After confirming Silica's nod, I took a step back and invited Silica into the room. Then, I asked Silica to sit on the chair next to her, moved the chair next to her to sit on, and then took out a small prop from the prop library and placed it on the table.
When he quietly clicked on the item, a light blue ball of light appeared above the item, and Silica's eyes lit up.
"Wow! So beautiful...!"
"This item is a phantom ball. It is an item that can confirm the structure of the layer you have been to, just like a three-dimensional map, so what you see now is the structure of the 47th floor."
"I just got this thing recently." It's called the Phantom Ball, which I don't quite understand, and I activated it when I had no idea what it was for, and I remember being surprised when something like this showed up.
Silica's eyes lit up, and I put my hand on the three-dimensional map and started explaining.
"In the center of this is the town on level 47. If I remember correctly, there's a slightly scary monster here, but... well, I'll rerun it with me, so it's okay-"
"Kirito, eavesdrop! Someone is eavesdropping at the door of the room!!"
Suddenly hearing Lilan's "voice", I was surprised and turned my attention to the door and launched my search skills. As Lilan said, I can sense the player's presence outside the door.
"Who's there!?"
I stood up from the chair, ran to the door, pried it open and looked around. The corridor of the inn was empty, but if you listened carefully, you could hear the sound of someone running away. After all, it seemed like someone was eavesdropping.
"Damn, I was asked and ran away..."
Silica's uneasy voice came to her ears.
"What's wrong, Kirito-san? You suddenly stood up."
"Maybe something bad happened. Someone was eavesdropping outside the room and the information was stolen."
"Yeah, but other players shouldn't be able to hear the sound on the other side of the door..."
In this game, the sounds outside the inn door cannot be heard by other players. However, among many skills, if you improve your listening skills, you can ignore that specification and hear sounds from the other side of the room.
"It must be a player who has improved his hearing. If he improves his hearing, he can hear the sounds outside the door... I thought no one has improved this skill, but it seems that is not the case."
"That player asked me about the information on the 47th floor." The culprit is likely to be a member of the organization. Silica went to the forty-seventh floor, she must have listened carefully.
"Silica, be careful tomorrow. Be prepared for everything."
Looking back, Silica was stunned. A man who has improved his hearing may be surprised that he is eavesdropping. ...but my face is a little red.
"Okay, Kirito-san. See you tomorrow."
"Yes.
After saying that, I opened the message window and started typing on the holographic keyboard. The destination is of course the man who asked me to defeat the Hand of the Giant.
The content is that tomorrow will be a battle with the Titan Hand. Maybe, but the current guy is a member of the Titan Hand. They should appear after targeting Silica on floor 47. That's when we have the opportunity to catch them and put them in jail, and it's time to give that person what they want. Besides, he said he spent all his money on the corridor crystal, so I had to bring him a souvenir to maybe make some money.
While thinking about various things, I finished typing the message, pointed the address to the man, and pressed the send button.
Then, a window that said "Sent" appeared, and the HoloKeyboard and message windows immediately disappeared.
"Tomorrow will definitely be a day of trouble." I must protect Silica to prevent her from endangering myself.
When I thought about it, my eyes turned into dots. Before she knew it, Silica was lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully. What's more, that arm was still hugging Lilan tightly, and Lilan was also sleeping soundly.
"Ah... did you sleep..."
Looking at her sleeping face, she seemed to feel at ease and comfortable. If it was true, I should wake him up and let him go back to his room, but with such a good sleeping face, it was difficult to wake him up. Besides, since it's Silica's business, the room must be locked. I don't have lock-picking skills, so I have to let Silica sleep here.
"..."
Silica hugged Lilan tightly and fell asleep comfortably. Lilan's furry appearance is very similar to Silica's familiar, Pina's furry appearance. I was worried when I heard Lelan say that I wouldn't be able to sleep because I wouldn't have my Family tonight, but before I knew it, Lelan had fixed the problem.
…My bed is gone, but seeing Silica’s sleeping face, everything doesn’t matter anymore. I'll sleep on the floor today. In the real world, if you sleep in a weird position, you will feel muscle pain, but in this world, there is no such thing as muscle pain, because it is in the game.
"No way, let's sleep on the floor."
Just before she lay down, I placed my hand on Silica's head again. This girl's life must be on the line tomorrow. No, I don't know if the purpose of the Titan Hand is to kill or to steal rare items. However, Silica will definitely be in danger tomorrow.
"No matter what...I will protect you..."
After muttering a few words, I lightly bumped against the wall, turned off the light, and fell asleep.
◇◇◇
Lilan and I were both woken up by the sudden loud noise we heard in the morning. Just as I was wondering what was going on, when I braced myself, Silica appeared with a red face. When I asked Silica what was wrong, she shook her head and said it was nothing, and didn't even tell me why she was screaming.
It was a strange morning, but both Silica and I slept soundly, feeling much better than yesterday. With this, the 47th floor seems to be no problem.
After going down to the first floor to have breakfast, check out and leave the inn, we went to the tool store next door to buy some potions. I looked sideways at the players who were preparing to take risks, as well as those players who were exhausted from fighting all night long, while walking towards the portal and teleporting to the city on the 47th floor.
"Wow!!"
After reaching the 47th floor, Silica screamed with joy.
Colorful flowers bloomed around the city portal on the 47th floor. There is a circular square and a narrow passage, and the rest is a lower level surrounded by red bricks, with countless flowers blooming inside. It is the wild dance of rich colors, the "Garden of Flowers".
"This level is commonly known as the garden. Not just the city, the entire level is covered in flowers, so it is very popular with players."
Silica often looked at the swaying flowers and smelled their fragrance. Then, as if satisfied, he finally stood up and began to look around. Just when I was wondering what he was worried about this time, Silica turned around and said, "Let's go quickly," and started walking forward. At that time, my face seemed a little red, but this must be my imagination.
I quickly caught up with Silica and continued walking along the 47th floor road covered with flowers. Not long after, Silica stopped me.
"Um, Kirito-san."
"what is it?"
"Can I please tell me your sister says you look like me?"
I opened my eyes unconsciously. Here in Aincrad, it's basically taboo to ask about real-world matters. There are many reasons for doing this, but it is said to be to make people feel that this world is the same as the real world, so as not to become numb to death.
"Even I don't want to talk to anyone about real-world things, and I plan to never give up on them." ...But for some reason, I feel like I can talk to Silica like a sister. Then my mouth moved.
"I'm talking about my sister. In fact, we are cousins. Since we are compatriots, my sister shouldn't know, but... I don't know if it is because of this that there is a gap between us..."
"Also, my grandfather was a strict man." When I was eight years old, they forced us to learn kendo. But I couldn't adapt, so I quit after two years. "
I have no impression that you forced me to do this. Even if you do that, it wouldn’t be strange, right?
"I couldn't help but look down."
"Later my grandpa got angry and beat me hard, but at that time my sister was crying and interjected to protect me from beating me because I would do my best for both of them. From then on, I was hooked on "well, computers . On the other hand, my younger sister gradually became proficient in kendo and reached the top level in the national competition. Well, grandpa must be very satisfied. "
"I shook my head mid-sentence." The image of my sister wearing a kendo uniform came to my mind, and I couldn't help but recall my own kendo activities.
"But I feel like I'm not as good as that guy. Even he has something he wants to do more... Maybe he has a grudge against me because I gave up kendo midway, so I started avoiding him..."
Silica looked at me without saying a word.
I muttered to myself while looking away from Silica's eyes.
“Maybe I wanted to save you and atone for my sister’s sins.
Then Silica jumped in front of me and shook her head.
"I don't think your sister has any hatred for Kirito-san. I'm sure she likes kendo from the bottom of her heart. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to travel across the country."
Hearing Silica's words, my heart felt as warm as yesterday, and I could feel the regret spreading in my heart disappear. As my mind and heart felt refreshed, I smiled involuntarily at Silica.
"You're just comforting me...Thank you Silica. Yes, I hope so..."
Silica turned her face away from me for a moment, then turned it back and smiled.
Immediately afterwards, Lilan lined up next to me and gave me a voice call.
``That's what I'm saying. I will protect this person, Kirito.
"Oh, of course."
I put my hand on Lilan's face, lined up next to Silica, and rushed to my destination, the Hill of Memories. You never know what might happen, so be careful.
