Sword Art Online - Volume 11 - Chapter 6.1

Chapter 6 - The Prisoners and the Knight (5th Month of Human World Calendar 380)
Part 1
There are still times when the memories of the days I was imprisoned within the Floating Castle Aincrad come to me even now.
In those times... each day felt truly long, especially during the first year of that death game. That was as I always had to put my guard up against assaults from monsters (at times, players) whenever I was out of town and packed my schedule close to its brim to ensure that my actions maintained my rate of leveling up at its maximum potential.
I shaved away my sleeping hours to the bare minimum necessary to keep my concentration and even as I ate my meals, I devoted myself to storing all kinds of data from the information brokers. I certainly was named a delinquent by the clearing group in the late-game period and even used up an entire day on napping, but I have no recollection of wasting time on doing nothing. Such that my senses could tell me that the fourteen years before SAO and the two years spent in that floating castle held an equal level of significance.
In comparison—
The days passed by so quickly ever since I was thrown into this strange world, «Underworld».
It definitely wasn't as if I spent the time loafing around. The days over these two years that included me leaving on a journey from Rulid Village, entering the guard corps at Zakkaria City and learning at the Master Swords Academy in Central Centoria were bustling, rather; perhaps more so than my time in SAO, if you looked at merely how hectic it was. But still, looking back on it now, the only emotion that welled up from me was the strong notion that it passed by in the blink of an eye.
The reason was—the lack of peril in my HP, known as Life, dropping to zero in this world, perhaps.
Or perhaps, it was due to the heightened acceleration of time flowing in this world in comparison to the real world.
When I took up a part-time job at the venture company with many mysteries surrounding it, «Rath», the Fluct Light Acceleration of the STL was explained as a maximum of three times of the usual pace to me. But that was likely, no, unmistakably a lie. Judging from various data, I have currently estimated the degree of my current FLA to have reached at least a thousand times. If that number was accurate, the approximately two years I have spent in this world would end up as a mere eighteen hours in the real world. That ridiculous amplification must have made me feel the days here to be short, coupled with the lack of danger to my life as well.
...No.
There might also be one other reason, perhaps.
That would be how I felt my life here... especially the days I spent in the Master Swords Academy with Eugeo, Sortiliena-senpai, Ronye and Tiezé, to be enjoyable. Despite how entering the academy and polishing my swordsmanship should have been for the sake of escaping this world even a single day earlier. The wish to continue these enjoyable days from the depths of my heart was truly what made the time stream by so quickly.
In that case, that would be a betrayal. Of those who should be anxious over my body in the real world, Asuna, Sugu, Sinon, and the rest.
I wonder if this was retribution for that betrayal. To meet a bloodstained end in my Master Swords Academy life, and to be bound to the ground in a place without the slightest hint of sunlight—

Ceasing my thoughts and rousing my upper body, the steel chain firmly binding my right wrist jangled with a dull noise.
Shortly after, I heard a low murmur from the darkness nearby.
"...So you're up, Kirito."
"Aah... I've been for a while. Sorry, did I wake you up?"
After whispering my question in the same manner to not alert the jailer, it was a small bitter laugh that reached me this time.
"How could I sleep. ...You're the odd one, Kirito, being able to sleep and snore away ever since the night we got thrown in jail."
"It's the second among the essential points of the Aincrad-style. Sleep when you can."
While voicing out whatever came to mind, I looked around once again.
That said, the surroundings were wrapped in a murky darkness, with the meager light that escaped from the jailer's guardroom at the end of the passage beyond the prison bars being the only source of illumination. It was at a level where I could somehow make out Eugeo's outlines on the adjacent bed when I concentrated my eyes there.
Of course, I had mastered elementary sacred arts like lighting up a stick that would work ever since long ago, but it seems all kinds of ceremonies were cancelled in this jail as a precaution.
I couldn't get a proper look at Eugeo's countenance, but I faced roughly where his face was and asked after a slight hesitation.
"How's it going... calmed down a little?"
It ought to be around 3 AM right now, going by my body clock. We were thrown into this underground jail yesterday afternoon, so that meant the highest estimate for the time that crawled on by, since that incident from the previous evening, was around thirty-five hours. Eugeo must have received a severe, indescribable shock, going against the Taboo Index by cutting Humbert Zizek with the Blue Rose Sword and witnessing Raios Antinous having his mind broken and dying immediately after that.
A short silence descended before a voice replied, weaker than before.
"Somehow... it's like all a dream... Me drawing a sword on Humbert... and then, Raios just went......"
"...Don't brood over it too much. Think only about the things yet to come for the time being."
I managed to tell those words to Eugeo, sunk in silence. I really wanted to pat his back at least, but the chain obstructed me from reaching the next bed. I focused my eyes upon the outlines of my dear friend; even though it was frail, a "Got it, don't worry about me." came back, and I took a soft breath.
The one who sliced off Raios Antinous's two wrists was not Eugeo, but me. It shouldn't have been a fatal wound if it received immediate treatment, but his thoughts probably descended into a state similar to an infinite loop as a result of processing the priorities between «his own Life» and «the Taboo Index», thus making his fluct light break down.
Of course, I am conscious of the fact that it ended with a life stolen from the Underworld people. However, I had killed goblins in the cave north of Rulid to help Apprentice Sister Selka two years ago; I killed two beasts, no, two people among their ranks. Both Raios and those goblins were fellow artificial fluct lights, so if I were to be tormented by the crime and unable to recover from it, it would be a dishonor in a sense, to that goblin leader who was much stronger than Raios.
However—it still didn't explain things.
I surmised that the objective of the company that operates the Underworld, Rath, and consequently, Kikuoka Seijrou, was the creation of a perfect artificial intelligence.
The artificial fluct lights living in this world already possessed a level of emotional awareness and thought equivalent to people of the real world. If their one and only flaw was their «absolute blind obedience to the law», that would mean Eugeo, who drew his Blue Rose Sword and cut Humbert to help Tiezé and Ronye, had now overcome that barrier. To put it another way, a breakthrough was finally achieved and he should be progressing towards a true artificial intelligence now.
Despite that, even after thirty-five hours had passed internally since then, the world still showed no sign of stopping. Either the acceleration rate was too high and the staff at Rath had yet to detect the situation, or a major incident beyond my imagination had happened...
"The things... yet to come, huh."
Eugeo suddenly muttered that from the adjacent bed, so I put my doubts aside and shifted my vision back from the ceiling where it went without me noticing. The silhouette I had gotten used to seeing within the darkness gave a nod and continued speaking.
"It's like you said, Kirito. If we don't escape from this jail and confirm what happened to Alice somehow..."
I scrutinized the significance within my dear friend's earlier words while being relieved that he was somehow recovering from the shock. Eugeo said 'escape from this jail' without any hesitation. In other words, Alice was more important to him now, when compared to this jail which could be said to be a symbol of the Axiom Church's authority—that is to say, a place where one should remain without god's pardon. Eugeo's mental make-up certainly did undergo a major transformation after the experiences from the day before yesterday.
But this was no time to delve in depth. It wouldn't be strange for the department in charge of the trial or the executioners to come drag us out anytime after sunrise. As Eugeo said, we should only think about one thing or another after we escape this place.
"Aah. ...There should definitely be a way out of here."
—If this was an «imprisonment event» in a RPG, at least.
Appending some pointless words to it within my mind, I tried touching the chain that bound me once again. The ring placed around my right wrist was welded to the despairingly tough steel, cold to the touch, that had its other end connected to a ring embedded in the wall. I had already affirmed that nothing could be done about the handcuffs, ring on the wall and the chain itself, by merely pulling on them.
The previous morning, Eugeo and I had crossed the walls of the Axiom Church Central Cathedral at last, our final objective ever since we left on our journey from the northern edge. Our entire bodies were rigidly bound and suspended from a flying dragon's feet, though.
Without any time to appreciate the gigantic white tower rising through the clouds, we were walked down an endless spiral staircase leading underground on the opposite site of the tower, and then handed over to a terrifying jailer when we finally reached the underground jail.
The integrity knight who called herself Alice Synthesis Thirty left without even a parting glance upon accomplishing her role, and the giant jailer who wore a metal mask resembling a kettle moved sluggishly... but connected Eugeo and I to the chains in this jail with sure motions.
We had only had one meal since then, of rock-hard, dry bread and a leather sac filled with lukewarm water flung through the bars that evening. In comparison, treatment and such received by the orange players imprisoned within the Black Iron Castle's jails in Aincrad could be said to be equal to that of a suite room in some high-class hotel.
The attempts to cut the chain, including methods such as pulling, biting, and using sacred arts, all ended in failure yesterday. A chain like these would be sliced apart in a single stroke if we had Eugeo's Blue Rose Sword or my black one; even though Ronye and Tiezé went through great pains to carry them along, wounding their hands, the two swords went with Alice to some unknown location. The bento brought by Ronye avoided seizure, but it had already disappeared into our stomachs long ago.
In other words, though I did say 'there should be a way to get out of here', we were presently in a state unbearably close to being completely and utterly cornered.
"...I wonder if Alice... was bound here eight years ago too..."
As he sat on the bed, a sheer old rag set upon an iron frame, Eugeo spoke, debilitated.
"Well... who knows?"
It wasn't a proper answer, but there was no other. If Eugeo's childhood friend and Selka's elder sister, Alice Schuberg, received the same treatment as us, that would mean she was taken away by that iron-masked jailer and chained in this jail at a mere age of eleven, all by herself. She certainly must have felt a dreadful amount of terror.
Soon after, that girl would be stationed in a stand during a trial, handed down some sort of sentence—and after that...?
"Hey, Eugeo. I'm just confirming again here, but... that integrity knight named Alice Synthesis Thirty was definitely that Alice you're looking for, yes?"
I asked hesitatingly and several seconds later, the voice that flowed felt as though it was holding back some sort of grief.
"That voice... that golden hair and those deep blue eyes. There's no way I could forget those; that's Alice. It's just... the air around her was practically like that of someone else..."
"Well, she did beat up her childhood friend without any mercy, after all. In other words... her memories and thoughts are being controlled through some sort of means, perhaps that's how it is..."
"But there weren't any sacred arts like that in the textbooks, you know?"
"Some great minister in the church could manipulate even Life, right? It wouldn't be strange if the same could be done with memories."
That's right—the machine I was using to dive into the Underworld, the «Soul TransLator», was certainly capable of that. If it was capable of memory manipulation on the brain of a living being, a deeper level of manipulation should be possible and easier on artificial fluct lights probably stored on some kind of media. I continued with that in mind.
"But... if that knight really was Alice, just what was «that»? The one from two years ago, in the northern cave at Rulid..."
"Aah... you did say that, didn't you. That you heard a voice like Alice's when you tried to treat my wound with Selka..."
I didn't tell Eugeo in detail, but I had to borrow power from Selka and share my own Life directly to help him after he suffered a severe injury in the fight with the goblins. It was a rather dangerous act and my Life fell at a rate beyond my expectations, and when I then resigned myself to not lasting any further—I heard it.
'Kirito, Eugeo... I'll wait, no matter how long... I'll always be waiting for the both of you at the top of the Central Cathedral...'
A mysterious, warm light which healed Eugeo's and my Lives filled me as that voice spoke. So that wasn't a mere befuddlement in my memories. We were definitely helped out by Alice, taken away to the Axiom Church long, long ago, through some unknown power.
After we judged it as such, Eugeo and I aimed for the Central Cathedral and came all the way to the central, putting our faith in that voice.
However, the «Alice» that appeared before us, unforeseen, named herself not as the daughter of Rulid Village's chief, Alice Schuberg, but as Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty. The demeanor she kept to the very end, considering us criminals who deserved to be judged, gave absolutely no impression of her being Eugeo's childhood friend.
She was another person who simply had a face and name that resembled her, or possibly she was the true Alice with her memories controlled. To confirm that, we would probably have no choice but to escape the jail somehow and personally head up towards the peak of the Central Cathedral—a place where we could learn everything about the Axiom Church.
That was our intention in the end, but it didn't seem like we would be able to make even a minor scratch on the chains or bars.
"Aah, how annoying... I would tie God up right here if I could, and get the truth out, not missing a single detail!"
I spat that out in a small voice with Kikuoka Seijirou's spectacled face feigning ignorance showing up in my head, before Eugeo replied in a whisper mingled with bitter laughter.
"Hey, hey, slandering Stacia-sama in the church isn't a good idea, no matter how you think about it. You might even incur divine punishment."
Apparently, it doesn't seem like he lost his religious faith or anything even if his priorities concerning the Taboo Index changed. —Although I had that in mind, I ended up carelessly adding on another flippant line.
"Well, if she's going to, couldn't she inflict divine punishment onto this chain too?"
I said, and it suddenly came to me; I changed my tone and continued.
"Wait. Speaking of Stacia-sama, do «windows» not appear here either?"
"Now that you mention it, we haven't tried. Go for it."
"Aah."
After taking a peek at the state of the jailer's guardroom, left of the passage beyond the bars, I stretched out both the index and middle fingers on my right hand. Upon performing the gesture to call out the Stacia Window that my arm had completely gotten used to, I lightly knocked on the chain gripped in my left hand.
After an instant, the familiar pale-purple window floated out. I doubted the situation would change for the better even if I confirmed the chain's properties, but nevertheless, being able to gather information was delightful.
"Oh, it came out."
I grinned at Eugeo before looking into the window. The data shown was a stark three lines, its unique object ID, the durability that I was sick of below it, ?23500/23500?, and a string of characters, ?Class 38 Object?.
Class 38; the figure was a priority far higher than a great number of renowned swords, but it was not a match for the 45 of the sacred instrument, the Blue Rose Sword, or the 46 of the black sword polished up from a branch of the «Divine Giant Cedar», the Gigas Cedar, over the course of a year. In other words, it really would be possible to cut this chain apart if we had either of those swords, but there was no point in saying that now.
Having copied me by making the window for his own chain show, Eugeo whispered in an expected dismal voice.
"Wah, so that's why it wouldn't even budge no matter how much we pulled. Without a weapon or tool of Class 38 as well at least, cutting these chains would be..."
"That's how it is."
I took yet another look around the dim and narrow jail, but only the crude iron beds and empty water sacs were around. I figured the bed leg could serve as a replacement for a crowbar and brought out its window with a sliver of hope, but it was a worthless Class 3 item, as it appeared to be. The bars looked far sturdier, but my hand couldn't reach far enough due to the chain's length.
When I spun my neck restlessly looking around, still unwilling to give up, Eugeo spoke limply.
"No matter how hard you search, some renowned sword won't just conveniently drop in a jail like this. In the first place, there aren't enough things around to even call it a search. There are only the beds, water sacs and this chain here."
"Only... this chain..."
Muttering, I gazed at the chain binding my own arms and next, at the chain stretching out from Eugeo's wrist. A certain idea came to mind in that moment, and I whispered while holding back my excitement.

"No, it's not «only». We have two of them, don't we; of these bastard chains."
"Hah?"
What are you talking about; I gestured at Eugeo to get off the bed with my hand as he inclined his head to express that thought. Following that, I went down onto the stone floor as well and checked my partner's standing posture that could be faintly seen through the dim lighting.
A crude metal ring was fixed upon his right wrist just like mine, peeking out from the academy uniform he had on since yesterday, and the long chain melded to it was connected to the hook embedded in the wall behind the bed.
I first passed under the chain that extended under Eugeo's right hand, and then straddled it as I returned to my original position. This made our chains into a crossed X shape. Gesturing Eugeo to move back a little, while I got some distance away myself, a strained, ear-piercing scrapping noise rang out from where the two chains crossed.
Looking at that sight, it seems Eugeo finally guessed at my intentions.
"Erm, Kirito, don't tell me we're going to just pull like this?"
"Sure we are. These two chains have the exact same priority, so logically, this should shave away both of their Lives at the same time. We'll find out if we try, hurry up and grip onto the chain with both hands."
Suspicion still remained on Eugeo, but he gripped onto the chain that extended from his right wrist as I had instructed and lowered his waist. I did the same, then-
"Hold on, before that..."
-cutting the seal with my left hand, I called out the chain's «window» once again.
Even if I were to try this exact same method to cut thick iron chains like these apart in the real world, it would probably take all my might to make a shallow nick on their surfaces.
However, everything might seem real here in the Underworld, but it wasn't like they obeyed the laws of physics the exact same way as the real world. Like how a giant tree with a diameter of four meters could be chopped down in a mere few days using the sacred instrument, the Blue Rose Sword, if two objects were to collide with more than a certain amount of speed and strength, the one with the higher priority would definitely destroy the other eventually.
We synchronized our timing through our eyes, going "one-two", then pulled the thick chains with all the physical strength we could muster.
Cling! The moment that dull, violent, metallic noise rang out, I was about to pitch forward due to Eugeo's strength being more ridiculous than expected, before I braced my feet with my guts. The other side's aversion to losing was revealed on his face after a while, and we continued our power struggle, partially forgetting about our initial objective.
Ear-piercing, creaking noises and small, orange sparks sprang out from where the chains intersected intermittently. Even while maintaining the tug of war, I reached my head out and peeked into the «window» still open.
"Ooh."
I wanted to assume a victory pose, but both of my hands were sealed away, so I settled with a grin. The over-twenty-thousand points of the chain's Life had its ones column streaming away at a speed that even I couldn't follow with my eyes, while the tens column was reducing at a bewildering rate. It would probably reach zero in several minutes with this spurt. Clenching my teeth once again, I continued gathering all my might for the tug of war against Eugeo.
Of course, this method wouldn't be possible without meeting the conditions of having two sets of chains and prisoners, with the prisoners' «Object Control Authorities»—a parameter equivalent to Strength in SAO—at a sufficiently high value. Hence, I believe Alice who was imprisoned by her lone self at the age of eleven, eight years ago, wasn't able to cut her chain.
That girl was definitely withdrawn from the planned trial, with something happening to her after that. If that Integrity Knight Alice was the Alice from Rulid, «something» that was able to even control her memories and thoughts, turning her into a loyal guard of the Axiom Church, did...
Due to my inadvertent contemplation, I ended up forgetting a crucial fact. The reason why I had the window out was to stop the tug of war immediately before the chain's Life became zero. As for the reason, if it wasn't done—
Ping! A shrill, metallic sound reverberated, different from those before.
Without even the time to consider that, Eugeo and I were blown backwards by a vehement force and knocked the back of our heads against the hefty stone walls.
Squatting on the floor for a bit and holding my head with both hands, I endured the authentic pain and dizziness brought about by the STL. After those settled down, I peeked through the bars, expecting the jailer to have noticed what happened this time for sure, but there was no response, fortunately. Letting out a relieved sigh, I got up gingerly.
Eugeo, slower to rise, was dazed as he rubbed his head with his left hand.
"Uugh... my Life dropped by a hundred from that just now."
"That's barely anything for what we got out of it. Come on, look."
I put out my right arm and shook the chain dangling powerlessly from the metal ring. There was still a length of at least one mel, twenty cen, no, one meter, twenty centimeters, and it was magnificently severed. The four U-shaped pieces of metal that rolled onto the floor were the two rings at the intersection that continued to withstand the pressure from the tug of war before breaking apart in the middle. They crumbled with a fleeting noise and vanished as I looked at them.
I brought out the «window» for the broken link of the chain that hung off my right wrist in a sudden bout of curiosity and upon looking at it, its Life was at 18000 and still recovering, a value amazingly close to what it originally was.
I believed in my prediction, or rather, hope, that the three meter long chain would dissipate entirely the instant it reached zero from the strain, but it seems to have been reclassified as a new chain object, perhaps due to it consisting of many linked rings.
As I thought over such matters, Eugeo, inspecting his own chain as well, made an exaggerated motion with his shoulders and spoke.
"Geez... there's no way I'll ever catch up with your talent at doing illogical things like this, Kirito."
"Hmph, my slogan is irrational, illogical, indiscreet, after all. ...That said, it doesn't seem like anything could've been done about this..."
We were freed from the condition of being not more than three mel, no, meters from the inner wall, but I couldn't think of any method to remove the chain's tail that remained on our right hands. Even if we were to carry out a tug of war yet again, the length might shorten, but it wouldn't be possible to take it off entirely.
"Looks like there's no choice but to bring it along. It's a little heavy, but I don't think it'll be a hindrance to walking if it's wrapped around the arm."
Eugeo said so and started wrapping the tail round and round his forearm, so I reluctantly followed his example. Upon completing the impromptu chain gauntlet, our faces met each other with cynical smiles.
"...Now, then."
I believed that this, at least, had to be confirmed before taking the next action and looked at Eugeo solemnly. Taking in a deep breath, I spoke.
"I'll ask this first... but you get it, don't you, Eugeo? Escaping from here and searching for the truth regarding Alice would be the same as opposing the Axiom Church head on. We won't have the time for conflict over each and every action we take. If you can't prepare yourself now, it's better if you stay behind."
Those words were probably some of the most severe among those I had used over our over-two-years relationship, but there was no avoiding them.
He might look calm on the surface, but Eugeo's fluct light... in other words, his soul that was a collection of photons had just undergone an intense structural change. After all, he had rejected his long, long belief in the absolute authority of the Axiom Church, one he had had ever since he gained awareness, and reorganized the issues that should take priority over it.
In other words, Eugeo should be thought of as more unstable than he looked at the moment, and if too much load were to be placed onto his currently-resetting thought pattern, it might truly induce abnormalities into his soul like Raios. That was why I had tried to avoid broaching subjects related to the Axiom Church or Taboo Index for these thirty-five hours.
However, if we were to take the radical action of escaping from this jail and trespassing into the Central Cathedral, I hoped he would fortify his will as much as he could now, rather than risk a sudden conflict midway. I must do whatever I can to have Eugeo safely arrive at the highest floor of the cathedral—the place where the console to exit to the real world should be.
Yes, I intended to make my unrivalled partner and closest friend meet with people from the real world.
The Underworld right now was one result from an experiment carried out by the company Rath, and it wouldn't be strange for it to be completely reset anytime. In that situation, the fluct lights of nearly a hundred thousand people living in this world would probably be indiscriminately erased. There was no way I could forgive that. I must have the staff from Rath and the wire-puller, Kikuoka Seijirou, communicate directly with Eugeo and make them aware of what they've created at all costs.
The people of the Underworld were definitely not NPCs of some virtual world.
They, with thoughts and emotions equivalent to people from the real world, deserved the right to live on here.
Prepare yourself now; Eugeo heard those words of mine and opened his eyes wide for an instant, before he cast them downwards eventually. Bringing up his right hand, he held his fist firmly before his chest.
"...Aah... I know."
The voice that came out was a quiet whisper but carried an unshakeable resolve in its reverberations.
"I have already decided. To return back to Rulid Village with Alice, I'll even go against the Axiom Church. If the need arises, I'll unsheathe my sword and fight, no matter how many times. ...If that integrity knight is the real Alice, I'll find out the reason behind her loss of memory and return her to how she was. That's more important than anything else to me."
Having finished his speech and raised his face, Eugeo looked straight at me with eyes shining brightly while he made a small smile.
"You said this when we were playing around in the woods, didn't you, Kirito. That 'there are things that must be done even if it's prohibited by the law'. I feel like I've understood its meaning at last."
"......I see."
I deeply swallowed the odd, strong emotion that filled my chest along with the chilly air. Nodding, I lightly pat my partner's left shoulder after a step forward.
"I definitely understand your resolve now. ...But after we leave this place, let's avoid fights as much as we can. I don't think we have much of a chance in an actual brawl with Alice or the other integrity knights."
"Those sure are timid words coming from you, Kirito."
Replying that those guys are the strongest in the world to the grinning Eugeo, I walked closer towards the bars that separated the jail from the passage. Let's pull the «window» out from this thick and heavy iron rod with a diameter that looked to be around three cen first. The object's class was—20. It had a Life close to ten thousand.
Eugeo who stood beside me peeked into the window as well and gave a short sigh.
"Hmm... it's not as bad as the chains, but it would take some time to bend them barehanded. What should we do, want to try ramming it together?"
"If we do something like that, our Lives will end up falling along with the grids'. I have an idea, just sit back and watch."
I gestured Eugeo to fall back and untangled the chain wrapped around my right arm. I said it like I really thought up of a plan beforehand, but it only came to mind when I was wrapping this chain. Sortiliena-senpai, who I was under the tutelage of for an entire year in the Master Sword Academy, winded that up in circles the same way when she was done with it. The weapon that symbolized the Serlut-style, that white leather whip.
Looking at me as I slowly shook the chain with a length of 1.2 meter held in my right hand, Eugeo gave a worried whisper.
"Ki-Kirito, are you planning to break the grids with that? If your aim goes bad and it hits you, won't you get a heavy inju..."
"It's fine, I got plenty of coaching on how to use a whip from Liena-senpai. She was called the «Walking Tactics Manual», after all... Listen, as you might expect, blowing off the bars will probably make a seriously massive noise, so sprint for the stairs. Make sure you flee instead of fight if the jailer comes out."
"...Oh now. Plenty, you say, huh."
Putting Eugeo's strange response aside, I slowly increased the swinging range of the chain. Its length didn't quite make the cut for a whip, but it should have the force of a Class 38 priority to compensate for that.
—Strike, focusing not on the hand that held the whip but on the weight of its tip.
Recalling Liena-senpai's words, I pulled back the chain with force and right before it extended completely, I made a full swing with a yell.
"Sei!"
The end of the chain that rushed through the air like a dark grey snake attacked where the three centimeters thick iron rods intersected without miss, scattering dazzling sparks in the darkness.
Blang! Along with the loud noise that rang out, the bars were blown off from their frames above and below them, vehemently striking the grid of the opposite cell before they fell onto the floor. If there were any prisoners there, they must have thought it was a divine punishment from Solus or something.
With the dense cloud of dust that swelled up choking my breath, I tumbled out into the passage. That kettle-head jailer must have definitely leapt to his feet if he heard that noise earlier. I doubted he was as strong as an integrity knight, but I preferred to avoid battles while I had nothing but a single chain as a substitute for a whip.
I examined the end of the passage with my body tensed, but even after several seconds passed, there was no sign of anyone. Taking fleeting glances at Eugeo who got out of the jail after me, I quickly whispered.
"It might be an ambush. Be prepared."
"Got it."
Exchanging nods and albeit it being far too late, we silenced our footsteps as we began running.
According to the information I hammered into my mind when we were arrested, this Axiom Church underground jail was constructed with eight passages extending out like the spokes of a wheel, and each passage housed four holding cells on both of its sides. If all of the cells held two each, it could be calculated as 8 x 8 x 2 for a capacity of a hundred and twenty-eight people, but I believed it impossible for this jail to have ever been fully occupied since it was built.
The eight passages convened at the small jailer's guardroom in the space near where the wheel hub would be, with a spiral staircase extending aboveground surrounding it. It would be the best case scenario if we could slip through the jailer's attack and leap onto the staircase. With that in mind as I ran through the passage, I stood still before the guardroom and spied on the state inside.
Small lamps were suspended off the cylindrical guardroom's wall, faintly illuminating their surroundings. There was no sign of movement, but I couldn't help but feel that the jailer was lurking in a blind spot from the exit, equipped with some horrifying weapon.
"...Hey, Kirito."
"Shh!"
"Oh c'mon, Kirito."
As I looked for a presence beyond the corner, my shoulder was poked by Eugeo from behind, so I reluctantly turned back.
"What is it?"
"Hey, this sound... isn't this snoring?"
"...What."
When I listened carefully like I was told to, I certainly noticed it was present, though extremely faint; a constant, familiar low sound repeating itself.
"......"
I took another look at Eugeo in the face, then lightly shook my head and started walking out.
Beyond the end of the passage (of course, there wasn't a single rat in the corner's blind spot) was a reasonably wide circular space and a stone pillar with a diameter of around five meters standing in the middle. The interior of the pillar was hollow, being the jailer's guardroom and as such, the origin of the snores.
A black, iron door was fitted on the side of the pillar with a small peeping window on its upper portion. Eugeo and I concealed our footsteps as we approached the door, peeping in through the window, our faces practically stuck on it.
There was no great difference in the crude bed installed in the exact middle of the round room when compared to the one in the jail, and the jailer slept on it as though his massive barrel-like frame was crushing it. The metal mask that reminded one of a kettle was still worn on and its tin surface vibrated, matching the heavy and low snores.
It was a scene where we should hurry and escape, but I found myself carelessly speculating on his circumstances. Being the lookout all by himself in this jail where prisoners and such rarely came; there was no mistake he had continued that for years... or to be negative, tens of years. After all, in this world, even a child born as a noble would be bestowed a «sacred task» from the one in charge of the area upon turning ten of age, with neither the option to personally choose it, nor to change it halfway through.
Waking according to the faint sound of the time bell in this underground space that sunlight couldn't reach and patrolling an empty jail, then sleeping according to the bell once again. Day after day, he must have repeated nothing but that as his own job. So many times that he did not even stir from his sleep when we made that much noise.
A countless number of keys of various sizes hung from the guardroom's wall. I believed that the keys to remove the metal rings fitted on our right wrists were among them, but without any mood to disrupt the jailer's sleep and fight for that reason, I took a step back and muttered.
"...Let's go."
"Aah... yeah."
It seems that something was on Eugeo's mind too. We softly parted from the window and set our feet upon the spiral staircase that encircled the guardroom, and then earnestly continued the ascent without a single glance back.