After witnessing Yolko dispersing into polygons, Kirito spotted the hooded murderer fleeing from the crime scene and attempted to capture him. During the pursuit, the hooded murderer took out a teleportation crystal. When Kirito noticed this, he used his blade throwing skills to attempt to distract the hooded man, but the attack was blocked by the Anti-Criminal Code Effect Area effect while the murderer was not surprised by the attack. The hooded murderer then began to use his teleportation crystal, and, while Kirito was chasing him, the bell suddenly rang, preventing him from hearing where the murderer was teleporting off to.
Frustrated in his failed attempt to capture the perpetrator, Kirito returned to the room and slammed his fist against the wall, which prompted the «Immortal Object» pop-up to appear. Meanwhile, Asuna was guarding the terrified Schmitt, who fully believed that the murderer was the vengeful ghost of their deceased guild leader, Griselda, because the assassin's robe was similar to Griselda's outfit. But Kirito still believed that it was not a ghost, as ghosts could not use teleportation crystals, and believed that there must have been a logical explanation to the two murders within the safe areas.
After sending Schmitt back to the «Divine Dragon Alliance's» headquarters, Kirito and Asuna contemplated about the recent events. Asuna began to believe that the black robed player really was Griselda's ghost by having seen it twice. But Kirito still insisted that it was not a ghost, because a ghost would not be able to use/need a teleportation crystal. It seemed Kirito had an explanation regarding the teleport crystal, but he quickly disregarded it after. After a moment, Asuna gave Kirito a sandwich. Kirito praised the sandwich, thinking that the sandwich was bought, but he was then told that it was handmade by Asuna. Kirito jokingly suggested to auction Asuna's handmade food, in order to get rich. This angered Asuna, causing Kirito to lose grip of his sandwich. As he witnessed the sandwich shattering into fragments, he fell to the ground, at first seemingly upset with the disappearance of the sandwich, but in reality, he realized the truth about the crime, exclaiming that what they had seen was something else and that there had never been any weapons or logic that could make murders possible in safe areas.
Meanwhile, in the 19th Floor's fields, the «Hill of the Cross», Schmitt visited Griselda's grave, asking for forgiveness. Then a ghost-like voice was heard, repeatedly asking "Oh really?" and thus frightening Schmitt. Then he realized that something was getting close to him quickly and Schmitt turned around, only to find a rabbit. Schmitt, now relieved, turned around to find a hooded ghost. The ghost asked Schmitt what he had done and took out a sword. Frightened, Schmitt confessed that on that day, he had found a crystal and a memo in his belt pouch, but he was then interrupted by a man's voice asking him whose orders was it, and a second hooded ghost appeared. Schmitt believed that the second ghost was Grimlock's and replied, saying that he did not know who had given the order and claimed to never have murdered anyone. The two "ghosts" then took off their hoods and were revealed to be Yolko and Caynz, who were very much alive, shocking Schmitt.
Meanwhile, Kirito explained to Asuna that Yolko and Caynz were in fact still alive, stating that within safe areas, a player's HP could not be lowered under normal circumstances, but the durability of objects, on the other hand, could still be decreased, like the sandwich which lost its durability and shattered into fragments. The spear that pierced Caynz's armor did not lower Caynz's HP, but the armor's durability instead, which explained the dispersing shards, and that by timing for the moment the armor broke, Caynz teleported away, resulting in an effect similar to the death special effect. As for Yolko, Kirito guessed that she had the dagger piercing the back of her clothing, as she had never shown them her back while talking with them. When her clothing was about to shatter, she acted as if a dagger from the outside had hit her and fell off the window, teleporting out at about the moment that it would shatter. Kirito also presumed that the hooded murderer was Caynz, who imitated the appearance of a hooded murder to make it look as if Yolko was killed by him.
At the Hill of the Cross, Schmitt realized Yolko and Caynz's plan and stated that he was only following an order that someone had paid a lot of money for him to do. Schmitt was then suddenly attacked by a dagger and became paralyzed by it. The attackers then approached, with Schmitt recognizing them as members from the infamous player killing guild, Laughing Coffin, and they revealed that they had come with intention to kill Schmitt, Yolko, and Caynz. Just as the situation looked grim, Kirito arrived in the nick of time on a horse to save them and scared off the player killers by claiming that he had reinforcements arriving soon. Heeding Kirito's warning, PoH, Red-Eyed XaXa and Johnny Black departed from the scene. Schmitt thanked Kirito for saving them, but asked how he knew that they would be ambushed. Kirito responded that he did not know for sure, but thought it was a possibility.
Kirito began questioning about the two weapons made by Grimlock. Yolko and Caynz admitted that Grimlock was not willing to help them at first, but eventually gave in to their request. Kirito told them that Grimlock did not oppose to their plan for Griselda's sake, surprising Yolko and Caynz.
Kirito then recalled the conversation with Asuna. Asuna asked Kirito what he would do if he got a legendary drop. Kirito responded that he hated that kind of situation; that is why he went solo. Asuna responded that in her guild, they have a rule that the item belongs to the person who received it. She continued, saying that in SAO, it was up to the player to announce what he or she received after a battle. In order to prevent having secrets and lies between the party members, she believed that it was best to set such a rule. She also believed that this rule would make marriages mean something in SAO, explaining that once two players were married, the item storage is shared with the significant other. After getting married, the player cannot hide anything anymore. Asuna thought that it was romantic and realistic, while Kirito, out of curiosity, asked if Asuna was ever married. Asuna misunderstood the question and prepared to attack with a fork. Kirito quickly cleared up the misunderstanding and realized something about the storage sharing. Kirito asked what would happen to the items if one of the couple died. Asuna then tells him that they would likely be sent to the spouse's inventory instead of being lost. Both then quickly realized that when Griselda died, due to her in-game marriage status with Grimlock, the ring had ended up in his inventory, and that he had stolen it from his own storage.
Now in the present time, Caynz questioned if it was Grimlock that sent the memo and killed Griselda. Kirito explained that Grimlock hired the Laughing Coffin to commit the murder. Kirito also explained that Grimlock helped with Yolko and Caynz's plan so that he could use their plan to bury the ring case forever, by getting all three of them to get together and exterminate them for good, thus explaining the appearance of the Laughing Coffin.
Asuna arrived with the captured Grimlock, the client of the Laughing Coffin who was watching from a distance. After being cornered, he admitted that he was the mastermind behind the death of his wife, whose real name was Yuuko. His actual motive was that he did not want her personality to change from what it was originally in the real world. Believing that his Yuuko had vanished and wanting to keep Yuuko as she appeared in his memories forever, he decided to kill her, convinced that he killed his wife out of love. Asuna corrected him, saying that it was not love, but a feeling of possession. Startled by Asuna's words, Grimlock fell to the ground, shaken. Schmitt and Caynz then went to Grimlock, thanking Kirito for helping them, and asked if they could take him, to which Kirito agreed.
As the case drew to a close, Asuna asked Kirito what he would do if he was to get married and noticed a side of his partner that he had not known before. Surprising Asuna, he replied that he would feel lucky to be married to someone because that would mean that they would love every side of their partner that they already knew and would have another part of them to love. Before leaving, Kirito grabbed Asuna's arm to show her Yuuko's ghost and felt that Yuuko could then rest in peace. Asuna suddenly asked if they can add each other as friends and, even though Kirito still insisted that he was a solo player, Asuna urged him to think about it while they get some food as they head back to town.
Rating: 8/10
Комментарии