At last, a city.

  Now granted, even before getting close, they could tell it was as small as they’d been told, if not smaller. In fact, they would have been tempted to call it a village if not for the fortified walls and tall stone buildings. In addition to that, the twins noted the giant runes inscribed all around the city on the walls themselves. A bit of overkill to inscribe the entire city wall, wasn’t it? Or was the rift inside really that dangerous?

  As the group approached, they noticed a lone coilborn standing just beyond the barred city gate, his left arm in a splint. He eyed them with suspicion and manifested a card as they got closer.

  “Halt! What’s your business in the Crying Curtain?” he shouted.

  The party stopped a respectful distance away before Dusk once again stepped forward to be the spokesperson.

  “Hello! We’re just hoping to spend the night and then leave for Zenrith’s Trench!”

  His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t press.

  “Identification?”

  The party once again pulled out their IDs and this time stepped close enough to hand them in for inspection through the bars while Linza showed the mark on her hand.

  The man’s eyebrows creased further.

  “Who’s your minder?”

  “Me.”

  “I see… Alright, everything looks to be in order. Hold on a moment.”

  He slithered off to the side, grabbed the winch with his good hand and turned it with some difficulty, causing the mechanism to raise the gate. Once the party shuffled inside, he lowered it again.

  “Don’t cause any trouble. Especially you,” he said, glaring at Linza.

  “O-Of course not!” the human in question stuttered.

  They had decided to hide the fact that she could still use one of her skills even with the Null mark. No need to complicate the procedure since they were going to have it removed soon anyway.

  “I’ll be keeping an eye on you. You’re free to go.”

  The twins looked at his arm and, after a moment of hesitation, decided to offer their aid.

  “Do you, uh, need help with that?” Dawn pointed at his splint. “We’re healers. We could fix it for you.”

  The man blinked, glanced down at it before looking back at them.

  “...You are?” he asked, sounding vaguely hopeful.

  The twins just smiled and showed their healing cards.

  The man wavered but ultimately gave a small nod.

  “Then it would be appreciated.”

  As soon as they got their permission, Dawn shot [Heartseeker] and Dusk stepped closer to use [Hallowed Embrace]—without combining them—on the man.

  He gasped, then let out a relieved sigh as the light seeped into his arm and fixed it up in mere moments. He shook his arm, likely testing for any residual pain, grabbed the gauze with his other hand and unfurled it. After clenching his fist a couple of times, he manifested a card and used it, causing the cast to crumble into dust.

  Finally, he raised his head and gave the twins a small smile.

  “Thank you. And I apologize for being so surly; it’s been pretty rough lately.”

  “Did something happen?”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “You didn’t hear? Well, Anxia fell a few days ago and most of the hunters stationed here left to help contain it.” He sighed. “And then, just yesterday something agitated the titan east of here, and everyone else had to rush to deal with it… or run away.”

  He grimaced.

  “I don’t expect people rushing back here any time soon.”

  A chill went down the twins’ spines.

  An agitated titan on the loose? That did not bode well. Knowing their luck, they would run into it on their way to the other city.

  The group exchanged a glance at this information.

  Linza in particular looked quite concerned, likely worrying about her sister.

  “...I don’t know about you, I don’t feel very safe travelling to another city with a titan on the loose,” Layna slowly said.

  The twins pursed their lips.

  Yes, they agreed, but once again, they would have to delay their plans to return to Vargarott.

  “We’re never going to make it to Estra Dolla…” Dawn murmured, starting to feel real dejected.

  “You want to go to Estra Dolla?” the coilborn asked in surprise. “You’re going the wrong way, then.”

  “Just us two. And yeah, we know. We’ve gotten transported across the country because of Anxia’s tunnels.”

  The man paused, likely realizing what they implied.

  “I see.” He nodded. “Well, if you want to get all the way there quickly, there’s a teleporter service in Zenrith’s Trench. I’m pretty sure Estra Dolla is one of their destinations.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The twins perked up.

  “Really?! Awesome!”

  “That makes things so much easier!”

  “Teleporters are expensive, though,” Layna pointed out.

  The twins froze when they remembered splurging all their money on deck upgrades back in Anxia, and groaned. In fact, they might not even have enough to rent a Felibeast, even if they sold all their essences.

  How the hell were they gonna make all this money?

  “Say, do you happen to be rift hunters?”

  The twins blinked.

  “Well, yeah.”

  Technically. Even if complete newbies.

  “Then you should go speak with the rift manager. I’m sure you can work out something to earn money in exchange for culling the rift.”

  “The rift?”

  The coilborn grimaced.

  “Yes. Before they left in a hurry, the Cullwrights were supposed to cull the rift. It was already meant to be done a week ago, actually. The rift might be getting dangerously close to spilling over.”

  “Oh… That’s not good.”

  “But you’re right, we could help with that,” Dusk mused before glancing at the others and asking, “What do you think?”

  Layna grimaced while Linza looked surprisingly excited.

  “I’ll help you!” Linza paused, eyes flicking to the mark on her hand. “Err, but I don’t know how much help I will be.”

  “I would rather not get into more rifts,” Layna murmured before sighing. “But it’s not like there are any other good ways of making money while we’re stuck here, are there?”

  The twins nodded.

  “We’ll talk to the rift manager and then we’ll see. How about that?”

  “Alright!”

  “Sure, I guess.”

  With that decided, the party thanked the coilborn and—

  “Wait! Um, have you seen my sister, sir?” Linza suddenly asked him as they were leaving. “Looks like younger me, wears a blue uniform with a red ribbon?”

  The man paused, then shook his head.

  “Sorry, I haven’t.”

  Linza deflated.

  “Ah, okay.”

  “If I see her pass through, I’ll let you know.” Linza perked up. “I assume you’re staying at the inn?”

  “Yeah, but we don’t know which yet.”

  “There is only one inn in this city.”

  “Oh, right. Yeah, we’ll be staying there.”

  The man nodded, a tiny smile tugging on his lips.

  “Then you want to head to the center of the city—the rift Gate is in the big building, can’t miss it—and the inn is two blocks south of there.”

  With that, the party thanked the man for his help, bid him goodbye, and entered the city proper, just as the sun began to dip below the horizon.

  For such a small town, it sure had tall buildings. Very blocky and bland unlike Anxia’s crazy architecture—nothing to write home about. You could tell the city had been founded relatively recently compared to a historical site like the behemoth city.

  But the truly disconcerting thing had to be the silence and the lack of people on the streets. Not counting the gate guard, they had yet to see a single person. It felt like a ghost town.

  It didn’t take long for the group to make it to the center of the city. A dome-shaped building made of stone stood there. Even with its doors closed, the twins figured this was the place holding the rift Gate. None of the other buildings could have fit one inside them.

  “Let’s get to the inn first,” Layna suggested, looking at the evening sky. “We can try talking to the rift manager tomorrow.”

  The others shrugged, not seeing any reason to argue.

  Luckily, they found the inn nearly instantly, thanks to the guard’s instructions. It didn’t even have a name, the sign just said ‘Inn’. It fit in with the city’s bland aesthetic perfectly.

  The party entered the establishment, noting the clean tables and empty chairs, and headed toward the counter—also empty.

  “Um, hello? Is anyone here?” Dawn called.

  Nothing.

  “Great.” Dusk groaned in annoyance.

  Would they have to sleep on the streets…? Even if it was pretty warm out, they had hoped to never have to do that again.

  “Maybe someone is further in. Come on,” Layna suggested.

  And sure enough, before the others could even nod in assent, the door behind the counter opened and out slithered an elderly coilborn lady with glasses, graying hair, and scales.

  “Oh, hello there! Welcome! I knew I heard something!”

  The twins perked up.

  “Hello! We’d like to book…” Dusk paused and glanced at the others. “Three rooms?”

  “I don’t need my own room. I can’t pay for it anyway,” Linza said with an awkward smile. “I’m fine with sharing.”

  “Me too.” The catkin nodded. “So two rooms for two? Me and Linza in one, and you two in the other?”

  Dusk hummed in agreement.

  “Sounds good. Two rooms for two, then.” He then pulled out his money card and winced. “Umm, how much would that be?”

  “How many nights are you staying?”

  Once again the group turned to each other to make a decision.

  The twins didn’t want to stay long… but they also didn’t want to get devoured by a rampaging titan.

  “A week?” Layna suggested.

  Linza’s fists clenched.

  “For now,” Dusk reluctantly agreed. “Until there’s more news about the titan?”

  “You’ll be here a long time then,” the innlady interjected.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m willing to bet my tail scales some fool had tried slaying it and paid dearly for it.” She shook her head. “But Ferrith is a very vengeful titan. It won’t stop simply because the offender is dead. Worse-case scenario, it might even come all the way here.”

  “...Why are you so calm, then?” Dusk inquired, a tiny bit of heat seeping into his tone.

  The old lady scoffed.

  “I’m not. But I survived this long and I don’t plan on kicking it anytime soon. Don’t underestimate this old woman’s tail. If I have to outslither a titan, I will.”

  The four gave her weird looks.

  She ignored them.

  “So, a week?”

  “…I guess. For now.”

  “Right then! Two double rooms for a week, now that would normally be around five hundred, but since you’re the only ones here, how about a little deal?”

  “A deal?”

  “If you help me out around the place with cooking, cleaning, and such, I’ll make it cheaper.” A wry smile. “You don’t strike me as youngsters loaded with money.”

  The twins winced.

  “Well…” The other two girls nodded. “We could? How much cheaper are we talking?”

  “Three hundred for all four of you for a week. Breakfast and dinner included. How does that sound?”

  They could try finding an archivist in this town to sell their essences, but they somehow doubted they would be successful. Then they wouldn’t need this deal.

  But, well, helping around the place shouldn’t be too bad, right?

  “Alright. Deal!”

  “Wonderful! Here are the keys to your rooms. Up the stairs and right at the end, opposite each other,” she said as she handed over a pair of keys, before Dusk and Layna paid for the rooms. “Want some dinner, or are you going straight to bed?”

  “Dinner sounds amazing.”

  “Right then! I won’t force you to help right now, you lot look like you could use the rest. I expect you to help with breakfast first thing in the morning, though!”

  “Sure. I’m a pretty decent cook. I’ll be glad to help,” Layna offered.

  “Me too. I’m used to cooking for me and my sister—Speaking of: You wouldn’t happen to have seen my sister, would you? We got separated by some… spatial skill? And I have no idea where she is.”

  “Hmm, I don’t recall seeing any humans in quite a while, I’m afraid.”

  Once again, Linza deflated.

  “I’m just afraid the titan got her,” she admitted with a mumble.

  The coilborn eyed her before letting out a booming sigh.

  “Look here, girl. I’m not gonna lie. If your sister got lost somewhere in these parts, her chances aren’t looking very good.” Linza paled. The old woman leaned forward across the counter and grabbed the girl’s cheeks in her gloves, startling Linza. “But! That doesn’t mean they’re zero! Tell me, lass. Is your sister smart? Do you think she’s alive and well?”

  “I… I…”

  “Are you going to give up before you even find her?”

  “No! Of course not!”

  “Atta girl!” The old woman released her cheeks and clapped her on the shoulder. “That’s what I like to hear! Now go to your room, eat your dinner, and then sleep it off. Your sister wouldn’t want you to stress yourself like this, now would she?”

  The human stared at her for a moment before quirking a tiny smile.

  “No, I suppose not. Thank you.”

  “Thank me by reuniting with your sister wearing a smile!”

  Linza giggled and the twins couldn’t help but smile as well.

  Part of them wanted to go hunt down the rift manager today, but a much larger part of them wanted nothing but to drop into a soft bed and sleep.

  Just as they agreed, the twins took one of the rooms, while the girls took the other.

  As soon as they saw the beds, they made a beeline for them and collapsed into them.

  “It’s one thing after another…”

  “With our luck, we’ll have to fight a titan soon.”

  Dusk was joking, but they still couldn’t help but feel anxious about the possibility.