Sword Art Online Vol. 15 – Alicization Invading Chapter 14 - Subtilizer (The One Who Steals Souls) 8 | P a g e after that one praying mantis incident and made sure to divulge nothing about his experiments. But his desires seemed to heighten with his attempts to keep them under wrap. Gabriel had a friend of the same age with whom he was on extremely good terms back then. The girl was named Alicia Klingerman and the only daughter of the entrepreneurs living in the mansion erected on the adjacent plot of land. They attended the same elementary school and got along well, as did their families. She was shy and obedient, preferring to read books or watch videos at home than to play until muddy outside. Naturally, Gabriel hid his secret experiments from Alicia and spoke nothing of insects and souls. Nevertheless, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Gabriel’s imagination pondered, time after time, where Alicia’s soul could be as he quietly peered into her face from the side while she smiled like an angel, absorbed in reading her novels. Insects were different from humans. Humans could not live on without their heads. Thus, a human’s soul should be in their head… in their brain. But Gabriel had already learnt that brain damage did not lead directly to loss of life via the internet on his father’s computer. There was a construction laborer who survived with a thick iron pipe piercing in from the chin and out the head; there was a doctor who tried to cure mental illness by ablating a portion of a patient’s brain. So, was it somewhere in the brain? Gabriel wondered so as he looked at Alicia’s brow, fringed by her fluffy blonde hair. Alicia’s soul lay hidden beyond that smooth skin, beyond that hard skull, and beyond even those soft brain tissues. He would definitely end up marrying Alicia, or so the Gabriel childishly envisioned. Then he might get the chance to see Alicia’s soul with his own eyes one day. Words couldn’t possibly describe how beautiful the soul of the angelic Alicia was. Half of Gabriel’s wish was granted, sooner than he ever expected.