Looking For Something Real (Sword Art Online)

5. Hunting the Hunters

Chapter 5- August 21st 2024- "Hunting the Hunters"

55th floor- Granzam

I'd spent the last month and half hunting down leads. The leads that Asuna found all turned up bust and the search had been gruelling with many close shaves. It was clear that the only way to secure information was to capture a guild member alive, since scouting every dungeon for secret passageways and locations would take longer than it would to clear the game.

However this method also proved to be troublesome. I had managed to corner a few Laughing Coffin members in the field alone. But each time they realised they were trapped they would fling themselves into a fury and attack. At that point my only option is to retaliate in defence. They were exceptional fighters, I could give them that much, and every time it seemed like I could finally overpower them they would feint out of combat. This would lead to a long chase where they always seemed to slip away.

Unfortunately this tenacity also meant forcing a teleport to the prison or getting them to give up information was impossible. I needed a change of tactic and that meant clasping at straws and working on every longshot lead I had.

The lead I was currently pursuing was dubious at best but was the only option I had. An info broker I had tracked down told me of a young girl who lived in Granzam, or rather on the streets of Granzam. Rumour had it that each night she would leave the safe zone of the city via the west gate and head into the canyons beyond. When she returned she would always be sobbing and would hurry back out of sight.

There could be many reasons for someone behaving this way, but being right under the nose of The Knights of the Blood Oath's headquarters? It seemed like the best lead I had. My plan was simple, I would wait near the gate, just outside of the <<Detection>> skills range to counter the <<Hiding>> skill and then follow the girl to see exactly what was going on. Of course if she also had a maxed out Hiding skill I wouldn't be able to see her leave, but this was the best idea I had. I had climbed one of the towers just off to the side of the gate and waited for what felt like days.

Eventually my patience paid off. As promised I saw a young girl, probably only 12 or 13, leave through the gate and hurry down the road. Having little time to react I leapt from the tower to the wall below and then to the floor beneath it. Beeps greeted me on each landing as I took fall damage, but each only took away a small portion of HP. I thought that I had lost the girl for a moment as she headed into some canyons, but my tracking was still picking up her footprints. Three scenarios came to mind.

This wasn't a member of Laughing Coffin but simply a girl with another agenda.She was very sloppy and hadn't activated her Hiding skill.She was actually leading me into an ambush.

Either way it was my best chance to get some answers. It wasn't long before I caught back up to her. I almost ran straight into detection range but even without relying on my own tracking skill to see her clearly, my natural eyes picked up her silhouette just ahead and I managed to stop in time. She had stopped in the middle of a canyon with no discernable features.

For minuets she just stood there, not moving as if seemingly turned to stone. Suddenly two more shadowy silhouettes dropped from the cliff top landing either side of her, still the girl didn't not move. Some words were exchanged between the three, but from this distance I had no hope of telling what, and to get closer would risk getting caught.

As suddenly as they had arrived the two new figures shot into the air and disappeared leaving the girl alone again. She began to sob and turned to run back to the city. I chose this moment to make my move.

As she headed to hurtle past me I stretched out my arm, just as she made contact I uttered 'teleport'. The crystal in my hand shone brightly and in a flash both of us materialised in a cell within the Black Iron Palace on floor one.