I, Asuna, don't want to travel around the world

Kirito-kun...could he have a sister complex?

But, Leafa clearly trusted him so much...

It seems that I have to find a chance to make Leafa be more careful when she is at home.

"Brother is right, Asuna, Maple, if you are ready, let's go in."

"I'm fine, Maple, yours?"

Asuna nodded, then looked down at Maple and asked.

"That's fine with me too~!" Maple responded energetically.

She glanced cautiously from Leafa to Kirito.

Could it be that Kirito-brother likes Leafa-sister?

But aren't they brother and sister? This...

Maple thought with some distress.

They had a lot of fun fighting monsters and leveling up together these past two days.

In addition, Leafa and Kirito treated her as their own sister (daughter?), and Maple could naturally sense the feelings between them.

But...Kirito-san seems to have bad thoughts about Leafa-san...

As expected, I still need to find a chance to have a private chat with Kirito-brother~!

Maple didn't know that even when she was distracted, her eyes were firmly fixed on Kirito.

That look of doubt and confusion made Kirito feel creepy.

What's wrong with this kid? Why is he looking at me like that?!

Asuna too, her eyes suddenly became alert!

Sure enough, wasn't the gaze just now a bit too much?

But... when I think of my child with Suguha...

Ahhhhhhh no no no! Calm down, calm down, Kiritani Kazuto!

Having a child has to wait until Suguha graduates from high school... No! It has to be after my mom agrees to my relationship with Suguha!

But...it should be possible to get married with a baby, right?

Kirito stroked his chin, and finally decided to talk to Suguha alone at home after finishing this dungeon.

Although I might get beaten during the conversation...

But, after all, I still want to be with Suguha forever!!!

"Since, in that case, let's go!"

Kirito laughed, and when the scene in front of him changed to the burning ruins of the village, he took the lead to step in, just like he had done when he explored the way before.

Chapter 32 Lotus and the Freeloader Tree

It was as if passing through a layer of illusory mirror. When Kirito took a step forward, layers of ripples continued to ripple with Kirito's movements.

With a "bo~" sound, the ripples completely swallowed up the black-clad swordsman.

The ever-changing scene before Asuna and the others' eyes was completely fixed on a village shrouded in flames and death.

"Stop..."

"It's just like the surface of water... the circles look so beautiful!!"

"Hey! Brother! Wait for us!"

Seeing that Kirito just left the three of them behind and went in alone, Leafa shouted in a somewhat dissatisfied tone.

Asuna and Maple's focus is different.

Asuna was paying attention to the changes in the scene before her.

And Maple had an expression as if she really wanted to touch it?

It seems...want to play in the water?

"Kirito-nii-san, is he...feeling guilty?"

"Eh? Eh!"

Maple touched her chin, a look of sudden enlightenment appeared on her face, and she looked at Leafa with an inexplicable look, causing her to utter a meaningless sound.

"Alright, alright, let's hurry up and catch up, so Kirito-kun doesn't get into trouble facing the boss alone."

Asuna spoke quickly.

"Hmm... Hmm, my brother is really too troublesome. How can he go into a boss battle alone?!"

Leafa also took this opportunity to speak up.

"Let's go." She said to Asuna and Maple.

"Let's go!" Asuna and Maple nodded at the same time.

The three of them joined hands and took a step forward. Three ripples, two large and one small, kept rippling, and slowly calmed down towards the distance.

……

……

“Tong… eh?!”

"Plop——!"

"Plop——!"

The sky was covered in thick smoke, and the world before our eyes was filled with flames and ruins, leaving no room for anything else.

The corpses on the ground were still slowly shedding blood, soaking the dusty earth.

The ferocious tongues of fire licked the houses and human corpses, and stretched out towards the sky with their fangs and claws.

Three ripples appeared at the end of this country road filled with death.

However, just as Asuna was about to call upon the black-clad swordsman who had arrived in this world ahead of them, her hands were pulled downward almost at the same time.

Then, there were two dull crashes of bodies falling to the ground.

Asuna's body couldn't help but tilt forward under the sudden pull of these two forces, and she seemed to be about to fall.

She quickly took a step forward, trying to steady herself.

However, when he stepped on it, he did not step on solid ground, but on something very soft instead?

Her body completely lost balance and fell to the ground.

"Um... this is... Kirito-kun?!"

Asuna supported herself with her hands, straightened up, and sat on the unknown object that had tripped her.

What caught my eye was a very familiar black.

Looking again, the object on his waist that hurt him was actually the one-handed sword of a black-clad swordsman...

“Aaaaaah, sorry!!!”

Asuna quickly stood up, clasped her hands together and apologized to him, then turned her gaze to Leafa and Maple who had also fallen beside her.

"Lifa? Maple?! What happened to you?!"

(A certain black-clad swordsman:?????)

Asuna called out their names anxiously, but there was no response at all.

"The body... has become lighter?!"

Asuna lifted Leafa and Maple up and placed them against her own chest. Suddenly, she discovered that the bodies of the two girls in her arms were becoming illusory and transparent at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"What's going on?!" Asuna's fingers slid in the air, trying to call out the game panel, but there was no response at all.

It seems like I'm no longer in the game.

(A certain black-clad swordsman:?????)

She anxiously looked at the two people in her arms who were becoming more and more transparent. Gradually, she could no longer feel the weight in her arms.

"Are you still unwilling to wake up from your dream?" A strange yet familiar voice suddenly came from beside Asuna.

Lianhua frowned slightly and looked at Asuna, who was sitting on the ground with an anxious look on her face, and said, "It's about time for you to wake up, right?"

Her tone was very calm, but she sounded a little tired. A classical and luxurious black folding fan suddenly appeared in Lianhua's hand. She gently patted her palm with the folding fan and said, "Your real family and friends are not here. No matter how much you miss home, you shouldn't use this illusory thing to replace them."

After saying that, Lianhua took light steps, walked to Asuna's side, stretched out her white palm, and placed it on Asuna's forehead.

"Ding~!"

A crisp sound rang out from deep within the brain, as if something was broken.

"Now, I should remember it."

Renka took her hand away from Asuna's forehead and said calmly.

As the girl finished her words, many memories slowly flooded into Asuna's heart like water flowing out of a floodgate.

There was a hint of confusion in Asuna's eyes. As time passed, the girl in her arms and the black-clad swordsman lying beside her slowly turned into points of light and disappeared in her arms and on the ground.

Asuna lowered her head slightly and glanced at her chest, which was empty.

"——As expected, I still miss home a little."

After a long time, Asuna raised her head. Her originally gentle and beautiful face showed loneliness and her eyes were full of loss.

"Home..." Lianhua murmured softly in her heart when she heard Asuna's words.

My home...is that hotel?

"Anyway, thank you very much, Lianhua. I haven't seen my family for a long time. I am a little reluctant to wake up."

Asuna stood up, brushed off the non-existent dust on her body, and expressed her gratitude.

"You're welcome. After all, that's what you want to dream about."

"Eh?"

"Although I feel a little embarrassed to say this, it is my fault after all. I am very sorry for involving your dream here."

"So... where are we now?"

Lianhua lowered her head slightly towards Asuna, as if... apologizing?

And her expression was still very dull.

It’s obvious at first glance that the favorability level hasn’t been increased enough!

Lianhua didn't care what Asuna was thinking. After all, in her eyes, Asuna was just like those gods, one of the gods in the "Can't Be Provoked Series".

After all, she had already paid a heavy price just because of the tree deep in Asuna's soul.

If Asuna were left to face the fox demon's soul alone and get hurt, Renhua really didn't believe that the tree wouldn't come out to help Asuna and have a good meal at the same time.

Lianhua looked into the depths of the sea of ​​fire and ruins.

"Here, the soul of an ancient fox demon is sealed..."

At the same time, it is also my last reserve of food...

Lianhua glanced at Asuna, who looked surprised, and couldn't help but make some guesses in her heart.

"Could it be that... the reason why Asuna dreamed about these things was actually caused by the golden osmanthus tree deep in her soul?"

That guy, is he addicted to freeloading? !

Chapter 33 Lianhua: I can’t win, so I’ll just run away! (I accept my fate~paralyzed)

Once upon a time, Lianhua was just a ghost-like being that stayed at home and waited for "guests" to come.

Until one day, a glowing guy inexplicably appeared in front of her and broke into her "home" in a very casual manner.

Then he went on to say a lot of things on his own. Under the terrifying pressure from the other party, Lianhua hid in the kaleidoscope and trembled the whole time.