Am I the only one streaming Sword Art Online on the entire internet?

Eugeo told me some stories about his childhood friend. The little girl who helped me get my bedding last night was actually Alice's sister... That's quite surprising. I'll have to ask her about other things sometime. At least for now, Alice's character remains a mystery. I have a feeling she's a rather crucial character in the main storyline.

[Next stage goals: Find a way to enable Eugeo to use the Blue Rose Sword, investigate information related to Alice, and cut down Gigas Cedar]

Solin continued his journaling, now treating the texts as a diary, though he hadn't yet included the mundane details of daily life. He stopped here; although there was a curfew in the village, movement within the church was still permitted. He planned to find Seruka and ask her for information.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when there was another soft knock at the door. Sorin nimbly got out of bed, jumped to the door, opened it, and looked at the small figure still dressed in a nun's habit outside.

“Good evening, Seruka… Is there anything I can help you with?” He smiled at Seruka and asked.

It must be said that Sorin's wonderful smile usually has the power to charm both men and women, and even the little nun in front of him was no exception. Her fair face flushed slightly, and then she quickly turned her head away, her voice barely audible.

"No...it's nothing, just a routine reminder not to be late for morning prayers tomorrow..."

"Yes, I've got it." Solin's voice was very gentle, with a friendly feel to it. "By the way, do you have time to chat with me?"

"Hmm... that's fine, but try not to take too long, or Sister Asalia will scold me again tomorrow." Seruka leaned against the door with her head down, her index fingers constantly touching each other, she must have been quite nervous. "So what shall we talk about tonight, Sister Solin?"

"...Never mind. I want to ask about your sister."

Sorin was somewhat annoyed by the child's seemingly deliberate way of addressing him, but he quickly got to the point. Upon hearing Sorin's question, Seruka seemed to tremble subtly.

"I don't have a sister," Seruka replied, trying to sound calm. "Why do you have this illusion that I have a sister, Sister Sorin?"

“Because it wasn’t my imagination, or rather… well, I’ll tell you anyway. Eugeo told me that you have an older sister named Alice, right?” Sorin started the conversation directly, and as soon as he finished speaking, Seruka suddenly looked up, which startled him.

"Did Eugeo tell you about Alice? How much did he say?" the girl pressed, almost pressing herself against Sorin, making him blush.

“Ah…like Alice also studied Holy Magic in this church, and she was brought to the Central Capital by the Integrity Knights six years ago…and so on.” Sorin answered, supporting Selka’s shoulders with both hands to pull her a little further away, and continued, “Even if you keep calling me Sorin-neechan, Sorin-neechan, I’m still a boy, don’t do that, it’s not appropriate…”

“Does it matter? Anyway, Sorin is so cute.” Selka first gave a sly smile, but then the smile vanished from her face, replaced by a melancholy look filled with longing. “So Eugeo hasn’t forgotten Alice… Nobody in the village, not even Dad, Mom, and the nun, ever mentions Alice. Her room was completely cleaned up years ago, as if she had never existed… So I’m wondering if everyone has forgotten her…”

"But Eugeo hasn't forgotten, and not only that, he's also very concerned about Alice. If it weren't for his duty, he probably would have gone to Central City to look for Alice right away."

After hearing what Sorin said, Seruka remained silent for a while before finally whispering a sentence.

"Is that so...? Then Eugeo lost his smile because of Alice?"

"Lost his smile? No... He always had a smile on his face when he found me... I understand." Sorin was puzzled at first, but then he understood the reason. It was probably because Eugeo felt guilty about Alice's situation. After all, in his memory, it was he who took Alice on the treasure hunt, which led to Alice accidentally touching the other side of the End Mountain Range.

Thinking this, he fell silent. He could see that the girl before him clearly harbored feelings for Eugeo that went beyond friendship, yet she couldn't express them because of Alice's presence. And after Alice disappeared, it was obvious that Eugeo's heart could no longer hold anyone else.

“I’m sorry, Seruka, for reminding you of something unpleasant,” he finally sighed and said. However, Seruka didn’t respond; instead, she hugged Solin tightly once more with her slender arms. This time, he didn’t push her away, but gently stroked her head with his right hand, comforting the girl who was softly sobbing in his arms.

“You know, Sister Sorin. Dad and Mom don’t say it, but they always compare me to my sister and then sigh. The other adults do the same, which is why I left home and moved into the church. Eugeo isn’t like that, but he’s avoiding me because every time he sees me, he thinks of my sister… It’s not my fault at all! I can’t even remember my sister’s face clearly…”

Her body trembled, as if she were enduring something. After a long while, she looked up again into Solin's clear blue-violet eyes and whispered:

"I'm so sorry, Sister Suolin, I didn't mean to talk to you so much. You should..."

Seeing this, Sorin couldn't help but sigh, then interrupted the girl's next words. He had his left arm around Seruka's waist, while his right hand remained on her head, his tone extremely gentle.

"If you want to cry, then cry. But...would you like to hear my story?"

Alicization, February 2, 2025

"なまぬるい风に风かれながら, Tokyo の空看めてたら (Lukewarm wind blowing in the face, looking at the sky of Tokyo)~"

A black-haired girl wearing glasses sat in the empty club room, playing and singing on a guitar. Several boys and girls her age sat quietly listening to her. Her voice was relatively soft, not particularly professional, but it still drew envious glances from her friends.

"あなたの愿うようなServantになれていますか?, 真心からありがとう (Have I become your ideal me now? Will I start to think about this kind of thing?)"

After she finished singing that line, she stopped, looked around, and put her guitar down. "That's all for today's event. I'm going home now."

"Okay, be careful, Sinon-chan."

One of the boys said this, and Shino nodded, then left the empty room.

"It feels really good to have a group of people with me. That guy was right. But this peaceful time... probably won't last much longer."

She muttered to herself, gazing up at the half-slanted sunset on the horizon, then walked out of the school gate. This guitar club was the first and only club Shino had ever joined, and the reason she suddenly decided to join it was for some rather special reasons.

After Mo Yulan's "disappearance," Sinon, as the only Rainbow Squad member in Tokyo who was able to move freely, received her first order to be ready for combat at any time without affecting her daily life. However, her profession in the outside world was still a student, and students still had to go to school after the start of the semester. She couldn't possibly carry a uniquely designed R700 to and from school every day. Before she even received orders to go to the scene, she was already intimidated by the fearful looks of her classmates and teachers.

Ultimately, she opted for a compromise: first, she taught herself guitar for a period during the holidays, and then she commissioned a rather large guitar case with an inner compartment. This inner compartment could hold her R700, some accessories she might need, and three loads of ammunition, while the outside naturally housed a guitar that looked quite high-end.

"I wonder what's going on with Sorin. If it's for his treatment, it could be done easily within Tokyo. Why all the secrecy and disappearances..." She kept muttering to herself as she walked, seemingly quite dissatisfied with the situation. "And the attackers that day were too mysterious. Could they really have been Templars? Sorin wasn't joking, was he?"

She knew that talking to herself like that wouldn't get her any answers. So she quickly shifted her thoughts from the sudden attack to the rather practical question of what to eat that night. Incidentally, Shino still insisted on cooking for herself, and because Rainbow Six's Tokyo base was too far from the school, she had rented an apartment near the school again, much like before she met Sorin.

"It's early spring now... how about we have hot pot today?"

After pondering for a while in the alley behind the supermarket, Shino was about to enter when she sensed something approaching her from behind. She turned around abruptly and discovered it was her former cronies, the Endo trio.

She breathed a sigh of relief, loosened her grip on the pistol from her inside jacket pocket, and glared at them. One thing struck her as odd: Endo wasn't as aggressive as before; instead, he was remarkably humble, as if he needed her help.

"Is there something you need, Miss Endo?" Her voice was icy as she stared intently at the three delinquent girls who had once again surrounded her, showing little fear. "Let me make this clear first: I don't have any money or bank cards with me, and I don't want to tell you about PayPal."

"What are you talking about? Did you think we'd only come to you for money, Asada?" Endo chuckled awkwardly, then exchanged glances with his two companions before revealing his true purpose, "Actually, we need your help with something. Have you heard? There have been rumors circulating in several nearby middle schools lately about students going missing."

“Yes, I have heard about that. But… Tokyo’s security isn’t that bad, is it? In this day and age, are there still unsolved cases? Just check the surveillance footage or the Echo…” Sinon calmly replied, then suddenly realized she had let something slip, so she quickly corrected herself, “Anyway, it should just be a simple case like running away from home. If Ms. Endo came to me just because of this little bit of curiosity, I can only say that I really don’t have the time, I’m sorry.”

"But this isn't just a rumor, Ms. Asada. Two of my friends from the neighboring middle school have completely disappeared because of this incident, and I haven't seen her for over thirty hours..."

When Endo got to this point, Shino interrupted her rather impatiently.

"But what does this have to do with me? It's sad to hear this news, but why would you think I can solve this so-called missing persons case? I'm just an ordinary high school girl. Maybe I'll disappear myself someday."

After saying these words without any politeness, she turned to leave, but Endo suddenly grabbed her left hand and said something that shocked Shino.

"Don't go... I know your secret, Asada. Aren't you afraid I'll tell your classmates...?"

Shino was startled when she heard this, because Endo had already told her classmates about her performance in the bank robbery. It was no secret, and it was obvious what secret Endo was talking about.

"What do you want to tell them? Tell them I killed someone in that bank robbery many years ago? Or..." Her tone suddenly turned sinister, and her right hand once again reached into the inside pocket of her jacket containing the pistol, her eyes coldly fixed on Endo, "Or something that requires a confidentiality agreement?"

Endo was startled by her gaze and froze on the spot. When she came to her senses again, Shino had already disappeared.

Underworld, March 10, 378th year of the Human Calendar

At 5:30 a.m. the next day, Solin followed his steady biological clock, opened his eyes and looked at the pale ceiling.

"That little girl is really a handful... So troublesome, I have a feeling something bad is about to happen." He muttered words that were hard to understand, clearly still feeling helpless about their conversation the night before.

There's nothing that can be done about it, since it's difficult for Solin to worry about another child like this now—he can barely manage even his eldest daughter.

He stretched, put his novice clothes back on, opened the door, and went to the well outside to wash his face. But just as he was washing his face, Sister Asalia, the head of the church, suddenly found him.

"Good morning, Madam Asalia. May the glory of Stia be with you forever," Sorin greeted her ritually, as he remembered most medieval people saying this. But Sister Asalia simply nodded, her brow furrowed, seemingly even more serious than before.

"...Um...Ms. Asalia, what happened?" Sorin sensed something was wrong and quickly asked tentatively. After a slight hesitation, Asalia gave him a brief answer.

"—Seruka is missing."

"What? He was just like that yesterday..." Suolin was truly startled. He had thought that even if the child was upset, he would just shut himself in his room for a while and then get better. However, it now seemed that it wasn't that simple.

"Sorin-chan, have you heard anything, or sensed any signs from Seruka... After all, that child seems quite close to you these past two days."

Asalia stared directly at Solin and asked. Solin panicked even more; his mind was filled with thoughts like, "Does this guy suspect me of kidnapping little girls?" or similar nonsense. Fortunately, Solin had nothing to hide, so he decided to just say whatever came to mind.

“She talked to me yesterday about her daily life at church, and as for the so-called omens… I’m sorry, I didn’t see that much.” He carefully chose his words in his reply. After all, the topic of Alice was definitely a death tag at this time; choosing it would probably lead to a bad ending. So he didn’t mention that his conversation with Selka involved anything about Alice. “Speaking of which, could she have gone to buy something, like breakfast…”

“I bought two days’ worth of groceries yesterday evening, since all the shops are closed today.” Sister Asalia immediately rejected this hypothesis.

“Yes, today is the Sabbath… so did she go home?” Solin then guessed.

“No, Seruka has been at the church for the past two years and has never been home. Even if that were true, I don’t believe she would leave without a word, without even doing morning prayers. Although I didn’t forbid her from doing so, she should at least have told me.”

This effectively eliminated all plausible options. Sorin didn't suspect the nun of lying or anything like that, because he subconsciously treated this as a single-player RPG game, and the information given by NPCs was generally accurate, or if it was, it was only for the sake of the plot.

Therefore, Solin ultimately focused on the worst-case scenario as the only possible explanation.

"Could this kid have run away from home?" He casually splashed water on his face, then picked up the basin and walked to the side. "I'll help look for him, and I'll also ask the people in town to keep an eye out."

“That would be best. I’ll go and discuss with the elders in the village what to do. Sorry to bother you, I need to prepare for the morning prayers.” Sister Asalia made a gesture that looked like a religious ritual towards Sorin, then turned and left the small courtyard.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Ms. Asalia." Sorin replied politely, watching Asalia leave the courtyard before falling into deep thought once again.

"...I can't figure it out. Maybe I'm just too old and don't understand the thinking of young people these days. Or maybe I should investigate a few more NPCs who are familiar with her, like... Eugeo?"

——————Two hours later——————

"Good morning, Eugeo. You've had the whole day off, right?" Sorin walked up to him as soon as he saw the familiar figure in front of him, his tone quite urgent. "I need your help. Seruka is missing, and I want to go look for him. You can come with me."

"What?" Eugeo looked even more surprised than Sorin when he first heard the news. "She... left without even saying goodbye to Sister Asalia?"

"Judging from the current situation, that's certainly the case, my friend. I was just pondering her reasons for leaving and where she might go after she left, but I couldn't figure it out for a long time. Maybe my way of thinking is just not in sync with that of young people these days." Sorin sighed as she said this, making Eugeo wonder if this guy was some kind of legendary eternally youthful priestess or something similar... life form, rather than a normal human being.

Interestingly, the moment this idea popped into Eugeo's mind, he subconsciously confirmed it, perhaps because Sorin's display of swordsmanship in front of Gigas Cedar yesterday was far beyond what someone his age could possibly possess. But putting aside what strange things Eugeo was thinking, he quickly put himself in the shoes of a child and offered a possible direction for speculation.

"Solin, you just said you chatted with her last night... What did you say to her?"

"I wanted to understand Alice from another perspective, so I asked her about Alice and told her how Alice died," Sorin shrugged, speaking in a nonchalant tone. "So what? What does that tell us?"

"So, what's next, Sorin? Did you tell her... why Alice was taken away?" When Eugeo heard this seemingly unimportant keyword, he suddenly realized what had happened and quickly pressed for an answer.

“I did tell her… Don’t tell me later that you never mentioned this to her.” Hearing Eugeo’s question, Sorin vaguely realized something was wrong. “If we consider the emotions she displayed last night, and what you said before about ‘others, including herself, subconsciously comparing her to Alice,’ then…”

"This silly child isn't thinking of touching the forbidden boundary and then going to the capital to find her unlucky sister, is she...? This script is terrible."

Underworld, March 11, 378th year of the Human Calendar

Solin was already used to the absurd plots in RPGs (especially Japanese RPGs) where teammates would inexplicably do stupid things, and the protagonist would have to go to great lengths to save them. What's even more absurd is that these plots were usually unavoidable main storylines, and sometimes they wouldn't even succeed, feeding the story a dose of garbage from the script to make it depressing. However, when this happened again, he still felt quite annoyed.

But there's no other way now. Even if the script is ridiculous, he can only play the plumber hero again, taking Eugeo to the other side of the mountains to rescue little Seruka. As for what kind of trouble might arise along the way… well, he'll just have to wait and see. Adapting to changing circumstances is always the best approach for a brave RPG player like him.

"We need some supplies, even if it's just bread that's unbearable like rye bread."

Sorin recalled the direction Eugeo had pointed out to him outside the village; it seemed to be downstream of the stream where he had once drunk water. If they followed that stream, finding water wouldn't be a problem.

As for food... if this were still Earth, Thorin's survival skills would be more than enough to sustain him for a month in a forest with no supplies. But this is clearly not Earth, and he doesn't even know what he can or cannot eat.

“If, as you say, you didn’t see her when you woke up this morning, then she’s probably already quite a distance away. We need to hurry; there’s no time to arrange for supplies.” Eugeo frowned as he looked towards the direction of the mountains at the end of the mountain range, then put down the bag at his waist and gestured a couple of times. “If you don’t mind the taste, I had some left over from yesterday. The texture isn’t great, but it hasn’t gone bad.”

"That's enough. There's no need to be so demanding in an emergency. Let's set off now." After listening to Eugeo's analysis, Sorin also felt that time seemed to be even more pressing than he had imagined. "By the way, take the sword with you when we pass your hut. I can use that sword. You mentioned before that there are still people on the other side of the mountains at the end of the mountain."

“Those aren’t people, they’re monsters… Fine, as you wish.”