Taft

Taft (タフト) is the main settlement of the 11th Floor of Aincrad.

Description
Taft is an urban city that is likely based on a southern European city. The city has stone floor streets and brick, mostly 2-storey (with attics), buildings that are lined up along the main street with barely no space in-between. The city also has a drain running under a bridge somewhat far away from the main street, a fountain and also has a rectangle Teleport Gate plaza. There is a church or cathedral with iron doors, a couple of statues next to them and a bell tower at one side of the plaza, and a decorative gate at the other.

Notable Locations

 * Temporary Moonlit Black Cats headquarters (in an inn)
 * Church or cathedral

Red-nosed Reindeer
In April, 2023, Kirito meets the members of the Moonlit Black Cats at the 11th Floor Labyrinth and, after he helps the guild out while their forward, Tetsuo was recovering, the guild members invite Kirito to an alehouse in Taft to thank him for his help. At the alehouse, the leader of the Black Cats, Keita, invites Kirito to join their guild, after Kirito falsely tells them that he's around their level to avoid being called a Beater. Feeling attracted to the warm and family-like atmosphere of the guild, he accepts the offer and becomes a member of the Black Cats.

Since then, the alehouse was used as a temporary headquarters for the guild, as they did not have enough money to buy their own home, with Kirito sneaking out each night to continue his own leveling. One day, Sachi couldn't take the pressure of having to be a forward and hid herself at the city drains somewhat far away from the main street. While the rest of the guild went out to search for her in the Labyrinth, Kirito used his high-level «Tracking» skill to trace Sachi's location by following her footsteps from the inn. After finding Sachi, he learns that she is afraid of dying and comforts her by saying that she will not die, but avoids mentioning how to avoid revealing his true level.

After they return to the inn, Kirito tells the other guildmates that Sachi should continue being a lancer and that he himself could continue being the forward. From the next night on, Sachi comes to Kirito's room every night, as she feels that being with him and hearing that she wouldn't die helps her sleep peacefully.

On June 22, 2023, Keita leaves for the Starting City to purchase a home for the guild, while the rest of the guild heads out to the 27th Floor Labyrinth. After the demise of the Black Cats, Kirito treated a tree growing at the inn in Taft as a replacement for a grave and continues to visit it every now and then until Aincrad is destroyed.