Kirito, December 21st

When the shipwright got all the materials needed to build their gondola- six Legendary Bear Fats, twelve Noblewood Cores, ten Fire-Bear Claws (for nails), and four Fire-Bear Pelts (for upholstering the seats)-Kirito and Jaymes left the rest of the work to the enthusiastic girls. Kirito switched the leadership of the party to Asuna, allowing her to make leader-specific choices regarding the design of their gondola.

Well, to be exact, the boys did try to share their input. "What color should we go with? It looks like we've got a whole RGB circle to choose from."

"I don't care about the color...You girls can choose."

"Nuh-uh, the ownership is for all of us, so we have to discuss and choose properly."

"Er, right...In that case, I pick bla—"

"No black! I feel like it would just sink right away."

"Oh...okay. Well, then...Jaymes?"

"I have a feeling red is going to be vetoed too."

Koharu nods and looks at the color wheel. "Hmm... Well, seeing as we like to be out at night, we should choose something noticeable at night. How about white? No, ivory."

"Good choice, Koharu. Let's see...right about here," Asuna selects her color, causing the boys to sigh with relief-then more submenus appear, asking for various other color options for the various ship sections, decorations, etc. The boys gave up and found seats next to a table.

"The hell is the difference between white and ivory?"

"Some questions are best left unanswered."

It would be well past one o'clock that the two girls finalized the boat's design. Kirito was half asleep, and Jaymes kept himself up by practicing his sword swings...sluggishly. The girls, however, were full of energy as Asuna announces the final detail for their boat. "Lastly, let's give our boat a name."

"Uh...a n-name, huh...?"

"You two can't decide it?"

Koharu looks to Asuna. "Well, actually, we thought of a name."

"Oh...like what?"

"Well, I read that in many foreign countries, they give boats female names...and it occurred to me that we should name it after Kizmel's sister."

"Tilnel." Surprisingly it is Jaymes, who liked Kizmel the least when they spent time with her on the third floor (except the two times he was entranced by her, the girls are only aware of one), who speaks the sister's name. Tilnel, a herbalist, died in a battle with the Forest Elves prior to their meeting with Kizmel, as well as Tilnel's husband who was a wolf handler. "Fine with me."

"So it would be the Tilnel... Why not?" Asuna beams at Kirito's agreement and begins to type the word in. She beckons the boys over once she's done. "Is this spelling right?" Kirito looks it over and nods. "Then let's push the 'finalize' button together."

"Whuh?!"

"What? You don't want to?"

"Er, no, it's not that, of course,"

"As much as she looks like it, I doubt you can get cooties from digital buttons, Kirito."

"You believe girls have cooties, Jaymes?"

"Koharu, I got sick once after a friend of mine...you know what, I'm not telling that story. Let's just press the button."

"No, wait!"

Three sets of eyes hone in on Kirito. "Wh-what?!"

"I was joking about the cooties thing...except the sick part."

"What's the problem?"

"Look, this field is still empty..." Kirito points to a menu titled "Optional Equipment". Asuna shrugs and opens the menu.

"Oh, that. Well, it didn't have any options in it."

"Hmm...Do you mind if I check it myself, just in case?"

"Go ahead."

Kirito switches himself back to party leader and rechecks the drop-down menu. "Ooh, there's something there!"

"Huh? What is it?!" Four heads hover close together over the menu, and a single option present-the Fire-Bear's Horn drop Kirito received. "Horn...like the kind of horn that the old galleys used to feature? Why would a gondola need something like that?"

"I don't know that you would need it yet. Especially since it seems like the options don't show up unless you have the necessary items already..."

"Well, it is a horn...maybe it is an item that lets you attach it as a ram?"

"I don't know, as dangerous those horns were, they weren't all that big... Maybe we should ask the shipwright?"

Kirito rises and glances at the shipwright, whose name they've never thought to find until now. "Um... Um, Mr. Romolo. Will we need this optional horn?"

He snorts and answers the question before Kirito could rephrase it. "You won't need it if you're only going to ride around Rovia. But if you row out there, you might need it eventually."

"Meaning...we might need to fight monsters with the boat?"

"Perhaps you will...perhaps you won't. At any rate, this is your ship. It's your decision whether to attach the horn or not."

"So helpful," Jaymes grumbles.

Asuna looks up at Kirito. "You're the one who has the materials, Kirito, so I'll let you decide."

"Uh, r-really?"

"Well, you let us pick out pretty much everything else about the boat, so I'll let you have one thing at the end."

Kirito's sure Asuna didn't try to sound snarky, but the same sentence would have sounded kinder from Koharu. "Hmm...I'm not sure if I like the idea of putting a big ugly weapon on our gondola. But it would be worse if the ship got sunk because we didn't put it on. Maybe it was fate that we happened to get an exclusive bear-horn drop. Let's do it."

"I agree."

"Okay."

Jaymes presses the option and closes the menu. "Well, hopefully, we won't have to look at the ugly thing if it's underwater, and hopefully it becomes useful. Now, shall we finalize this?" Four index fingers hover over the 'finalize' button again, and on the count of three, press down on it. The purple window closes and the old man draws up their boat on the parchment in 3-D, complete with the name. He bids them farewell and says he'll let them know when the boat is ready.

"Mmmm...Man, this has been a long day." "I wonder how long it takes to finish up a boat,"

"In the real world it probably takes months, but here it might be a day at the worst...even shorter, I bet—three hours, five hours. If we announce the details of the quest, people will be beating down his door trying to get their own ships."

"I wonder what happens in that case. Will it be like the Dark Elf camp on the third floor...an instance thingy? Where there are as many versions of this house as there are players?"

"I don't know, this is the middle of town...I bet that if someone's currently in the middle of the quest, the door just won't open..."

"Wait...you meant that if it takes three hours, the next person just has to stand there and wait outside the house?"

"More like three and a half, when you count the time for design choices. So that means at maximum, he could only serve six or seven groups in a day...Then again, three hours is just a hunch, so it might be shorter..."

Asuna looks to the other expert gamer. "How...good is this hunch of his?"

"I'd say as on the mark as the others."

"S-sorry."

"So, if what Asuna and Kirito just discussed is true, does that mean we need to stay here in case this quest is not locked to an instance?"

"In a normal MMO, this wouldn't be an issue. Conversations between NPCs and players are pseudo-instances, so it wouldn't matter if several groups came in at the same time. But SAO being the way it is..."

"Meaning that if we find out it's ready and race over, and another party's already in progress with their own quest, we'll just have to wait outside the house until they're done?"

"I think it's quite possible. I mean, if the door remains closed until the person comes back to get the completed ship and nobody ever returns, it would mean no one can ever start the quest after you."

Asuna nods slowly in understanding. "I see. Which means...we have no choice but to wait here until it's finished."

"Yep... Well, not all of us. As long as one of us is here, we should be fine."

Jaymes nods in agreement. "But to be safe, we should stay around here until the boat is complete." He turns his head to a nearby window, narrowing his eyes, then eyes Kirito. "I'll go outside for a bit. Need some air."

Kirito nods, partially paying attention as Jaymes saunters over to the door. His attention, and Asuna's by extension, is on the large rocking chair the old man sit in previously. In the messy room, it looks to be the only thing capable of supporting sleep, but Kirito tarnishes his desire in favor of Asuna and Koharu...well, Koharu is now absent. "I can just sleep on the floor if you want the rocking chair."

"...But..."

"It's fine, really. Compared to camping out in the safe rooms of the labyrinths, I'm just glad this place has a roof. Besides, I have a personal skill of sleeping wherever I want. You just relax and take the rocking cha—"

"We can both squeeze into it," she cuts Kirito off.

"Eh?"

"It's a big rocking chair. If we turn sideways, the two of us can fit on it."

Kirito's mind freezes. He hasn't forgotten Zumfut, when Asuna nearly lobbed his head off with fruit when he entered the same room as her, despite paying for a single room. She's already conscious of personal boundaries, so for her to suggest this confounded the black swordsman. For his part, he didn't know whether to accept or decline. His only source of male-female interactions is his sister and the relationship between Jaymes and Koharu, and neither is present.

Asuna doesn't wait for an answer, she strips herself of her rapier and sits in the leather chair, sitting at a ninety-degree angle towards the left arm. "I'll go ahead and start getting some sleep. If you want to use the empty space, you're welcome to it." Kirito remains without an answer for two minutes, and Asuna is silent the entire time. Jaymes and Koharu are still outside... Oh well. He walks over to the chair, careful not to disturb Asuna as he grips the chair and pushes it slightly.

"Mmh..." Asuna grunts and falls over in Kirito's direction, unconsciously claiming the chair as hers. To him, she's fast asleep. It's a wonder she drowned in her tired state so quickly, but considering they had been at it almost all day, from the labyrinth on the prior floor to now, their only moment of rest being at the inn. And if she's tired, Kirito can only imagine how tired the other two are, for they didn't take a break earlier. It's a shock any of them didn't drop in fatigue after the fight with the Magnatherium.

"Enjoy your rest." Kirito, pulling the stool over by the chair, sits on the stool and rocks the chair gently.

It'd be three hours and a near-trip to Black Iron Prison for Kirito later that the group is notified by the system that the Tilnel's construction is completed. Kirito managed to stay up the entire time while rocking Asuna, though his wake-up methods tripped the harassment code. However, he managed to explain that the system never gave him a warning either nor prevented further contact of his hand on her shoulder (as it should, per Jaymes and Koharu) so Asuna let him go this time.

Entering the workshop, the four are entranced by the sight of their new gondola, currently set in the water within the workshop within a gate. Kirito estimates it is four feet wide and twenty-four feet long. The boat, as the girls vocally chose, is mainly ivory white, while the sides and the prow are forest green. The interior of the gondola is various shades of brown. The mysterious horn is attached just below the prow, mostly hidden underwater. The ship's name, Tilnel, is written in green calligraphy on the side.

"Thank you very much for this fine boat, Mr. Romolo."

"Hmph. It's been a long time since I was this satisfied with a vessel, However! After driving this poor senior citizen into his workshop, you'd better not let her sink!"

"We're not going to!" Asuna cries out all starry-eyed. "We went through hell to gather the supplies to create this boat. We'll treat her well, Grandpa! Thank you!"

"In that case, the ship is now yours. I'll open the gate for you, and then you can row it wherever you like."

"Yes, sir!"

"Come on, Asuna!" Koharu and Asuna board first, followed by Jaymes and finally Kirito. He stops mid-step as he notices one part of the boat is missing.

"H-hang on a sec...Mr. Romolo, where's the boatman?"

"Kirito, the person who rows a gondola is called a gondolier." Kirito ignores the smartass comment from Asuna and awaits Mr. Romolo's response.

"Boatman? There is no boatman."

"There's not?! Then...how will we move the ship?!"

"That's obvious. You stand there and pull the oar."

"P-pardon me?!"

"Oh, so that's how it works. Well, let's get going, Kirito! One of you boys gets the oar!"

Jaymes immediately takes his seat beside Asuna. "Not it."

"Oh geez, I was scared you wanted to do it," Kirito bites back sarcastically as he grips the long oar. A manual pops up, and Kirito gives it a quick read on how to control the gondola. It isn't as complex as he would expect it to be in real-life Venice, but it might be rocky as he gets used to the controls. The only experience he has with piloting boats is the paddleboards at the Kagawoe Water Park with his little sister.

With a nod to Romolo, the gate opens, letting the speckle of light from the rising dawn and misty water into the workshop. "H-h-here goes, then! Hang on tight!" Asuna and Koharu say nothing back, while Jaymes smirks and points forward.

"Kirito takes us onward. The Tilnel begins her maiden voyage."

"Aye aye. Now launching the Tilnel!" Kirito pushes the oar forward, and the boat proceeds forward. For a moment, Kirito thinks this is easier than it looks.

"Left, Kirito! You're leaning to the left!"

"Huh? L-left?" Not hearing all of Asuna's sudden words, Kirito pushes the oar left.

"Dummy, go right" Being called a dummy by Koharu has more bite to it than usual, and this time, Kirito follows instructions. However, the boat's reaction is slow, so there's some grinding from the front. The horn must've hit the dock wall.

"Did you hurt my ship, Kirito?"

"I, uh...I think it's all right,..and why is it your ship, Jaymes?"

"I nominate myself as captain, considering I was the one who risked my life the most while against that bear."

Not even Asuna counters that point. She bides the shipwright farewell as Kirito steers the boat to the right, entering the waterways of Rovia at last.

A few minutes after they left Romolo's shop, the crew of the Tilnel returned, but not due to Kirito's inability to sail. Rather, it was a few comments from the NPC gondoliers about Kirito's lack of ability on the waterways that sparked a match in his head.

When Romolo first gave them the quest, he spoke of the Water Carriers Guild and how they controlled the water routes in the city. When he thinks beyond that, the first gondolier they met said he was unable to answer whether he or other boats would take them outside the city. What Kirito assumed to be a system response to an unanswerable question might not be so, but a response related to the guild. The quest log backed his suspicions, practically confirming the NPCs behavior and telling him to return to the shipwright.

"If you really want to know, find the big boat carrying wooden boxes instead of passengers, and follow it without drawing notice. It should leave town to the southeast around nightfall. Just be careful not to let them spot you. They've got ruffians on board—then again, after the bear king, you've got nothing to fear."

That didn't help in the slightest, but it gave the group somewhere to progress. However, it's around five in the morning, so they'll have to wait until nighttime to attempt the quest. They docked close to the town center, on the west side, and with assurances from the pro gamers that the gondola is theirs to operate, departed for the inn.

"Once I realized that I had to row it myself, we should have made it a three-seater. We could have saved on materials, and it would be easier to maneuver..."

"Just think of it as a bargain: We built a four-seat gondola that can actually hold five."

"Is that really...a bargain...?"

"Just agree with her, Kirito."

Kirito takes Jaymes' yawn-filled advice. "Umm...yeah. Sure. Anyway, let's go back to the inn." He yawns afterward, catching it from Jaymes, and it seems Asuna is affected too.

"Fwah...What time should we meet up?"

"Ummm...Ten—no, eleven, please..."

"I second that."

"Good with me."

"Roger that."

Asuna

"Morning, Asuna." Koharu yawns as she encounters Asuna down the hallway lined with their rooms. Asuna smiles and waves at the other girl, joining her in step as they venture towards the staircase. "Sleep well?"

"As much as possible. You?"

"I was out like a light once I hit the bed. I'm surprised I woke up first between me and Jaymes."

Asuna shakes her head. "How do you sleep in the same room as him so comfortably? He is a teenage boy."

"I know, and I won't say I'm one hundred percent comfortable about it. I am a teenage girl too. But it is my doing, not his. It wasn't until the second floor that we started sharing rooms. If anyone's uncomfortable about it, he is. But if our partnership will work, we must look past those things at times." She looks at Asuna and offers a weak smile. "I don't know, maybe I'm not making sense. I just want to be comfortable around Jaymes no matter what,"

Asuna halts at the bottom step, facing Koharu with a smirk. "Do you...like him, Koharu?"

"No. Maybe one day I'll fall for him, maybe not. But I doubt he can like a girl like me, a weakling parasite attached to his hip when there are much stronger girls around. Like you."

"Ew. No. Me and him? Never. I rather have a forced arranged marriage than fall in love with your partner, no offense. And don't mention Kirito either, I would kill myself first."

Koharu giggles. "Come on, Kirito isn't that bad of a guy."

"He's a good player, but he has no manners! Probably a shut-in back in the real world, or goes to school and gets horrible grades because he can think about are games."

"Four floors, new friends, and a reputation that precedes you, but you're still the cold, academic-minded princess I've known." That voice did not come from Koharu, but from behind the chestnut-haired girl. Its tone is stern and mocking with a hint of humor, the familiarity shapes Asuna's mouth into an 'o' and turns her around slowly. In front of her is a girl with purple hair tied in a long ponytail, eyes as red as rubies, and a purple tunic underneath a long, white cape. The only thing missing, most likely in her inventory, is the unusual weapon of choice: a scythe.

But most of all, Asuna knows her name. "Misumi?"

And, although her player name is not visible, Koharu identifies the girl. "Mito?"

This will be the last chapter for a while. The next chapter requires some details from the first Progressive movie, which doesn't release until next month. So while there are chapters written afterward, it wouldn't be logical to keep going for now. But to provide a tidbit of information, Mito, as far as I'm characterizing her, has been fun to write as a "progressor" of the respective pairs' relationships, especially Jaymes and Koharu's since they're closer than Asuna and Kirito at this point of the story.