SAO: The Legend Of The Black Swordsman

Chapter 14

"The last time I saw you, you swore to kill me the next time we met, and now you are smiling at me like a best friend. What are you planning?", Kirito asked him incredulously and Kuradeel shrugged his shoulders.

"You did defeat me in front of the entire guild - it hurt my ego. That was why I said so - it was only out of anger. I did not mean it, Kirito. I apologise for my behaviour that day", he said, but Kirito could literally sense the lies dripping out of his lips.

"Where will we be heading?", Kirito asked Kuradeel, a bit wary of him smiling at him every now and then.

"Oh, just to some canyon. We hear that a couple of rare Drunken Apes can be found there. Don't ask me how they landed up there - they must have lost their way. But they managed to adapt to the situation and habitat. Apparently, they give double the amount of rare drops a chieftain Ape gives", he explained and Kirito knew that it was a blatant lie because enemies and animals were never programmed to leave their natural spawning grounds - he himself had coded the restraining portion and respawning locations. But he decided to go on with Kuradeel's lie. A tap on his shoulder broke him from his train of thoughts, and he turned around to see Asuna who was smiling.

"So? Have you prepared yourself, Kirito-kun?", she asked and he nodded his head, with a bit of diffidence.

"It is your first quest isn't it? It is just the nervous vibes. It will wear off", she said cheerfully and patted his back.

"I will be careful, Asuna-sama. It is not a difficult quest. It will be an unforgettable experience for Kirito here, I vouch for that", he butted in and Kirito frowned in response. Asuna noticed his uncomfortable expression and stood on the tips of her toes to bring her lips to his ear.

"Kuradeel can be like that. Don't let him make you feel uncomfortable. You will get used to his behaviour after a while. Be safe", she whispered and left, holding a small package in her hand nervously.

"Fine, Kuradeel. Let's go", he replied and Kuradeel smirked.

"I think we should start heading now. Only then can we be back on time, right? I don't think we ought to make Heathcliff wait for long, Kuradeel-san", Godfree warned, tapping his shield nervously and Kuradeel nodded his head.

"You are right, Godfree. Let's start off!", Kuradeel exclaimed cheerfully and second by second, Kirito's doubts began to slowly make sense. All the time he had seen Kuradeel, he had never seen the man smile - but all of a sudden, he was as happy as Silica the day Pina came back to life.

Time Skip

"Come ON!! Are you sure you have read the map right, Kuradeel?", Godfree yelled, throwing his sword on the ground and huffed. But he had all the rights to get angry - they had been walking aimlessly around the canyon for the past three to four hours in search of the Apes.

"I am sure, Godfree. It might be possible that they will come here for lunch. Apes eat in groups and they normally do not eat near trees. They eat in deserted places. We just need to be patient, Godfree", he replied and even though Kirito was quite wary of him, he could not argue with his logic.

"In the meantime, let us have our lunch, shall we? It will take some time for them to come anyway, and if it helps, our food will attract those gluttons", he joked and even Kirito cracked a smile. Maybe he had been mistaken about Kuradeel's nature. Maybe he was actually a good, albeit a bit jealous and short-tempered man after all.

Kuradeel handed the two of them a box each and opened a box himself, and smiled on seeing the dumplings in the box. Kirito looked down to see similar dumplings in his box and looked at Godfree who had already devoured half of his dumplings even before Kirito had picked one up in his hand.