Satoru turned the porcelain cup in front of him. The black coffee, still half full, swayed gently inside it, and its bitterness lingered in his mouth.
Bright sunlight poured in through the window on his right. It was still winter, but the season was already near its end. Before long, the cherry trees would bloom.
He narrowed his eyes slightly. From that low, slanting line of sight, the side of the cup resting on the coaster shone white under the sun, and the cloudy coffee showed layer after layer of tiny ripples.
The feel of the knitted coat fitting against his body. The heater running inside the cafe. The air, a little too warm as he breathed it in, made the astringent taste in his mouth stronger.
He took all of it in.
"Do you like coffee?"
The person sitting across from him asked with polite manners.
Satoru looked up. His vision, as always, was faithful. The man wore a suit, but it probably was not anything expensive, just office-worker-level clothing. His behavior matched that impression. His movements were not careless; he looked exactly like some diligent gofer sent by orders to discuss business with an outside client.
His hairstyle was plain too. There was none of the bright energy of a young man, and his glasses were honest, thick-framed things.
That practiced smile at the corners of his mouth?
Probably something he put on to make the person across from him feel closer.
Satoru looked at him and, unconsciously, tried to find the HP bar above his head. He failed. When he came back to himself, he smiled at his own habit.
"I don't hate it."
"Should we have met at a small bar or a yakiniku place instead? The atmosphere here is a little too serious." The man rubbed his chin, as if the subdued mood between them was his fault for choosing the wrong place.
They were in an expensive cafe in the prime section of a busy Tokyo shopping district, seated in a good spot on the second floor. A customer only had to turn his head to see the traffic flowing along the road below, the fashionable girls along the sidewalk, and, a little farther out, Tokyo Tower standing apart among the high-rises.
The cafe was clean and orderly. Browns formed the main palette, with deep warm tones supporting them. Together with the soft piano pieces playing at random, it created a very quiet atmosphere. Even the kind of rough person who could slap the table and drink noisily in a tavern would unconsciously restrain himself here.
It was like going to a library. Whether you wanted to or not, if you disturbed other people, you would be met with condemning looks.
The people who came here were drawn, without realizing it, into the mindset of "I am a refined, high-end customer." Even the couple flirting behind them kept their cloying laughter restrained enough not to annoy anyone.
"So you report to your superiors that you're going to a yakiniku place, then come here instead, and pocket a little public money afterward?" Satoru said, as if enlightened.
"Of course not… We civil servants have it rough. At this point, we're practically in the service industry. I'm paying for this out of my own pocket." The man hurriedly waved his hands and sighed.
"Aren't you the team leader of the SAO Incident Response Team?"
"In Tokyo, you can't throw a brick without hitting some kind of team leader," the man said with a wry smile. "And on top of that, my department was only just established. The Second Office of the Advanced Network Division, Telecommunications Bureau… better known as the Virtual Division. Honestly, even explaining where we fit in the organization is a pain. Telling people we manage FullDive games is especially embarrassing."
"Having to handle a case like SAO, one involving the lives of ten thousand people, with no experience at all… It's enough to make your brain melt."
He sighed again and again, then immediately put on a flattering smile.
"Still, thanks to you, Suzuki-kun, the death game ended earlier when Kayaba was defeated, and many people were saved."
"No need to flatter me. I'm not your boss, and I can't promote you. Get to the point." Satoru was not moved in the slightest.
The man looked wounded.
"Very well. Then allow this humble person to introduce himself. Seijirou Kikuoka. I'm with the Second Office of the Advanced Network Division, Telecommunications Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications—the so-called Virtual Division. I also serve as team leader for the SAO Incident Response Team."
"I'm impressed you can remember a department name that awkward."
"Right? Right? That's why it's so much work…"
Satoru gave him an impatient look, and Kikuoka understood perfectly. He continued with the main topic.
"Last month, SAO was declared cleared, and a major case that had society on edge finally reached a satisfactory result." Kikuoka coughed once. "While the hospitals were focused on receiving the returning players, we and the police also tracked down the culprit behind this case, Kayaba Akihiko."
"Congratulations on clearing the game, Sword Saint."
"May the road ahead of you be less cruel."
The final words of that researcher, whose entire being had seemed like gray-white paper, echoed in his mind.
"The location was Mount Yamizo in Ibaraki Prefecture. Shamefully, even though it is only about forty kilometers from Tokyo, it took us more than two years to find him with the help of a collaborator." Kikuoka's voice carried apology. "When we entered that artificial cave, we found Kayaba's body, long dead, on the bed connected to SAO."
Satoru looked at him.
"He's dead?"
"There were absolutely no vital signs. According to the hospital report, he appears to have died of brain death. Just like those unfortunate four thousand players, he killed himself using the same method he used to confine all of you. It is rather ironic."
"I see…"
"All the equipment data left there had also been completely erased. Sword Art Online truly no longer exists."
Kikuoka let out a long breath.
"Next comes the question of the survivors."
Only then did Satoru's expression turn somewhat more serious.
"Suzuki-kun, you were a player in that world, so I will be direct. I assume you know that apart from the deaths caused by Kayaba, there were also deaths caused by PK between players, yes?"
"Of course," Satoru said in a low voice.
"That is exactly the problem we face now. For two years, we continuously observed ARGUS's SAO servers, but what we obtained was incomplete. That data cannot become reliable evidence. It will not stand up from any angle. Current law… has no clause for virtual homicide."
"The six thousand survivors have been cut off from society for two years. Among them are adults, but most are minors. All kinds of problems are arriving one after another."
Kikuoka pushed up his glasses.
"Psychological disorientation, social disconnection, identity confusion… It is very troublesome."
"I saw on the news that a special school will be established for players who are still students, and that a detailed psychological rehabilitation plan has been arranged."
"Yes. All of us are doing our best to repair what can be repaired. But beyond that, responsibility must also be pursued."
Kikuoka paused.
"The players who died by hands other than Kayaba's are the biggest problem."
"Are you trying to pursue responsibility against me?" Satoru said calmly. "In that case, you can discuss it with my lawyer. There would be no need to go out of your way to meet me privately."
"As expected of the hero who liberated Aincrad. I heard the first thing you did after returning was hire a lawyer. What nerve, and what quick action. I do not even know what you did." Kikuoka smiled bitterly. "But you no longer need to worry. Under current law, you cannot be convicted for your past actions. As for public opinion, many survivors are grateful to a savior like you."
"Today, I only wanted to discuss SAO. After all, if we are talking about people who understand it, then aside from Kayaba, its creator, there is only you, its destroyer, isn't there?"
"In what capacity are you discussing this, Kikuoka? As a team leader from the Ministry, or as a private citizen who pities what happened to us?"
"The latter. Everything I am doing today is personal, and I am not wearing a hidden recorder."
"Fine."
"I thought you might frisk me…"
"I'm not in the mood to put my hands all over a man."
"Your airtight caution simply gave me that impression." Kikuoka took a sip of his coffee. It was the first time since arriving that he had looked a little more relaxed.
"But if it is the latter, then as your conversation partner, not an investigation target, I can ask questions too, right?" Satoru said.
"Of course." Kikuoka shrugged.
"Whose cooperation helped you find Kayaba?"
"Starting with that right away, are we?" The man across from him looked somewhat troubled.
"You failed to catch even his tail for two years. And that man is, at least, the culprit behind everything I went through. I want to know who indirectly helped all of us. Nothing suspicious about that, is there?"
"So now you are using your position as a victim as a shield? A moment ago, you were acting like nothing could touch you… You are rather good at verbal exchanges."
"So will you tell me, or is this the result of a confidentiality agreement?"
"No, nothing like that. In fact, the collaborator's information is public, and she received a commendation for her assistance."
"She?"
"Yes. Rinko Koujiro. She was Kayaba's junior at the same school, and also his colleague. Academically, she is probably on par with that man. Thanks to her early help, we were able to use ARGUS's servers to observe SAO in much greater depth. By the later stage, when all of you reached the 70th Floor, her analysis of SAO was nearly complete. So even if you had not defeated Kayaba, we might have been able to force a rescue from the outside."
"A few hours before you cleared the game, she was already basically on the verge of success."
Kikuoka said it without much concern.
"She is certainly one of the people you should thank."
"Hmph…"
Satoru gave a noncommittal snort.
"Does something bother you?"
"No."
Academically… on par with that man?
Satoru frowned slightly.
The game cleared. The analysis complete. An outside rescue.
What a coincidence.
Was the scene that obsessive man had spent his life wanting to see, seated in the Ruby Palace and facing the final hero, really so fragile?
Kikuoka looked at the silent Satoru and could not help pushing up his glasses again. As they moved, the lenses caught the sunlight from the window, hiding his eyes for a moment.
"It is my turn now, yes?"
A smile returned to the corners of his mouth, and he rested both elbows on the table.
"Can you tell me about your experiences in that world?"
"That will take some time."
Satoru picked up the menu and flipped through it casually.
"Hmm… Looks like this is going to hurt my wallet." Kikuoka saw the movement and let his face droop.
"No. I will pay for myself."
Satoru looked at him deeply.
"After all, I don't like owing people."