"Frank would you please hold onto this for us?" she hands him the sword before he can answer. She turns, with hands on her hips glaring down at me.
The next day we meet at the restaurant we went to together. Annabeth and I sit on one side and Bianca across the table from us.
"So uh, Bianca... We uh, were wondering if you ever heard of the name Grimlock?" Annabeth asks. Bianca's eyes go wide with fear, her breath becomes shallow, and her face deadens.
"Yes... I have... actually until a few months ago he was in the guild with me and Will." She says softly.
"Listen, we took the sword that impaled Will to an appraiser. We had him go over it pretty carefully, and we found out Grimlock made it." I say. Her eyes go wide fear, and she covers her mouth with her hands. "Can you think of any reason why he did?" I ask her.
"Yes, I can..." she fiddles with her hands on the table. "I should have told you everything yesterday... it's just I couldn't. It's something I've been trying very hard to forget. But know I have no choice, I should tell you about how my guild was destroyed." She says softly.
"when we formed it, Golden Apple was the name we choose. Six months ago we killed a rare monster, it dropped a powerful ring that raised a players Agility by 20. Some of us wanted to keep it, others wanted to sell it. We couldn't agree and ended up putting it to a vote. Selling it won 5 to 3. Our leader Meg went to a large town in the front lines. She was going to sell it to a broker and was staying overnight. We waited and waited... but she never came back. It wasn't until later we learned that our worst fears where true, Meg was dead. To this day... I still don't know how she died." Bianca says.
"No one is gonna leave a safe zone with a rare item like that, too risky. You think someone pulled a sleep PK on her?" I ask Annabeth.
"Not if it was 6 months ago, that method was still sort of new." Annabeth says.
"Your right. But she wasn't a random victim either, no. The killer was after the ring, it has to be someone who knew she had it, which means..."
"The killer was one of the 7 others in our guild... yes" Bianca interrupts me.
"We have out suspects, now we just have to figure out who didn't want to sell the ring." I say.
"I doubt the killer waited till after Meg sold it, she was killed before she managed to sell, that's my guess." Annabeth says.
"Yeah..." I look to Bianca. "Tell us what you know about Grimlock."
"I guess for starters, he was Megs husband... oh not IRL, but in game." She says. "Meg was a powerful swordswoman, she was beautiful and smart. Grimlock was kind and I can't remember a day he wasn't smiling. They made a great couple, and got along as husband and wife. If Grimlock is really the one who murdered Will yesterday... then he's probably going after the 3 guild members who voted against selling the ring. Will was one of the 3 who wanted to keep the ring, I was the other one." She says.
"Who's the third person?" I ask sitting up in my chair.
"The other is a Tank named Chuck, and the last I heard he's on the font lines now with the Legion." She says.
"I've heard that name before." I say.
"He's leader of the Defense Unit of the Legion. He's a great Lancer." Annabeth says.
I remember seeing him once outside of a meeting a while back. "Oh yeah, him..." I say.
"Wait, do you really know Chuck?" Bianca asks.
"I've run into him a few times while clearing Bosses so..."
"I need to see him right away, could you please take me to him. If he's on the front lines, he probably hasn't heard about the murder. He needs to know, before what happened to Will happens to him." she looks out the rain-soaked window.
"We'll help you get in touch with Chuck, I know someone in the Legion who can help us. We'll visit their HQ." Annabeth says.
"Ok, but first we should make sure she gets back to the Inn, Bianca you have to stay there ok? Seriously don't go anywhere until we get back." I say to her.
"Ok..." she says sadly.
We drop her off at the Inn and watch her shut her door, now Annabeth and I walk down a tight alley way.
"Ok so... How do you think a murder like this happened in a safe zone?" Annabeth asks me.
"I can see 3 way it could've. To start, it's possible it was a fair duel, or maybe someone took advantage of a bug that can combine a bunch of different kill methods." I say scratching my chin.
"Yeah... I can see that." Annabeth says. "And the third?"
"Used something to bypass detection of a safe zone, some kind of skill or maybe an item." I stop walking. "No, on second thought, the third idea is impossible."
"What do you mean?" Annabeth asks.
"Because it's unfair, I kinda hate to admit it but it's true. The rules of SAO are essentially fair for everyone player in the game, so there's no way the game would allow murders in safe zones." I say looking at her.
"I see..." she looks at me, her face kinda sad.
