The main entrance to Zaphias was bustling with activity in preparation for the festival. Folks rushed in and out of the place going about their business. This was the scene that a pair of young traveling girls entered upon after coming from Deidon Hold in the north. They carried a few satchels chock full of materials from their hunts in the Quoi Woods, which they intended to sell at the merchants’ union shop in Zaphias.

On the surface, these girls were hardly ordinary. They were identical twin sisters, both having neck-length chestnut brown hair tied into a bow, and crisp blue eyes like the sea. If anyone paid careful attention, they would notice that the twins’ walking was in perfect sync as well; when one stepped with their left foot, the other did so with their right.

That was where the similarities ended. The older twin, Krita Shizumori, wore green and orange clothes and reacted to the hustle and bustle with vivid interest. She kept a large wooden staff buckled to her back, and she wore her bodhi blastia as a bracelet on her left wrist. Her younger sister Krile had identical clothes colored red and blue, but she looked more vapid and uninterested. She kept a short scimitar in its sheath on her right hip, and her blastia was a bracelet on her right wrist.

“Phew… Damn, this heat is murdering me!!” Krita wiped her brow. “Pray tell, why did we need to come all this way? We could’ve just sold everything at Deidon and scooted back to Quoi, no problem! I miss the shade already…”

Krile murmured in a low voice, “Our funds are running short. The Eggbear claw we fought so hard to obtain should be more profitable in Zaphias. In addition, there is an unusual amount of activity going on. More activity means more customers for merchants. More customers for them means a higher demand for us to sell rare materials such as this to help meet their quota.”

“I know that. Law of the market and all that stuff. I just don’t like having to deal with people from the Empire any more than I need to. Besides, I keep hearing this whole festival business thing is just the Imperial Knights bragging about killing some monster. Big bloody deal. We do that all the time! This is nothing more than a propaganda scheme coupled with annoying pontificating! I should expect nothing less from the Empire!”

“It would be best not to engage in such attitude while in the Empire’s capital city,” Krile sharply warned. “Whether we like them or not, we still need to conduct business professionally.”

“Pfft! Then let’s just hurry up and get this over with! This rotten weather and noisy city are already starting to become a bad influence on me, and we haven’t even hit the nobles’ quarters yet! Now, where is the merchants’ HQ?”

“I believe it’s this way,” the quieter twin pointed northwest toward a series of steps leading to the center of Zaphias.