Training skills was mind-numbingly boring and extremely time-consuming, and could only be «Mastered» after leveling them up 1000 times. On that note, levels didn't have anything to do with skills and went up by gaining experience points. The things that went up with the levels were HP, strength, stats like dexterity, and the number of «Skill Slots» which decided how many skills you could learn.

Right now I have twelve slots, but the only ones that had been completed were my one-handed straight sword skill, Scan for Enemy skill, and my Weapon Guard skill. It meant that this girl had spent a lot of time and effort on a skill that wasn't even of any help in battle.

“...Well, I've got something to ask you to do, trusting that skill.”

I waved her over and put my window on show mode so that she could see it. Asuna looked at it suspiciously, and then her eyes widened at the name of the item.

“ Uwa !! That...That's an S-rank food ingredient!?”

“Let's trade. If you cook this, I'll let you have a bite.”

Even before I stopped talking, that right hand of «Flash» Asuna grabbed me by the collar. Then she pushed her face to a few centimeters before mine.

“Give. Me. Half!!”

My chest stopped at this sudden ambush and I nodded without thinking. When I got back to my senses it was too late, and she was waving her arm with excitement. Well, let's consider it a good thing that I can watch that delicate face from so close. I convinced myself.

I closed the window and spoke while looking at Agil's face.

“Sorry. I'll stop the trade.”

“No. It's fine but... Hey, we're friends right? Eh? Can't you give me a taste...?”

“I'll give you an eight hundred word essay on it.”

“D-Don't be like that!”

As I cold-heartedly turned my back on Agil , he called out in a voice that seemed as if it was the end of the world. As I made to walk away, Asuna grabbed the sleeve of my coat.

“Cooking's good, but where are we going to do it?”

“Ah...”

If you're going to cook, then you needed some cooking appliances, such as a stove or an oven, as well as the ingredients. It wasn't as if my house didn't have them, but I couldn't invite the sub-leader of the KoB into a messy place like that.

Asuna looked at me with an unbelieving expression on her face.

“Well, your house wouldn't have the proper appliances anyway. But I could serve it to you in my house just this once.”

She said something shocking in a calm voice.

Asuna ignored me, who was standing there frozen as if I was lagging while my brain processed this, and turned to her guards and spoke.

“I'm going to teleport to « Salemburg » soon, so it's fine if you go. Thank you for your hard work.”

“A- Asuna - sama ! Coming into the slums was bad enough, but to invite someone as suspicious as him to your house. Wh -What are you thinking!?”

I couldn't believe what I just heard. « Sama » he said. He must be one of the worshipers. As I looked at Asuna with these thoughts, the person in question had an annoyed expression on her face.

“OK, maybe you could call him suspicious, but his skill is unquestionable. He's most probably ten levels above you Kuradeel .”

“ Wh -What are you saying? To say that I'm not even equal to someone like that...!”

The man's voice sounded all the way out to the alley. He glared at me with his heavily lidded eyes. Then his face scrunched up as if he suddenly recognized something.

“That's right... You, you were definitely a «Beater»!”

Beater was made by mixing «Beta tester» and «Cheater». It was a word meant for people who used unfair means and a swearword that was unique to SAO. It was something I'd heard a lot of times. But however many times I heard it, it still hurt me deeply. The face of the person who had first said it to me, who had once been a friend, suddenly appeared in my head.

“Yeah. You're right.”

When I affirmed it with an expressionless face, the guy started talking excitedly.

“ Asuna-sama , these sorts of guys don't care about anything as long as they're fine! There's nothing to gain from mixing with these kinds of people!”

Asuna , who had been calm until now, suddenly knotted her eyebrows in disgust. A crowd had suddenly appeared and the words « KoB » and « Asuna » could be heard here and there.

Asuna looked around and said to the man who was getting more excited by the minute.

“Well, please leave for today. That's an order.”

She spoke bluntly and grabbed my belt with her left hand. Then she started walking towards the gate plaza, dragging me as she went.

“Err...hey! Is it okay to leave them like that?”

“It's fine!”

Well, I've got no reason to complain. We made our way through the crowd, leaving the two guards and Agil , who was still disappointed. When I glanced back one last time, the furious expression of the man called Kuradeel stuck to my vision like an afterimage.