Kirito said this and began to walk. Silica somehow managed to force her voice out towards his back. “My—my legs won’t move.” Kirito looked back and offered his right hand with a smile; as Silica grabbed tightly onto his hand she could finally smile. The two remained mostly silent until they reached the Weathercock Tavern on the thirty-fifth floor. There were lots of things that Silica wanted to say, but she just couldn’t talk, as if there were a pebble stuck in her throat. When they went up to the second floor and entered Kirito’s room, the red light of the sunset was already streaming in though the window. Silica finally managed to speak with a trembling voice to Kirito, who seemed to have become a black silhouette because of the light. “Kirito-san… are you going to leave…?” After a long silence, the silhouette nodded slowly. “Yeah… I’ve been away from the front lines for five days already. I need to get back to clearing the game as soon as possible…” “…I suppose you’re right…” To tell the truth, Silica wanted to ask him to take her with him. But she couldn’t. Kirito’s level is 78. Her level is 45. With a level gap of 33—— the difference separating them was painfully clear. If she followed Kirito to the front lines, Silica would be cut down in an instant. Even though