A journey to another world starting from a sword

One of them is "Raizer Village," located in the southwest corner of Horuka Forest, hidden in a corner of a desolate slope.

Perhaps in Mitt's view, there shouldn't be any criminal players at the moment, and this remote "outside village" is just the right place for someone like him to escape.

However, another player kept following him, and even after he said "Don't follow me," the other player continued to follow him, using the excuse that he was "worried about me."

By the time they arrived at the village of Raizer, it was nearly midnight.

The journey from the starting point to here wasn't actually that long, but she wasted too much time killing every monster she encountered along the way that came into her field of vision.

He didn't have the courage to commit suicide, but as long as he kept fighting, accidents like weapon breakage or triggering another large-scale monster swarm would happen, leading to his accidental death, and he could accept his fate.

But things backfired.

The man beside her would always draw the attention of the monsters behind her during battles, protecting her back so she could focus solely on what was in front of her.

It was like players from the same team were hunting together, but in reality, the two were not in a team at all.

"I might as well challenge the Boss," Mitt thought dejectedly, "that way the man won't follow me."

I wonder if the regional boss, who is stationed in the central canyon of the Darhali Fortress, has been defeated yet.

As she racked her brains trying to come up with a reasonable solution, she passed through the rough wooden door at the entrance of the village.

NPC guards were stationed on both sides of the gate, but the two men were sitting on the ground, which was sheltered from the rain and not wet, dozing off while holding long spears with wooden iron tips.

"They're too lax," the man next to me commented.

Yes, Mitt agreed, but immediately wanted to retract his nod of agreement.

Dante ignored Mitt's stiff head and pondered whether the NPC guards could repel monsters that occasionally wandered into the outer village.

As Mitt continued forward, he became lost in memories.

I've been here before, but I only managed to quickly replenish my potions at the NPC shop, which didn't have a very complete selection. Now that I'm back, I've discovered many things that I don't remember.

With the help of the faint moonlight and the dim campfire, the two walked step by step on the worn stone path.

Suddenly feeling as if she heard something, Mit stopped immediately, and the person next to her also stopped beside her.

She listened intently, initially thinking it was the call of some nocturnal bird, but upon closer listening, the sound had a more melodic quality than a bird's song.

It sounds like human singing, as if someone is singing somewhere in the village.

It was probably a rare quest that only triggered late at night, Mitt guessed, but she wasn't really in the mood to do it.

“You can go take a look over there,” she said to the man beside her. “Maybe it will trigger a quest.”

“But this isn’t a song sung by an NPC.” Dante pointed in the direction of the sound and walked past Mitt.

Huh? Are you a player?

Mite paused, then followed behind him. The melancholic melody... sounded unexpectedly familiar.

It sounds like...

That's right! It's the ending theme of my favorite cartoon from my childhood!

In other words, it was indeed the players who sang in the desolate village outside the circle late at night.

Mitt didn't really want to get involved with others, but the person in front of him was walking towards the direction of the singing, making it difficult for Mitt to turn around and leave.

Even she herself felt a little curious about "what kind of player was singing".

The two stepped into the narrow alley that ran through the central square, climbed over the dilapidated stone steps, and crossed the half-rotten arched bridge, when suddenly the view opened up before them.

This is already the southwestern edge, bordering the outer perimeter of Aincrad.

It's like a viewing platform overlooking the endless night sky, and a player is sitting on a bench there.

She wore a blue belted long top and a white short skirt. Although this was her initial outfit, it made her look fresh and refined.

The brim of the snow-white hat on her head swayed gently in the wind, as if it were formed from wisps of cloud.

Because the hat obscured his face, Mitt could sense from the atmosphere that the other person was about the same age as him.

She was sitting on the stone steps, her legs crossed, her posture elegant and composed.

In her arms, she held a delicate little stringed instrument, similar to the "lyre" used by bards, which produced melodious notes as she gently plucked it with her fingertips.

To be honest, the performance was a bit raw, but the singing was beautiful.

Her presence made the surrounding environment more vibrant, and the air seemed to be filled with a fusion of music and poetry.

The two stood quietly in place until the music came to an end.

"Not bad, right?" someone nearby said.

This immediately put Mitt on alert; she remembered that this was the village outside the circle.

"Indeed quite good." Dante nodded, after all, she was a future songstress.

Mitt glared at the man, thinking how utterly unsuspecting he was, but he still put down the sickle in his hand.

It wasn't because the other party was alone, or because it was a woman.

Moreover, she realized that this person must be the companion of the girl who had just sung.

"Then let's listen to the next song." The woman stepped out of the shadows. For a woman, she was quite tall, close to 170 centimeters, with a bob haircut. But what really caught Mite's eye was the woman's fashionable attire.

Almost all combat players don't have the leisure to care about the appearance of their equipment.

I only changed into metal armor; the purple belted long robe I was wearing underneath was still my initial equipment.

As for the man beside her... it was only then that Mitt realized that the man's clothes were completely different from when they last met.

He wore a brown overcoat and leather armor with some metal fastenings. The greatsword on his back was an unfamiliar type, quite large even for a two-handed sword.

At first glance, he looks like a wandering knight-errant who came from who-knows-where.

Speaking of Asuna, she even bought a lot of different kinds of clothes...

Taking a deep breath to suppress the painful memories that suddenly surfaced, Mitt hesitated for a moment before choosing to remain silent and stand still with his companion.

The woman smiled, and the girl sitting on the bench began to play her zither again.

It's like folk music from somewhere, with a simple yet elegant melody.

The piece sounded very familiar to Mitter.

“I heard it back in the starting town,” Dante whispered.

Yes! Yes!

Mitt glanced at him, then looked away; it was indeed a piece that the NPC orchestra in the starting town often played.

Perhaps because she had practiced repeatedly, the girl played the intro much more skillfully than she had with previous anime songs, and then raised her head to begin singing.

"Stars that light up the sky... Gentle breezes that blow across the hills..."

Since there are no singers in the NPC band, the girl must have added the lyrics to the song herself.

Every note is like a secret whispered in the night breeze. Her voice is clear and gentle, perfectly matching the exotic melodies, as if it can penetrate the dust of the soul and bring comfort to the listener.

If only I could listen to this song with Asuna... Just thinking about it brought tears to my eyes again, but Mito desperately held them back.

Looking at Mitt's pained profile, Dante sighed again. He hadn't been able to find a chance to speak from the beginning until now.

When the girl finished playing, the women beside her began to clap, and Dante and Mitte joined in with applause.

Realizing there were other listeners, the girl lifted her head, which had been hanging down, and looked straight at them, blinking her brown eyes at them.

Just like Asuna, Mito thought to himself, and decided to leave.

But the woman beside him suggested, "I'm going to have a drink with her next. How about it, want to join me?"

“Sure, we’d love to,” Dante said, turning to the woman with a smile.

Hey!

Immediately, Mitt turned his head and glared angrily at the man.

Can you please stop making decisions for her?!

Chapter 22: The Secret Bar

"I'd like you to share your thoughts on the song with her," the woman said to Mitt, perhaps sensing his reluctance.

This left Mitt with no choice but to accept the fact, since she had heard such a touching piece of music for free and couldn't just leave rudely.

Anyway, there are no restaurants or taverns in Raizer Village that stay open until late at night, so at most we can just chat for a bit longer, that's what Mitt thought.

As it turned out, the woman with the short bob hair led us to a corner deep in the village, a building that looked exactly like a residential house no matter how you looked at it.

She casually opened the wooden door of the house and walked down the narrow stairs inside, while the girl carrying the zither followed without hesitation.

Even the man beside her took a few steps and gestured for her to come down with him, so Mitt had no choice but to follow.

Ahead of the gently curving, descending staircase to the left, there is another wooden door.

"It's quite surprising." Dante walked through the door and saw an elegant bar that seemed out of place in the desolate village below.

Although it wasn't very spacious, the bar seating on the right and the tables on the left were made of heavy materials, and the black floor was polished to a shine.

"Heh, you'd be quite surprised if you saw it for the first time," the woman with short hair, Bob, said, turning around with a smug look on her face.

This must be the secret place she discovered.

The four of them sat together at the bar. The woman with short hair, Bob, said, "Let's order first. This place has a lot of drinks that are rare in Aincrad."

The leather-bound menu was taken off the stand and placed between Mitte and Dante, who then gentlemanly pushed it toward Mitte.

Most of the items in SAO are in English, even the menus.

This amount of English wasn't difficult for Dante to understand, but for Mitt, who maintained her top ranking at the Eternal Girls' Academy, there were indeed words she couldn't understand.

After all, this is only the junior high school section. No matter how good they are, it's hard to reach a professional level, especially since there are many specific terms involved.

Until yesterday, every time Mito and Asuna entered a new store, the two of them would lean out to look at the menu, discussing, "Can we read this?" and "What about this one?"

Mito might have a higher overall grade in school, but she would occasionally lose to Asuna in English, so the two of them were always very enthusiastic about word recognition games.

But those days are long gone.

Mitt glanced at the menu and, without much hesitation, chose the drink listed at the very beginning.

"Lime carbonated water".

In other words, I'm too lazy to choose.

Then she pushed the menu toward Dante and let him choose.

"Then... Bloody Mary it is." Dante casually flipped through the bottles and selected the most stimulating one.

This caused all three women present to look at him simultaneously. The woman with the short bob haircut even teased, "You've got guts! Have you ever drunk this before?"

"I'm just a little concerned." Dante casually propped his arm up on the table. He was very concerned about whether this smell could be perfectly reproduced in SAO.

Then he used the fingers of his other hand to slide the menu half a circle in front of the two people.

The woman with short bob hair hesitated for a moment, then tapped a spot on the menu with her slender middle finger.

"I'll have a Jim Reit. What about Yu?"

"Let me think..." The girl, who was speaking for the first time besides singing, tilted her head for a moment and then looked at the woman next to her. "Miss Lily, which drink goes well with the moonlit night?"

"Miss Li" is probably a term of endearment used by young girls for women with short bob haircuts, much like how the other person might call her "Yu-chan."

"Let me see... how about the Moonlight Cooler?"

Wow, they even have cocktails! I'll take this one!

The sound was as curious as a little girl secretly drinking her father's wine.

"..."

The owner behind the bar spoke in a calm voice, "Please wait a moment."

Only then did the girl take off her hat, revealing her face beneath her bangs, which were braided into a plait on one side. She had a cute, elfin look and was indeed very young, perhaps still in middle school.

The girl raised an eyebrow at the two of them and said mischievously, "The wine in this world doesn't contain any alcohol, so it's fine."

"Ha~" Dante laughed out loud, tilting his head back.