Sword Art Online:Volume 10 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Zakkaria Sword Arts Tournament (8th Month of Human World Calendar 378)

Part 1

Looking down at the innocent sleeping faces from the high beam above, it made such a thought unwittingly.

Two boys were using the very sturdy dried straw piled up in the very old warehouse as beds, sleeping soundly. Appearance wise, they did not look too weird. The boy, who was lying horizontally as he slept, had flaxen colored hair, and his eyes that were shut now were deep green in color. Either way, it should be a color that could be seen everywhere in the area NNM... «Norlangarth Northern Middle». The height and physique were all within the average for boys at this age.

In contrast, the boy lying on the left with his limbs spread open had pitch black hair and eyes, and that was a rare sight. The chances of seeing dark colors was more common in the East area and the South, and the chances of giving birth to a child with black eyes and hair in the Northern region was rather rare, even though one could not say that there was no chance at all. As the entire population of the Human Empire had grown to such an extent, it may be possible for such an instance to occur. His physique was identical to the boy beside him, as if they were twins.

163 days ago, it was ordered by the «Master» to directly observe the duo. It arrived all the way here from Central Centoria, and was somewhat disappointed. Whether it was appearance or verbalism, they were not much different from those of the same area and age, but it felt that their planning and ability to avoid danger under dangerous circumstances were below average.

It had been half a year since it followed the duo, taking care not to be noticed.

The rainy season passed, and just when the summer was about to pass, it gradually understood why the «Master» fancied those two.

The lack of planning and abiding the rules was merely a display of inquisitiveness and seeking. Also, the black haired boy's imagination and mobility was shocking even to him, who had lived in this world for more than 200 years. Ever since it started watching them, there were many times where it was worried that the boy would break the Taboo Index.

On thinking through it carefully— that should not be the case. He probably should not be able to do such things. He did things similar to what [it] who the «Master» viewed as an archenemy did, destroying the permanent boundaries scattered all over the world in several days...

At this moment, the black-haired boy who was sleeping started moving his limbs as if he saw something. The shirt that acted as pajamas flipped up, and one could only sigh at the sight of him starting to move again without caring that his navel was exposed.

Summer was over, and the night wind was rather cold in this area that could be considered the northern Norlandgarth area. There were many openings in this warehouse, and if he continued to sleep on the straw bed with his navel exposed, the chances of his «Life» getting a slight illness would be very high. The next day— the 28th day of the 8th month of the Human World Calendar 378, could be said to be the biggest hurdle in their journey up till now.

They should have earned enough money by working in this farm for an entire summer, and though it wanted to tell them many times to at least sleep in an inn in the town, it could not interact with them directly. As it felt anxious observing them, both of them continued to sleep in such a simple warehouse—

And in the end, it ended up like this.

...It can't be helped. If I interfere like this, «Master» will forgive me, definitely.

It stood on the high beam and waved its right hand. A spell was muttered, the fingertip let out a green light, forming a ray of «Wind Element».

It cautiously let the «Wind Element» fall beside the black-haired boy, 30 cen towards the dry straw, and steadily «released» it.

A slight breeze was created, whirling up a pile of straw that slowly covered the boy's exposed navel. It was not reliable as a blanket, but it should be enough to cover the cold air blowing through the gaps.

It put its hand down and continued to stare at the two boys who did not notice what was going on before starting to consider what to do next.

The Life was permanently frozen, and the magic caster that was a «Master» had been taking similar missions for almost 200 years. However, it never had any memories of being interested in the observed parties. However, it should be a function that was without «emotion». This body was not that of a human... Or rather, not a main Human Unit in this «Underworld».

Even if it could have predicted that the boy would get a cold right before this important trial, the problem was why it did not ignore this, but used a spell to interfere. Or rather, if his body collapsed, if the spell failed, its long mission to observe would be over, and it could return back to the corner of that large library it missed...

In other words... instead of going home, would its journey with the duo end just like this?

Impossible. This is too illogical. It's like I'm influenced by both of their irregular movement.

I can't continue to think. This isn't part of the mission. All I need is to do is to follow and observe both of them. I have to observe these two people— the flaxen-haired boy Eugeo and the black-haired boy Kirito, move to their destination.

It curled its body back to 5 mil and leaped off the beam. It would not exhaust Life with such a small body, and it would not need to use spells. It landed like settling straw, and silently moved its slender legs to their usual position— the somewhat long black hair of the boy called Kirito.

It fastened its body on the numerous hair strands that were of the same color as it, and for some reason, chided itself for its small body.

The peacefulness, comfort, assurance; amidst all these, there was some sort of intense emotions amongst them all... And it could not think of why it was feeling this way.

—Such inexplicable boys.

It again had this thought, closed its eyes, and went into a light sleep.

Part 2

The next day was the last day of the 8th month, and the morning was extremely clear.

Kirito stretched his back and opened his eyes. He looked rather surprised as he grabbed a pile of straw that was covering his torso, and he immediately sat up. He shook his head to wake himself up, and the observer that was hiding in his hair reached its arms and legs out.

It went to near the bottom of the strands of black hair and moved towards the fringe of it. This was its designated spot for observation in the door. As Kirito would occasionally scratch his head, it would have to be careful. A frozen Life merely meant that it would not decrease naturally due to old age, and Life would still be used up when the body got damaged. However, the maximum value of its Life was a lot larger than humans, and even after shrinking, its toughness was nearly completely preserved, so those sudden hits or whatsoever were still bearable.

Kirito did not detect the malt-grain sized observer that was hiding in his hair and slid off the pile of straw. He put his hand on the shoulder of his sleeping partner.

“Oi Eugeo. Wake up. It's morning.”

The rough shaking caused the boy's eyebrows that were of the same color as his hair to jerk slightly while he cracked his eyes open. The green eyes appeared dazed for a moment, but after blinking hard a few times he seemed to grimace as he narrowed them.

“...Morning, Kirito. You're still the same as usual, waking up so early everyday.”

“It should be the other way around. I say, wake up, wake up! We have to finish what we have to do in the morning; let's do some «style» training before breakfast. I still somewhat don't understand the 7th «Style».”

“That's why I told you to practice your «styles» besides just carrying out mock battles... I really can't believe you, trying to pull an all-nighter on the morning of the tournament... No, it's a little weird to say that in the morning. Well...”

“Forget about pulling an all-morning or all-nighter or whatever, we only have this one chance.”

Kirito vaguely said some things as he forcefully dragged Eugeo up, gathered up the straw he had been using as a bed, and stored it into the large wooden barrel near the wall. He picked up the wooden barrel that was filled with straw and headed towards the exit.

The moment he walked out of the warehouse, the light of the new sun entered his eyes. The observer backed itself away and hid in the hut of black hair. Perhaps it was still a little too used to the dark corner of the large library as it did not seem to be too receptive towards the sunlight. However, Kirito happily took a breath of morning air and said this to no one in particular.

“The morning air's so cooling. It's great that I didn't get a cold on such a crucial day.”

And you have the nerve to say so. I won't help you if you sleep with your navel exposed again. The observer could not help but exclaim in its heart, and Eugeo, who moved behind Kirito, said,

“We're going to get sick of sleeping on the warehouse straw sooner or later. How about we spend our lodging fees to sleep in the main house starting tomorrow?”

“Nope, there's no need.”

Kirito grinned —of course, it was impossible to see his face from the base of the scalp, but one could deduce that it was a mischievous grin— as he simply said,

“Because, starting tonight, we're going to be living in the Zakkaria Barracks.”

“...Please tell me where that confidence of yours comes from. Seriously...”

Yare yare. Eugeo shook his head as he carried out a large barrel that was filled with straw, just as Kirito did. Both of them looked rather relaxed, but the weight of this 1-mel diameter sturdy wooden barrel would be pretty shocking even if it was only filled with straw. An ordinary young man of similar age could probably only take a maximum of 20 steps while carrying this barrel.

As for why the two skinny looking boys were not even sweating, the reason was that their «Object Control Authority» was ridiculously high. They could both wield the longsword that was lying against the wall of the warehouse— the Class 45 «Divine Instrument» level object, almost at will.

Then, why would these two seemingly ordinary looking young men, who lived in the countryside, have such great Authority? It had been half a year since it started observing them, and it still did not understand. However, it could at least say that ordinary training or matches up till now alone would not be able to give that value. It would be possible if they were to fight high class wild monsters, but the monsters that were allocated around the village should have been hunted till near extinction. More importantly, those two did not have «Hunter» as their Sacred Task, and if they hunted more wild monsters than what was permitted, they would have broken two clauses on the Taboo Index. If the highly active and energetic Kirito could not do it, it would be impossible to talk about the loyal and honest Eugeo—

There was one possibility left; that they defeated an enemy that would grant an increase in Authority even wild monsters could not match... an «Intruder from the Dark Territory». But on the other hand, this was something that could not be done. Both of them were not guards, and it would be impossible for them to face the Dark Army. Also, the Dark knights who would regularly arrive, the goblin scouts should have been sent packing by the Integrity Knights that were sent over from the Capital Centoria to the Mountain Range at the Edge.

If there was an unexpected «invasion» near Kirito's village... there would be a greater concern as compared to their abnormal growth. That may become a foreboding. That may become a «Prophesized Moment» that was to come one day, yet was thought to happen much later...

As it hid itself in the black hair and pondered about these, both young men had moved the barrels that were filled with straw to the stables beside the warehouse. They filled up the feed buckets of the ten horses fully and took brushes to groom the horses' bodies while they started feeding. This job would be the first thing Kirito and Eugeo had to do in the morning as they live temporary in the «Wolde Farm» on the outskirts of Zakkaria.

After working for a mere 5 months and more, the technique both of them showed in using the comb would make one mistake them for having the Sacred Task «Horse Feeding». Both of them finished grooming the last horse, and all the horses had finished feeding. Then, the 7 o'clock chime came from the Zakkaria Church that was 3 kilolu away. The «Bell of Time-Telling» the Axiom Church built in every village and city could be heard clearly within a radius of 10 kilolu as the sound would not weaken at all, but it would be hard to hear from outside this range. This would be a psychological thought to make sure a Human Unit would not think of moving too far, but it did not seem to be effective on Kirito's group at all.

Both of them used a pail of water to wash their hands and hung the horse brushes on the nail on the pillar. They used their right hands to grab onto the empty barrels, and left the stable. At this moment, an energetic greeting could be heard, seemingly awaiting the duo.

““Good morning, Kirito, Eugeo!””

The owners of the voices overlapped each other completely. They were the 9-year-old twin daughters of the farm owner—Telin and Telulu. Their hair and eyes were reddish-brown, and their shirts and skirt colors were completely identical. The only way to distinguish between them would be the colors of the ribbons on their ponytails. When they introduced themselves, the one with the red ribbon was Telin, and the blue one was Telulu. However, the two mischievous girls would often change their ribbons to make Kirito and Eugeo misidentify them.

“Good morning, Teli...”

Eugeo was about to answer the greeting as per usual, but Kirito stopped him from behind.

“Hold on! It seems a little weird here...”

The girls who heard these looked at each other, and then started laughing,

“Then, what's wrong?” “Is it your imagination?”

Their voices, their mischievous faces, the number and locations of the freckles on their faces were completely identical. Kirito and Eugeo pondered as they mumbled, looking back and forth.

As for why a Human Unit would have twins... or even the extremely rare triplets, even «Master» could not understand completely. After several consecutive cases of Units dying happened in the surrounding areas, the number of twins born increased. These are probably part of the human population adjustment system, and if that were really the case, there would not be a need to make everything the same. However, there were no flaws or strengths that could be used to determine between them.

—Even so, the «Observer» would only see the Unit's Status Window that would be indicated normally...in their terms, it would be the «Stacia Window», so it would be easy to see through the twins' switching their ribbons. In other words, Kirito's instinct was correct.

Believe in your own instincts. The observer who was lying at the root of the black hair muttered. Kirito did not hear this voice, but he raised his left hand to point at the girl with the red ribbon first.

“Good morning, Telulu!”

Then, he pointed at the girl with the blue ribbon.

“Good morning, Telin!”

The moment he finished, the twins stared at each other and exclaimed, “You got it!” They moved their hands that were hidden behind them up till now to the front, each holding a rectangular rattan basket.

“Here's your reward for guessing it correctly. Breakfast's Mulberry pie, you know!”

“We were very enthusiastic in picking the mulberries, you know! We spent a day picking them so that both of you can win in the tournament today!”

“Oh. I'm happy. Thank you, Telulu, Telin.”

Kirito put the wooden barrel beside his feet and reached his hands out to pat the two girls on the head. The twins showed smiles as they stared at Eugeo with a slightly worried expression.

“...Are you unhappy, Eugeo?”

“Don't tell me you hate mulberries?”

Immediately, the boy with the flaxen-colored hair hurriedly waved his hands.

“No, it's not that. I like it too! ...It's just that I thought of something in the past. Thank you.”

On hearing that, the twins showed a smile of relief and ran off to the round table placed between the stables and the rangeland. Kirito looked away from the girls who were preparing breakfast with crisp movements as he walked to Eugeo and patted him on the back.

“We have to win the tournament today and quickly rise to the top ranks in the army so that we can go to Centoria next year... To Alice. Right, Eugeo?”

Eugeo nodded hard at this soft but powerful voice.

“Yeah, that's right. The five months I've spent learning the «Aincrad-Style» from you was for this goal, Kirito.”

This was a one-lined conversation, but there were many significant messages in them.

Amongst these messages, there was a term the observer, who had lived for more than 200 years as a caster, had not heard of— That inconceivable sword style name.

And also, there was the ultimate goal of the duo— The Unit called «Alice».

If the Alice mentioned here would be the same Unit as the Alice that existed in its memories... These two's wishes would be so distant and vague.

That was because she was in a very, very high place in the «Centoria Cathedral» located in central Centoria...

“Kirito! Eugeo! What are you two doing!”

“Hurry up! Or else Telin and I are going to finish breakfast!”

The twins who finished their preparations exclaimed, and Kirito hurriedly pushed Eugeo's back as he ran over.

This jerking interrupted the observer's thoughts and caused it to snap back to reality. For the past 5 months, it had been reminding itself many times that thinking was not the job of an observer. But it always found itself thinking in the end... No, it was worried about the future of these two.

It clung hard onto the black hair strand and sighed for the umpteenth time today.

After a noisy breakfast, the twins left them with the words, “We'll cheer for you!” and left.

They set the ten horses into the rangeland and cleared the stables. Normally, they would use a wooden sword to start practicing, but it was different today. The duo washed their bodies and hair beside the well —at this moment, the observer would leave Kirito's head and hide in the treetop nearby— and they changed out from their work-clothes into their own clothing. They then headed to the main farmhouse not too far away.

The wife of the farm owner, Toriza Wolde had a very straightforward personality as a female owner of the farm. That was probably why she heartily hired the two of them who looked a little weird. It was the same today as she encouraged Kirito and Eugeo, who came to greet her, with a hearty voice and prepared their lunch boxes. As she sent them off, she quipped, “If you fail, forget about being soldiers in this town. Be Telin and Telulu's husbands!”, and this statement caused the two young men to show very complicated smiles.

They left the main house and walked down 3 kilolu on the path leading to the city. Both of them basically never talked to each other, and such a situation itself had never happened before. Most likely, it was due to nervousness. Every year, on the the 28th day of the 8th month, the town of Zakkaria would hold the «Norlangarth North area Swordsmanship competition», and there would be people from more than 50 surrounding towns or villages taking part. Basically, all the participants would either be people with the Sacred Task «Guard», and Kirito and Eugeo would be the only ones without such a role.

There would only be two people who could join the Zakkaria army forces, one from the east and west block respectively, and both of them must not fail if they wanted to fulfill their dream, which would be the greatest hurdle for them. However, the problem would be what would happen if both of them were assigned to the same block, and the two young men probably did not consider this at all—

As it continued to let its thoughts run wild, the sound of kemuri grass bursting, *PON*, could be heard in their path.

It poked its head out from Kirito's front scalp, and saw the streets that were on the other side of the short hill, made from reddish-brown sandstone. This would be the largest town in the NNM area, Zakkaria. At this point, its population was 1950, and it was less than 10% of Central Centoria, but this day would still be really buzzing in this largest tournament that occurred every year.

As they walked to the West gate, Eugeo whispered,

“...In fact, if I had not seen it for real, I might really suspect whether Zakkaria town is real.”

“Why?”

The boy with the flaxen-colored hair smiled as he heard Kirito's question,

“That's because... Basically none of the adults of Rulid Village have even seen Zakkaria. The ex-guard chief Doyke had the right to take part in the tournament, but he never exercised it until he retired. I would never even get the chance to go to Zakkaria or something as the «Gigas Cedar Cutter». If it were a place where none of us in the village had gone to before, and a place I couldn't see...”

“So you verified it for yourself.”

Kirito muttered in place of Eugeo, and then smiled as he added on.

“It's great that Zakkaria does exist. If this town exists, it proves that Centoria wouldn't be a lie.”

“Yeah. It's... really inexplicable. We went on our journey from Rulid village for the past 5 months, and even though we knew that this world doesn't just include that village, it still feels amazing now... It's really amazing.”

Though it could understand the words of the boy Eugeo, it felt that Eugeo's amazement was really weird. The «Master»'s caster who had lived for countless years had seen Centoria and the entire human world that was 1,500 kilolu. Its information capacity far surpassed all Human Units except for the «Integrity Knights». However, there were other unknown areas as well. That would be the other side of the «Mountain Range at the Edge» that surrounded the human world... The Dark Territory. There were only a few rumors about how there were several towns and villages there and how there was even a large pitch-black city there... One of these days, it should have the chance to use its eyes to prove their existence.

Impossible... These are all baseless imaginations, but if we continue to observe these two, maybe one of these days—

Most likely, it was thinking about such things.

The sudden unexpected tremor nearly caused it to fly out from Kirito's head. It frantically grabbed tightly onto the black hair and continued to look in front without thinking about anything.

What entered its eyes was a horse that raised its front legs up. "Hihihihihi", it let out a crying-like sound as it looked like it was trying to shake off the Zakkaria guard that was riding on it. The shaking just now was probably Kirito bending down, trying to avoid the horse gallop.

At the West gate of the town 10 Mel away, the horse-riding squad was located at the stone bridge in front of the moat, and the horse started to go out of control at the moment Kirito was about to cross it.

“St...Stop, STOP!”

The soldier sitting on the saddle desperately tried to pull the reins, trying to calm the horse down, but it did not seem to show any effect. Live animals like horses would require a lot of Control Authority, but a Unit that had the Sacred Task of a «Guard» should be able to fulfill this condition.

In that case, there would be very few reasons as to why a horse would not listen to its rider and go crazy. For example, insufficient feed or water causing the Life to decrease, or that it sensed a highly dangerous large wild monster closing in— However, these two scenarios did not seem probable.

As it continued to deduce, the horse that went berserk started raising its front legs hand. Kirito, who was right below it as he ducked to dodge, could not avoid completely. The people passing by, who realized the strange situation currently happening, all cried out. Even an adult male's Life would be reduced by half once he was stomped on by a horse with such momentum... If it kicked the wrong location, it would be possible for the Life to deplete completely.

“DAN-DANGER...!”

Someone shouted this, and at this instant, Kirito moved, not backwards — but forward. He moved by the horse hooves that landed and went beside it, using his arms to grab onto the horse head tightly, saying with a sharp tone,

“Eugeo, behind!”

As he said that, the partner had already taken action. While Kirito was restraining the horse, Eugeo went behind and quickly reached his right hand out to grab the base of the tail that continued to swing. His lightning quick fingers took out something from between the brown-colored hairs, and at that moment, that berserk horse that was rampant suddenly became obedient.

Kirito gently patted the nose of that horse that was panting a lot.

“Okay, okay, it's fine now— Guard-san, please let go of the rope.”

The still very young soldier on the saddle nodded his pale face and relaxed the tightly leashed rein. At the same time, Kirito moved his hand away from the head of the horse and took a step back. The horse then turned around and galloped back to its designated location on the right side of the stone bridge. The crowd around them let out a sound of relief.

The observer could not help but sigh in a relieved manner together with the onlookers as it remained in Kirito's hair, subconsciously reaching its arms out to block itself in front. It was to cast a protective spell to protect Kirito from being kicked by the horse. No, if Kirito did not take action back then, it might have used it for real. As an observer, that was something that was not allowed.

The boy who did not know of the small passenger in his front hair heaved a sigh as he put a hand on his chest, went to his partner, and whispered,

“...A « Large Marsh Horsefly»?”

“Correct.”

Eugeo muttered back softly and looked around. Once he checked that the pedestrians who had stopped had started walking and that the soldier was focusing on his beloved horse, he handed the thing in his right hand over for Kirito to see.

What was in his hand was a winged insect 4 cen long with red and black stripes on the abdomen. It looked like a bee, but there was no poison sting on it. However, there was one sharp protrusion at the mouth.

Amongst the «harmful insects» that existed to limit the Human Unit's movements, this was not a particularly dangerous one as it would not bring direct harm to humans. Though it could deal very little damage to the Life through bloodsucking, it would only target horses, cattle and goats. The reason why the soldier's beloved horse went rampant was because it was bitten by the Large Marsh Horsefly in the butt.

“Feels weird...”

Kirito muttered as he scooped that pest that was killed the moment it was caught from Eugeo's hands.

“There shouldn't be any swamps around nearby, right?”

“Yeah. I was told on the first day we worked at the Wolde farm. The nearest swamp is near the west forest, and we definitely must not bring horses there.”

“The west forest is around... 7 kilolu from Zakkaria. It shouldn't be possible for a Horsefly that lives near the swamp to fly all the way here.”

In response to Kirito's question, Eugeo tilted his head slightly, and quickly said with a somewhat vague tone,

“Even so... It's still possible for them to slip into some merchants baggage on the way here, right?”

“...Well, that may be possible.”

As the boys continued to talk, the pest that was between Kirito's fingers lost its red color at a very fast speed. The Life of insects were very low, and «Dead Insects» had even less Life, so it would only remain as a corpse for about a minute.

Soon, the Large Marsh Horsefly that was dyed light grey let out a soft voice as it disintegrated like sand, releasing itself from the very small body as it disappeared.

"Fuu", Kirito blew his fingers, nonchalantly looked around, and let out a slight snort.

“Anyway, whether it's you or me, we're really lucky that we didn't get hurt right before this important tournament. Good thing we were living with the horses at the farm every day.”

“Ah, yeah. If we join the army, how about we try out being cavalry?”

“We came all the way here, so don't say things like 'if', Eugeo. We'll definitely join the army no matter what kind of obstacles there are.”

Eugeo stared back at the grinning Kirito with a shocked expression.

“Obstacles... We have to win in the tournament, so there will be a lot of opponents.”

“Ah... Yeah, that's right. What I wanted to say is, don't let down your guard right before the tournament. Maybe there might be many unexpected incidents like what happened just now.”

“Eh, it's really unexpected for you to be such a cautious person, Kirito.”

“Of course. I don't go well with those reckless people who don't think through before they act.”

After saying that, Kirito patted Eugeo on the back,

“Alright, let's go fill our stomachs before the tournament.”

Part 3

Zakkaria was a town that was surrounded by a rectangular wall from the east to the west.

The dimensions of the town were 900 Mel from North to South and 1,300 Mel from East to West. The area was approximately 5 times the size of Rulid village in the north where both of them stayed in. As it was right in the middle of a prairie, there were no neighboring rivers or lakes, and their source of water was well water. Thus, this place looked like it was a rather dry place, but there were a lot more plants here than the Southern Empire that was full of towns in the desert.

The roads and buildings were basically all made from reddish-brown sandstone, and the residents who came to and from had red-based clothing as well. Thus, the blue-based colored shirts of the two boys, who came from the North, were rather eye-catching. Eugeo lowered his head, seemingly worried about the stares the others showed, but Kirito did not seem to mind as he looked around at the shops on both sides of the road.

“Oh, the meat buns this shop's selling looks delicious... but the kebab shop sells it cheap for 2 Shears. Ah... Eugeo, which one do you want to eat?”

Kirito leisurely said so as he turned his head around. He then realized the attitude his partner showed. His black eyes blinked in a dazed manner.

“...I say, Eugeo. It's been the third time in Zakkaria already. There's no need to be so tense.”

“Now that you mention it, it really is the third time... But this is the first time I'm seeing so many people after leaving the village.”

“If you're saying such things after seeing the people in Zakkaria, what will happen when you get to Central? Also, there will be hundreds in the stands at the swordsmanship tournament. Also, Uncle and Aunty Wolde said that they will bring Telin and Telulu in the afternoon to cheer us. Don't let them see you like that.”

Eugeo, who was patted on the back by Kirito, showed a begrudging expression.

“...I-I understand. It's only at this moment that I envy your nonchalant personality, Kirito...”

“You can still say such things with a pale face, Eugeo-kun. Being 'nonchalant' is an important trick in Aincrad-style swordsmanship.”

“Eh, re-really?”

“Really, really?”

As both of them continued to talk, they had already finished walking down the West main road that was approximately 500 Mel long. A tall building appeared right in front of them. This was the «Meeting Venue», the largest facility in Zakkaria. The rectangular shaped plaza that was proportionally smaller as compared to the town was now surrounded by the spectator stands. It was a multi-purpose space that was often used for lords' speeches, concerts and troupe performances, and of course, it was to be used for the Swordsmanship tournament today.

As the viewing was free, there were many citizens gathered here even when there were almost 2 hours till the opening of the tournament. To Human Units who were strictly restrained by their «Sacred Task» and the «Taboo Index» and all the other laws, this tournament that happened once every year would be their only chance of entertainment.

However, the intense atmosphere that came from the arena seemed to add on to the pressure on the boy Eugeo, and his face that was already whiter than Kirito immediately went pale.

“...Do, do we really have to fight here...?”

Kirito grabbed the arm of his partner who said that with a hoarse voice, ignored his emotions and complaints as he dragged him, one step at a time, to the participant registration window that was located at the front entrance of the Meeting Venue.

It was possible that most of the participants, who were either living in this town or were already residents of Zakkaria, should have finished their registration. A rather old bearded guard was sitting near the table of this temporary stall. Kirito fearlessly walked to the table and said loudly.

“Two people. Please register us.”

On hearing that, the guard raised his grey eyebrows, and first sized up Kirito and Eugeo with a doubtful expression before coughing lightly, and said,

“The only ones who can take part in the tournament are people who have the Sacred Task of a guard from the northern towns or villages, or apprentice guards in Zakkaria, or alternatively...”

“This is the «alternate». I say, that.”

Kirito nudged Eugeo on the side, who then hurried reached his hand into his tunic chest pocket, taking out what was a parchment envelope, and took a letter.

“Let me see...fm, so it's a written letter from the village chief of Rulid village. 'The two young men who have been entrusted with this letter have finished their Sacred Task granted by God Stacia. They wanted to seek a new path, and this is the proof.' I see.”

At this moment, the middle aged guard stroked his beard.

“In other words, two young brats from the northernmost Rulid village, who aren't guards, want to find a new Sacred Task and wanted to become members of our Zakkaria guards."

“That's right.”

Kirito answered back with a fearless smile, and then quipped,

“But we won't be staying around as guards here. Next time, we're going to head to Cen—”

Eugeo knocked him in the flank. He then continued on for his silent partner with a very quick tone,

“Tha-That's how it is. Please allow us to register for the next swordsmanship tournament.”

“Fm. Okay.”

The guard nodded, flipped open the tablecloth and handed a pen made of red copper.

“Write down your name, your birthplace and your sword school.”

“...Sc-School, is it?”

Eugeo's hand that was reached out stopped, and Kirito took the pen from beside. It was not a highly durable parchment paper, but a common paper script made from white silk grass. It had all sorts of names in different handwritings, filling up the paper.

The black-haired boy wrote the name Kirito in the common language in this Human World and his birthplace as Rulid village at the end. He put the pen down for a short while, and then continued to write down the name of the school. «Aincrad Style».

It had been five months since the observer had been watching the two boys, and while there were all kinds of doubts during that time, the greatest one would be this name. There were approximately 30 sword styles in this world, but this was the first time it heard of the name Aincrad-style.

Perhaps it's a style the rebellious Kirito would create himself after attaining some sword skills. That was what I first thought, but it doesn't look that way. This mysterious Aincrad school is different from other schools; instead of having only one «Secret Style», this might have at least 10...

As it pondered, Eugeo finished his registration after Kirito —and of course, the school was the same— and handed the pen back to the guard. The guard put the pen back, brought the script back to himself, and again raised his eyebrows.

“Fm. In the past I wielded a sword for a long time, but I never heard of this school before. Does Rulid have such a school nearby?”

The guard's question was to be expected. Though there were more than 50 participants' names written on the script, half of them learnt the «Zakkalight Style», , and more than half of them were from the «Norgal Style» that was widely spread through the Norlandgarth Empire. There was no such oddly-named small school.

However, Kirito simply showed a calm expression.

“That's a school that was recently set up.”

He answered, and the slightly pale looking Eugeo nodded his head as well. Of course, the guard would not refuse any registration because of a school, and after nodding 'I see', he handed them two bronze plates, each thinly engraved with the numbers. Kirito got '55', and Eugeo got '56'.

“Please head to the participant rest area before 11.30. We are going to assign participants into east and west blocks through a draw. At 12, we'll have the preliminaries, and we will use swordsmanship performance to reduce each block down to 8 people. You have to do move 1 to 10 in order, understood?”

After hearing the guard's question, Eugeo immediately nodded, and Kirito showed a somewhat doubtful expression as he nodded.

“Alright. Next will be the main show. We're going to carry out matches and reduce the number of people from 8 to 4, to 2 and to 1. That person... the winners from both East and West block, will then be granted the Sacred Task of being a Zakkaria guard.”

At this moment, both of them nodded at the same time. The observer that was hiding in Kirito's hair shook and started thinking the same thing it had been wondering about several hours ago.

Both their goals were to enter the guards. Thus, both of them would have to be assigned into the East and West block each, pass the preliminaries and win in the main tournament. However, if the two of them were to be drawn into the same block, their plan would have failed. In regards to this problem, these two carefree young men should have some form of plan...

—The answer it got to its doubt was during the time when both of them finished their registration successfully, went to the plaza nearby, and divided the meat bun and the kebab.

“...I say, Eugeo... If we're in the same group, what should we do?”

Kirito, who quickly finished up the meat bun that was divided in half, asked,

“...What do you say, Kirito?”

Eugeo, who finished the first kebab, answered.

In other words, both of them did not think. It was to be expected, but the observer felt like its head was going to just drop off. THINK! It prevented itself from falling victim to the urge of yelling out as it took its frustrations out by pulling the hair gently. Kirito lifted his right hand, and the observer hastily moved to the top of the head while he scratched his forehead hair. Even at this moment, this young man just said something really optimistic in conclusion,

“Well, things will naturally fall in place. Don't worry. We'll definitely be in different blocks. I did pray to Stacia-sama and Solus-sama and Te...Tereri...”

“Terraria-sama!”

“Yup, I made my wish to that Terraria-sama.”

"Haa", the observer that was on Kirito's head let out a soft sigh that overlapped with Eugeo's sigh. It walked back to its original position and muttered in its heart.

...There's nothing you can do. But is that alright, young man?

30 minutes later, right when the bell was about to chime at 11.30, both of them entered the tournament restroom.

The wide room that was approximately 20 Mel long had 4 sturdy looking benches on the west half of the room; and the participants were facing east. There were 4 slightly posh looking chairs placed there. They were empty at the moment, but there was a guard at the reception window.

The moment Kirito and Eugeo stepped into this room, they were stared at by the 54 other participants.

These adult men all looked like they had some amazing skills. Amongst them, 10 of them were wearing the Zakkaria apprentice guard uniform. Most of them were young, but the people from the neighboring towns who were chosen to be guards seemed to be in their primes. There were also people who had long beards and also those showing nerve-wrecking scars on them.

Eugeo straightened his back in shock as he was stared at by these strong and ferocious participants, but Kirito looked rather calm as he looked around the room and softly said,

“...Great...”

“Wha-What's great?”

Kirito brought his face over to Eugeo, who said so with a really tense voice, and softly answered,

“There are no female participants.”

“...I say, Kirito...”

“You're the same as well. It'll be hard for you to fight against a girl.”

“Tha-That's true... or rather, I never even thought of such a possibility before.”

“If possible, I really hope that such a situation will not happen until we reach that Four Empires Unity Tournament or something.”

“You don't say. I heard before that the Western Empire has a knight squadron comprised fully of women.”

“.........Ah!?”

And so, these two started their usual conversation without any sense of tension and the 54 ferocious participants soon lost their interest in these two young men, turning their faces that seemed to say 'these two young men are most likely going to be eliminated in the preliminaries' and started checking on their borrowed swords and adjusting their leather gloves.

Kirito again looked around the rest room, seemed to think of something, walked away from Eugeo, and headed off to the benches the participants were sitting on. He moved between the benches and breathed hard at a very fast speed. One could not tell why he did this at all.

After looking around for 5 minutes, Kirito finished inspecting all the participants, and again went back to Eugeo. He brought his mouth to the ear of his mystified looking partner, and muttered,

“Don't move your face. Second bench, the young man furthest in, do you see him?”

Eugeo twitched his eyes slightly as he followed what Kirito told him to do, and nodded,

“Yeah, that guy in apprentice guard clothing?”

“Be careful if you fight that guy. He might do something.”

After hearing that, the observer, who was as shocked as Eugeo, probed its head out from the front of Kirito's hair. There was a young man with sandy-colored hair that was sagging slightly, and he had a reddish-brown uniform on him. The age, as seen from the data in the «Stacia Window», was 18, and his Life value and Object Control Authority were below average, so there should be nothing worth taking note of.

“Eh... Is it someone you know?”

Eugeo muttered, and Kirito shook his head.

“Nope, but... You might understand if I express it this way. That guy's personality is similar to Jink.”

The Unit called Jink was the current guard captain in the Rulid Village both of them were born in. To them, he was a petty and unsociable person.

A Human Unit had to obey many rules and regulations, it would not mean that they were all friendly. If for example, there were people like the ones at the Wolde farm who would earnestly treat others, then there might be people who would look down on others, get in the way of others or make use of others in ways not stated in the laws. Rulid Village's Jink would be like that, and if Kirito's words were true, that seemingly harmless apprentice guard would—

“...Someone like Jink. He might try something like applying Shikami grass juice on my sword or something.”

Eugeo frowned as he muttered, and Kirito tilted his head.

“Well... Won't that be against the rules?”

“It won't reduce the Life of the sword, but it can be used for polishing it. It will be hard to smell it once it's applied. I had been pranked on by him many times when I was young, and couldn't concentrate in practice, so I really have to hand it to him.”

“...I see. Then, don't lose the sword you borrow. Don't let your guard down in the match. It's fine if I get assigned to the same group as that guy, but...”

“In that case, don't do anything crazy even if he does something, Kirito.”

“...I'll try.”

Kirito calmly chuckled as he nodded and turned around. He went to the Admission Window, used the registration bronze tablet. This was a tournament, however metal swords, instead of wooden swords, were used. Even though the Priority is lower, the power would still be enough to wear down a human's Life. Of course, as there was the rule that they were to fight until they nearly get hit, it would be definitely—unquestionably impossible to have any bleeding.

Both of them held onto their swords tightly, and 4 men walked in from an obscure entrance right when they sat down on the front bench. They were guards who were all dressed in bright red uniforms, and the bearded guard at the registration counter before was amongst them.

The 40-year-old man who had golden leader epaulets made a simple greeting, and a young soldier moved a very large box into the rest room. The leader patted the box, and said,

“In this box, there are small balls of blue and red colors, each numbered from 1 to 28, 56 altogether. Each of you need to put your hand into the hole at the top of this box and take out a ball. The red color indicates the east block, and the blue indicates the west block. The performance in each preliminary will be carried out in number order. If there are no questions, please take a ball each, starting from the front...”

Before the leader could even finish his words, Kirito immediately stood up and walked towards the box. Eugeo hurriedly followed, and soon, the other participants started standing up. *Gatagata*.

It moved from the front of Kirito's hair to the edge to look, and it could see a hole that was approximately 10 cen in diameter on the wooden box. However, it was dark inside, and the observer's eyes could only identify the shapes of the ball. At the same time, Kirito clicked his tongue, and the observer understood his intent on drawing first. If there were many balls in the box left, it might be possible to see the color of the upper-most ball through the hole. He was probably waiting for this moment.

Really, how can he still be so relaxed? He must be a very smart boy, but unfortunately, he lacks knowledge. In this world, the rule is that 'normal peeping methods can't work when it's done on a ballot box that can't be seen from the inside'. He has to have something that can get rid of this nature of the box— like a spell that creates a ray of light inside the box or one that can improve eyesight

“What's wrong, young man? Draw one.”

The leader prompted, and Kirito slowly reached his right hand into the box. He could only rely on luck for Eugeo and him to be assigned to different blocks when he could not see the color of the balls, but—

...I'll help you out this time.

The observer muttered in its mind as it suddenly jumped off from the front hair the moment Kirito reached his right hand into the box. It used the shadow of the wrist as a cover and leaped through the hole and into the box.

The hand that was reached into the box grabbed onto the first ball it touched, and pulled it out. The observer was able to see the color in the box. Kirito drew a blue colored ball — the west block.

Once it realized this, it adjusted its body size from the smallest 5 mil to 10 cen, 20 times the size; and though much smaller than its original size, this would be enough. Its arms grabbed onto a wooden ball and raised it slightly. Of course, the color was blue.

Several seconds later, the white arm reached into the box tentatively, and even without a «window», one could tell that it belonged to Eugeo. The observer pushed the red ball into the shaking hand that was moving in a lost manner, completely unlike the decisive Kirito. The hand jerked in a somewhat shocked manner, but it quickly grabbed onto the ball and drew it out fast. At the same time, he let out an "Ehh!", which sounded really delightful.

It probably took him several seconds to open his hand, and after that, there was a cry, “Yes, Kirito! It's red!” After that, both of them scampered off while seemingly grumbled at by the 3rd participant.

...Really, always creating trouble for people.

It grumbled, and was about to shrink its body to leave the ballot box when it suddenly thought of something.

That young apprentice guard with the sand-colored hair. Why is Kirito so fixated on that Unit? It wanted to know the reason, being an observer. Well, then, I'll let that apprentice fight against Kirito instead of Eugeo.

I'll put off leaving for now and standby in a corner of the box for a while then. Anyone who opens the box and look inside will likely be shocked. I'm only 10 Cen big, but there shouldn't be any organism that's so big in the Human Unit world.

It hid his presence for several minutes. After the umpteenth time, a seemingly skinny arm reached in, and from the «window», it could tell that the arm belonged to the apprentice guard. It sent the blue ball it had prepared into the hand that was searching around in a psychotic-like manner. He did not suspect anything at all as he pulled his hand out to check, and the observer heaved a sigh of relief. This time, it shrank its body down to the smallest possible and onto the arm of the next person that reached into the box.

It continued to cling tightly onto that person's arm until it reached the bench, and then risked itself by scampering on the floor towards the feet of the boys who were sitting on the innermost side. It then climbed up their leather boots that had a crack, through the back of the cyan-colored shirt, and hid inside the black hair. It went back to the front of the hair and sighed deeply again.

No matter what, interfering with the draw was against my duty as an observer. If «Master» knows about this, I might get scolded.

No, I might be able to observe more efficiently by separating Kirito and Eugeo into different blocks, and I put Kirito and that apprentice guard into the same block to obtain more information. I'm definitely not thinking of anything other than that, let alone because of this. Even if— that apprentice guard has some ill intent, I won't interfere in his match with Kirito by using spells. I definitely won't do such things.

Part 4

The «Bell of Time-Telling» in the Zakkaria Church loudly chimed the noon melody, and palpable cheers rang out from the spectator stands.

In the midst of the clapping and the smoke grass, the 56 tournament participants lined up in two rows, moving from the rest room to the arena. Eugeo's row turned to the right towards the stage of the East block, and Kirito's row turned left to the West block. The 56 participants lined up near the stages and bowed to the leader of Zakkaria who was seated in the South block, the VIP seats.

The current leader, Kelgam Zakkalight finished his not-too-long speech, the anxious spectators let out a short moment of applause, and the tournament finally began. Even so, this was only the preliminary selection, taking place so as to first cut the number of people from 28 to 8. The contestants walked up to the East and West block stages one by one, showing off the designated «Style»

The term 'style' would refer to the trajectory of the sword, and of course, it referred to a series of actions that were strictly designated. What was demanded was a precision of actions, ferocity and elegance. To the observer who had witnessed the 5 months of training the boys went through, leaving aside Eugeo, there was some concern with Kirito. He had the mysterious «Aincrad-style» he created, but the tournament stated that the styles should all be from the Zakkalight style, and the ones grading were the Zakkaria guards and brass of the town. They were staring at the weird participants with stern glares, and it was likely that they would not hold back.

As it continued to watch worriedly as the tournament proceeded on, Eugeo's number in the East block was read out. His face was still as pale as ever, but he still summoned his courage at the crucial moment, bowed on the stage and did not show any stiffness as he drew his sword.

Eugeo took approximately 10 seconds per style, 100 seconds altogether to perform without mistakes, showing some form of dance-like elegance. This was likely the result of his intense practice during day and night, and also the effect of having such a High Object Control Authority. To him, the sword he was wielding in the tournament was probably as light as a twig.

The spectators burst into a round of applause and cheers for the performance by Eugeo, neither a guard nor an apprentice guard, louder than for any of the participants before. The judges probably didn't want to give this mysterious visitor a very high score in their hearts, but could not act on their own impulses because of the restriction of the clause that «They could only assign points based on the performance». It would be another thing altogether if an «Imperial Noble», not restrained by the rule, was around, but the 5th rank Lord, the leader of this town, Kelgam Zakkalight, was the only one around and he was, luckily, not one of the judges.

Eugeo, who finished his performance, walked down the stage, wiped off the sweat on his forehead, and gave a hearty grin to his partner who was waiting for his turn at the side of the West stage. Kirito gave a thumbs up in response, But honestly, you're the one who's making people worry here.

After 2 minutes, Kirito's number was finally called. He walked towards the large steps, not showing any signs of tension, but this caused the observer to feel anxious. Don't pull any flashy stunts now. Just be normal. The observer hid itself in the front of the scalp hair, hoping to command Kirito like this, but managed to endure it.

Kirito stood on the stage that was without any gaps, not made of sandstone, but of red marble. He bowed to the leader at the VIP seat, and immediately drew his sword. Such an impatient action caused the judges sitting right under the canopy to frown. However, Kirito did not mind at all as he raised the sword in his right hand. First, the first style—

*Zun*, the strong stamp rocked the entire arena. *Buush*, the wind that glided with the sword swings reached the spectator stands 20 Mel away. Cries of shock and some cries of anguish caused the nobles to leave their seats slightly. It was understandable since the style Kirito should complete in 10 seconds was completed in 2 seconds in a very forceful manner.

What are you thinking!? The observer wanted to rip off his hair, only to realize something important at this moment. In the rules, when performing the styles, there was no indication of how many seconds would be required to finish them. In other words, it would not be against the rules to finish quickly... But even so.

He adjusted his body that was swinging the sword, faced the spectators in the north and performed the second style. The raging sword winds that blew again caused the hair of the spectators at the front seats to dance, and this time, though the cries had some anguish mixed in, the cheers were a lot louder. Then, as Kirito continued to perform action number 3, 4 in a very fast manner, the cheers continued to grow loudly, and applause continued to rain. On thinking things through, it must be very boring to the spectators to see the same actions over and over again. That was likely why the tournament was held in two blocks.

Kirito did not slow down at all as he finished the ten actions. He sheathed the sword and bowed, and was greeted by a thunderous applause and cheers rained down on the entire arena. He looked over at the enthusiastic cheers, and saw the Wolde twins in the spectators at the West block, Telin and Telulu. As promised, they were brought here by their parents to support them.

Of course, the one who jogged over to Kirito, who was waving to the western spectators and casually walking down, was Eugeo. He looked like he was trying his best not to grab Kirito by the shirt, but he wisely squealed out with a very soft voice,

“Wha-What were you doing?”

“Well, I just felt that it would take too long to see other people perform... So, I thought that it would be good to settle this fast.”

“It might not be against the rules, but can't you just do it normally?”

“If I do it quickly, even if there were some slight miscues, the judges won't be able to see them, right...”

“...”

Eugeo showed an expression that was 70% shocked and 30% amazed, dropped his shoulders, and sighed hard.

“...Let's just pray that the judges will grade us according to the applause...”

On hearing Eugeo say such words lifelessly, the observer could only think Great minds think alike.

The preliminaries lasted for another hour, and ended when the bell rang at 2pm. The participants again stood on the stage, and the judges' representations read out the numbers and names of those taking part in the finals.

The observer felt some form of relief after hearing that Eugeo passed the preliminaries, followed by Kirito a few seconds later. It never had such feelings in these few years of memories, and it could not help but bring its weak legs in.

—Really, when was the last time I got so emotional observing someone? No, I'll say this is the first time.

The 40 participants lowered their shoulders dejectedly as they left the rest room, and only 8 swordsmen from the East and West blocks were waiting in the standby area of the arena. They were all given Siral Water drawn from a deep well and some simple food, and during this time, the spectators were taking a short period of rest. Once the 30 minutes of rest ended, the finals would begin. In this elimination tournament, the 1st to 3rd rounds of battles would be held, and a winner will be decided from both the East block and the West block.

According to what the Wolde farm owner, Banou, explained to Kirito and the rest, that until several decades ago, there was a final match that was to be held between the winners of the East and West blocks. The reason why this event was cancelled was because of an accident that happened in a certain year because of the intense fighting in the finals, where blood was spilled when it should not be spilled.

In the whole of Norlandgarth, the Zakkaria Tournament notwithstanding— No, in the swordsmanship tournaments held in the entire Human World, this was a rule that was strictly enforced.

This rule was based on the Absolute Taboo Index «In situations with no other clauses in effect, no deliberate harming of other people's Lives would be permitted». That was why there was such a paradoxical skill required in this tournament— So that they can ensure other people's safety while making them submit.

The reason for each school to focus on their «styles» was to prevent accidents from happening by making sure that both the fighter and the enemy's breathing were on the same wavelength. Style vs Style; this would refer to repeating the same attacks and defenses, and the first to be fatigued or lose concentration would most likely be the loser. The only times blood was allowed to be spilled would be the Higher Ranked tournaments in Central with the rule «First Strike» or when prestigious organizations like the Integrity Knights or the Master Arts Academy take part.

However, Human Units had something that other living Objects did not have, something called «emotions». It was because of this that they had a powerful strength, but could also lose their cool and do unpredictable things.

The incident Banou Wolde talked about was a result of the rising emotions of the two Swordsmen 'wanting to win', causing the swords to hit each other on the bodies instead of the swords. Of course, there was no fatal injury involved —If it had become that serious, the Axiom Church would have intervened— However, a mere drop of blood caused the people in the town to be terrified. Of course, it was understandable why the final battle between the East and West block winners was scrapped.

Of course, these two young swordsmen did not know about this. Their aim was to be the winners of this tournament, stand out from amongst the guards, get the rights to attend the Central Centoria's Master Arts Academy exam, pass one hurdle after another, and one day, they hoped to meet this «Alice» in the Centoria Cathedral of the Axiom Church.

It was shocking, but both of them were headed down in the right direction. This was so troublesome and so distant, but that path would definitely lead them to the Cathedral. However... if Kirito and Eugeo really do gain the right to enter that white tower, both of them would have...

The 2.30pm bell broke this trail of thought. After that, the orchestra that was lined up in a corner of the spectator stands let out a majestic March, indicating the start of the finals.

The duo, which had already finished eating the simple meal, stood up forcefully from the fold-able chairs at the waiting area. The black and green eyes exchanged looks with each other, and they reached their right fists out to bump each other, turning away as if there was no need for more words as they head off to the stages of the East and West blocks. The spectator stand that was somewhat empty during the preliminaries was already filled up, and the rain of cheers descended like howling wind.

The guards in charge of miscellaneous stuff moved the large board with ordinary paper to the atrium the judges were at. The words that were written in black on them showed the table for the tournament finals that would be carried out in an elimination format. On the East block, Eugeo's first match was the 3rd match of the 1st around. Kirito too had his on the 3rd match— but the observer's stare seemed to be attracted by the young apprentice guard called Egome, the one Kirito seemed to be worried about for some reason.

I've let him be in the same block as Kirito. That 5 mil body felt a mysterious feeling it did not feel during that draw. It did some baseless thinking. It could not possibly have the same functions as that of a human.

Kirito's concerns were completely different from the observer as he did not react even after seeing Egome's name. Once the chief judge's speech ended, he immediately walked down the stage and sat on the chairs in the West block waiting area. Eugeo came here when they were having their meal, but as of this moment, he could only remain in the standby area at the East block, so there was no chance to talk to him.

It watched the first and second match from Kirito's head, and saw that the battles were won smoothly.

The party that attacked first continued to use basic skills since the 3rd and 4th move, and the defense continued to take the hits without showing any openings, letting out a casual rattling sound. Then, it was a reversal of roles as the sounds of metal clashing could be heard again. One might mistake this for practice, but they were using real metal swords after all. No matter whether it was the side swinging the sword or the one defending, they would lose Life due to fatigue. Once the Lives drop past a certain value, their movements would show openings, and their defenses would become weird. The one to fail in defending himself ended up letting the opponent's sword tip poke right at his body— 'That's enough!' or something like that.

It felt completely different from the Central-class tournaments' speeds where the fighters would sprint and retreat. However, the tournaments held in the North should be something like that as well. The young man named Egome should not have any outstanding abilities, and in that case, the 3rd match of this tournament would likely be Kirito's easy victory since he had a larger Object Control Authority. The observer dispelled that anxious notion that came before as it boarded the red marble stage together with Kirito, who had his name called out.

A short moment later, Eugeo's name was called out on the East stage. However, from a glance, it could tell that Eugeo's opponent was too overenthusiastic and was already sweating, so there was no sense of worry at all. On the other hand, Kirito and Egome were facing off against each other on the west stage, and the eyes under the sand-colored hair were staring intently at Kirito. It again checked the Stacia window, but the values were lower than the average competitor in the tournament. So why is Kirito so wary of him—?

Both of them started walking, drawing their swords slowly. The young judge raised his right hand and swung it down, shouting,

“—BEGIN!”

At the same time, Egome started to take action. Normally, both sides would first stare at each other and begin the battle after checking each others breathing rhythm, so there was a slight commotion from the crowd. However, this was not against the rules. Even though using surprise attacks to win was not advocated, it was a strategy in fighting.

“OHHH!”

Egome swung down from the top right side with intense vigor, and Kirito ran up to him to take this blow. *KLANG!* There was a mysterious metallic sound that never happened in the tournament up till now, and the yellow sparks that exploded lit their faces.

These swords that should be causing a knockback continued to remain clashed with each other, trembling slightly. Kirito countered with amazing speed, completely ignoring the fact that he was slower as he moved the sword up, pressuring the opponent. The two swords let out a grinding sound that echoed throughout the silent west block arena.

In this situation, Kirito moved forward, brought his face slowly to the nose bridge of Egome's face that was frowning hard—and muttered,

“You have the smell of Nedge Lezta on you.”

“...So what?”

Egome let out a tone that sounded like the grinding of a metal force. Kirito then continued on in a deeper voice,

“There's only one use for Nedge Lezta. When dried and burnt, the smoke produced will numb venomous insects. For example... a «Large Marsh Horsefly».”

“...”

Egome's narrow eyes widened hard, and at the same time, the observer that was hiding in Kirito's head blinked.

That means that Kirito was moving around amongst the participants in the rest area to look for the person with that Nedge Lezta smell. In that case, the reason would be—

“...This morning, at the West gate of Zakkaria. You're the one who planted that Large Marsh Horsefly... that insect that caused the horse to go wild.”

In response to this sharp question, Egome merely sneered maliciously.

“I have no need to answer to a homeless guy like you. But even so... what I did was just to release an insect that wouldn't harm anyone. I'm not breaking the Imperial Law or the Taboo Index here.”

What the apprentice guard said then was the truth. If the Large Marsh Horsefly could harm humans directly... if it had been an organism that could take Life away, it would have been illegal to bring it to an area humans lived in. However, letting an insect that would only bite a horse would not break any rules at all.

However, things were not that simple. No matter how young children are, they can understand that a Large Horse Marshfly flying around horses would be there to bite horses... to wear out the Lives of the horse. It was imaginable that the horse would then go wild and could hurt the people passing by.

Most of the Human Units who realized this possibility would probably give up on this idea of letting this Large Horse Marshfly go. This was because there was the Taboo function of «Not reducing other people's Lives» working within their bodies. However, even after knowing that this would cause damage to Kirito or Eugeo... No, it was because he actively wanted this that this young man called Egome let the Horsefly go. To them, it was the thought of «I just let go of an insect that won't harm any humans. I have no idea what will happen next», a function that overpowered the thought of following the Taboo Index.

...The blood of nobility.

This young man was giving off the rumored dark side of the nobles. He was completely different from the people at the Wolde farm, a person who believed that «Anything that does not break the rules is acceptable».

“...Why?”

Egome seemed to spit out as he answered Kirito's short question,

“I don't like you. Someone who's homeless like you, who doesn't have a Sacred Task, wants to challenge me? This Egome Zakkalight-sama? You want to join our guards? I won't allow you. I wanted to wreck you when I saw you arrive to take the tournament rules slip last month.”

“...I see, one of the nobles. But even if you have some prestigious background, you're just a lowlife for doing such things. Sorry, can we hurry up and end this now?”

Even after hearing that he was a blood relative of the Zakkaria leader, Kirito did not show any signs of fear as he said this. He exerted some strength into the swords that were still clashed with each other, seemingly trying to make the opponent fall. But at that moment,

Egome again grinned, and after that, there was a sharp cracking sound. Kirito showed a slight stiffness. On looking over, while the two swords were clashed, Kirito's blade was the only one that was showing a small yet obvious crack.

Why would only one sword be affected when they're both swords borrowed for the tournament? It frantically opened the «Windows» for both swords, and there was an unexpected message over there.

Kirito's sword was a level 10 object, while Egome's sword was a level 15 object. On a closer look, it looked like there was a small difference in the glow of the blades.

“Ku...!”

Kirito groaned as he brought his sword back. This time, Egome brought his body forward. *Pnk*, *pnk*. It continued to let out cries as Kirito's sword was the only one with its Life decreasing.

“Speaking of which, this isn't against the rules either.”

Egome muttered while showing a victorious look.

“According to the stipulation of the tournament, all participants have to fight using the metal swords loaned out by the judges. In that case... it's not against the rules even if there was a sharp sword mixed into these swords and I got it.”

“...So you bribed the guard who loaned the swords out.”

“I don't know anything. But would be it okay for you to keep this up, wanderer? No matter how much you try, you'll only cause that sword to lose it's Life.”

Egome continued to swing over with all his might as he said that, while Kirito did something unexpected.

Kirito did not fight the opponent head on as he deliberately fell towards the arena and ducked past under the opponent's arm. Egome's sword let out a loud *GLANK* as it slid and smashed into the large marble. The recoil stunned Egome's body, while Kirito used this chance to leap away and keep his distance.

At this point, the spectators who were watching this nervously cheered. They had never seen an action like ducking under the opponent's arm while in the midst of a sword clash, and they, who did not know what the duo were talking about, rained down thunderous applause on them.

Egome finally recovered from the numbness as he faced Kirito, showing an enraged look.

It's dangerous. The observer instinctively realized this. Of course, as a noble, he could not break the Taboo Index as well, so he would not use the sword to hurt Kirito directly— However, on the other hand, if Kirito was hurt because of a slight accident, it would be fine. It's really amazing that he could think of something like this. The observer thought.

Such a hypothesis however was overturned by Egome's next move.

He raised the level 15 sword he had been wielding with two hands up till now with his right hand, and stopped at shoulder-height— It looked like he was putting it on his shoulder. Then, it seemed like he was looking for something as he spent several seconds adjusting his position. Finally, the blade was surrounded by a light blue glow.

“...Zakkalight Secret Art Finishing Move, «Azure Wind Slash»”

The crowd again let out a thunderous applause— including applause from the East block. The referee on the stage looked rather troubled as he stared over at the judges' seats, but it seemed that they were pretty lost there as well. As the name suggested, the «Secret Arts Styles» here would refer to the finishing moves of each school, moves that normally could not be used, but there was no stipulation in the rules to follow, so the participants were given full reign to decide. Once Egome decided to use it, there was no way anyone could stop him.

However, the issue was that the power of the «Secret Art» was incomparable to the other normal styles, and once it was activated, it could not be stopped midway. The user's body would move on its own, not by its own will, but by a supernatural force that was similar to Sacred Arts. In other words, if Kirito's defense failed, it would not just corner him, it would break his body. Egome clearly understood this, and even so, he wanted to use this Secret Art— Most likely, he thought that even if there was blood spilled, it was just the defender's fault for not taking it probably.

However, there was still a way to stop Egome's move.

That would be to let Kirito put his sword down and expose himself to the enemy's attack. At that moment, Egome's resolve would break, and using a Secret Art here would clearly be breaking the Taboo Index. No matter what kind of noble blood he had, it would not be able to override the authority of the Taboo Index, the power of the Axiom Church. That was the absolute limitation that was ingrained in the Human Units.

Put down the sword. The observer tried its best to stop itself from saying these helpful words to Kirito. Even if I don't say so, he'll realize this. Hurry up, put the sword...

“...So the secret move's coming up.”

Suddenly, Kirito muttered in a volume even the observer on the head could not hear.

He moved his left hand from the sword hilt, just as Egome did, and positioned himself in a way such that it looked like he was putting the sword at the left side of his waist. As his body stopped, a bright purple glow was emitted from the sword.

On seeing this, the spectators and the judges held their breaths. Eugeo, who was on the opposite stage, shook his head yare yare. It remembered that whenever such a scene happened, everything would be over.

Egome's face trembled and twisted as he bared his teeth.

“KYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!!”

With the shout of a large bird Object, the art was activated. He took a hard step to the front with his left foot, raised the metal sword that was resting on his shoulder, and slashed out in a diagonal trajectory that was aimed at Kirito.

Got to stop this battle. At this moment, the observer was seriously considering about this. However, it would be too late to use a Sacred Art here. Got to jump off from Kirito's head and show my true form. It will be completely against the rules— But even if I have to take whatever punishment Master gives me, it will be far less compared to letting my observation target...

But at this moment.

“—Shuu!!”

Kirito showed off a sharp momentum as he too moved.

He fearlessly rushed towards the light blue trajectory Egome drew out. His right hand moved and carved out a bright purple line in the air from the left to the right, and also another attack— from the right to the left.

*KIIN!!* A sharp metal sound was released, passing through the walls of the arena, and seemed like it could be heard from all the streets and corners of Zakkaria.

A sliver glow danced high in the air, reflecting off the light from Solus above as it slowly landed. A blade that was sliced from the edge was stabbed straight into the red marble stage.

Kirito's sword skill was really so fast that even the observer did not notice it at all, completely. However, it did see the crucial moment.

The sword swung from left to right and immediately went from right to left. As the speed was too fast, it felt like Kirito was attacking with two swords from both left and right sides. In fact, there was only one metallic sound. These two hits resembled beasts gnawing as they accurately hit the same point— and shattered Egome's sword. With a tournament sword that had its Life reduced by half, the sharp sword that had 5 levels of priority was...

Egome's eyes widened as he remained still. He, who had swung down the sword with only the hilt left vertically, could not help but tremble. Kirito, who maintained his sword swinging position too, whispered into Egome's right ear from a nearby position,

“Aincrad style Twin-consecutive-hit Skill... «Snake Bite»”

On hearing these words—

The observer felt all of its hairs standing.

This human called Kirito... actually had a uniqueness that far exceeded its expectations. Even with the 378 years of history in the Underworld, it was rare to see someone like him... Perhaps he might even be on equal standing as the Master, «That person».

As it continued to feel this inexplicable feeling, no, this feeling it was not even conscious of, it was only thinking of one thing.

I want to witness the end of these two's journey, Kirito and Eugeo.

Over there, there will definitely—

In the Human World Calendar 378, the Zakkaria Swordsmanship tournament East and West block winners were the young men with no Sacred Tasks, who came from a village in the north. As per tradition, they earned the rights to join the guards.

In the end, the first match was the only one that troubled Kirito somewhat, and he never used the «Two-consecutive Hits» thereafter. The next spring, Kirito and Eugeo would earn the recommendation letters required to attend the Royal Swordsmanship Academy, a fact that could not be more obvious.

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