War For Underworld

Finding A Killer

Asuna

After the council meeting, Asuna invited Ronie and Tiese to the Morning Star Lookout on the ninety-fifth floor of Central Cathedral. After Kirito arrived, the four had a short chat before Asuna led them down to the ninety-fourth. She and the former personal cook of the pontifex, Hana, presented a dish Asuna was trying. A Real World technique of wrapping paper around fish and baking it, but within the laws of the Underworld. Ronie and Tiese were awestruck by the mere idea of using white hemp paper (and paper in general) and listened as Asuna and Hana explained the entire process of them trying to figure it out. Of course, the reason for the invitation was soon made known-Ronie, Tiese, along with Kirito and Hana, were to be the first tasters. While the girls sang their praises, Asuna felt the dish could be improved, and Kirito...is Kirito.

Truth be told, Asuna feels guilty over having a nice lunch while the Underworld is in the midst of confusion. First, the appearance of beasts from the Underworld's-and, for two of them, the otherworlders'-past, then the murder of the inn worker and the suspicion of a goblin residing there. Between those two events, the revelation that Eydis Synthesis Ten had attacked three knight apprentices and Renly Synthesis Twenty-Seven. Following all that, the kidnapping of Supreme Commander Iskahn and Sheyta Synthesis Twelve's daughter Leazette while Kirito and Ronie were in the Dark Territory, and at the same time, Jaymes, Medina, and Ilia handled a mysterious, previously unknown epidemic in Norlangarth. The final result? Jaymes, who is just as important to her as Kirito is, was rendered comatose, though to a lesser degree than Kirito's previous state; Eydis was ruled to be a traitor to the Human Empire, though that was done without consulting what happened in the north with Medina and Ilia; and the three present with her, the so-called First Children, revealed themselves.

When Asuna arrived with the knights in the north, she hadn't planned on the encounter. She just knew something was wrong. It was her intuition, or maybe her long-standing bond with Jaymes, that she felt he was in some sort of trouble the few days his group investigated the blue thorn sickness. Of course, she trusted Medina would back Jaymes up, but like Kirito, he has a habit of doing things himself, if it means he can protect another (usually a female). Despite Koharu's survival of Sword Art Online being revealed at the height of the War of Underworld and Medina's revival after she was struck down by Administrator, he's still overprotective of those around him. Now he has an apprentice of his own, and so does Medina. She suspects those two have thrown his overprotective senses into overdrive, which is why he beat himself up after Mia and Ilia were injured by Eydis and why he fought Eydis alone. However, for Jaymes to be defeated by the Integrity Knight he's closest to conflict Asuna. Jaymes isn't known for holding back against anyone, yet at the same time, he wouldn't want to hurt Eydis. He didn't believe she betrayed them of her own free will.

But when she saw him on the ground, beaten and unconscious, her worry quickly turned to anger, and had not the situation been as it is, she might've done more than call for an immediate retreat. They didn't fly far from the Lodend Mountains, and Medina sent a group of wayfarers to Rulid Village to check on the people. The First Children, thankfully, left the village alone.

Now days later, Jaymes remains in his state, the solution unknown. Medina has yet to reveal anything substantial to the Council, not even to Kirito and Asuna. Her loyalty to Jaymes (and possibly Eydis) has kept her mouth closed, and that extended to Ilia as well. Is it an order from Jaymes to not say anything to the Council, or is it Medina's lack of trust in the Council after hearing Eydis was declared a traitor? Or maybe it's neither, and the young woman wants to find out the truth for herself without the Empire's aid. After all, it explains why she is acting unilaterally now, only sending a message to the other Real Worlders that there's another issue in the empire and she's going to investigate.