Besides the two gems whose purpose they still didn’t know, all that Akimi and the others got were some trivial experience points and a few Cols.
Well, at least they gained something, and not getting a game over here was already a success.
If this weren’t SAO, a death game, Akimi would have thought the whole thing was actually pretty fun—but on the flip side, outside of SAO, it simply wouldn’t be possible to do this.
…
Although Akimi and Asuna had come to try the Dwarven Palace challenge purely out of curiosity and under Argo’s encouragement, the sudden disappearance of such a massive palace was no small matter.
At least the players in the streets of Aulnida had noticed it.
During the few days that the Dwarven Kingdom Palace had been open for challenges, quite a number of players had come to try, some even staying in town and attempting it daily.
Among all the players, those who found it hardest to accept were the ones who had invested time and money—sunk costs—in the unknown treasures of the Dwarven Kingdom Palace.
Now it was all for nothing, and naturally, they felt frustrated.
So when they discovered that the palace had vanished, they ran over holding onto that last sliver of hope.
Unfortunately for them, Akimi and the Asuna had already finished and left quietly, keeping their success hidden.
…
At a small blacksmith shop on the outskirts of Aulnida, Argo was excitedly scribbling something in a little notebook.
“Hehe, this week’s Aincrad Weekly finally has a piece of somewhat big news,” she said, pressing the pencil to the corner of her mouth, smiling as she looked at Asuna in front of her.
“So—so Asu-chan, did you and Aki-bou end up getting the treasure in the end? What exactly was it? Tell me in detail!”
Seeing Argo’s curious expression, Asuna, feeling a bit helpless, explained their haul.
“Ohhh—! That sounds incredible,” Argo said, looking even more excited.
“If you sold this as top-secret intel to the Divine Dragons Alliance or the Knights of the Blood, you could make a fortune… hey!”
Before Argo could continue, Akimi had already smacked the top of her head with a hand chop.
“Alright, enough trouble,” Akimi said, clearly annoyed.
“Two items with unknown effects that sound powerful—who knows what tricks the Divine Dragons Alliance would try with them.”
Pouting, Argo protested, “Hey, with their current resources, they’d probably make just three to five hundred thousand Cols… and you guys aren’t even afraid of them, right?”
But her protest was met with a second hand chop from Akimi.
This time Argo reacted in time, dodging behind Asuna to avoid the strike.
Akimi ignored her and said, “That’s a different matter. As the saying goes: it’s not the thief stealing you should fear, but the thief coveting it… And there’s still one account not settled. The biggest intel seller in Aincrad didn’t give complete information—don’t you agree, A-r-g-o?”
Huddled behind Asuna, Argo looked utterly incredulous, shaking Asuna’s arm and shouting, “He’s slandering me! This is slander! Asu-chan, aren’t you going to do something?”
Asuna, however, didn’t want to get involved.
Left with no choice, Argo defended herself, “First, I didn’t sell you the information; that intel was given to you for free because of our relationship, so no transaction occurred. Second, I never guaranteed that the intel was complete. And lastly… well, there’s no last point.”
Though Argo’s reasoning was hardly solid, Akimi and Asuna had no intention of blaming her—they couldn’t really.
After giving Argo a side-eye, Akimi let it go and didn’t pursue the matter further.
“By the way, Argo, will you have some free time in a few days?”
After a brief silence, Akimi suddenly spoke.
Hearing his words, Argo was momentarily taken aback, then smiled mischievously and said, “Oh? So, Aki-bou wants to ask your big sister out? Hmm—well, it’s not impossible, but Asu-chan is still here, you know, it’s not really appropriate to say that.”
As she spoke, she struck a shy, coy pose and edged closer to Akimi.
“Of course, if Aki-bou really needs it, even if Asu-chan doesn’t agree, your big sister would…”
“Stop.”
Seeing Argo’s deliberately flirtatious expression, Akimi groaned, “Don’t steer the conversation in a weird direction, come on.”
Argo didn’t seem bothered by his blunt refusal.
Instead, she made a mock-pouting face and reached out her finger, attempting to trace circles on Akimi’s chest.
“Oh come on~ Aki-bou, you really are a hopeless scoundrel.”
The strange tone combined with Argo’s actions made Akimi shiver with discomfort.
He quickly stepped behind Asuna, looking disgusted, and said, “Argo, can you act normal for once?!”
Seeing that Argo still wanted to play around, Asuna, feeling a bit exasperated, pushed her away and said, “Alright, stop fooling around. I just wanted to ask if you’d like to come with us to visit Miss Nirrnir in a few days.”
“Huh? You two want to go and you specifically want to drag me along as a third wheel? That’s just cruel!”
Argo protested indignantly.
“It’s not just the three of us.”
No sooner had Argo spoken than Akimi, peeking out from behind Asuna, said, “We’ll definitely call Kirito and the others too.”
“And if you, Liz, want to come as well, you can join us,” Asuna added, glancing at Lisbeth, who was maintaining her weapons nearby.
Lisbeth paused for a moment, thought it over, and happily agreed.
However, when Argo heard the name “Kirito,” her expression suddenly stiffened and became awkward.
She stammered, “I-I’ll just… let you go. We’re… we’re about to tackle a BOSS in the next few days, I’m really busy.”
Once she said that, the other three in the blacksmith shop were left confused.
BOSS raid? What was Argo talking about?
Didn’t they just finish the 40th-floor BOSS a couple of days ago?
The raid team shouldn’t even be at the 41st-floor dungeon yet.
“Has Argo… finally lost it?”
“Probably… not entirely.”
Ignoring the questioning looks from Akimi and the others, Argo hurriedly put away her notebook, pulled her hood over her head, and rushed out.
Watching Argo disappear in the blink of an eye, Akimi’s mouth twitched slightly.
Just as he was about to say something, he saw a message from Argo:
“Don’t overthink it, I’m just really busy—there are millions of Col in business waiting for me every minute… don’t overthink it!”
Seeing Asuna’s mouth twitch in the same way beside him, Akimi sent a message to Kirito:
“Kirigaya Kazuto, you really are a deeply sinful man.”
Kirito: “???”
— The end of the Chapter–
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