The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

Memory Flashback Arc: Chapter 33 - Arrow of the Rainbow Part 1

17 April 2023

Faerie Hill, 26th Floor

I wonder how many player parties I'd hitched on since like forever. I never bothered to count anyway, but it couldn't have been hundreds of times.

Still, my occasional title of "Mercenary" stayed alive for some reason. I did ignore what players are calling me nowadays, but that title might have spread far and wide throughout the floating castle by now.

Well, they were other players doing the same stuff I was doing, so I don't see a reason why they couldn't own the title as well.

So when players started to offer me requests to join their parties, I was a bit taken aback. I had always chosen which parties to join in the hunting fields, but being forced into one? That's definitely not how I work in this world.

I accepted some of their requests, and rejected others. I couldn't give up any opportunity that was profitable, but I knew my limits. If I thought that I couldn't take down a field boss with the party that requested help from me to take down, I would, of course, not take that chance.

Of all of those party requests that I had received, there was only one that I have clearly remembered of.

And it wasn't because of the fact that the player that made the request wasn't from a party at all.

I never knew how she had found me, who was in a shady tavern tucked somewhere in the main city of Faerie. That tavern wasn't popular with the players, and the bartender there looked shady as hell, so I had hoped it would keep pursuers away from me.

In this female player's case, apparantly not.

She was wearing a small chestplate over her violet-coloured jacket (or at least, I thought it was one) that covered until her waist level. Her dagger sheathe, which was at a length unimaginable for its weapon type, was hung on the right side of her waist. Complete with a dark-coloured short skirt and tights, she approached me silently as I turned to notice her.

"...I....need your help." The girl said in a slightly feeble tone.

I'd already heard that sentence--or the implications of it--too many times in the past week.

"How did you find me here?" I asked, a bit annoyed.

The girl's delayed reply was soft.

"....A friend helped me to track you here......"

I took a good stare at her, basking myself in whatever amazement I have left. Letting out a sigh longer than normal as I set my drink down, I turned my chair towards her and offered her a chair beside mine.

"......I'm listening." I told her with a tinge of reluctance. I couldn't possibly turn anyone down without hearing what they have to say first. As she explained her request in detail, the me inside was starting to recognize the impossibility in her words.

And yet, 30 minutes later, I was traveling up Faerie Hill with the girl, as a 2-player party.

There were many factors that made her request seem impossible to do, but the reason I eventually gave in was.......

"Tekio......" The girl suddenly brought that name up.

"Huh?"

"He was the one who told me to find you if I ever need help."

As speechless as I was then, I knew that Tekio was the only player who knew where I would be this week.

".....And he said that you defeated the Fairy Moth on Faerie Hill before--"