Where Your God Is - Chapter 17

I stretched as we trooped through the forest, among the first players to enter the <<Great Elven Wood>> after the event had been declared. In the end, we'd agreed to run the <<Elf War Questline>> as a single group instead of splitting up. All things considered, it was otherwise a nice day. That was one good thing about being trapped in a death game, I supposed.

“What's up, big brother? You've got that look on your face like you're thinking about something,” Leafa stated, leaning forward in that way she'd copied from an anime to try and trick me into looking down her shirt.

Well, her armor. Sensei, why were you so obsessed with mechanical realism and so willing to make the combat gear stripperrific?

It wasn't really a question.

I knew why.

“Just thinking about how the weather's always what we need on a day for a special event,” I replied idly.

“Whaddya mean?” She asked, a trace of Argo's accent on her lips. Or mine. As much as the accents of the American and Japanese south were used almost interchangeably in translating media, they weren't really like that. But I was just enough of a redneck in a past life that I'd also adopted some of Argo's habits.

“How many times have you had a school festival rained out?” I asked with a shrug, feeling the swords at my waist shift with the motion.

Leafa blinked, cocking her head. “Ah... two-no, three times? I think? We just moved everything inside, but it was a real pain.”

I pointed at her. “That's what I'm saying. It's always sunny on days we have big events planned, like the Elf War Quest opening. It never rains unless the game devs programmed it for a rainy-day special event.”

“Rainy day special event?” Asuna asked, perking up from behind us where she'd been unusually quiet.

Tellingly, an unusually subdued Mito was atypically palling around with Argo at the back of our formation. Sinon, our usual silent sentinel, was walking between them and either knowingly or unknowingly providing a barrier.

Which isn't indicative of a problem I'm going to have to deal with at all, I'm sure.

I nodded. “We've had a few since the game started, though none of them have been worth putting too much effort into given my stash of gear. There are a couple coming up, though, that we might want to take part in.”

“Like what?” Asuna asked, a fumbled motion eventually producing a notebook in a cloud of materialized data.

“Oh, the <<Crystal Tears Quest>> is coming up, isn't it?” Leafa asked, perking up.

I nodded, looking to Asuna. “The crystal tears quest is a special event that happens on rainy days on floor two after the Elf War questline starts. It's meant to encourage players to go back and retrace earlier content so that everyone isn't crowding the latest floor.”

Asuna nodded, taking notes. “And how does it work?”

“You're given the quest by an old lady who appears in inns, taverns, and other rest areas,” Leafa explained, smiling fondly in remembrance. “She shows you this necklace her husband made for her back when they were young and had just started dating, then tells you the legend of these monsters that appear in the rain that produce these blue gems called 'crystal tears.'”

“Hence the name of the quest,” I added.

“Shush,” Leafa... well, shushed me. “I'm getting to explain something for once, game otaku.”

I rolled my eyes. “Like you're any better.”

Leafa sniffed and crossed her arms, turning back to Asuna, who was watching our exchange with a wan smile. “Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted... you go out during the rainstorms and fight these <<Weeping Birds>> that you have to catch off guard or they'll fly away. Whenever you beat one, you get a crystal tear as a drop.”

“Of, if you're lucky, a blood crystal as a rare drop,” I chimed in again.

Leafa opened her mouth to rebuke me, then pursed her lips and nodded slowly as she accepted the correction. “Right, I remember those. The crystal tears are worth a lot if you want to sell them at item shops, but if you take them to a crafter – and it has to be a player, not an NPC – they can make you jewelry out of them that stops you from getting stat debuffs during rainstorms or in wet, marshy areas. You can catch in-game diseases or illnesses that can lower your stats, but the jewelry drops the chance waa~aay down.”

“That sounds really useful,” Asuna admitted.

I laced my fingers behind my head and looked up slightly as we continued on our way through the forest. “They are, and the quest serves multiple purposes. First, like I said, it entices players to go back over earlier content instead of just pushing forward, since not everything gets found the first time through. Next, it's the first widely-available player-only crafting recipe available and can draw people into the the game's economy on the supply-side. It's also a great way to make a lot of money really fast if you're short on it, for that matter. And, finally, it opens up a lot of quests and areas later on that would be a huge pain to deal with if you didn't have the jewelry. Like, there's an area on this floor at the far edge of the map that has disease-spreading debuff insects.”

“Oooooh,” Leafa hissed, then drew in a sharp, annoyed breath between her teeth. “I hate the <<Swamp of Lost Souls>>. So much hate.”

“Swamp of Lost Souls?” Asuna asked, then paused. “No, wait... we shouldn't get off-track.”

I shook my head. “It's just a nasty dungeon we can do later on after we get past a certain point in the Dark Elf side of the questline. The trigger is a little hidden, though, so not many people do it. That, and the skill set you need to do it is a little...”

I pulled a face, trying to find the right word.

“Complicated,” Leafa stated firmly, scowling.

“Sure, let's go with that,” I nodded. “The only reason it's important is because it's one of the earliest dungeons that isn't entirely hidden, but isn't on the beaten path either.”

“That's actually something I've been meaning to ask about,” Asuna began. “You've mentioned hidden dungeons a couple of times now... why would you hide a dungeon if the entire point of having them was for players to beat them and get the rewa-er, drops at the end?”

I hummed, thinking over the question and deciding how best to answer it. “Okay, so there's two ways to explain that. The in-game answer is that there's often enough to do in the main quests being presented to players that adding more material to them would needlessly complicate their choices about how to progress. The general rule is that, for casual players, you want to have a clearly-defined route they can advance through the game to get the material they need to get to the next stage. These are the type of people who just want to kill the monster, speed-run the conversations with the townsfolk, and only key onto the game's lore when it's important for a quest or monster.”

“And the out-of-game reason?” Asuna asked, scribbling and walking in a way that made me wonder how long she'd practiced it to not trip over a root or run into a tree.

“A lot of MMORPGs are about bragging rights,” I sighed tiredly. “There are upsides and downsides of the culture, and I hate the constant braggadocio that surrounds it, but it's undeniable that the competitive nature of secret levels, hidden dungeons, and other hard-to-reach or difficult-to-master content serves as both a hook to interest players and a status symbol within the communities.”

“That's... a really interesting way to look at things,” Asuna admitted quietly.

 “That's my brother,” Leafa sighed. “He seems to practically live off those weird ideas you get at three AM when you can't sleep and are staring at the ceiling.”

“I feel like I should be offended, but instead I just feel seen,” I stated, then grinned at my sister.

Leafa rolled her eyes. “Ugh, you would. Remind me why we're-”

Suddenly, she grimaced, her eyes flicking towards Asuna.

“-in the same party?” I asked smoothly, noting the brunette girl's eyebrows furrow slightly at the exchange. “I thought it was because of my dashing wit, effortless style, and charming demeanor?”

Leafa palmed her face, careful to keep one eye on the trail. “Hah, hah... I'm going to go talk to Sinon. At least she doesn't have an ego the size of yours.”

I let my sister make her escape, taking it for what it was instead of what she said it was. Her near-flub with our relationship in front of Asuna had obviously made her more cautious about engaging with the older girl for the moment.

With her gone, though, I gave a look around and made sure there weren't any mobs sneaking up on us. Floor three wasn't exactly a hotbed of hostile monsters, given that it was supposed to get people thinking about PVP and more organized inter-guild conflicts, but there were a few nasty surprises. I hoped the moratorium during the initial Elf War encounter would hold, though. You didn't want people accidentally triggering a field boss when they were supposed to be running into a quest prompt, after all.

“Can I ask you about something?”

I blinked and looked at Asuna, her expression unusually anxious.

Taking a shot in the dark, I jerked my head backwards, lowered my volume, and asked, “This have anything to do with you and Mito not being on speaking terms today?”

The brunette grimaced and looked away from me. “That... we're not... I mean, we're not not... ugh, I'm screwing this up.”

I sighed. “Look, I think I know what's going on here, but... just take a deep breath and start over, okay? Take your time, choose your words, and explain it to me.”

Asuna did as I requested, inhaling deeply and letting it out slowly, visibly re-centering herself as she regained that subtle poise and posture I'd come to expect from interacting with her over the past few months. “Mito... she... confessed... to me. Last night.”

The halting explanation brought a blush to Asuna's cheeks.

I clicked my tongue. “Ah.”

Asuna blinked, turning back to me. “Ah? That's it? You're not...”

“Surprised?” I replied with a faint smirk. “Not really. Taking a shot in the dark here, but... you asked me because Mito and I have known each other the longest, right?”

Asuna nodded, which... well, fair. Given she didn't know Argo or Leafa's sexual preferences and wasn't really close to Sinon – who could (and did) come off as cold or confrontational – I was the logical-ish choice.

“So you did know,” Asuna sighed. “I mean... about Mito liking girls?”

I chuckled. “The reason we stopped partnering during the beta? She asked me on a date.”

Asuna's eyes widened dramatically and she cupped her hands over her mouth. “She did not!”

“She did. She'd never asked if I ID'd as male or female and, well... I look like this,” I waved a hand over myself. “And she was using her male avatar...”

“Oh my gods,” Asuna sighed, briefly closing her eyes as the cringe-by-proxy of the moment got to her. “That's... that's just...”

“It was one of the most awkward moments of my life,” I freely admitted.

“Was that before or after you started dating Sinon?” Asuna asked, clearly invested now and openly curious.

I took a breath. Should I take the plunge? On the one hand, I'd known the girl for a while and she didn't seem like the type to freakout over someone else's relationship, no matter how unusual. On the other, I didn't really know her all that well outside of some half-remembered third-party media that might be partially or entirely off-base.

“Forgive me if I answer that question with a question, okay?” I asked, the unexpected gravitas of my reply bringing the girl up short and causing her to nod hesitantly. “Do you know what a 'polycule' is?”

The brunette girl frowned thoughtfully. “It... poly... molecule? Some kind of portmanteau?”

I smiled. “You speak French, don't you? That was a nice flourish.”

She smiled and replied in a fluent string of the foreign language I couldn't follow, then paused as she saw incomprehension on my face. “Oh, sorry. I thought... well, yes, my family vacations in France occasionally.”

“I actually recognized the word from English, which is a language I'm fluent in, just to clarify. I'd never heard it said like that, so I thought you'd be using the original French pronunciation,” I explained.

“So I was right, then,” Asuna murmured consideringly. “Poly-something. We've been discussing relationships, so... oh.”

I cleared my throat, my cheeks a bit red. “Polyamory. It's shorthand for a polyamorous relationship, meant to be evocative of the multitude of connections between atoms in a complex molecule.”

“Ah,” Asuna repeated my earlier sentiment, looking interested despite her embarrassment, even if I'd wager it was only in an academic sense. “So... you, and Sinon, and... Argo-”

I raised my eyebrows and nodded slowly, the girl's own eyes widened as she understood the implication.

“But you're brother an-no, wait...” Asuna stopped herself. “Leafa told me you're biologically cousins, so it wouldn't... although we're in the game world now, so I guess it wouldn't matter even if...”

We both almost missed a step over a particularly large tree root and had to reassure the other members of our party.

Asuna turned to me and began, “H-how would, if biological siblings-”

“I have no idea,” I preempted her question. “We live in a brave new world that pushes all sorts of boundaries with this technology. You'd need to ask someone on the legal side of things.”

Seemingly satisfied that I didn't know the answer to her question, Asuna took another breath and calmed herself again. “That's... I don't know what to think about that right now. You all seem so... normal.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “We are. If it makes you feel better, think of myself and Sinon as one couple and Leafa and Argo as another. That's how we present things IRL when we meet up. We're just two couples who go on a lot of double dates and are very familiar with each other.”

“Familiar, you are that, I suppose.” Asuna snorted, then looked appalled at herself. “I didn't mean-oh, gods... you must think-”

I shook my head, still smiling. “If you're comfortable enough to crack a joke about it, that's a good sign to me that you're not going to get angry that we're a bunch of perverts and storm off.”

“I wouldn't-” Asuna shook her head, biting off the rest of what she was going to say. “I-I mean, it's obviously not something I've ever thought about, but... you all seem very happy together. I wouldn't want to cast aspersions on any of you by insinuating your choice of relationships is wrong.”

“For what it's worth coming from some guy you only know because we're trapped in here... you're a good person, Asuna,” I stated with a reassuring smile.

Asuna flashed a brief, but stunning smile back at me and...

...for a moment, I could see myself falling for her. I could see what he would have seen in her, in that other possibility, if I hadn't had the people I now had in my life. Asuna was radiant when she smiled, a wonder of elegance and a flower of beauty. Even now, with the bonds I had, it was a struggle not to lose myself in those eyes.

Then that moment passed, and all of the good times I'd had with Shino, Sugu, and Tomo came rushing back, and I was firmly myself again and not the Kirito that had fallen in love with her.

Still...

...this girl is dangerous.

“I guess that answers what you think I should do, though,” Asuna sighed, stretching her arms over her head in a sinuous move I pointedly didn't watch. My heart could only take so much, woman.

“You think that I'm going to tell you to jump in headfirst just because this kind of thing is right for me and the girls?” I asked, scoffing. “You'd be better-served if you thought about what you want instead of what you think I want for you. Or what Mito wants for you, for that matter.”

Asuna blinked, “Huh?”

I rubbed at my forehead. “Look, Asuna... relationships shouldn't be about catering to what other people want, and you definitely shouldn't let yourself feel pressured to get into one by someone else.”

“B-but Mito's done so much for me!” Asuna began, her voice rising until I raised a finger to my lips and she grimaced, flicking a glance backwards to her friend, then continuing with a more moderate tone. “She's helped me through... everything. She's practically the only really close friend I have at school, and... I think I'm the only one she has.”

“So you're going to... what? Agree to date her out of a sense of obligation?” I asked, skepticism coating my words. “And then, what happens when we get out of the game? You two break up because you don't really like girls, you just didn't have any options in here?”

Asuna looked down, biting her lip. “I...”

“That kind of thing will really break her heart,” I offered softly, and Asuna took a halting breath in, practically gasping.

I really wish I could have warned Mito about the inherent power-imbalance she was getting into. It's not as bad as if Asuna were still a complete newb or if she didn't have us to fall back on... but there's still an element of a student-teacher romance here.

Worse, really, since lives were on the line.

I didn't think Mito had seen that angle, though, and my own situation was such that I couldn't really throw stones about things like that. Even with everything I did to make sure I wasn't trying to use my 'extra wisdom' to pressure the girls, there were days I felt deeply conflicted.

I bit back a sigh as I realized I'd probably have to have another awkward conversation with Mito in the near future.

“I didn't think about it like that,” Asuna replied quietly, curling in on herself. “I... I've never had a real relationship before. Up until last year... well, my parents were thinking about an omiai.”

“A formal engagement? In this day and age? Are they from Kyoto or something?” I asked, joking.

Asuna's face blazed red, “Mom's family is. I think she was brought up really traditionally and... she just wants me to be happy and safe, I know, but the guy she chose... He had this huge scandal break. My parents had this massive fight about it, with my father yelling about how he'd always been against it and my brother took his side. It was... bad.”

Ugh... way to go, Asuna's mom. Kyouko? That seemed right. You've traumatized your daughter over relationships, great.

Also, that whole 'being engaged to a rapist human-experimenting monster' thing. Which...

In a flash, I saw it. There was a flicker of insight and I saw how I could twist this situation to my advantage. Asuna was vulnerable, confessing that I had been the one to uncover Sugou's crimes and free her from that potential engagement would instantly elevate our relationship and create the same feelings of debt and obligation she had to Mito in regards to myself.

From there, I could use Asuna as leverage to pull Mito in closer. As the girl's only IRL friend and love interest, Asuna had substantial sway over her.

Talking Suguha into expanding our relationship would be fairly easy. She trusted me, had a friendly cooking-rivalry going with Asuna, and at least got along with Mito. Tomo... she'd be a little trickier, but not too much. There was a business-savvy streak int the girl, and she'd see Asuna's IRL family connections for what they were worth. That and, not to appeal too hard to the oversexed lesbian trope, but even Tomo could admit that Asuna was stunningly beautiful.

Shino would be the hard-sell, but I could see a budding rivalry between her and Mito. Better, Shino was Tomo's opposite in terms of sexuality. The blue-haired girl preferred men much more than women, but had a thin strike zone that Tomo and Suguha barely fit into when the mood was right... or when I was involved. If a rival-romance developed between Shino and Mito, well...

Mito would need me in play to make any potential relationship there work. As long as Asuna was happy and she got what she wanted, she'd be able to delude herself into enjoying things until those emotions became real. And Asuna... she was coming out of her shell now, likely for the first long-term stretch outside of her parent's oversight. I'd wager she had the potential to get a little wild buried in her, if she was given permission to enjoy herself by someone she trusted.

It was a tempting idea.

It wouldn't even take too much work on my part to get everything to fall into place.

Which is why I won't do it.

Doing so would contradict everything I'd built my current relationships on. Honesty, equality, fairness, love... I'd be abusing my remembered life experience to drag two girls who deserved an honest chance at happiness into a hedonistic lifestyle to serve my own ends explicitly for sexual gratification. Oh, there could be love at the end of that path, but it wouldn't be the point.

Moreover, I'd be putting myself above and beyond Tomo, Shino, and Suguha. It wouldn't be a relationship of equals anymore, but a hierarchy where I decided things for them instead of with them.

A harem instead of polyamory.

I turned away from that tempting future and took the higher path.

“My advice is to think about all of the times you've spent with Mito, both in the game and outside of it,” I began slowly, growing more sure of myself. “Just... watching a movie together, playing games with each other... shopping, talking, relaxing... all of that. Take all of that and just add in the occasional kiss, lingering hug, and long walk holding each other's hands.”

Asuna blinked, staring at me. “Th-that's it? I thought... I mean, romantic relationships...”

The brunette made vague complicated motions with her hands.

I chuckled. “The secret is that there isn't one, Asuna. The best, most long-lasting and stable romantic relationships really are just friendships with a few spicy extras sprinkled in. Passionate declarations of love and grand gestures might make a good drama, but they don't fill the quiet hours while your significant other does housework and you cook. Or when one of you has a report to do and needs understanding when they get snippy and frustrated.”

“But doesn't sex-sexual attraction... isn't that important?” She asked, looking thoughtful.

“It's as important as you and your partner make it,” I shook my head. “It can be the make or break for a relationship, but if it is... well, it's just a symptom of other problems, usually. Be up front with the person you're involved with, explain what you're comfortable and not comfortable with, set clear boundaries, and move forward at a speed that you both agree with.”

Asuna began nodding slowly. “That... that makes a lot of sense, Kirito. Thanks.”

“Your kind are not welcome here, wretch!”

My mouth snapped shut as I lunged forward, my reflexes driving me into a movement sword art. <<Long Stride>> carried me over fifty feet in a blink, an off-brand flash-step or instant movement, that left Asuna's surprised squawk echoing behind me before it had time to fully form.

The scene I came upon was a familiar one.

A blonde <<Forest Elf Warrior>> with a haughty scowl and an eyepatch over one eye was standing clothed in a green cloak with brown armor and gold highlights underneath. Opposite her was a dark-skinned <<Dark Elf Warrior>> with purple hair, lavender cloak, and dull silver armor.

“The people of my tribe have just as much right to our territories as your kind do to yours!” The dark elf NPC proclaimed.

Immediately, I saw a prompt pop up in front of me, the party leader.

I barely bothered glancing over it, skimming to ensure the text was the same as it had been in the Beta. With the two choices clear, I selected the dark elf faction, the one we'd all agreed to support together. It would have been nice trying the other side of the conflict, but not in a death game. In a situation like this, the unfamiliarity came with a lethal risk.

Upon the choice being made, there was... a moment of the slightest distortion, a flicker in the VR environment as the dark elf's features shifted subtly...

...and her tag shifted from <<Dark Elf Warrior>> to <<Kizmel>>.

“Kirito!” Sinon cried, coming up behind me.

“Sorry, love,” I smiled over my shoulder at her. “I've been really waiting for this. Good chance to stretch my legs for real.”

Sinon opened her mouth to argue, then made a noise almost like a deflating balloon as she rolled her eyes. Raising her bow, she gestured towards the fight as the rest of our party came up hot on our heels. “Whatever, I'll bail you out if you get your dumb ass in too much trouble. Again.”

I leaned forward and tapped a quick kiss on her cheek before dancing away as she blushed. “Thanks, babe!”

“Asshole!” Sinon cried affectionately, waving her weapon in a fond farewell to wish me victory in my battle.

But I would embrace my lady loves later.

For now? I had an haughty forest elf ass to kick.

“Let's dance, bitch,” I cried, another fast-movement sword art closing the distance between me and her.

“Knave! You are in league with the dark-skinned trespassers!” The elven woman cried, shifting her stance and making a deadly swing.

Man, I do not envy the English localization team for that one.

I ducked and weaved out of her strike, twirling my paired <<Obsidian Katana>> as I crouched low and slid the two blades in parallel over her lightly-armored extended arm.

Even if this wasn't a fight you were supposed to win, the devs planned for the possibility that some parties would. That old adage of, 'if you stat it, they will kill it,' applied, after all. The forest elf warrior had stats, had a health bar, and therefore could die.

She pulled back, her stance more cautious as she raised her blade once more.

“Foul cur! You would sully this sacred duel by an ambush!?” The forest elf – my eyes looked up reflexively to the floating tag that bore her name – Triniel, cried in outrage.

Triniel.

That was... that name was familiar.

“Kirito! What good fortune!” Kizmel shouted, stepping up beside me and flashing me a wide smile. “Quickly, let us finish her off! It is truly a mark of the depravity of the Forest Elves that they would send their King's daughter to slay me!”

I blinked.

“You lie, harlot! You were the one sent to slay me in ambush, made doubly clear by your reinforcements arriving!” Triniel yelled, her single eye glancing back at the group I'd brought as her feet slid backwards an inch.

She was going to run.

Which... didn't make sense. I knew Kizmel had been scheduled for an AI upgrade. She hadn't been earmarked for the initial confrontation, instead having been placed as a potential encounter later on in the quest for especially skilled and/or lucky players. But, the opposing elf in the encounter... should have been a normal NPC.

Unless... were they hard-coded as opposite parts of a special event?

Had I unintentionally pulled the Forest Elf Princess out of her scheduled event along with Kizmel, the Dark Elf Clan Chieftain's daughter?

And... I hadn't looked at Triniel's scripted events. Had she been due for a full AI upgrade?

Fuuuuu~uuuuuck.

~~~

...and just like I thought, a few hours past midnight.

But it's still February somewhere, so I'm counting this as the last chapter of the month!

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys the return to Kirito's adventures. I hope I get more opportunities to focus on Black Swordsman Jesus-kun. Join him as he confronts a sudden and unexpected moral dilemma... and then does so again! Oops!

Next update? I'll make that a mystery box.

However, the March polls will be up shortly!