Miracle Summoner

Afterward, just as Yui had mentioned earlier, the Cait Sith forces arrived directly at Panareze, aiming to recruit Sinon.

Although they were all Cait Sith, not all players chose to adhere to their race's arrangements. Especially after the World Tree quest was revealed as a farce and the Alf reincarnation turned out to be a hoax, players no longer had their flight restrictions. Many opted to become territory defectors, focusing on clearing Aincrad rather than hunting within the realms of the Nine Races in ALfheim. This led to the unprecedented expansion of the neutral faction.

Currently, although the Nine Races remained the dominant forces, a guild like Crimson Wing could rival them. Various other guilds also emerged, forming new factions, making ALO a world filled with numerous powers.

As a result, it became increasingly common for guilds to consist of players from different races, and even guilds formed solely by players of the same race often used Aincrad as their base of operations, ignoring their race's arrangements.

Thus, for the Nine Races, the combat power of a top-tier player became more valuable than ever, and no one wanted to see someone like Sinon slip away.

Because of this, the one leading the recruitment effort was none other than Alicia Rue, the Cait Sith ruler herself. Riding a wyvern, she directly arrived at the gates of Crimson Wing's guild base in Panareze.

However, she was destined to come in vain.

When this Cait Sith leader entered the Crimson Wing base, what greeted her was a welcoming party celebrating Sinon's addition to the guild.

Having a skilled player who could rival Leafa join the guild was a joyous occasion for the members. Any prior grievances from the incident where Sinon single-handedly took down 18 of them had long been forgotten, replaced by an atmosphere of laughter and celebration.

Even Leafa, after chatting with Sinon, seemed to get along with her, as the two were seen engaging in an animated conversation when Alicia Rue arrived.

From this, it was evident that Sinon had taken a liking to the atmosphere of Crimson Wing. The cold expression she initially wore was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a faint smile.

Seeing this, Alicia Rue was stunned for quite some time.

Finally, she approached Rozen.

"Treat me to a drink, and I'll drop the matter," Alicia Rue said, puffing out her cheeks in frustration as she made the request.

Clearly, Alicia Rue had realized that recruiting Sinon back to her race was an impossible task.

"Don't worry, any friends from the Cait Sith race drinking here today will be on the house," Rozen said with a smile, promptly making the declaration.

And so, the Cait Sith members who had come along with Alicia Rue also joined the celebration, drinking to their hearts' content.

Although there were conflicts regarding resources and talents, the relationship between the Nine Races and Crimson Wing was not bad.

As the strongest and largest guild in ALO, frequently active on the frontlines, Crimson Wing maintained cooperative relationships with the Nine Races. The races often purchased resources unavailable in ALfheim from the guild.

As such, no one wanted to antagonize the giant Crimson Wing, let alone offend Rozen, an overpowered player, and end up embarrassing themselves.

Thus, Sinon officially became a member of Crimson Wing.

By the time the celebration ended, it was already around 9 PM.

After the gathering dispersed, everyone went about their business, with some logging out. Rozen, however, returned to his cabin on the 22nd Floor to wait for Asuna's return.

At around 10 PM, Asuna finally came back.

"Mama!" Yui cried, rushing to Asuna like a fledgling returning to its nest.

"I'm home, Yui-chan," Asuna said, smiling as she caught Yui in her arms.

"Gu!"

"Gu!"

Saichou and Hanachou also flew toward her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Asuna said, reaching out to stroke the two rainbow butterflies before turning to look at Rozen, who was seated on the sofa.

"Looks like you had a good chat over there," Rozen commented, glancing at Asuna while reading a newspaper detailing various updates about ALO. His tone carried a teasing edge.

"Yeah, it was quite interesting," Asuna replied, nodding in agreement as she sat down beside Rozen with Yui in her arms and Saichou and Hanachou fluttering nearby.

Once seated, Asuna closed her eyes and leaned against Rozen, resting her head on his shoulder. It seemed she was savoring his scent, as if to soothe her fatigue, and let out a deep sigh.

Rozen could sense that Asuna was conflicted about something.

What was on her mind? The answer was simple.

"Hey, Rozen," Asuna said after gathering her courage.

"I want…"

Just as Asuna was about to express herself, Rozen preemptively completed her sentence.

"You want to temporarily leave the guild, step down as vice leader, and join Yuuki's guild to help her achieve her goal, right?" Rozen directly revealed her thoughts.

"You…" Asuna was stunned.

Seeing this, Rozen chuckled.

"Is it really that surprising that I guessed such a simple thing?" he asked with a playful tone.

Yuuki's objective had been mentioned before. Given Asuna's demeanor upon returning, Rozen could easily deduce her intentions.

"What about me…?" Asuna hesitated, showing some unease.

Seeing her like this, Rozen smiled and tapped her forehead lightly.

"Go ahead," he said, just as he had encouraged her earlier on the sightseeing island when she dueled Yuuki.

"Really?" Asuna's expression was a mix of joy at his understanding and hesitation. "But I'm the vice leader. If people find out I was persuaded to join another guild, they'll surely be upset with me."

"That's overthinking it. Don't underestimate how understanding everyone is," Rozen replied. "Besides, it's only temporary. Treat it as a change of pace; I'm sure they'll understand."

"And you?" Asuna looked at Rozen intently. "Don't you want to know why I was convinced by them so suddenly?"

"It's not like I'm not curious," Rozen admitted, putting down the newspaper and looking at Asuna. "While I can roughly guess the origins of Zekken's guild and their reasons for transferring to ALO, it's still speculation. If you can explain it to me, that would be even better."

Hearing this, Asuna nodded.

She then began to explain.

"Do you know about Sleeping Knights?"