Stepping off the dirt road that we had been walking on for hours now and turning right at the makeshift sign just as we had been told back at the village, I turned to my two companions and asked them once more:

“You guys really don’t think there’s any treasures inside there?”

Turning his head to look at me in an exasperated manner was a young man with black hair and brown eyes, one of my friends since we were kids, Brent, as he responded to my question saying:

“Of course not you idiot, everyone knows that labyrinths don’t have anything of value.”

Adding on to his answer was another one of my friends since childhood, a teen with brown hair and eyes just like me named Roger, who said in a casual manner:

“Hey, they do have the shit that dead adventurers leave behind.”

“You can’t call yourself an adventurer and die in a labyrinth, one thing is a dungeon, but anyone who dies in a labyrinth isn’t an adventurer, they’re just playing at being adventurers.”

“Then what if we die in the labyrinth”

“Yeah alright, maybe you could die, but i got no plans on dying in a simple labyrinth. I’m not stupid like you.”

While the two were bantering with each other, I noticed in the distance two figures whose shape I still couldn’t make out. Deciding to let my companions know, I called out to them as I said:

“Hey you two, look over there, isn't that two people walking towards us in the distance?”

Turning to look in the direction I was pointing, Brent responded:

“Huh? What are you… wait, who the hell’s that?”

Taking a step forward, Roger squinted his eyes as he exclaimed:

“Ain’t that two girls?”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, you know I got the best vision out of all of us. I swear them two over there are girls.”

“Well, can you tell anything about their appearance?”

“Not yet… they need to get a bit closer for me to see them.”

At this moment, I decided to ask the question that was on my mind:

“Well what should we do?”

Answering me was Brent once again as he said:

“What do you mean ‘what should we do?’, let’s see what they’re doing all the way over here by themselves. Look, they don’t have anything but the clothes on them”

Hearing his answer, I asked him with a bit of doubt:

“You want to help them?”

However, instead of Brent answering my question, it was Roger who jumped in as he said:

“Nah, he just wants to pick them up, ain’t that right, Brent?”

Turning to face our direction, Brent just simply glared at the two of us before saying:

“Shut up you two, try not to act like a bunch of idiots and ruin this for us.”

Not minding his harsh words, Roger simple replied in his playful manner:

“You really think two girls gonna wanna hit up with the three of us? Especially since we’re headed to the labyrinth?”

“I told you to shut up! Depending on what happens we can always go to the labyrinth later.”

Looking back to the direction the two girls were walking from, I was now able to get a good glimpse at their faces. The one on the right side was around 165cm in height with brown hair and light blue eyes. She was wearing a strange looking black shirt with an equally strange looking grey leggings. To her left was a little girl who looked just like her except that she stood at a little under 140 cm and was quite a few years younger, wearing a white blouse with a beige skirt with both being slightly tattered. Due to their appearances, it was easy to tell that the two were sisters, and may have gone through some hardship.

Seeming to have noticed that we had stopped walking, the two girls momentarily stopped, taking a good look at the two of us as they turned to look at each other before continuing to walk forward. Once they had gotten without 10 meters of us, Brent decided to call out the two of them as he said:

“Hey! Ya two lost or something?! It’s dangerous to walk along this area without anything you know?”

At his shout, the two girls stopped once more before huddling together and talking among each other in a hushed tone that didn’t allow us to hear what they were whispering.

After a minute, the two separated and began walking towards us as the older one said:

“Yes, I’m afraid we are lost, we were told there was a city in this direction, but I don’t really know where it is…”

At hearing their statement I opened my mouth before anyone else had the chance to say anything as I said:

“We’ll, if you follow the dirt road that starts right over there, you’ll be able to find a small village. From there you can ask for directions to get to the city. We’re heading over to the labyrinth so-“

After I mentioned the labyrinth, Brent stepped on my foot as he said:

“WELL, we did have plans to go to the labyrinth, but we wouldn’t mind changing them in order to escort you two. I don’t believe you two have had a pleasant journey without any food or water. And once you get to the city, there’s not much you can do without any money too.”

Adding on was Roger as he said:

“Yeah you two, while it’s not too far, it’s still a few days to Dene from here. Plus, without any money, I doubt you guys will be able to do anything there unless you’re trying to become beggars. We’re from the village nearby, so I can tell you from first hand experience that the people there ain’t too happy about sharing things with strangers. We got plenty of food and some money we can gift you, so why donchu come with us and allow us to take you to the village at least.”

After hearing the offer from the two, the two girls looked at each other before turning to face me and asking:

“You said you were headed to the labyrinth nearby… Is that true?”

At hearing her unexpected question I couldn’t help but be left dumbfounded as I answered:

“Huh? Uh yeah, that was our plan.”

“Then, do you mind if we come along with you. I know I’m not much of a fighter, but I can cast some simple magic. My sister is also capable of casting some simple magic, and even knows how to cast [Heal], so we wouldn’t be too much of a bother to you.”

Then, with the two of them putting on expectant expressions, the older sister asked in a pleading tone:

“So, can we come with you?”