Moen City to the south currently had no main-story boss that absolutely needed to be conquered, so the Strategy Group believed it was better suited for ordinary players to level up.
After Margit the Fell Omen had been defeated, the path onward had opened.
"Kiriko, aren't you planning to join a guild?"
Asuna and Kiriko emerged from a side path together and arrived in a "new world."
"I still prefer being alone. But Asuna, are you sure it's okay for you to keep following me like this?"
Once guilds could be established, Kiriko had thought Asuna would join one or something.
But she hadn't. Kiriko had rested for a day while waiting to set out, yet when she was about to leave, she found Asuna already waiting in front of the passage.
Thus, the two of them set out together once more.
—Give me a break. Even if I'm the "female lead," I can still get some screen time by Kiriko's side whenever she has scenes. How great is that?
If we split up, what'll happen to my popularity?
Any little bit I can ride along on counts.
And honestly... Kiriko was pretty cute. Watching her fight monsters was pleasing to the eye, too.
"Guilds and such... I don't want to join one for the time being," Asuna said. "And the current guilds... Holy Dragon, the Army, and so on, all feel kind of strange. They're not very interesting."
After guilds could be established, two guilds had risen above the rest.
One was the Holy Dragon Guild, while the other was the "Army."
Many lost and uncertain players had joined those two guilds, and the Matthew effect had drawn in even more people.
"But why are we taking such a wide detour around Stormveil Castle?" Asuna asked curiously.
Rather than