Lilan's face became a little ugly.
"That's right, but...in other words, your goal of becoming stronger has not changed. Why say it again?
I turned my attention from Lilan to Kirito. That face was a slightly silly sleeping face with the mouth half open.
"I just realized. I thought I would become strong for my own sake, but that might not be the case. I'm sure it's not just me but Kirito who benefits from being strong. That's why I'm starting tomorrow, no, From today on, I will become stronger for myself and Kirito."
"Yeah, it's true, but it's a bit sudden. Be strong for Kirito...
"I crossed my arms involuntarily."
"I just can't accept that someone is carrying a burden because of me. So from now on, I will become stronger and take Kirito's burden off. No, I will surpass Kirito."
Lilan kept looking at me with surprised eyes, but eventually his face calmed down and he made a small noise to me.
"It doesn't matter. Then I must do the same. Shino is getting stronger while I am getting weaker, and it is unacceptable for Kirito to feel uneasy. We must be strong.
"You are better than me, it doesn't matter, your level is higher than mine."
"No, I have to become stronger. Otherwise, Kirito's "familiar" won't work, and he won't be able to protect Kirito in an emergency. It shouldn't be like this
Lilan shook her head. Just now I saw that it was no different from actually talking to someone. Now it looks like a small dragon, and when it goes outside it turns into a big dragon, but inside it looks like a human.
"Beyond that, I want to know more about Kirito. What I know so far is that he is too obsessed with protecting himself and has a lot of power on his shoulders. You have a thirst for knowledge, Kirito."
Hearing Lilan's words, I couldn't help but tilt my head.
Kirito and Lilan have been together since they met me, but judging from their tone, it doesn't seem like they will be together for long.
"Is that all you know? How long have you been together?"
"It's been three days since we met. Kirito and I met the night before you came down. So I know Kirito about as well as you do.
Although Lilan and Kirito's relationship only lasted about three days, which surprised me, I was already convinced. The two have only known each other for three days, so Lilan doesn't know much about Kirito.
"It's only taken so long!? I guess it's about a year..."
Lilan smiled bitterly.
"I won't stay with you for that long. But that year...or rather, Kirito has been alone since the city was captured. No matter when, I always fought and survived alone... It feels like I finally met you.
I turned to Kirito involuntarily. According to Kirito, this world is in a death game called Sword Art Online. A game in which if your HP reaches zero, your head will be burned to death by the Nerve Gear in real life... It must be painful to be alone in a place like this, but Kirito has made it this far.
"I have experienced hundreds of battles and only have one sword in my hand."
He looked like he was sleeping deeply now, but thinking about it, he seemed very happy to finally find a place where he could relax.
"You are really strong, Kirito."
"Strong, yet vulnerable. This person needs someone to support them. I will be that, at least
"So, in a dragon's body?"
``It doesn't matter. I understand what you said, and I also understand Kirito’s feelings. But Kirito felt strange about me. How to read and understand emotions?
"No, I understand Kirito's mood." According to Kirito, all dragons in this world are NPCs. It seems that only
"So NPCs basically have no heart..." Ruilan seemed to object.
Lelan spoke as if he understood us, and even now he says he understands us. The NPC story I heard from Kirito was completely different. Kirito doubts that Lilan is really an NPC, but I really think so. Is this dragon really just an NPC?
"Well, maybe, but it's not because you are any different from the Kirito I met after entering this castle. Besides, you, like me, have no memory."
"That's it. That's why I followed Kirito. If I follow Kirito, I will definitely be able to recover my memory. I have no basis for it, but that's what I think.
"Maybe so.
Lilan looked at me with a smile.
"The two of us will follow Kirito. And, in order to lighten Kirito's burden as much as possible, let's become stronger.
"Yes. That's what I'm going to do."
"After all, I don't think Lilan is an NPC." The rerun had to be something special. I don't know what it is because I'm new to this world, but maybe Lilan is special. Otherwise, it would be impossible for us to speak like this.
"By the way, Shino"
"What?"
"You, you seem to be in pain as you are about to regain your memory, but are you okay?"
Hearing this, I remembered the time around noon today, when I was about to regain my memory. According to Kirito, I was covered in sweat and looked like I was squirming. It's like I regained my memory in a dream...but it's not good. I can't remember it even if I think about it, and I don't know what kind of dream I had.
"It's okay, I tried to recover my memory, but I seem to have forgotten it again."
"Really. Kirito is very worried, so I think it's better not to remember.
"What, you're still saying that? I mean, didn't you hear? I will not choose not to restore my memory. No matter what kind of pain is waiting for me, I will do it."
"I understand that. However, I don't want you to push yourself too hard. If you have any troubles, try to discuss it with me.
I couldn't help but stare at Liran's red eyes. I thought he was just a pet kept by Kirito, but after all, Lilan is not like that. But I don't know what replay is exactly. But I do know one thing.
"Lilan is trustworthy."
"Well, if there is any pain, I will discuss it with you. I don't know if you can understand."
"Try to understand"
I gently stroked Lilan's head. The soft touch is comfortable.
“The new year is almost over.
"You can talk to Kirito about that. However, I don't want to participate in the New Year Festival, I want to stay quiet.
"I agree. Kirito doesn't seem to like that too much. Just be quiet here on New Year's Eve and New Year."
I put my hand on Lilan's head and looked at Kirito who was dozing off. The face seemed to be one of relief, not one of stupidity.
"I must become stronger." Both for myself and for Kirito.
January 5, 2024
Sinon, Lilan, and I did not attend the New Year Festival held in the city by Aincrad and spent a peaceful time in the wooden house. Sinon achieved her goal of reaching the 50th floor on December 30th, and on the 31st she tied with the enemy on the 50th floor from morning to noon, and her level increased by 2 floors. By the way, I have also leveled up, and my level has reached level 78. At the same time, so did Lilan.
Although her level is a bit lower, Sinon's current combat effectiveness is comparable to that of the raiding group, and she will join the raiding group after the next boss battle. Shino is strong enough, and I feel like there’s no problem in doing that much, so it’s just right.
After discussing various things and making decisions, the New Year is here. We have temporarily cleared the 22nd floor and rested for a while. It is over and the city on the 52nd floor has been liberated.
The final attacker was Asuna from the Bloodsworn Knights. It is said that Asuna, known as the Demon of Strategy, led the Blood Knights to defeat the BOSS on New Year's Eve. Asuna seemed to be planning to proceed with the boss battle on the next level as is, but was stopped by others and temporarily stopped her strategy.
Seeing Asuna's name written on an intelligence article like a newspaper, Lilan reacted and looked a little irritable. When I asked Asuna if she was interested, she responded, "Just like you don't talk about your past. If you want to talk about it, I'll talk about it."
"Anyway, the next boss battle is on the 52nd floor."
The BOSS on the fifty-second floor is Sinon's first BOSS. I didn't know what to expect, so I guess I had to be very careful.
However, three days later, on January 3, when I left the city again, I received the news that the BOSS had been defeated. After confirmation, it seemed that a small guild that was neither the Holy Dragon Alliance nor the Blood Oath Knights defeated the boss and liberated the next city.
Aincrad has three guild forces: the Holy Dragon Alliance headed by Tilbert, the Knights of Blood headed by Heathcliff, and the Aincrad Liberation Army whose player name is Shen Ke. Although I belong to them, there are also some small-scale guilds that do not belong to any of the three major forces, such as Feng Linshan headed by Klein.
Such people are sometimes surprisingly strong among the three major forces, and sometimes defeat the boss when the three major forces are doing nothing, so this time it will probably be the same pattern.
However, since such guilds do not often rely on informants for information, they are not often exposed, and most importantly, such people do not care much about leaked information.
"So even if you defeat the BOSS, you won't be named like the Holy Dragon Alliance, the Hot-Blooded Knights, and the Legion."
Hearing this story, Shino said to me: "Since these people are also creating guilds, why don't you create a guild?" Inada.
