Released as a Blu-ray Release Bonus for the Sword Art Online -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night movie. Memorable Song follows Mito/Misumi Tozawa from the moment she parts with Asuna on Floor 1 in the middle of the Aria movie, and fills in the gap between then and the end of the Aria movie, at the Floor 1 Boss Battle.
RAWs provided by Kizuru.
Translated by Davigron.
Edited by Cirtoyt.
Translated by Davigron.
Edited by Cirtoyt.
1.
―――It should be fun, since you’re so good at videogames, Misumi-chan.
―――I-It’s just that it’s always only one person who survives…
―――Just leave us alone!
It had been six years since Misumi Tozawa heard those words from her two close friends.
However, to this day those memories remained so vivid, that every time she remembers them, she is assaulted by a piercing-like pain within her chest. ‘If only I could rewind time and restart my life from there…’, she had lost count of how many times she had made that wish.
Although, most likely, there was no point of going back in time. Even before, Misumi had always been a self-centred, haughty, arrogant, egoistic person.
At that time, she used to play a handheld hunting action RPG with her friends. One that consisted of a world filled with monsters where you had to cooperate with your friends to defeat them while gathering materials to craft weapons and armour. Misumi was an attacker with a long sword, but she always tried to support her friends as much as she could. However, there was a limit to what she could do, and even if she thought it was better to remain as the only survivor instead of completely losing the game… her friends did not.
In her innocence, she believed that they were enjoying the game, so it was such a shock upon hearing that they didn’t want to be friends with her anymore that in that moment she couldn’t stomach it. She dizzily returned home and even caught a fever that confined her in bed for some time.
Since then, Misumi had never touched anything with “Co-op” in its title. Though unable to abandon playing games all together, she started to play mainly serious one-vs-one fighting games and MMORPGs with a strong focus on PvP on the internet, in an attempt to relieve her gaming crave, where Mito ended up striking down many others.
And it was the same that day.
Around the time Misumi was in 8th grade (or middle school 2nd grade) at Aeterna Girls’ Academy, she was participating in a one-vs-one fighting game tournament at her favourite game centre inside a mall. It wasn’t the usual format, but one with a last-man-standing consecutive win derby format. And Misumi, who was in a better mood than usual, not only was winning the tournament, but also remembers that she was one win away from beating the tournament record. However, her excitement vanished when she glimpsed outside the mall for just a brief second, when she recognized on the sidewalk a student from her grade within the crowd.
Despite Misumi being aware that the tournament was actively streamed from a monitor outside the mall, the last time it did so, it only displayed the game screen. She had no idea that this time there were new cameras installed that were also recording the players’ faces. The student was looking up with a surprised expression towards the monitor. Then she looked inside the mall through the automatic doors, and in that moment, she perfectly crossed glances with Misumi.
She totally wouldn’t care if they had encountered each other inside a bookstore, or a clothing store. The problem was that Aeterna had a strict rule that forbade approaching game centres and such similar places.
In that moment, Misumi decided to renounce her chance at breaking the tournament record, dashed out the mall, and blocked her classmate’s way, preventing her from fleeing. Misumi gave a sharp look at her startled classmate, trying to lightly intimidate her, but for some reason, Misumi found herself speechless the moment she saw the girl’s hazel brown eyes opening widely.
That classmate was none other than Asuna Yuuki.
Now, in this moment, Misumi / “Mito” was staring at Asuna’s / “Asuna” name written on a holographic window. The “Send message to a friend” window.
The message box was blank, but that wasn’t an issue for the system. Regardless of having any contents, when you press the ＳＥＮＤ button, a message will be sent, and even without a reply she could know that Asuna was still alive.
However, if the addressed player doesn’t exist then an error message will be displayed. If that happens, it meant that Asuna had already left Aincrad. And if Akihiko Kayaba’s words were true, that would mean that the real-life Asuna Yuuki also…
Her trembling fingertip couldn’t touch the ＳＥＮＤ button. She couldn’t even push it one centimetre.
“………I’m sorry, Asuna.”
Mito barely squeezed out those words in such a feeble voice, then pressed the cancel button on the upper right corner of the holographic window.
The square window disappeared with a loud *sigh* like sound.
When she glanced above, thick lead-coloured clouds appeared over the dreary wilderness. The sky of each floor in Aincrad was covered by the bottom of the floor above, but the floating castle itself was floating upon an empty sky, and if it entered inside a mass of clouds then the weather could change drastically like this.
As a former Beta Tester, Mito could predict rain in up to ten minutes of anticipation. Unlike the real world, you wouldn’t catch a cold here from getting wet, but fighting in the rain exposes you to the increased risk of falling over from the Tumble effect and dropping your weapon by Fumbling. She was completely aware of her desire to rush to a place where monsters wouldn’t spawn, but her legs were simply not moving. Since the first day imprisoned in this world, her sense of reality was fading little by little, despite desperately trying to protect it. Even the physical sensation of her avatar was disappearing.
‘If only… it was all a lie.’
‘If only since the moment I woke up tod… no, since the day I put the NerveGear on my head, if everything since then were only fake memories.’
Mito earnestly made that wish, while slowly facing forwards and closing her eyelids. Then her eyes opened again, and she found herself on the Aeterna Girls Academy rooftop, looking at Asuna’s confused face…
Interrupting, as if mocking her wish, a drop of water hit the back of her neck. *plip* *plop* drops of water plopped on her head and shoulders. The following sensation of the rain falling on her skin, and the realistic weight of the humid air were a suddenly merciless reminder that her current world was this «Virtual Reality».
Today was the 20th day since Mito became trapped inside Sword Art Online, and along with Asuna she was earning experience points and collecting materials while hunting monsters at the «Horunka Forest» on the western side of the first floor.
That forest was littered with plant monsters called «Ｌｉｔｔｌｅ Ｎｅｐｅｎｔ», that could spawn in great numbers within a small area, making such a place greatly efficient for hunting, and of course, enough to be considered dangerous. Mito herself died while being completely surrounded by these monsters during the beta test.
Asuna had never played a ＶＲＭＭＯ, not even a mobile ＲＰＧ before this world, but despite that, Mito brought her to that dangerous place because of two reasons: First, Aincrad’s first floor was divided into north and south by a rocky mountain called the «Dalhari Plateau», and the most suitable route to cross it for a 2 person party was from the cave at the north of Horunka Forest. And second, Asuna’s ability as a ＶＲＭＭＯ player greatly surpassed Mito’s expectations…
Based on Asuna’s skill when they used to play mobile one-vs-one fighting games in the real world, Mito thought that she would have to wait a whole month to gain enough faith in her abilities, yet unexpectedly she made incredible progress towards overcoming her fear of fighting large monsters. Her speed and precision were far from those of a beginner, and beyond that, Mito was surprised by Asuna’s «excellent intuition».
In ＳＡＯ, where you fight controlling your virtual body, much like using your real body, you need to focus on your judgement and insight, along with your initiative to act, and blend them together, concentrating them into something you would call “sense”. Basically, you need to attack exactly when you should attack, and defend exactly when you should defend, and this is something surprisingly difficult to achieve.
But Asuna, slightly after two weeks of training, could even beat a monster the same level as her almost without taking any damage. She chose to wield a Rapier which was light and had decent reach, but difficult to block with, making it a complex weapon that only lets you evade attacks by parrying or stepping aside, and so Asuna’s combat style consisted of her performing dancing-like movements around the monsters as if she were toying with them whilst simultaneously stabbing them at ultrahigh speed. It was an act that captivated a former beta tester like Mito from time to time.
Of course, knowledge and experience were also indispensable factors to survive in this world, but Mito could cover that. If they continued to increase their level, at this pace they could cross the Dalhari Plateau in a few days and catch up to the front-runners who were at the vanguard rushing to defeat the death game… An idea that Mito imagined may just be achievable after tackling the present Horunka Forest. Today they were both collecting materials and earning experience points when they saw a Little Nepent group which if they proved they could handle disposing of safely, then tomorrow they would be able to leave the forest and head straight to Tolbana at the northern side of the first floor… or at least that was what she predicted.
In fact, the hunting went much better than she expected. Mito with her large scythe and Asuna with her Rapier were smoothly eliminating the Nepent’s numbers at a pleasant pace. A bit longer and they would have cleared the whole area… Or so Mito thought until an unexpected figure appeared at the edge of her vision.
It was a grey hooded small humanoid rat. Its name was «Spry Shrewman» to be exact. She encountered only one during the beta and it escaped from her clutches just before being beaten.
Mito was instantly captivated by it, briefly called out to Asuna to check if she would be fine alone with the spawning Nepents before beginning to pursue the Shrewman. It was the quickest humanoid rat on the first floor, so it teasingly dodged Mito’s large bobbing scythe, but as expected, it could not escape Mito’s range boosting sword skills, shattering into pieces.
After confirming it dropped the rare item she was aiming for, she hurriedly returned and saw Asuna casting a sword skill to do the finishing blow to one Little Nepent. It was the advanced piercing skill she had just acquired recently: «Shooting Star».
Asuna perfectly kicked the floor and did a flawless efficient animation. Mito was delighting with her student’s progress, until…
She noticed a new Nepent spawning behind the Nepent Asuna was aiming for.
Shooting Star was a sword skill with a reach and piercing power comparable to spears. The Nepent in front of her had one third of its HP remaining, so Asuna’s rapier was probably going to reach the Nepent behind after dispatching the one at the front.
Normally it shouldn’t be a problem. It’s killing two birds with one stone.
However, Mito noticed that the Nepent on the back was shaking a thin stem with a bright red sphere at the end.
A «Fruit Nepent». If you hit the fruit itself or do enough damage to its torso without cutting the stem, the fruit would explode, spreading an intense pungent smoke. The problem wasn’t the smell, but its dangerous effect: summoning its companions across a wide surrounding range.
Of course, earlier before beginning the hunt, Mito lectured Asuna about the hazard of encountering a «Fruit» type. If only it spawned a little to the right or the left, Asuna would have noticed it and tried to deliberately fumble Shooting Star.
But the «Fruit» type was at a position behind the one in-front where Asuna couldn’t possibly had noticed. Mito tried to scream “Stop!”, but it was too late.
The rapier dashed at high speed, emitting a dazzling light effect that pulverized the first Nepent and deeply pierced the torso of the second Nepent. Its seed instantly swelled and played an especially high-pitched sound as it spread purple smoke.
That was only just ten minutes ago. Mito’s memory of what happened next was vague. But she was certain that she couldn’t save Asuna, and also…
…Mito…Misumi Tozawa thought herself as a very weak, foolish, and cowardly person.
She should have returned to Horunka Forest and rushed into the still remaining horde of Little Nepents to choose the same fate as Asuna. Apart from this, there was no other way of compensating for the sin she had committed of abandoning her friend whom she vowed to protect.
And yet, her legs still wouldn’t move, like they were rooted to the floor.
The cold raindrops continued to drop one by one, striking Mito’s body as she drooped her head. The rain suddenly intensified, soaking her head and cloak whole.
If she can’t return to die in the forest nor live and proceed, then she should stay right here and simply become a statue. As an object she would lose her perceptivity and her ability to think, and little by little become mossy and erode away.
Mito was earnestly praying for that, but of course, her prayer did not get heard by the “virtual world god”… nor the administrators.
She wondered over how many minutes, or tens of minutes she passed doing that.
Shortly, Mito realized that continuously staying like this wouldn’t give her the punishment nor salvation she wished, lifted the hood of her cloak over her head and began to despondently walk through the falling rain.
2
There were four towns and villages under the anticriminal code on the first floor.
Of course, there was the large city at the southern end of the floor, the «Town of Beginnings».
If you exit the city from the eastern gate and pass through the mountain region you will arrive at «Medai Village». If you exit the city from the western gate and pass through the forest you will arrive at «Horunka Village». And lastly, if you exit from the northern gate and follow straight towards the vast Rata Plains at the centre of the floor and cross the Dalhari Plateau, you will arrive at «Tolbana Town».
However, there are other various small villages that don’t have an anticriminal code, which are called «Outside Field Villages».
One such village is located at the southwest of Horunka Forest on a silent and desolated terraced corner, called «Roesel Village».
After walking aimlessly, Mito somehow ended up in Roesel Village as if something had guided her, just as the date changed to mark the passing of midnight. Although there were less than two kilometres between Horunka Forest and Roesel, it took Mito nearly ten hours to arrive due to her hunting every monster she encountered along the way. She didn’t have the courage to directly commit suicide, yet alternatively thought she could perhaps die from constantly battling monsters, by breaking her weapon or by stumbling into a similar large-scale accident much like earlier; but in the end she only levelled up gaining two levels from all the combat.
It seemed that Mito would not encounter monsters that represented any real threat to her in the south. ‘I shall stay this night at Roesel Village and tomorrow return to Horunka Forest, and I might as well try soloing the Field Boss at the Dalhari Canyon at the center of the floor…’ Mito thought as she passed through the rough wooden gate.
There were two ＮＰＣ guards on both sides of the gate, both sitting on the damp ground from the rain that just ended, dozing off whilst holding their spears. ‘Sometimes monsters wander into the Outside Field Villages, and the guards are supposed to eliminate them, but how are these guards supposed to protect the village in this state…?’ With that thought, Mito headed towards the plaza at the centre of the village.
She stopped in Roesel only once in the Beta, immediately leaving after replenishing potions in an item shop that offered a poor line of products. She didn’t memorize the place, but she recalled that the item shop was next to a building that looked somewhat like an inn. In the case she couldn’t find it, she could simply slip into the shed of a house.
She plodded along on the worn-out stone paved path, relying on the gloomy light of the lamps and the thin moonlight.
Suddenly, Mito’s footsteps stopped as she caught the sound of something.
She thought it was the chirp of a nocturnal bird, but the sound had a rich melody. It wasn’t from a bird, it came from a person singing. It seemed that somebody was singing somewhere within the village.
‘I suspect it must be an event which starts a quest that only appears late at night. But the fact that such a quest like this wasn’t talked about much during the beta means that it shouldn’t have any special reward for completing it, and I’m not in the mood to take on a quest right now.’
With that thought in mind, Mito ignored the sound and continued forward. But after two, three steps she stopped again.
The faint singing voice that journeyed towards her along the humid night breeze, despite only consisting of “La-La-La” scatting, gently permeate her tattered heart. Not only that, but she also felt that she had heard that melody somewhere before…
“Huh…”
Mito murmured in a low voice when she noticed that it was all due to nostalgia that had caused her feelings to stir.
That heartrending melody was the ending theme of an anime which Mito was fond of when she was a child. With that being the case, there was no way the melody could be coming from an ＮＰＣ. In other words, it had to be another player singing in this deserted Outside Field Village in the middle of the night.
Even though she wasn’t feeling in the mood to interact with another person right now, she just couldn’t fight the impulse of wanting to know the kind of player that was singing, and so she turned to move towards the direction the melody came from.
After crossing the plaza to head into a narrow alley, stepping over a crumbled stone staircase, and passing under a half-decayed arch, a grand view suddenly opened before her eyes.
She knew that Roesel’s coordinates were on the southwest edge of the map—or in other words, the perimeter of Aincrad, but this was the first time she had seen it. There was an area like a mini square plaza located on a slightly lower level than the crude stone built houses, its bounds spreading towards the infinite night sky.
The Town of Beginnings also had a place that faced the bordering perimeter which had a handrail that prevented you from falling unless you deliberately stepped over it. But in this plaza there wasn’t a handrail, not even a mere ramp. From where Mito was standing, only ten meters ahead, the stone-paved ground disappeared as if it was cleanly sliced right off.
If she jumped from here, she could stop feeling this despair, regret, and… but she held down her momentary destructive thoughts and reeled her gaze back in.
Three meters towards the edge from where she stood, there was a wooden bench with a person sitting on it.
A bluish tunic and skirt from the initial equipment options, a pure white wide-brimmed hat, and an instrument similar to a mandolin placed above her crossed legs. The neck of her instrument was plump and short, so it seemed more like an ancient lute. Her hat concealed her identity, but the aura Mito sensed from her conveyed that she was a girl around her own age.
“La-La-La”, the girl continued singing the vintage anime song while flicking her lute. To be frank, the performance was a bit awkward, but her singing voice was wonderful. Despite her lowered volume and slightly tilted downcast head, her sweet whispering voice resonated clearly as it richly vibrated on the midnight air, enveloping Mito’s body. Even the faint moonlight that was shining down on her back seemed to sway along with her song.
The anime song started with a melody in Ｃ, followed by a big chorus and finished with a final repeating phrase.
Unintentionally, Mito shed tears from the corner of her eyes, and while sweeping them away with her fingertips, she was hesitating if she should applaud or…
“She’s quite wonderful, don’t you think?”
Mito unexpectedly heard a whisper from her right and reflexively grasped the grip of her scythe and took a step back.
She didn’t know when that player approached her, perhaps she was there since the very beginning. The player was leaning on a stone wall, who seemed to be a woman, a considerably tall one. Mito was also tall for a fifteen-year-old girl, but this woman was probably near 170cm tall.
She was wearing a loose candy-coloured sleeved shirt, tight black leather pants and short boots. Over her crinkling short bob was a beret, and on her left waist was a thin curved sword.
Mito normally on guard in such a scenario, was captivated by the stylish woman in front of her.
Three weeks had passed since ＳＡＯ turned into a death game, and the majority of the players fighting outside the safe area didn’t have the chance to worry about the style of their equipment. Mito herself was simply wearing a metallic plate over her purple initial equipment tunic.
———‘Speaking of which, Asuna also had bought a whole load of all sorts of clothes…’
Swallowing those painful memories with a deep breath, Mito let go of the grip of her scythe and replied with an equally low whisper:
“I didn’t mean to be a nuisance. Excuse me.”
Assuming that the short bob woman and the lute girl were companions, Mito bowed and began heading back to the village main plaza———but then…
“Hey, you should listen to the next song.”
The woman whispered while grabbing Mito’s mantle with her fingertips.
Mito didn’t want to get involved with other players at the moment, but a part of her also wanted to continue listening to the singing girl a little longer. After a moment of hesitation, Mito silently nodded.
The woman turned with a smile to face back towards the girl sitting on the bench, and then the girl began lightly playing the lute just as if she was waiting for that very gesture before beginning.
A simple but elegant melody similar to folk music played. This composition sounded familiar too. ‘What song is this?’ Mito wondered, noticing that she hadn’t hear this song in the real world.
Then it hit her, it was the song constantly performed by the NPC orchestra at the Town of Beginnings. The girl had to have practiced it a lot, since she was playing the intro so skilfully, much more so than the anime song from earlier. Then she raised her head and sang:
“To the twinkling stars up in the sky… and to the gentle winds blowing through the hills…”
As far as Mito knew, there wasn’t a singer in the NPC orchestra. This girl must had written her own original lyrics for the song. They perfectly matched with the exotic melody, as they added a nostalgic travelling feeling, and tenderly wrapped Mito’s consciousness making it float away.
‘How much I would have loved to listen to this song with Asuna…’
At the thought, Mito was about to shed tears once more. Against the tug of emotions, she held back her tears knowing she couldn’t permit herself to cry. She had decided it a necessity that the continuous pain she felt in her chest must not fade whilst she still lived.
The girl continued to sing the motif with a modest in volume yet emotionally sincere voice, then repeated the same melody on the lute, thus concluding the song.
In that moment, the woman next to Mito started to applaud, and after briefly hesitating Mito also began to timidly clap her hands. The girl rose her gaze and looked straight at Mito. The colour of her twinkling eyes slightly resembled Asuna’s.
‘I have to go’. As the impulse shot through her mind, Mito bowed to the girl and attempted to swivel her heel to turn back.
But the woman at her side grabbed her mantle once again and spoke:
“I’m going for a drink with her, wanna come?”
3.
Mito simply wished to express her impressions from hearing the song, that’s all.
Though she couldn’t just bluntly refuse the invitation and leave right away having stood there and listened to the girl’s singing. For that reason, she silently nodded at the offer.
The two songs were greatly soul stirring, so it was only right that she should give them some praise and words appraisal, and only then leave the village. Fortunately, there weren’t restaurants or canteens in Roesel that were still open this late at night, so there wouldn’t be a need to head indoors and sit to eat and drink with them.
With that in mind, Mito started to prepare the words she was going to say while they were walking, but then…
The short bob woman guided them to a building deep within the village that looked like a residence.
‘There’s no way that she’s planning to enter a villager’s house and dine on their table. Unlike retro ＲＰＧs, in ＳＡＯ you can’t just enter a residence and loot items from their wardrobes. If so, the ＮＰＣs will see it as inappropriate behaviour and the guards will rush towards you and throw you in jail.’
Mito panicked, thinking about how inconceivable it would be if a player came to an Outside Field Village without knowing such a basic rule… but the woman calmly opened the residence’s wooden door and proceeded downwards through a narrow stairway.
The girl with the lute followed her without hesitation, so Mito was left with no other choice but to chase on after them. The staircase had a gentle curve ahead that turned towards the left and then another wooden door at the very end. After following them through the second door, Mito’s whisper grew quickly to a much higher pitch:
“Ehh……”
“Fufu, that surprise means it’s your first time here, isn’t it?”
The woman turned her gaze towards Mito. No wonder she was boasting, since under the desolated village was this chic fancy looking bar. It wasn’t particularly big, but the countertop seats at the right and the table seats to the left gave a stately appearance, along with the shining polished black floorboard.
There were no people present, probably because of the time. Only the barman, a middle-aged male ＮＰＣ who was polishing glass cups on the other side of the counter. "I'll take a table!" The woman called over to the barman and prompted Mito to take the seat at the opposite side.
Even a middle schooler like Mito knew that the seat farthest to the entrance was the seat of honour. But instead of trying to be modest, she simply removed her large scythe from her back to set it down against the wall of red bricks, and then meekly took her seat.
Across the table the girls took their seats also, and before Mito could even begin to discuss her feelings towards the song she had just heard, the woman faster yet asked:
"Why don't we order something first? This restaurant sells various drinks that are uncommon in Aincrad."
She took the leather bound menu from the stand and opened it in front of Mito. Like the great majority of restaurants here, the contents were written in English, but even someone who held the first place in her class at Aeterna Girls' Secondary Academy like Mito didn't understand some of the terminology used here... in fact, she didn't recognise many of the words at all.
Until yesterday, whenever she went to a new restaurant with Asuna, they both sat side by side looking at the menu together whilst chatting away "can you read that?", "what about this one?" to each other. Although Mito had slightly better grades, she usually lost to Asuna in English tests, and so enjoyed playing vocabulary games with her.
However, those days would never return.
Glimpsing over the menu, Mito chose the drink placed at the top of the list.
"...a Lime flavoured soda water."
Then she turned the menu towards her companions and slid it towards them. "Umm" the woman groaned and *tap* hit one point on the menu with her thin middle finger.
"A Gimlet for mwah. What about you, Yu-chan?"
"Emm..."
The girl tilted her head to read the text easier from her side, and for the first time she let out her voice, not for singing, but for talking normally:
"Ley, which drink would match well with this moonlit night?"
"Well... you ought to try the Moonlight Cooler then surely"
"Wow, they have such a cocktail? I'll take it!"
Smoothly following on from the last spoken word, the barman behind the counter elegantly said "Bear with me", as if he was listening the whole time from over there.
Mito’s gaze was completely stolen by the girl, who now wasn't wearing her hat. Framed below a side-braided fringe was a face that looked so cute and fairy-like Mito couldn't help but imagine that she was of the same age as her.
Moreover, she confidently ordered alcohol as if it were nothing... and, as if she could read the admiration inside Mito's mind, the girl mischievously said:
"It doesn't count since the alcoholic drinks in this world don’t have any alcohol, you know?”
"U-umm... but then you make it sound like other things besides alcohol don’t have anything of themselves inside them either..."
Mito retorted hesitantly, and the girl let out a joyfully "ahaha" then straightened up.
"My name's Yuna. Thanks for listening to my song."
"...uuhh, umm..."
In that moment Mito's plans of mentioning how she felt towards her song vanished and she then hesitated briefly on giving her name, but then did it anyways to not sound rude.
"...I'm Mito"
Mito once again tried to share her compliments towards the song but immediately was interrupted by the woman with the short bob chiming in.
"I'm Ashley. pleasure to meet you, Mito."
"...nice to meet you too."
Timed with her bow, the barman came over from the counter, lined three thick leathered coasters in front of them and then placed their drinks.
Mito’s carbonated drink had a cut lime as decoration, along with a plant-based straw. The woman named Ashley had a cocktail glass with a white milky drink. Finally, the girl called Yuna received a tall glass with a round sliced lemon inserted at its edge.
“Wow, that lemon must resemble the full moon.”
With increased joy, Yuna elevated her glass towards the centre of the table. Mito followed her and tried to clink her glass against Yuna’s, but suddenly Ashley jumped in to say:
“Yu-chan, we don’t go about clinking our glasses in this type of bar.”
“Eh? Is that so?”
“These glasses are very thin and they could easily break. So, we give cheers by simply raising them.”
Ashley grabbed her glass from the base and raised it up to eye-line.
‘Could she be a college student…?’ Mito thought as she raised her glass mimicking Ashley, while holding the straw with her mouth.
Although this world didn’t have freezers nor ice machines, the drink remained cold, and it’s refreshing acidic and carbonated lime flavour shot through to the top of her head, leaving a faint sweet flavour on her tongue even after swallowing.
She felt a little curious, since on the menu the drink appeared as «ｓｏｄａ ｗａｔｅｒ ｗｉｔｈ ｌｉｍｅ», so she glimpsed at the counter, and as if the barman anticipated her reaction, said:
“I added a small portion of lime cordial because you seemed tired. If that’s not to your taste, then I will prepare it again.”
“No… It’s very delicious, thank you for your consideration.”
She said with gratitude and gave it another swallow. ｃｏｒｄｉａｌis an adjective that literally means «relating to the heart», but it also stands for a medicinal syrup made from infusing fruits and herbs. Regardless of its original meaning, the drink’s refreshing sweetness was infusing deep within her body soothing her exhausted heart.
However, even if it could take away her grief of losing Asuna—no, letting her die—she didn’t want that to happen. She must continue to carry it until the day she runs out of strength and collapses in this world.
Mito kept her head low whilst holding her drink with both hands.
“As far as one knows, this bar is the only one in Aincrad that serves the same cocktails as in the real world.”
Ashley whispered from the other side of the table on the left, like she was revealing some huge secret.
That was in fact true. If Mito was not mistaken, until now all the restaurants she visited that had drinks on the menu contained generic written names such as «Currant juice» or «Spice wine». She didn’t remember seeing even the most famous cocktails like Martini or Margarita.
On the other side also, Yuna was tilting her head, subtly shifting her medium-short hair.
“Maybe you’re right… But then, why? This is so delicious; it would be great if all the other restaurants do the same.”
And then, Ashley whispered so low that even someone with a good Eavesdropping skill couldn’t hear.
“Probably to not break the world setting. For example, this Gimlet is named after some ancient soldier from England or something like that. But there are also a lot of other cocktails named after nouns from the real world, like the Tom Collins or the Manhattan.”
“Ohh right… I doubt there is a Manhattan in the lore of Aincrad.”
Yuna nodded in agreement and Ashley lightly shrugged.
“Well, I could also mention endless other examples… like various restaurants having sandwiches named after people in their menus. But this restaurant in particular reminds me so much of the real world, I can understand why the developers or whoever made this place wanted it to be a «Hidden spot».”
Muttering the final part, Ashley then drank a third part her Gimlet, held it in her mouth and closed her eyes savouring it.
‘I see…’ Mito thought, but at the same time, the whole speech didn’t really click with her, a person that had never been in a bar such as this one in the real world. If there was a game centre instead, now that would be a painful reminder of life outside. After all, this world was inside a game—if you can call a game something that can cruelly kill you in real life if your HP drops to zero.
Mito suddenly had a flashback about Asuna’s HP bar rapidly decreasing, blinked rapidly and spoke to Yuna in front of her:
“Umm, the song you were singing earlier was the ending of “Nanana and Hacchi”, right?”
Immediately, the girl’s face shone with joy.
“Oh, Mito you know it! I hate to say it, but it truly is a very obscure show.”
“I’ve like it ever since I was a child. I had totally forgotten all about it, but I was really happy to hear it again after such a long time. And I also loved your arrangement of the Town of Beginnings ＢＧＭ that you sang afterwards. Did you compose the lyrics, Miss Yuna?
“You can just call me Yuna.”
Pleasantly smiling, Yuna nodded with a bit of shyness.
“Pretty much, I’m composing it myself but… It sounds a bit clumsy.”
“That’s not true! The “Bestow your blessings… and guide the travellers…” part, I don’t know how to put it in words, but it’s fantastic!”
Those were the impressions Mito wanted to tell her. Then she took a one hundred col coin from her pocket and softly placed it on the table.
“I listened to it for free, so I wanted to pay you here. Thanks for showing me this secret restaurant, Ashley. It was delicious.”
She stood up and did a quick bow.
“Well, I have to go.”
She was about to reach her large scythe on the wall, but in that moment…
“Umm… Mito!”
Yuna yelled, so Mito unconsciously suddenly span around to face her.
“Eh, what…?”
“Ah… sorry to startle you. I wanted to ask you one more thing…”
“…”
Mito looked downwards, trying to hide her reluctance. The girl probably was going to ask her why she came to this village, or why she was travelling alone. In both cases, Mito would have to reveal that she lost her partner if she wanted to answer honestly. Of course, she could just tell a lie, but she couldn’t do that to someone of such a pure singing voice.
But then, an unexpected question reached the ears of a hesitating Mito.
“Mito, do you remember the lyrics of the “Nanana and Hacchi” ending theme?”
“huh…?”
Looking at a puzzled Mito with a serious expression, Yuna added:
“Remember that I was scatting earlier? That wasn’t intentional. It’s just that I forgot the lyrics. I would immediately search it up over on the other side, but we can’t get out of here…”
“Oh… I don’t know…”
Although Mito was relieved that the feared questions didn’t come, immediately remembering the lyrics of an anime song from ten years ago was an impossible task even for someone as confident in their memorisation skills as her. She tried to retrieve it from her mind, but not a single word came forth.
She was tilting her head and frowning, until Ashley, who had remained silent, slipped out a giggle and said:
“It’ll never come out if you keep doing that. Didn’t you already know one part, Yu-chan? Then why don’t you try singing from there?”
“Oh, you’re right!”
Yuna exclaimed, and then she took her lute, which was leaning against the same wall as Mito’s scythe, and looked over at the counter.
“Barman, can I perform a song?”
“Of course, no problem.”
The barman swiftly spread his arms, with a naturalness that only a player could have. But the yellow cursor floating above his head made clear that he was just an NPC.
Yuna stood up to lower her seat fifty centimetres and crossed her slender legs, where she placed her lute and strummed a chord.
With that, Mito lost any chance to flee. She took a seat and Yuna began playing the intro like she was waiting for her.
Yuna began scatting, but this time she did it faster, probably trying to match the original ＢＰＭ. As Mito continued listening, she began to recall vivid memories of some show she religiously watched every week around the same time she was in her first year of elementary school.
Mito… Misumi was an only child and both her parents worked, so on weekdays after school she attended club activities in Aeterna Girls Academy until 4:30pm. It took her about 20 minutes to get from school to her home in Minami-Azabu by jogging with her little legs, just in time to watch her favourite show at 5pm on Fridays.
If she was not mistaken, it was around the same time her parents’ relationship went colder. Misumi never saw them fight, but they evaded each other by staying away from home, and they compensated her by buying anything she wanted to fill the gap.
These circumstances made Mito a hardcore loving gamer, and the children’s anime “Nanana and Hacchi” was a big influence on this. The plot was about two siblings, one the older sister and the other a younger brother, going into an amazing videogame world. It had the typical conventional plot, but the careful depictions of family love and friendship greatly radiated in the eyes of a young Misumi.
Her childhood memories watching “Nanana and Hacchi” were the reason she was captivated by the first ＶＲＭＭＯ－ＲＰＧ in history, Sword Art Online. If Misumi had never seen that anime, Misumi would have never played ＳＡＯ, and probably Asuna wouldn’t have died. Still, this all happened because of Misumi… Mito’s fault.
Once more, a pain assaulted her, like a cold knife piercing her heart. She took a deep breath and focused her mind on Yuna singing.
Yuna’s clear and delicate, but powerful voice relieved the pain in her chest. She closed her eyes and recalled the vivid memory of her being alone on the living room floor illuminated by the setting sun, holding her knees and fervently watching the TV screen.
When the song ended, she opened her eyes, hoping to wake up in that place.
Wishing that she had never abandoned Asuna, that her friends had never rejected her, and that none of this ever happened.
Mito strongly prayed for it. But, in that moment…
The second chorus was coming, and the song suddenly stopped as if a string had broken. She raised her face and saw Yuna with a frustrated expression. Her mouth was still moving, until she said breathily:
“All of this was for nothing… No matter what, I can´t remember the lyrics. What about you, Mito?”
Mito then remembered the heart and soul of the matter at hand and deeply apologized.
“Sorry, I got so absorbed that… I couldn’t remember anything either.”
“I see… Well, it’s an anime from eight years ago after all… What about you, Ley?”
Yuna turned to the left and Ashley slightly shrugged.
“I myself think it’s a very good song, but one does not remember hearing it on the other side. Why not ask around by sticking a note on some bulletin board in a big inn at the Town of Beginnings?”
“Nooo… We would get scolded if we asked such a stupid question in a situation like this!”
“Mwah highly doubts that’s gonna happen.”
Ashley said with a sarcastic smile, moving to bring her glass towards her mouth with her right hand, until she noticed that it was empty and returned it to the coaster. Then she materialised a hundred col coin from her fingers and placed it over the silver coin Mito left earlier.
“It’s been lovely up till now. As a token of my appreciation the second round is on me. Choose your favourite, Mi-chan.”
Mito blinked when she noticed that she was the “Mi-chan” Ashley was calling for, and replied:
“No, I really have to go…”
"Do you have an appointment or something?"
"No, it’s not something like that"
"Then, why not have another round with us? It would be rude of oneself to force it upon you, but surely it would be a waste if you came to this bar to have nothing but a carbonated drink."
"...Well Ok, I'll accept one more drink."
Mito lightly nodded and her eyes dropped at the menu Ashley passed her.
She obviously hadn't drunk any alcohol back in the real world, but after coming to Aincrad, more than once she had ordered ale and wine in restaurants along with the filled-with-curiosity Asuna. Honestly, to her, wine was nothing but sweet juice and ale a painfully sour carbonated drink. But after seeing Yuna, a girl the same age as her, enjoying her moon-coloured cocktail, she thought she might like to try it at least once.
She gave a look at the tightly-packed lines of scrupulous handwritten letters, and her eyes stopped at one name. It didn’t matter if she didn’t know anything about it, so she didn’t think too hard before choosing it.
“Yes, this one called Violet Fizz.”
“Alright.”
Ashley winked as a signal to the barman to take the order. *Shink-shink*, a satisfying shaking sound resonated immediately.
Again, the glass came in less than a minute.
A liquid that shone a magnificent purple colour even under the dim lantern light, was poured onto a slim and elegant flute glass. Its colour was much more vibrant than the “violet” of its name.
“Wow, beautiful!”
Yuna cheered staring over with uncapped excitement. With an air of slight apprehension, Mito raised her glass and prepared to take a sip.
First, she tasted a strong floral aroma. Then she felt a refreshing sweetness and sourness, followed by a sharp carbonic sensation. At the end, she felt a tingling salty bitterness taste that could be the alcohol, that was not all that bad.
After that, she took a larger sip and muttered:
“…It’s delicious.”
“Great! That cocktail is made using a violet flower liquor named Parfait Amour as a base.”
“Violet…”
Mito fixatedly stared at the glass, and Yuna at the other side of the table pleasantly spoke:
“So, that’s why it has a beautiful violet colour.”
From hearing this, Ashley awkwardly smiled and muttered:
“Well, usually the Parfait Amour is actually made with an artificial colorant to emulate the purple colour of the violets.”
“But, chemically made colorants should not exist in Aincrad, right?”
Yuna pointed out and, after blinking twice, thrice, Ashley chuckled:
“Fu fu, that’s correct. Then let’s say that the Parfait Amour in this shop takes its colour from real violets.”
Mito enjoyed her cocktail while listening to the conversation between the two girls.
The lime flavoured soda water was delicious too, but this Violet Fizz wasn’t just a simple drink, as she could deeply sense the maker’s skilfulness and the heart they put into it. Mito wanted to share her impressions with the barman, who had quickly returned to the other side of the counter. But since she had never been interested in food and drinks, she couldn’t find any words other than “delicious”.
In times like these, Asuna would make plenty use of her rich vocabulary, formulating a whole poem to express her fascination towards the drink.
She wanted to drink with Asuna. To look at the menu with her and talk about its content. To be next to her.
Something was falling on her right hand, with which she was holding her glass.
She took a moment to notice that her eyes were overflowing.
“Mito…”
Yuna said worried. Mito quickly wiped her eyes and said:
“Sorry, it’s nothing.”
“Your face says otherwise, like it did the first time we met.”
Ashley whispered. She stared at Mito with her smoke grey eyes whilst tasting an amber coloured cocktail that came along earlier with the Violet Fizz.
“Your eyes were so gloomy that, to be frank, at first I thought you were some kind of ＰＫ player. But then, that face you made while listening to Yu-chan made one realise that they could never have been so wrong.”
“ＰＫ…”
For someone that before ＳＡＯ spent most of her time ＰｖＰing on traditional ＭＭＯs, the acronym caught Mito by surprise. Even the giant avatar she had before transforming into her real appearance in the «Mirror Event» was designed to be a ＰＶＰｅｒ. For that reason, Asuna was so scared that…
Mito once again was pursued by her partner’s face, so she shook her head and refuted to Ashley:
“But, would somebody really carry out a ＰＫ in these circumstances? I mean, if you kill a player here…”
“They will really die”, I couldn’t express those words for two reasons. First, I was terrified of confirming that Asuna was dead. And the second, that I perhaps cannot say that for certain, she thought.
Like she was reading Mito’s mind, Ashley nodded:
“Well… precisely because of this situation there may be those who attempt to ＰＫ believing this was their chance to kill people for real and get away with it. In fact, that makes up about twenty percent of the reason why oneself can be found here with Yu-chan.”
“Huh…?”
Without getting the meaning of those words, Mito turned to Yuna.
Yuna, who finally finished the Moonlight Cooler she requested earlier, suddenly exhaled and unexpectedly said:
“Ley is my escort”
“Escort…? Why not something like an adventuring partner?”
“I don’t intend to join the Assault Team right now. Since I only want to practice singing with my lute.”
“If that’s the case, why are you here at Roesel…?”
Mito tilted her head, and Yuna looked over at her side apparently seeking help. But Ashley took a sip of her cocktail to appear feigning ignorance. Yuna pouted and with resignation she looked again at Mito and awkwardly smiled:
“To be honest, I’m running away.”
“Running away…?!”
‘For what reason would she become a runaway in Aincrad? Does she mean that she dove with her guardians? Or she feels she is running away by diving into this virtual world?’
Those were about twenty percent of the thoughts that were going around Mito’s head in that moment.
“Well, um… I, came here with my childhood friend from kindergarten.”
“…I see…”
‘It was like us’, Mito reflexively thought. She felt like she could relate because, despite only becoming Asuna’s friend a little over a year ago right after the game centre incident, she was already aware of the conspicuous Asuna’s presence since they were first brought together in elementary grade at Aeterna Girl’s Academy.
“And which of you…”
“…invited the other to ＳＡＯ?”, she wanted to ask, but realised that it would be much too inconsiderate to ask in this situation. However, Yuna didn’t even seem to care about that and replied:
“The other person. But I don’t feel any rancour. I learned that I could sing and play instruments in this virtual world, and that’s why I became fascinated by it. Moreover… both the game and the NerveGear…”
Yuna abruptly stopped talking this time. In that instant, her lowered gaze immediately jumped up and continued her explanation:
“I got both the game and the NerveGear twice due to certain reasons, and I was so excited that I dove right away and then, they told us that we couldn’t log out anymore. Since then, my childhood friend… I call him Nau, he’s been staying at the same inn as me…”
“W-wait a minute. Your childhood friend is a HE?”
Mito abruptly interrupted. Yuna blinked several times and made a very complex expression.
“Yes, but it’s not what you are thinking! We are in separate rooms, of course.”
“O-okay… Sorry for interrupting you.”
“Don’t worry, it’s something that could be easily misunderstood. Anyway, the thing is that he… strongly feels responsible for what happened and he is very resolute to protect me until the game is cleared…”
“……”
“Very resolute to protect me”. Mito reflexively held her breath when those words reached her ears. The joyful Yuna apparently didn’t notice it, and continued:
“I was very happy when he said that, but his methods are a little, drastic…… He said that we couldn’t take a single step outside the Town of Beginnings until we raised our weapon skill proficiency to a safe level.”
“…and how much is a ‘safe level’ ?”
“At least １５０.”
“Eehh…? And how did you plan to raise it inside the town…?”
Mito asked, and Ashley replied:
“There is a training ground or something akin to that in the Town of Beginnings, if one is correct? It has training dummies where if you continuously throw sword skills at them, you won’t level up, but will increase your skill proficiency!”
“Ohh… I see. But raising your skill proficiency by hitting those training dummies should be way slower than fighting with actual monsters. To rise your skill level to １５０ I think you would need to commit to full training every single day for at least one entire month, or possibly more…”
“Nau says that it could take half a year.”
Upon hearing that, Mito swiftly shifted her gaze back from Ashley to Yuna.
“A… A half year just to raise your weapon skill proficiency…?”
“Yeah. Apparently, when you reach level １５０ within the One-Handed Straight Sword skill you unlock a ranged four hit combo attack. With that, you have a much greater chance of escaping if many monsters end up surrounding you, so it’s worth to do it…”
“……”
The Mito from yesterday would have been astonished about how impractical that was.
But right now, Mito couldn’t judge Yuna’s childhood friend for being too prudent. If she had the same patience, she would have managed to create a gap between the horde of Little Nepents and be able to save Asuna…
After Mito fell silent, Ashley spoke:
“Heey, Yu-chan. And why then did you leave the town? You can practice your singing and play your instrument safely inside still without worry, couldn’t you?”
“I can but… There’re thousands of people at the Town of Beginnings, so if I went outside and sang, people would immediately gather round. And if I sang inside my room, nobody would hear me, and there the sound tended to reverberate slightly differently than it did in the real world, making for quite an unpleasant feeling.”
“Ohh one understands… Well, what if mwah was one of those players attracted to Yu-chan’s singing, heh?”
Ashley said while smiling, but her face immediately strained.
“But, singing would put you at risk out in the field! Players wouldn’t gather, only monsters.”
“Yeah, Nau told me the same. I thought about constantly moving between towns and villages where there are fewer people so I could focus on practicing. But yesterday, after sharing that with Nau, he forbade me to do it… and not only that, but he also told me to prioritise sword training instead of singing or playing my instrument. That’s why I thought of slipping out from the inn and heading on out all by myself.”
“I see…”
As Mito was watching Ashley take a slurp of her cocktail with a distressed expression, and Yuna staring at the menu with a puffed up face, her feelings finally began to calm down because she understood that Yuna was a runaway because she ran away from the inn where she was staying with her childhood friend. However, a new question appeared:
“I understand why you ran away, Yuna, but how did you end up together with Ashley? You said earlier that she’s your escort. Did you pay her?”
Although Mito’s question was for Yuna, Ashley was the one who replied:
“No! It was mwah who pushed to stick with her. One got a message from Yu-chan that she was leaving the Town of Beginnings so oneself insisted on going with her.”
“Emm… What kind of relationship do you two have to begin with?”
“Artist and fan!”
Ashley instantly replied and Yuna poked her arm blushing:
“Hey, stop that already! I told you before that it is me who is a fan of you!”
Yuna took her wide brim hat from a hook on the wall and stroked it gently while saying:
“It’s because of this hat that you made for me. I really love that the feather makes it look like a bard’s hat.”
“One made it with that in mind.”
As Ashley replied, Mito looked at her outfit. She was wearing an elegant dawn pink candy sleeve shirt with a striped woven pattern fabric that Mito had never seen in any ＮＰＣ shop.
“By any chance, is that shirt made by yourself?”
Ashley broadly smiled at Mito’s question.
“Oooh, good eye! Everything from top to bottom, to be exact.
Apparently, her leather pants and beret were handmade too. Basically, the two of them formed a singular duo, Yuna was a bard, and Ashley a seamstress.
And that doesn’t have to mean that Ashley is lacking in combat skills, since according to her, she is Yuna’s free of charge escort. And that also meant that the curved sword on her left waist is not a mere accessory. However, there are things that you can only learn through consistent combat experience.
“…I think I understand the situation better now. But, Ashley, you said earlier that you accepted to escort Yuna because you were worried about her getting ＰＫ’ed, right? If that’s the case, why did you choose to come to an Outside Field Village like Roesel, instead of a town with the anti-criminal code like Horunka?”
Mito thought that question could be unnecessarily meddlesome, but couldn’t help but ask it regardless.
Fortunately, Ashley didn’t appear offended and agreed:
“Yeah, that’s true. But there are pretty strong ｍｏｂｓ on the way to Horunka… One thought it could be too risky to bring little Yu-chan there, someone with little combat experience. On that point, Roesel is close by to the Town of Beginnings, and there are only bees, boars, and at the most, wolves that appear on the way.
“…Yeah, that’s right.”
She replied muttering, enduring the reappearing grief that was assaulting her.
Asuna had acquired enough experience in combat, never faltering on regular equipment maintenance or replenishing her potions. But even if she lost her life due to a Fruit Nepent appearing at the worst and most unfortunate timing, all was because of Mito’s overly optimistic judgement. If only she had either «Nau»’s prudence, or Ashley’s wisdom, Asuna wouldn’t be dead. Even after arriving in Roesel Village following her desire to find compensation for her sin, she was again reminded of how foolish she was.
Yuna and Ashley were good people. However, for Mito, continuing this conversation with them was somewhat overly painful.
‘I will leave once I finish my Violet Fizz’. Having decided that in her heart, Mito grasp her glass at the neck with her right hand, then sipped the leftover purple liquid.
She drank, carefully tasting it. The aroma of the violets slipped through her nose, while the alcohol irritated and burned her throat. ‘So delicious… I wouldn’t mind if this were the last drink I drank in Aincrad’.
With a sigh of relief, Mito looked at Yuna and said:
“Your childhood friend must care about you a lot. You should really head back to the inn before he starts to worry too much about you.”
And then, Yuna smiled with a little embarrassment and nodded:
“Yeah… I get it. I already sung as much as I wanted, so I’ll return to the Town of Beginnings at dawn!”
But Mito’s relief was short, because Yuna leaned towards the table and…
“Mito, would you want to go with us? I would love to talk more about “Nanahachi”, and also, when I can recall the lyrics, I want you to hear the full version…”
For a moment, just for a mere moment, Mito thought about accepting.
To return to the Town of Beginnings, and sleep like a log at an inn. For many days… until she forgot everything.
However, she painfully knew that was impossible. Because she thought that the image of Asuna being surrounded by a crowd of Little Nepents, her eyes turning deep black from the despair, and her ＨＰ bar decreasing until becoming one single deep crimson dot, would never disappear from her mind.
If someday she reunites with her again in some other place and had the chance to apologise, then she probably would say…
“…Thank you. But I can’t go with you.”
Mito tried to put a smile on her face, and softly shacked her head. But Yuna pitched forward even more to ask further:
“Why? You said you don’t have any appointments, didn’t you?”
“Yeah…… But, I need to go to the north.”
As soon as she answered, Mito realised that, in fact, that was her only option. Crossing the Dalhari Plateau, joining the first floor frontline, and continue fighting. And if she collapses after using all her strength contributing to complete the death game, then she would be able to leave behind a small proof of her and Asuna’s existence in Aincrad.
As if she read Mito’s voice or her facial expression, Yuna stopped being insistent and returned to her seat.
Mito raised her flute glass with her right hand and finished her Violet Fizz with one final gulp, slowly savouring the taste.
She placed her empty glass on the coaster, before giving a slight bow to Ashley.
“Thank you for the meal. It was very delicious.”
“That’s all good. Would you mind drinking with us again on another occasion?”
Mito turned away her gaze from her grey eyes that seemed to see into her, and muttered:
“…Maybe…”
And before saying another thing, she took her large scythe from the wall it was standing against and placed it upon the mount on her back. And with a little hesitation, she turned her gaze one last time to Yuna and…
“I really loved your singing. I want you to head back to town and let other people hear you.”
And then, she left the table without waiting for a reply. She bowed to the barman across the other side of the counter, who was calmly polishing glasses, and opened the door.
She scaled the gloomy stairs, and as soon as she reached the surface, her face was hit by the cold night breeze.
Mito pulled the hood of her mantle over her eyes, then began to walk towards the exit of the village.
4.
Coming soon...
