Later that day, Kichiro and Sadako are walking around the town. Behaving like tourists, both are checking out the merchandises being dispyed at the vendors. While they were at it, the same mysterious girl in a sweet-lolita dress sees the two wondering around town. Carrying her doll and a small pocketbook, she decides to follow them.

  As Kichiro and Sadako continued to explore Egesul, they soon meet up with Ferron and Saeko.

  "Find anything good here?" Kichiro asked.

  "Such and such, but...no interests of anything in this town." Saeko replied.

  "Except," Ferron added and takes out a flyer. "We saw a flyer being posted on the wall. I picked it up from the ground."

  "Flyer?" Kichiro asked and took the flyer to read it.

  "Take a look and see what you think." Ferron said.

  Kichiro reads the flyer. The flyer is a description of a missing girl that is lost and the reward for finding her is high in profit. The party reads the note altogether:

  Missing my sister. Description: Wears a cute dress, same, but in a different color. Last seen: No idea. Reward: 25,000 Granacur coins. Please meet the Mayor in town at Central Square.

  After reading the flyer, the party looks to see the lolita girl standing there. It was the exact same girl dressed in pink, carrying a small pocketbook, and holds a doll. The party sees her there as she looks at them.

  "Aren't you that same girl who keeps showing people your flyer?" Kichiro asked her.

  The lolita girl nodded.

  "I take in consideration that this sister of yours appears to be your twin, right?" Kichiro asked.

  "Yes...that is correct." The girl replied.

  "There's no name on this flyer." Sadako asked. "What's her name?"

  "Tanais." The girl mentioned. "That's my twin sister's name."

  "So that's her name." Kichiro said.

  "And I should introduce myself since I was the one handing out the flyers. The names The." The girl mentions her name to the party.

  "The and Tanais." Ferron said and instantly remembers the names. "Got it."

  "If I should ask, when was the st time you saw your sister?" Sadako asked her.

  "Tanais has been missing for two weeks." The recalled. "She has not returned for quite a while now. I know that she has adventured off in a forest that's not far from Egesul. Although my sister is lost in a forest, that area is ruled by monsters that live around there. Tanais is the only sister that I have, and I miss her very much. I don't know what happened to her, but...I'm really worried for her own safety."

  "That does expin a lot by the flyers you handed out." Kichiro said, viewing the flyer in hand.

  "We will be gd to help you if you want us to find her." Sadako said to The.

  "You will?" The looks up and said with a smile. "I...I never seen people like you here. You're all new to me."

  "To be honest, heheh, it's our first time visiting this town." Saeko said to her.

  "That's not a problem." The said. "As long as I found travelers like you, I won't have to feel worried anymore."

  "Sure thing, but you need to meet our leader." Kichiro said to her.

  "Hmm. You're not the only ones here?" The asked.

  "Oh no! We aren't the only ones here." Saeko replied to her. "Our lead is a female. Her name is Shokei."

  "Just that we need to find her in order to inform you with your problem." Kichiro said.

  "I know Marie is with her." Beatrice said. "If we find both of them, we need to fill in on this problem too."

  "Great!" The said with a beaming smile.

  The party accompanied The with them to find Shokei and Marie.

  Meanwhile, Shokei and Marie are coming out from a restaurant after having lunch. The pair had a good meal as they felt hungry during their tour in Egesul.

  "Delicious!" Marie said as he rubbed her belly from the meal.

  "Food here is great." Shokei said, feeling satisfied. "The price for it isn't that bad."

  While the two are walking down in one of the streets, Shokei pauses to see someone up ahead that she recognized.

  "Eh?" Marie noticed Shokei's awkward behavior. "Why are we stopping for..."

  "Shh! Look!"

  Shokei made Marie quiet as she points out to what she's looking at. There, the girls saw a familiar face that they have encountered back at the treasure hunt trip.

  "Wait a minute...no way..." Marie said, recognizing the face.

  Lucreita stops in her tracks and there, she recognizes a blonde-haired figure right up her alley. She even sees one of her allies that is with her.

  "Shoot!" Lucreita said in surprise. "That stupid bitch is here...in this town? I got to get out of here!"

  Quickly, Lucreita turns around immediately and dashes off.

  "She's getting away!" Marie pointed out to Shokei.

  "Let's see what she's doing here. She might be up to something." Shokei said and takes off running after the bandit.

  Marie followed pursuit and Shokei runs after the bandit. Lucreita turns to a corner as she continues to avoid people that are in her way. She finds a pce to hide in bushes. The bushes were deep enough to be invisible to one's eyes. Shokei and Marie turn to the corner where she ran off to. Unfortunately, Lucreita managed to get away as she is nowhere to be seen on the other end of the streets.

  "Dammit! She got away..." Marie cried out.

  "I swear she could have gone through here..." Shokei said, looking around. "She must be here in this town for a reason."

  "Do you think she was doing anything suspicious?" Marie asked her.

  "We don't know unless we caught up to her." Shokei replied. "But what was she doing here?"

  "Oh hey! There they are!"

  Shokei and Marie hear someone calling out to them and there they see Kichiro and the others meeting up with them.

  "Hi guys, what's up?" Shokei asked.

  "Not much really..." Kichiro replied. "We just saw you and Marie chasing after someone."

  "We did." Shokei confirmed. "We saw a bandit that we fought from the treasure hunt days ago."

  "Seriously?" Saeko asked. "That same deranged girl we fought a while back?"

  "Yep." Marie replied with a nod.

  "She did run off here, but she might be hiding somewhere in this town." Shokei said.

  "We should track her down ter..." Marie said. Her attention draws her eyes on the sweet-lolita girl. "Huh? Who's this?"

  "We met this resident when we were walking around." Kichiro tells her. "She needs help in finding her lost twin sister."

  "My name is The." The lolita introduced herself to Shokei. "Nice to meet you."

  Shokei sees The extending her hand out and Shokei gives her a friendly handshake.

  "Nice meeting you. You look...very cute." Shokei tells her.

  "Thanks." The smiled for the compliment. "Anyways, have you seen my twin sister?"

  "Twin sister? No. I have no idea what she looks like." Shokei replied.

  "Hmm, looking back, there are flyers around that we bypassed, regarding on your sister." Marie said, reflecting to what she saw before.

  "Here..." The shows a flyer to Shokei. The same flyer that she was passing to people.

  Shokei looks at the flyer. The flyer shows an image of her sister being sketched as she looks just like her, only that her sister wears a dark-type dress. Looking back at The, Shokei can see that her sister is very identical.

  "What's your sisters name?" Shokei asked. "It looks like you didn't mention her on the flyer."

  "Tanais." The replied. "Last time I remember was when she decided to go out for a walk in the forest that's near this town. That same day, she never came back."

  "Hmm..." Shokei finished looking at the flyer. "You look as if you need help to finding your sister."

  "You will?" The asked. "Then...you will find my sister?"

  "Definitely." Shokei nodded in reply.

  "Yes. We should help her out while we're at it." Kichiro said to Shokei.

  "Right...which reminds me..." Shokei said, thinking of something else.

  "What's that?" Marie asked.

  "Has anyone here seen Rei and Lei tely?" Shokei asked.

  "No idea." Kichiro replied. "I'm sure we'll bump into them to fill in on this situation."

  "Either way, those two can catch up to us ter." Shokei said and turns to The. "By the way, who runs the town of Egesul? Is there a chief that we can talk to?"

  "Oh! The town's Mayor. I can lead you the way to his pce." The replied.

  "Great. Let's get going." Shokei said.

  The party did and The leads them to the Mayor of Egesul.

  Somewhere in the town of Egesul, Rei and Lei are spending more time together while looking around.

  "There are lots of things that we've seen around here Rei." Lei said to her.

  "Meh..." Rei said with a slight shrug. "It's so boring here that we weren't able to get to the seas."

  "Then again, I'm sure that you'll find something to your taste." Lei tells her.

  "I guess..." Rei said.

  Walking side-by-side, Lei thought about something else. Her mind has been thinking for quite some time and then turned to see Rei.

  "Ummm...Rei?" Lei said to her.

  "Yes?" Rei asked looking at her.

  "I...I have something I want to say to you." Lei said.

  "What's that?" Rei asked.

  Both paused and faced each other. Lei takes a breath as she finds the courage to tell Rei up close and personal.

  "Do you think it is weird for me to like you?" Lei asked.

  "What?!" Rei said in a surprised look.

  "Ehhh..."

  Lei froze. Not knowing what to say, she can reflect on how Rei saved her from the creepy men back at the tavern. While the heroic act made her feel comfortable, Lei knew that she only knows Rei for some time now, but just a couple days in. Lei blushed as she can stare into the eyes of Rei, as she can see her looking at her with a serious look.

  "You're blushing..." Rei said to her, noticing the expression on her face. "You're not responding to me."

  "I...I..." Lei could not find the words as she felt nervous to what she wants to say to her.

  "Honestly, what are you telling me?" Rei asked.

  "Ok, ok!" Lei quickly tells her. "I admit it! I...I really like you, Rei. I really do! I wish I can get to know you more but...*gasp*"

  Rei eyes widened. That gets to her instantly when Lei's words came out of her mouth. Lei can feel that her retionship with Rei was about to cut short. Even if the two of them knew each other for some days, uncounted, Rei could not tell if Lei is trying to be real with her. Rei is puzzled to what was being said to her and wants to figure out what Lei is trying to say to her.

  "I need a word with you..." Rei said to Lei. "...away from the crowd."

  The pair did as it did not take long to find an alley where Rei and Lei can talk privately. From there, the discussion continued.

  "I'm not sure why you admit that you like me." Rei said to Lei. "I believe you have better start answering some questions."

  "Ummm..." Lei nervously said. "Ok..."

  "No need to be nervous, really." Rei insisted. "I'm not mad at you or anything. I need you to give me a reason."

  Lei hears this and nods.

  "All right." Rei said and asked. "Let me ask you a question. Do you believe in love at first sight?"

  "Why...why yes." Lei replied. "I do...of course I do."

  "Hmmph! Not for me." Rei said. "And you think love comes that easy, do you?"

  "Why?" Lei asked her.

  "How should I expin this..." Rei said, taking a breath, and then looks direct at Lei. "When it comes to retionships, it's all about bonding. A person should spend quality time with someone that shows interests and get to know everything on that person in which he or she admires. Also, you should learn a lot of things on that person through strengths and weaknesses."

  "That's kind of true..." Lei said. "Can I ask you something?"

  "What?" Rei asked.

  "What happens if love comes too fast?" Lei asked her.

  "Then you're leading yourself into despair and confusion." Rei replied. "Besides, you would be in a situation that would be rocky and it's a hole you'll never get out of."

  "Ouch...that hurts." Lei said, nearly biting her tongue.

  "Trust me, I know a friend who been through that before." Rei said to her.

  "I see..." Lei said, looking down.

  Silence came between both girls for a minute. Rei clears her throat and speaks up.

  "Hey..."

  Lei looks up to see Rei getting her attention.

  "You seem to be thinking about something." Rei said, looking curious.

  "Oh..." Lei said.

  "What is it you want to say now?" Rei asked.

  "Perhaps...," Lei begins. "Perhaps I have expressed my feeling for you too early for me. I know I have met you a couple of days ago and you approved me into being part of Shokei's party. Maybe I should not have shown you my feelings for you. I...I just stay as friends with you instead."

  "Oh really?" Rei asked after hearing all this.

  "Yes." Lei replied. "I know you're a nice and a good person. However, I cannot tell if I can pursue any interest of you yet. Like I said, it's been a couple of days...and I think I am moving too fast just to know you."

  Rei blinked and stares at Lei. She looks at her as she sees her being weird and unusual. Rei clears her throat before speaking up.

  "As much as I like you Lei, I am not really your type." Rei said to her.

  Lei felt slightly surprised when she heard what Rei told her.

  "However," she continued. "I think we need to expand our retionship further if we want to understand each other. I just think your odd behavior towards me was not that bright."

  "I...I'm sorry..." Lei said, looking down.

  "I mean hey...," Rei pced her hand on her shoulder. "I think you were confused. You were moving too quick on me, so don't think I rejected you, ok? And you really don't have to apologize."

  Lei hears this and then she nodded with a slight smile.

  "It's better that way." Rei said to her.

  Both girls stared at each other for less than a minute. Then Rei gets her senses and recalled something.

  "Oh right! I wonder where Shokei and the others are at now?" Rei asked.

  "Me too." Lei said.

  "Eh?"

  Rei and Lei looked at each other again and then they ughed.

  "You're cute when you ugh." Lei said to her, giggling.

  "Funny when we were about to ask the same thing." Rei said and turned to leave the alley. "Come now, let's find our friends."

  "Sure." Lei said.

  Together, Rei and Lei leave the alley to find Shokei and their allies.

  Meanwhile, Shokei and her party, along with The, are at the mayor's office. The office appears to be a two-floor granite building that's open to the public.

  "Here we are." The said. "This is the mayor's office."

  "Looks quite big for a two-floor office." Shokei said.

  "Sure, it is. Let's head on inside." The said.

  The party went inside the building and there, they see a guard standing behind the door behind him.

  "Pardon me," Shokei speaks to the guard and asked. "Do you happen to know where the town's Mayor is?"

  "He's on the second floor," The guard responded. "But he's currently busy at the moment."

  "I'll speak from here." The tells Shokei and speaks to the guard. "I have my reasons and these travelers saw one of my flyers that is referring to my missing sister."

  "Aha! I remember you." The guard said, recognizing her face. "You came here before. Just a minute..."

  The guard leaves and went to see the mayor. The party waited for a minute until he returned.

  "The mayor wants to see all of you." The guard said to the party. "He's not busy."

  "Thanks." The said to the guard.

  The party heads upstairs to meet the mayor on the second floor. The mayor sits in his desk as he waits patiently for his group of visitors to appear in front of him.

  "Good day!" the mayor greeted everyone. "The names Kerru, Mayor of Egesul. I am pleased to hear great news through a response to that girl's flyer."

  "That be us sir." Shokei said to Kerru. "Our friend here is in need of help to find her sister."

  "Why yes. It's good to see that you, and I assume your allies, have decided not just to help the young d's cause, but to help with our problems for the town itself." Kerru said.

  "Wait, what?" Saeko said, looking confused.

  "Problems?" Shokei asked.

  "I should tell you all actually," Kerru expined. "You see, Egesul has numerous problems. Aside from the ships not going anywhere due to the terrors that lie in the seas, we are having issues with thieves that are causing harm to our town and stealing personal belongings to my citizens. On top of that, the thieves managed to steal a piece of artifact that belongs to the town's museum."

  "Just like that missing space we saw before." Marie said to Shokei.

  "Ah, you noticed..." Kerru said, hearing the conversation.

  "We did." Shokei nodded.

  "Anyways, while we're at it, I am giving you all an assignment." Kerru continued. "Your task is to go and hunt down the thieves that have stolen precious items from my citizens and the missing artifact that those disastrous thieves have taken. Where these thieves are hiding are not from this town, st time I checked."

  "Speaking of that," Shokei turns to The and asked. "When did you st seen your sister?"

  "If I remember that girl have went into the woods not far from here." Kerru responded. "Yes, the girl may have told all of you before, but near here is a Forest of Visions."

  "Forest of Visions?" Marie asked, hearing the name the first time.

  "It's called Maple Forest to be honest." The replied. "That's what the mayor is talking about."

  "I see now." Marie nodded.

  "Yes. Up north from this town is the Forest of Visions." Kerru said to the party. "You can't miss it and the forest is best for its Maple leaves in all seasons."

  "Got it." Shokei said.

  "I wish you luck in finding those thieves as well as helping the young d finding her sister." Kerru said. "Now, leave at will please."

  "I'll do so sir." Shokei said as her party walks out of the office. "Thanks."

  The party left the mayor's office, and they are all standing outside at the front of the building.

  "Before we do anything, I'm curious where the rest of the guys are up to?" Shokei asked herself.

  "You have a point." Kichiro said. "We can't go off without telling them the news."

  "I mean, this is big." Marie said. "Where could they be...hmm..."

  "Hey guys!"

  Shokei and her party hears someone calling out to them. There, they see Rei and Lei caught up with the group along with Beatrice and Tamiko coming together.

  "Where have you all gone to?" Shokei asked.

  "Just looking around." Beatrice replied.

  "Same here." Lei added.

  "Seems you and your crew are up to something..." Rei speaks but notices the lolita girl among the party. "Hey, you're the girl I saw you handing out flyers! Eh, why she's with you guys?"

  "Did you even read the flyers that were posted around the town?" Shokei asked her.

  "We have...but we didn't pay too much attention to it." Beatrice replied.

  "So, you're the little girl that was showing people the same flyer in your hand." Tamiko said, pointing out one of the flyers on the wall.

  The nodded.

  "I forgot...what was this all about again?" Lei asked.

  "Our friend here The will inform you all to what you need to know." Shokei said to her party.

  The tells the rest of Shokei's party about the information regarding on her missing sister Tanais. The rest of Shokei's party got an understanding on the situation and what they all need to know.

  "Understandable." Rei said. "Looks like we got something to do while our destination is on hold."

  "Finding a missing sibling sounds more important." Tamiko said.

  "That reminds me! Say The..." Sadako calls out to her.

  "Yes?" The asked her.

  "If we're going to look for your sister, will you come with us?" Sadako asked.

  "Certainly!" The replied and nodded with a smile. "I'll be gd that you all are helping me to find my sister. It will mean a lot for me to get her back safely."

  "Great! Then we should get going while we can." Rei said.

  "Hold on!" Shokei said, putting her hand up to get her friend's attention. "Before we do that, let's get some goods and other items that we might need before we head to the forest."

  "That reminds me. Obsidian is at the inn, right?" Tamiko said, remembering who was not touring Egesul. "He should come along with us."

  "Absolutely." Rei consent with Tamiko. "With his strength, we need to inform him about everything."

  "I'll fill in the information to him." Shokei said to the party. "In the meantime, prepare what you can before we head out."

  "Got it!" Beatrice said.

  "Will do." Rei said.

  "Meet up back at the Inn and then we'll depart." Shokei tells her party.

  "Ok!" Marie said.

  Shokei leaves her party behind and heads back to the Inn. Obsidian slept in his room throughout the day as he is fully asleep. His sleep is disturbed when Shokei tugs him to have him wake up.

  "Obsidian, wake up." Shokei calls out to him.

  "Mmmm..." Obsidian wakes up from his sleep and sees Shokei in the room. "...what's wrong?"

  "Come with me." Shokei tells him.

  "Wait, where am I going?" Obsidian asked, confused. "What's going on?"

  "I'll tell you everything once we get outside." Shokei said to him. "Get out of bed now while you're at it."

  "Umm, wait...wait!"

  Obsidian called out to her, and he gets out of his bed. He gets his weapon with him and then he leaves the room to meet up with Shokei and the others.