The vast plaza, now ownerless once again, fell into a bleak silence.
A few seconds later, the one who muttered in a hoarse voice was a blue-armband member standing beside Shibata.
"...S-since... someone died... then this guy... he's not just a scammer anymore... he's a... a..."
The gaunt green-armband member finished the words he couldn't say, thrusting out his right index finger as he shouted.
"That's right!! He's a murderer! A PK!!"
PK. It was my first time hearing the term, but from the context, it obviously meant murderer.
Even while I was thinking that, the skinny dagger user from the green group kept his finger pointed at Nezha's head and shouted even louder.
"You think kneeling down is enough to make PK forgivable?! No matter how much you apologize, no matter how much money you pay, the dead won't come back! So what are you going to do?! How are you going to take responsibility?! Say it!!"
His voice scraped at my ears like a knife dragged across a chalkboard.
Hearing it, I suddenly remembered another voice just like it. The one who had tried to corner Kirito in the First Floor boss room.
"Ah... no wonder it sounded familiar."
I ground my teeth softly and, holding onto my patience, watched what would happen to Nezha.
Taking all of the dagger user's condemnation on his small back, Nezha clenched both hands against the stone floor and spoke in a slightly trembling voice.
"...I'll accept... whatever punishment you all decide."
Silence fell again.
Probably everyone here felt the meaning packed into the word [punishment]. Even the unspoken word implicitly contained inside it. Something like an invisible current ran through the air, prickling against the skin.
An unseen pressure. In that moment, as everyone kept pushing onto each other the burden of saying what someone had to say...
Before Kirito could even run forward, a short voice came from the main raid group.
"Then take responsibility."
It was a very short sentence, one that meant nothing by itself.
But it served perfectly as the pin dropped onto a balloon swollen to its limit.
In an instant, it was as if sound itself exploded all at once and sent a shockwave through the room. The chamber filled with roaring voices.
Words like "take responsibility" and "apologize to the dead" came from every direction, and as the shouting escalated, it finally crossed the line.
"Atone with your life, scammer!"
"Die and be done with it, you PK bastard!"
"Kill him! Kill that damn enhancement scammer!!"
"K-Kazuma..."
Elia's cracked voice, almost on the verge of tears, rang inside my head.
Kazuha also clung tightly to my right arm, as if searching for something to brace herself against so she wouldn't be swept away by the countless waves of malice.
I swept my gaze over all the players again.
On their faces, reason was so paralyzed that—except for at least one person—they probably didn't even fully understand what they were saying. What had surfaced there wasn't just anger at fraud. It was the despair of this death game itself, finally bursting out because they'd been handed a convenient sacrifice to pour it onto.
"...Hah. Right."
This was all going a little too smoothly. Smooth as a river. So smooth it gave me that irritating feeling that someone had guided things here on purpose.
Step.
The sound wasn't loud at all. In this mad scene where countless voices were flying around, there was no way a footstep should have been audible.
And yet, like someone slowly turning down the volume on a radio, the noise faded away little by little until silence returned.
All because I had stepped out in front of Nezha.
"You're... right, you were the one fighting the boss monster with Nezha..."
"Doesn't matter. I don't feel like introducing myself. I just have something I want to ask."
I stopped Kazuha, who was about to follow me, with a glance, then shifted my gaze to the gaunt dagger user from the green group who'd been stirring everyone up.
On the way, my eyes met Kibaou's, and for some reason he flinched.
"You there."
I pointed straight at him with my finger and spoke in a low voice. I was in too foul a mood to bother controlling my tone.
"M-me?"
"Yeah, you. I'm curious. What was the name of the person who supposedly died?"
"N-name...?"
"Right. You can tell the difference between the weapon he bought before and the one after the scam, and from the way you talk, it sounds like you even saw how he died. You must've known him pretty well."
"W-why are you suddenly asking for his name?!"
"Because if we go by what you said, then Nezha is the first PK, the first murderer, to come out of the Second Floor boss raid, right? We'd need the victim's name too, so after we clear the game and get out, we can investigate it."
"W-what does that have to do with anything right now..."
"It has everything to do with it."
I cut him off, gave him one last glance, then turned to the self-proclaimed heroes and slowly looked over them one by one.
"Tell me this. If—just if—Nezha really died because of someone else's incitement, and because of everyone else's silence... then shouldn't the ones who incited it, and the bystanders who stood by, be killed too?"
...
No one said a word.
Not Kirito, not the people around him, not Kazuha, not Kibaou or Lind, not even the gaunt dagger user...
Whether they didn't understand or simply couldn't accept it, they all just stood there with their mouths slightly open, staring only at me like idiots struck speechless.
"Why are you all looking at me like that? Right now, you're talking about whether to kill or spare a person based on nothing but an unproven rumor.
"If you kill Nezha by your own will, no matter how you justify it, then each and every one of you killed him. Your actions, your choice, would be what killed this scammer blacksmith."
"That's complete nonsense...!!"
I turned toward the guy trying to protest that it was twisted logic, and gave him a pleasant little smile.
"Good. I like that spirit. Then are you going to kill him?"
I walked toward him.
It was only a few steps, but the man who'd been shouting a moment ago stumbled backward and fell on his rear.
"What, seriously? You don't even have the resolve to kill someone... and yet you were ready to ride the flow and scream for someone else to do it? So that's the kind of person you are?"
"...Ugh!!"
After confirming that he'd clenched his teeth and lowered his head, I returned to Nezha—to the center of the crowd—and called out to everyone again.
"Everyone, listen carefully."
I put force into every word.
I let out everything that irritated me, everything I found disgusting.
"Right now, all of you have lost your heads. Take a breath and think again. Are the things you're saying really words you arrived at after thinking them through? Do you really want Nezha to die?"
No one answered my blunt, unfiltered words.
Or rather, they couldn't answer.
This, too, was just another use of group psychology.
That silence didn't last long. It was broken by the footsteps of the people I'd been expecting.
Clanking in heavy metal armor, they slowly crossed the plaza and approached Nezha, who was still curled in on himself. Since the visor of the bascinet was lowered halfway, I couldn't see leader Orlando's face. The other four also kept their heads lowered as they walked in silence.
I stepped slightly aside and gave them room to stand. The tiny nod I saw—so slight it was almost nothing—was probably not my imagination.
Perhaps sensing something unusual in their atmosphere, Lind, the dagger user, and Shibata, who had been surrounding Nezha in a half-circle, gave way.
The heavy clank, clank of armored footsteps finally stopped.
Nezha must have felt his comrades approach, but he still didn't lift his head. Both fists pressed to the ground, he remained bowed the same as before.
Standing before him with the chakram lying between them, Orlando moved his right hand to his left hip.
His plain gauntlet gripped the sword hilt and drew it in one clean motion.
The blade was the same [Anneal Blade] as mine. Its enhancement level looked similar too. Three or four strikes would be enough to guarantee Nezha's death.
"...Orlando..."
At the sound of Kirito's hoarse voice, I left my spot and moved toward them. Kazuha came over too, staring at Nezha with a face that still hadn't regained its color.
Kirito, practically on the verge of dashing forward, was arguing with Asuna over whether they should step in.
"...Do you understand what that means? If we interfere here, we might not be able to stay in the raid group anymore. At worst, we could even be hunted as criminals."
"I still don't care. I told you when we first met... I left the Town of Beginnings so I could be myself."
It sounded like they were having some important conversation, but right now I needed to stop these two hotheads first. So I tapped each of them on the shoulder.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt your serious talk... but you don't actually need to jump in."
"...What?"
"What do you mean by th—ah!"
Just as Asuna let out a confused sound and then almost screamed at the sight of Orlando's descending sword, I heard the words that became the key to resolving everything.
"...I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Nezo."
And then the holy knight quietly set the sword in his right hand down beside the chakram near Nezha's feet.
He took a few steps, moved to Nezha's right side, and knelt on the floor facing the same direction. He removed his bascinet and placed it on the ground as well, then put both hands to the floor.
After him, Beowulf, Cuchulainn, Gilgamesh, and Enkidu also laid down their weapons and helmets. Forming a line with Nezha in the middle, they all bowed flat to the floor.
In the stillness, the five members of [Legend Braves]—no, six—bowed deeply toward the main raid force, and everyone stared down at them in stunned silence.
Then Orlando's voice, trembling but resolute, rang out through the coliseum.
"Nezo... Nezha is our comrade. We were the ones who made Nezha carry out the enhancement scam."
*
"Now that we've finished the Second Floor raid and looked back on it... it kind of feels like the clearing speed is really picking up."
"Yeah! They say starting is half the battle, right? Once you take the first step, it feels like momentum starts building."
As Kazuha and I climbed the spiral staircase leading from the Second Floor boss room to the Third Floor, we chatted as if sorting through everything that had happened lately.
Behind us, Asuna and Kirito were talking while grumbling about something.
To summarize, once you leave the dungeon—well, if you climb these stairs from the boss room, you go straight to the Third Floor—you can send a message announcing the success of the raid to everyone.
But since they intended to stay behind and settle the whole enhancement scam issue, they'd entrusted that role to us, who had the least contact with the other groups.
"Still, that was really dangerous... If irregular stuff like this keeps happening, beta testers are going to have a rough time too, huh, Kirito?"
I casually tossed that out to rescue him from Asuna's shackles, and Kirito brightened up like he'd been saved and immediately bit the bait.
He even put on a serious expression to emphasize that this was a properly serious topic.
"Yeah. Based on what we've seen up through the Second Floor, the basic flow hasn't changed, but everything's had its difficulty adjusted upward—or, like this time, major elements like the boss monster have been newly created."
"But that still means you know all the important main threads, right? That alone gives beta testers an advantage, so it's fine. In any case, I'm counting on you on the next floor too, Kirito."
"Geh... so now I'm just a strategy guide?"
With a fed-up face, his shoulders sagged and he trudged along like a zombie.
"What's the problem? In exchange, you got three highly efficient allies out of it. You should be grateful, if anything."
Asuna turned to us with a sly look, asking for our agreement. Kazuha giggled and looked at me, and I nodded with a grin in support.
"She's right. Kirito owes us more than one life debt by now."
"G-ghaaah... stop... any more and my HP's going to hit zero..."
"Don't worry. People always say humans don't die that easily, right? And you need to stay alive so those debts can keep piling up. I'll make sure you survive."
At my immediate follow-up, Kirito was finally sunk completely and collapsed face-first. Asuna, looking very practiced, grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged him along the floor.
"...So what's going to happen to Nezha in the end?"
"...Nothing like killing him or not killing him. The flames have already died down, and more importantly, it looks like the money can be paid back somehow later."
Kazuha had brought up a slightly dark topic, so I answered as hopefully as I could.
Though really, it wasn't hope. It was basically settled.
"Depends on them. There's no stopping the rumor that the Braves pulled an enhancement scam from spreading near the front lines. They can either avoid that and go back to the First Floor... back to the Town of Beginnings, basically, or work up the courage to aim for the raid group again from scratch."
"I checked with Lind a little before we parted. He said that if the Braves really want to, they'll return enough col for Nezha to at least get the minimum gear he needs. Well... whichever path he chooses, those five won't be treating Nezha like dead weight anymore."
"Huh. That's pretty leader-like of him."
At my muttered comment, with the corner of my mouth raised slightly, Kazuha asked curiously,
"Kazuma, what do you mean by leader-like?"
"Hmm... honestly, it's been almost two and a half months now, and we're basically the entirety of the raid force at the moment, right? A group that takes on the attack role like this has to put effort into training the next generation too."
"If the worst happened and our current raid force kept going until we all got wiped out, the gap before the next raid force gathered and organized would be too long. So he's worried about that, and while fostering successors, he also gets the added benefit of improving the group's image."
"...No, no matter how you look at it, Lind just seems kind of tsundere..."
"I agree. This time, Kazuma, I think you're overestimating him. Or rather, overthinking it."
Seeing Kirito and Asuna answer in perfect unison for once, I burst out laughing and shrugged.
"Well, maybe you're right. Either way, I'm just glad it ended on a good note."
"Yeah, all's well that ends well. This time it ended without too much friction. Well, except for Kazuma... no, wait?"
Kirito looked at me with a slightly awkward expression, and I shook my head.
"Not really. In the end, they said they didn't know who that dead person was supposed to be, so that's where my role ended."
"Hey, Kazuma, where does that kind of courage even come from? It's not just that you step in—you do it so logically. I think that takes a lot of calm and patience."
"You're overestimating me. I just couldn't stand seeing someone get treated unfairly."
I answered Asuna's praise with a bitter smile and tried to focus on climbing the rest of the stairs, but she suddenly raised one finger as if she'd just remembered something.
"Oh, right. Come to think of it, Kazuma got the LA bonus for the boss... [Asterios the Taurus King], but what happened with the other two, Colonel Nato and General Baran? I didn't see any notification for them."
"Huh...? Come to think of it, neither did I. No, before that, Kazuma got the last hit on General Baran too... wait. Then what about Colonel Nato?!"
Kirito had been sorting it out step by step, but by the end he was practically shouting. He and Asuna both fixed me with intense stares.
Looking at their faces, so obviously boiling with jealousy that even a child could tell, I smiled and put my index finger to my lips.
"No comment. Kirito probably knows, doesn't he? But if I had to tell you one thing... well, let's just say this time was a bumper harvest for LA."
Hearing that, Kirito looked like he'd lost the whole world and collapsed onto the stairs again. Asuna was so shocked she just sat down in a daze.
"Kazuma—no, Lord Kazuma!! Please, grant this lowly one a single item!"
"Ah—hey! That's cheating, Kirito! Kazuma, me too!"
Kazuha laughed awkwardly, scratching her cheek as she watched the two of them scramble, and I delivered the final blow without losing my smile.
"Come to think of it... let's see. Aside from Colonel Nato's, weren't they all marked 'Non-Transferable'? These?"
"Aah..."
The two of them, staggering as they tried to steady themselves, became friendly zombies together.
"Wouldn't it be more productive to just aim for LA on the next floor?"
"Right~ That'd definitely be easier on the heart, wouldn't it?"
Thanks to Kazuha backing me up, the two of them returned to being human again. They're simpler than I expected.
As we listened to their footsteps and kept climbing, we found a thick door at the end of the gently curving staircase, decorated with a relief of a bull.
On the forehead of the six-horned bull rested a small crown.
While I was staring at the carving on the door, I heard Kirito's low voice.
"...In a way, this is where the real SAO starts..."
Apparently the other two girls heard him too, because Kazuha and Asuna tilted their heads slightly.
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Why?"
"Umm... well..."
"This is going to take a while to explain."
As we struggled to satisfy the two girls' curiosity, we slowly climbed the final few meters of Aincrad's Second Floor.
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