A middle-aged man who looked to have drunk too much was talking with another.
"Have you heard about the orcs? They kicked the Empire's ass again. My nephew was there at the battle. He said the Empire's dogs had no choice but to run with their tails between their legs! Hahahahaha," said the man with a sword scar on his right arm, laughing at the Empire's soldiers' misfortune.
"Damn, I wish I was there to see it. I lost a good hand because of those fucking dogs," the other man said, showing his amputated hand.
Magic could grow a limb back, but a high healer capable of such magic was costly, most likely not something a poor retired soldier could afford.
"Hmph, if the strongest orc warriors were still here, would the Empire even have the courage to go against the orcs?" Said the sword-scar man.
"Yeah. It has already been thirty years, hasn't it? Those guys were real monsters. I saw one of them killing two otherworld monster monarchs all by himself." Replied the amputated-hand man.
"The fact that every single warrior trained by them is incredibly strong is what amazes me the most. I have no idea how crazy their training regime must be," said the sword-scar man.
"Indeed, but I just wish they would just kill themselves and leave us alone. How good would it be if the empire and the damn orcs disappeared?" replied the amputated-hand man.
If before Ash was hearing the conversation with interest, now he was completely baffled. 'Otherworld monsters? Since when had they also invaded Agan?'
There wasn't any information about this. The otherworld monsters were an unknown race who invaded Earth the first time they opened a portal through dimensions.
It happened two hundred years ago, and the battle against them is still going on today. Until now, Earth has only lost territory, never winning it back. The only reason that they weren't already decimated was because those monsters weren't taking them seriously at all.
A monarch-level otherworld monster has appeared only twice across history, and in both times, various cities across Earth were completely destroyed—currently, no one on Earth was their match. The strongest on Earth were only Overlord rankers, a level lower than Monarch.
Countless Overlords sacrificed themselves to stop a single Monarch-rank monster.
The amputated man's face softened with nostalgia as he recalled the past, preparing to continue the conversation with his friend. But before he could speak, a sudden slam echoed.
Slam!
Both men jolted, startled by the hand that struck the tabletop.
"Kid, wh—" The sword-scar man wanted to complain, but Ash spoke first.
"Where are those orcs?" Asked Ash earnestly.
"Oh. Do you want to know about the orcs? They live west from here, but it's a very lengthy journey—about 5000 kilometers. You can look for a region named Kuhta, you'll find them there," replied the sword-scar man.
Ash's expression was a little ugly. 5000 kilometers was indeed too far for him. The teleportations in Agar weren't as accessible as the ones on Earth.
The people from Earth only had two teleports set up. Both of them could only go from Earth to Agan and vice versa.
If Ash wanted to go visit the orcs, he could only go by foot or carriage. Considering the medium carriage speed, even if they were pushed by strong beasts and were much faster than old Earth's carriage, that would still take at least twenty days!
'If those warriors are all as strong as they said, they may even be able to turn a weakling like me into a competent warrior. I must get there and ask to be trained, no matter what!' Thought Ash.
After his initial excitement, Ash noticed how rude he had been. He retraced his hand with an embarrassed expression, apologized, and went back to his table. His thoughts raced, thinking about a way to reach the orc's city.
After eating and paying for his meals, Ash went to gather some information. He managed to secure a world map for a few silver coins—he now had about 60 silver coins remaining.
While he was looking for the map, he took the opportunity to ask around about how to get to the Kuhta region, more specifically, where the orcs lived.
Luckily, a merchant he talked with had economic relationships with the orcs. He was planning on transporting a lot of grain from Meridonia to Grumhald, the orc's biggest city, where their training center was located.
The merchant, Guilherme, was a rotund middle-aged man with a greasy sheen on his balding head and a patchy beard that barely hid his double chin.
Considering that Ash wanted to be trained by the orcs, he couldn't ask for a better place to go.
Guilherme agreed to bring Ash with them. They had a lot of carriages and wouldn't be a problem to bring one more person—as long as he paid for it. After a hearty discussion, they agreed on 30 silver coins for the trip, with food and water included.
'This damn merchant must be making hundreds of gold coins on this trip, but he wouldn't even let a penny go for a poor soul like me, really heartless!' Thought Ash
"How long is the trip going to take?" Ash Asked.
Guilherme thought for a few seconds before replying. "It should take about twenty-five days. The most dangerous part would be while traversing the Empire's land, but as long as we pay enough, the Empire wouldn't give us trouble. Don't worry."
"There will also be a lot of rankers from the Mercenary Guild," he continued. "They will protect the convoy from bandits and beasts. The strongest one is Ascended rank, more than enough for this trip."
"Why go through the Empire's lands? Aren't they Meridonia's worst enemy?" He asked, curiously by Guilherme's decision.
Guilherme chuckled before answering his doubts. "Taking the southern route would take far too long, at least sixty days if we are fast. Heading north would be even worse, as the northern lands were perpetually frozen and filled with dangerous monsters. Not even an Ascended ranker could easily travel through there. Legend had it that a mighty ice dragon fell there in battle against the gods, and its heart, bound to its soul, continues to beat to this day, keeping the land frozen with its power."
Ash nodded. Whether the legend was true, he didn't know nor care, but the danger was probably real. 'Given the merchant's experience making this journey, he should know the best way,' he thought, finding his reasons plausible enough.