Hachiman had declared it with such certainty that there had to be enemies ahead. With that in mind, Kirito sprinted at full speed.
Soon, he spotted Schmidt lying on the ground up ahead, and two figures slumped nearby.
(So he was alive after all.)
It was Yolko and a man who was likely Caynz.
Grimlock might be there too, but someone seemed to be missing.
Sensing trouble, Kirito dashed forward and positioned himself between the enemies and the three.
"Hey, JoH. Long time no see. What's with the sack over your head? Trying to hide your face?"
Kirito started with conversation, aiming to buy as much time as possible.
Three men stood before him now.
One was the JoH he'd just addressed. JoH was clad head-to-toe in black leather gear, his head covered by something like a monk's hood with circular cutouts for the eyes.
His weapon was a dagger painted black. Then the second one—
"Yeah, 'Red-Eyed XaXa' fits you perfectly."
XaXa wore a skull mask over his face, but his eyes indeed glowed a vivid red.
His weapon was an estoc, a thrusting sword. The real issue was the man standing behind the two.
Draped in a black poncho, he showed no overt hostility unlike the others.
Yet just being under his gaze sent chills down Kirito's spine.
"You're PoH, aren't you?"
"Whoo! The Black Swordsman himself remembers my name? What an honor."
"Kirito, you really think you can take on three of us?"
"Who knows? Odds aren't great, that's for sure."
XaXa remained silent, simply standing there.
"Anyway, it's showtime."
With that, PoH drew a reddish-black cleaver-like large dagger.
"What's with that cleaver? Pretty ominous color."
"Hah, cool, right? It's called the Mate Chopper—my favorite weapon."
"Mate Chopper? Like chopping up your mates? Be a big help if you took care of those two for me."
As he spoke, Kirito downed an anti-poison potion.
"The hell did you just drink?"
"Just an anti-poison potion. Scared of me that much, JoH? I've got plenty of healing crystals too—should hold out against you three for ten minutes or so."
Saying that, Kirito drew Elucidator.
Perhaps intimidated by the sword's aura, JoH took a step back.
"So what if you last ten minutes, Black Swordsman?"
"Oh, reinforcements are coming soon. I'm just stalling. Think you can handle dozens of front-liners?"
"Snafu. We're pulling out."
"Head! No guarantee he's telling the truth!"
"You idiots still haven't figured it out?"
"Still as dense as ever, JoH."
With that voice, Hachiman approached from behind PoH.
"Hachiman, you bastard."
"Wow! So you're the rumored Hachiman. Getting tag-teamed by the top two front-liners? Today's my lucky day."
"A happy ending would make things easier for me too."
"Tch, I'm definitely killing you."
"You sure you can manage that, JoH?"
JoH glared at Hachiman. PoH eyed him with amusement.
"I thought the Black Swordsman looked tasty, but you're beyond expectations, Hachiman."
"Huh? What're you on about? Kirito's obviously stronger."
"Hah, against monsters, sure."
In that instant, PoH whistled.
It must have been a signal. XaXa and JoH swiftly moved to nearby bushes, dragging out a hidden man and holding weapons to him.
Hachiman and Kirito were checked by PoH, a step too late.
"Grimlock..."
Yolko, who had been silent until now, called the man's name.
It seemed this was Griselda's husband, Grimlock.
"And now, the mastermind takes the stage. It's showtime!"
"No way! Grimlock's the mastermind?!"
"Haha! Even knowing he's the culprit, you won't just let him die. Right, Black Swordsman? And you, Hachiman?"
"Tch."
Hearing Hachiman's click of the tongue, PoH laughed gleefully.
"Let's call this a draw, brothers! We'll settle it another time!"
With that, the three used teleport crystals and vanished somewhere.
"Damn, they got away."
"Well, that's how it goes."
"You're calm about it, Hachiman."
"Yeah, learned a few things anyway."
"Hachiman! Kirito!"
At that moment, Asuna arrived with several Knights of the Blood Oath members.
"Sorry, Asuna—they slipped right through."
"So there really were enemies."
"Yeah. Laughing Coffin's top three."
Later, the former Golden Apple members apparently talked among themselves.
From what I heard afterward, Grimlock was indeed the one who'd hired Laughing Coffin to kill Griselda.
Shockingly, Grimlock and Griselda were married in the real world too.
In reality, his wife had been the quieter one, but here she'd grown far stronger than him, displaying powerful leadership.
He became obsessed with fears that even if they returned to reality, she'd stay this strong woman and eventually divorce him.
To prevent that and make her his alone in this world, he decided to have her killed.
Schmidt was both perpetrator and victim, so he got off without punishment for now.
"So the ring was stored in storage, and when Griselda died, it automatically became Grimlock's item."
"Married couples share storage, after all."
"He gave half the Col from selling the ring to Schmidt, but didn't touch the rest."
"So it wasn't about the money..."
"Schmidt sneaked into Griselda's room, set a corridor crystal exit there, and put it in the guild's shared storage. Solid murder assistance, though."
"So that's how they invaded the room and dragged her out to the field."
"Schmidt didn't intend to kill Griselda at all, and if those two forgave him, fine—but still..."
"Yeah."
The three seemed left with a bitter aftertaste from the spousal murder.
"Marriage... not all sunshine and rainbows, huh."
"Griselda never took off her guild master ring or wedding ring, right? Grimlock's the one at fault for not trusting her."
"Yeah, that's it. With trust, marriage could be good. Not that I'd know—never been married."
"You're not gonna get married, Hachiman?"
"Oi, what's with that question? Well, uh, no one's gonna like someone like me anyw—"
Hachiman sensed Asuna's rising anger and stopped mid-sentence.
He'd vaguely noticed her feelings, but old habits died hard—he couldn't think further on it.
Sensing the tension, Kirito changed the subject.
"So, mind sharing how you deduced all this, Hachiman?"
"Ah, yeah. First, assuming Yolko, Caynz, and Grimlock faked the safe-zone murder to lure Schmidt out and force a confession?"
"Right."
"Even if there might've been a real culprit among the other members, set that aside. Schmidt was definitely involved. Good so far?"
"Yeah."
"I figured the real culprit was highly likely in on this. They'd fear exposure, so they'd join to prevent it."
"Makes sense."
Kirito nodded deeply.
"Assume the culprit's one of those four, connected to the murder guild. Their next move?"
"...Silencing them?"
"Exactly. The other three conveniently gather in a deserted spot. Hire the murder guild to kill them all—then they're safe."
"That's chilling..."
"And the recent intel about targeting a big shot? This fit perfectly, so high chance Laughing Coffin shows."
"It all adds up hearing it like this."
"Didn't have time to explain properly then. Sorry, you two."
The pair praised Hachiman, clearly convinced.
"You're amazing, Hachiman."
"Yeah, Hachiman—that was incredible!"
"Well, I'm good at reading between the lines. But Asuna, stop hyping me up. I'm not that great."
"I'm okay to praise?"
"You owe me. So always praise."
"Ahahaha."
Despite the gruesome incident, the three could still laugh.
That was surely something to be grateful for.
This case became the catalyst, propelling the Laughing Coffin subjugation forward significantly.
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