Asuna recalled the face of Sugou Nobuyuki, the ambitious person who once trapped the SAO players as test subjects in his abominated research and was handed over to the police by Kirito. However, that person was locked within the walls of the detention barracks, and his attempt to escape overseas caused his appeal for bail to be rejected. “...Yeah, we still haven’t thought of who can do such a thing.” “It’s neither for money nor a grudge, huh...? Hmm...” Sinon lowered her head for a while, used her fingers to tap the tips of her ears, and said in an uncertain manner. “...Well, I guess it was just completely baseless conjecture... The motive isn’t for money or a grudge, but he was still kidnapped. That means that to the enemy, Kirito is an existence which still needs to be kept alive. To put it more specifically what they want is Kirito himself, or what he has... In game terms, his ‘element’, right? What can we think of?” “Swordsmanship.” Asuna immediately answered without hesitation. Whenever she closed her eyes and imagined Kirito’s silhouette, the first thing that would appear was the normally black-clothed Kirito of old who would wield two swords and slash at enemies like a hurricane. It seemed that Lyfa had the same impression on him after travelling with him in ALO as she immediately continued, “Reaction speed.” “Ability to react to a system.” “Situation assessment.” “Survival ability... I guess.”