The Blacksmith and the Warrior

Raid and Revenge

August 17th, 2024, Floor 48, Lisbeth

"Thanks for having lunch with me today," Lisbeth tells Jaymes as the pair walk along the path between the shop and town on a lunch break. With the front busy between advancing past the 70th Floor and the new priority task of finding Laughing Coffin, the Crimson Warrior has been swamped with his personal duties. Lisbeth herself has been busy with new orders everyday, so the pair has rarely seen each other the last month. But they've kept up with each other through messages.

Jaymes smiles at the girl latched to his sword arm. "You're welcome. It was nice to get off the front for a moment. Yet I feel as if we're getting close to Laughing Coffin."

"That's...great." In the last month, the clearest came together and determined that Laughing Coffin had to be put down. With hundreds of deaths to their name, it has become clear that the red guild is a threat to the progression of the game. Three times the Assault Team tried to negotiate, each time resulting in the negotiator's death. Now the group decided to storm their base and either take them into custody or...worse, but locating the base has been difficult. Even Jaymes has reported that Argo has had trouble, and she's possibly SAO's best info broker.

"When this is over… I don't know what I'll do. But I will have avenged Koharu and so many other girls, and that will make me happy. Then I can focus solely on the game." Lisbeth drops her head, thinking of some things he can start doing after the raid, one of them being in a relationship with her. Before she opens her mouth, a notification pops up. Joshua opens his menu to look at the message he received from Asuna, holding his hand over his mouth in shock. "The hideout has been found. Laughing Coffin has been found."

Lisbeth, feeling her words will be inappropriate now, steps forward, keeping her back to the swordsman. "When will you leave?"

"We're not wasting any time. Three hours from now, we'll convene on the floor the guild is in."

"Oh." She sighs pitifully. How cruel fate is, to interrupt her when she had some courage. She looks up to the sky, hiding her tears from her hero but not the sun. "Jaymes, is Asuna and Kirito going? Please protect them. They're not like you. I bet Kirito will try really hard to refrain from killing them, so he'll be vulnerable due to his morality. I don't know what you're thinking, I won't pretend you won't kill anyone… But protect our friends, and most of all, make Koharu's murderer pay. Avenge her. And then…"

"Then?"

Lisbeth turns around, showing him her tear-stained face. "Please...come back to me. You better not die out there, or I'll… I'll hate you! I'll never forgive you! So don't you dare die, okay?"

Jaymes looks at Lisbeth, then walks up and captures her in his arms. Her tears soak his shoulder while his hand runs her back affectionately. "Lis… I… I will not let you down, but if I do…then you must live your life. That's all I can ask of you. All I want for you is to be happy...whether I can be there or not to make you the happiest girl in the world." He lets go of Lisbeth and holds a teleportation crystal. With a deep sigh he turns back to the weeping girl. "Why are you crying?"

"Because I care for you and you're treating this as a goodbye!"

"But this…"

"Don't say it!" She turns her back to him, trying not to let her irrational anger take hold of her. Sniffling and wiping her face, she decides to do something about her feelings for once without hiding them. "Jaymes, do you…" When she turns around, she sees that the warrior is gone, and so is her potential final chance. Feeling hurt, Lisbeth drops to the ground, saying a silent prayer for her hero and her love to come out of the battle alive.