Horunka Village, weapon shop.
After handing over the large quantity of high-quality Venomous Wasp stingers he had collected for Sander, then dumping the rest of his excess monster drops at painfully low prices, Shindo finally felt considerably lighter.
Both the Bronze Straight Sword he had originally equipped and the spare he had purchased afterward were already gone.
Shindo had been putting his weapons through such prolonged, intensive use over the past several days that their Durability had eventually reached zero, causing them to shatter into crystalline fragments just like defeated monsters.
At this point, Horunka Village could no longer support the kind of leveling pace Shindo wanted to maintain.
Kirito had left Horunka for Tolbana yesterday.
At the rate he was progressing, he would probably reach the First Floor Labyrinth before long.
Thinking about that, Shindo decided that perhaps it was nearly time for him to leave as well.
There were still two things he wanted to finish first.
He needed to obtain a Little Nepent’s Ovule, and he also had to complete the delivery Old Geese had asked him to make.
Until those were done, Shindo had no intention of accepting any more quests.
With that decided, he headed deeper into Horunka Village and eventually stopped outside a house facing one of the narrow streets.
After politely knocking on the door, he pushed it open and stepped inside.
As usual, a middle-aged woman was busy cooking something in the kitchen.
A faintly bitter medicinal smell lingered in the air.
Sensing someone enter, she turned toward Shindo with a puzzled expression.
“Oh, it’s the young adventurer.
Did you come here for something?” Shindo walked directly over to her.
“Sander at the weapon shop mentioned that something has been troubling you lately.
I thought I might be able to help.” “I see…” Aunt Anje stopped what she was doing.
Without the bubbling of the medicinal broth masking the sound, Shindo could faintly hear someone coughing in the back room.
“My daughter, Agatha, is ill.
I’ve asked the other villagers for help and tried every remedy we could find, but nothing has worked.” Her expression tightened with worry.
“Then I heard there might be an extremely rare medicinal ingredient somewhere in the dark forest west of the village.
They say it could cure Agatha’s illness.” “You’d like me to search the forest for it?” “Yes…
but as you can probably see, young adventurer, our circumstances aren’t very good right now.” Anje hesitated, clearly afraid he might become angry or refuse.
“Because of Agatha’s illness, we’ve spent almost everything we had.
As for a reward…
I can only offer what little remains to us.” “That’s all right, Aunt Anje.
This is something I’m capable of helping with, so I’m not going to refuse just because you can’t pay much.” Shindo’s answer was sincere.
Whether he was speaking to Old Geese or Anje, Shindo had never found himself treating them as mere NPCs.
They were unmistakably different from the non-player characters he had encountered in ordinary games.
Their expressions were too natural, their emotions too convincing, and the way they responded to him carried a weight that felt fundamentally different.
There was also a question Shindo had never been able to dismiss completely.
Could something resembling a Fluctlight exist inside SAO?
He had no proof, but the more seriously he treated the people of this world, the more real they seemed to become.
Strangely enough, the more sincerely he engaged with them, the more often they appeared to respond in equally unexpected ways.
“Oh…
thank you.
Thank you so much, kind young adventurer.” Anje covered her mouth with both hands.
Tears of gratitude gathered in her eyes, leaving her too overwhelmed to continue speaking.
A quest window appeared before Shindo.
[Hidden Quest — «Secret Medicine of the Forest»] [Quest Description: Aunt Anje’s daughter, Agatha, is suffering from a mysterious illness for which none of the residents of Horunka Village have been able to find a cure.] [As the great adventurer whose name has recently become famous throughout the village, help Aunt Anje obtain the medicinal ingredient said to cure Agatha’s strange illness: a «Little Nepent’s Ovule», found within the dark forest west of Horunka Village.] [Rewards: EXP +500, COL +0, Affinity with Anje and Agatha raised to maximum, greatly increased Affinity with all residents of Horunka Village.] [Hidden Reward: ——— (Unavailable)] [Penalty for Refusing or Failing the Quest: Affinity with all residents of Horunka Village greatly reduced.] Shindo stared at the part describing him as a great adventurer whose name had become famous throughout the village and felt his scalp prickle.
An indescribable mixture of embarrassment and discomfort surged through him like a runaway roller coaster.
He wanted out of there.
Immediately.
“There’s no reason to waste time.
Agatha’s condition shouldn’t be allowed to drag on, so I’ll leave now.” “Thank you.
I’m counting on you.” Anje accompanied him as far as the alley entrance.
The moment she had been given even a little hope and allowed to set down some of the burden she had been carrying, her whole appearance seemed to brighten.
The smile on her face made her look more than ten years younger, and Shindo realized that Aunt Anje was actually still a fairly young woman.
From there, he continued west.
After asking a few villagers for directions to the elderly cobbler’s house and turning through several alleys, Shindo found Old Gray’s cottage beneath an enormous banyan tree.
A wooden fence enclosed a small flower garden.
Fallen leaves had scattered across the yard, and droplets of water still clung to the petals of autumn-blooming flowers.
Several wooden racks stood nearby, covered with pieces of leather that had been treated with oil and left out to dry.
Shindo pushed open the small outer gate, followed the pebble path to the house, climbed the short wooden steps, and knocked.
Jingle-jingle-jingle.
When Old Gray opened the door, a tiny metal flower hanging from the inside of the frame shifted with it.
A small bronze bell nestled among its engraved petals rang pleasantly whenever the door moved.
The old man took one look at the young adventurer standing outside and apparently knew who he was.
“You must be the famous adventurer everyone’s been talking about lately—the one who rescued Old Geese from several dozen wolves…
er…
right?” “…” For the first time in his life, Shindo truly understood how terrifying rumors could become.
Especially when a “game” was realistic enough for gossip to spread exactly as it did in real life.
Not that SAO felt much like a game anymore.
“It wasn’t anything that dramatic!” He was neither famous nor had he rescued Geese from certain death.
“Geese asked me to bring you the leather for his new shoes.
He said he’d come collect them and pay you once his leg is better.” “What a humble great adventurer!” Old Gray exclaimed.
“Everyone in the village has heard the story.
They say you carried Old Geese on your back while fighting your way in and out of a wolf pack seven times, and then casually stabbed a Boar King to death when you noticed it lurking nearby!” Of everything in that sentence, the Boar King was the only innocent party.
Shindo immediately withdrew his previous assessment that Old Geese was a terrible liar.
There was no question where these ridiculous stories had come from.
Geese must have gotten drunk and started bragging to everyone in the village.
“To witness the presence of such a great adventurer is an honor for Old Gray.” Gray stepped aside and invited him in.
Shindo suddenly had an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu.
He materialized the Boar King hide and handed it over.
Gray produced a magnifying glass and examined the leather from several angles for quite some time before finally nodding.
“Shoes made from leather of this quality will last for years.
Old Gray guarantees it.
Of course, craftsmanship like that will take quite a while—” “Geese probably isn’t in any hurry to start wearing them.”