"Tap… tap…"
The rubber soles of Skarey's boots struck the cold black stone of the Black Iron Palace, producing sharp, deliberate sounds—he seemed to be purposely raising his feet higher so that each step landed louder.
His face carried an unmistakable air of pride, as though this place truly belonged to him.
The three people following behind Skarey occasionally glanced around.
They noticed that aside from the chamber with the metal monument that recorded player survival, every other doorway was guarded by soldiers.
In other words, the entire Black Iron Palace—except for the monument chamber—was now firmly under military control.
Thinker's office wasn't far from the palace gates.
After turning just two corners, Akimi and the others arrived.
Looking at the massive, heavy-looking door before them, Akimi rubbed his chin and muttered in a low voice, "I guess this really is what it means to be the commander. He talks about equality for everyone, but in the end, there are still privileges—"
Every other room along their way had no doors—or rather, the Black Iron Palace's rooms originally didn't have doors at all.
Which meant that this office door had been installed by the military themselves.
Although the army had occupied the Black Iron Palace, the system still regarded the place as a public zone.
In public areas, the durability of any player-placed furniture decayed quickly—meaning this office door had to be replaced often, at least once every two weeks.
And this door was clearly no cheap item—it looked like it had been crafted by a highly skilled carpenter player using quality materials.
Over time, the cost must have been considerable.
At this moment, beside that heavy door stood a tall woman with long silver-gray hair, giving off a capable air.
She silently watched them.
Just as Skarey stepped forward, about to speak, the woman addressed him in a calm voice:
"All right, Skarey. You can go back now—I'll be the one to receive the guests from here."
Skarey gave an awkward chuckle, scratched his head, then turned and left.
Once his figure disappeared at the end of the corridor, the stern-looking female player finally turned her gaze to Akimi and the other two.
In that same lukewarm tone, she said:
"Nice to meet you. I'm Yulier, Commander Thinker's assistant and deputy."
After her brief self-introduction, she fixed her deep indigo eyes on them.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The two sides stared at each other in silence for nearly half a minute.
Akimi blinked blankly, leaned toward Asuna, and whispered, "Shouldn't we say something? Start up a conversation or something?"
"I don't know…"
Even someone as socially adept as Asuna had no idea what to do in that moment.
As for Kirito… he had absolutely no say when it came to breaking awkward silences.
After all, you couldn't expect a straight-laced guy like him to come up with anything useful in a moment like this—though, occasionally, he could pull off a surprisingly good move.
Yulier eventually turned her head and gently knocked on the office door.
Yet, in the instant she turned away from Akimi and the others, her eyes wavered with a flicker of unease, and she took a nearly imperceptible deep breath—she didn't seem nearly as calm as she appeared.
"Please, come in."
A mild, slightly weary voice drifted out from inside.
Upon hearing Thinker's voice, Yulier slowly pushed open the heavy door.
As the door swung open, the office interior came into full view.
Predictably, the room was very large, likely the biggest in the Black Iron Palace; what was unexpected, however, was how empty it was.
Apart from a modest office desk, there was only the long table that came standard with every palace chamber, along with a few chairs.
Though the room had neither lamps nor windows, it wasn't dim.
According to system settings, the interior of Black Iron Palace rooms always remained well-lit, even without any light sources.
At the desk sat a middle-aged man with short, wavy, dark-brown hair and a few strands of beard on his chin.
His face wore a gentle smile as he looked at the visitors stepping inside.
Upon seeing Thinker's face, Akimi felt a flicker of surprise—based on past impressions, Thinker should have been the arrogant, domineering type, much like Kibaou had been.
But his current demeanor was completely unexpected.
Judging from his appearance alone, Thinker didn't look like a bad person at all.
Instead, he resembled a kind, easygoing uncle from next door—though with a faint air of tech-savviness about him.
Still, that did fit with his real-world identity—the administrator of Japan's largest comprehensive online gaming news site.
"You must be Mr. Akimi, Mr. Kirito, and Miss Asuna, correct? I apologize for suddenly sending someone to fetch you here… but the matter this time is truly urgent, so I had no choice but to call on you on such short notice."
His tone was warm and polite, and his smile never wavered.
Seeing Akimi eyeing him with a curious expression, Thinker touched his own face and asked a little awkwardly:
"Mr. Akimi, the way you're looking at me… is there something wrong?"
"No, nothing. It's just that you don't quite match the image I had in mind, Commander Thinker."
"Oh? Then… may I ask what kind of image you had of me, Mr. Akimi?"
Akimi stroked his chin and said,
"Like Kibaou—loud, arrogant, and full of himself? After all, back when we were raiding the 25th floor boss, I heard from your men that you called him a 'cowardly piece of trash'…"
"Huh? I… as far as I remember, I never said anything like that. While Kibaou and I may have had slightly different ideas about management, it's not in my nature to resort to insults."
Akimi shrugged.
"Well, I wouldn't know about that. And besides—"
Before he could finish, Asuna lightly kicked him—how could he badmouth someone right to their face like that?
Thinker didn't seem inclined to dwell on the issue either.
Slowly, he drew a key from the drawer of his desk—an old, ornate-looking thing—and said,
"I'll get straight to the point. The matter I'd like your help with has to do with this key."
As he spoke, he placed the key on the desk and gently slid it toward Akimi and his companions.
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