Twentieth Day of the Month of the Ash Tree.

  1020 AST.

  In the forests of Floor 22.

  “Let’s see… if memory serves, the house was around here…”

  Kirito scratched his head as he retraced the steps he had taken here from memory. Of course, as it was already quite a while ago, it was rather vague. “Kirito, are you sure you’re in the right place?” Shiranami asked, slightly exasperated.

  “I should be,” he replied. “It’s been a while.”

  “I remember you telling me that there was a nice house here that you wanted to buy when we first reached this floor.”

  “Yeah, but I couldn’t afford it at the time so I gave up on it. When I did finally have enough money, I realized that it’d be very inconvenient to live in a house that is a twenty-minute trip away from the nearest Teleport Gate even at top speed so I decided to live in Algade on the fiftieth floor.”

  “I see. Agil-san set up his shop there too so you have easy access to supplies,” Shiranami nodded in understanding.

  “Yeah.” At that, Kirito cut himself off as he spotted a familiar terrace. “Aha, there it is.” He made his way over to the quaint log cabin, surrounded by natural scenery and relatively hidden from view from all the green moss clinging to its outside walls. Upon arriving at the steps, he spread his arms. “It’s a nice house, isn’t it?”

  “Mmm, I’ll give you that, I guess,” Shiranami said. “I feel like it’s now worth getting out of bed. I still can’t believe how hard you went at me last night. I could hardly feel my hips this morning.”

  “Ahaha, Kirito did say that he saw a strange icon in the corner of his vision that blinked every time he switched between us.”

  “Yeah, I’m not sure what it was but it just… swept my exhaustion away? It just felt like it gave me stamina to keep going even after I was sure I couldn’t go on.”

  “Silica-chan and Helen-senpai chose to housesit because they were still trying to recover. Hell, even Nirrnir-sama decided to stay behind… although I think that was more because she was feeling pretty lazy.”

  “Well, my mistress can be quite lackadaisical at times. Anyway, let’s stop chatting out here and get in.” Kirito climbed up the terrace and onto the raised foyer connected to the front door, before opening the door for the two girls and waving them in. Thanking him as they stepped inside, the two girls marveled at the simple yet housewarming design of the house. The house had a rather high ceiling with an inverted T-beam holding up the roof which was itself connected to beams that attached to the walls of the house. The living room in which they had entered was minimally furnished with a round wooden table surrounded by chairs and a curved three-seater sofa over a large rug.

  “We got two beds in here!” Shiranami hollered from the other side of the house as she checked the bedroom, which as she said, was fitted with two king-sized beds, an empty wall that Shiranami thought would be nice to hang photos on and an external balcony that offered a magnificent view of Lake Stetz, the largest lake of the many lakes that dot the twenty-second floor, and the surrounding hilly terrain. This is due to the house’s location near the peak of one of the taller hills on the floor. Shiranami gasped in disbelief at the view before returning to the main living room where she passed by the modest kitchen and bathroom. She found Asuna and Kirito checking themselves out in the full-size mirror next to the wardrobe closet. Rolling her eyes, she said, “Hellooooo? Anyone home?”

  Startled, both Kirito and Asuna shifted around, a caged expression of shame clouding their faces. “Uh… We just liked the mirror…” Kirito began.

  “Ugh, stop, don’t even start to explain yourself,” Shiranami sighed, rubbing her eyebrows between her middle finger and thumb. “I’ll ensure to treat your dragon very nicely tonight if you listen.”

  “Yes’m,” he immediately replied, saluting. Asuna gave him a side-eye that all but said, “Really?” Before Kirito could respond, a tremor tore through the building and knocked Kirito off of his feet. He fell backwards away from Asuna who also collapsed onto her rear end. Shiranami toppled into the sofa as she yelped, “Um, what’s happening!?”

  Unsteadily, Kirito attempted to stand up but found the shaking to be too much; he gave up and looked out the window to find that the morning sun was blotted out by a moving tapestry of leaves, grass, and sticks. “Is that wind?”

  “Sure looks like it!” Asuna yelled through the roaring winds. Eventually, the shaking subsided and while the three could still feel vibrations, it wasn’t of such intensity that they could not stand. All three got up before relocating to the sofa. “What’s going on, Kirito?”

  He shook his head. “I wouldn’t know. This is the first time I’ve stepped foot into this house. If there was a quest here, then Argo would have provided me some information…”

  “I assume she didn’t?”

  “I did tell her about the house but I guess she didn’t investigate it. It is really just a normal house in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Except for the part where we got caught up in a tornado?” Shiranami mumbled. At that, a notification sound played as an exclamation mark appeared in front of them. It then automatically opened up an air window. “Yeah, it is a quest.”

  “?Witch of the West and the Three Treasures??” Asuna read the title aloud.

  “Looks like a collection-kill hybrid quest but… it says here the quest is in progress.”

  “We’re stuck in the air though. How are we progressing?”

  Asuna stared closer at the screen before focusing on a single line. “—It says here that we’re missing a required NPC.”

  “Oh.” As Kirito and Shiranami synchronized that dumb breath, the latter made loops with her hair. “I guess we got no choice but to ask for help. We can’t exactly leave the house now, can we?”

  Asuna got up from the sofa and started for the door but when she tried to open it, she felt immense resistance from the raging winds outside. “Nope! Definitely can’t exit out that way! Besides, I don’t think even our Acrobatics skill can help us reach the ground safely.”

  Kirito shook his head, beckoning Asuna to return to the sofa. “Okay, fine, let me see if I can get someone on the outside to help.” Bringing up his menu, he opened his friends list and shot a message to his friend. ?Uhh... Bro, you mind helping me out? I think I’m stuck in an instance map.?

  ?… You’re kidding me, where?? The reply from his friend was much faster than Kirito had expected.

  “Who are you texting?” Shiranami asked.

  “Suzaku.”

  “Hoo boy.”

  ?Floor 22. I was looking to buy that house I talked about with you a few months back but when Asuna, Shiranami, and I walked into the house, it got sucked into the air.?

  Suzaku was half asleep, his head dug into the table for a moment before he groaned, sliding his body up and managing to start stretching as he let out a loud yawn upon realizing that his friend genuinely needed him. “Hang on, we may need to go…”

  Two girls were seated opposite the lethargic teen, one with beautiful silver hair, the other with rose pink hair. The one with pink hair, Tohka, raised an eyebrow. “Go? Go where?”

  “Is it time for me to go?” the other girl, Kirie, started, as she rose from her seat; she was immediately stopped by Tohka, who initiated a vice grip on Kirie’s wrist. She shook her head disapprovingly at the action, cowing Kirie into returning to her seat.

  Gently popping his bones, Suzaku smiled at the two. “How do you feel about floor 22? It appears our dear black swordsman messed with a quest and got glitched, now he needs us to save him.”

  “Floor 22?” Kirie perked up. “Quite a place for the Black Swordsman to get stuck in. Well, I suppose I can’t say no…” She trailed off as she looked to her right, where Tohka still had a firm grip on her wrist.

  “If I don’t hold on to you, you’ll vanish into thin air. I don’t know how you do it but it’s clearly different from Suzaku’s vanishing act with his skillset.”

  “Be a good girl, Kirie, we need you to help us.” Suzaku remarked with a wide smile, gently patting the girl’s head before stepping out of the booth as he stole a final bite of his sandwich. “You and Argo know the most, let’s rely on that. If you don’t mind…” He then shot a text over to his friend, ?Send any additional applicable information, I’ll be there soon.?

  “But, my dessert…” Kirie eyed her unfinished ice cream. At that, Tohka simply picked up the bowl and with it in tow, dragged herself and Kirie out of the establishment, following behind Suzaku. “Alright, Suzaku, lead the way.”

  “—I get the feeling he’s not coming alone,” Kirito muttered after reading his friend’s message.

  “Why?” Asuna inquired.

  “I don’t know. I just feel like someone is coming with.”

  Shiranami grinned, “Ah, must be Tohka.”

  As Kirito, Asuna, and Shiranami waited patiently for Suzaku’s arrival, he, Kirie, and Tohka soon arrived at the twenty-second floor, Suzaku let out a small and pitiful grumble. “I forgot just how bright this place is…” Starting to scroll through the information Kirito sent him, the boy slowly stepped forward and checked the (limited) data for the quest that he had asked Argo for. “If that freaking Rat gets us all killed, I’m gonna haunt her ass.” Pulling up his hood, the teen set his palm on the sword's handle.

  “Come now, it’s the twenty-second floor—it can’t be that bad,” Tohka admonished. “Although it may be prudent to raise our guards slightly, seeing as Kirito was unaware of this quest.”

  “Instance dungeons have a funny way of bringing much stronger problems than what’s reasonable…” Suzaku countered, contemplating altering his loadout before frowning gently as he started to walk forward. Soon, the trio left the confines of the floor’s main settlement and into the forest as the details of the information he had on hand dictated that he enter this stretch of the woodland.

  “Now… Kirito said to find a dog, right?” Tohka crossed her arms as she followed behind Suzaku, her gaze scanning the forest floor.

  “I hope it’s fluffy!” Kirie giggled excitedly.

  “Find a dog to get to a home… that was kicked up… by a tornado… Wait, there’s no way—” Slowly working through the problem, the boy stopped in his tracks. A large smile crept across his face as he turned to Tohka and Kirie with a massive grin, losing all of his former exhaustion. “Oh, I know exactly what I’m getting for you guys—that hat, the slippers! I’m killing that witch and I’m getting her stuff!!!" With that, he sped off, weaving through the trees in search of one (soon to be) poor dog. “THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!!”

  “Dear…?” Tohka could only raise her eyebrows in confusion as she uncrossed her arms and chased after him. Kirie too cocked her head in befuddlement but followed behind Tohka.

  “Cardinal—you make Santa Claus a monster, you make me fight Carmilla for her heart, and you let me kill the wicked witch! God, I love you sometimes.” With that final monologue, he came to a sudden stop before leaping into the tallest tree and activating his ?Search? skill—looking off into the forest for the dog.

  Tohka sighed as she finally understood what her lover was so excited about. She looked beyond where his sight was focused and noticed a clearing. Approaching it, she spotted an exclamation point—

  As he watched his partner, the Raven turned to Tohka and leaped down— seeing the exclamation point and beginning his approach. “C’mon, Toto, be a good dog and don’t make this hard for us…” Whether or not the dog understood was another matter although it almost certainly didn’t hesitate in its cute barks as it happily ran to Suzaku and licked his outstretched hand. “Good dog!” Without hesitation, Suzaku picked up Toto and smiled.

  Meanwhile, Tohka perked up her ears because she heard a strong wind. Confused, she looked around before glancing upward to find something that should not be. “—I know I probably shouldn’t say this but look up, Dear.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Yeah, lemme guess…” Slowly trailing his eyes up, a small frown formed as he readied his free hand to take up his sword whilst keeping the dog safe. “A house off in the atmosphere?”

  “Well, it’s just sitting there—oh?” A wind current had worked to keep the original house afloat, lifting it a little over 10 meters above the highest trees. Unfortunately, without Toto, the mission was glitched and the house stayed in place.

  Suzaku looked up at the house, his cloak gently flowing in the wind. Tohka and Kirie’s longer hair followed in kind as they watched the house—coming closer as it was as the wind died down.

  “We should move.” Suzaku remarked in a deadpan tone, starting to dash aside with the dog in hand.

  The house was falling fast with Kirito and company inside feeling a sudden shift in gravity; they all fell down once more. Although they didn’t lose a single hit point, it certainly wasn’t the most pleasant experience. As for Suzaku, Toto the dog was trying to jump out of his grip into the falling house but he stopped it from leaping away; this distracted him from stepping away from the falling house, enough for Kirie to yelp, “Watch out!” She immediately grabbed his cloak and tugged him back just as the house violently crashed into the ground. The two teens were blown backward with Suzaku landing on his back with Toto still gently swaddled in his arms.

  Kirie, meanwhile, had landed on top of him, her head dinging the soft dirt. She mumbled in annoyance under her breath as she rubbed her forehead but found herself in an awkward position. She looked down at her chest to find that she had smothered the boy with her growing bosom. “Um… It’s a great feeling but—”

  Kirie’s face immediately colored pink as she pounced away from him. “I-I-I’m sorry!!” She then felt a dangerous spike from behind her, slowly cocking her head back to see Tohka’s smile… yet, it did not seem to reach her eyes. “Shinya. How was her chest? Was it as soft as you imagined it being?”

  “—Is now really the time?” Suzaku asked in a deadpan tone, trying his damnedest to ignore the question before standing up as Toto leaped from his hands. He knew that this wasn’t over, but he did hope if he could avoid it long enough, she’d drop it. “Oi, Kirito! You okay?!” And internally, he was all but begging his friend to come outside so he wouldn’t have to answer.

  Tohka held her gaze on Suzaku but sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Asuna, are you alright?”

  Kirito swung open the door to find his friend as he expected. “Yo. Man, this is kinda embarrassing now that you’re actually here.”

  As the door swung open, Suzaku watched as Toto tried to rush inside, only for the Raven to catch him with a frown. “Toto, please stay put while we talk…” He asked, gently patting the dog's head.

  Asuna followed and brightened upon seeing Tohka. “Tohka-san! It’s nice to see you, and is that the Evanescent Phantom Thief hiding behind you?”

  “Ugh, quit hiding behind me,” Tohka groaned as she used Reduced Earth to appear behind Kirie and hold her in place. “You need to get over your shyness.”

  “If you’re comfortable with it, would you mind introducing yourself? My name is Asuna. I’m the vice-commander of the Knights of the Blood.”

  Shiranami stepped out from behind her, adding, “—And I’m Shiranami. Assistant to the vice-commander. I’m the third-in-command of the Knights of the Blood.”

  “U-Uhm…” Kirie’s eyes darted around as her voice grew softer. “Pi-Pikopiko☆Kirie. Solo player.”

  “You know they can’t hear you, right?” Tohka whispered into her ear.

  “Hiii—!?!” Kirie yelped, raising her voice. “Pikopiko☆Kirie! Solo player! I-It’s nice to meetchu—!”

  Tohka giggled at Kirie biting her tongue. “Well, you heard her. We simply call her Kirie to spare her the embarrassment.”

  Off to the side, Kirito was petting Toto as he was still cozying around in Suzaku’s arms. “Um… You gonna put a stop to that…?”

  “Tohka, stop bullying Kirie. She’s trying her best.” Suzaku handed off Toto to Kirito, frowning gently as he gave the Phantom Thief small headpats. In a small way, it was more obvious to Asuna and Shiranami that Suzaku was a big brother in the real world given how he treated her. It was a different sight than his usual attitude—normally filled with sarcasm and friendliness becoming more gentle and careful with her.

  “Wow… I guess even the edgy guy needs a break from the edge,” Shiranami jabbed.

  “You’re one to talk, little miss princess.” Suzaku remarked in kind, glancing back at Shiranami with a frown.

  She simply replied with a cheeky smile. Asuna cut in, “Well, anyway, I assume that cute canine you’re hugging is part of the quest?”

  “Woof!” Toto affirmed from Kirito’s arms. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Asuna tickled the dog’s head.

  “Ever seen the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz? This is Toto!” Suzaku asked with a wide smile. Both Kirito and Tohka knew about it, Suzaku made them watch it with him on the film’s 90th anniversary. Only so many cinemas were willing to show a random (though Iconic) American movie, so Shinya enjoyed it with his friends.

  Kirito cleared his throat as he handed off Toto to Asuna. He then cupped his hands over his mouth, looked up at the sky, and shouted, “NEEEEEEEEEEEEERD!!!!”

  “I’ll stab you.” Suzaku replied. “We need to get Toto to the house so he can leave Kansas and go to Munchkinland within the land of Oz. If I’m right, we need to take the Yellow brick road to the Emerald City and find Oz, but the Wicked Witch of the West will try to stop us… oh and I called the Hat and the Ruby slippers for my girls.”

  “Kansas? Let’s go to Brazil instead,” Kirito sniggered. “But well, I suppose all we do now is just get into the house?”

  “That depends, did you guys immediately get blasted off into the sky or was there a delay?” Suzaku asked.

  Asuna thought for a moment. “We entered the house and looked around a bit before the door suddenly closed and we found ourselves suspended in the air.”

  “We should try to keep it tight, when one of us enters, we all enter and ensure toto is with us to not recreate the glitch.” Suzaku ordered, looking off at the home for a moment before glancing at the three. “Was it nice inside?”

  “Oh, yeah, it was nice,” Kirito nodded. “I’m definitely buying it.”

  “It’s only floor 22, but still. Do you want to prepare?”

  “Nah, we should be good with our current loadout. I mean, we’re all front-liners—I sincerely doubt there’s anything that would have us sweating here. Just in case though, does everyone have recovery items?”

  Asuna and Shiranami nodded, “We do.” Tohka also nodded in the affirmative while Kirie was still trying to recover from her embarrassment. She too silently bobbed her head.

  “All good, let’s rock.” Suzaku remarked with a smile, walking into the house.

  Everyone filed into the house. Admittedly, with that many people inside, the living room began feeling slightly cramped. “Alright, take a seat or lie down on the floor. The winds should start right around now.” As they all kneeled or sat down, the house began to roughly shift as the winds took hold of the house’s very foundation. With a swift burst, the denizens were pushed deeper into the floor as before they pushed further, far beyond the treeline and into the quest area.

  It was an isolated mountain at the far edge of Floor 22, many players explored it but found themselves unable to rise to challenge and reach the top of the mountain. Unbeknownst to them, it was impossible to enter the mountain top and explore the space before them. It was isolated for specifically this quest, not letting anyone else enter for any reason. As the house landed, the group watched without much fear, they were substantially higher level than a majority of the floor and could likely handle anything within reason.

  The first one out was Toto, having rushed off in sight of the various NPC's. A man literally made out of straw, a bipedal lion, and a large metal person who towered over both. All the while, the players watched them from the windows, readying themselves for possible combat.

  “Okay Suzaku, you’re the film nerd—” Kirito remarked with a deadpan tone.

  “—I respect classic cinema, you philistine.” Suzaku replied with annoyance, cutting off his friend.

  Rolling his eyes, Kirito sighed before Asuna spoke up to get to the point. “Are these guys dangerous? I can’t imagine that a Lion guy would like newcomers.”

  “He is literally the Cowardly Lion. The others are a scarecrow that’s missing a brain and a man made of Tin; I've seen you punch through boulders. If I’m right, we have the role of Dorothy.” Standing, Suzaku decided to take a momentary lead as he pulled his hood down, walking forward.

  “I can’t imagine that they’ll be particularly dangerous,” Shiranami interjected, standing and joining the hooded boy, her confidence worn on her sleeve. “We’ll be fine.”

  Asuna shrugged, “I suppose she’s right. Floor 22 is far too easy for us now. Hey, Kirito, what do you think?”

  “If anything, I think Cardinal would do something about it. Our levels are too high for anything this floor can offer but Cardinal can’t exactly interfere too much. Not gonna lie, I’m guessing it will ‘adjust’ the difficulty of this quest to something closer to our level. HP inflation, for instance.”

  “We’ll be fine.” Suzaku declared. “Look, all we reasonably need to do is defeat the Wicked Witch of the West and we win. Not that complicated, so let’s do what we do best and clear out some monsters.”

  After the group gave a small nod in agreement, they stepped out of the house to reveal four separate quest icons—three in random directions with the most conspicuous fourth quest icon hovering over the massive castle serving as a backdrop. “Alright Mr. Classic Cinema, what do you think we should start with?” Asuna asked with a small smile.

  “Simple. We begin with the castle. Clear out all of the flying monkeys, find the Witch, and end her.”

  “The flying what?” Kirito asked.

  “You saw the movie with me!” Suzaku yelled back, only to groan as the group walked past the various NPCs and continued onwards. “Her army of flying monkeys and her magic broom… it keeps her from being easily targeted. If we get some water, we may be able to melt her…”

  “Does this mean she doesn't bathe?” Shiranami inquired, disgust beginning to cross her face.

  “Her wickedness was so vast and vile that she dried her own blood, body, and soul. Not a single drop of fluid left her even when she was bit by Toto,” he explained matter-of-factly. “As such, let’s kill her.” As they spoke, the group sped off into the castle in the distance and began to lay siege to the various monsters that stood in their way upon entering the construction. It didn’t take them as much time as they suspected, even with the Cardinal System amplifying the HP and some random parameters of the monkeys, as the group effortlessly ripped through them and closed the distance into the main audience hall of the castle.

  “They definitely feel less squishy than they should be,” Shiranami observed.

  “Yeah, it must be the HP inflation I was talking about. In any case…” They soon arrived at the main doors. “Ready, set, go.” Kirito declared, nodding at his best friend before throwing a sudden synchronized kick in sync with him and blowing the door off its hinges. The door bounced across the floor into a mess of pixels before the two boys simultaneously raised their blades. A green haired hag—of slightly greater stature than Agil—stood at attention over a boiling cauldron, rotating a large ladle as a wicked cackle escaped her hoarse throat. Upon gazing on the swordsmen who had so roughly destroyed her entryway, her wicked laughter devolved into a mess of giggles.

  With sword in hand, Suzaku held up his other hand, raising a finger and tapping it with his sword with every item he listed off. “Well, let’s see… A pack of forty wolves, a murder of forty crows, a swarm of black bees, and a veritable army of winkies. Can’t really say they provided much of a challenge. So, what’s next? Would it be you?” Intending to forcibly skip past any possible dialogue options, he quickly rattled off all of the mobs that he and his friends just fought through. Of course, seeing as there was no other option, the witch let out a horrid scream. Her three HP bars manifested over her person as her clawed fingers grasped her cauldron and flipped it over, sending its putrid contents toward the players as an initial assault.

  “Leave it to me!” Kirie brandished her rapier and summoned the winds. Her green-hued Vision attached to her rapier’s scabbard glowed excitedly as she drew power from it. Stamping the ground with her right foot, she pivoted thrice, slashing four times in quick succession; this was the intermediate one-handed rapier-category light combo attack, ?Sonic Disturbance?. Its gold hue further enhanced by the verdant winds, the four cuts blew away the toxic fluids. She then reached for her waist and drew her shortsword which immediately shone gold like her rapier did. “Ha—!” Vanishing in a single step, she reappeared directly in front of the wicked witch, her shortsword embedded in her body. “Suzaku, switch!”

  “Gladly!” Stepping in closer, Suzaku suddenly blocked her claw swipe with his blade, the two clashing violently as the witch snarled at him. “Man, you are uglier up close! I prefer Margaret Hamilton.” He snarked back, throwing a sudden front kick to push her back and into the path of the songstress.

  “Haha, as expected of a phantom thief!” Shiranami applauded. “Flawlessly unleashing the advanced single charging attack ?Gilded Crescent? with hardly any giveaway! Although I cannot say I appreciate having her sent my way, Suzaku!” Satisfying herself with that jab, she unleashed ?Sonic Resonance?, a one-handed straight sword-category intermediate heavy combo, her sword flashing twice vertically and twice more horizontally before she too sent a kick into the witch’s abdomen, throwing her back at the raven. This one-two-three combination from the three players already decimated her first health bar.

  “Crap, where is it!?” Suzaku asked as he began to break away from the boss battle, beginning a small search around the room with visible frustration.

  “Where’s what?!” Kirito demanded, as he jumped into action to take his friend’s place. While he felt there was no need to maintain such a proper frontline, it was nevertheless ingrained in his gamer mind that such things were necessary.

  “The pot of water! It should instantly end this!”

  “I don’t think it’s exactly the same, Suzaku!” Tohka declared, as she sheathed her sword and unleashed the two-handed curved sword-category sword-drawing skill ?Zekkuu? which immediately ripped one of the witch’s arms off. “Besides, she’s pretty weak. I do definitely see what Kirito is saying though. She’s far less squishy than she should be. That attack should have rid her entire second HP bar but that only took care of a third of it.”

  “Ugh, fine. No room for authenticity…” Suzaku pouted, raising his sword and smiling gently. “I’ll finish her off. Kirito, heads up!” Like his comrade in stealth, the raven seemingly disappeared before a sudden barrage of five slashes opened up across the witch's back, each strike removing large chunks of the witch’s HP. With his combo complete, he stepped back, moving well out of the way of the witch’s counterattack.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. Get ready to jump!” Kirito brandished both of his blades, noting the five wounds of ?Still Weight? before holding his swords out and spinning in place, activating the basic single attack, ?Final Revolution?. Light green erupted from Kirito’s rotation which quickly traversed the field; thanks to his advance warning, the party all either leaped or ducked to avoid the wave of energy which cut through the witch’s cauldron and her legs below her knees. “Asuna, Shiranami, switch!”

  “Thought you would never ask!” Shiranami stood with her back pressed against Asuna’s as both prepared a basic sword skill; Shiranami used ?Uppercut? while Asuna used ?Streak?. With a dying screech, the witch’s HP hit zero and she vanished into particles. With the wicked witch dead, the sound of fireworks rang throughout the hall and as the Clearers left the audience hall and stepped outside onto the balcony overlooking the castle grounds, they spotted a mass of NPCs celebrating with an unmatched fervor.

  Kirito scratched his head. “Welp. Technically, this quest was a ‘collection’ but since we ignored that and went straight for the ‘kill’ part of it, what do we do with the skipped NPCs?”

  “In the book, Toto and the others were invaluable for the defeat but we’re too strong to need them. I guess we just head back to the house to see if ownership transferred to Kirito?” Suzaku theorized, starting to lead the group towards the house that had carried them all the way here.

  Thankfully, it had not gone anywhere and Toto the dog and the other three NPCs for the quest were waiting beside it. “Thank you, kind travelers!” Scarecrow declared, extending its hand for a shake. As the group’s representative (although he himself did not like the role), Kirito nodded, a rather awkward smile on his lips as he offered his own. With Toto leading the way, the three NPCs continued on their journey, approaching the Yellow Brick Road.

  “If only life was as easy as following the Yellow Brick Road…” Suzaku lamented, his head drooping in frustration as Tohka set her hand on his shoulder.

  “Did you manage to see all that you wanted?” she asked gently as Kirie too wrapped her arm around his and looked into the distance in the direction of the Emerald City.

  “For the most part, yeah… this place was pretty cool.”

  The players climbed into the house and sat down wherever they could. Just as they were about to relax, the house launched itself once more into the air as it blasted itself back to its original location, the sudden change in position dislodging the players from their seats before the crash-landing threw them all into the floor.

  “WHY IS THIS HOW WE RETURN?!” Asuna screamed.

  “I think—” Suzaku began.

  “SHUT UP!!!” came everyone’s reply.

  “Sorry.”

  With the house surely not moving anymore, the players took their time to pull themselves together through the major annoyance of the situation. As the quest was declared complete, the various players took notice of the quest completion screen before looking around the living room, aghast at the appearance of treasure chests completely disparate from the rest of the room."Oho~? More shinies? And I thought the new abode was all we get~" Kirie bubbly inquired, approaching one of the three chests and opening its lid. “Is this—?”

  Suzaku curiously looked over her shoulder, only for a massive grin to form across his face and immediately snatch it up to reveal a pair of ruby red slippers. “No way!” He held them up with a smile, only to kneel down and present them to the Phantom Thief. “Try them on, they may have some cool effects!”

  “Oho? More shinies? Thought the new abode was all we get~” Kirie glanced at Suzaku kneeling on the ground, a mask of confusion slipping its way into her expression. She only increasingly grew uncomfortable as the expectant gaze the Raven was giving her dug into her composure. “Eeh? Umm… Suzaku, are you… I mean, I know you’re excited but… I-I can probably put on my own shoes… but… it’s not that I mind, bu—” The confused Phantom Thief only became quieter and quieter as her face slowly reddened.

  “Heh? Oh, sorry. I got really hyped up.” He remarked sheepishly, looking aside awkwardly before offering the slippers to her anyway. “Still, it’s only right if I help you put them on.”

  Kirito, meanwhile, let out a single snort; he immediately turned away as he held his hand over his mouth, trying to force a burst of laughter down. Asuna also looked away, a rather complicated expression crossing her face, while Shiranami looked on with sparkling eyes (although half—no, a good three-quarters—of it was because she was enjoying Kirie’s squirming). Tohka merely mussed her hair, failing to keep a teasing smile from forming.

  “Um… Okay… W-Would you do me the pleasure? A-After all, if you’re into it…” Kirie gave Suzaku her approval, although the latter half of her sentence was said too quietly for anyone to hear.

  Reaching forward, he helped her with her heels without an ounce of complaint. It wasn’t uncommon for his little sister to mess up her knots in her shoes, causing him to fix her shoes for her all the time. It was likely something even Kirito and Tohka knew; he saw Kirie as someone who is as adorable as his beloved little sister. “Alright, they should modify themselves to fit you best.” With that, he fixed the slippers onto her. True to his words, the new slippers affixed themselves fast to Kirie’s feet.

  As Kirie gingerly returned her feet to the ground, she for some reason felt taller. Right… these have heels. She looked over at Suzaku who even with her new footwear was still taller than her. Pouting cutely, she turned away, pacing around the room to get herself used to her newfound height. Suzaku tilted his head in confusion as he attempted to make sense of Kirie’s earlier expression. In her excitement, Kirie promptly forgot that she was indeed wearing heels; in a truly cinematic manner, she tripped over her own feet and fell in Suzaku’s direction. “Whoa!” he yelped as he easily caught her, stumbling back a few steps.

  “Nice catch,” Kirito snickered.

  “Truly a fairy tale-like development,” Shiranami added. “Kirie, you are not escaping today. We’re going to squeeze you for all the juicy stories!”

  “Eep…!” she squeaked, prying herself away from Suzaku, her forlorn gaze still lingering on him, something which did not escape the girls’ eyes.

  “Kirito, Suzaku, step outside, please,” Tohka gently commanded.