A journey to another world starting from a sword

"I understand." Clutching the purple tourmaline-like gemstone tightly in his hand, Mitt let out a long breath and smiled gently at the person in front of him.

After nodding, Dante said to the girls gathered around the round table, "By the way, I want to tell you all that we have a day off tomorrow. Don't think about the strategy or anything like that tomorrow. Just get some rest."

"Hooray!" "Wow!" "Yay!"

"Asuna, do you have anything planned for tomorrow?" he asked Asuna amidst the playful chatter.

"Hmm? Ah, nothing's wrong." Asuna thought for a moment and it seemed there was nothing serious.

"Then keep me company for a little while," Dante said with a smile.

"Huh?" "Huh?!"

The others seemed more surprised than Biasna, and Dante tapped the table lightly with his index finger.

"It's about being with me, not dating me. You must have misunderstood."

Although their pronunciations are indistinguishable, they can only be determined through context.

“…No, even if I didn’t mishear, this…isn’t this a date invitation?” Lisbeth muttered under her breath.

Chapter 125: Santa Claus and Miss Reindeer

Asuna finally agreed, and before returning to her room to rest, Dante gave her a few special reminders.

"When you're on vacation, don't go outside the designated area; just stay in the main district. Also, it's best not to stay in 'Karuruin' on the fifth floor. It's easy to wander outside the designated area if you're not careful in this city. And don't go collecting relics alone; it's very dangerous. Also, keep in touch at all times. If anything happens, just send a message, whether it's mine or Asuna's, it's okay..."

After giving them all the details they could think of, they left Asuna's room and returned to their own rooms.

Lying on the edge of the bed, in the dimly lit room, watching the lonely snowflakes falling outside the window, illuminated by the faint light, Dante decided that he should rest early today.

The next day, I surprisingly slept in, which was quite unusual. It was probably because I knew it was snowing outside, so I felt lazy and wanted to stay in my warm bed.

As a result, Asuna knocked on each door, calling everyone down for breakfast.

"Hmm..." Dante lay on his back on the bed and swiped to open the game window. He glanced at the system time: eight in the morning.

To be honest, I've had plenty of sleep since last night, so when I decided to get up, my mind instantly became much clearer.

"Good morning." Dante walked down the stairs and saw that Asuna and Lingyin were already sitting at the table in the hotel's first-floor restaurant.

There were only the three of them on the entire first floor of the hotel, so it seemed that their guild was probably the only ones staying there.

Well, this is a newly built floor, and most of the players living here are frontline players from the conquest groups. Even within the conquest groups, many players have set up their bases below, or even in the "Starting Town".

As the largest city in Aincrad, "The Town of Beginnings" certainly has more of the necessary functions for adventure than other streets, and prices in all aspects are extremely cheap, with many shops such as inns.

If efficiency is the only consideration, using that place as a base and then using the teleportation portal to go to the front lines for conquest is definitely the most suitable option.

Asuna and the others were slightly reluctant to settle in the "Town of Beginnings," probably because whenever they stood in the transfer plaza and looked up at the sky, they would inevitably recall that time, that sunset when the sky turned crimson.

So they are the kind of people who always use the new floor as their base for moving. Although it is a bit troublesome to move things every time, the novelty of the new floor is also part of the fun.

"Did you make this bread?" Dante picked up a piece of white bread from the bread basket, took a bite, and sat down opposite Asuna.

"How could that be?" Asuna ladled another bowl of onion soup from the pot on the table and placed it in front of Dante.

"Oh, can't you get up this early?" Dante chuckled.

She gave him a resentful look that said "you don't need to say it," and then focused on eating her breakfast. The bread was indeed delicious, especially its golden-brown exterior and soft interior, indicating that it was baked to perfection.

After a while, Mitt came down the stairs, looking refreshed and energetic. She sat down in the seat next to Dante.

Then Lisbeth yawned openly and got down, saying, "Seriously? You guys can all get up?"

"Liz, you're too careless," Asuna said playfully.

"What's wrong with that?" Lisbeth said to Asuna in a coquettish tone.

"Haha, I don't have the habit of sleeping in during winter," Lingyin said lightly with a laugh.

“Oh right, Lingyin, you’re of Japanese and Russian descent.” Lisbeth seemed to understand something; she seemed to regard being of mixed race as some kind of buff.

"It really depends on the person. Kids just like to stay in bed longer," Lingyin said helplessly.

"Ah! Are you saying I'm a child?" Lisbeth's eyes widened suddenly, her eyes still dazed.

"Really?" Lingyin asked, feigning ignorance.

"Good morning, everyone." Silica yawned widely as she came down, startling Lisbeth and the others.

"Hahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter. Among them, Silica was probably the only one who could truly be considered a child.

"W-What's wrong?" Silica asked, confused.

"It's nothing." Lisbeth sat down with a sense of relief and served Silica a bowl of soup.

Sipping the warm, comforting onion soup, Dante casually asked the girls, "What are you all planning to do today?"

"Oh no! I don't know what to do on this one day." Lisbeth was the first to voice her distress.

"Have I given you too little time off?" Dante pondered.

“Of course!” Lisbeth exclaimed matter-of-factly.

“Well, now is definitely not a good time for a vacation. Let’s wait until we get to a more relaxing floor and then we can all take a few days off together,” Dante said, shrugging.

“I’ve got it.” Lisbeth pointed with her spoon, looking as if she took Dante’s words seriously, even though they were indeed true.

It seemed that Mitt planned to stay in the hotel all morning and use the hundreds of D-grade gems he had yesterday to make something. The hotel had a great view of the snow outside the window, and it would be nice to just sit at the table all morning and do nothing.

Silica planned to go back to sleep later, but Lingyin hadn't made up her mind yet.

"If you really don't know how to spend your holiday, then taking a leisurely day to sleep in is also a good option," Dante suggested in a lighthearted tone.

“That’s right.” Lisbeth seemed to understand, as if she really intended to sleep all day.

"I want to ask Miss Yuna for some advice on singing." Lingyin suddenly remembered what she wanted to do. She had heard that Dante had taught Yuna a few special songs, but it was definitely better to ask Yuna for advice. They had also logged in as friends yesterday.

"Hmm." Hearing that everyone had something to do, even though some might just be sleeping, Ding nodded knowingly.

After finishing their meal, everyone went back to their rooms. Dante, having nothing else to do, sat on the first floor waiting for Asuna to come down.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, he heard the sound of wooden planks on the stairs behind him. Only a lady as dignified as Asuna could make such a sound. Dante immediately guessed who was coming down.

"Let's go." Asuna said this to Dante, and then the two of them walked outside together.

The world outside is already covered in white snow. Although the snow may melt tomorrow, today is still a Christmas scene.

Because of the snow cover, Karuruin looked like a medieval Nordic town, showing no signs of being a city built on ruins.

Looking at Asuna's upper body, which was covered by a hooded wool cloak and a knitted sweater that accentuated her slender figure, while her lower body was only covered by an adorable mini skirt and white over-the-knee socks that she had never been seen before, her cold resistance seemed to be not very high.

"By the way, don't you feel cold?" Dante asked, being a bit too nosy.

"It is indeed cold," Asuna admitted directly.

So she opened the game window and quickly manipulated the equipment doll. The over-the-knee stockings that had extended from under her skirt disappeared, and white pantyhose appeared in their place.

This world clearly has no synthetic fibers, yet the tights have a subtle sheen that makes you want to stare at them.

In the past, a sharp gaze and words would immediately provoke a response, and sometimes, depending on the situation, a physical attack would be launched. But now, Asuna simply buries her face in her collar and remains silent, which probably means she acquiesces.

A few seconds later, Dante took out the heavy white cloak he had taken from the elf from his inventory and draped it over Asuna's shoulders, completely covering her body.

"..." Asuna casually took the cloak's drawstring and tied it together at the collar, effectively keeping the cold wind out.

"Aren't you going to ask me where I'm going?" Dante asked, looking up.

"It's definitely not a date, right?"

Asuna pursed her lips, tentatively stretched out her foot and stepped on the snow, making a pleasant crunching sound and leaving a footprint, which made the corners of her mouth curl up slightly.

“That depends on how you interpret the word ‘dating.’” Dante said, moving through the snow toward the transfer gate plaza. “High school girls also call going out alone with a boy a date.”

"That was a date, wasn't it?" Asuna, who had caught up, instinctively retorted, then froze.

"Right, right?" Dante chuckled softly, then received a light punch on his back.

"So we have something to do and need to go out, right?" Asuna changed the subject, her face slightly flushed and her tone hurried, intending to ask for more details.

“There is a little thing.” Dante did not refute, but instead explained, “I heard from Argo that a player seems to be looking for children in need of help in the starting town, and then gathering the children together to take care of them.”

"..." Asuna's eyes widened slightly, and after a few seconds of silence, she asked, "So, are we going to go find that person?"

"Hmm, let's see if that person needs any help or anything. It's a good idea to do some good deeds on Christmas, isn't it?" Dante said with a smile.

"Your kindness isn't limited to Christmas," Asuna pouted.

Dante smiled and said, "The main reason is that we are not short of money at all now, at least before we considered buying the guild headquarters, so it doesn't matter if the other party needs financial assistance."

"It's just like Santa Claus handing out presents," Asuna said, laughing.

"Ah, if I were Santa Claus, then Asuna would be Santa's reindeer." Dante tilted his head. "Miss Reindeer, would you like to come with me to hand out Christmas presents?"

“Sure,” Asuna replied, indicating that she had no objection.

Chapter 126: Doing a Good Deed and a Chance Encounter

"Thank you so much!" The woman named Sana, wearing glasses, bowed her head solemnly at the church entrance and said, "I'm so sorry that I couldn't go and help when there were people like you fighting on the front lines."

"Quick, quick, don't say that, Miss Sana." Asuna waved her hands frantically, searching for the right words.

Dante continued, speaking after Asuna: "But what Ms. Sana did is also admirable."

“Thank you. But I’m not doing this out of a sense of obligation; I’m just very happy living with the children,” Sana explained.

During the first month of the game, she also aimed to complete the game and kept leveling up in the training area. Until one day, she saw a child wandering alone on a street corner. She couldn't bear to leave him, so she took him back to the hotel to live with her.

Since then, she has been restless at the thought that there might be other children like this, so she began to search for children who were alone in the town, and now she has gathered more than a dozen children around her.

"And don't let my appearance fool you, I've already completed my education credits at university over there," Sana said with a smile.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Asuna clapped her hands and praised.

“Yes, it would be more convenient to manage so many children if they stayed at the church,” Dante said with a smile. However, the church rooms cost 100 cors a day, which was much more expensive than staying at a cheap hotel.

So he said with concern, "Please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with."

“No, 50,000 Cor is enough for us to live on for a long time.” Sana shook her head, looking a little uneasy. “Besides, with the equipment that Mr. Dante and Ms. Asuna gave us, we can gradually become self-reliant.”

Although those equipment pieces were just the most basic crafted items, under the tempering of Aincrad's best player blacksmiths, their performance, while not outstanding in the first tier, was still quite remarkable.

However, considering that too much good equipment might cause unnecessary trouble, we didn't go further and give away a few more pieces of god-tier equipment from the beginner village.

Knowing that she planned to patrol each area and house every day to find any children who needed help, Dante reached out his hand to Asuna.

"If there are more children later, it's hard to guarantee that there won't be a shortage of Ke'er. If there's any trouble, just contact our Vice President, Ms. Asuna."

The reason the task was delegated to Asuna was mainly because the other party was a woman, but Asuna had no objection and suggested, "Let's add each other as friends, Ms. Sana."

After the two logged into their friend list, Dante and Asuna officially said goodbye.

"Are you really not going to stay and finish the cake before you leave?" Sana saw them off as they crossed the bridge.

"No, Miss Sana, you should go back and eat your cake too. It's very cold outside," Dante said, stopping in his tracks.

Standing next to him, Asuna thought for a moment, and finally said, "By the way, Merry Christmas."

"Yes! Merry Christmas." Sana smiled, bowed, thanked her again, and started walking back.

After Sana left, Asuna asked Dante, "Are we going back?"

“There’s no need to rush,” Dante said, looking around.

"What are you looking for?" Asuna looked around after seeing his actions, but didn't find anything unusual.

"Yes, Silica and I encountered a gray cat here, and then found a treasure chest containing 200,000 Cors..."

"It's right here." Hearing Dante's words, Asuna became interested and began to carefully examine her surroundings.

"Never mind, I probably won't find it." Dante suspected that the cat would disappear after the quest was lost once the treasure chest was opened.

"Hey—" Asuna said unhappily, "Let's look again. What if the cat freezes to death in the snow?"

As she spoke, she pulled Dante's sleeve and dragged him to the right, as if she wanted to take a walk around the neighborhood.

"No, even a cat in a game shouldn't be that stupid. Maybe it's hiding somewhere warm and cozy." Despite saying that, Dante still quickened his pace a little to accommodate Asuna, so that she wouldn't have to struggle to pull him along.

Sure enough, I spent five minutes wandering around the East Seventh District. There were hardly any cats, let alone living people. After all, this was a remote corner far from the commercial street, and there were no monsters on the first floor that could release curses, which prevented the church of the starting town from fulfilling its proper functions.

"That's strange. I remember there used to be quite a lot of cats in the starting town," Asuna muttered.