{-Llewel-}

They’d only been meaning to look for Yullun when they encountered the travelers again.

The man from before came up to them and greeted them with a smile. “We cannot thank you enough for all that you did for us. So, please, take these humble offerings we’ve pulled together; it’s the least that we can do, truly.” He started pulling out item after item and handing them all to Reynneak.

“I’m pretty sure this is way more than what we gave you,” Reynneak pointed out, a more nervous edge to his tone than one of greed.

“Of course it is! We might not be able to generate items on our own, but we can generate coins, so we paid a visit to Haksima. We made sure that we got better items than what you gave us, and we bought plenty of [Heal]s, too, to make up for what you used on us. We would’ve gotten a lot more, but Haksima’s parrot insisted we leave before we sold out the whole shop for the day.”

Reynneak let out a bit of sheepish chuckle. “Well, thanks for all of this. You really didn’t have to go through all the trouble…”

“There’s one more thing you can do for us, though,” Zetai quickly added. “You’ve been around here a lot, right? Have you ever seen or heard of anyone named Yullun?”

The man thought for a minute, then shook his head. “I don’t think I have. We’re not very familiar with the inner parts of town—mainly we only stay long enough to get supplies and then leave again. There are a lot of us though, and we’ll be more than willing to help—”

“No, that’s it.” Zetai gave a dismissive wave and turned around. “All I wanted to know was if you saw her, but we can handle looking for her on our own. Thanks for the stuff you gave us.”

With her walking, it was their cue for the rest of them to follow her. The man watched for a minute before shouting, “Try the inn! Cahacu keeps track of everyone that comes in and out, she might be able to help you find the person you’re looking for.”

Llewel could tell that she didn’t have any sort of plan before then, given how quickly she changed direction towards the inn. But none of them said anything to her, by now knowing that they weren’t going to get her to confirm nor deny it.

It was a bit odd, if he was going to be honest, walking in a city that seemed so similar to Nafrius yet knowing no one. All they knew was the fragments of knowledge they had coming from adventurers; it brought along a sense of anxiety and paranoia, causing him to stay close to the others and keep a constant eye on Myr.

When they got to the inn, Cahacu gave them a wide smile. “Well, hello there! Welcome to the Anthalas City Inn, what can I do for you today?”

“We’re looking for someone and we were told that you might know where she is,” Llewel explained.

“Go ahead and tell me about her! I’ve seen practically every person that’s ever come into Anthalas City—even the mighty heroes need to rest every now and then!”

He had, for a moment, considered asking about the girl he saw in Nafrius instead. But he knew he couldn’t; that wasn’t what they were here for. No one else shared that mission of his and there was no use in dragging them all in to be a part of it. So he said what they expected him to, “We’re looking for someone named Yullun.”

“We have a letter from her friend,” Myr said. “None of us have been here before so we don’t know where she’d be…”

“Yep, I’ve definitely served someone with that name before,” Cahacu said with a nod. “She came by recently, in fact. She’s a sweet old woman, helping me get the supplies I need to run the inn. When she left, she mentioned going to the shop and picking up some stuff for me. It’s been a couple of hours since then, though, and usually she’s back by now. Maybe you could go check on her, see if she’s stuck somewhere along the way?”

Myr turned to her companions. “Llewel and I can go to the shop and see if she’s there, if you two want to wait here in case she shows up.”

“Just don’t take too long,” Reynneak advised. “As soon as we get this done, we’re going to go straight for the next quest in this area. We don’t want to waste any time here.”

The twins nodded in unison and then left. Myr almost immediately showed her true reasons for offering; she’d wanted to see more of the city. She would’ve just started wandering around and lost track of their goal completely if Llewel hadn’t taken her hand and gently guided her through the streets. He was glad this shared such a resemblance to Nafrius—it was much easier to navigate when all he had to think about was the unfamiliar faces.

They found the shop and the little bell rang, but the shopkeeper didn’t look up from what she was doing. It took a whack from her pet parrot for Haksima to look at them, and she wasn’t the one to do the customary greeting.

The parrot screeched before saying, “Welcome to the Anthalas City Shop! Have a look around and remember, window shopping is strictly prohibited!”

“We’re not looking to buy anything,” Llewel remarked.

Haksima’s frown deepened and the parrot let out a sharp sound of disappointment.

“We’re looking for someone named Yullun,” Myr said slowly, glancing between Haksima and her parrot. “Cahacu said she might be here, so we came to check.”

“Yullun just left,” the parrot replied. “She stays for hours, buys two things! Picks up wares she won’t buy! Worst window shopper of them all.” He really felt like it slit its eyes and glared at them. “Unless you would like to walk out now, with a full wallet and no new items.”

Llewel sighed, getting ready to step up and buy something cheap just to make it happy. Then Myr stepped in front of him to say, “I really like your parrot. He’s so cute! It must’ve taken him a while to train him to say all of that.”

Haksima smiled, something that obviously didn’t happen a lot. She gestured something in their direction before patting the head of the parrot.

The parrot, almost begrudgingly, announced, “You’re free to go, without buying anything. Enjoy your day and come again soon.”

Myr waved goodbye and led the way back out the door.

“I’m not going to question how you knew that would work,” Llewel decided.

“I didn’t,” she responded casually. “I just thought it was neat how she trained him to speak for her and I wanted to tell her that.”

They walked the rest of the way in relative silence, the only thing exchanged between them was his reminders to stay on task. When they got back to the inn, he’d already figured that he would’ve needed to tell them that they didn’t learn anything new; he was pleasantly surprised when he realized he might not have to admit failure.

Zetai, Cahacu, and an older woman all seemed to be laughing at Reynneak.

“That’s why you broke up with her?” Cahacu asked, a mocking tone mixed in with it. “You know long distance exists, right? I’ve done it before! It’s probably easier in the real world when you’ve got that—that, oh, Yullun, what do they call it?”

“Cell phones,” the older woman recalled.

“Yeah, those! All we have over here are telegrams. I mean, they work, but what you players talk about sounds way better.”

“I’m not going to be laughed at for my choices by two NPCs and someone whose boyfriend I’ve never actually met before!” Reynneak was a bright red and seemed more than glad to see the twins. He feigned surprise to say, “Oh no, look at that, minors! We should probably stop this conversation that’s very likely to only get worse from here.”

Zetai frowned. “Fine, but you’re telling me all about her later.” She then turned her attention to the twins and gestured to the older woman. “As you can tell, we found Yullun. She showed up soon after you guys left.”

“Have you given her the letter yet?” Llewel prompted.

“I may have forgotten that part when we started teasing Reynneak,” Zetai admitted, “but I’ll do that now.” She pulled up her Inventory, got out Zuzned’s letter, and handed it to Yullun.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile. “I’ve been waiting for this for a while now. I always tell him it’ll be fine if he tries something new, but he never listens. He’s stuck in his old ways, it seems, always pestering travelers to deliver them instead of sending them by train.” She pulled out some things of her own; a fancy shield and a bag of coins. “Here’s your reward for helping me; a [Silver-Lined Shield] and three hundred coins. I hope you have a safe trip for the rest of your journey. Don’t be a stranger, now—stop by and say hello if you’re ever in the area again.”