Ever since the twins got back to the city of Hewe, they continued to work hard as a two-person party. Arthur was still in the dungeon, and the two of them didn't know when he would be back, so they decided not to join another party. Thanks to that decision, the progress they made was slow. They weren't able to take on any kill quests, only gathering quests.
The XP they got over the last few days amounted to less than a goblin could have given them, but they were still eager to work hard and raise their rank in the guild. On the third day, when they walked into the guild, they saw a familiar face.
Kelvin the dwarf, who had finally found his way out of the forest, had found his way into the adventurers' guild. He was being talked to a few of the receptionists, as he was standing just in front of the desk. The twins found him causing a commotion at a desk while two receptionists were working their hardest to calm him down.
Currently, there was a small crowd of adventurers gathered around the commotion, watching it like a show as they stood a few yards away from Kelvin.
"Sir, please calm down," One receptionist urged as the twins walked up to join the watching adventurers. Kelvin looked to the receptionist, his eyes wide from several days of restlessness, "You're disturbing the other adventurers."
"Are you not listening to me?" Kelvin asked as he looked at the receptionist with an offended expression, "I found something dangerous! A monster lair, probably!"
"A monster lair is nothing more than a minor annoyance," The receptionist sighed, "It's not even worth calling a few F-ranked adventurers to. If you're interested in calling in a few adventurers to explore the lair, please submit an official request."
"This isn't something that can be solved by a few F-ranked adventurers! There are monsters in there! Terrifying, dangerous, monsters!" Kelvin yelled as he raised his voice at the receptionist. Both receptionists flinched and took a step back as Kelvin's voice boomed through the room, "This needs to be solved immediately! It's a danger!"
"There is nothing we can do," The second receptionist said with a bit more spark than the first. She looked at Kelvin with a mean glare, then continued to ram into him with a derogatory tone, "Leave."
Kelvin froze as he looked at the receptionists. Then, he turned around and looked at the adventurers behind him. As his gaze met with theirs, most of the adventurers turned to look at literally anything else. A few of them felt uncomfortable because they had already begun to consider Kelvin as a crazed lunatic, probably recently escaped from a nearby clinic.
The twins looked to the adventurers, then to Kelvin. They knew from experience that Kelvin was telling the truth, just based on what Arthur told them, but obviously, that information wasn't known to the other adventurers.
Then, as Kelvin's gaze continued to glance from adventurer to adventurer, two individuals walked away from the crowd and made their way to stand in front of Kelvin. When they walked away from the crowd and put themselves in the spotlight, everybody around them seemed to snicker and laugh under stifled voices.
"Beastmen," Jonathan whispered as he turned to the two individuals, "It's the first time I've seen one of that kind."
The two individuals in question, which were certainly beastmen, weren't ordinary beastmen. They were wolf beastmen, completely covered in fur with bright blue eyes. One of them, a short female beast-woman, wore a blue set of chainmail and had a large sword in a scabbard on her back. The other, a taller beast-man, wore a thick set of plate armor and had a large battleax on his back.
"A danger, huh?" The woman chuckled as she folded her arms. She looked to Kelvin and laughed, then said, "We'll investigate it, of course. Why don't you take us?"
"Who are you?" Kelvin asked.
"I am Anya Caldwell," The woman said. She brought her hand to the man, then said, "This is Dave Caldwell, my older brother. Why don't you take us to this 'lair', so we can investigate."
"You'll need more than two of you," Kelvin said, "I went in with my buddy, a level 10 rogue, and we lost against the first group of enemies we found. I barely made it out alive."
"Oh? That makes things interesting," Anya smiled. Her bright teeth and sharp eyes made her look like a predator as she looked at Kelvin, "Why don't I bring a small group, then?"
"A small group?"
"About twenty adventurers," Anya replied, "Most of them are level thirteen. I, myself, am just a few weeks away from reaching level twenty-two."
A few of the adventurers nearby gasped after they heard Anya speak, for good reason. Level twenty-two was at the end of the beginner levels. For adventurers that were stationed at Hewe, where the monsters were weaker and the quests were shorter, this level of strength was hardly seen. The leaders of nearby guilds had only reached level thirty, even after an entire lifetime of working hard on quests.
"My brother is level twenty-two," Anya said as she turned her body to Dave. Kelvin and a few of the adventures gasped once more, shocked.
"Twenty-two?" Kelvin said, shocked, "How have I never heard of either of you before?"
"We came from the capital," Anya explained, "We came here to meet somebody, but it looks like they're not here. For now, I don't mind going on a little adventure. Where is this danger you're talking about?"
"You'll help me?" Kelvin asked with a timid voice. Anya slowly nodded, which caused Kelvin to begin crying tears of joy, "Thank you! I can't retrieve my friend's body without you. Thank you!"
"No problem," Anya said. She turned to face some of the adventurers standing nearby, then smiled as she said, "If any of you are interested in joining us, step forward."
Immediately, five or six individuals stepped forward. None of them cared about Kelvin's request, only to get in the favor of the two powerhouses they faced now. The twins, after seeing some of the adventurers, stepped forward as well.
"Good," Anya chuckled as she saw the number. There were eight adventurers, including the twins, that stepped forward. She looked back to Kelvin, then said, "Why don't you lead the way?"
Walking to the dungeon took a little more than a week. Because Kelvin was lost on the way back to Hewe, they ran into several dead ends and had to turn around. Many of the adventurers grew annoyed with Kelvin, but they didn't express their concerns while in the presence of the Caldwell siblings.
Kelvin's reputation dropped to abysmal levels as the days stretched on. The adventurers, who began to hate Kelvin's lack of direction, and the Caldwell siblings. Anya, the younger sister, didn't seem annoyed in the slightest. Her brother, Dave, seemed to be a mute but carried a strong aura that did the speaking for him.
As said before, twenty other adventurers joined them on their journey. Most of the adventurers that were from the guild were around level ten or fifteen, while most of the adventurers that were directly employed by the Caldwell siblings were slightly stronger.
The Forsyth twins weren't even level ten, so they were considered the weakest of the group. However, thanks to their experience fighting Arthur, their skills were higher level than they should've been.
Thanks to this, they proved to be a big help to the group overall, but not a big enough help to catch the attention of either of the Caldwell siblings.
Then, after eight days of traveling through the forest, they arrived at their destination. They stopped in front of a large cave opening covered in dirt and vines. The cave opening didn't look that impressive, though they ended up finding two separate groups camped outside.
"Whoa, who are you guys?" A leader of one of the two groups said as he stood up. He walked between the cave entrance and Dave, his hand raised as he attempted to block the raid party's advancement, "This place is ours. Turn around and head back to wherever you came from."
"Is this the place, Kelvin?" Anya asked as she turned her gaze to the dwarf. He looked to Anya, then turned his attention to the cave.
"Yes, Ma'am," Kelvin said as he nodded. He looked to the adventurer that blocked their path, "Get out of the way, son. This place is dangerous."
"Obviously," The adventurer said, "We've been here for a little over a week, but we haven't even managed to reach the end."
"Really? What enemies are there?" Anya asked.
"None of your business," The adventurer said. Suddenly, Dave stepped forward and took the adventurer's collar in his hand as he lifted him into the air. The adventurer gasped and pushed against Dave, but his strength wasn't effective against Dave, "Unhand me you disgusting beastman!"
"You're not the one in charge, little human," Dave spoke with a gruff voice. The two groups that were watching the commotion stood up and prepared themselves for a fight. Many of them were injured, but they were determined, "Answer my sister's question or I'll slam you into the dirt."
"Okay, okay!" The adventurer yelled. He turned his gaze to his comrades, then said, "Back off! Let me down, first."
Dave dropped the adventurer, causing him to fall awkwardly against his heels and trip onto the ground. The adventurer groaned as he hit the ground, then stared up at Anya and began to answer her question.
"Kobolds," The adventurer said, surprising many of the adventurers nearby. Kobolds were supposed to be extinct. If any were even left, they were hiding from the intelligent races of the world, "An entire nest of them. We've fought against nearly a hundred, but they seem to be endless in number."
"Kobolds? Really?" Anya gasped with excitement. Then, under her breath, she whispered, "First a dragon, now Kobolds? What is this world coming to?"
"If you want to head in, I would be careful," The adventurer warned, "They aren't very strong on their own. Only one hit is required to finish them off, but there are dozens of them."