Lisbeth already knew of a place that she wanted to go to. It was on the same floor as her blacksmith shop, on the other side of town. Once she led me there, I looked at the restaurant to find what looked like an American-type steakhouse. My stomach grumbled. Being of American descent, I came to love American food, and it's even better in SAO where the calories don't matter. I think I was even more excited than Lisbeth at this rate.

"Good choice Lizzi, this'll be a treat for me as well!"

"I rarely have American food, so I thought eating it with you would be fun!" Lisbeth said. Is it me or is she blushing slightly?

"You calling me American?"

"Yes. You look American anyways, Rocky."

I sighed. "Well, I am of American descent I guess..."

We were about to head in when I heard a voice call out my name.

"Rocky-kuuuun!!!"

There's only one person who would call me like that.

I turned and saw her running up to me. Her long blonde hair was flowing behind her as she ran. While I'm at it, her figure looks nice too...

I mentally slapped myself. C'mon buddy.

"H-hey, Mika."

"Hey Rocky-kun! I'm glad I caught up to you? Are you going to eat in here?"

"Y-Yeah. I promised Lizzi here that I would treat her to a lunch. Oh, sorry, I forgot that you two probably haven't met yet."

"No, I've met Mika before." Lisbeth said.

"Oh, you have?"

"I used to stop by her shop all the time!" Mika said.

"And then she just suddenly stopped coming..." Lisbeth glared at Mika.

Mika put her hands up. "I'm sorry, I still think that you're a great blacksmith. I just found somebody who specializes in spears, that's all!"

"Hmph. Well... Ok then."

I was trying to figure out if these two were friends or not when Lisbeth grabbed my arm and said, "Let's go get lunch, Rocky."

She semi-dragged me through the doors of the restaurant, but I felt somebody grab my other arm.

"I-I want to have lunch with Rocky-kun too!" Mika was blushing.

"No way! I'm having Rocky treat me to lunch, and he's not treating you!"

"B-But, Rocky-kun, don't you want to have lunch with me?"

I felt their eyes staring at me, waiting for a verdict.

"I'm sorry, Mika, but I already promised that I would treat Lizzi to lunch. I'll treat you to lunch another time. How does that sound?"

"Hmph. Rocky-kun even had a nickname for Lisbeth..."

"What was that Mika? You were mumbling and I didn't hear you." I asked.

"N-Nothing! Just forget about it. I'll see you later, Rocky-kun."

Mika walked past Lisbeth and I and into the restaurant.

"What does she think she's doing, eating in the same place we are?" Lisbeth puffed her cheeks.

I sighed. "Calm down, Lizzi. She probably was going to eat here regardless if we were here or not. This place is the only venue in this area of town."

"True... But we are going to sit as far away from her as possible, got it?"

"Fine, fine. We can do that."

Lisbeth watched Mika sit down on one side of the restaurant, then immediately proceeded to drag me to the other side. We sat down with Lisbeth having her back to Mika. I could still see her, however.

The NPC waiter came up to us to order drinks. Lisbeth ordered tea and I ordered the Aincrad version of lemonade. After we received our drinks, Lisbeth took a sip of her tea and sighed.

"Will you stop looking at her?"

My eyes had only glanced over at Mika for a split second and Lisbeth caught me in the act.

"I was letting my eyes wander, Lizzi. Geez."

I gulped down some lemonade and cleared my throat. "I don't mean to pry, but what happened between you two anyways?"

"Hmph. She already told you. She left me for another blacksmith."

"Ok, but you're acting like she left you for somebody else, like an ex-girlfriend would do." I suddenly grinned and winked at her. "You got something to tell me Lizzi?"

Her face got red. "W-What? Are you out of your mind? Baka baka baka!"

She kicked me in the shin under the table. It's a good thing that SAO reduces pain, because that would have seriously hurt. She definitely out her strength stat into that one.

I scratched my neck. "Ok, sorry, I may have taken that too far. Just a little."

"A little?"

"Ok, maybe more."

"Hmph." Lisbeth looked away from me.

That was totally worth it though. I still wanted to know more, but I knew that I would have a better chance at finding out if I asked Mika. I decided to not pursue the topic any further.

After a minute or so of awkward silence, (which seems to happen a lot around me) Lisbeth had cooled down.

"S-Sorry, Rocky. I knew that you were joking, but..."

"No, I deserved it. Don't worry about that any more, so we can enjoy our lunch!"

A couple of minutes later, we ordered our food, and made small talk. I asked a lot of questions about what it's like being a blacksmith, because I always loved the blacksmith role in RPGs. But like I said before, I didn't have the space in my skill slots to do so. Plus, I wanted to be on the assault team, and you have to hunt all day every day to do so. I would never have the time.

Lisbeth answered all my questions, and we were having such a good time that we didn't notice when our food was out in front of us for around a minute.

"Mmmm, this is delicious!" Lisbeth said with a mouthful of steak.

"Hey, don't talk with your mouth full. I hardly understood that, that the sight doesn't exactly make you a knockout either."

Lisbeth swallowed her food and laughed. "Thanks for the tip, Rocky."

As we were eating our food, I noticed that a man had sat down at Mika's table. I had no idea who he was, but he and Mika seemed to be deep in conversation. I shrugged it off and turned my attention back to my steak.

"Wow, that was some awesome food!"

We had finished out food, and Lisbeth was leaning back in her chair. "I can't believe that I hadn't been her before, and it's on the same floor as me!"

I chuckled. "Well, it's quite out of the way, so not many people know about it. I only discovered this place myself recently, and I was lost too."

"I know my way around this floor. I could show you around sometime so you won't get lost again" Lisbeth smiled.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Maybe getting lost again wouldn't be a bad thing. Maybe I'll end up finding a place like this again."

"Are you doubting my knowledge of my home floor?" Lisbeth leaned in and poked at my arm which was resting on the table."

"Maaaaybe."

Lisbeth smiled and leaned back again. "I don't blame ya."

We both laughed.

"Well, I think it's time that I return to the field. They need me back on floor 68."

"And I have some orders to fill."

We paid and walked outside.

"So Rocky, thanks for the lunch!"

"No problem. But thanks for helping me out back there."

"Don't mention it, but don't forget you still owe me one!"

"I know, I know. Just let me know when you need that favor."

"Ok then. Do you want to walk back with me?"

"Thanks for the invite, but I need to go take care of some things." I said.

Lisbeth frowned and sighed. She looked like she wanted to ask more, but she refrained. "I won't press you then. I'll see you later!"

"Ok, bye, and thanks!"

I watched Lisbeth walk off down the narrow road. I leaned on the wall, and looked around me. To me, I find it hard to believe that this small road, which could be called an alley, houses one of my favorite restaurants in all of Aincrad. It's certainly hidden away.

As I watched Lisbeth disappear around the corner, I thought about her reaction a minute earlier. She clearly knew that I was waiting for Mika, and she wasn't happy with that. I wouldn't have done so on any other occasion, but I was suspicious about that man.

If I waited outside, then she would answer my questions both about the man and Lisbeth.

Man, I really want to know what happened between Lisbeth and Mika...

I waited for around 20 minutes before I thought about going into the place to check on the two of them. I can't help but say I'm a little worried about her. She's a fairly innocent and gullible girl to be solving crimes.

Just as I was about to head in, somebody was heading out f the restaurant. I noticed that it was the man who was sitting at Mika's table.

I put my hand on his shoulder to try and stop him. "Hey buddy, can I talk to you for a minute?"

He looked at me. "Who are you?"

"Somebody who cares about the girl you sat with."

He glared at me. "Let her explain that herself."

Without another word, he shook my shoulder off his hand and walked briskly down and around the corner of the alley.

Who exited next was the girl in question herself. She wore a very worried look, and had tears in her eyes.

"Mika!"

She turned and saw me.

"Rocky-kun!"

Mika ran into me and hugged me tight. I put my arms around her.

"What's going on? Who was that man?"

I loosened my grip on Mika, who pulled away to look at my face.

"He's one of my investigators. He finds out the latest in criminal acts."

"So he's on our side?"

"Y-Yes."

"So what's wrong then?"

"It's what he told me..." Mika looked at the ground. She was shaking.

"Well what did he tell you?"

"There's somebody out to get us. Somebody who wants revenge..."

I was a little surprised. "Mika, you know that you get threats like that all the time, right? I don't mean to be rude, but what's one more threat?"

"I'll explain myself." Mika sniffed. "My information dealer, that man to be exact, was knocked out by somebody. Once he awoke, he found himself being held at swordpoint by a man."

"W-What? Does the culprit know about your connection with him?"

"Y-Yes. H-He got knocked out because of me... and the culprit left a message."

"What did the culprit say?"

"He said, and I quote, 'Tell that Mika and her little friend Rocky that we're coming for them. Let them know that we are still strong, and we will not stop until they are nothing but polygons.'"

Even I was getting pretty frightened. But one thing still bothered me. "Who is 'we'?"

She looked at me as tears streamed down her face. In a barely audible whisper, I managed to hear the only word that came out of her mouth.

"Grim."