"Is she gone?"
"Wait, you're awake?" Theo looked surprised as Barren seemingly woke up from his slumber.
"What? I was just pretending to be asleep. No human can fall asleep that fast," Barren said.
"Let it go, Theo," Eddy said.
"Eddy, she's alive. I can't believe my eyes," Barren said with a sad expression.
"It can't be her. That's not possible," Eddy said, his face reflecting the same sadness.
"What are you talking about?" Theo asked. "Do you already know Kathleen?" Theo added, her expression filled with confusion.
Barren said, "I never thought she would come in front of me. How can this be possible? Eddy, you were there—you saw what happened that day."
"Yes, that's why I'm saying it's not possible. It's not her. It can't be," Eddy added.
"Barren, you're overthinking this. It can't be her. I know they look the same, but the way she talks, walks, or does anything—it's all different from her," Eddy said firmly.
"Hey, guys, can you explain?" Theo asked.
"Theo, you know your brother was an adventurer before, right?"
"Yeah, I know. Sometime before, he was part of the city guild as an adventurer. Then, out of nowhere, he just came back to our village and said no more adventuring. He was... like a totally different person."
"Yes," Barren said. "That happened because of that fateful day."
"We were a group of four adventurers—me, your brother Eddy, Simon, a friend of ours, and her."
"Her?" Theo asked, confused.
"Her name was Viola," Barren continued. "A gentle, carefree, and careful girl who was basically inseparable from Eddy. You could say she was Eddy's girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Theo repeated, grinning as he glanced at Eddy.
Eddy didn't react, his expression stoic.
"They were so alike. Whenever a fight broke out between Simon and me, they'd both say in unison, 'Girls, girls, you're both beautiful—now stop fighting!'" Barren's voice softened, tinged with sadness.
"Those were the days," he said with a heavy sigh.
"Then... where are they now?" Theo asked, his energy fading as the weight of the moment settled in.
"That day broke us to the core," Barren said quietly. "To put it simply, she's dead. Viola is no more."
"She died in my hands," Eddy added, his voice trembling as his eyes filled with tears.
"We got out of that dungeon because of the Gate spell, which came to Eddy at the brink of that moment. Otherwise, all of us would have died in there," Barren said, his voice heavy with the memory.
"As for Simon... I don't know. After that incident, when we parted ways, I haven't heard anything about Simon to this day. It's like he vanished," Barren added.
"Me too," Eddy said. "I've checked regularly with the guild, but they also don't know where Simon is."
"And you're saying Kathleen looks just like her? What was her name again? V..."
"Viola," Barren corrected.
"She's a spitting image of Viola. When I saw her at the city gate today, I couldn't believe my eyes. I was about to shout her name, but she didn't even recognize me. That's when I thought I must have made a mistake or something, but..."
"Yes, when I saw her in the forest, I was also about to burst with emotion. But the look in her eyes told me not to. It was like she was asking for help from a random stranger. And then again, when she woke up after that, she asked me who I was," Eddy interjected.
"How can this be possible? Did Viola have a twin sister or something?" Theo asked.
"We've been thinking the same thing, actually," Barren replied. "Viola was a very open-minded girl, but she never talked about her family in front of us. So, we don't know for sure."
"Let's not drag this matter on anymore. Get some rest for tomorrow," Eddy said as he lay down on the bed.
"Yeah, he's right. Let's get some much-needed rest," Barren agreed.
"Theo, don't even mention this in front of Kathleen, okay?" Eddy said with a serious face.
"Make sure this topic doesn't leave these four walls," he added firmly.
"I agree with that," Barren said.
"Okay, that's fine," Theo replied.
"....."
Knock, knock.
"Are you ready, Kathleen?" Barren asked impatiently.
"Yeah, I'm ready to go," Kathleen said as she opened the door.
"Let's go, then," Theo said.
"Let's stop by the restaurant and eat something before heading to the guild hall," Eddy said as he started walking toward the stairs.
...
After finishing breakfast, they began heading for the guild hall. On the way, Kathleen thought about telling Barren what had happened last night—the mysterious figure in the hallway and the dream she couldn't remember, no matter how hard she tried.
"Hey, Kathleen, did something happen?" Theo asked. "You seem down."
"It's nothing," Kathleen said, hesitating. "It's just... yesterday, when I was heading back to my room, I had this feeling someone was watching me from the corner. But when I went to check, there was no one there."
"And also..." Kathleen hesitated before murmuring, "The dream... No, never mind."
"I think that was just your imagination. Don't stress about it," Barren said cheerfully.
"Here we are—the Luminous City Guild," he added, gesturing toward the impressive building ahead.
As they were just about to enter the guild hall, they heard someone shouting from behind them.
"It can't be... is it you guys?" the boy called out as he quickly came closer to them.
The boy was very tall—almost as tall as Barren—but without the overly grown muscles, which made him look skinny and awkward. He was wearing typical adventuring clothes, the kind you could easily find in any guild, and it was obvious to anyone that he was a mage-style adventurer.
His blond hair was messy, looking like he hadn't bothered to comb it, and it didn't suit him at all. The way he was standing there silently, it was clear he hadn't thought about what to say next. In the heat of the moment, he had shouted out of the blue, and now he looked visibly embarrassed.
Eddy and Barren were behind Kathleen and Theo, so they turned first and noticed the boy.
"Simon!" Barren shouted happily. "Where have you been?" He quickly started moving toward the boy.
Barren was about to say something, but that's when Kathleen and Theo turned, and Simon finally looked at Kathleen's face.
"You're alive," he said, tears starting to flow from his eyes. "I thought you were dead, V..."
As he was about to say the name, Eddy suddenly and forcefully hugged Simon. The abruptness of the hug shocked Simon so much that he stopped mid-sentence.
"Hey, Theo, take Kathleen inside, will you? There's a lot to catch up on with our friend here," Barren said, smiling forcefully as he glanced at Theo.
Theo got the hint and replied, "Yeah, let's go inside, Kathleen."
Kathleen was too shocked to say anything, so she just followed Theo's lead and asked, "Who is that?"
"Oh, that's one of my brother's friends," Theo replied quickly.
"Why did he say he thought I was dead?" Kathleen asked, her voice still filled with confusion.
"No, no, you got it wrong. He was saying that to my brother. They're old pals. Let's give them some time to reconnect," Theo said smoothly. As he spoke, he looked back toward Barren and gave him a reassuring smile, as if to say everything was fine and there was no need to worry about Kathleen.
Barren smiled back, silently thanking Theo for his quick thinking.
As Kathleen began walking toward the guild hall, she noticed it was much larger than she had imagined. It was filled to the brim with adventurers.
In the middle of the guild hall was a reception area, and right beside it was a huge board covered with all kinds of quest posters. Some were for hunting monsters, others for guarding duties, and there were even requests specifically for mages—mostly odd jobs like planting, watering, or other farming-related tasks. The rest were healing requests.
On the other side of the reception area were tables and chairs for adventurers to plan their quests and grab something to drink. A nekomata waitress with cat ears and a tail was busy serving adventurers there. As Kathleen observed her, she couldn't help but think, What is this city's fascination with nekomatas?
In the middle of the reception area were six receptionists, each talking to adventurers who had already decided on which quests they were going to take. There was also a stand where some basic armor, swords, staffs, and potions were on sale.
Kathleen was thinking about the guild when, suddenly, she felt that same feeling again – that someone was watching her. She abruptly looked around, but with the amount of adventurers present, she couldn't find anyone who was looking her way. Everyone was busy with their tasks.
"Hi, miss! Someone called Kathleen?" a voice called from behind. "Are you new here? Want to join our party? We're going for a hunting quest with a big reward."
The adventurer said, smiling toward Kathleen.
"No, thank you," Theo interjected. "We are already on a quest."
"Too bad. Let's go, boys,"he said, and the whole party started to leave the guild.
To be continued...