The Blacksmith and the Warrior

Murder in the Safe Zone

May 17th, 2025, Rika

After a long night of playing ALfhiem Online, Rika lays down in her bed, staring at the brightening ceiling as sunlight enters her room. It's already 9 am, and she wants to meet Joshua for lunch. Yet doing it in VR doesn't sit right with her, ironically since they've had many lunches in SAO. They're back in the real world, so isn't it better to have real world lunches?

How dumb has she been? She has known Joshua since the beginning of SAO, way longer than she knew of Kazuto, and practically lived with him the last nine months of the game. Yes, maybe her attraction to Kazuto stemmed from the fact that they shared an intimate moment in the dragon's nest, but after figuring out that Asuna shared the same affection, Rika knew she had lost. Asking Jaymes about them was just as torturous for her as she now believes it was for him. She was looking for her own knight in shining armor, and he was there the entire time, answering her every question about the Lightning Flash and the Black Swordsman's growing relationship.

Or maybe she did have feelings for Jaymes, just expressed towards Kirito. After all, they are very similar boys. Heroes on the front lines, helpful to others. Both are skilled swordsman, Asuna says they're literal equal in combat now. Both are willing to protect others, even at the cost of their own suffering. Both are also willing to go the distance to save or avenge who they care for. So many similarities it is also hard to distinguish their personality differences.

Yet, if she considers their real-world counterparts, while they're mostly the same people, Joshua has one advantage that sounds bad when Rika considers it a comparison to Kazuto: He's rich. Joshua is the heir to the company RoboTelligence, a robotics and artificial intelligence company. Fortunately, the boy doesn't flaunt his background, even though his car is clearly expensive. Not a huge factor in Rika's mind in terms of who she'd date between the two, but...well, as she told Joshua before, she likes being spoiled a bit.

But it is his selflessness that truly is his best feature. She remembers the story of the murders in the safe zone, in which he teamed up with Asuna and Kirito to solve the mystery. Given how traumatic PKing was to him at the time, she wasn't surprised that he joined the investigation. He didn't want to see others suffer the same way he did, especially in an area that should be safe for everyone.

Just thinking about him stirs Rika's heart. Her mind set, she grabs her phone and immediately calls him...

..........

April 11, 2024, Floor 59, Jaymes

"She's actually asleep. I can't believe it." Walking up to and sitting with Kirito on a stone wall outside of a town, I am perplexed by the sight of Asuna sleeping in the grass. I am further surprised that Kirito managed to convince her to relax and enjoy the day. Ever since they split up on the 25th Floor (due to Asuna joining the just-formed Knights of the Blood Oath) the two have been at each other's threats. Matter of fact, even when they were partners, they were only a great duo in battle. Guess they didn't have the connection Koharu and I did or it was on a different wavelength than mine.

In the month since rejoining the front, we have advanced three floors. I'd call it pretty good progress for the middle of the game. I hope we hit the 75th Floor by the holidays, then I might take another break from the front. I rather spend that time in peace with my friends than with monsters.

In the last month, I have divided my time between the front, helping Lisbeth with her shop (gathering materials she needs, I'm useless as a smith) and questing with my other friends, Philia, Strea, and Rain. Those three girls (two humans are one AI stuck in an avatar) are treasure hunters, and because I love a quest that ends with a rare find, I enjoy the hunt. It is actually how I met Philia, a girl seeking aid on a quest on the 31st Floor. Koharu was helping Asuna with a quest and I had nothing better to do. We met Rain during the quest, at first as a rival but later on she joined the party.