Chapter 97: Sisters Reunited

"Hey, hey, Lingyun, over here, long time no see!"

Lingyun had just entered the inn when he heard someone calling him. Turning his head to look, he saw a girl wearing a hooded cloak who made one think of some kind of rodent waving at him—who else could it be but Argo.

"Eh, Argo, why are you here?" Lingyun walked up to Argo and asked with some curiosity.

In his impression, Argo was quite a frugal person; why would she run to such a high-consumption place for no reason?

"Aha, are you surprised to see me here?" Argo said to Lingyun with a smile.

However, she quickly retreated under Lingyun's playful gaze.

"It's nothing, it's just because someone is treating me!" Argo explained with a depressed look on her face.

Argo was now completely helpless against Lingyun; Lingyun seemed to be her nemesis. In this month or so, she had clashed with Lingyun several times, and every single time she had been utterly defeated. Well, defeated in every sense of the word; after all, the intelligence Lingyun possessed was indeed much stronger than hers in certain aspects. As for combat power and the like, Argo could only say she had never seen such a powerful Swordsman; even Kirito was still a notch inferior in front of him.

"Someone is treating you? Someone would actually treat a profiteer like you, and in such a luxurious place at that?" Lingyun asked with some doubt.

"You, what are you saying!" Argo said with a frantic look.

"Master, is this the Argo you told us about before?" Seeing Lingyun talking to a girl, Luo Yexi stepped forward and asked softly.

"Mhm, this is the most famous profiteer in SAO, 'Rat' Argo," Lingyun introduced with a smile.

"What profiteer, what rat, what are you talking about." Argo said with a frantic look, then she turned to Luo Yexi and said with a smile: "Hello, I am the most famous information broker in SAO, Argo. If you have any information you need to scout out, you can contact me at any time. However, for whatever kind of information you want, you must pay the corresponding price!"

"Hee hee, Big Brother, Sister Argo really looks like a rat!" Alice, who had snuggled up to Lingyun's side, looked Argo up and down and said with a giggle.

Looking at Alice's innocent expression, Argo really felt like crying without tears; she could only silently comfort herself in her heart: children speak without taboos, this was just a child's unintentional remark, children speak without taboos. But she understood that the title of 'rat' was already impossible to cover up in this little girl's heart. Well, although her image in the hearts of Lingyun and his group was already that of a rat to begin with.

"The most famous information broker in SAO?" Leafa murmured silently in her heart, "Through her, I should be able to find information about my sister."

"Hey, Argo, what are you doing?" A black-clad female Swordsman emerged from the crowd and arrived in front of Argo. However, her gaze quickly fell upon Lingyun: "Lingyun, so it's you, long time no see."

"Long time no see, Kirito, it looks like you've been doing pretty well during this time." After looking Kirito over, Lingyun said with a smile.

When Kirito appeared, Leafa, who was beside Luo Yexi, froze. A layer of mist quickly appeared in her eyes, and she rushed rapidly toward Kirito's direction.

"Sister."

Seeing someone rushing toward her, Kirito didn't have time to see the figure clearly before she subconsciously caught her, her body retreating again and again due to the massive impact force from Leafa. Just as she wanted to ask who this person was, the word "sister" left her stunned on the spot.

When Kirito saw the person in her arms clearly, she couldn't help but be stunned, her tone becoming somewhat uncertain: "You, you are, you are, Suguha?"

"Mhm, mhm, I am Suguha, Sister, I finally found you, I was really so worried about you!" Leafa—now she should be called Suguha—clutched Kirito tightly, rubbing her cheek against her chest.

Kirito's face turned red all of a sudden, but she couldn't push Suguha away, so she could only gently stroke Suguha's head with her hand.

"A sister-complex?" Luo Yexi watched the interaction between the two and said softly to Lingyun.

"Looking at it like this, nine times out of ten." Lingyun didn't reply, but Lingqi nodded.

The two's voices were not very loud, but they were clearly heard by Kirito, which made the blush on Kirito's face deepen a little more.

After finally pacifying Suguha and asking her about some of the things that happened after entering this world, the first thing Kirito did was to thank Busujima Saeko. After all, at the very beginning of this game, it was Busujima Saeko who led Suguha through the most dangerous beginner phase.

"It's not very convenient to talk here; let's go to a private room," Lingyun reminded, watching as more and more people around them cast their gazes in their direction.

"Oh, okay." Kirito nodded slightly.

As a top-tier player, although Kirito didn't have as much money as Lingyun and the others, who were outliers, opening the largest private room was still no problem.

After entering the private room, Argo intended to start ordering food; after all, the food in this inn was second to none in the Starting Town, and since she wasn't the one paying today, she naturally had to have a big meal. Although Argo was a top-tier information broker and profiteer, most of the money she earned was used to support people who had difficulty surviving in this world based on their own abilities, so she didn't have much money on her.

"Sister Rat, there's no need to order food; let Big Brother cook. The food Big Brother makes is not at all inferior to the Chef in this inn," Alice, who was on the side, suddenly spoke up.

"I've already said don't call me Sister Rat," Argo corrected again. "But, is that guy Lingyun really that amazing?"

"Got it, Sister Rat," Alice nodded cutely, "Big Brother's culinary skills are really amazing! You can rest assured about that."

"I've already said don't call me Sister Rat! Forget it, do as you please; I am an adult with a large heart, I won't haggle with a child like you." In the end, Argo gave up on the matter of correcting Alice's address for her. "Lingyun, your culinary skills better not disappoint me! I went through a lot of trouble to get Kirito to treat me to a meal!"

Watching Argo's demeanor, Lingyun just smiled slightly and got up to walk toward the kitchen. Argo followed Lingyun into the kitchen with some unease, but the ingredients Lingyun displayed after opening his item menu left her completely stunned. These ingredients were all top-tier ingredients from the first floor, and there were even some she hadn't even heard of.

Watching Lingyun skillfully prepare the ingredients, Argo knew that Lingyun's culinary skills would definitely not be low, and with these top-tier ingredients, she would likely be in for a treat this time.

Outside the kitchen, Kirito pulled Suguha aside and asked why she had entered this game. She remembered that her sister was usually very wary of things like games. Especially after nearly ten thousand players were trapped in this world, other people should have stayed away from this game; why were there so many new players appearing in this world?

However, when Kirito heard that a black hole had appeared in the sky of the real world, which then sucked her body into the black hole and also dragged Suguha into this world, her expression changed drastically.

"Why would such a thing happen? Could it be that our bodies are our real bodies from reality now?" Kirito asked with some horror.

"It's very possible!" Luo Yexi, who was on the side, suddenly interjected, "As for why this situation occurred, perhaps we will know once we clear this world."

"Sister Yexi, do you know something?" Kirito asked suddenly.

"As for that, I did hear a part of it from the residents here. Whether this world can be cleared seems to be related to the fate of this world and the real world," Lingqi said mysteriously.

"Related to the fate of this world and the real world?" Kirito asked, completely confused.

"That's right." Lingyun walked out carrying two plates of dishes, followed by Argo, who had a look of anticipation on her face.

Although Lingyun and his group knew the truth of this world, now was not the time to spill everything; after all, this kind of thing was too world-shattering, so they could only give them hints from the side. When they discovered the truth one day, it wouldn't be too hard for them to accept.

"What are these dishes?" Looking at the food in front of her that was appealing in color, aroma, and taste, Kirito asked with some surprise; these were clearly not Japanese-style dishes.

"These are dishes from my hometown!" Lingyun laughed, "Try them, they won't disappoint you!"

"I'm digging in!" Argo couldn't hold back anymore; she grabbed a pair of chopsticks, picked up a dish, and sent it into her mouth.

"Mmm, delicious," Argo said with a look of intoxication.

To be honest, anyone who had eaten hard bread for a month would treat any other food as a delicacy of the human world. After all, not everyone could be like Lingyun's group, earning a large amount of Col based on their own powerful strength and then frequently eating out.

Seeing that Argo had already started, the others didn't stand on ceremony either and began to enjoy this feast provided by Lingyun.