Chapter 77 - Presumed Guilty
"I thought I was used to it..."
"Nah, even I was honestly surprised. The accelerator was completely busted. My bad, okay?"
Is there ever a time one gets used to running up the side of a ten-story building with their own two feet? While offering an apology to Sora's faint voice, I also tried to soothe my own somewhat erratic heartbeat.
We were in a narrow back alley in some unknown part of the city. The players must have swarmed the plaza we were just in, because there was no sign of anyone around here after we'd put some distance between us. It seemed we could finally catch our breath.
There were no thoughtful amenities like benches in the deserted alleyway, so the two of us just leaned against a building wall and let out a sigh apiece. We looked down, then up at the sky, each taking a moment to calm our nerves.
"I'm sorry, too... I technically knew about that, but it completely slipped my mind..."
"I think I get it... it's one of those 'Welcome, newcomers!' things, right?"
Sora nodded at my crude guess. "Right," she said, before adding with an exhausted smile, "It was even more that than I expected."
"Apparently, it used to be a custom for recruiting people into parties and clans... but now that new players have become so rare, it's mainly just a welcome festival."
A welcome festival, huh.
"Isn't that something you'd report to the police?"
"Ahaha..."
Never mind women and children—even a grown man would be put off, or rather, terrified by that. If Sora had been surrounded by that horde alone, the scene would have been a full-blown incident. She'd be guilty until proven innocent.
Estimated assailants: over ten thousand. Utterly hopeless.
"Well, yeah... let's just say we made it through for now."
The crisis was over. Time to move on.
I glanced at a corner of the UI displayed at the edge of my vision. A system clock, its design more complex than a standard analog one, was ticking away.
It was a clock function that displayed both real and virtual time, one that took me a while to get used to.
In Arcadia, where the player's consciousness is accelerated, a day is thirty-six hours, not twenty-four. Just as a real day is divided into twelve-hour AM and PM segments, Arcadia is split into three twelve-hour blocks: AM, PM, and VM.
Incidentally, "AM" is short for ante meridiem and "PM" is short for post meridiem, meaning "before noon" and "after noon" respectively. As for what "VM" stands for, there's been no official answer, so it remains a mystery.
The complaint that "if a day is thirty-six hours, shouldn't noon be 18:00 instead of 12:00?" has been around for three years now, so we'll skip it.
Anyway, it was now past PM in virtual time, which meant it was a little after five o'clock in real time... If we were sticking to the original plan, it should be about time.
"It's about time, right?"
"Yes, that's all for today."
When I turned my head, our eyes met, as if she'd been looking at me at the same time. Normally, she would have gotten shy... but this time, Sora held my gaze, her expression tinged with a hint of sadness.
"Not just for today... as I mentioned before."
Her words were frustratingly, maddeningly vague. This was due to her circumstances, which she'd told me about a little while ago... in short, "real life is about to get busy."
It's the time of year when a new season begins for students and professionals alike, so it's only natural. I'm in the same boat; my university life is on a countdown.
"It's a crucial time, so I get why you're antsy."
As for me, I dedicated my high school years to ridiculous money-making schemes and my studies, so I'm actually looking forward to university life as a way to make up for my lost youth.
So even factoring in the drastic reduction in time I'll spend in Arcadia, I'm mentally about even... maybe just slightly in the negative.
But for a working adult, well, that's a different story.
—I may act like her guardian and treat her like she's younger, but in truth, I think Sora is older than me.
It's easy to get lost in daydreams of her being just like her innocent-looking avatar and voice, but reigning yourself in and facing reality is an essential skill for the modern youth living in the online world.
In Arcadia, you can only freely design your avatar; your voice remains the same as it is in real life. This means her beautiful girl voice is her own, which rules out the possibility of her being elderly.
However, as a part-time job warrior who has drifted through numerous workplaces and gained insight into a slice of society, I know one thing: the "poor communication skills" of young people—those high school age and younger.
Simply put, it's the difference in conversational ability, including vocabulary. Anyone who worked part-time jobs nonstop as a student and had to communicate daily with adults other than their parents and teachers probably gets it.
It's not about being an adult or a child, but whether your daily life requires "smooth communication skills" or not. Whether you're expected to think on your feet and propose solutions when unexpected situations arise, instead of just freezing up... It's the absolute difference in practical communication experience.
I believe this "conversational skill," which has nothing to do with intelligence or education, is something you absolutely cannot acquire by just living a normal student life.
So, where does Sora-san stand?
She has a shy side, but I've never felt her communication skills were lacking.
Her vocabulary, aside from game terminology, is impressive; she occasionally uses words I don't even know.
Not only can she construct conversations efficiently, but even in a critical "unexpected situation" of a level that would never occur in real life, she has quick wits and an exceptional ability to convey information clearly and concisely.
So, does such a female student even exist?
Well, I'm sure some do, but then there's the added hurdle of purchasing the Arcadia hardware.
Even I, who still only have the bare minimum of information, have glanced at the player age distribution, and the percentage of current students is less than ten percent.
When I first heard "one in ten," I thought, Huh, that's surprisingly high, but considering Arcadia's total population, a nine-to-one ratio represents a massive difference in actual numbers.
In short... the possibility that the innocent-looking beautiful girl before me is also a younger girl in real life is infinitesimally small.
The thought that this girl might be an office lady being tossed about by the rough waves of society... well, it stirs up a lot of different emotions.
"Um... Haru-san, you're going to be busy too, right?"
"More or less. March is pretty much the same for students and working adults alike."
Naturally, neither of us has ever discussed our real-life situations.
Just as I act like her guardian while secretly thinking she's older... maybe she, too, secretly thinks of me as younger.
I'm aware that I can come off as rather flippant and easygoing. In reality—or rather, when I'm not all hyped up—my energy level is actually below average.
"..."
Sora trailed off, then fell completely silent. She looked visibly down, and since I could guess the reason, I felt a mix of happiness and frustration at not being able to do anything about it.
"You get lonely pretty easily, don't you, Sora?"
I want to comfort her, to cheer her up—or maybe that's just a pretext. This time, I honestly just wanted to, and my hand reached out on its own.
I gently touched her head as she looked down beside me.
She flinched slightly in surprise... but then, she accepted my hand.
"...I'm surprised at myself. It hasn't even been a month, and I've already grown so attached."
"Saying that about yourself, huh?"
I chuckled at her resigned tone, which seemed to fully acknowledge both her loneliness and who it was directed at. Sora turned her face away, embarrassed.
"Because it's true, isn't it? I've become completely attached to you, Haru-san."
"Whoa... a surprisingly forward attack."
Instead of just ending in her usual embarrassment, I was met with those sulky words. All I could do in response to that was grin.
"Well, I'm more than happy about it... and hey, we're partners. It's not strange to be sad that we won't be able to see each other as much, right?"
"Partner..."
Judging by her reaction, there's no doubt she's fond of me, too. In that case, I have no intention of ending our current relationship either.
Putting aside her cute girl avatar, adventuring with the honest and hardworking Sora is genuinely fun and exhilarating.
On top of that, with her rapid growth, she's starting to become even more reliable than me at times. There's no question she's now an indispensable partner.
"So yeah, the feeling's mutual. Honestly, I can't even imagine you not being by my side anymore."
"...!"
That's why I felt it was okay to say something a little embarrassing like that. I was confident that Sora wouldn't be put off or laugh at me; I believed we'd built at least that much trust.
I stole a glance at her profile and saw her face flushed a noticeable shade of red—my partner is truly adorable.
...And as I was thinking that, something else came to mind.
"Speaking of partners, I think they just unlocked that Partner System thing—"
"Huh?!"
Was the change in topic too abrupt? Ignoring Sora's surprised yelp beside me, I summoned the system window and looked at the newly added option.
"Let's see... 'Form a bond with a player whose affection level has reached a certain point to receive various benefits.' Huh, very MMO-like."
I have no idea what accumulates this so-called affection, but Sora and I have been tackling content as a pair almost constantly. The conditions must have been met through time spent in a party or something similar.
"Sora, did you know about this feature?"
"Eh, um, well... yes. It's, ah, pretty famous, you could say."
"Hmm?"
Why is she suddenly stammering? Anyway, isn't this the perfect thing to ease the loneliness of not being able to see each other as often?
"In that case, Sora, if you're okay with it, how about becoming my partner?"
I said it casually, meaning to make it official in the system—and in that instant...
"—"
Sora, who had already been acting strangely, completely froze.
"...Uh, Sora-san?"
It was as if she'd been hit by a forced stun. Seeing her stiffen up, I instinctively realized I had messed up somehow and slowly retracted the hand I had placed on her head.
Sora turned her head toward me with a creaky, mechanical motion. Her face was rapidly turning crimson, and her eyes were wide with confusion.
"U-um..."
"Yes?"
"I think, probably... Haru-san, you don't... understand what this means, do you?"
Meaning? What meaning? The very fact I was thinking that proved I had no idea.
"I do not."
I nodded gravely, already contemplating the best time to transition into a formal kneeling position. Sora stared at me with a resentful look for a moment, then let out a huge sigh. "Haaah..."
Still red all the way to her neck, she glared at me from the side and muttered.
"...A marriage proposal."
"Huh?"
"In Arcadia, proposing a Partner System contract is treated the same as a real-life marriage proposal."
"—Huh?"
"...Honestly, Haru-san. You're unbelievable."
Sora turned away shyly, and while her gesture was as cute as ever, that wasn't the point. Huh?
What did I just do? No, what have I done? Huh?
Did I just propose to Sora?
...Huh?
That's just how you are.