad, such as players, monsters, or even NPCs, were targeted, did not in this case. It was a phenomenon that had never happened until now.

"Is it perhaps, a bug, or something like that?"

"That's probably it. In a situation like this, one would usually call for a GM in a usual net-game, but there aren't any GMs in SAO... But still, it's not just the cursor. For a player, she looks way too young."

That was true. The body supported by Kirito's hands was unusually small. She did not even seem to be beyond ten years of age. There was supposed to be an age restriction while setting up the Nerve Gear, before being able to sign up, forbidding children, probably below the age of thirteen, from being able to use it.

Asuna softly stretched out her hand, brushing over the girl's forehead. It felt mildly cool and smooth to the touch.

"Why is... there a girl, as young as this, in SAO...?"

Firmly biting his lips, Kirito spoke as he rose up.

"For the time being, we can't just leave her alone. We should be able to find something out when she wakes up. Let's bring her back with us."

"Yeah, that's right."

Kirito got up as he held the girl in his arms. Asuna casually glanced over the surroundings, but being unable to find anything aside from a large, rotting stump, she did not manage to find out the reason for the girl's presence in the area.

They dashed nearly the entire way, but the girl did not regain consciousness, even after they exited the forest and arrived back home. Laying the girl down on Asuna's bed and setting a blanket, the pair sat down, side by side, on the adjacent bed, belonging to Kirito.

There was a momentary stillness in the air, before Kirito nonchalantly broke the silence.

"Well, if there's one thing we can be sure of, it's that she's not an NPC since we managed to move her in here."

"Yeah... that's right."

NPCs under the control of the system have their positions fixed within certain ranges of coordinates and, thus, cannot be moved according to players' desires. If they were to try touching or holding them, the harassment report window would be triggered within seconds, giving them a painful shock and blowing them away.

Lightly nodding to Asuna's agreement, Kirito continued with his deductions.

"Also, it couldn't be the opening to some kind of quest. If that was the case, the quest window should have refreshed the moment we touched her. ...In other words, this kid must be a player, who lost her way... or at least, that should be the most reasonable conclusion."

Quickly shifting his gaze towards the bed, he continued.

"Not having a crystal on hand, perhaps not even aware of the methods of getting around, I believe she had never ventured out to the field, and only stayed within the «Starting City». I don't know why she came all the way to a place like this, but in the Starting City, we might find someone who knows her... maybe even her parents or guardians might be there."

"Yeah. I think so too. I don't believe a child as young as this could even get on by herself. She should have come with her family or someone like that... I really do hope, that they're safe though."

Apparently having struggled with that last line, Asuna turned and faced Kirito.

"Hey, she should recover, right?"

"Ah. If she's not disappearing yet, she should still be hooked up to the Nerve Gear. Her condition should be close to sleep. That's why, sooner or later, she will wake up... I believe."

Vigorously nodding his head, Kirito's words were tinged with hope.

As Asuna got up, she knelt before the bed on which the girl was asleep, and reached out with her right hand. She gently caressed the girl's head.

She certainly was a beautiful girl. Rather than a human child, her presence could be said to be closer to that of a fairy. Her complexion was similar to the composition of alabaster, delicate and snow white. Her long, black hair gleamed elegantly, and with her exotic-looking features, she would, without a doubt, be charming if she were to open her eyes and smile.

Kirito got closer as well, lowering his body beside Asuna. Hesitantly reaching out his right hand, he stroked the girl's hair.

"She doesn't seem to be ten... Perhaps around eight?"

"It should be around there... She's the youngest player I've ever met."

"That's right. I came across a female beast tamer before, but even she was around thirteen years old."

Instinctively reacting to something she had never heard about, Asuna stared at Kirito.

"Hmm, so you had a cute friend like that, huh."

"Ah, we just exchange mails every now and then... n-no, that's all, there's nothing else to it!"

"I wonder. Kirito-kun is dull, after all."

And she turned away sharply.

As though he sensed the conversation heading towards an odd direction, Kirito stood up and spoke.

"Ah, it's already this late. Let's have some lunch."

"About that story, I'll be sure to have you clearly explain all the details later on, okay."

Glaring at Kirito once again, Asuna got up as well, laughing as she decided to drop the matter for the time being.

"Well, let's have the packed lunch. I'll go and make some tea."

The late autumn afternoon passed away peacefully, and even as the time for the crimson light, flooding in from the sun on the outer edge, to fade away came by, the girl still did not stir from her sleep.

As the curtains were drawn closed and the lamp on the wall lit, Kirito happened to return from his trip to the village. Silently shaking his head, he conveyed the failure on finding any leads on the girl.

Not in the best of moods for enjoying a lively dinner, the pair opted for a simple meal of soup and bread, and Kirito began his endeavor after looking over the various types of newspaper he had bought.

Although it is referred to as a newspaper, it is unlike those of the real world, pieces of paper bound together, but instead, simply a single piece of parchment, with the size similar to that of a magazine. It is represented in a manner like that of the system window screen, and by editing it like a website, it can be used to organize and display information gathered.

The contents too, are identical to a game walkthrough site managed by players, comprising of many topics: news, a beginner's manual, FAQs, an item list, etc. Within those, there was also a Lost & Found / Q&A section, where the pair laid their eyes on. They thought there was a possibility of someone searching for a girl. However—

"...None, eh..."

"None, huh..."

Spending tens of minutes to go through the entire newspaper, the two exchanged glances and loosened the tension in their shoulders. There was nothing more they could do than to wait for the girl to finally awaken and explain the circumstances.

On a normal night, the two of them would stay up late having meaningless conversations, playing simple games, sometimes even taking an evening stroll, or countless other activities that they do more rarely, but neither of them were in the mood for those this night.

"Let's call it a day already."

"Hm. I guess so."

Asuna acknowledged Kirito's words with a nod.

Turning the lights in the living room off, they headed into the bedroom. As the girl was occupying one of the beds, one of them would have to sleep with the other —well, that was already the case every other night, but— and they changed into their sleepwear in a hurry.

The lamp in the bedroom was also doused, and the pair laid down on the bed.

Kirito certainly did possess several strange unique skills; but still, it seemed that sleeping easily and well was included amongst them. When Asuna felt in the mood to talk and turned over, there was already the steady sound of breathing during sleep.

"Geez."

Softly muttering her disapproval, she flipped to the other side, facing the bed on which the girl was asleep. In the pale blue darkness, the black-haired girl was still fast asleep as before. Although she had never made a conscious effort to think about the girl's past, her thoughts gradually drifted in that direction as she continued staring.

If she was living until now with a guardian, like her parents or siblings, that would be fine. However, in the case that she came into this world alone and spent these two years in fear and isolation— to a mere eight or nine year old child, those days must have been unbearable. If she was in that situation, she would probably be unable to retain her sanity.

Could it be— Asuna leapt towards the worst possible conclusion. Maybe, the reason why she was wandering in that forest and faded into unconsciousness was due to some problem caused by the condition of her mind. Of course, there are no psychiatrists in Aincrad; neither were there any system administrators to seek aid from. The most optimistic prediction for clearing the game was still half a year at least, and nothing could be accomplished with merely Asuna and Kirito's effort anyway. Due to the fact that they were both currently absent from the frontlines, the number of players at their levels would be reduced by two, and creating a balanced party would be more difficult as well.

Regardless of how deeply the girl was suffering, she did not have the ability to save her— Realizing that, Asuna was stricken with an agonizing pain in her chest. She unconsciously left the bed and moved to the side of the sleeping girl.

Brushing the girl's hair for a short moment, Asuna softly turned back the covers and lay down beside her. With both arms, she tightly embraced her small body. Although the girl did not move even a single inch, her expression seemed to soften, and Asuna quietly whispered.

"Goodnight. It would be nice, if you woke up tomorrow..."