After they finished a dinner of stewed meat, black bread, cheesecake for dessert, and four or five large mugs of dark beer, it was already eight in the evening. To prepare for tomorrow's assault on the forty-seventh floor, the two of them, still surrounded by a slightly awkward atmosphere, headed to the second floor of the Weathercock Pavilion.
Many guest room doors lined both sides of the wide hallway.
Yurnero's room was right next to Silica's. Since they had checked in together, that was not strange. Without much conversation, they each returned to their rooms.
After entering her room, Silica opened her window and removed her equipment, then lay down on the bed wearing only her underwear. After that, she tapped the wall to bring up a pop-up window and turned off the room lights.
A heavy exhaustion weighed down her entire body. She had thought she would fall asleep right away, but for some reason, sleep would not come.
Ever since she became friends with Pina, Silica had fallen asleep every night hugging its soft little body. Because of that, the spacious bed only made her feel uneasy. And there was still that pain lingering deep in her heart...
After tossing and turning in bed, Silica finally gave up on sleeping. She sat up and stared at the wall on her left, the wall connected to the room of the person she had only met today.
What a strange person...
She could not help thinking that.
Was he introverted, or did he simply not want to express himself? In any case, after spending some time with him, she could tell he was not naturally quiet. It felt more like he was too tired to even bother opening his mouth. Since he had saved her, he should probably be called a good person, but his attitude toward other people could hardly be called friendly.
But thinking carefully, maybe she could understand. After all, in this Sword Art Online, anyone could encounter something heartbreaking.
What bothered her more was that the ones who became depressed were usually low-level players. Sudden changes had stolen their confidence to move forward. Players with perseverance and courage had long since become part of the top group.
And Yurnero's strength was undoubtedly powerful...
So why did he still seem to carry the shadow of those timid low-level players?
He already had that much strength. What could he possibly be troubled by?
And she was still curious about what he had said earlier, about mutual benefit.
She wanted to talk to him more. In her previous parties, the male players always kept coming up with topics, making strategy runs feel more like outings. But beside him, she could clearly feel the heavy pressure of "clearing the game."
The clock already showed ten-thirty. At some point, the footsteps of players coming and going in the hallway had stopped. Now, only the faint sound of a dog barking far away could be heard.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
"Sorry. Are you asleep?"
His voice was completely calm. She could imagine Yurnero standing outside with his usual stiff expression.
"Huh? Yes!"
Silica answered without thinking. Startled, she sprang up from the bed. First, she opened the equipment menu and selected a dress to put on. Then she walked a few steps through the hallway lit by dim candlelight, stopped in front of the door, hesitated for several dozen seconds, and finally raised her right hand to gently open it.
Generally speaking, all room doors had a sound-blocking function, so conversations would not leak out. But that did not apply within thirty seconds after a knock. She immediately heard the voice answering the door, and the door opened.
He had removed his equipment. Though even saying that felt strange, since he had only been wearing that tattered cloak to begin with, and that black curved sword had never shown on the outside. Normally, he already looked completely unarmed.
"Um... is something wrong?"
Silica whispered.
"I want to give you some routes for the forty-seventh floor. It'll be quick."
Yurnero spoke quickly. It seemed even he did not want to be mistaken for the kind of person who knocked on a young female teammate's door late at night. He opened his menu with practiced ease and sent her a Labyrinth Area map-sharing request.
"Th-Thank you."
Silica hurriedly accepted it.
"I've also marked some routes on the map. They have fewer monsters. If we accidentally get separated, follow those."
Yurnero paused.
"We have to reduce the risk as much as possible."
Silica was a little surprised by his unexpected gentleness and consideration.
"That's all, then."
Yurnero nodded and was about to turn back when his steps stopped again.
"One more thing. About the equipment I gave you earlier. Never mind the armor, but the Shadow Dagger is faster than your previous weapon, so using sword skills with it may feel awkward. You should use it a bit beforehand and get used to the feel."
"After all, when you changed equipment before, it was probably gradual, so the sudden difference wasn't as strong."
He's so thoughtful...
Watching Yurnero's back as he firmly left after saying that, Silica could not help calling out to him.
"W-Would you like to come in and rest for a little?"
Yurnero turned back, looking somewhat blank.
After all, his room was only two or three meters ahead...
"Ah, no... I didn't mean anything else. It's just, you've helped me so much, so I wanted to invite you in to sit for a bit... B-But your room is right over there, so, um..."
Silica immediately fell into incoherent panic, waving both hands wildly in front of her chest.
"..."
"I-I'm sorry. I said something strange."
Silica lowered her head in shame and apologized.
"..."
Yurnero sighed.
"You don't need to be that grateful to me. But since you're going to use the new dagger, I can give you a few pointers. Let me say this first, though. I'm going to smoke. Do you mind?"
"That's fine. My father smokes too. He's a field reporter, so he's always at his desk, scratching his head with a cigarette in his mouth while worrying over something."
"What a coincidence... I picked up this habit from my father too."
Yurnero spoke softly.
"Then excuse me."
The room's layout was naturally the same as the one next door. The bed was on the right, while farther in were a small table and a chair. Those were the only everyday furnishings. A wall lamp hanging on the left wall gave off an orange glow.
After preparing a glass of water, Silica equipped her gear and began practicing sword skills in the room. As expected, the Shadow Dagger's added speed made it hard for her to adjust. The sword skills she had trained so well before felt disjointed, and sometimes even failed midway.
"You don't need to rush the second hit of Rapid Bite. Just focus on the position. About three centimeters below the left ribs."
Watching Silica's almost endearingly clumsy movements, Yurnero held his cigarette and quietly gave advice.
"Ah... right."
"White Fang has a short dash distance. The faster you turn back, the faster you can counter. That's the essence of almost every dash-type skill. Daggers are very responsive, so there's a small trick. The instant it activates successfully, step your left foot forward. That can slightly offset the momentum of the dash and make the follow-up turn smoother. But it doesn't really apply to longer weapons."
"You rushed a little just now. If you're not fully used to it, following the system assist is a good choice. Raise your right hand downward by about five centimeters and it will match the assist route perfectly. The system also judges the match based on your movements. If your compatibility is high, you can save the time it takes to search and add that to the sword skill's activation speed."
He only sat there and watched her skills one by one, yet he could clearly point out every key detail. Every solution he gave was simple and effective.
"Yurnero-san, you use a curved sword, right? Why do you know so much about daggers too?"
Silica asked in confusion.
"I've only dabbled."
Yurnero shook his head and took a long drag of nicotine.
"People who are truly strong don't need to care about these things. They can compose a sword dance of their own."
Only the dim yellow light and the glow of Silica's sword skills filled the room as pale smoke slowly spread.
"...?"
Silica saw Yurnero, who had been sitting quietly, slowly rise to his feet. He made a silencing gesture to her, and his eyes gradually sharpened.
Suddenly, his body moved.
He shot away from the table like lightning and pulled the door open.
Even the cigarette in his hand was whipped by the speed of his movement, the ember at its tip scraping bright for an instant.
The door opened with a violent sound, and she heard hurried footsteps running away. Panicked, she rushed over and poked her head out from beneath Yurnero, just in time to see a figure sprinting down the stairs at the end of the hallway.
"Wh-What happened...?"
"Just a bug."
Yurnero flicked off the ash from his cigarette and stopped paying attention to the stairway.
"Huh? B-But people outside the door shouldn't be able to hear anything..."
"They can if their eavesdropping skill level is high enough. The cost-performance is just too poor, so very few people choose it."
He closed the door and returned to the room. Yurnero sat back in the same chair as before, returning to his usual self, as if the person who had shot out like lightning moments ago had not been him at all. Sitting beside him, Silica wrapped both arms around herself as a vague unease rose inside her.
"But why would someone eavesdrop...?"
"Maybe it was your fan club."
Yurnero chuckled softly.
"...Seriously?"
"Who knows. After all, there are people in this world who believe girl idols never grow old."
Yurnero spoke lightly.
"You should rest. I'll sit here for a while and go back to my room later."
After that, he opened his menu on his own, seemingly organizing his inventory or browsing his skill list.
Behind him, Silica curled up on the bed.
Memories of the distant real world surfaced at that moment. Silica's father was a field reporter, and he was always sitting in front of an old-fashioned computer with a serious expression, typing away at the keyboard. Back then, Silica would often fall asleep before she realized it while watching his back.
He was probably worried that the person who had been eavesdropping earlier might come back.
But the way he said it left no room for her to argue, even though he had seemed so wary at first.
As expected... he really was strange.
Her unease had already vanished. Looking at Yurnero's calm profile from diagonally behind, Silica felt as though she were wrapped in a warmth she had long forgotten. Before she knew it, she closed her eyes.