Chapter 672: Emergency, get your butt over here!
After coming to an agreement on the arming deal, Kirito felt more invigorated.
He’s not excited about the weapon that will be produced. He just doesn’t like owing favors. His settlement with Wu Yan had to wait because Lis needed to grind up her skill levels. With that done, he can finally fulfill his end of the deal with Wu Yan.
If Kirito somehow obtained knowledge on the original work where he was the one who needed a second sword for his Dual Blades, how would he feel?
Most likely, he would feel relieved.
Kirito is someone who preferred not sticking out. As a beta tester and a solo player, if he had the Dual Blades, people are going to notice him and come bother him with requests and trouble. After obtaining Dual Blades, Kirito stored it away and he only used it when pushed into a corner by the floor boss of the 74th floor.
Compared to Kirito, Wu Yan is indifferent to this skill. He has no intention of hiding it. He’s already known as the Fae Swordsman, the trouble stemming from obtaining Dual Blades is nothing compared to the annoying people coming after him due to his fame as the Fae Swordsman. Moreover, Wu Yan is far stronger than Kirito, he’s more than capable enough to deal with opponents without relying on Dual Blades as a trump card.
Kirito exited the forge with Lis in tow. A beautiful girl bumped into them near the door. Kirito and Lis stopped at once.
“Asuna!”
Lis tilted her head in slight puzzlement. She greeted her with a smile.
“You came too!”
“Eh?”
Asuna gasped when she saw Kirito here.
“Why are you here?”
“I have something to do here...”
Kirito scratched his cheek and he uttered an awkward laugh.
Outside of strategy meetings, Kirito rarely interacted with Asuna. Plus, they are always arguing over strategies although instances of that lessened recently due to a change in Asuna’s personality. However, Kirito is still not used to being around Asuna.
“Lis slapped Kirito’s shoulder.
“This guy is one of my best customers!”
“Oh, really?”
Asuna narrowed her eyes at both of them. She continued with an amused tone.
“I remembered how you contacted me to introduce Lis to you, I didn’t think you two would get so familiar with each other so soon...”
“It’s this guy’s fault for coming here every two days or so!”
Lis leered at Kirito.
“He kept pressing me to forge a good weapon for him. I just don’t get why he would need another weapon when he already has a solid weapon as his main weapon.”
Kirito forced a smile onto his face but he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want news of him losing a bet to get out. Lis assumed he wanted that weapon to keep as a backup weapon or something.
Asuna had a moment realization. She more or less knew about the bet between Wu Yan and Kirito. She also knows that Kirito is here on a request by Wu Yan.
Wu Yan put Kirito in a spot by asking him to contact Lis through Asuna. Asuna got back at him by forcefully asking for a generous amount of food materials. Of course, this is all thanks to a whistleblower named K-san.
When Asuna heard about Lis forging a weapon needed for Wu Yan, she got interested in it.
“What’s the latest update on that weapon?”
“We just need more materials!”
Lis pursed her lips.
“The material is exclusive to the 55th Floor...”
“The 55th floor...”
Asuna blinked and she turned towards Kirito.
“That shouldn’t be hard for you, right?”
“Of course, it’s not hard for me...”
Kirito breathed in deeply...
“I can’t say the same thing now...”
“What do you mean by that?!”
Lis yelled at Kirito with arms akimbo.
“Are you implying I’m going to weigh you down or something?”
“No, I didn’t say that...”
Kirito averted his gaze, a sign of his guilty conscience. Lis picked up on this and she knew this buster is lying to her face.
“You...”
“Wait!”
Asuna interrupted Lis.
“Lis, you’re going too?”
“Yeah!”
Lis said as if her question was odd.
“To procure the material directly is the job of the blacksmith. If he killed the dragon that produced the metal then he wouldn’t be able to obtain that metal!”
“I see...”
Asuna nodded and she lifted her sword with a disappointed sigh.
“I wanted to get you to sharpen my blade, the durability is about to run out...”
“I can do that for you right now!”
She immediately bumped her best friend up her client backlog. She looked at Kirito with a threatening look.
“It’s not going to take long, you’re going to wait for me, right? Kirito-kun...”
Kirito’s lip twitched and he nodded with a helpless look. Asuna and Lisbeth giggled at the same time.
They ditched Kirito while he looked around the shop. Then, the two girls started talking...
“Are you sure you only want me to restore the durability?”
Lisbeth looked at Asuna’s sword.
“I can upgrade it for you, you know? My skills went up and it’s now high enough to upgrade your weapon...”
Asuna thought about it but she shook her head in the end.
“Yeah, no, my weapon is good enough for now. If I upgrade it now, it’s going to take some time to adjust to its improved performance...”
“Okay then...”
Lisbeth’s shoulders drooped in dejection.
“I worked so hard to increase my smithing skills...”
“Well, don’t get too sad...”
Asuna pulled Lis’ hand.
“Oh, right, in addition to sharpening the sword, can you adjust the sword so that it’s prettier?”
“Hah? You want me to make it prettier?”
Lis flinched as she looked at Asuna in confusion.
This is the first time someone requested her to make their weapon more presentable.
For a female player, a cuter weapon would seem reasonable but that didn’t apply to someone with Asuna’s personality.
Asuna always picked performance over appearance. She’s the player known as the demon of Floor Conquest, she preferred practicality more than anyone in the raid group.
But, thinking back on it, Asuna is behaving almost entirely different from her past self.
Lisbeth got suspicious. She might talk loudly like someone who has something to prove, but Lis’ astute observation told her that her heart is very delicate inside. Moreover, she’s starting to blossom more and more as a woman.
Furthermore, she noticed the dainty earrings on Asuna. The dark light here failed to bring out the luster of the earrings but it did nothing to stop Asuna’s charm from increasing by a few levels at least.
Asuna is using accessories?
“Asuna, I need you to be honest with me!”
Lis smiled but her eyes were dead serious.
“Are you in love with somebody?”
“Ha? Har?!”
Asuna was stunned for a brief moment and then her face brightened up with flushed red.
“N-no, what makes you think that?!”
Asuna backed away as her eyes darted around in a panic. Lis immediately saw through her cheap bravado.
Lisbeth said nothing because she already got her answer. She started working on Asuna’s sword as she let her drown in her own shame.
It didn’t take long for Lisbeth to fulfill Asuna’s order. She bade farewell to Asuna at the entrance to the store and then she pulled Kirito along as they started their journey.
She watched the two of them picking on each other as they walked away and Asuna turned her head the other way in a huff. An idea came to her and she grinned.
She sent a private email to a certain someone.
“This is an emergency, get your butt over here!”