Tolbana, dusk.
Rozen returned to Tolbana along with the Rainbow Butterfly to meet Argo once again at the run-down bar.
“…That kind of thing happened?”
After learning about the whole thing from Rozen, Argo smiled bitterly and immediately apologized to Rozen.
“Sorry, this is my fault.”
As an information broker, Argo should have obtained the information about another rapier user who has been going around, assaulting other players. As a result, it caused a false conception that Asuna might be the player killer. Fortunately, Rozen and Asuna were alright. If things went south, it would be partly Argo’s responsibilities
However, it couldn’t be helped at this time.
“Since The First Floor Boss Raid Strategy Meeting will be held soon, you must’ve been busy gathering the necessary information about the boss. It can’t be helped, I’ll let it slide this time.” Rozen said.
“However, since the words about a full-bodied hood red player holding a rapier have spread, you’re responsible for clarifying the truth about this matter.”
If she didn’t, then Asuna will still be treated as a criminal.
Although there were several players who witnessed the truth, most players didn’t know about the truth yet. So, there was no other option but to leave this to Argo.
Since Argo was a well-known information broker, he should be able to spread the truth about this matter. Therefore, Argo should be able to clear Asuna’s name from suspicion?
“No problem, since this is my negligence, and you helped me out, I will do it for free.”
Argo then added.
“I’ll also get in touch with that female player and inform her how to turn her cursor back to green.”
The orange cursor was revertable.
After completing a certain quest, a player’s orange cursor will be reverted back to green—however, the difficulty and length of the quest depending on the severity of the player’s crime. In addition, the quest gave neither Exp nor Cor.
Back during the closed beta, players wouldn’t mind doing this quest as they were still experimenting and discovering stuff.
However, after SAO became a death game, most players who committed a crime out of their own will wouldn’t bother with this quest since it didn’t provide any reward, and the difficulty was no joke.
Of course, for the players who committed a light crime and wished to return to the safe zone, doing this quest was still worth it.
Since Asuna attacked other players accidentally, and she didn’t commit other crime afterward, reverting her cursor to green should be fairly easy.
Once Argo informed Asuna about this quest, she should be able to attend the strategy meeting safely in three days.
“This is also a free service?”
Rozen was so surprised when he saw Argo was being thoughtful for once.
“Well, you still owe me a favor since I did what you asked.” Rozen said to Argo
“Come on, don’t be such a cheapskate…” Argo said with some dissatisfaction, “Since I will help you out this time for free, can’t you at least make us even?”
“You sure are persistent, there’s no room for negotiation on this one.” Rozen said mercilessly.
Rozen really couldn’t let his guard down in front of this information broker.
Besides…
“After all information I got during the closed beta that you claimed for yourself, consider yourself lucky that I still help you out.”
Rozen added.
Argo has been selling the information Rozen got since closed beta, including the information about the tamed beast. Rozen knew that Argo didn’t sell all information he got. Therefore he wasn’t that cautious in front of Argo, leading to him blurting out precious information time and time again.
That was why Rozen refused to let this one go.
“Alright, alright.” Argo shrugged and said, “I will provide the latest information to you for free next time.”
“That’s more like it.” Rozen nodded with satisfaction.
Rozen helped her Argo because she was a reliable information broker.
After all, he had his hands full leveling up and honing his Eye of the Mind, and he didn’t have time to gather information.
In this regard, Argo’s presence has helped Rozen a lot.
“I have one more thing to ask.”
Rozen took out a piece of parchment from his storage.
“Help me find the people on this list.”
Rozen handed the parchment to Argo.
“Hmmm?”
Argo caught a glimpse of the names written on the parchment, and her pupils dilated in an instant.
“Geez, you really are…”
Argo looked at Rozen, and the look on her eyes suddenly became all serious.
Rozen then added as if it was no big deal.
“With your ability, you should be able to find these people, right?” Rozen said,”Tell them, feel free to contact me anytime.”
“…Alright then, I’ll do it.” Argo was silent for a while, then nodded helplessly and said, “You must have planned this for a while, huh?”
“Well, I’m not so carefree that I would sit idly and wait for my death.” Rozen smiled and added, “If you didn’t inform me about the Floor Boss Raid Strategy Meeting, I doubt I would help you out.”
“Geez, I don’t know whether you actually care about this or not.” Argo chuckled, “But I’m glad to hear that.”
Argo didn’t object to Rozen’s decision; in fact, she supported him.
Recalling the rumor about Rozen during the closed beta, Argo thought that the strategy meeting might unexpectedly go smoothly.
“Ah, I almost forgot.”
Argo said as if remembering something.
“I want to ask you about the offer I made last time, is there still a room for negotiation?”
Argo referred to the offer her client made to buy Rozen’s weapon and the tamed beast.
“My client said the price is negotiable.” Argo said.
“What?” Rozen was surprised, “Your client didn’t give up yet?”
“Well, my client is quite persistent.” Argo raised his finger and said, “My client also said, if you don’t want to sell both, how about one of them?”
“One of them?” Rozen raised his brow.
