Orange-name players couldn't enter towns; guards would attack them. Don't underestimate the guards—they often gave simple quests like "kill ten monsters," but when provoked, they were ruthlessly deadly.
Lillian didn't risk testing them. Unable to approach the town, he couldn't open a portal. No matter—after a BOSS died, the portal would open automatically in an hour. Better to stroll and explore while other players were still swarming.
With Yui along, Lillian slowed his dungeon pace. Alone, he'd already be searching for the next labyrinth. Walking along a stream, he didn't feel he was wasting time—he never did.
He also wanted to "make use" of Yui. Her presence could speed up dungeon progress. He needed to consider her memory too; if it returned, communication would be easier.
Yui splashed in the stream, cupping the clear water, watching her reflection flow through her fingers. Kizmel approached. "Isn't your hands cold, Yui?"
"Not at all." Yui made faces at the water, mimicking her reflection. Kizmel looked at her own reflection, pressing her fingers gently to her cheek.
Lillian silently watched, then approached.
"We need to get to the sixth floor soon. The next mission starts there."
"Mm." Kizmel nodded, slightly regretful.
"Humans can't use our elf floor teleportation, so this is necessary."
"Mm."
"But it's fine," she said. "Only two BOSSes left. Once we defeat them, it's done."
Lillian nodded, glancing at Yui happily playing in the water. Opening his bag, he checked the BOSS drops—slightly disappointed. Materializing in hand was a small red round shield.
He had hoped for a weapon, but the drop rate for "demonic swords" was low. As for the shield—useful stats aside, it didn't suit his fighting style. A burden, really.
Just as he considered selling it to Argo, Yui suddenly pounced, hands gripping the shield.
"Lillian-nii, it's so pretty!"
"Mm… you want it?" Seeing her enthusiastic nods, he relented. "Alright, keep it. Play with it." Selling it could earn thousands of Col, but he had enough. No need to rush.
"Thank you, Lillian-nii!"
Yui happily took the small shield, her little right hand slipping into the crossed leather straps on the back of it. She made "Ha! Ha!" sounds, adding effects to her pretend swordplay with the shield. After a few gestures, she noticed her right hand felt empty and looked at Lillian. "Lillian-nii, do you have a small knife?"
"You're not allowed to play with knives for now," Lillian said sternly.
"Wuu…" Yui pouted in frustration. Kizmel gently ruffled her hair. "That's right. Once you're as big as me, I'll teach you how to use a dagger properly."
Hearing this, Yui cheered up and nodded repeatedly. "Okay, promise!"
The three wandered the wilds for about half an hour, returning to the dark elf camp on the third floor by afternoon. The fourth floor didn't have a proper camp, and the next one appeared only on the sixth floor, so running back and forth was necessary.
If Lillian weren't orange-named, he could have rested in a town. But now, without returning to the camp, he would be stuck sleeping outdoors. It didn't matter to him, but with Yui along, he couldn't let her sleep anywhere randomly—she at least needed a proper bed. Luckily, he had something in his backpack to solve the "sleeping outdoors" problem.
Inside the tent, Yui lay on a bed playing with an elf toy Kizmel had brought her. Lillian sat in a small bamboo chair, examining the silver emblem in his hand. This was the Guild Certificate. He had kept it in his bag for a while. It could be sold for a hefty sum, but he wasn't in a hurry—selling it earlier only made sense if he wanted Col, and the higher the player levels, the easier the Spider Queen fight became, reducing the certificate's value.
Initially, he had thought of either selling it or giving it to his only friend who wanted to start a guild, Terusuke. But after the ambush incident, he and most players were now at odds. Contacting Terusuke could endanger him—and Terusuke might not even consider Lillian a friend anymore.
Better to use it himself. After forming a guild, players could purchase a [Guild Territory], which had a fixed size. It could be placed in towns or in the wild. In towns, you had to buy the land; outside, you could place it anywhere not already claimed—except inside dungeons.
Guild territories let you use certain town functions outdoors. For example, placing a bed to sleep, or using special town-only items like Lillian's storage scroll for materials. Best of all, you could relocate the guild territory anytime by paying a migration fee, letting it move upward along with dungeon progress.
It wasn't completely safe. Unlike a town, placing a guild territory in the wild left you open to attacks from other players. That's why wealthy guilds usually set their territory in towns, while only powerful guilds that others feared would boldly place theirs outdoors.
"Fine, I'll just start a guild."
Even if he were the only member, it didn't matter. Guilds didn't require a minimum number of members. Applying required an NPC in town—so of course he'd need Argo's help.
As he thought this, Argo's message arrived immediately. It included a meeting time and location. Lillian told Yui and Kizmel, and they stayed behind. He didn't want Yui to see Asuna and Kirito—if anything went wrong, it would be troublesome, and explaining her existence would be difficult.
Leaving the camp, he arrived at the meeting spot. Asuna, Kirito, and Argo were already there.
For a moment, no one knew how to start the conversation. Lillian broke the silence:
"Did you figure out who's impersonating me?"
He asked Kirito and Asuna. Both shook their heads. Kirito said, "Based on the last surviving player's account, the guy was slightly taller than you, had a straw hat and huge sword similar to yours, black leather armor… You don't have black armor, right?"
"No," Lillian replied. Both visibly relaxed. Their trust leaned instinctively toward Lillian, especially after witnessing his strength. If he had truly wanted to kill Kibaou and the others, they wouldn't have survived. Their judgment was influenced by that.
For Lillian, he didn't particularly want to be trusted that way. It was emotional, not factual. It reminded him of an incident on Earth—a powerful figure accused of misconduct. Many assumed, "With so much money, why commit such acts? Why not just buy what you want?" It's logic that assumes the powerful are above wrongdoing—but the more authority one has, the more they want to test their limits. Like workplace harassment, it's essentially an assertion of power over someone else.
"Unless we catch that guy, people will always think I'm the culprit," Lillian said. He didn't really care—if he did, he wouldn't have killed Kibaou, letting things escalate irreversibly.
"What do you want to do?" Argo asked. Lillian shook his head.
"If we find him, fine. If not, so be it. My goal is dungeon progress. Oh, and I have a favor—if you haven't joined a guild already, that is."
"A guild?" Argo's curiosity peaked.
"I want to start one. I can't enter a town now, so I need you to apply for it. Then I join, you transfer me the leader, and leave."
"Start a guild?" All three were surprised. Asuna frowned slightly. She recalled a rumor and blurted out, "You're not planning to gather all PKers under one guild, are you?"
"Huh…?" Lillian was puzzled. Asuna hurried to clarify, "I heard you're permanently orange-named. People think you'd form an orange-name guild, recruit PKers, and make a huge terror guild…"
Lillian was speechless. "I wouldn't do something that pointless… though others might."