"...It feels like a dream. Me... me, in a boss fight, doing something like this..."
Seeing Nezha trail off in that trembling voice, what must Kirito and the others have been thinking?
When Kirito and Asuna asked him to join the front line, they had him handle the timing delay on the lightning breath. Right now, Nezha was the only one with a visible ranged attack, so his value was enormous.
Maybe he noticed me approaching for a brief break, because Nezha greeted me with a bright smile.
"Ah! You're the player from before. Good work. Thanks to you, we were able to draw the boss's attention safely."
"Yeah, you did well too. You've got some real skill."
"Ah... th-thank you."
I wasn't just saying that. Actually throwing a weapon and hitting a specific target wasn't easy at all. I knew that from firsthand experience.
Maybe my words meant something to him, because he turned his eyes back toward [Asterios the Taurus King], trying to catch the timing of the next breath attack.
After taking that in, I moved a little farther back and approached Kazuha, who had still been watching me the whole time.
"Good work, Kazuha."
"You too, Kazuma."
She was giving me a faint, bitter sort of smile, but I couldn't tell what emotion was behind it.
"...Kazuha, are you upset?"
"...Kazuma."
At my simple question, the corner of Kazuha's mouth twitched once. Then she took a step toward me. The distance between us dropped to zero.
Standing so close there wasn't even a handspan between us, Kazuha lowered her head and rested it against my chest.
"I was worried."
"Yeah."
"I was really, really worried."
"...Sorry."
"When Kirito and Asuna were both in danger, when everyone else ran and only you stayed behind... I was so worried I wanted to rush out there. But I held myself back."
"...You did well."
At some point, her hands had come up to clutch my shoulders as she spoke in a trembling voice. I could only vaguely tell that she was crying.
"...I'm sorry for making you worry."
"...Even if you think that was the best choice, someone might still be truly heartbroken over it. So..."
"Kazuha."
I cut her off there. If I heard what she was about to say next, I felt like my resolve—unlike me—might start to waver.
"Do you remember the promise we made the day we first met in this death game?"
"...Kazuma."
"Back then, I said I'd devote everything I had to clearing this game."
I could feel the hands on my shoulders tightening, but I kept speaking as calmly as I could.
"I know you're worried, Kazuha. But I want to stay on the front lines of the clear. More than anything, for your sake—no, for all of us."
"...For all of us?"
Kazuha raised her head slightly, looking puzzled as she asked. As expected, there were tear tracks all around her reddened eyes.
"Yeah. To make sure you survive here. And I survive. And all the people we know survive too. That's why I'm fighting to clear this place. So there's no way I'd ever want to throw my own life away. If I put my life first, then I'll be able to protect the things I wanted to protect."
I saw Kazuha's eyes widen a little more. My vision had already become far sharper than a normal person's, thanks to raising the proficiency of [Thrown Blade Arts] to nearly half the level of my one-handed sword skill.
"...That's not fair, Kazuma."
"...Huh?"
"Nothing. As long as you're not going to throw yourself into death, that's enough."
Kazuha hurriedly wiped away her tears, though her cheeks flushed a little, embarrassed that she'd shown them at all.
Just like when we first met, Kazuha really did cry easily.
"Kazuha, you really are a crybaby, huh?"
"W-what?!"
Maybe it was such a shocking statement that she froze solid enough for me to practically hear crack. Looking at Kazuha like that, I gave what was probably my first bright smile since entering this game.
"Yeah, you really are a crybaby, Kazuha."
"U-uuugh! Kazuma, you idiot!!"
She bumped her forehead into my chest, then turned her head away with a full-on sulky expression.
I'd managed to lighten the mood a little, but the raid still wasn't over. As I turned my head back toward the battlefield, Kazuha stepped forward too and stood beside me.
"This time, I'm going too. I've finished treating everyone."
"Yeah. You've memorized the patterns too, right? As long as you stick to that, there won't be a problem. You're strong now too, Kazuha."
"...Me?"
"Yeah. Maybe your kendo experience helps, and your level's where it should be. PvP... might still be a stretch, maybe. But against normal monsters, you should be able to handle them just fine."
Kazuha still didn't seem aware of it, but lately, at my recommendation, she'd switched to using a curved sword. Sure, changing weapons came with the drawback of rebuilding proficiency, but I'd helped gather materials too, and we'd already strengthened it to Sharpness +6.
On top of that, unlike me, she'd learned kendo in the real world as well. At this point, I'd rate her as upper-mid tier even among the clearing group.
"So, ready to go? Who knows? Maybe one of us will get the LA—Last Attack bonus."
"I'm not interested in that..."
"Come on, good things are good things, Kazuha. It'd be better for you to get stronger here, even if it's only a little. In every sense."
"Okay. I'll do my best."
I wasn't sure whether she'd truly accepted what I said, but just hearing her say that was enough.
Using Kazuha's answer as our trigger, the two of us sprinted toward [Asterios the Taurus King], who now had only two HP bars left.
A few minutes later, when only a single sliver of HP remained and victory was right in front of us, Kazuha and I had stepped back briefly to recover when we overheard Kirito and Asuna talking.
"...This feels complicated somehow."
"...But at least after this, they won't be able to do it again..."
The two of them were quietly discussing the self-proclaimed legends—the beneficiaries of that weapon enhancement scam—who were currently making themselves useful.
"...If they contribute to clearing the game like this, then I guess we just have to accept it. I feel bad for the people whose weapons were stolen, though."
"That's... true."
It sounded like they'd settled on accepting their contribution for now, but our Kirito still couldn't help feeling sour about it.
Seeing him lean in and whisper something into Asuna's ear, I turned away again and started walking slowly toward the boss monster.
"Those two aren't planning to let this end here, are they?"
With both hands clasped behind her back, Kazuha bent slightly at the waist and looked up at me.
"Looks like it. I mean, among the people who got hit by that scam, some of them might have died."
"...Yeah. Maybe not, but if that happened..."
As Kazuha's expression darkened, I reached out and patted her head, cutting off that negative train of thought.
"That's not for us to think about. When it comes to other people's problems, you need to stay calm and keep a little distance."
"That's... true."
"If it's a problem between the people involved, then they should solve it themselves. Though if they ask for help, that's another story."
I took my hand back from Kazuha, drew my sword from its sheath, and lowered it diagonally. Then I planted my feet hard enough against the ground to make it crunch.
"But all of that can wait until after we clear this raid."
"Right!"
Now fully ready to run with me, Kazuha answered brightly, and together we rushed the boss monster in a smooth curve like arrows loosed from a bow.
Circling around to the rear, we climbed onto the back of [Asterios the Taurus King], who had already dropped to one knee, and attacked its arms from atop its shoulders.
MOOOOOOOOOOO—!!!!!!!
Maybe it had realized it was losing, because the lord of the Second Floor labyrinth began thrashing wildly in desperation.
Kazuha immediately widened the distance and rejoined the side assault group, but I leaped up again like before, drove my blade deep into the back of its neck, and without letting go, unleashed a four-hit combo mixing Martial Arts and one-handed sword Sword Skills.
Kirito and Asuna, who came in just a little later than us, were also steadily shaving down the boss's HP with eyes that said they were aiming for something.
So the two of them were going for the LA too, huh?
Watching their careful faces as they tracked the HP bar from atop the boss's shoulders, I let out a small snort. So they were really going to try it without saying a word to us.
Feeling a little mischievous, I dodged the bull-headed bastard's hand as it came sweeping in to knock me off from the side, landed on the opposite shoulder, and slashed the back of its neck again. There was barely any HP left now. It was on the verge of death.
My weapon was currently one enhancement above Kirito's. Kazuha and Asuna were definitely joining the LA race, and the others were probably eyeing it too, even if they weren't saying so. So all that remained was timing.
The boss monster's hammer rose high into the air... now!
'Elia. How many reactions are showing from the players?'
'A total of nine.'
'Among them, rank the fastest three in order, including me.'
'Asuna, Kirito, then Kazuma.'
I was already in midair with [Sonic Leap] activated, calculating the timing through Elia.
I'd started half a beat faster than Kirito, so Asuna would land first, I'd be second, and Kirito third.
Already used to the aerial version of [Sonic Leap] after only two tries, I aimed it precisely at the crown of [Asterios the Taurus King]. In the middle of my sudden acceleration, Asuna's rapier charge skill [Shooting Star] struck first, hitting just below the forehead.
Kirito seemed to be coming right after her—but I hit first, driving [Sonic Leap] straight into the crown.
'Elia, the boss?'
'Not yet! It still has enough for one more hit!'
Elia sounded genuinely frustrated as she answered in a hurry. Sometimes I felt this, but after coming into this death game, Elia seemed to be becoming more... complete, from a more human point of view.
Pushing that thought aside for the moment, I lifted my eyes slightly. Even so, Kirito clearly couldn't hide the joy of thinking he'd gotten the LA—his face was just starting to break into a smile. But—
"Too soft, Kirito."
It was too late to activate another Sword Skill, and too late to pull out the sword I'd already embedded. Kirito must have smiled because he knew that—but after seeing the move I used earlier, he should've realized.
Wearing the smile of a victor, I slammed the Martial Arts skill [Flash Kick] into the boss's forehead at zero timing. And then...
UROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAH...!!!!!!!!!!!!
With one last desperate thrash, as if trying to cling to its fading spark of life, the Second Floor labyrinth floor boss [Asterios the Taurus King] exploded apart on a scale that filled the entire coliseum.
"Grrrgh...!! I'm happy. I'm happy we cleared the floor in only about ten days, but somehow it still feels like I lost."
"Aaaahhh...! That was so close, way too close! Who would've thought you'd pull something like that at the end?!"
After the dead boss vanished and the word Conglatulation appeared, everyone naturally broke into little groups to rest again, since we were all exhausted. In the middle of that, I was receiving the full force of Asuna and Kirito's accusing stares.
In the end, I'd taken the LA. They seemed secretly bitter about missing it by a hair. Hm. Though if we were going to talk about that, I had a few things I could say too.
"Man~ I just got lucky, really lucky~ I happened to overhear certain people whispering because they wanted to keep it all for themselves, so I took a little shot in the dark, and wow, what luck~"
I said it in an exaggeratedly stiff, textbook-reading tone and glanced at the two of them. Both of them flinched like they'd been hit with an electric shock.
"Right? Kirito? Asuna?"
"Y-yeah~ That's right. Congratulations, Kazuma."
"R-right. Of course I should congratulate you too. Ahaha."
Like broken tin dolls, they forced out awkward smiles, practically creaking as they did.
Of course, I was only teasing, so I let out a quiet chuckle and waved a hand to show I'd let it slide.
Then I felt a presence behind me and turned around. Egil was standing there with a grin, giving us a thumbs-up. Somehow, that made it really sink in that we'd cleared the Second Floor, and I couldn't help giving a wry smile.
"As always, your swordplay and teamwork were excellent. But... judging by the looks on your faces, this victory belongs to him."
"Ugh! Don't dig into it like that, it hurts..."
Kirito must have been seriously disappointed, because he clutched his chest and rolled around. Asuna, apparently used to this by now, just looked at him like he was pathetic.
"...Well, this victory might not belong to just me. It might belong to that guy too."
As I said that and looked toward Nezha, Egil followed my gaze and gave a heavy nod of agreement.
"That's true. Because Nezha and Kazuma were here, nobody died this time. Otherwise, at least ten people might have..."
"Argo and Nezha showed up at just the right time, that's all. If they hadn't, even I would've had a hard time holding out, you know?"
I took a step back and tried to deny the credit, but everyone except me was staring at me with half-lidded eyes.
"No, I really don't think that's true, Kazuma."
"You looked like you were having fun fighting the boss by yourself."
"Uuugh...!! Kazuma!"
"No, I mean, it was pretty big, so climbing around on it was fun. The early part really was rough, though."
Apparently my credibility on that front had hit rock bottom, because no one believed me at all.
'Kazuma. I would like to save new data today: that you are bad at acting. Do I have your permission?'
Even the AI was against me.
As I avoided all those looks, a loud cheer rose at just the right moment, and I turned my gaze. At the center of the main force, Lind and Kibaou were clasping each other's right forearms tightly. The blue-clad and green-clad players around them broke into thunderous applause, and the two leaders slapped hands together.
"Huh. They get along better than I expected..."
"Only until we reach the Third Floor, though."
At Asuna's painfully blunt comment, everyone around us gave wry smiles. Mostly because there was no way that prediction would be wrong.
"Oof, there we go."
Making a sound that was a little too old-man-like, Kirito got to his feet, looked at us, then jerked his chin toward Nezha.
Of course, none of us were dense enough to miss what he meant, so we all stood and headed over to the standout player of this raid: Nezha.
Argo, who had come here with us, was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she didn't like being around other people, or maybe she was just staying true to her information broker persona.
When the former blacksmith saw us, he bowed his head with a somehow transparent, refreshed smile, like some demon that had possessed him had finally been lifted away.
"Good work, all of you... That aerial Sword Skill at the end was amazing."
"Uh... in the end, I still failed to get the LA, so I—... guh?!"
Asuna drove an elbow hard into Kirito's side before he could say what he really meant. She was telling him to read the room, but... Nezha didn't seem to mind much.
"No, really, the amazing one was you. To use a weapon you'd only just gotten your hands on that perfectly... practice must have been rough, right?"
"No, I didn't think of it as rough. Because I finally became what I wanted to be. Truly... thank you. Now, at last..."
He cut himself off there, bowed his head deeply again, and glanced toward the center of the room.
I followed his gaze casually and saw five people gathered about twenty meters away. Standing in a horizontal line, Orlando was firmly shaking hands with Lind, Beowulf with Kibaou, and the other three were doing the same with other executive-level players.
The proud smiles on all their faces were exactly what heroes were supposed to look like.
"Well... I wonder about that."
My sudden murmur drew everyone's eyes to me. Kazuha, standing closest, asked what I meant with her eyes, so I slowly said exactly what I was thinking.
"From where I'm standing, they look like false heroes who won by offering other people up as sacrifices..."
"H-hey..."
Egil, who must have heard about it from somewhere, tried to stop me, but I just shrugged and continued.
"I'm not wrong, am I? Nezha may have repented for what he did, fortunately... but setting justice and all that aside, I have no praise to give people who didn't make an effort with their own strength."
Ignoring everyone flinching again at words that were almost abusive, I kept my eyes on the party of false heroes.
"...Nezha. Wouldn't it be okay for you to stand over there too?"
Over there, where the main forces of Lind's Dragon Knights and Kibaou's Liberation Squad were gathered. Considering the new possibilities of the [Throwing Blade] skill, which had been called useless until now, maybe Kirito was right—maybe he could get to know them and even join a guild on the Third Floor.
But the biggest contributor to this battle quietly shook his head.
"No, it's okay. There's one more thing... that I have to do."
"Huh? What do you..."
Kirito turned back in confusion, while Asuna and Kazuha seemed to realize something and their brows tilted. Nezha looked at them in turn, then bowed his head once more.
Then he gently stroked the edge of his chakram with the fingertips of his left hand, almost tenderly, and began to walk.
That was when I saw three players from the main force heading this way. Judging from the atmosphere, it would normally look like they were coming to praise Nezha—but the expressions on their faces now weren't friendly in the slightest.
I looked at the tall man leading them, a rough-faced guy with a Bronze Sword at his waist, but I had no real connection to him, so of course I didn't know who he was.
But then I saw Kirito swallow a cry and Asuna's face tighten, and I immediately understood the link to Nezha. Those people were victims of the enhancement scam.
Looking down at the small blacksmith who had walked up to them on his own, the man spoke in a stiff voice.
"You... you're the blacksmith who was doing business in Urbus and Taran until a few days ago, aren't you?"
"...Yes."
After Nezha nodded, the man pressed further.
"Then why did you suddenly switch to being a combat player? And how'd you get your hands on a rare weapon like that? That thing's drop-only, isn't it? Did blacksmithing really pay that well?"
His blunt tone, picking a fight almost one-sidedly, made it obvious he already suspected Nezha.
That was just how people were. Once suspicion came first, it was like putting on tinted glasses—no matter what they heard, they twisted it into the answer they wanted.
Thoughts spread the same way. Like living things, they spread through the people around them, and before long those four, Nezha included, had become the center of the silent coliseum.
Asuna and Kirito both looked conflicted in that atmosphere, but I told Kazuha to stay with Asuna and walked over to Kirito, grabbing one of his shoulders.
He flinched for a second, but I ignored it and spoke in a low voice.
"Stop. Whether you mean well or not, this is something Nezha has to face himself right now. Depending on what path he chooses, this is where it'll be decided whether he's a false hero too... or a real one."
As if answering my words, Nezha moved.
He quietly set his chakram on the ground, then dropped both knees in front of it. Next he placed his hands on the floor and bowed deeply—
"...I switched out and stole the swords of Mr. Shibata... and those two men over there."
A silence so heavy it made my ears hurt, even more tense than just before the boss fight, filled the wide coliseum.
At Nezha's confession, Shibata's face twisted for an instant before he forced it under control, though a deep crease formed between his brows. The other two men on either side looked ready to explode with anger, but they were still holding it in.
Looking around, Kazuha and Asuna, who had expected something to happen, had both gone pale, and Kirito bit at the corner of his lip like he didn't know what to do.
In that tense space, Shibata's sunken voice rang out.
"...Do you still have the weapons you stole?"
At that, Nezha, still with his hands on the floor, shook his head from side to side.
The answer had already been decided. Shibata and the others probably knew it too, vaguely. If he stole them, then he had a purpose, and that purpose had already been spent.
At the very least, they could probably guess that it had something to do with why Nezha had come to the front lines.
Even so, Shibata opened his mouth. No matter how much was only guesswork, he wanted to hear where the truth ended.
"No... I already exchanged them for col..."
The moment that thin voice came out, Shibata squeezed both eyes shut hard for an instant. But all he said was a short, "I see," before continuing a moment later.
"Then can you repay us with money?"
This time, Nezha didn't answer right away. The only people who knew why turned their eyes farther back, toward Orlando and the others standing on the left side of the raid force.
Whether they felt those looks or were worried about what came next, their faces had gone visibly stiff.
'Come on, Nezha... you've made it this far. So what answer are you going to give?'
I asked that in my heart, and suddenly it felt like I was asking myself. If I were in his position, what would I say?
Obviously, I would shift the blame onto those hero wannabes. Of course, that would be on the premise that I still had to pay for my own sins.
And after thinking that far, I became certain Nezha would never choose that option.
"No... I can't repay you anymore either. I spent all the money at expensive restaurants and fancy inns. Every last bit of it."
Nearby, I heard Kazuha suck in a small scream.
Nezha had never intended to find a way through this.
He was simply going to take everything onto himself and direct all of Shibata's—no, all of the clearing group's—anger toward himself.
That was so very like Nezha.
And at that answer, I quietly closed my eyes. What came next would be the weakest side of human beings—
'Elia... watch carefully. Feel it carefully.'
'What do you mean, Kazuma?'
'Just everything you hear and feel from here on. This is probably going to be the ugliest sight of human weakness brought on by group psychology.'
"You bastard... you bastard, you baaaastard!!"
One man swung his clenched fist and stamped the floor over and over with his right boot.
"Do you have any idea?! Do you have any idea how much it hurt me—hurt us—when the swords we'd treasured and raised so carefully were destroyed?!"
"And then... you traded my sword away like trash!? Stayed in expensive rooms!? Then bought a rare weapon with what was left and barged into the boss fight pretending to be some hero?!"
Then a member of Kibaou's group on the left shouted in a voice turned upside down with rage.
"Me too! When my sword disappeared, I thought I'd never be able to fight on the front lines again! Then my friends stepped up for me, helped me gather enhancement materials... You didn't just betray us—you betrayed them too... all the clearing players!!"
Their two cries became the fuse—
And all at once, the countless players who had been watching from the rear exploded.
"Traitor!!"
"Do you even know what you've done?!"
"Because of you, the clear got delayed!!"
"An apology now won't fix anything!!"
The voices of dozens of people shouting with their own mouths rode their separate angers, merged, and swelled into a monster with a single will, crushing down on one man named Nezha. Unable to withstand that pressure, his back curled inward.
Back at the First Floor boss strategy meeting, it had nearly turned into a denunciation rally against the beta testers. It felt like that again.
There was barely any difference this time either. In Nezha's case, his own actions had simply led to consequences he never imagined.
I could probably say something again now. I could mention Nezha's contribution, mention the people who might have died if he hadn't joined, maybe find some way to soften their anger a little...
But I kept my mouth shut. Nezha had committed a clear crime. This anger was justified, and it was something he had to receive to a certain degree.
'...Kazuma. This is...'
'Yeah. If something is coming to mind, then what you're feeling right now is emotion.'
'I see... This is heavy.'
'Yeah.'
Now Elia would understand too. This great whirlpool—this negative emotion that only humans possessed.
And from this moment on, I judged that Elia had clearly come to recognize something called emotion after entering this death game, because of some specific factor.
"Nezha... you... don't tell me."
I heard Kirito's trembling voice from beside me. What had he realized? Before that thought could go any further, a familiar face stepped out from the main force.
His right hand raised high, long blue hair, a cloak in the same color family, and a silver scimitar at his waist. It was Lind, the raid leader.
When Shibata and the other two stepped aside and gave Lind the space, the angry voices filling the square finally began to settle down.
It wasn't total silence, but it had quieted enough for conversation when Lind spoke.
"First, tell me your name."
Hearing that, a question rose in my mind. There were five people in the hero party. One was missing. Which meant...
"...What a rotten bunch."
"Kazuma, what did you say?"
I shook my head at Kazuha like it was nothing and kept watching the situation.
"...My name is Nezha."
Still prostrated on the floor, the former blacksmith gave his name in a thin voice. Lind nodded two or three times. His features were sharp by nature, but right now he looked even more tense than he had in the middle of the boss fight.
After clearing his throat once, he spoke in a low voice.
"I see. Nezha, your cursor is green... and that is exactly why your crime is so grave. If you had become orange through a system-defined crime, then it would be possible to return to green through a karma recovery quest. But your sin cannot be washed away by any quest. And if you say you can no longer make restitution... then you will have no choice but to pay for your crime by some other means."
"That is only natural. The question is what form that should take... What you stole from Shibata and the others was not only their swords. You also stole the long, long time they poured into those swords. Therefore, you..."
At the keyword time, I finished the thought myself.
From here, he'd probably be required to participate in clearing efforts and make regular repayments from his earnings. Put bluntly, he'd be forced into something like a combat slave position, one where joining the front lines was mandatory.
Even so, you could still call that lenient treatment. He needed equipment if he was going to fight anyway, and the chakram that had made such a strong impression would probably become his main weapon.
Unless they deliberately planned something malicious, they wouldn't intentionally try to get him killed either. Nezha would pay for his sins. That should have been the end of his story.
Just as I was thinking about how I might drag those hero wannabes into this, someone from the rear let out a shrill cry that cut through my thoughts.
"No... that's not all he stole!"
The one who came running up tap-tap-tap was a member of Kibaou's group in green clothes. His thin body shook from side to side as he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I... I know it! There were a lot more players than that who had their weapons stolen by him!"
The unexpected turn of events made my brain freeze for an instant.
I did think, I have to stop this man from saying it—but the words never made it out of my mouth, and all I could do was stare.
If someone was objecting to Lind's proposed solution, then in this situation there was only one thing it could mean.
And, without betraying my expectation—
"And one of them went hunting with some cheap junk from an NPC shop... and got killed by a mob he used to be able to beat!!"
In the end, the man in green shouted the forbidden word.
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