Sword Art Online - Alternative Reality

The Vice-commander and The Scout CHP.5

September 30th, 2023. Today was the day I turned 16 years old. My birthdays on the other side have never been anything extravagant with my parents and brothers often being away for business. Normally we would celebrate it a few days before or after whenever everyone's schedule was free, and even then, it was normally just a simple dinner along with a cake for dessert. I never would have thought that my most memorable birthday would take place in another world, in a floating castle in the sky.

Originally, I planned to spend my day off simply chatting with some friends, maybe treating myself to some fancy food, then getting back to work planning for the upcoming guardian fight on the 38th floors labyrinth. Instead, I've spent the day running around with the person I've become closest to since coming to this world, maybe even the person I've been closest to my entire life. We shared our laughs with our mutual friends, chatted with countless people, enjoyed a wonderful performance, ran across rooftops, and even got to enjoy a sight straight out of a fantasy movie. Not even half the day has gone by, and yet, each and every moment has been burned into my memory, all thanks to the aloof swordsman right behind me.

Slightly turning my gaze to get a view of his face, my reckless yet reliable partner, Kirito, had his full focus on the road ahead of us as he pushed the horse forward towards what I assume would be the meeting place for his 'surprise.' Despite him not knowing what today was to me, he had already given me countless gifts that I will treasure far past today, although some of them where needlessly embarrassing, they were still precious all the same.

Looking at his face, he currently had an expression of complete concentration, which made him look quite mature. But in between all of his childish antics and pranks, I still couldn't pinpoint what his age was. Normally asking about information from the other side is taboo, but recently during our talks, those topics seemed to always be slipping through, and I felt that I knew more about his 'real self' than I did any of the friends I had made in my old school. I wonder if he would tell me about his birthday if I told him mine... although knowing him, he might rush off in a panic to find a gift, if he didn't just hand over some weird food he picked up from who knows where first.

Lost in those idle thoughts, Kiritos's expression finally eased up and without taking his eyes off the road, he announced that we had arrived. Turning back to face forward, I found that the entirety of the KoB had been assembled in front of a bridge that led of the hill to our right, but because of its height and angle, we wouldn't be able to see what was on top until we climbed the stairs up. Currently, the KoB had 15 members composed of myself, the commander, Kirito, the treasurer Daizen, the sub-commanders Godfree and Takeo, and 9 base members. Our main clearing force involved our two 6-man parties including myself, the sub-commanders, and the 9 other members. Kirito only joined in during any type of boss raids, while the commander only joined during floor boss raids. Daizen, although still high level, mostly handled the finances of the guild and occasionally supported me and the commander in general management. Despite being a relatively small guild, it was thanks to the commander's management and Kiritos scouting that we had been able to act as one of the major forces in clearing the game.

Reaching the guild in question, the only person I saw missing was the commander, the guild leader Heathcliff. The rest of the members had fairly relaxed faces, with some not even having their armor or weapons equipped. It was a carelessness that definitely could not be accepted when outside the safe zone, but before I could call out and reprimand them, Kirito had jumped off our horse and held out his hand to help me off. At least this time I didn't have to ask for it...

With his support, I managed to get off the magnificent horse, although I couldn't help but feel sad that we couldn't finish off the rest of the tour and would be leaving this child behind. Swearing to myself that one day I'll have Kirito finish giving me a tour with our own horse, I thanked him for his effort and while he gave the horse one final tap to deactivate the rent, I turned to face the two sub-commanders that had run up to us.