Roxanne just came from the cellar in the back room of her tavern. There were ten barrels left of ale, not enough to last her. She needed to buy some more, but the traders that normally passed through Evergreen around this time were nowhere to be seen. This sucked, she had to restock not only the ale but her food supply as well.

While Evergreen had plenty of grains and some meat to last for a while, she didn't have any chicken. Her customers loved chicken meat, as chicken was generally cheaper than the other kinds of meat. It was also easy to cook, and she made a mean chicken stew.

Perfect for this time of year when it started to get colder. Snow was not far off now, and traveling would only become more difficult.

She also had to restock before the monster tide began. Once that happened no one would dare leave the city or come here.

Did she have to hire some guards to protect her while she traveled to the next city? It was what, a five-day walk?

Roxanne couldn't afford to close the tavern for that long. She'd lose too much money.

She also needed a new slave! The one she had working the tavern saved enough money to buy his freedom. She thought it'd take him at least another two or three years before then, but he somehow managed to scrap together the last bit of what he needed.

If only her husband did not buy slaves that had the right to buy their own freedom. She knew the man was stupid, but not that dumb.

Slaves that could count were hard to find, and even if she did find one for sale she'd have to fork out a fortune to afford one. Usually, those specific slaves also had the right to buy their own freedom.

She sighed, why was it so hard to find good slaves to employ?

There was still her house slave, but that girl wasn't able to read, write, or do any sort of counting. She was meant to fill her husband's needs, but now she just kept Roxanne's house tidy.

Roxanne thought about teaching her how to count, but the effort just wasn't worth it.

The door to the tavern opened up. She wondered if it would be Big Oar and his companions. They usually arrived around this time, but it was someone she hadn't seen in a while. The dwarf Gregor.

He sent his little minion here to pick up food daily, but he's hardly ever shown himself here in her tavern. Last time she spoke to him, he said this place smelled like a pig's asshole. Which infuriated her. To make matters worse, he said the lot of them all smelled the same.

So, why was he here? And who was that man next to him? She got the faint feeling that she'd seen him before, but just couldn't tell where.

Oh well, she couldn't remember. He must not be important.

Gregor and the young man sat down at the front counter.

"Gimmie your best ale! And whatever for Richard!" Gregor sounded like he was in a good mood.

He was never in a good mood. What was up with him today? Gregor didn't like anyone really, unless you were also a blacksmith and a skilled one at that.

He also had to know that the 'best' ale she had was the one she served to everyone. She couldn't afford anything different.

As she grabbed a cup she filled it up, and glanced at the young man he called Richard.

"What would you like?" She asked him as she set the cup down in front of Gregor.

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Gregor grabbed it and gulped the drink down not caring that some of it spilled down his beard. After he slammed the cup down on the table and wiped his mouth.

"Water." Richard said.

Roxanne moved to get him some water, but who drank water at a tavern? People came here to get drunk and drink their problems away. He was a strange one.

"And another round for me!" Gregor said as Roxanne was filling up Richard's cup.

"So, show me the map." Gregor told Richard as he looked at him.

Richard set the map on the counter and unfolded it. It was pretty detailed, showing the mountains, rivers, oceans, and the towns and their locations. He also noticed that there were two other continents, but their details weren't shown.

The name of the continent he was on was called Milthur, and it was centered between the Therian continent to the west and the Elthur continent to the east. Richard noticed he had an easy time reading the map, he could understand the language. The written language.

There weren't any A's, B's, or C's. Instead, there were odd symbols that made up the words.

Evergreen was located in the northeastern part of the Mithur continent and was surrounded by a few towns.

"He gave you a good one!" Gregor nodded his head in approval as he scanned the map.

Roxanne set the two drinks down on the counter and looked at the map as well. It was on a fine piece of parchment, showing a lot of the terrain. This map had to have been expensive, but looking at the man who owned it, that couldn't be the case. He wasn't dressed the part.

She decided to stick closer to this side of the counter. Judging him based off his appearance alone was not something she would do, but frankly, he was dressed so much like a bum that she couldn't help it. Still, he could be some important figure here in the city. She could not deny that possibility no matter how faint it might be.

"Thanks." Richard said as he watched her set the cup of water down.

"So, you wanted to know what town produces the most iron? That would be Redrock, down here by the Netherian Mountains." Gregor said as he pointed at a town southeast of their current location. It was a town situated in the middle of the mountain was a river passing through there.

"It's a mining town, lots of cheap iron ore. A haven for blacksmiths." Gregor sounded disappointed.

"Yeah? Then why aren't you there?" Richard couldn't help but ask.

Gregor sighed. In his young age, he had hoped to find his own place in the world and use his experiences to forge a masterpiece. That never happened.

"I came here after I heard the rumors that there was a mine here. Thought I could get in on the action before the other dwarves arrived, but that was all a bunch of piss-posh. Since then, I've been stuck here. Just like the rest of these smelly humans." Gregor confessed.

"Why not just leave? I mean, there's nothing stopping you from leaving is there?" Richard asked.

Gregor looked at him and raised his eyebrow. "Didn't you arrive here? So shouldn't you know?" Gregor asked in return.

Richard nodded his head. He did arrive here, but not in the way that Gregor assumed. Richard also did not want to correct that misunderstanding either. He was missing something here, but he wasn't sure what it was.

"Whatever. The monsters. They're just too many, so it's difficult to travel alone. You'd have to hire a group of mercenaries to take you out of the city, but that would cost you. The nearest town that sells cheap iron is ten days away, not a journey I'd be willing to take."

Monsters? Richard's interest was piqued. What kind of monsters were out there?

"Ahh, I see. But still, from what you've said the prices here have been increasing. So surely the journey would be worth it if it meant buying at a cheaper price. Think about it." Richard said.

"I have! You'd have to be downright stupid to go out at this time of the year. And even if you were that dumb, the mercenaries would charge you double, maybe even three times their normal rate. It's just not worth it. Better to wait here until the merchants come around by then the prices would have gone down." Gregor said as he picked up his cup of ale.

"And how long has that been?" Richard asked.

Roxanne listened to their conversation and picked up on a few things. The man named Richard was new in town and seemed to be a blacksmith. Asking about the price of iron ore in the region, but lacking the knowledge of travels. This sounded somewhat familiar to her, but she just couldn't piece it all together.

So, she kept listening and found out he forged a sword for Lord Kirk. This alone was an accomplishment because there were only a few people in Evergreen who got to see the lord. She herself only saw him from afar when he and the army came back defeated. At that time she was just one of the many people lined up on the side of the road watching their return.

But Richard? He went there in person and was rewarded for it!

As she kept spying on them she heard something strange. Yeah, it was strange enough that she remembered something. And that something caused her to recall a night a while back when she encountered a strange man.

This was him!

"You're telling me carriages take that long to go from here to there? It just doesn't seem real!" Richard told Gregor.

"Carriages? What nonsense are you talking about? What is a carriage?" Gregor asked as he finished drinking his ale.