"A...shield."

Asuna looked my way thoughtfully.

"Wh-What's the matter?"

"You're hiding something."

"What do you mean all of a sudden...?"

"But it's weird. The biggest advantage of using one-handed swords is being able to hold a shield with the other hand. But I've never seen you with one. I don't, because it would slow my attack speed, and some people don't because they're more worried about style. But you're neither of those... It's suspicious."

She was spot on. I had a hidden skill. But I'd never used it even once in front of other people.

It wasn't only because skills were an important way to survive, but also because I thought it would make me stand out even more if it had become known.

But, if it was her-even if she found out, it should be okay...

I opened my mouth thinking this.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter. Digging around about other's skills is rude anyhow."

She just laughed it off. Now that I had lost my chance, I simply mumbled a few words in my mouth. Then, Asuna's eyes grew wide after checking the time.

"Ah, it's already three. It's late, but let's eat lunch."

"What!?"

I couldn't hide my excitement.

"I-Is it handmade!?"

Asuna smiled wordlessly and quickly manipulated her menu. After getting rid of her glove, she called forth a small basket. So there was definitely one good thing about partying with her-as I thought this rudely, Asuna suddenly glared at me.

"...what bad ideas were you thinking just now?"

"N-Nothing. More than that, let's eat."

Asuna pouted, but nevertheless took two paper packages out of the basket and then handed one over to me. I opened the package and found a sandwich made with lots of vegetables and grilled meat stuffed between two thin slices of round bread. An aroma similar to pepper came from it. Suddenly, I felt really hungry and I took a large bite.

"It's...really good..."

I bit into it twice, thrice in a row, and then uttered my sincere appreciation. The shape seemed somewhat European, like the food that the NPC restaurants offered, but the taste was different. The slightly sour and sweet flavor was definitely similar to the j.a.panese fast foods that I had eaten until two years ago. I ate the huge sandwich quickly, feeling like I was going to cry from the nostalgic taste.

After finishing the last piece and downing the tea that Asuna gave me, I finally gave a sigh.

"How did you manage this flavor...?"

"It's the result of a year of training and experimentation. I made it after a.n.a.lyzing the data on how alllllllll of the herbs affect the taste reproduction engine. This is glogwa seed, shuble leaf, and calim water."

As Asuna said this, she took out two small bottles from the basket, opened one of them, and stuck her index finger in. The finger came out with some indescribable substance on it that was sticky and purple. Then she said, "Open your mouth."

I didn't know what it was, but as I opened my mouth on reflex, and Asuna flung the substance into it. The gooey substance flew into my mouth accurately and its flavor amazed me.

"...It's mayonnaise!"

"Those are abilpa beans, sag leaves, and uransipi bones."

The last one sounded like the ingredient for an antidote, but the liquid flew into my mouth before I had any time to think about it. Its taste shocked me even more than the previous one. This was definitely soy sauce. I was so ecstatic that I grabbed Asuna's hand and put her finger in my mouth.

"Kya!!"

She screamed and s.n.a.t.c.hed her hand out while glaring at me. But then she started laughing at my expression.

"That's what I made the sandwich out of."

"...it's amazing! Perfect! You could make a fortune with this!"

To tell the truth, the sandwich tasted even better than the Ragout Rabbit meal I had yesterday.

"R-Really?"

Asuna smiled sheepishly.

"No, it'd be better not to sell them. I can't let my share disappear."

"Uwa, you're so greedy! ...if you want, I'll make it again for you sometime."

She added the last bit quietly and leaned slightly against my shoulder. As a calm silence filled the room, I even forgot that this was the front lines, a place where we fought with our lives at stake.

If I could eat this sort of thing every day, I could steel my resolve and move to Salemburg...right next to Asuna's house... I started thinking this without realizing it, and just as I was about to say this out aloud-.

Suddenly, the clanking sound of armor heralded the arrival of another group of players. We quickly widened the distance between us.

I glanced at the leader of the six-man party and relaxed my shoulders. He was the katana-wielder that I had known for the longest time in Aincrad.

"Oh, Kirito! It's been a while!"

I stood up and greeted the tall person who had started to walk this way after recognizing me.

"You're still alive, Klein?"

"You're as foul-mouthed as ever. Why are you of all people in a par-ty..."

The katana-wielder's eyes went wide under his bandana as he saw Asuna, who had stood up after quickly packing away her things.

"Ah-, ...you've probably already met each other during the boss fights, but I'll introduce you two anyway. This guy is Klein from the guild "Fuurinkazan", and this is Asuna from "Knights of the Blood"."

Asuna nodded lightly when I introduced her, but Klein just stood there, both his eyes and mouth wide open.

"Hey, say something. Are you lagging?"

After I jabbed him from the side, Klein finally closed his mouth and introduced himself in the politest way possible.

"H-h.e.l.lo!!!!! I'm just a guy c-c-called Klein! Bachelor! Twenty-four!"

As Klein said something stupid in his confusion, I jabbed his side again, with more strength this time. But even before Klein finished talking, his party members had rushed up and began to introduce themselves.

They said that all the members of "Fuurinkazan" had known each other even before SAO had started. Klein had protected and guided all of them, without losing even a single member, until each of them had become a capable player of the front lines. He had managed to bear the weight that I had run away from in fear two years ago-the day that this death game began.

Ignoring the self-hatred that had deeply permeated my heart, I started speaking to Asuna, "...well, they're not bad people, if you ignore the leader's thuggish face."

This time, Klein stomped down on my foot as hard as he could. Upon seeing this, Asuna started laughing, unable to hold back any longer. Klein smiled sheepishly, but then returned to his senses and asked me in a voice filled with murderous intent.

"H-H-How did this happen Kirito!?"

As I stood there with no answer coming to mind, Asuna responded for me in a clear voice: "Nice to meet you. We've decided to party with each other for a while. I hope we get along."

I was shocked by what I heard. As I thought 'Eh!? This wasn't just for today!?', Klein and his party made expressions that switched between anger and depression.

Eventually, Klein glared at me with rage burning in his eyes and growled while grinding his teeth.

"Kirito, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d..."

I sagged my shoulders and thought that this was going to be hard to get out of. Then...

Footsteps resounded through the same doorway that Fuurinkazan had recently come through. Asuna tensed at the strangely uniform sound, then grabbed my arm and whispered.

"Kirito-kun, it's "The Army"!"

I immediately turned my gaze towards the doorway, and sure enough, the heavily-armed unit that we'd seen in the forest came into sight. Klein raised his hand and got his five companions to back into the wall. The group that marched into the room, still in its twin column formation, was no longer as orderly as they had been in the woods. Their footsteps were heavier, and the expressions under their helmets seemed very tired.

They stopped at the wall opposite from us in the safe area. The man in front gave the order "dis-missed," at which point the other eleven people collapsed onto the floor. The man then walked towards us without even glancing at them.

Now that I looked carefully, his equipment was somewhat different from the others. His armor was very high in quality, and a crest in the shape of Aincrad was engraved onto the chest-something none of the other eleven had.

He stopped in front of us and took off his helmet. He was pretty tall and appeared to be somewhere in his late thirties. He had a sharp face, very short hair, a pair of sharp eyes below his thick eyebrows, and a mouth that was tightly shut. He swept across us with his eyes, and then started speaking to me, who was the one in front of our group.

"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Cobert of the Aincrad Liberation Force."

What the h.e.l.l? "The Army" was originally a name that people had started calling them as a way of making fun of them. When did it become their official name? And "Lieutenant Colonel"? Feeling annoyed, I answered concisely: "Kirito, Solo."

He nodded and asked arrogantly: "Have you mapped the area ahead of here?"

"...yeah. I've mapped the area all the way up to the boss room."

"Hmm. Then I hope you would supply us with the mapping data."

I was surprised by his att.i.tude. But Klein, who was behind me, had gotten angry.

"What? Supply you with it!? You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, do you even know how hard mapping is!?"

He shouted in a hoa.r.s.e voice. Maps of unexplored areas were important information. They could also be sold to treasure hunters, who sought out locked treasure chests, at high prices.

As soon as he heard Klein's voice, the army guy raised one of his eyebrows and announced loudly.

"We are fighting for the freedom of players like you."

He thrust his chin forward and continued.

"It is your duty to cooperate with us!"

-The word arrogance must exist for att.i.tudes like his. The Army hadn't even been on the front lines for a year now.

"Wait a second, how could you..."

"You, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d..."

Asuna and Klein, who had been standing on either sides of me, both stepped forward with their voices full of outrage. I spread my arms apart and stopped them.

"It's okay. I was going to spread it around when I got back to the city anyway."

"Hey, hey! You're being way too kind Kirito!"

"I don't have any plans to sell the maps for money."

As I said this, I opened a trade window and sent the information over to the guy who called himself Lieutenant Colonel Cobert. He took it without any change in his expression and said: "Thank you for your cooperation."

He replied without a single note of grat.i.tude in his voice, and then turned around to head back.

I said to his back: "Some advice from me, you're better off not attacking that boss."

Cobert looked back.

"...that is for me to decide."

"We checked out the boss room just a while ago. It's not something you can tackle with just anyone. Besides, your men all seem pretty tired as well."

"...my men aren't such crybabies to be tired out by something like this!"

Cobert emphasized "my men" as he answered with annoyance. But the guys who sat on the floor didn't seem to agree.

"Get up you useless pieces of trash!"

At Cobert's command, they stood up shakily and reformed two columns. Cobert didn't even spare us a glance as he returned to the front of the column and gestured with his arm. The twelve men then lifted their weapons and began to march once again, their heavy armor clanking away.

Although they still had 100% of their HP on the outside, the strenuous fights of SAO left a fatigue that couldn't be seen. Our real bodies in the other world may not be moving a muscle, but the feeling of weariness still stayed until we either slept or rested on this side. Based on what I saw, those Army players were already exhausted, since they weren't used to fighting on the front lines.

"...I wonder if they'll be okay..."