Averie had been pacing back and forth for a while which had started getting to me.
"Dude chill, let's just go over what we know."
"Yeah you're right, it's just so daunting. Of all the novels, manga and anime we've seen.... it had to be this one?"
"Guess it's the man upstairs giving us what we wanted, with a *bit* of an ironic twist"
Averie's eyebrows twitched at my joke, he appeared to be too stressed out to laugh at our current situation. 'Hardass.'
"But damn Alice, of all the times this shit had to happen now? I mean we finally stopped praying to die and be isekaied."
"Speak for yourself bro. I lowkey still wanted to at least have my Highschool of The Dead experience."
I mean, I assume every teenager that saw the anime had to have that thought at least once...right?
"Dawg. You're twenty three. Don't you think you're way past that target demographic.. even if you look like a ninth grader. Couldn't you have said resident evil, you've been simping for Leon damn near your whole life."
I stared back at him mildly offended, complimented and confused at the same time.
"Okay pause, mad disrespectful to point out my fading youth because you're three years younger."
He rolls his eyes at me.
"And of all the zombie universes, one of the worst to live in was your alternative Yeah Leon be hitting different, but bruh..... I'm not going there even for him. "
His face was blank, no expression on it yet I could feel his judging eyes, it was reminiscent to Ferb. The comparison a bit random but yet so perfect.
"Relax okay okay.... my brain was lagging"
I could give him the benefit of the doubt but I know my brother, he just wanted to get a dig in to feel better. While he was usually cheery on the surface, he could be a selfish person.
"Anyways, back to the subject at hand..."
"...We're fucked."
"Aside from that. We know that my name is Orphelia and yours is Dirius."
"We're twins, the children of Marquis Hendrix."
"The original owners of these bodies were dipshits."
We nodded in unison, the general base knowledge we collected minisicule. The novel was onging and there was already two hundred chapters. 'WE ONLY READ FOUR!'
"So that about sums up our recon, good job great detective."
"Pssh like you're any better. Can you even name the novel we got reincarnated in Averie?"
"Reincarnated as an outhouse."
And.....he's back.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!"
He peels over laughing cause he knew he struck a cord with his poorly timed joke.
"You always remember the stupidest shit."
He finally catches his breath from his wheezing wiping a tear from his right eye.
"It called regression of the holy swordsman sis."
He flashes me a mocking grin. I swear he gets more annoying whenever he's being petty.
"This is only the beginning of my revenge for that shit stain 'prank'. "
"I welcome your flaccid attempts of getting your lick back. Have fun with my little to no reactions. "
Though my response to his earlier joke may have been a tad bit dramatic, admittedly it really lighten the mood. I walked to the sole window at the end of the room. It was hard to lift, creaky and was made of a rusting metal. Just as it opened it a birds' ass was waiting directly above my head, dookie narrowly missing my lips.
"hahahaha"
That clown Averie cackling like a court jester... how fitting.
Our extensive knowledge from reading so many reincarnation, regression and transmigration novels lead us to a none verbal agreement that we weren't going to actively try to find a way back, because it was virtually impossible.
Though we're both usually more optimistic people we buried that can of worms. Cause deep down we. both wanted this in some way.
"Hey."
I was snapped back from my train of thought.
"We should get out of this inn. We don't have the money to keep this room for long. Well, If you can even really call whatever this is a room anyway."
"Right on Ave, we should disguise ourselves and go into town to get some information."
His ear perks up with an excited smirk whilst he stands on one leg folded as if he were mediating making a hand sign. sigh I know where this going.
"NINJAS!"
We say in unison
"Alright but here are the rules first."
"Kay."
I clap my hands together to get his attention since he tends to space out more than the average person.
"We're no longer Alice and Averie, we are Orphelia and Dirius. We'll only use our original names for aliases or when we're alone, but I suggest we stick to the names we were given in this world."
"No shit."
He tilted his head forwards as he shrugged to annoy the shit out of me even more.
"Sometimes I really think you believe, I'm a dunce with little logic based reasoning and common sense."
"It's not like that, but do you see how you hold a knife bro? It's a miracle you aren't missing any fingers."
"Valid. But that doesn't have anything to do with this, you always get side tracked and can't make your points clearly whenever your brain is rebooting."
I could feel my smile falter slightly as I resisted the urge to deadpan, or as Averie calls it "Resting bitch face."
***
Walking through the town the inn was located, my initial thoughts were 'Rather clean for the midcentury.' The streets were lit by odd shaped blue glowing stones I had believed to be magic infused. These kinds of things were typically described as the most common source of energy in worlds like this. 'Generic? Maybe, but why stop using what's not broken.'
Dirius (gosh that's going to take some getting used to.) and I had opted to wearing the cheapest looking clothes we could find in our suitcases in order to avoid unwanted attention.
Carrying most of our valuables on hand, just in case the room got raided before we came back to load our shit out. 'Wait- What if we get robbed!?' The og twins were morons. Third rate villains indeed, that was probably the only thing me and that loser writer could agree on.
However on the bright side Orphelia was a baddie that could rival my original appearance. Long loose black curls like twirling ribbons, amber like brown skin that shimmered and hazel honey due eyes with an almost siren like stare. I couldn't help but squeal internally.
'I even have boobs now!'
Goodbye A cup of the past hello C cup beauties. Perfect for me.
Mentally I was throwing it back and making it sway like water in celebration.
"Hey Orph, check this out."
We walked into a large pub near a shady alley we had discovered while wandering through tone. A pungent scent of sweat mixed with alcohol unwillingly made its way into my nose, our guard kept up even though we were probably less harmful than flies. After all we didn't know if these people were familiar with us or not.
The carriage ride had only been about four hours long, which shouldn't be too far from the Hendrix family estate so we'd still likely be in their province. 'Ahhh, This shit is too frustrating.'
'So far so good though, guess switching to povel clothes was the move.'
"Drink?"
Dirius smirked.
"Any excuse to drink as always I see, this time I agree though."
Smiling at his gesture, I took the drink from his hand. 'I wonder how he got this so quickly though...'
The two of downed the pint of ale at the same time before letting out a satisfied "hahhh~".
"Shall we split up to cover more ground?"
I nodded in response before adding.
"Yeah but we should meet back here in like two hours."
"No offense sis but your perception of time is whack."
"Says the one who can't ever wake up to an alarm on time."
I walked past before he could even give a respond while subtly smirking. 'Okay gather more intel Ali- I mean Orph.'
It was going to be tricky getting fully used to this whole new identity thing. Especially when it comes to Averie, the different face helps but damn... I could hardly even remember to call him by his game tag whenever we were on discord. Now this crap!?
Being in this position now I can finally understand why some characters in novels have identity crisis. For the first time since my arrival here I was truly living in the moment. Looking around, observing my surroundings. The tavern was lively, bar maids carrying trays of ale and platters of food.
Laughing customers, drunken slurs and the voices of everyone carrying their various conversations. Some musicians playing fiddles flutes and tambourines as the singer enchants with her song.
'If it were a few hours ago, it would've been me on a stage like that.'
I couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness at that thought.
This made everything that much more real, the architecture seemed to be a mix of various cultures meshed into one just like you'd see in drawings and illustrations. From the high vaulted ceilings in some areas to the low plank deck over head in most of the general areas. Dwarves, elves, demi humans and magic, everything I had yearned to see, past the pages of immersion or a silver screen at my fingertips.
"Quit staring love, it's impolite to you know."
A woman dressed rather provocatively with an air of wisdom surrounding her visage was sitting at the table next to where I was standing, smoking on a pipe. She had to be at least forty yet something about her had an allure. You could tell this woman was *the* person to know if you wanted to figure out anything in this town.
"My bad miss. I happened upon an intriguing question, could you possibly tell me a bit about what you know? I can pay."
She smiles, shewing the other patrons away for use to have a private discord.
"Alright dear, depending on what you ask it'll only cost you a drink per question. It's not everyday the daughter of a Marquis stops by my humble little establishment after all~."
I could feel it, my every instinct was telling me this woman would be the one saving our asses...or screwing it.
She obviously knew who we were from the moment we came in. Which, no doubt meant some others knew as well. 'Fuck.' My expression remained unwavering though. I greeted her with a tiny chuckle and a smirk.
"So proprietress, how'd you know who I was so quickly?"
She laughs, twirling the ends of a few strands of her hair. Leaning further onto the table while facing me. Her cloud of smoke filling my nostrils, it was nauseating. It smelled stronger than anything I've smelled back in my world.
"The other one, your twin brother. A bragger for sure that one. He came in here once or twice before. Spends a lot, makes a scene, then leaves."
She smiles subtly with a playful blush dusted on her cheeks.
"It's also hard to forget a handsome face."
'Don't tell me og Dirius hooked up with her too!? I wanna puke....mommy issues is over nine thousand.'
"So. I'd like to ask you about the province. As you know I grew up a bit sheltered."
I played off my ignorance by highlighting the callousness and lack of intellect the og Orphelia seemingly had.
"Cute question child, however you're not being bolder. That's disappointing."
She emptied her pipe before filling it again. I know my caution in the questions I ask would give me limited answers but I can't take any unnecessary risks.... I could end up getting both DirDir and I into deeper shit or even killed.
"There's several provinces in the Alther Kingdom, your father's province is the smallest in the kingdom yet the most prosperous. The taxation for the residents are also lower as there's many sources of income and labor is localized.
Being almost completely surrounded by water as a peninsular we're perfect for trade, import and export. That being said there's also an abundance of natural resources in our mines. The fortuna crystals we mass produce power most of the kingdom."
"Fortuna crystals?"
"Child you don't even know that?"
She sighs exasperatedly as I shake my head.
"Fortuna is the nature of a soul or its type of magic, it's factors can be change based on conditions like location, climate, and so forth, but Fortuna crystals on the other hand, it's an ore that's easily manipulated and enchanted for use in magical items."
With her in-depth explanation I got a lot of information but my rage was seething. How could these twins be so ridiculous.... like I get it, I also enjoy a bit of mischief, mayhem and shameless flirting. So what sent their parents to the edge? Despite their children's selfish and shallow attitude being a widely known fact, all their people only speak so highly of them.
Through this woman I now know as mistress Trevejo, I learned this world is called Satur and within this worlds there's five continents split into a total of seven kingdom and that magic in this world is based on luck generally and some deeper explanation she couldn't give me. Though I remember her saying it's the Odos system.
***
"That'll cost you three gold coins"
"Ehh"
"You asked me a series of dull boring ass questions and thought a drink could cut it. Time is money, so I need to be compensated for my wasted moments of youth. You could've read a book or actually paid attention to your lessons to know as much."
I was so tempted to clap back at this bougee hag, cause from her little crash course on the monetary system of this world; I knew I was getting ripped off. However I wouldn't know as much if weren't for her help so I made the adult decision to let it slide.
"Here"
I handed it to her in the palm she held open.
"No tip?"
Her shrewd almost mocking expression ticking me off a little. I scuffed as I began to turn my back.
"The rumors were true, though you are dumbasses "
She laughs as she coughs from choking on her smoke. 'I hope you croke old bat'. She clears her throat before speaking again.
"When you figure out the right questions to ask come back darling, I may humor you with the answers Orphelia."
"What do you—"
She was already gone.
***BANG
"What the!?"
"No time to talk Orphelia let go. Now!"