Silica accepted Kirito's invitation without a second thought.
It wasn't that she had no qualms about staying at a stranger's house, but her trust in Kirito outweighed any anxiety.
She was led to a tower on the outskirts of the main district on the twenty-second floor, where nothing else seemed to be around.
Silica felt a twinge of unease, wondering what could possibly be here, but when someone emerged from inside the tower, she was utterly shocked.
"Hachiman, I brought her."
"Nice to meet you! I'm Silica!"
"Hey, tough break the other day. Your familiar—Pina, right? Glad it got revived."
"Yes!"
(He's blunt, but maybe he's kind...)
"I heard you helped out too, Hachiman. Thank you so much."
"Ah, that was mostly Kirito's doing. I didn't contribute much."
"Still, thank you!"
"O-Oh, yeah, sure."
Guided inside by Hachiman, Silica started wandering around, exclaiming in awe at everything.
Hachiman seemed pleased that his home was being praised.
He took the initiative to start teaching Silica how to use daggers.
Once the lesson wrapped up, he showed her to the bath, and the three of them turned in for the night to prepare for tomorrow. Apparently, tomorrow's hunt would involve five people.
Silica drifted off to sleep feeling relaxed, thinking this was the first time she'd ever been so excited for a hunt.
The next day, Silica's heart nearly stopped when she saw the gathered group.
"Yo, Heathcliff."
"I appreciate you allowing me to join."
"Well, more firepower's always better."
"But how did this come about?"
"Yeah. I mentioned it when I was putting in for time off, and the commander insisted on coming along."
"Heathcliff joining something like this? That's rare—first time, even."
"Oh, come on. I need to stretch my wings outside the organization once in a while too."
"Ah, yeah, that happens sometimes."
"You're like that all the time, Hachiman."
There, assembled, were the top front-liners Silica had only heard rumors about.
Naturally, she had no acquaintance with anyone besides Kirito. She hadn't even seen them from afar before.
The Knights of the Blood Oath's commander, Heathcliff, wielder of the Divine Sword.
The vice-commander, the demon of the front lines, Asuna the Flash.
And the Black Swordsman, Kirito.
Silica hadn't heard of Hachiman until yesterday, but seeing how naturally he fit in with this group, and judging from his dagger instruction the day before, she figured he must be incredible too.
"So, where were you planning to go today?"
"I was thinking around the fifty-fifth floor to start."
(Ehh? That's way too much for me, Kirito!)
"With this lineup, why not the front lines? There's an unexplored dungeon a bit out from town, right?"
"Yes, I think that's fine with me."
"Yeah, sounds good."
"Alright, let's make it there."
(Eeeeeeeeeeeeh...)
"Silica, we're heading to a front-line dungeon, but it'll be fine—relax."
"O-Okay..."
Of course, Silica couldn't bring herself to refuse.
Silica had witnessed Kirito fighting the Titans Hand members, but truthfully, that couldn't even be called a real fight.
Today, she got a firsthand look at what true top-tier combat looked like.
"Three minotaur-types coming from deeper in."
"Got it. I'll stop all their legs first."
"Asuna, wipe out the one on the right."
"Roger."
"Kirito, hit it once then switch to Silica. Silica, unload your max-power attack. Then switch right back to Kirito. Kirito, even when you pull back, keep your eyes on Silica."
"Understood. Silica, here it comes!"
"Y-Yes!"
"Alright, I'll pull the next ones."
The dizzying high-speed battle continued, and Silica's level climbed rapidly.
Whenever enemies thinned out and they had downtime, Hachiman actively coached her on dagger techniques.
The other three shared tips on positioning and exploration too.
"But this is my first time experiencing it—a familiar is amazing."
"Yeah, Pina's letting us chain fights like this!"
Silica was skillfully directing Pina to use its HP-restoring breath at the right moments.
"Right. Silica's instructions are spot-on."
"I'm just doing my best..."
"Don't sell yourself short. Including Pina's power, it's all yours."
"Yes, thank you!"
"How many levels have you gained?"
"Four already!"
"No way, that's fast."
Hearing that, Heathcliff muttered something about how this method could really boost levels—but then again, not without this group.
"Heathcliff, I get it, but forget work for today at least."
"Ah, sorry. Force of habit."
"Alright, next up. Everyone ready?"
"Anytime!"
"Then I'll pull the next batch."
After that, Silica kept battling relentlessly.
It was hectic, but completely different from any fights she'd known—everyone understood their roles, covered each other, and there was an underlying sense of security, like they could handle anything.
Before she knew it, she'd gained two more levels.
"Six levels in one day? That's a first for me!"
"Well, this hunting ground's way above your usual level..."
"And this group's pace is insane."
"Shall we call it quits soon?"
"I found what looks like a boss room. Since we're here, why not finish with that?"
"Hm, I don't see any issue."
"If the commander's okay with it, should be fine."
(Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh...)
In the end, the boss went down without a hitch, leaving Silica clutching her head, wondering what a "boss" even was anymore.
Afterward, they all headed to a shop Kirito had found that served something resembling ramen.
The flavor was best described as Tokyo-style soy ramen minus the soy, leading everyone to slurp their noodles with decidedly mixed expressions.
Incidentally, this was the moment Asuna resolved to one day create miso and soy sauce herself.
"That was a nice change of pace—been a while. Thanks."
"Yeah, don't burn yourself out, Heathcliff."
"Thank you for all the advice, Heathcliff!"
"Ah, take care of yourself too."
"Alright, I'm heading home. What about you guys?"
"I've got some errands."
"Got it. Asuna, Silica?"
"If it's okay, could Silica and I head to your place, Hachiman?"
"Doesn't bother me, but you two sure hit it off quick."
"It's just, I rarely get to meet other girl players."
"This is my first time knowing someone around your age, Asuna—I'd love to be friends!"
"Well, I'll chill in my room then. You two do whatever."
Kirito parted ways there, and the three teleported to the twenty-second floor.
Once home, Hachiman holed up in his room as promised.
Asuna and Silica bathed together, then chatted about all sorts of things.
"So, yeah, it was tough at first."
"Yes. I had no idea what to do, so I stayed in the Town of Beginnings forever."
"I was lucky to have Hachiman from the start in that sense."
"Were you two already friends?"
"No, not at first..."
Asuna shared her meeting with Hachiman, keeping it light and appropriate.
Silica listened with rapt interest, but seemed a bit envious.
"If only I'd had someone like Kirito from the beginning..."
"Do you like Kirito, Silica?"
"I-I'm not sure... If I had a big brother, he'd probably be like that."
Silica flustered, her face turning a little red.
"Yeah, Kirito and Hachiman both have that vibe."
"Ah, yes. Hachiman's blunt, but he gives off that feeling too!"
"I relied on him a lot at first, but I thought, 'This can't go on,' so I joined the Knights of the Blood Oath. Still, I end up leaning on him for all sorts of things."
Seeing Asuna's happy expression, Silica felt a pang of envy.
And she thought, One day, I want to be useful to Kirito too.
The next morning, as the two prepared to leave, Hachiman hesitated for a moment before handing Silica a key to the house.
"Uh, if something happens, you can hole up here and ride it out. Just insurance."
"Ah, thank you!"
"And then call Kirito—you can stay safe while watching from afar."
"Hachiman..."
"Ah, haha..."
"Take care, then."
The two left Hachiman's house and headed toward the teleport gate.
As they walked, Asuna said with an amused smile,
"You got a key, Silica. That probably means Hachiman sees you as family now."
"Really?!"
"Yeah. The only ones with keys are me, Kirito, my friend Liz, and now you. We call it our secret base."
"That makes me so happy."
"Just give him a heads-up if you're visiting non-emergency. He's not great with surprises."
"Yes!"
"Alright, Silica, let's hunt together again sometime."
"Yes, thank you, Asuna!"
Asuna headed back to the Knights of the Blood Oath headquarters, but first, she decided to sell off yesterday's loot at Egil's shop.
When she arrived, Kirito was there.
"Hey, Asuna. You here to offload yesterday's spoils too?"
"Yeah. Got more than I expected—storage's tight."
"What's this? You all go somewhere yesterday?"
Egil, hearing the story, was stunned by the lineup's luxury.
"You guys could probably steamroll a mid-floor boss no problem..."
"No doubt."
With the trades done, as they left the shop, Kirito said as if it just occurred to him,
"Oh, Asuna, you free for a bit after this?"
"A little time's fine. What's up?"
"Actually... Argo tipped me off about an NPC restaurant on the fifty-seventh floor using something like soy sauce. Wanted your take on it."
"Ah, did you think the same after that fake ramen yesterday, Kirito?"
"Yeah. We really need miso and soy. Should we grab Hachiman?"
"Hm, he looked a bit tired, and I'd love to surprise him by making it ourselves, so maybe not today."
"Good point. Let's go."
The two teleported to the fifty-seventh floor and started toward the shop.
At that moment, screams erupted through the town. What was commonly known as an "inside-the-safe-zone incident" had occurred.
---------------------------------------------
🚀 Want more?
📖 On Patreon you can read 20+ chapters ahead, plus there will be exclusive stories available only there.
💖 If you'd like to support me, check it out: patreon.com/Greyhounds
🔓 Patreon will always stay ahead of the public release — and some stories won't be published anywhere else.
✨ All support is completely optional — even if you don't join, I'm still grateful to have you here reading!