Kurose Akira stared straight at Lucía as she walked into the guild hall, his unblinking gaze immediately drawing her attention.
Lucía tilted her head, puzzled. "What is it?"
"Come with me to the Sun Theocracy," Kurose Akira said.
—!
His words sent a visible shock through Lucía's eyes. Her gold-and-crimson pupils narrowed slightly as she thought it through.
The concealment effect of the white veil only fails against clergy in red vestments or gold robes and above. As long as we don't go near the main temples, there shouldn't be a problem…
"Where exactly are we going?" Lucía asked.
"Golden Beach."
"That's fine." Lucía nodded. Golden Beach was several hundred kilometers away from the central temples—far outside the area where high-ranking clergy usually appeared.
"Ivsha, get ready. We're heading out."
Kurose Akira called out to Ivsha, who was praying quietly in the guild hall.
Ivsha rose to her feet and asked curiously, "Sir Akira, where are we going?"
"The Sun Theocracy."
"The Sun Theocracy? Really, Sir Akira?" Ivsha's eyes shimmered, a smile blooming across her face.
"Really." He nodded.
"Th-then~ Sir Akira, can I buy a few things while we're there?" Ivsha asked eagerly.
During this time, through her own efforts, Ivsha had already earned over twenty gold coins in Akira's guild. That was more than enough to buy many of the things she had long wanted.
"Of course."
"That's wonderful~"
"Let's go."
"Mm!"
The next moment, Kurose Akira, Lucía, and Ivsha stepped into the teleportation circle. A blinding white light flared—and their figures vanished instantly. When the glow faded, they were already standing on the soil of the Sun Theocracy.
The moment they arrived, two priests in white robes approached them head-on. Akira initially assumed they were there to handle entry procedures, similar to what he'd experienced in the Moon God Empire.
But instead, the two priests simply produced a mirror and swept it over the three of them.
Golden light burst forth, washing over Akira's body.
Only then did he realize—it was a baptism of holy light. Brief, but far stronger than the baptisms conducted in the churches of the Star Kingdom.
The Sun Theocracy strictly forbade the entry of demons or evil entities. Every entrant had to undergo a holy-light baptism to verify their identity.
That ten silver coin "entry fee" was most likely for this ritual.
For Akira and Lucía, the baptism felt like nothing more than a fleeting warmth. But when the holy light fell upon Ivsha, she clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and seemed to savor the radiance with sincere reverence.
A moment later, the two priests withdrew the mirror.
"Welcome to the Sun Theocracy, devout believers."
Ivsha slowly opened her eyes, her face filled with a mixture of awe and joy.
Whew…
Akira let out a quiet breath of relief. Fortunately, before teleporting over, Lucía had cast a blessing spell on Ivsha—otherwise, she might not have passed the inspection so smoothly.
He checked the time. There was still an hour before his appointment with the Fairy Consort Guild's leader.
Plenty of time to take Ivsha shopping first.
"Ivsha, let's go browse the shops," Akira said.
"Alright, Sir Akira."
Ivsha smiled sweetly and slipped her arm around his, the two of them walking forward side by side in easy intimacy.
Lucía's steps faltered for just a fraction of a second. Her gold-and-crimson eyes flicked toward them with clear displeasure before she followed behind.
Half an hour later, Ivsha had happily bought everything she wanted. Since she'd gone in with specific goals, they hadn't wasted much time.
"Sir Akira, this is for you."
Smiling, Ivsha handed him a golden ring.
Akira examined it. The ring emitted a faint glow, a ruby set delicately into its surface—elegant and refined.
[Sun's Punishment (Elite): Dark Resistance +10%]
He smiled as he accepted it. "Thank you, Ivsha."
But just as he was about to slip it onto his finger, Ivsha gently took his hand and said with a smile, "Sir Akira, this isn't worn on the finger."
"Hm?"
Akira blinked in confusion.
Isn't this… a ring?
Ivsha lightly pressed the ruby embedded in it. Instantly, the ring expanded, growing larger—until it became the size of a bracelet.
"Oh—so it's a bangle."
Akira nodded in realization.
Then, in the very next second, he noticed where Ivsha's gaze had settled—
…Huh?
Akira froze.
Don't tell me… in Ivsha's understanding, this ornament is a holy relic meant to be paired directly with sacred light…?
As expected.
Anything Ivsha bought always had an unexpected use!
And come to think of it… that size really was just about perfect—
"Ahem." Akira cleared his throat. "It's about time. We should head to the meeting point."
Ivsha nodded lightly, letting out a soft "Mm~" in agreement.
At that moment, Lucía shot Akira a glance—cool, faintly icy. She finally had a chance to speak; after all, being a third wheel for half an hour straight had clearly put her in a foul mood.
"Who are you meeting?" she asked.
"The president of Red Lotus."
"That fire spirit?" Lucía recalled the passionate fire elf—hard to forget, especially given how rare that particular physique was among elves.
"Yeah."
They talked as they walked, soon reaching the edge of Golden Beach. When Akira finally saw the so-called Golden Beach with his own eyes, surprise flickered across his face.
Golden Beach wasn't literally made of gold. Instead, the coastline was covered in golden flowers. When sunlight spilled over them, they shimmered like molten gold, bathing the entire shore in radiant yellow—a breathtaking sight that made it hard to leave.
"So beautiful…" Ivsha couldn't help but exclaim.
"Among the Seven Wonders of the Sun Theocracy, Golden Beach is actually fairly ordinary," Lucía explained. "And this isn't even the season when sunflowers bloom. If you'd come two months earlier, you could've seen them in full bloom—gathering into the magnificent image of the Sun Goddess herself."
"Really?" Ivsha looked regretful, but her eyes soon filled with anticipation. "That's such a shame… I hope I'll have the chance to see it someday."
"Hey~!"
A warm, enthusiastic voice rang out.
A fiery-red figure entered Akira's view.
Red Lotus waved at them and strode over.
"Come with me."
"Mm." Akira nodded, motioning for Ivsha and Lucía to follow.
Red Lotus led them to a café near Golden Beach. When Akira pushed open the door, he immediately noticed how empty it was—aside from a few servers chatting idly, there were no other guests.
"This place has already been bought by our guild leader," Red Lotus explained. "We sometimes use it as a rest lounge for guild members."
"Bought it?" Akira's eyes glinted faintly.
In the game, earning gold was never limited to questing alone.
Players with business acumen could purchase assets in this world and gradually build massive commercial empires.
That said, balancing guild development while managing private businesses required exceptional management skill and energy—far beyond what most players could handle.
Even so, a small number of players still chose to pursue this dual-track growth.
Of course, the game had only been live for three or four months. No one had yet built a large-scale enterprise in such a short time—but with time, commercially oriented guilds were bound to emerge.
"Please, this way."
Fire Lotus guided them to a private room. A beaded curtain concealed the interior, obscuring whatever lay inside.
Akira gently parted the curtain and stepped in.
A graceful feminine figure came into view.
She had dark teal, wavy hair and wore a cheongsam patterned like blue-and-white porcelain, exuding a uniquely Eastern elegance. A round silk fan swayed gently in her hand, stirring faint breezes and adding to her poised allure.
The moment Akira entered, her amber eyes locked onto him—focused, assessing.
Even knowing that she, like him, was a player, Akira couldn't shake the feeling that there was something uniquely different about her. He found himself looking twice.
A faint, mysterious blessing seemed to linger around the Fairy Consort Guild's leader. Akira guessed this was an effect unlocked only by B-rank players.
He remembered that upon reaching C-rank evaluation, players could formally establish a guild and receive special emblem quests. These emblems significantly enhanced guild members' combat strength.
Through extraordinary luck and a hidden quest, Akira himself had once secured an achievement emblem for his guild.
[Silver Desire: All guild members' Desire +10, Attack +10%, Defense +10%, Magic Power +10%!]
A C-rank guild could equip up to three emblems. B-rank doubled that to six, while A-rank could equip as many as ten.
Players like Akira, who had yet to formally establish a guild, could only equip a single guild achievement emblem—but there was no limit to how many emblems one could own.
This was one of the key reasons C-rank and above guilds so thoroughly outclassed those below C-rank.
That said, exceptions always existed. Some guilds rated only D-rank still possessed extraordinarily powerful members, making them difficult even for C-rank guilds to suppress.
But once emblem slots reached six—or even ten—numerical advantage alone could compensate for differences in hero quality. High-rank guilds could exert overwhelming pressure through sheer accumulation.
Furthermore, upon promotion to B-rank, a guild would gain a unique Guild Blessing—a massive boost affecting all members, including the guild master themselves.
This alone gave B-rank guilds an absolute edge over lower-ranked ones.
As for the exact effects of these blessings, Akira didn't know. Every B-rank guild guarded that information closely.
There were even rumors that A-rank guilds enjoyed even more terrifying buffs—but with so few A-rank guilds in existence, concrete information was scarce.
Just as Akira was lost in thought, the woman parted her red lips and spoke softly:
"Please, have a seat~"