"Yo, Asuna!"
Hearing someone call his name, Sato looked up, sized her up briefly, then greeted the girl walking toward them.
As she approached, Asuna's eyes suddenly widened as she looked at Kanna, who was still eating nonstop, and the tall stack of plates beside her. She exclaimed in shock, "This child…"
"She's Kanna, my neighbor's kid."
"Even a child this young can enter this game?"
Although Asuna had calmed down slightly after her initial surprise, she was still full of astonishment.
"Want to join us?"
Sato invited.
"Thank you!"
Asuna did not refuse. There were no empty seats left in the café anyway.
"Megumi, over here!"
After sitting down, Asuna waved toward the entrance.
Only then did Sato and Kirito notice that another girl had entered with Asuna earlier.
The girl was very beautiful, with delicate features and fair skin. She was the kind of beauty that, once noticed, was hard to look away from. Yet strangely, no one had noticed her at first.
For Sato, who possessed the talent of Intuition, this was something that caught his attention. Moreover, the moment he saw her, he felt a vague sense of familiarity.
Hearing Asuna call her, the girl standing at the door slowly walked over.
"Can she join us?"
Asuna, already seated, turned and asked Sato.
"Of course. There's plenty of space here. Even if you brought a few more beautiful girls, we could still fit."
Sato joked with a smile.
Asuna rolled her eyes and glared at him. "I didn't expect you to be this kind of person. I'm starting to regret coming over."
"There's no such thing as regret medicine in this world."
"Hmph."
Asuna snorted lightly, then pulled the other girl to sit down and introduced her. "This is Megumi, a friend I met in SAO. She may be beautiful, but please don't get any strange ideas."
Sato smiled, then looked at the girl with curiosity. "Hello, I'm Satoshi."
Kirito also introduced himself. "Hello, I'm Kirito."
"I'm Megumi."
The girl stood and gave a slight bow. Her voice was gentle, like a soft spring breeze, quiet and soothing, carrying a faint hint of floral fragrance that calmed the heart.
"Have we met before?"
Sato suddenly asked.
Hearing this, Megumi looked at him, then nodded lightly. "We met once at the starting plaza."
Sato showed a look of realization, then quickly asked, "What would you two like to eat? This guy here is treating."
Huh?
Kirito's eyes widened slightly. He glanced at Sato without making it obvious, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Are you serious?
Your little girl has already eaten so much on my tab, and now you're using my money to flirt too?
Sato shot him a look.
Come on, don't tell me you're going to be stingy now. There are two beautiful girls here. Who knows, you might even get a girlfriend out of it. Stop fixating on your sister all the time.
Kirito sighed inwardly. Fine, he had already spent so much today, a little more would not make a difference.
"Order whatever you like. It's on me."
"Then we won't hold back!"
Asuna smiled and, together with the girl beside her, each ordered a reasonably priced cake.
With time to spare, casual conversation naturally followed.
Kanna continued her battle with the cakes in front of her, though she was no longer stuffing them down whole like before. Instead, she used a spoon, slowly savoring each bite.
Sometimes Sato even wondered if, by sending her to Totsuki, food waste there might disappear entirely…
"Does Megumi have some kind of ability that lowers her presence?"
Sato took a sip of his tea and looked at the girl sitting across from him.
"Hm?"
Asuna and the girl both looked at him in surprise.
"You actually noticed?"
"Because being ignored like that just now was unnatural. After all, she's a beautiful girl, so normally she should draw attention."
Sato explained.
The girl named Megumi seemed a little embarrassed and lowered her head slightly.
"That's right. Megumi has a talent called Akalin. It not only reduces her own presence, but can also make people around her overlook her."
"I met her on the third floor. Back then, I ran into a monster and got into trouble. Megumi just walked up to it and dealt a fatal blow to its neck."
"There's actually such a terrifying ability?"
Kirito was immediately shocked. As a hardcore gamer, his focus was always on the game itself.
Sato, however, was different. After hearing Asuna's explanation, a scene immediately formed in his mind.
A dark forest, dim and sunless.
Asuna gritted her teeth as she fought a massive monster. After an intense battle, the two reached a tense standoff.
At that moment, behind the monster, in the dim woods, a figure casually walked out.
The girl named Megumi wore a calm expression. Holding a dagger half the length of her arm, she slowly approached the monster under Asuna's stunned gaze, then struck.
Slash.
Blood burst forth like a fountain. The monster collapsed into a pool of blood, bright red staining the girl's calm, pale face.
Hiss…
Sato inhaled slightly and rubbed his temples.
No, no, this is starting to feel like a yandere scenario.
Maybe I'm not quite right in the head either.
"By the way, Kirito!"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember that school legend from our school?"
Kirito paused for a moment, then showed a look of realization. "You mean that ghost girl legend?"
Across from them, the girl named Megumi suddenly stiffened.
"That's right. There's a rumor about a ghost girl at our school. They say she really exists, but aside from the legend, in real life she also seems to be constantly overlooked, with an extremely weak presence…"
Sato said it with a hint of contemplation.