I like traveling the most

Not only is Yoko and Keynes in a relationship, but the guild's vice president, Grimrock, is also in a relationship with the guild president. Considering this, Grimrock seems to have a reason to make the bloody spear.

After sending Yoko away again, Kobayashi arranged for someone to protect her.

In name, it was care and protection, but in reality it was surveillance, after all, she was one of the seven members of the guild. Before everything was clear, Kobayashi, Kirito, and Asuna were all suspicious of her.

Came to the street.

"So, who should we ask now?"

"Based on the current situation, it would be better to look for Grimrock, and Kobayashi has also found his location."

"It's Sato Kazuma's credit."

"But I don't think we should go to Grimrock now."

"Huh?"

Asuna's words made Kirito slightly stunned, and Kobayashi couldn't help but look at her.

"What's wrong? According to my current speculation, if the criminal is really Grimrock, then he should be hiding. And the same goes for asking other people. Even if we can get information that contradicts what Miss Yako said just now, what does it matter? We have no way to judge which side is telling the truth, and it will only add to the confusion. We need more objective judgment materials."

Her words were very accurate.

"Then we can only choose one option now."

"-Find a PK method to kill Kainz."

Although it sounds a bit harsh, Kobayashi and Kirito Asuna are so enthusiastic about this matter, more to find out the PK method of killing Kainz in the circle.

"But I still hope that someone with more knowledge can help."

"But it's not good for Miss Yako to spread the information casually, but I want to find someone who is familiar with the SAO system..."

The two looked at Kobayashi at the same time.

"Ah? Me?"

He pointed at his nose.

Kirito said, "Among the people I know, Xiaolin is the one who understands the system the most. After all, you are known for your ever-changing skills."

"Yes, I think so too." Asuna followed closely.

"No, no, no, although I am very happy with your high praise, I just discovered this method by chance. Apart from that, I don't know more about the system."

Xiaolin waved his hands quickly.

Seeing that he didn't seem to be faking it, the two were a little disappointed.

"But although I don't know much about the system, there is one person who definitely knows."

"Who is it?"

"Heathcliff."

"President?!"

Hearing this name, both Kirito and Asuna's eyes widened as big as copper bells.

Kirito was a little surprised and said, "Xiaolin, have you contacted President Heathcliff?"

"Of course, we are the leaders of the two major guilds after all, so it's normal for us to know each other. But I added him as a friend because it happened at the World No. 1 Martial Arts Conference some time ago. If I invite him, there will definitely be no problem." Xiaolin smiled.

Of course, whether the two agreed or not, Xiaolin had already sent out the invitation message.

And thirty minutes later, Heathcliff appeared at the transfer gate on the 59th floor.

When Asuna saw him, she immediately saluted and explained: "I'm sorry to bother you this time. I really encountered some problems..."

"It's okay, I just want to have lunch. Besides, there are not many opportunities for Xiaolin to treat me. I have to meet with the members of the equipment department in the evening. I can accompany you before then."

Heathcliff's tone was smooth.

"Don't be so reserved, Asuna." Xiaolin smiled and patted Heathcliff's shoulder: "Your president and I are good friends, this little thing is not a big deal."

"Is, is that so... Hehehe."

If it was Kirito next to her who did this, Asuna would definitely take action without saying a word, but it was another matter if the target was Xiaolin.

The man in front of her was a man who had made a name for himself on the first floor. After that, everyone treated him with respect, and even Heathcliff often praised him in front of her.

"Haha, that's right."

"Let's go. I'll treat you to some interesting food today, and then I'll let you hear some good news."

"Are you sure you're not lying?"

The two walked towards the street first.

Kirito and Asuna obviously didn't expect that the relationship between the two would be so good. After looking at each other, they hurriedly followed.

Under Kobayashi's leadership, the four walked in the maze-like narrow alley for about five minutes, and finally came to the interesting store Kobayashi mentioned after turning around for a long time.

"Oh, it's here."

Kirito nodded suddenly.

In fact, he also liked this store very much, because the NPCs in this restaurant were very weird, and the overall atmosphere created touched his heartstrings.

Asuna asked worriedly, "Can we go back to the square later?"

"Don't worry, just ask the NPC standing here and pay ten cors, and they will take you back to the square. Of course, if you don't have this little money..."

Heathcliff is indeed the one who understands the system the best.

He showed off his skills a little, and Kirito and Asuna were in awe.

Kobayashi was the first to open the door. The narrow store was empty. After sitting down at a cheap table for four, he ordered four bowls of noodles from the gloomy store manager.

Then it fell into a strange silence.

After a long time, Asuna, who couldn't stand it, said with a subtle expression, "Why does it seem like... it feels like a review meeting?"

"Then the atmosphere in your guild is quite dignified."

Xiaolin DISS.

Then she motioned to Asuna not to waste time and tell them their problems.

Asuna first briefly explained what happened yesterday. While listening to her narration, Heathcliff's expression hardly changed at all. He only moved his eyebrows slightly when he heard the scene of Keynes' death. .

"That's just the way it is."

After Asuna concluded, she said: "Although it is a bit troublesome, I still hope that the leader can give us some suggestions..."

Heathcliff took a sip of ice water, groaned and said, "Well, before that, could you let me hear your speculation, Xiaolin? What are your thoughts on the method of this insider killing incident?"

"I can think of only three kinds, one is legitimate PK within the circle, one is combining known methods to find system vulnerabilities, and the last one is props or skills that can invalidate the prohibition of crime."

"There is no need to consider the third possibility."

So asserted Heathcliff.

This sentence made Kirito couldn't help but stare at his face. Asuna blinked a few times before saying, "Captain, how can you be so sure?"

"Think about it. If you were the developer of this game, would you set such skills or weapons?"

"Probably not."

The person who answered was Kirito.

Heathcliff nodded with satisfaction, and said as if to give him a chance to show off: "What's the reason?"

"Of course it's because it's unfair. As much as I hate to admit it, SAO's rules are basically fair and just... Of course, special skills don't count."

Kirito's Dual Sword Style and Heathcliff's Holy Sword.

Unlike skills that can be learned by everyone, skills that only a few can possess cannot be said to be fair and just.

Asuna sighed and shook her head: "In any case, discussing the third possibility now is just a waste of time, because there is no way to confirm it. Then, let's discuss the first hypothesis, which is through a legitimate duel. Possibility."

"good."

Heathcliff nodded, then frowned and looked deep into the counter and said, "The food is served in this restaurant too slowly."

"As far as I know, the store manager here is the least motivated NPC in Aincrad, and this is also one of the characteristics of this store. Hahaha, how about it, isn't it interesting?"

Xiaolin's laughter was full of strange meaning.

Kirito picked up the kettle and poured him a glass of ice water, and said at the same time: "If a player dies in the circle, it must be due to a duel. This can be said to be common sense. However, I can confirm that when Kainz died, it did not mean victory. The user's window appears, is there such a duel in the circle? "

"...Speaking of which, I never noticed before. How does the window showing the winner decide where to appear?"

"Asking this now?"

Kirito was dumbfounded by Asuna's question.

He had obviously participated in the World's No. 1 Martial Arts Association and had made it to the top eight, but now he was asking such a simple question.

Heathcliff answered without hesitation: "It will appear in the middle of the duelist. Then, if the distance between the two sides is more than ten meters when the winner is decided, two windows will appear in the place closest to both sides."

Xiao Lin shrugged: "Thank you for knowing this kind of rule, I didn't even pay attention to it."

"In other words, no matter how far away it is, it will appear within five meters of Kainz."

Kirito rubbed his chin and thought carefully, then said: "There are no windows in the surrounding open space. This can be confirmed because there are many witnesses around. Also, there is no one else in the church. Asuna can also testify."

"Well, there are no windows in the church."

Asuna said.

"Sure enough, isn't that a duel?"

I don't know who was muttering to himself, making the already scary atmosphere in the cafeteria even heavier.

“Did I choose the wrong store?”

Asuna muttered, but due to Xiao Lin and Heathcliff, she couldn't say anything.

"Then there is only the second possibility left." Asuna continued: "But there are loopholes in the system, and I always feel that something is wrong."

"What's wrong?"

"Penetrating continuous damage."

She picked up an unnecessary toothpick lying on the table and stabbed it into the air with the pocket weapon.

"I think that spear is not just used to perform public executions. Maybe it is to achieve PK in the circle through continuous damage... or something like that."

"I agree with that."

Kirito nodded, shook his head and said, "But we have tested it. Even if you stab your body with a spear outside the circle, the damage will stop as long as you move inside the circle."

"That's when you move by walking. What if you use the cloister crystal? Prepare the crystal that is set to the exit of the church in advance, and then move there from outside the circle... Will the damage stop in this way?"

"Of course I will."

Heathcliff intervened again and said: "Whether it is on foot, in the cloister crystal, or even thrown into the circle, as long as you enter the street area, the instructions will work without exception."

"Wait, what if it's high altitude?"

Xiao Lin suddenly thought of this question. Damage can be stopped on the ground or in buildings within street areas, but what about high altitudes?

This question made Heathcliff hesitate, but he soon spoke again:

"Strictly speaking, the circle is vertically rising from the street boundary line to the floor of the upper floor. When you move into that three-dimensional space, the command will protect the person. Even if the exit is set 100 meters above the street and then transferred from the outside of the circle to the air, there will be no fall damage, but you will still have to taste the unpleasant nerve shock."

"Is that so..." X2

Kirito and Asuna exclaimed at the same time, only Kobayashi had a complicated expression. He really wanted to know why Darkness always wandered on the top of the church for a while.

"Sorry for the wait..."

Just then, the shop owner dragged his lazy voice and took out three bowls of noodles from the square plate and put them on the table. Because the bangs under the greasy chef's hat were too long, people couldn't see his appearance at all.

Asuna wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything and obediently picked up a bowl of noodles.

"...What is this, ramen?"

"It should be similar food."

Kirito was not sure either.

Kobayashi smiled and said, "Try it. Anyway, it's better to let the taste speak for itself."

"Yes, yes, maybe it tastes good." Asuna persuaded herself.

Then, four monotonous eating sounds came out of the creepy shop.

The door curtain blew an unusually dry Sanskrit wind, and there were unknown birds croaking in the sky.

A few minutes later——

Heathcliff stared at the Chinese characters on the bottom of the bowl and said, "This is not ramen, absolutely not."

"Yeah, I think so too."

Kobayashi touched his mouth.

Then, Heathcliff put down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "Based on the current information, I can't judge what happened, but I can say that... the only absolutely reliable clues in this incident are the first-hand information you saw and heard with your own eyes and ears."

"What does that mean?"

"It means... everything you saw and heard in Aincrad is a digital file that can be converted into program code. There is no so-called hallucination or auditory hallucination. On the contrary, various information that is not a digital file usually carries the possibility of fantasy or deception. If you want to track this incident, you can only trust your own eyes and ears, in short, get the file directly from your brain. In addition, thank you for your hospitality."

Heathcliff thanked him, and Kobayashi waved his hand and watched him turn and leave.

And when he walked out, Kobayashi heard from him: "Why does this store exist?" The slight murmur seemed to be a little unacceptable.

Kobayashi shook his head and laughed.

When Heathcliff disappeared as if melting into the maze-like streets, Kirito and Asuna looked at Kobayashi at the same time.

"Xiaolin, did you understand what I just said?"

"Yes."

Xiaolin nodded.

Kirito's eyes lit up.

As expected of the vice-leader of the Axis Cult who can be ranked alongside Heathcliff, he can understand such a profound answer thoroughly.

"Then..."

"Sure enough, the Tokyo-style ramen served just now was without soy sauce, so it has that half-baked taste."

"...Huh?"

"It's decided. When we go back, I'll ask Sato Kazuma to make soy sauce. Otherwise, this feeling of being unsatisfied will never disappear."

"No, no, no, I'm not asking that."

Kirito couldn't help but complain.