I've bought some boys ale, and now it seems I have to find them; at least there is still an open quest. What do I have to do? Would it have been better to buy them swords?

those boys cracked me up
i never found them
however my ASSUMPTION would be this
it would have been better to give them a sword and no ale

i'm assuming they meet trouble
and ale and a sword woulbe be dangerous
sword alone would be good
and ale along would be dangerous

i dont know that
i could be completely wrong

I just bought them the swords and skipped the ale. I got scolded by one of their moms for buying the sword, but that was it.

After I gave the boys their swords and ale, I found them in trouble in the cave with the Mimic in it. If you already killed the Mimic before you gave the boys their stuff, they probably aren't in there.

I had killed the Mimic before I helped the boys out, and I still found them in the Mimic's cave, freaking out about some silly monster they found and running away. Once you find them, you complete their quest.