Why did Hikigaya save the anime girls in Sword Story?

"Let's hunt together next time."

"Thank you, Asuna-nee!"

Asuna had originally intended to return to the guild headquarters, but she suddenly decided to go to Agil's shop to sell her spoils.

At this moment, Kirito suddenly popped his head out from the shadows. "Hey Asuna, are you here to sell your spoils too?"

"Well, there are so many things that the storage compartment is almost full."

"Why, where did you go yesterday?"

After hearing the story, Agil rummaged through the magic crystals that Asuna had poured out, and marveled at the magnificent lineup: "With this lineup, it would be easy for you to defeat the lower-level bosses..."

"really"

After the transaction was completed, Kirito walked out of the store and suddenly mentioned something as if he had thought of something:

"By the way, Asuna, are you free later?"

"A little bit, what's wrong?"

He shook the parchment. "Actually... I got some information from Argo. There's an NPC restaurant on the 57th floor using a seasoning similar to soy sauce. I'd like to hear your opinion."

"Ah, could it be that Kirito-kun was also stimulated by yesterday's ramen?"

"That's right, we still need miso, soy sauce and the like. Should we ask Hachiman?" Kirito seemed to have recalled something and looked frightened.

"He looks a little tired, and I wanted to make it secretly to surprise him, so let's forget about it today." After thinking about it, Asuna still refused.

"That makes sense, let's go."

The two teleported to the fifty-seventh floor and walked towards the shop. Suddenly, screams were heard in the street - an incident in the circle occurred.

SAO: Chapter 46: The Safety Zone Shrimp Incident

"Kirito-kun, now..." Asuna's fingertips tightly grasped the hem of her clothes, and her drooping eyelashes cast tiny shadows on her face.

The black-haired swordsman suddenly clenched his hands. He looked up at the clock tower in the central square, and the sunlight reflected starlight on the spire.

"Ah, let's go, Asuna."

As the two rushed into the main street of the third floor, the victim was turning into blue fragments and dissipating. Kirito reached out and caught the data stream falling from the air, which then dissipated in his hand.

Looking around, there wasn't even a duel settlement screen.

"There is no duel application record." Asuna called up the system interface, and the pale blue light made her face pale.

After hearing about the situation from a woman named Yuyako, an acquaintance of the deceased (who seemed to be named Keynes), the two decided to start investigating the incident.

The first step was to verify whether killing people was possible in a safe area, but the progress was difficult. Even Heathcliff, who knew a lot about many things, asked about it, but to no avail.

But Heathcliff said before leaving: "Only believe the information you see with your own eyes."

Like words of advice.

By the way, Hachiman is sleeping right now, with his face buried in a pillow with a Shiba Inu pattern on it. The rainbow hourglass on the bedside table shows 16:27.

During the investigation, since the captain of the Holy Dragon Combined Tank, Schmidt, kept asking about various things, I thought he might be related and tried to find out, but he was always vague and did not answer any key questions.

In desperation, the two decided to talk to Yuyako again.

"Mr. Schmidt?"

"Hmm, does this name remind you?"

“It’s my former companion.”

The two learned about the guild "Golden Apple" that Yuyako once belonged to from them.

Schmidt was summoned for a four-person meeting.

At this moment, Hachiman was wondering if he had overslept. He suddenly jumped out of the bed and hit the metal bed frame with the back of his head. This damn Aincrad could even strengthen the furniture - now he missed the memory foam pillows in the real world very much.

As he propped himself up from the bed, he saw spots of light flickering at the edge of his vision, suggesting that several messages were coming in.

"The Safe Zone Murder Case..."

Hachiman scratched his head, took out a drink to activate his brain and drank it all in one gulp. The bubbles in the drink cleared his dry throat and made him sober.

After calming down, he began to read the message from Asuna.

(This may be due to a dispute caused by the Golden Apple Guild's rare ring. While on their way to sell it, their leader, Griselda, died, the ring's whereabouts became unknown, and the guild disbanded...)

Hachiman sorted out the characters in his mind and continued reading.

(Kainz died in the safe zone. Was the cause of death due to continuous penetrating damage?

The murder weapon is suspected to be a long gun made by Griselda's husband, Grimrock.

gun?

The two were suspicious of this guy.

And then there's Schmidt...? He must have joined the Holy Dragon Alliance midway through.

The admission criteria there are very strict, and the fact that Schmidt, originally from a medium-sized guild, was able to join immediately is telling...)

"Schmidt was definitely involved in Griselda's death in some way."

Hachiman murmured and fell into thought again.

(Death in the safe zone... I've checked the Life Monument, but I need to reserve judgment. Heathcliff said... only believe what you see with your own eyes?)

The so-called Monument of Life is a facility that records the names of all players in the game and can view the date and cause of death of those who died in the game. It exists in the town of origin.

At this time, Asuna sent a new message: Just now, the two witnessed Yuyako being killed.

The prisoner appears to have escaped using a teleportation crystal.

(Transferring crystals, killing people in safe zones...ah...)

Hachiman contacted Asuna and told her that he had just woken up. Some time later, Hachiman, wrapped in a patterned robe, squatted in front of the fireplace, looking at the two visitors huddled in the entrance like stray cats drenched in rain.

Kirito looked very tired, and Asuna's long chestnut hair was rarely seen in a messy knot - the last time the vice-captain of the Blood Knights lost his composure was when he discovered that the honey cake was out of stock.

"Hey, sorry I overslept," he said, holding up his steaming mug. "Want a recovery potion?"

"Hachiman-kun! Miss Yuyako, Miss Yuyako..." Asuna's voice was filled with tears.

"Calm down first, there are fundamental misunderstandings between you two." Looking at Asuna's tearful eyes, Hachiman was frightened and hurriedly explained.

"Misunderstanding? What do you mean, Hachiman?"

"Because what you saw with your own eyes only reinforced your illusion. Listen carefully: it's impossible for anyone to kill someone in a safe zone."

"But I did see it with my own eyes..." Kirito ruffled his bangs in annoyance.

"That's right, Hachiman-kun! Two people disappeared right in front of us!"

"That's why it's an illusion. Because you saw it with your own eyes, you subconsciously ruled out other possibilities." Hachiman continued, "Heathcliff said that, didn't he? Only believe what you see with your own eyes."

Kirito suddenly slammed his hands on the table, making the papers on it jingle. "The item is durable! The special effect disappears!"

"So that's it! Blind spot! Heathcliff is hinting at this possibility!"

"What do you mean?"

"That is to say: Yuyako and Kainz deliberately reduced the durability of their equipment to zero, and then used the transfer crystal to teleport the moment they disappeared. In other words, they are still alive."

Asuna's eyelashes suddenly fluttered, and the water in the glass rippled. "So Miss Yuyako did it on purpose... But Kainz did..."

"Good question!" Hachiman suddenly pulled out a yellowed list and slammed it on the table. "Have you checked the spelling of the names on the Monument of Life? For example, is 'Kainz' written as 'Kainz' or 'Kainz' or something like that?"

Hearing this, Kirito suddenly came to his senses.

"Hey, Hachiman, could it be..."

"That's right. This was probably a plan that Yako and Keynes came up with when they saw that name. Judging from the murder weapon, Grimrock was also involved." Hachiman continued his analysis.

"Why would you plan something like this? What's the point?"

"First, tell me what the four of you talked about."

Asuna and Kirito begin describing the conversation that took place before Yuyako was murdered.

"By the way, where's Schmidt?"

"He left mumbling something like he was going to apologize to Griselda."

"Schmidt is highly suspected, and this reaction is understandable."

"Mr. Schmidt?"

Hachiman told the two his previous speculation: "Whether he took direct action is still uncertain, but he is definitely involved."

"Final question: What kind of leader is Griselda?"

"It is said to be so powerful and reliable that a tombstone was built."

Hachiman fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

"Even if such a powerful individual was attacked by surprise, it would be impossible for the Golden Apple members to kill him so easily. The most likely reason is that an external organization with a history of murder was involved."

"You mean hiring a killer?"

"almost"

"But Mr. Schmidt doesn't look like someone who would hire someone to kill someone."

"He's probably not directly involved, but he's clearly suspicious. So, Yuko and Keynes devised a plan to have Schmidt go to Griselda's grave, intending to force a confession from him."

"Current clues do point to this conclusion."

"But it seems like I've missed something. The real culprit... the Murder Guild. Damn it!"

Hachiman stood up, "This time, the enemy might be... the Laughing Coffin."

SAO : Chapter 47: Arriving in Time ~ Villain PoH

Since Hachiman dared to say so, it meant that the enemy must exist. With this thought in mind, Kirito ran at full speed.

Soon, Schmidt lying on the ground and the two people slumped on the ground appeared in front.

(He's still alive after all)

Kirito cried out inwardly that something was wrong and inserted himself between the enemy and the three men.

"Hey, long time no see. Why are you wearing a cloth bag on your head? Do you want to cover your face?" Kirito tried to buy time through conversation. At this moment, there were three men standing in front of him.

He was dressed in all black leather gear, with a cloth hood on his head similar to a wandering monk's bag, with only two round holes for his eyes, and his weapon was a blackened dagger.

the second--

"I see, the nickname Red-Eyed Shasa is really appropriate." Shasa was wearing a skull mask, but his eyes were indeed glowing red. His weapon was a rapier. The problem was the third man standing behind the two of them.

The man in the black cloak, unlike the other two, showed no overt hostility, but Kirito felt a chill down his spine just from meeting his gaze.

"You are PoH, right?"

"Wow! It's such an honor to have my name remembered by the Black Swordsman~"

"Kirito-kun, even if it's you, do you really think you can fight three of them alone?"

"Who knows? Honestly, there's really no chance of winning."

Shasa stood there in silence.

"Anyway, it's show time~" PoH said as he pulled out a large dagger that looked like a Chinese kitchen knife and had a dark red color.

"What's wrong with this kitchen knife? The color is quite creepy."

"Ha, cool, right? This is called the 'Friend Beheading Sword', my favorite weapon~" PoH said, and his fingertips slid across the tip of the sword and pointed at Kirito.

"A friend's beheading knife? Are you going to chop off your friend's head? It would be much easier if you could just chop off those two's heads."

Kirito said as he downed the anti-poison potion.

"Asshole! What did you just drink?"

"It's just a universal anti-toxin. Are you so scared of me? Besides, I brought a bunch of recovery crystals, which should be more than enough to deal with the three of you for a while.

Before he finished speaking, Kirito had already drawn the Elucidator. Perhaps feeling the pressure from the sword, the opponent couldn't help but take a half step back.

"What will happen after we deal with it? Mr. Black Swordsman~" The ending tone of Red Eyes carried an unpleasant sticky feeling.