Chapter 5 - Saving Mr. Damsel (2)

The twins weren't sure what exactly had happened, but ever since they let Rodion join them on their journey he had been extremely obedient and willing to help with literally anything.

They would ask him to debone the fish they caught, seduce some poor traveling lady into sparring them some money, kill a giant spider for them, whatever they asked he did, and did so well and with ease.

The two were quite shocked at the recent development in their newfound companion's behavior, that they almost thought he was possessed by some evil spirit.

"I'm not possessed, why would you two even ask that?" Rodion said, putting his sword by his cot and sitting on it.

Every night, they put up one-step tents, and every morning they took them down and continued their way out of the forest. Rodion got the smallest since he had a tent to himself, meanwhile, the twins got the biggest since they shared the tent.

"Oh I don't know, probably because you've been strangely obedient like some dog!" Andros exclaimed, putting a look of suspicion on his face.

"Yeah, and it's creepy!" Valor added, rubbing his arms as if he was shivering, but it was in actuality a very hot night, it was the middle of summer after all.

"Haaaa, you two are being ridiculous, I'm just trying to pull my weight and be as much help as I can be. Besides, I'm interrupting your guys' journey together, just by being here," Rodion said, resting his arms on his legs and leaning forward.

"Huh? But you're not. I was the one who agreed and said it'd be a great idea, and Andros was going to let you come with us since I already said yes anyway," Valor shrugged and pointed out the fact that Andros lets his younger twin have pretty much anything he wants.

"Ugh, only because you'd keep on begging me to say yes. I have better things to do than listen to your pleas," Andros noted, brushing Valor's comment away.

"Hmph, well no matter what opinions you two have on the matter, I'm still going to be obedient and help to the best of my abilities, now can you guys go back to your tent? I'd like to get some decent sleep tonight," Rodion said, getting up and ushering the brothers out along with their "cleansing bells."

As the duo settled into their tent, Valor asked Andros a few questions regarding his plans before they got to the city, which of course wasn't very many since that's where their real starting point would be.

"Hey, Andros?"

"Hm?" He replied from his bed.

"Is there anything else that needs to be done before we actually head into the city, or can we just head there straight away?" Valor asked. 

He was getting impatient about how long they were taking, he thought it was going to be a day trip like the one they had with Adalie when they were kids, but those were under different circumstances, and in a whole other country than the one they were going to.

"Ah yes, I do," Andros replied, putting the book he started to read back into his bag, then getting up and walking to Valor's cott to sit next to him, "Do you remember Evander?"

"Evander Capryse?" Valor asked, Andros nodded in response, "Weren't you guys best friends when we were younger? I thought he left the village for good and no one has heard from him since, I honestly think he's dead."

"Well he's not, truth is that after he left we've been sending each other letters back and forth via carrier pigeons," Andros paused and saw Valor's shocked look, but ignored it and continued on, "When I told him that we were leaving the village he asked why and I also explained the reason, after that… let's just say that he had a pretty heated reply, so I offered him an invitation to come along, so now we have to go pick him up."

"Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean pick him up? And he isn't dead!?" Valor exclaimed, astonished at the recent news.

"Yes, he's alive, you nimrod! Why wouldn't he be? Anyway, that's beside the point. He's already a registered adventurer and the quest that he and his party are currently on should end soon, so we've picked a meeting spot and are going to meet there," Andros explained.

"Oh, well that makes sense," Valor paused for a second, working something out in his mind, "I'm assuming that his quest is in the forest, am I right?"

"Yeah, the place we plan to meet at is only a few feet from here, so I was thinking of packing up early in the morning and heading there immediately."

"Alright! I suppose I should head to bed then!" Valor said laying down and covering himself with his blanket, "Goodnight dearest brother!"

"Pfft, good night Valor," Andros replied, going to his own cott and lying down.

***

The next morning, the trio woke up quite early and immediately set off to the place that Evander and Andros had designated as the meeting spot. It was a little ways northeast of their campsite, but not out of the way of where their last destination was.

"Urgh, so why are we getting up and leaving so early?" Rodion asked, picking up his bag and walking over to the two brothers.

"Do you remember Evander?" Andros asked.

"Your best friend for like, ever? Who doesn't, you followed him around like a little duckling and its mother. If I remember correctly, he's two years older than the both of you and left two years ago, and everybody thought he's been dead ever since," Rodion recalled.

"Yeah, well first off I didn't follow him around like a little duckling, and second off, he is very much alive," Andros paused to wait for Rodions reaction, "What, are you not surprised?"

"No, not really. He was Captain Eoghan's best pupil, so I'd be really shocked if he did die," Rodion shrugged.

Eoghan was the captain of the guards who protected their village, though the guards were also holy knights who were all taught how to heal themselves through holy energy, and Evander was his best pupil and one of the people in the village with the strongest holy magic.

"Huh, well we've kept in touch over the past few years and I've told him about the whole journey thing, and he wanted in on it. So now we're going to pick him up from the meeting place we decided on, that's why we woke up so early," Andros finished, walking away before Rodion could comment on the part where he was offered to join.

Rodion eventually caught up to Andros though and started complaining about the whole ordeal, which resulted in them arguing. Valor just stayed a few feet behind them, toning them out with the sounds of nature and a smile.

Hours later they arrived at a cave entrance that was covered in vines, Andros started to walk in, and without questions so did the others.

The entrance opened into a stone hallway and led them into an open cavern with a castle-like building carved out of stone, there Andros spotted a group of people in armor, one of them he recognized as Evander.

Evander turned around and spotted the trio, "HEYY!" he shouted. He waved and then ran up the stone pathway to them, stopping right in front of Andros.

Evander had swept-back platinum blonde hair and green eyes, he had tan skin and was quite sculpted with large muscles, not making him look too boarish but making just enough sense for the tank he was. He wore heavy silver armor and carried a greatsword swing across his back. He was around the same height as Rodion.

"Hey Evander, it's been a while," Andros waved back, a bit awkward from the way he's changed.

"Indeed it was old friend!" Evander exclaimed, picking Andros up and squeezing him just ever so slightly, then putting him back down, "You've grown! How have you been these past few years?"

"I've been well, we've actually just come back from visiting the village," Andros said, extending his arm out towards his brother and his old rival.

"Ho? Hello Valor, and hello Rodion, still a swordsman I see?" He said jokingly, pointing the comment towards both of them.

"Of course we are!" Valor said, putting up a thumbs up.

"It's pretty much my only hobby, what else would I do, become a bookworm like Andros? No thanks, I'd rather get run over by a pack of boars," Rodion jested, glancing over at Andros with a playful smirk.

"Excuse me?"

"HAHAHAHAHA! Still, rivals I see?" Evander laughed, noticing Andros' expression he decided to change the subject, "Anyways, these are my party members, party members, this is my best bud Andros, his twin brother Valor, and an old friend Rodion!"

***

The party soon parted ways with the other party as soon as they reached the city, it was pretty easy to get past the guards at the gate since they had a party of adventurers with them, but they did still have to give them their identification card.

"Alright, you guys can go on through, but for you three, I suggest registering with the adventurers guild as soon as possible, especially if you're going to continue to carry your swords with you like that," The guard lectured the twins and Rodion.

"Understood, thanks for the advice and reminder," Andros said, walking away with Rodion and Valor in turn.

"Well then you three, welcome to Belvedere City!" Evander said as they crossed the gates.

Belvedere City looked like your typical city in Isekai Animes where the protagonist visits the capital for the first time and theres some sort of festival or whatever. And like how the isekai protag is always amazed the first time they see it, so is Andros, Valor, and Rodion.

It was Rodions first time out of their village, which was rather small and mostly churches, shrines, and such. And it was the brother's first time in any sort of city, for most of their upbringing they were kept locked inside a tower, never allowed outside. 

When the twins were outside after they're years in the tower, they were on the run from their uncle so they were never really able to savor the sights of the forest, even after their time in the village. Even while they lived there they explored the village as much as possible and thought that, that was big for a settlement, but the city was a whole new direction for them.

Walking a few meters away from the gate, the group arrived in front of a large building with a shield-like symbol on its banner. It was the adventurers guild. Walking in, they saw a bunch of tables on the left and right side of the room, there were also bulletins on each side of the room, one holding rankings of guild members, the other holding job postings.

In the middle was a long green carpet with a gold accent on it, it led toward the front desk where the secretary and job registration was. On both sides of the desk were stairs leading up, they led to the dining hall, training room, and registration desk.

"Well, I'm going to go with my party to complete the job form and turn in what the employer wanted," Evander said to the trio, then pointed to the stairs, "Upstairs is where you register, the desk lady there will tell you everything you need to know and guide you in what you need to do to be registered."

"Alright, we'll come back down and talk to you when we're done," Andros said, going upstairs with Rodion and Valor.