The Drifter Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

Chapter 3 - Just Another Day in Town

NOTE: The dialogue in this chapter is spoken in Japanese

15 September 2023

Mishe, 35th Floor

Walking through a safe zone as a female player grabs a considerable amount of attention. Rakuno is, of course, fully well aware of that fact. She has been gathering stares from male players ever since she first left the Town of Beginnings on the 1st Floor anyway.

As long as she ignored them, they wouldn't do more than stare at her. Hopefully. Those heads were always tilted slightly downwards as she past by, probably stealing glances of her skirt or legs. There was nothing much she could do about it, being a girl and all. Her outfit, which also included her witch's hat, a white shirt which seemed a bit too tight for her figure and thin sleeves which only covered her arms, were her favourite to equip outdoors, so she shouldn't complain about such trivial things that only bothered her once in a while.

Naturally, her face would show a brief tinge of disgust at the onlookers, before turning back to her front, trying to go to wherever she wanted to go.

When she had left the Forest of Wandering and entered the town of Mishe on this particular day, the stares she had gotten skyrocketed to the point that there was a disorganized crowd of male players following behind her. Rakuno had expected something like that to happen, wanting to cover her face as she walked, while holding the hand of an innocent little girl wearing a dress that probably didn't match the theme of the environment around them.

She looked at the girl, who went by the name of Faeria, staring back at her with a blank expression on her face. Their silent stare-off didn't last long, as the ponytailed girl had turned to look around at the buildings on the side of the street, bustling with activity that she had probably never seen in her lifetime.

Rakuno's face froze up for a brief moment, her eyes still locked on to the girl of small stature. She had already immersed herself in looking at the girl for days back in the forest cottage, but it still wasn't enough to satisfy her.

Too innocent, too cute, too beautiful!

Rakuno almost couldn't control her burst of excitement. Despite the little girl being an NPC, she acts and looks like how a lady should. Plus, the girl was just too honest and gullible for her own good. It was all the more necessary for a swordswoman like Rakuno herself to protect Faeria from anyone who tries to take her.

Turning back at the crowd of male players, which somehow became more concentrated than just now, Rakuno stared at them with a face almost void of expressions, as if she was fed up of the many but simple desires of men.

"....Ugh.......Lolicons......."

A few minutes later, Rakuno, while still holding Faeria by her side, entered a small shack sandwiched between an inn and a café. After shutting the door, she leaned her back on it, sliding down to a squat as she panted a little.

"Evening, Atom-san." She called out.

The male player at the table on the far side of the pretty small room jerked his head to his visitor. He squinted his eyes a bit, and stood up, as if welcoming an old friend whom he hadn't visited for so long.

"Raku-san! How's it been? I've been trying to contact you for 5 days straight via message, but you didn't answer. It's about that party you ditched, and......"

Atom's voice trailed off, as he noticed the little girl clinging to Rakuno cautiously by her waist. A lengthy silence followed in the room, before Rakuno quickly nudged Faeria behind her.

"Are you a lolicon too?" She asked, her right hand reaching for her katana.

Atom snapped off of his trance, holding his hands out in a flustered manner. His cheeks were flaming red, which were clear and visible to Rakuno, who was narrowing her eyes with disappointment and disgust.

"N-N-No! I'm not quite into.....um....lolis......But it's not like I'll earn a trip to the Black Iron Castle just by---"

"Then I'll PERSONALLY make sure that--"

"Okay! I get it! I get it! So just calm down first! We'll talk things out!"

Rakuno sat herself down on the only couch in the shack, before plopping an oblivious Faeria on her lap. The sight of them sitting together was enough for one to feel especially weird about it. Atom was no exception, trying not to look directly at them as he sat at his own desk, browsing through his menu with wavering focus.

"So, I'm assuming you want help on a certain quest concerning the......little girl.....you have there, am I right?" Atom asked, his eyes darting back and forth from the pair.

"Well, I did send you the quest details this morning." Rakuno replied.

"I noticed." Atom sighed. "Just when I thought you went missing for good. Seriously, can't you at least give me a reply when I'm trying to contact you? The party you were with 5 days ago told me all about how you ditched them in the worse way possible, and now you're suddenly coming to me with another demand when you haven't resolved your first issue yet, so as your fellow info broker, I....."

As Atom continued on and on with another one of his lectures, Rakuno nudged her head with the top of Faeria's absent-mindedly, clearing wanting to ignore her info broker nagging at her again.

Nevertheless, Atom was her trusted and most reliable info broker. She'd take his lectures and services than to have no help on finding parties to Drift on any day. But to be fair, the guy had the biggest social circle for any players wanting to form random parties with each other. This wasn't something that the big guilds would approve of, considering that they had enough players to form parties with, but the business was still flourishing.

Needless to say, Rakuno was a regular customer of Atom's party-matching service. The risk of trust issues among party members wasn't a hinderance to her. After all, in her perspective, she was doing this solo, no matter what anyone would say about her status as a Drifter.

"I'll settle the issue with my last party, don't you worry." Rakuno gave out a sigh of her own as she caressed Faeria's hair. "Just tell me how to progress the next stage of this quest. I don't know how THAT works."

Atom paused his lecture, and gave her a look that almost made a smirk on his face.

"By THAT, you mean......"

He took a glance at his message board again, as if to carefully make sure what he had just read from the quest details really was what it said on the floating window.

" 'Form a Bond with Your Companion'..........huh?"