The Black Swordsman and The Scarlet Bolt (On Hold)

~7~

Schmidt, Caynz, and Yolko stare in shock as neither of them anticipated the Laughing Coffin guild to intercept. "All right, what game should we play with these three?" One asks. "Oh, I know! Let's play the one where they have to kill each other. Last one standing wins!" The one with his entire face covered suggests. "I know it's your favorite but last time we did that you killed the winner anyway." The one who seems to be the leader says. "Oh come on, you spoiled it. It's no fun if they know they're gonna die!" The covered one whines. Schmidt looks over at one wearing a skull mask who chuckles. "All right. Let's get this show on the road." The leader announces, walking up to Schmidt. He raises his butcher's knife ready to strike Schmidt, who cowers in fear when the sound of horses running stops him. They look back and see a horse running toward them, so the leader jumps back to join the other two, and one wearing the skull mask points his sword at it.

The horse stands on its hind legs and neighs, throwing Kirito off. "Damn." He winces, and his appearance shocks Schmidt. "Looks like I made it just in time." Kirito says, standing up. He smacks the horse behind, and it returns as he walks up to them. "So, now what? I got 30 players from the assault team coming. You guys wanna stay and fight them?" He asks. One member growls and Kirito pulls his sword from its sheathe, getting into a fighting stance. They stare at each other for a while before the leader snaps his fingers, and the skull mask member spins his sword around before putting it back in its sheathe, Yolko falls to her knees still in shock. "Come on." The leader ushers his members away, not wanting conflict with 30 players, and they disappear in the fog. Kirito places his sword back in its sheathe and sighs before turning to Yolko. "Nice to see you alive again, Yolko." He tells her. "You won't believe me, but after it was over, I was going to tell you the truth." Yolko shares, looking down. "I am sorry we had to trick you to help us out." She apologizes, looking up at Kirito again.

"Kirito." Schmidt kneels after getting his strength back. "Thank you for saving me, but how did you figure it out? How did you know those three would attack us here?" He asks. "I didn't figure anything out. I was acting on a hunch is all." Kirito replies, looking back at the blue-haired girl. "Hey, Yolko. Caynz. Level with me. You guys asked Grimlock to make the spear and the knife, did you?" He asks the two. Yolko and Caynz stare at each other for a while before turning to Kirito. "We did, but he was against our plan from the beginning. All he wanted was to let Griselda rest in peace." Yolko shares. "He did forge the weapons for us, but only after we got down on our knees and begged him." Caynz asks. "Sorry, but he had a different reason for not liking your plan. Griselda had nothing to do with it." Kirito says, shocking the two. "He was worried faking PKs in a safe zone was gonna draw a lot of attention. He didn't wanna take the risk of someone snooping around for answers. We figured the whole thing out about half an hour ago." Kirito elaborates.

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Asuna, Kirito, and Reina were back at the restaurant on floor 57, with Asuna and Reina having ordered some tea. "We ended up playing right into Yolko's hands, didn't we?" Kirito asks. Reina picks up her cup and brings it to her lips. "Sure did." She says, before taking a sip. "You know what? I don't really mind." He dismisses. "Yeah, me neither." Asuna agrees. "Same here." Reina also agrees, placing the cup down. "Kirito." Reina calls, looking down. "What would you have done if you were in their place?" She asks once she has his attention. "Oh, I don't know. I play solo, part of why I do is so that I can avoid situations like that." Kirito shares. "In our guild, the one who got the kill gets it." Asuna chimes in. "Those are the rules we have to play by. You know, how in SAO if a player gets a drop no one knows until the player reports it? Our way, no one can hoard stuff because we worked out who gets what ahead of time." Asuna shares.