After a few minutes of walking through the forest, Julius and Jon reached the city.

  Julius had never seen so many people gathered in one place before. The streets were crowded, with long lines forming in front of the shops. Many wore pompous, extravagant clothing – clearly the nobles. Among the finely dressed crowd, Julius and Jon stood out immediately, their simple, rough clothes marking them as outsiders.

  “Why are they staring at us like that? Got a problem or what?” Julius muttered, throwing a death glare at every noble who looked at him strangely.

  “We’d better not cause any trouble,” Jon replied.

  A woman approached them.

  “You must be the commo… I mean, the new students from Lidoris, right?” Her tone didn’t sit well with Julius, but he held back.

  “Oh my, aren’t you supposed to be three?” she asked, looking at them in confusion.

  “We’re just the two of us here,” Julius answered curtly.

  “Oh, that happens sometimes,” she said, as if it were perfectly normal.

  “What happens sometimes?” Julius asked suspiciously.

  “Oh, nothing,” she deflected quickly. “I’m Analis, your supervisor.” She introduced herself without much ceremony.

  “I’ll take you to your new quarters.” She immediately took the lead, and Julius and Jon followed.

  They wound their way through narrow alleys, far from the lively main streets.

  “What’s with this route? Can’t we just go down the main road?” Julius asked.

  “Uh, no. This is a special path that leads directly to your lodging. We’re almost there,” Analis replied, but Julius didn’t like the sound of it. He had a bad feeling.

  Finally, they arrived in front of an old wooden house, about the same size as Julius’s home back in the village, standing at the very edge of town.

  “Here we are. This will be your new home,” Analis said with a forced smile.

  “New home?” Julius raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes, students in Lidoris live together in groups. This will be your group.”

  “What? How many people are we talking about?” Julius asked, clearly displeased.

  “All the com… I mean, this arrangement was selected by the school. You’ll be living with five others.”

  “You were about to say commoners, weren’t you?” Julius stared at her, irritated.

  “You’re trying to mess with us, aren’t you?” His voice grew sharper, and he took a threatening stance.

  Analis stepped back, visibly nervous. “No, no, not at all!”

  Jon quickly stepped between them. “Thanks for showing us the way,” he said, diffusing the tension with a polite smile.

  “There are letters inside explaining everything you’ll need for school tomorrow. Well then, have a nice stay!” And with that, Analis hurried away.

  “She’s totally messing with us,” Julius grumbled.

  “It was obvious from the start we’d be treated differently,” Jon said calmly. “No use complaining about it now.” He went ahead, and Julius followed.

  Inside, the house was sparsely furnished. An old couch, a table, a few chairs – just the bare essentials. It was clear corners had been cut, but for Julius and Jon, it was no worse than what they were used to.

  “Doesn’t seem like anyone’s here yet,” Julius said, glancing around.

  “She said there’ll be five of us. Two more should be coming,” Jon replied, sitting cross-legged on the floor to meditate.

  “At least sit on the couch,” Julius muttered, but Jon ignored him.

  “I’ll check upstairs,” Julius said and climbed the creaky stairs, finding a hallway with six doors.

  He threw open the first door — and froze.

  Inside stood a girl with long, ruby-red hair, stripped down to her underwear as she was in the middle of changing.

  “Huh…!” Julius’s face turned bright red. In a panic, he slammed the door shut.

  “What… what the hell was that?!” he stammered, heart racing, cheeks burning with shame.

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  He turned and hastily opened the next door.

  “Huh?!”

  Before him stood the same red-haired girl — again, in just her underwear.

  “Aaaaahhhgggg!”

  The girl screamed at the top of her lungs.

  “Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to…!” Julius stumbled backward — and bumped into someone behind him.

  Slowly, he turned his head — only to find himself face-to-face with the same person.

  “W-wait, I can explain…!”

  BAM!

  A punch landed squarely on his face, sending him crashing to the floor.

  “You pervert! You’re dead meat!” the girl growled, her eyes blazing with fury.

  “It was just a misunderstanding! We can talk this out—”

  “Fireball!” A small explosion shook the room, making the floor tremble.

  ————————

  Not much later, four people were gathered in the living room around the couch.

  Julius nursed his black eye, wincing. Every time he glanced at the two girls, memories of earlier flashed through his mind, making him flush red all over again. He quickly turned away.

  “You bastard! What are you thinking about, huh?!” snapped one of the sisters, disgusted and furious.

  “Nothing! I told you, it was an accident!”

  “He already apologized, sister,” said the other girl, trying to calm her down.

  “Hmph,” grumbled the first, crossing her arms but backing down.

  “If you ever try anything like that again, you’re dead,” she warned coldly.

  Jon clapped his hands together cheerfully. “Why don’t we introduce ourselves? I’m Jon Bricks. Nice to meet you all.”

  “I’m Delia Firestine, and this is my sister, Daria,” said the quieter girl.

  “I’m Julius Wolfseif,” Julius mumbled.

  “I’m surprised. I’ve never seen identical twins before,” Jon said, genuinely fascinated.

  “We get stared at a lot on the streets because of it,” Delia explained.

  “Especially by disgusting noblemen,” Daria added pointedly, throwing a suspicious glance at Julius.

  Julius was already annoyed. “Hah, it’s not that special. We had twins in my village too.”

  “Having twins is seen as a miracle,” Jon said. “They say God split a soul into two because one alone was too great for this world.”

  Julius studied the sisters more closely. Both had brilliant ruby-red hair and were nearly impossible to tell apart — except for their hairstyles. Delia had her hair tied back in a braid, while Daria let hers fall loosely over her shoulders. Their personalities, too, set them apart.

  “So you guys also won a tournament in your town?” Julius asked.

  “Kind of,” Delia said with a embarrassed smile. “My sister defeated all the participants before the tournament even started. A few guys tried hitting on us.”

  “They were too weak anyway,” Daria said dismissively, folding her arms.

  “She won the whole thing by herself,” Julius thought, impressed.

  “The woman said we’re supposed to be five. One’s still missing, right?” Delia asked.

  “Yeah,” Julius said. “He was supposed to come with us, but he wasn’t there.”

  “Oh no! I hope nothing happened to him,” Delia said, worried.

  “Don’t worry about him, he’s just an idiot” Julius muttered dryly.

  ———

  It had grown late, and after eating the meal that had already been prepared, everyone had settled into their respective rooms.

  The night was clear, and the stars shone brightly in the sky. Tomorrow would mark the beginning of school, and although everyone was supposed to be resting, Julius stood outside behind the house, near the edge of the forest.

  “This can’t be…” he gasped, struggling to catch his breath. Straightening up, he inhaled deeply.

  “Push beyond my …” he began, but was interrupted by a noise behind him.

  “Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” Delia said, approaching him.

  “No problem. It wasn’t working anyway,” Julius replied, relaxing his posture.

  “Was that a magic spell?” Delia asked curiously.

  “Yeah, something like that. But it’s pretty hard to pull off,” Julius said as he stretched his arms.

  “School starts tomorrow. Should you really be training so late?” Delia asked, concerned.

  Julius fell silent, momentarily lost in thought.

  “I didn’t mean to overstep…” Delia apologized quickly.

  “No, it’s fine,” Julius reassured her.

  “Ever since I arrived in the city, I’ve had a bad feeling,” he said, glancing at the tall tower rising into the clouds in the center of the city.

  “A bad feeling?” Delia echoed, puzzled.

  “Up until the moment I left my village, I thought I could achieve anything if I just wanted it badly enough. But afterward… I learned otherwise,” Julius said, clenching his fists.

  “I can’t relax here. If I don’t give it my all, I feel like this city will swallow me whole.”

  “You’re just like my sister,” Delia said with a warm smile.

  “Huh?” Julius looked at her, surprised.

  “She always tries to act strong and tough, but deep down, she’s the one who worries the most,” Delia explained, smiling at him.

  Embarrassed, Julius turned his gaze away.

  “Did she really defeat everyone at the tournament all by herself?” he asked.

  “Yeah, she’s super strong – especially when she’s angry,” Delia replied proudly.

  “I’d better not make her mad,” Julius thought grimly.

  “And why are you still up?” Julius asked.

  “I couldn’t sleep. I’m way too excited for tomorrow,” Delia answered, and they both turned their eyes back to the towering structure.

  A gentle breeze passed by, blowing Delia’s hair across her face. Julius looked over at her and saw in her expression the same light he had seen in his sister’s eyes when she had first gone off to school.

  He was so mesmerized that he didn’t realize how long he had been staring at her.

  “Do I have something on my face?” Delia asked, blushing slightly.

  “Ah, sorry,” Julius said, looking away in embarrassment.

  “You just reminded me of my sister,” he added quietly. “She was just as nervous when she first went off to school.”

  “Your sister must be proud of you, now that you’re attending Lidoris,” Delia said with a smile.

  “Yeah,” Julius replied shortly.

  Silence fell between them. The wind rustled through the trees, and from the distance, the hoot of owls could be heard.

  “If my sister saw us out here right now, she would probably have a complete meltdown,” Delia joked.

  A cold shiver ran down Julius’s spine. “We should probably head back inside. It’s getting late.”

  He let Delia go inside first and followed a few minutes later. Once in his room, Julius threw himself onto the bed, exhausted, and stared up at the ceiling.

  “I’m finally here,” he murmured. He turned onto his side, ready to sleep — but then he noticed something on the table in front of him.

  “She did say there would be a letter we should read,” Julius remembered. He stood up and walked over to the table.

  A white envelope lay there, stamped with the seal of Lidoris. With a snap of his fingers, Julius lit the candles on the table, casting a warm glow over the room.

  He opened the letter and skimmed through it — sweat running down his forehead.

  “‘Arrive punctually…’” Julius stuttered, struggling to read the rest.

  “Damn it… I can barely understand half of this,” he muttered, tossing the letter back onto the table.

  “It’s too late to ask the others now,” he thought, glancing at the clock, which showed it was already an hour past midnight.

  “If only Jin were here,” Julius thought, feeling frustrated as he climbed back into bed.

  “Whatever… it can’t be that important,” he mumbled before closing his eyes.