Chapter 3

The glow from the sunrise and the scent of dew filled the senses of the twins. Although the two of them hadn't expected the day they had to leave to come so soon; they were still filled with a mix of fear and excitement. They knew that this was the true beginning of their adventure, and only by grabbing every chance they could, would they be able to change their lives.

Walking through the forest wasn't dangerous for them. They had carefully mapped out the terrain during the years they were hunting, and had a long determined route that they would take when it was time to leave.

Perhaps it was the years of solitude, spent in the company of each other, but Islam and Sila had a tacit understanding of each other's ideas and actions, so the two remained silent as they proceeded through the overgrown forest trail.

The path they chose would lead them eventually to the town of Lotoll, adjacent to the town connected to Olbrand village. Although the town had no real benefits, but the towns all had official roads connected to the city, which were often patrolled by the city's guards. This was one of the reasons the twins decided to take the official road. Another reason they needed to reach the city was simply because only the cities had branches of the various guilds. No matter how destitute a city was, there would always be a branch, even if it was simply used as a tool for communication.

The city that their village was under the jurisdiction of was called Rusvil. Even though the peddlers and the villagers would talk about Rusvil as if it was an economic paradise, the two of them knew that compared to the rest of the kingdom, Rusvil could only be considered to be a fringe city. It contained the bare bones that were necessary of a city, but no one would flock to it. Isla and Sila didn't care though, an unknown city was perfect for them. The standards for the adventurers guild would probably be quite low in these fringe cities, which meant that they; who didn't know the level of their abilities and had poor equipment, may still have a chance to pass the test.

And what they needed to do now was rush to Lotoll. They decided on Lotoll for a very important reason, although it was connected to the town near Olbrand village, it obviously would take time for the news to reach it, but the town near Olbrand village had too many friends and relatives from Olbrand there. The news would probably have already been passed there, which would bring a lot of trouble if they were recognised, so Lotoll was their only choice.

The two walked from early morning until the sun reached its peak at midday, thankfully the dense brush gave them cover from the scorching heat, however the humidity couldn't be solved so easily. As sweat dripped from the two of them, Isla turned to Sila.

Isla: Let's take a rest for now. It's too hot to continue trekking through this.

Sila: Alright, but we can't wait too long, we have to reach Lotoll before dusk.

The twins quickly found a reasonably clear area, and took out some of the food and water they had prepared earlier. Thankfully after a short rest, the temperature seemed to have decreased a little.

By the time the sun had reached mid afternoon, the twins were certain they had almost reached the boundary of one of the villages near Lotoll. They didn't want to draw attention, so they walked around the periphery of the village, until they reached the dirt road leading to Lotoll. The two didn't slow down, luckily this was not the day the village would go to the town, so the roads were sparse and only a few curious villagers cast their gazes on them.

By the time they reached Lotoll, the sun had already shown signs of disappearing, so the two of them found a cheap inn to stay, and seeing the environment, they knew that the cheap price had its reasons.

The twins quickly ordered a room, and spent as little time outside as possible, so as not to draw any unwanted attention. However sometimes what you want to avoid is exactly what life will throw at you.

Isla and Sila had felt a few leering gazes as they entered the room, and could only sigh knowing that tonight would not be peaceful. They didn't know what attracted these malicious sights, it was either greed or list, no matter which they knew that mercy to an enemy meant cruelty to one's self. So regardless of the reason, those people would be dealt with ruthlessly.

Tonight seemed to be perfect for committing crimes. A grey haze seemed to cover the moon, further providing darkness to those who lurked in the shadows. Muffled footsteps and suppressed voices came from outside the window of the twins room.

The dilapidated inn could definitely not afford proper glass windows, so what covered the window was a type of hardy paper that could at least block the breeze, but little else, and with a level of ease, only owned by those with rich experience, a small tube was placed through the newly made hole, slowly filling the room with smoke.

It was obvious to Isla and Sila who had already covered their faces beforehand, that these thieves were using medicine to make them unconscious. Thankfully they've always been extremely cautious, these  methods they had heard of from the village. The twins were surprised that the gossip from those old women would come in handy one day.

After a period of time, the sounds became more apparent, presumably the thieves had already felt that their plan had worked, soon the paper window had been completely torn off, and a few men began to climb in.

Thief 1: Hurry up, didn't you see that the two of them were beauties, what's taking so long.

Thief 2: Why are you in such a rush? now that they're fast asleep, it'll be fine to take your time and enjoy them.

Thief 3: Enough, let's have some fun first. Then we'll take them over to the brothel to earn some money.

Isla and Sila looked at each other from their hidden positions with a mocking gloating.