A man in full plate armor hung from atop the church's bell tower.
A thick line of hemp rope stretched from within the top of the tower, through the window, and circled around the neck of the man in a tight noose.
He struggled, but his hands were not on the noose around his neck. Rather, they were wrapped around a crimson, thorned, long sword plunged directly into his chest, through his chest armor.
A crowd had gathered below. Gasps of fear and confusion filled the area as Yuuji and Asuna appeared on the scene.
"That's…!"
Asuna gasped, and before she could react, Yuuji dashed off.
"Yuuji!"
The crowd turned and saw a hooded man run up the walls, leaping up by the slightest of indentations on the brick walls of the tower.
A gleam flashed from beneath his hood.
Then in the next moment, the hemp rope tied around his neck snap.
"Aaargh!"
A heavy thud and clanking of metal armor resounded as the man landed heavily on the ground.
Yuuji landed softly by his side.
He could not see his HP bar, but considering his heavy armor build and the time between someone noticing a large man in heavy armor dangling down a tall tower by a rope with a sword plunged into his chest, he must still have a bit of HP left.
"I'll have to pull this out, or your HP will keep draining. It… shouldn't hurt that much."
Yuuji noticed the fear in his eyes. Or rather… panic. Perhaps, out of fear of the pain pulling out the sword might cause.
"Don't worry. It'll be fine-"
Yuuji extended his hand to the sword… But before even reaching it, the man, along with his armor, shattered into particles of light.
The crimson red sword clanked onto the ground as the cut noose fell limply on where his neck had been.
"K-Kyaaaaaa!"
Screams resounded once again amongst the crowds. Disbelief, panic, anxiousness, confusion, and fear spread through each player faster than the plague.
"Yuuji!"
Asuna ran up to Yuuji, holding his still extended hand, and looked at him worriedly.
"...Are you okay?"
"...Yeah."
A heavy breath escaped his lips.
It wasn't the first time he had seen a man die… But it was still shocking to see one dying in such strange circumstances.
'Was it a duel…?'
Yuuji immediately looked around the crowd in search of a "Duel Winner" notification.
A Total Lose Mode duel was the only way he knew for a player to die in a safe zone. And just as he searched, a familiar voice resounded from the midst of the crowd.
"Everyone! Look around for the 'Duel Winner' notification!"
"Kirito?"
Yuuji and Asuna noticed Kirito shouting, looking around frantically with Sachi hugging his arm.
"Sachi!"
"A-Asuna-san!"
The two quickly pushed their way through the crowds and approached Yuuji and Asuna.
Sachi immediately leapt into Asuna's arms, her body trembling in fear.
While Kirito slowly approached the crimson red sword on the ground.
"...There was no duel winner notification."
Yuuji muttered, his eyes still scanning across the crowd.
"Yeah… It doesn't make sense… How could it happen?"
A player died within the safe zone.
No… A player was murdered within the confines of a zone programmed to be safe.
"This will be a long night…"
--------------------------------X--------------------------------
Yuuji and Asuna arrived at the top of the church's tower along with Kirito, who had Sachi clinging onto his arm.
A thick hemp rope, the one that had hung the armored man off the side of the tower, was tied to a wooden beam at the center of the room.
Yuuji looked down to its other half in his hand, the noose that had been cleanly cut by his sword, then to the crimson sword with curved protrusions, like thorns, along its blade.
"Just what happened…"
Kirito muttered behind them.
"It seems like the victim's duel opponent impaled him with the sword, put a noose around his neck, and pushed him out of the window… Does that sound right to you, Yuuji?"
Asuna looked to Yuuji as he stepped closer to the hemp rope tied around the beam, then looked to the side, outside the tower.
"I'm not sure… I don't think this is a sleep-pk case. People would definitely see if someone brought along a sleeping man in armor through the city streets and up a tower this tall."
He reasoned. That kind of spectacle would've been noticed by at least one player walking on the busy streets in front of the church. They'd remember such a scene if it were to happen, and they would've recognized the man in armor while he was hanging.
But none seemed to recognize him when it happened.
"There's a higher chance that the victim must've been awake. If so… If they were to really be dueling in a life or death situation, it wouldn't make sense for the perpetrator to take their time tying a noose around his neck, even if they've prepared it in advance. They could just simply push him off the tower and let fall damage do the rest of the work."
"...That's true. It doesn't make sense…"
Kirito muttered as he kept his hand on Sachi's to soothe her from the shock.
"Wait… Then, Yuuji… Do you mean…?"
Yuuji turned towards Asuna and nodded.
"Mm… I think it's staged."
"Eh?! Staged? How can that be? The man in armor died for real!"
Kirito couldn't wrap his head around Yuuji's deduction.
Based on his explanation, it did seem staged. But the man in armor died. Why would he agree to something that would get him killed?
"It's just a guess. It might be an accident that he ended up dead."
Yuuji shook his head and shrugged.
"Though, I don't think he's dead either."
"Eh?"
All eyes turned towards Yuuji in shock, and they followed him as he began making his way to the exit.
"Judging by his equipment, he must have quite the tanky build. He also didn't seem hurt anywhere except for having his sword plunged into his chest. Meaning, the only damage he suffered was from this sword."
Yuuji stopped by the door and glanced towards Kirito.
"Don't you think it's strange?"
"...What do you mean?"
"...He died too quickly."
Kirito's eyes widened in shock.
"Now that you mentioned it…"
The scenes of the crime began replaying in his mind.
Kirito and Sachi noticed the man in armor dangling off the church's tower with the sword plunged into his chest the moment they heard a woman's scream.
And as Yuuji said, the only wound he could see was the sword plunged into the man's chest.
A few seconds later, Yuuji appeared and immediately leapt up the side of the tower and cut the rope, letting the man fall to the ground.
Kirito remembered at the time feeling relieved that the man was saved. After all, he seemed quite tanky with his heavy-armor build. Falling from that height wouldn't have damaged him much.
But then, just a few moments later, the man shattered into particles of light, leaving behind the noose and the crimson word.
"Moreover, there's no duel winner notification anywhere… I'm not dismissing the possibility of a PK happening within inner areas. We all know Kayaba might just do that kind of thing to make things more "immersive". But, I think the possibility that all of this is staged and that they're faking the armored man's death is higher."
"...That makes sense. But then, how do they do it?"
Yuuji shrugged at Kirito's question.
"I don't know. We'll have to find out. I'm just saying this now so we won't get too far from the truth. But while investigating, we'll have to pretend that the man in armor really died. After all, we won't know if we'll be talking with the perpetrator or not."
Yuuji opened the door and began walking down the stairs leading back to the church.
"Let's go find some witnesses. If they want to make a show of it, I'm sure they'll be happy to talk with us who are investigating it."
Asuna followed after him. And as the sounds of their footsteps echoed throughout the stone walls of the tower, Kirito turned towards Sachi.
"Sachi… Are you okay? Do you want to go back to our inn first?"
She immediately shook her head.
"No…! I'd rather stay with you… Let's go follow Yuuji-san and Asuna-chan. I'll… feel less scared if we can find out the truth about this case."
Kirito nodded and patted her on the head.
"Alright, let's go."
They exited the room hand in hand and stepped down the stairs slowly, taking their time.
When they reached the bottom, a girl with long, wavy purple hair had stepped up and was talking with Asuna while Yuuji stood behind her, listening silently.
"Thank you for stepping up… I know it must be shocking and frightening, but we'll need your help to solve this case. May I have your name?"
Asuna spoke softly, as gently as possible at the nervous and frightened girl before her.
"U-Uhm… M-My name is Yolko."
Her voice, though soft, was immediately familiar to Asuna and Yuuji, even Kirito and Sachi who could barely hear it from their position.
"Was that first scream yours?"
"Y-Yes… I-I came here to have dinner with the man who was just killed. His name was… Caynz. We used to be in the same guild."
Tears began to flow down her cheeks as she clenched her hands in front of her chest.
"B-But… W-We got separated at the plaza. I looked around to search for him for a while… But then, I saw him hanging from the church's tower..!"
She covered her mouth, holding back the sobs that refused to stay down.
"...Did you see anyone else?"
Yuuji asked as Asuna patted Yolko on the back, trying to calm her down.
"I-It was just for a second… But I-I think I saw someone standing behind Caynz."
"I see. Then… I'm sorry to ask this, but do you know anyone who would've wanted to kill Caynz-san?"
Yolko shook her head. Her body trembling in Asuna's arms.
But then, a look of realization and fear suddenly appeared on her expression.
A clear contradiction to her answer… But something bothered Yuuji even more than the contradiction.
'Why would she pretend to hide…?'
--------------------------------X--------------------------------
Yuuji, Asuna, Kirito, and Sachi walked Yolko back to her inn room in yaMahaya Lodge.
They parted with warm smiles and encouraging words to the distraught girl as she entered her inn room after promising to meet again for another conversation regarding the case tomorrow.
Silence fell as the four walked through the night streets of Marten. The faint smell of gas lamps and night breeze filling the air.
They made it to a square where the group decided to take a seat on a stone bench near a fountain.
Asuna and Sachi sat down together, holding each other's hands. Kirito leaned against the backrest from behind the bench, while Yuuji stood near Asuna's side.
"She's lying, isn't she… About seeing someone standing behind Caynz?"
Sachi felt Asuna clenched her hand around hers ever so slightly.
And when she looked up, she saw a solemn, aggrieved expression on Asuna's beautiful visage.
"Yeah… I doubt there's someone there. Even if there were, it wouldn't make sense for anyone in a sword battle to tie a noose around someone else's neck before pushing them off the tower, just as Yuuji said."
Kirito nodded, his hands crossed around his chest.
He looked up to the night skies and let out a deep sigh. It was difficult to see the stars with the lights around him. There might only be a few stars programmed for the night skies in this floor precisely because of this.
At these moments, Kirito couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer genius of Kayaba and this world for their attention to details.
The game mechanics were apparent for all of them to see. But that was the only thing that reminded them that this was a game.
The rest… The world around them sometimes almost feels indistinguishable from the real world.
"It's hard to believe… Yolko-san seemed so distraught…"
Sachi saw the fear and panic in Yolko's eyes when they talked to her. She seemed genuinely shaken by the events that happened.
"Well, if it really was a murder, then Yolko-san might just be an accomplice to distract everyone else's attention to Caynz high up in the tower. Her scream would've made everyone look up while the real perpetrator escaped. Her distraught might simply be adrenaline in aiding the murder."
"... That could be true as well."
Sachi couldn't deny Yuuji's words. She couldn't tell if Yolko was acting or not. But if she was, then she'd successfully fooled her.
Yuuji didn't blame Sachi's hesitance to believe his words. After all, Yolko's acting was amazing.
Though, that was in part because her panic wasn't fully false. She seemed genuinely surprised by what happened at the church.
Not towards the death… But what happened before it.
'Moreover, she seemed to also be hiding something too…'
"Well, let's start somewhere."
All eyes turned towards Yuuji as he took out the crimson sword from his inventory and held it in his hand.
"This is the only evidence we have that could lead us somewhere. If it's a real murder, then this would be the murder weapon. And if it's staged, then the mastermind planted this evidence for us to find. Either way, it's best if we can find out more about this weapon, especially who made it and who owned it originally."
Kirito straightened up and turned towards Yuuji.
"I agree. But, we'll need someone with an Appraise skill…"
"Hm… I have a friend with that skill, but she's busy around this time…"
Asuna shook her head, disappointed.
Yuuji could ask Ai for help. It would be easy for her to identify the maker and original owner of an item in his inventory. But only Asuna knew about Ai.
He wouldn't be able to explain his ability to learn details about this sword without having the skill in front of Kirito and Sachi.
"It's fine. I know someone who can help. He should still be open around this time."
If he wasn't, then he could simply wake him up and ask him for his help.
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AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! Please comment your thoughts~! I would love to hear what you think about it~!!!!
Also, if you'd like to read additional chapters ahead and get a pdf version (Light & Dark), please feel free to check out my at patr_eon.com/verglasx ~!
Thank you~!