- How long will you be lying around, girlfriend? Is it time for you to go hunting or have you changed your mind? - A female voice was heard from her right, which pulled her out of her memories.
Quickly getting up, Lualia looked around; next to the exit from the room in which she lived stood her friend Kyo, with whom she shared this room.
According to the rules, they did not have the opportunity to live alone due to the fact that there were a lot of residents and the whole city was not accessible to them.
As some of the first inhabitants of this city said, the part of the city leading to the place where the departed race ruled was always closed to them.
Feeling the cold with her toes coming from the door that was open, she looked again at her friend who defiantly began to open the door even further. Her friend was short and her clothes showed off her beautiful curves.
Like Lualia, she had short red hair and bright blue eyes. There was a noticeable smile on Kyo's face, just like Lualia, she was a hunter and was already dressed; a quiver of arrows could be seen on her shoulder and in her hand she was holding a thick bow.
Her partner was her future husband, and because they had not yet completed the wedding ritual, they could not live together.
- Can you close the door? Is it cold or do you want me to get sick? - Lualia said, her friend said something under her breath but closed the door.
Not paying attention to Kyo anymore, the girl went to get ready, going into the bathroom and looking at herself in the reflection of the mirror.
A beautiful girl with green eyes, short black hair and a white nightie that was knee-length looked at her.
Lualia saw her mother in this reflection, as they told her in childhood she was very similar to her. Many guys tried to court her, but she refused everyone.
Kyo's future husband tried to introduce her to his friend, but like the others, she refused him. Having gathered herself, hanging a small blade on her belt and taking a spear in her hand, Lualia headed towards the door near which Kyo stood with a bored look.
- It took you a long time to get ready, and in your dream you screamed again, were there memories of your parents again? - Kyo said in a quiet voice, opening the door and going out into the street.
The girl nodded to her friend's question; they had known each other for a long time and shared what worried them.
Unlike Lualia, her friend was not alone when she found herself in the forest, with her there were her parents who were trying to escape from the land baron.
But if Lualia was lucky and did not fall prey to the monster, her friend was not so lucky. Her parents died protecting her from monsters, first her father died from wounds inflicted by a basilisk and another monster.
They couldn't bury him while the monsters were busy tearing her father's body apart, and she and her mother fled.
A few days later they were attacked by another monster and her mother died and she was left alone.
Wandering through the forest, she came across this city, all smeared and covered in blood, like Lualiu, she was tormented by nightmares where she saw her parents die.
But she tried to move on and remember her parents while they were alive. Coming out of the place where they lived, the girls felt the sun's rays breaking through the clouds that hung over the city.
Lualia sighed, looking at the sky, she hoped that it wouldn't rain until they left the city. Walking along the streets lined with strange carriages without horses.
Residents of the city for a long time tried to understand why the Avel race used them, but not finding an opportunity to open it and having tried different possibilities, they left them alone.
Residents of the city began to leave their homes to go to work. The girls saw the sleepy expression of the city residents, unlike the hunters who left the city at will or on the orders of the elders to hunt.
Other residents who performed other duties were not able to leave the city without special permission.
Did everyone agree with this requirement from the elders? If any of the residents did not agree, he was free to leave the city, but he was also forbidden to return.
Sometimes they came across children who were doing easy errands. The city was mainly inhabited by representatives of the human race; there were only a few representatives of the light elf race who studied monsters and their behavior.
No one paid any attention to the girls; everyone knew each other here; it was rare for any of the new residents to enter the city.
Approaching the second gate, Lualia began to feel someone's gaze, frowning, she began to look around, attracting the attention of her friend.
Kyo, watching her friend look around, also began to look around, looking for anything that could attract attention.
- Who are you looking for? - Kyo asked with interest, trying to find who her friend was looking for.
Of those who passed by them, she did not see her friend's gaze linger for a long time. She saw that Lualia was frowning and did not answer her question, which made her friend even more interested.
- Nobody, I have a feeling that someone is watching us, but I don't understand where they're watching from. - Lualia answered in a wary voice, peering at the people passing by.
She knew someone from other jobs, but this look was not bored, someone was evaluating her and her friend, but who?
Immersed in searching for the observer, they came to the gate near which other hunters were waiting for them.
It was rare to see that only a couple of hunters left, but often a whole group left and headed in different directions so that they could bring as much prey as possible to the city.
- Maybe this is the guy whose life you saved the last time we went hunting? His name is also Philo. - Kyo said thoughtfully, pushing Lualia with her elbow.
The girl sighed long, remembering the last hunt when she had to save one of the new hunters. He fought off his partner due to an attack by monsters and while trying to find his partner, Philo ended up in the area where Lualia was hunting.
When he reached her temporary camp, she was just about to move on. Seeing a familiar face, he began to tell her how he ended up next to her camp.
The girl saw from his face that the young man felt shame for what had happened, as she knew this was his first hunt.
After listening to the whole story, Lualia was thinking about what to do with this young man, she could not help but help him and all she could do was spend this hunt with him for the first time in a long time; she was not hunting alone.
After returning to the city, Philo tried in every possible way to attract the girl's attention; if he had the opportunity, the young man would choose her as his hunting partner.
There were rules that all hunters followed, that it was impossible to change partners until one of them died. And he could only look at her always when the time came to hunt.