A journey to another world starting from a sword

Unexpectedly, his eyes were unusually calm, and he pointed to the empty wooden box.

Yes! As long as you hide inside, even without stealth skills, the enemy won't be able to find you, because it's recognized as an "obstacle" by the system.

She grabbed Asuna's hand, and Asuna nodded obediently. She then followed Asuna as she gently stepped over the wooden box and jumped into the box herself.

next second.

Someone also crawled into the wooden box, squeezing their body into the remaining space so that they could barely close the lid with their left hand, leaving only a gap of about five millimeters.

The light filtering through the gap allowed Dante to see what was happening outside without being detected.

This mission is quite important, especially since it's related to the subsequent Elf Campaign, and he really doesn't want to give up just like that.

Before I could even catch my breath, I heard the girl's panicked and indignant murmur.

"Why is it so crowded?!"

Chapter 100: The Box

"Shh!"

Idiot, what will we do if we get caught?

Asuna was aware of her current situation and withdrew her arm from someone's face.

However, their current situation in the box, like sardines in a can, is quite uncomfortable, not to mention that the squeezing just now turned what was originally a fairly comfortable position into an octopus tangled together.

“Phew.” Dante breathed a sigh of relief. The next second, he felt someone pat his left hand. He turned his head with difficulty and found that Mitt was already pinned against the wooden box by his arm.

The reason for patting him was probably because he felt tightness in his chest.

Because of the breastplate, Dante didn't feel anything, but Mitt, who was being compressed, felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't breathe.

"Sorry." He conveyed this message with his eyes, unsure if the other person could see it. Dante then withdrew his arm, and his head inevitably brushed against the lid slightly.

"!" "!" "!"

Because it was just hair touching the lid, it didn't make a loud noise; it was just a rubbing sound that the three of them could barely hear.

But it was this scraping sound that made Mitt's heart skip a beat. She wrapped her entire upper body around Dante's arm to prevent him from making any further rash moves.

Stop!

After realizing that his arms were tightly bound, Dante gave up on moving his arms up to the other man's neck, as the slender neck definitely offered more space than the upper abdomen.

He then felt his arm being bitten.

"hiss......"

Perhaps it was to vent her frustration, and because she was certain he wouldn't struggle.

Are you a dog?

Tense the muscles in his arm, Dante conveyed the message to stop fooling around, confident that the other man's teeth would feel something.

This measure was effective, but it immediately backfired.

The moment Mitt's teeth loosened, Dante was still thinking "finally," and the next second she bit down again along the previous tooth mark, even harder.

"..."

"After we finished moving the goods today, all the pre-ordered items will have arrived."

An unknown NPC's voice came from outside the box.

Finally, his teeth loosened completely, and Dante immediately felt his arm touch a warm object; it was Mitte pressing his face against it.

As if to convey her feelings, she kept puffing out her cheeks, making Dante realize that she was being difficult.

"I'll make it up to her later," Dante thought, and began to observe the situation outside through the crack.

He wasn't sure if the transition animation could advance the plot simply by listening to it, or if he needed to see it with his eyes.

"Well, first of all, I want to say thank you for your hard work." The fallen elf who responded was a tall, thin man with a somewhat sinister appearance. Compared to Kizil and the others, Dante felt that this man was more like a dark elf.

The unique metal-leather composite armor he wore suggested that the person was no ordinary individual; he was likely a high-ranking commander of the Fallen Elves, and perhaps should be addressed as a general.

"However, the construction speed seems a bit slow," the "general" reprimanded in a cold tone.

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, we will need at least three more days," a fallen elf, dressed as a craftsman unlike the other soldiers, said, bowing his head in apology.

"Well, then I can assume that everything will be completed as planned in five days?" The Fallen Elf General was probably frowning at this moment.

Dante then noticed the black cursor above the opponent's head, and he deduced that the opponent's strength was at least at the level of a ninth-floor elite monster.

With several soldiers around him, he had no choice but to temporarily abandon his plan to make the enemy drop their equipment.

"Yes, we will risk our lives to achieve our goal, Lord Norza."

It seems that the fallen elf's general was named Norza.

“Very well. I’ll leave it to you, Edor.” Norza said to the craftsman, giving him a sharp tap on the man’s strong arm before walking straight toward the wooden box where Dante was hiding.

Dante quietly closed the lid, which had been slightly raised, and then all he had to do was wait for the other person to leave.

The "crunch, crunch" of footsteps slowly approached, and Dante felt Asuna and Mito's breathing catch in his throat inside the box. Was it anxiety or nervousness? In any case, his own body was being pulled and tugged by two hands.

"But it's really a ridiculous thing. We, who were cut off from the grace of the sacred tree in ancient times, are still bound by the taboos of the elves."

Another sharp female voice seemed to stop the general in his tracks, right next to the wooden crate.

"Yes. If it weren't for this boring taboo, we wouldn't have to trade with those filthy humans to collect these resources."

Dante rolled his eyes at this, thinking, "So fallen elves are racist too?"

"No amount of complaining will change anything, Kaisara. It doesn't matter how much money we pay them now. Because once we've collected all the keys and opened the temple doors, even the greatest magic remaining among humans will vanish without a trace."

Norza's words were echoed by many of the fallen elves around him.

"Our first priority now is to retrieve the first key that the Special Operations Commander lost as quickly as possible. We will begin operations in five days when all preparations are complete. I look forward to seeing how you perform."

Then countless footsteps faded into the distance, followed by the sound of the door closing.

However, the inside of the box was completely calm.

Unsure if he would disturb their thoughts, Dante waited quietly for a minute, but finally couldn't stand the awkward position any longer and used his head to pry open the lid a few centimeters.

Instantly, fresh air mingled with the mingled scents of hormones inside the box.

"Let's get out of here first," Dante muttered under his breath after confirming that there were no enemies around.

I kept my voice down because the guards at the gate were definitely still there, and speaking too loudly would give me away.

"Okay." "Mm."

After realizing that his arms had been suddenly released and he was free, Dante stood up, holding the lid firmly with his freed hands.

Stand up...

Then he found himself stuck.

"Hey, don't move around like that!"

"How long do you plan to stay in this position?"

You're pressing down on my foot.

Where are your hands?!

"You go out first!"

"Then move the leg that's pressing down on me first."

After much arguing, they finally came up with a practical way to break free from the wooden crate.

Just as Dante was about to take a few breaths of fresh air, he saw Asuna lean in and think she was going to confront him about how he had pulled on her leg to get up. But her voice was extremely serious.

"Before leaving here, shouldn't we find out exactly what they meant by 'resources'?" she said, shifting her gaze to the box. "It must be what's inside the box."

"...No, perhaps the living thing exchanged between the Robia Water Transport Guild and the Fallen Elves was the box itself." Dante revealed the correct answer, stroking the top of the wooden box with his left hand.

It seems that fallen elves are bound by some kind of rule—no, not just fallen elves, but all elves—that they cannot cut down living trees to make timber.

"Oh, I see!" Asuna's eyes widened in surprise.

“…” Mitt opened his mouth slightly, staring blankly at the person in front of him who had confidently given the answer, and then smiled with satisfaction.

"Anyway, we'll talk about it when we get back."

Chapter 101: Kusarigama and Combat

The road back was still pitch black, and after leaving the maze, the waterway they had traversed just hours earlier looked exactly the same as the way they had come.

The only difference is that it's already the early hours of the second day, and in another four or five hours, they will see the first rays of dawn.

"I still don't understand." Sitting on the boat, Asuna turned her head slightly and asked, "What do the fallen elves need the wood for making boxes for?"

"Hmm... they want to build ships, most likely warships." Dante answered Asuna's question while controlling the direction of the ship's mast.

"Come to think of it, they did use the word 'combat'," Asuna suddenly realized.

"After all, they are fallen elves," Dante remarked.

"Hehehe..." Mitt couldn't help but laugh and raised the back of his hand to cover his mouth.

"So it means war, right?" Asuna stretched out her legs and tilted them back as if showing off her boots. "But who will be attacking?"

To say it's Robia is definitely not quite right.

If the attack on the town of Robia is truly for the purpose of attacking Robia, then Robia should not have done business with the Fallen Elves. This is an act of aiding the enemy. Selling weapons to the enemy and then using them to fight against oneself is too foolish.

"We'll find out later," Dante said cryptically, as the mission had already progressed smoothly to the next stage.

In other words, they received a subtle hint: "Pass on the acquired information to the right people."

"The important thing now is to prepare for attacking the jungle boss."

Otherwise, the promised surprise won't be possible.

It was already 3 a.m. when the three of them returned to Robia. They said goodnight to each other and went to their rooms to rest after planning to get up at 9 a.m.

Even Dante lost interest in practicing his swordsmanship before bed. After all, he had been busy all day and most of the night, and even an iron man needs rest.

So he sat cross-legged in the center of the bed and entered into deep meditation.

-----------------

The knocking sound continued.

After Lingyin had raised her "Two-Handed Weapon Crafting" skill proficiency to 100, Mit asked Lingyin to forge a new weapon for her.

It used ingots melted down from previous weapons, along with some other rare materials collected from monsters and quests.

There is an underlying law governing the completion of weapons: the quality of a forged weapon depends on the number of hammer blows during the forging process.

After a certain number of times, the near-cubic ingot will change shape, forming the type of weapon to be made as specified in the automatic menu.

Mitt was aware of this, so he stood to Dante's right, nervously counting the number of taps.

"..." Dante looked down at her as she breathed softly on her skin. Mitt noticed his gaze and turned to look at her.

The two smiled at each other, and the comfort in Dante's eyes put Mitte at ease.

Thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two.

After striking the weapon more than three times, Mitt finally relaxed. At least this weapon wouldn't be obsolete anytime soon. Asuna's weapon, which was currently the most powerful in Aincrad, was only struck forty times during its forging.

The final count was thirty-five.

The casting block on the anvil began to slowly deform, forming a small scythe that was completely different from the two-handed scythe that Mitt had used before.

"The forging is complete." Lingyin looked at the weapon she had crafted herself, her eyes filled with surprise.

Although she had crafted two-handed weapons for other players before, none of them were as beautiful as this scythe.

Yes, beautiful!

This is a beautiful weapon, belonging to the kusarigama branch of the scythe, yet it is somewhat different.

Lingyin picked it up, clicked on the weapon, and brought up the attribute window, which showed that the weapon was named "Shadow Reaper Blade" and had a maximum of 14 enhancements.

"Let me see, let me see." Lisbeth, being a craftswoman, was the first to approach Lingyin, taking her arm and examining the unusual weapon.

"Not bad!" Lisbeth exclaimed happily, patting Lingyin's shoulder repeatedly. It was indeed something to be happy about that such a well-made weapon had been created in one go.