Yui was an AI known as a "Mental Health Counseling Program 001."
Her role was to manage and care for the mental states of SAO players.
However, when the official service launched, her "care" functions were forcibly blocked by the main system. She could only observe players' emotions, unable to regulate or intervene. With players trapped and emotionally deteriorating, Yui herself gradually fell into a state of confusion.
Later, she noticed that Kirito and Asuna had mental states different from most players and approached them—but doing so violated system rules, which caused her to lose her memories.
"She's appearing already? I remember she only showed up much later in the original storyline."
Lillian walked over and crouched in front of her.
The little girl was sleeping soundly. Her chest rose and fell gently with steady breaths, her lips slightly parted. No matter how one looked at her, she seemed like a real human child.
"Did she come looking for Kirito and Asuna?"
In the original story, she had appeared around them, and the two had discovered her and taken her in. But this time, her timing was unfortunate—after fighting Lillian, neither of them had the attention to notice her presence.
"…In that case, I'll take her with me."
Lillian had no intention of tracking them down just to hand Yui over. She was far too valuable. Even setting everything else aside, her passive ability [Indestructible] alone was incredibly powerful.
If he were truly irresponsible, he could even take her along to fight bosses and have her tank attacks…
Of course, that was just a thought. She was far too adorable for him to actually do something like that.
Besides, AIs technically didn't have gender—she only appeared as a "girl" because of her assigned form and psychological parameters.
He gently reached out and picked her up.
Somewhat helplessly, Lillian realized that being orange-named meant he couldn't return to town to settle her properly. In the end, he simply carried her straight to the Dark Elf camp.
She slept the entire way.
By the time they arrived, she still hadn't woken up. When Kizmel saw him carrying a little girl, her face filled with surprise.
"That's not your daughter, is it?"
"How could it be… I found her on the road."
…That sounded strange no matter how he put it.
"In any case, could you help find a bed for her? Let her sleep properly."
"Of course. Come to my tent."
She led Lillian into her tent. The space inside was spacious, and the bed was covered with soft, warm pelts. Lillian carefully laid Yui down.
"So warm…" Lillian murmured.
He noticed a heater nearby, glowing with a steady orange light and radiating warmth. On the other side were several small wooden cabinets. He accidentally caught sight of some leather armor and soft-looking fabric garments—and quickly looked away.
This is a woman's room. Best not to stare.
"She's such a cute child," Kizmel said, sitting beside the bed. She gently stroked Yui's cheek.
"Humans are like this—adorable when they're young, and not adorable at all when they grow up."
"…"
"You said you found her by the roadside," Kizmel said curiously.
"Was it in the forest? Perhaps she wandered out from a town while playing and got lost. That's very dangerous—there are so many monsters in the forest."
"Yeah."
"Then why didn't you take her to a human town?"
"…I can't enter towns right now."
Kizmel looked surprised but didn't ask why. She simply nodded slightly.
"By the way, Kizmel," Lillian said, "I have something I'd like to ask of you."
"What is it?"
"Do you know about 'labyrinths'?" Lillian wasn't sure whether the elf NPCs even had such a concept.
"There's a monster inside one that I tried fighting, but I can't defeat it with my strength alone. I'd like your help."
"The Labyrinth…"
Kizmel's dark eyes grew solemn. "I know of it. It's an extremely dangerous place, filled with countless monsters. When we moved from the upper floor down to this one, we used spell-based teleportation specifically to avoid combat."
So that was it. As expected, NPCs didn't need to climb through labyrinth stairways like players did—they could freely move between floors. That certainly made things much more convenient.
"But since it's you," Kizmel said with a gentle smile, "of course I'll help."
At that moment, she seemed to sense something and turned toward the bed. The little girl lying there had awakened at some point—large, jet-black eyes watching the two of them curiously.
"You're awake?"
Lillian walked over as well, careful not to sit on the bed. He bent down slightly and looked at her. "Hello."
"..."
The girl looked dazed, her gaze shifting back and forth between them.
"What's wrong?"
Kizmel gently helped her sit up, softly stroking her long hair. "Don't be afraid. You're safe here."
Her voice lacked its usual sharp confidence, replaced instead with warmth and tenderness. Lillian hadn't expected this side of her and couldn't help glancing at her again.
The girl still didn't speak.
Lillian knew she was probably still affected by emotional instability, so he didn't rush her. He asked gently, "What's your name?"
"…Name…"
Her voice was soft and faint, almost cotton-like. "Yu… Yui… Yui…"
"Yui," Kizmel nodded. "That's a lovely name. Human names really are beautiful."
…Hey, when you first heard my name, you said human names were strange.
Lillian shot Kizmel a speechless look, but she continued calmly, "I'm Kizmel. And he's Lillian."
Yui looked at her. "Ki…zmi-el…"
Then she turned to Lillian. "Li…lean…"
She pronounced both names surprisingly accurately.
"It's 'Mel,'" Kizmel corrected with a smile. "As for him, you can call him whatever you like."
Huh??
Kizmel then asked softly, "Yui, do you know where your home is? We can take you back later."
"Home…"
Yui looked confused. After a long pause, she spoke haltingly, "Yui… doesn't… have a home…"
"..."
Kizmel looked at Lillian. He took over, "Then Yui, do you remember anything else? Your parents, or anything at all?"
"I don't know… I… don't know… anything…"
Her speech was fragmented, her tone flat, like a child who had just learned how to talk.
"I see. That's alright," Lillian said gently. "You can take your time."
He straightened up. Kizmel glanced at him and seemed about to step outside to speak privately—but before Lillian could take a step, he felt a light tug on the hem of his clothes.
"Li…lean… don't go…"
Surprised, Lillian turned around. Yui was clutching his clothing. He paused, then crouched down so they were eye to eye.
"Alright. I won't go."
Kizmel pressed her lips together slightly. Yui then looked at her too.
"Ki…zmi-el… don't go either…"
Kizmel reached out and touched Yui's forehead gently. "Are you hungry? I'll go get you something to eat."
"Hungry…"
She didn't seem to understand at first. A moment later, realization dawned.
"…Mm." She nodded. "Yui… hungry…"
"Alright. I'll bring food right away." Kizmel stood and left the tent slowly. Yui stared after her blankly, her gaze following until the thick woven curtain blocked her view.
"Yui, you—"
"Da… Dad."
The word hit Lillian like a critical strike. He nearly fell over.
"Uh…" He scratched his head, meeting the hopeful light in her eyes. "Yui, how about calling me 'onii-chan' instead? I'm your onii-chan."
No matter how strong his mental fortitude was, having a completely unrelated little girl following him around calling him "Dad" was… a bit much.
"Onii… chan…"
She didn't seem to like it as much as "Dad," but she accepted it anyway, nodding. "…Mm…Lillean-nii…"
Lillian froze.
For a brief moment, Yui's face overlapped with another girl's from his memories.
That girl had once called him "Lillian-nii" too.
"Lillean-nii… what's wrong…?"
"Ah—nothing. And it's 'Lillian,'" he said, pulling himself back to the present.
"Li. Lli-an."
Yui blinked, thought for a moment. "Li…lian."
"…That works. Lillian it is."