In February 2024, Kirito, the lone swordsman, returned from the fiftieth floor of Aincrad to the thirty-fifth. There, in the Dark Night Forest outside town, he unexpectedly rescued Silica, a rare Beast Tamer (Dragon Tamer) player. The two then headed together to the town of Miscé on the thirty-fifth floor, planning to stay the night.
At the Miscé inn, the Windmill Roost, Silica treated Kirito to the best cheesecake they had to thank him for saving her. Then the two sat chatting beneath the oil lamp.
"Are you all right?"
"Don't worry! With Pina's Heart, your familiar, the winged dragon, can definitely be revived—as long as you get the Soul Flower from Memory Hill in southern Florenia on the forty-seventh floor!"
"NPC companions are much easier to revive than players. At least, you've got a generous three-day grace period..."
As he spoke, Kirito's eyes clouded over briefly, and he lowered his head in silence.
He'd remembered the revival item he'd obtained two months ago, the Sacred Crystal of Resurrection. He remembered the requirement that someone had to be revived within "ten seconds"—a wound that would never heal.
Silica's familiar, Pina, could still be revived if she got the Soul Flower within three days. But his companions would never come back.
"I'm all right. Anyway, thank you, Kirito!"
"Sorry for the trouble..."
Silica hadn't noticed the change in her savior's expression. She simply lowered her head shyly and nervously, thanking him over and over.
"Trouble?"
"Not really. You might not believe me, but I actually came here this time to take care of a problem..."
"Other people—like that little girl—have probably already started heading toward the area where the boss on the fifty-sixth floor is. Someone like me can only come to the thirty-fifth floor and take care of a few