5

Alice looked around the tent that had been assigned to her, and she sighed.

The simple bed was neatly turned down, and the sheepskin leather on the floor was brand-new. Even the air inside smelled of sunflowers. That was all well and good, but it was clear at a glance that this tent had not been hastily arranged for her after her arrival. Commander Bercouli had prepared for her presence and ordered an extra knight’s tent in advance.

Perhaps she should have taken it as a sign of trust, but knowing what the commander was like, it was hard not to feel like he could read her mind and actions like a book.

No—that couldn’t be entirely true. Even the commander hadn’t seemed to guess in advance that Alice would be bringing Kirito along. There was only one bed in the tent.

She brushed Kirito’s back, leading him over to the bed to sit down. Instantly, the young man was moaning, trying to reach out with his left hand.

“Yes, I know, just a moment.”

She hurried back to the pack she’d set down by the entrance and pulled out two swords, one black and one white. Then she went back and laid them across his lap. Kirito put his arm around the swords and became quiet.

Alice sat next to him and thought as she removed her boots.

She’d told Eldrie that if necessary, she would fight with Kirito strapped to her back, but if it actually came to that, it would be difficult to do. Kirito alone was scrawny enough, but the weight of both the Night-Sky Blade and the Blue Rose Sword would limit her mobility in battle.

She could leave him on Amayori’s saddle, but there were dark knights on the other side who hunted dragons, so air battles were likely. She wanted to keep her mount’s burden as low as possible.

Sadly, the most realistic option at the moment was to leave Kirito in the care of someone back in the supply train during the battle. The problem was whether she could find someone trustworthy enough in time.

The Integrity Knights that she knew were, of course, all going to be in the midst of the fighting, and she didn’t know a single soldier among the common people. She also wasn’t in the state of mind to ask Eldrie to point her to a suitable person.

“Kirito…”

Alice stared at him right in the face and brought her hands up to cup his cheeks.

She was not going to treat him like a burden. If he could just get his old self back, he would be the best possible protector of the realm that anyone could ask for. She had brought him here to the brink of the battle because she thought there might be a chance it would be the spark that healed his mind.

Commander Bercouli claimed that Kirito had deflected the Incarnate Sword he’d hurled. Even in his current state, he had tried to protect Alice, supposedly.

Should she believe that?

When they first met at Swordcraft Academy, they were apprehender and criminal. When they met again on the eightieth floor of the cathedral, they were executioner and rebel. Even in the moment they traded their final words on the top floor, the most favorable view one could take of them said they were potential enemies in the midst of a truce.

If he hasn’t had his mind ever since that battle, how is it that he tried to protect me from Uncle’s sword technique?

Tell me…what do you think of me?

Her question bounced right off Kirito’s lightless eyes and back to her. What did she think of this young man?

If there was any single word she’d felt about Kirito in the cathedral, it would probably be detestable. Before and since, no one else had ever called Alice Synthesis Thirty an idiot so many times.

But the way Kirito had looked in the final battle, as he’d bravely stood up to the all-powerful Administrator…

The sight of the swordsman—black cloak flapping in the buffeting wind, a sword in each hand—had made Alice’s heart tremble. It was a powerful image, one that pierced her chest with sadness.

She still felt it in her chest, a bittersweet throbbing.

But she was afraid to learn the reason for that and thus kept her heart shut tight.

I mean, I am only a creation. A puppet created to fight, occupying the body of Alice Zuberg. I am not allowed the luxury of possessing any emotions aside from the will to battle.

But what if…?

What if my voice isn’t reaching you because I’m holding myself back?

If I unleashed the Incarnation of all my being, would you respond in kind?

Alice sucked in as much air as her lungs could bear and held it.

Kirito’s cheeks were cold in her hands. No—it was her palms that were hot.

She drew his cheeks closer and stared into those black eyes right in front of her. Dark as midnight. But somewhere in the distance, she felt she could make out tiny, blinking stars.

She stared at those stars, getting closer, closer…

At the abrupt tinkle of a small bell, Alice leaped back into a standing position. She looked around the tent in a panic, but no one else was there. Finally, she realized that it was the bell on a string attached to the entrance flap of the tent.

There was a visitor. Alice cleared her throat, straightened her hair, and crossed the tent. It was probably just Eldrie coming to complain again. She wasn’t going to kick out Kirito, no matter what he said, and she was going to let him know that.

Alice stuck her head through the thin inside flap of the doubled entrance curtain, then pushed aside the heavy fur exterior to the outside.

Her half-opened lips froze in place.

Standing before her was not an Integrity Knight or even an ordinary soldier. She couldn’t help but stare.

“Um…,” the little visitor said, voice timid, holding up a covered pot with both hands. “I…I brought your supper, Miss Knight.”

“…Oh, I see.” Alice glanced at the sky. Somehow the red of the sunset was already retreating toward the western horizon. “Thank you…for bringing it to me.”

She took the pot and gave the visitor a proper examination from head to toe. She was still just a girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old. Her hair was a brilliant red color and hung to just below the shoulder. Her large eyes were a similar reddish-brown color, which, combined with the pale color of her skin and thin bridge of her nose, indicated she was from the northern empire.

The girl wore light armor, suggesting she was part of the defensive army, at least, but the gray jacket and skirt underneath it looked more like some school uniform.

A poor child, here on the battlefield, Alice thought at first—but then she blinked in surprise.

She recognized the girl’s face. But while she’d been stationed at Central Cathedral, Alice had almost never had any contact with ordinary people.

Just then, a second girl bashfully popped out from behind the back of the first. “Um…w-we brought bread and a drink.”

This girl had dark-brown hair that was nearly black and deep-blue eyes. Her voice was barely audible. Alice accepted the basket she offered, trying to hold back a smile. “You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t bite.”

But just then, Alice’s memory jogged itself. She recognized that nervous voice. These were the girls who—

“Pardon me…are you two…from North Centoria Imperial Swordcraft Academy…?”

For just a moment, the nervous faces of the two girls relaxed, but then the duo hastily straightened up and snapped into a salute.

“Y-yes, Miss! I…I am Primary Trainee Tiese Schtrinen of the Human Guardian Army, Supply Corps!”

“P-Primary Trainee Ronie Arabel, of the same!”

Alice returned the salute out of habit and realized that her hunch was correct. They were the ones who had rushed up when she was taking Kirito and Eugeo away from the school and requested permission to say their good-byes.

Just because the guardian army was shorthanded didn’t mean they were about to conscript students. These two must have enlisted of their own accord and traveled from the familiar city out to this dangerous place of battle. The girls were still so young. Why would they do this…?

Alice stared at the two, pot in her right hand and basket in her left. The brown-haired girl named Ronie slipped behind the red-haired girl named Tiese’s back to hide again. Tiese hunched up a bit smaller herself, but soon, she decided to go for broke and opened her mouth to speak.

“I…uh…I’m well aware that…this is, uh…a most inappropriate and impertinent matter to inquire about…”

Alice had to stifle a groan at her awkwardly grandiose vocabulary. Instead, she put on as understanding a smile as she could and interrupted, “Listen, you don’t have to try to be so formal. Here in this camp, I’m just one more warrior to help protect the realm. Call me Alice, Tiese…and Ronie.”

Tiese looked stunned by this, as did Ronie when she poked her head out from behind her companion again.

“…Wh-what’s the matter?”

“Er, it’s just…wh-when we saw you back at Swordcraft Academy, you seemed, um…different…”

“Oh…did I?” Alice asked. She couldn’t tell for herself, but perhaps the six months she’d spent in Rulid had changed her somehow. The commander had said some kind of nonsense about her cheeks filling out, after all.

On further reflection, perhaps there were some times that she was a little too excited about Selka’s cooking and overate a bit…but surely it wasn’t enough to change her appearance…

Cautious not to let her doubt show, Alice had to favor them with a friendly smile. “So…did you want something?”

“Oh…uh, y-yes,” said Tiese, a bit less nervous than before, perhaps. She bit her lip briefly. “Um, Miss Kni—er, Miss Alice, we heard that when you arrived on your dragon…you were with a young man with black hair…and we were wondering if it was someone we know…”

“Oh…I see. Yes, of course.” Alice nodded, understanding their reason for being here at last. “You were good friends with Kirito at school, then…”

The moment the words were out of her mouth, the two girls’ faces lit up. Ronie’s blue eyes even started brimming with tears.

“It…it really was Kirito…,” she whispered.

Tiese took her hand and said, voice full of hope, “Then…is Eugeo also…?!”

Alice sucked in a sharp breath at the mention of that name.

They didn’t know. They didn’t know about the fierce battle half a year ago at the cathedral—or the outcome of it. They couldn’t have known. Everything surrounding the pontifex’s death had been kept a secret from all but the Integrity Knights.

Alice’s stunned silence left the two girls confused. She looked into Tiese’s and Ronie’s eyes, back and forth, then closed her own.

She could not hide the truth from them.

They had a right to know everything. In fact, they had probably come all this way and joined the guardian army just for the hope of seeing Kirito and Eugeo again…

She steeled herself and opened her mouth. “This might be…too difficult for you to bear. But I have faith that if you learned from Kirito and Eugeo, you will be able to endure it.”

She took a step back, lifted up the pelt flap, and beckoned the girls into the tent.

Counter to Alice’s faint hopes, Kirito did not display any reaction whatsoever to the sight of Tiese and Ronie. She stood at the tent’s wall, hiding her disappointment, and watched the tragic sight play out.

Ronie knelt in front of Kirito, who sat mutely on the bed, and held his left hand in both of hers, allowing the tears to fall freely down her cheeks.

But even more painful was Tiese, who slumped onto the leather mat on the floor, staring at the Blue Rose Sword. Her face was as white as paper, and she hadn’t moved the tiniest bit since Alice had told her the news of Eugeo’s death. She just gazed at the broken sword in silence.

Alice herself had barely had the chance to exchange any words with the young man named Eugeo. They had been together only while she took him from the school to the prison, when she fought him and Kirito on the eightieth floor, and when they fought on the same side against Administrator.

She had boundless respect for him, not only for winning against Commander Bercouli but also for turning his own body into a sword to destroy the Sword Golem and cut off the pontifex’s arm. But most of what she knew about Eugeo came from what Selka told her from memory.

According to her, Eugeo was a quiet but thoughtful boy, who was often dragged out on adventures by his childhood friend Alice Zuberg. Given his personality, it was no wonder he made such a good partner to Kirito.

Kirito and Eugeo must have caused all sorts of trouble at the academy. Tiese and Ronie would have found them fascinating, and the boys would have influenced the girls in a huge way. Just as they had done to Alice.

So please, understand and accept your sadness. Kirito and Eugeo fought, hurt, and lost heart and life to protect things they cared very deeply about, Alice silently willed as she watched the two.

The people of the four empires, when faced with a mental shock like overwhelming terror or grief, had a tendency to falter and grow mentally ill. The recent attack on Rulid Village had left several villagers bedridden, even though they had no physical injuries.

Tiese must have loved Eugeo.

To lose a loved one at that young age must be a terrible shock, one hard to withstand. Alice watched as Tiese’s hand twitched and began to creep toward the Blue Rose Sword bit by bit.

Alice felt her hackles rise. The Blue Rose Sword, though broken in half, was still a Divine Object of the highest caliber. Tiese couldn’t possibly use it, but such deep grief and desperation could bring forth unexpected power at times. She couldn’t predict what might happen.

Tiese’s awkward, outstretched fingers finally made contact with the pale-blue weapon. She touched not the edge of the blade itself, but the smooth, polished flat.

And just then, the broken sword began to glow, faintly but surely, overcoming the dim-red light of the sunset through the skylight of the tent.

At the same moment, Tiese’s body twitched. Ronie sensed something and turned to look at her friend. In the tense silence, clear drops formed on Tiese’s eyelashes and silently fell to the floor.

“…I just…,” she whispered through pale lips, “heard…Eugeo’s voice…saying…Don’t cry…I’ll always…be…here…”

The tears continued to fall, one after the other after the other, until Tiese hunched over the sword at last and began to sob violently, like a young child. Ronie had her face pressed into Kirito’s knees, bawling.

Alice felt her own eyes growing hot at the painful but pure display before her, and a part of her wondered whether this was something that had really happened. She hadn’t heard Eugeo’s voice, but the sword had indeed glowed for a brief moment. So she couldn’t claim that whatever Tiese had heard had been in her imagination.

Could the Blue Rose Sword have something like Eugeo’s soul still within it…?

When Alice activated Perfect Weapon Control, she felt a sensation like her mind becoming one with the Osmanthus Blade. And in Eugeo’s case, he’d actually fused his own body with the Blue Rose Sword—during which he’d suffered a fatal injury.

So perhaps it was possible that, in the remaining shard of the sword, some of its owner’s will still lingered. But Tiese had said that Eugeo had called out to her. So what if it was not just a soulless echo in the sword, but a real will—even Incarnation?

Was it an illusion brought about by her love? Or…?

It was so frustrating. Kirito would probably be able to get to the bottom of the phenomenon. He’d fallen into this world from the outside—from the mysterious place where the gods dwelled.

On the surface of her thoughts, above the swirling fray, one term rose to the top like a bubble and burst into being.

World’s End Altar.

At that place with the unfamiliar name, there would likely be a door to the outside of the world.

If she could reach it, would all the mysteries be thawed in an instant? Could she bring back Kirito’s missing soul? But the altar was outside the Eastern Gate and far to the south, they said. It was a distant place, even in the Dark Territory ruled by the tribes of darkness.

If she was going to go there, she’d need to break through the army outside the gate, rather than defend against its invasion. And even if she succeeded, she’d have to abandon the defensive mission and head south. As an Integrity Knight with phenomenal power, Alice had a duty to protect the human realm.

What if she gave herself up to draw the enemy’s attention and headed for the altar, pulling them away from the gate with her? On the other hand, the Dark Territory had been dreaming of invading for hundreds of years. There couldn’t be anything more tempting to them than to rush inside…

No, if she was going to travel to that altar at the end of the world, she would need to utterly destroy the forces of darkness first.

Alice shut her eyes when she arrived at the conclusion. Obliteration was an admirable goal, but at present, they would have difficulty just pushing back the first line of enemy troops. Yet, it had to be done if she was going to protect Tiese and Ronie—and Kirito.

She exhaled, thought for several moments, then approached the crying girls.