After walking through the encampment in the western direction for a bit, a large burly man with a split beard tied in two strands of hair and large round eyes approached the group.
He was not wearing a helmet like most of the other warriors, but rather held his own in his right hand. It had a light blue color, similar to the one of Corporal Morias. His bald head seemed to shine in the light from the sun.
Unlike many of the others around the group, this man had a smile on his face, and approached them without concern for what people would think.
"Hey, elven group over there! I heard that you all came in from the monster realm! Haa... you all don't look very strong, but you must be if you were able to come all the way here from the Alliance! It must have been quite the odyssey. Could you all tell me a bit about your adventures? I sure would like to hear about all the crazy things you must have seen out there! I am Corporal Listernos. Nice to meet you all!"
The man pounded his chest. It must have been some sort of national salute. Reading the mood, Trevor and Ashley saluted back and the other two reluctantly did so as well.
"Hoh? You're interested in our stories, eh? Where to even start. Well, I am Theo- and these here are my comrades- Ally, Sarah, and Gary. We are a group of explorers from the Alliance as you may have heard. We have come here seeking shelter and rest, however I think we might stay here for a while. Very well. We will come and share our adventures with you- however in exchange, why don't you inform us about this country.", Trevor asked with elegant hand gestures, introducing his comrades and securing control of the flow of the conversation.
"Haha! Very proper, this lad. Alright. You got a deal.", Listernos replied happily. He seemed like the type of man who was a likable leader, one who didn't dwell on the mistakes of those under him but merely patted them on the back and laughed it off with a 'As long as you got it now, then its all good!'
Garett was somewhat concerned- as they didn't have any actual adventuring stories to tell. Well, not ones that they could actually say without revealing info on themselves. Perhaps Trevor had a plan, or perhaps his plan was simply to bluff his way through. Even so, gaining information was the goal of this journey, so Garett had no right to suggest otherwise.
Worst come to worst, they would end up fast traveling out of a bad situation.
The four followed the corporal to a small tent made of a light blue fabric, colored the same as the helmet which Listernos wore. It was large enough to accommodate for the table inside, and that was about it. Most soldiers simply slept on the ground with a single blanket, and even corporals did not have an extremely luxurious lodging. Even so, it was relatively safe. There did not seem to be any monster attacks happening at the wall, and the soldiers stationed here were more of a 'what if' force as opposed to a force which was prepared for an actual fight. Also, it was spring right now, and there was no need for protection from cold nor heat- so stationing a large number of troops cost food and nothing more, however the antiheroes had seen in the distance a number of farms and livestock pens. They were a mostly self sufficient force.
Granted, there were plenty of soldiers here, but they were not at war. The entire force was merely one giant precaution against monsters. This went to show just how concerned about the monster realm and potential attacks that the emperor was.
The four walked into the tent and Listernos motioned for them to have a seat at the small table, before a soldier who was standing on guard was ordered to serve some drinks.
He poured five glasses of wine and distributed them to the group. Ashley took hers immediately and gulped it down with a single sip.
"Ahh!!! Burrrp!"
Yeah, her charisma was real low. Negative even.
She wiped her mouth with her arm and then proceeded to slouch back and put her legs on the table.
"Oi! We are guests here, Ally! Show some respect!", Trevor shouted, slapping her foot off the table.
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'And more importantly, what if that was poisoned? Well, in a spiritual body like yours I don't know whether poison would take effect... she was able to come into contact with the skin of Rithargus that one time without having any issues, however she also took damage when he used a poison attack, so it would be safe to assume that poison will effect her, even if that is not always the case...'
Ashley looked at him with an 'I don't give a shit' face.
"HAHAHA!! I knew you were an interesting group! It takes real guts to do something like that, in the home of a random corporal that you've never met before! I respect you, elven girl."
Samantha read the mind of the Listernos, and learned that he was being completely honest. His thoughts seemed to perfectly match his words, and he didn't think much else aside from what he said.
Perhaps he was just a simpleton.
Ashley on the other hand, knew beforehand through her intuition that there would be no issue with her actions. She forcefully placed her feet back on the table in order to let Trevor know who was boss- all while having a creepy grin on her face.
'I do what I want in this world. :P'
The corporal then turned to Trevor.
"Let me tell you about this fine country, and then you all can tell me some of your adventures! Where should I begin?"
"We barely know anything about this place. Why don't you assume we know nothing and start from the beginning of what you know."
"Oh? I see... well then, I suppose I should start from the beginning, eh?."
And so, Listernos then proceeded to inform the antiheroes of the empire, it's history, it's current leader and his policies, and its various factions and culture.
Among the ranks of the empire, each ranking was associated with a certain color.
Red for the emperor.
Dark green for Legion commanders who led 10000 men.
Dark purple for Colonels who led 1000 men.
Orange for Generals who led 100 men.
Black for Captains who led 50 men.
White for Lieutenants who led 25 men
Dark blue for Sergeants who led 10 men.
Light blue for Corporals who led 5 men.
Trevor nodded as he seemed to understand the situation. The others patiently listened, however Ashley seemed to be quite bored while they were talking. She continuously would yawn loudly, interrupting the discussion all the way through to voice her clear displeasure. Even so, this information about the empire was crucial if they were to take precautions against it. Trevor was beginning to get slightly annoyed.
'I understand that she wants to get out of here, but so long as we are stuck together like this, she has to listen in on this as well, whether she likes it or not. I will absolutely not proceed without information which could have been easily obtained if she would simply be quiet and listen.'
The real reason the antiheroes had come here to gain intelligence on the empire was twofold. The first being that they were neighbors, and if possible, Trevor would like to form a friendly relationship with them and encourage trade and partnership between the humans and the antiheroes.
However, if the empire was a nation that was hostile to the antiheroes because they were monsters, then they would need intelligence to make proper preparations against them. They were the closest, and likely the most powerful group near the slime village- even moreso than the lizardmen. This made them a priority on the threat list, and it was necessary as leaders to determine if the empire posed any actual threat.
Trevor knew two things.
The indeterminant existed.
He was out there, and he was powerful- how powerful was he?
Trevor did not know for sure- but he knew that he and his comrades had gained unbelievable strength in this world.
It was not unthinkable for another person to gain overwhelming strength if they came from earth as well.
No, it was actually likely. The Determined had some very odd powers, and had shared with the antiheroes what she knew about the indeterminant and his powers, however...
Did he have limitations?
Trevor did not know.
The only limitation he knew of was the naming phenomena. If the Indeterminant was able to obtain his name, would he be able to kill him without a second thought? Or was his power not so convenient?
Trevor had to assume the worst case.
Now, the existence of a single enemy that was powerful was enough for Trevor to be cautious. However, this was not all.
There could be more enemies of similar power.
Trevor was not about to assume that his power- nor that of Ashley or Samantha, was absolute. While they were completely dominant over the inhabitants of this world that they had met thus far, to the point where even a pessimist like Trevor doubted that there would be being who could match his strength, it was not impossible that others as strong as the antiheroes existed, even not taking the indeterminant into account.
After listening closely for a long time about the history and the politics of the empire, Trevor was interested.
It was a strange country, similar to ancient Rome or Greece in culture.
He could use this to his advantage if things went well. Trevor started to conjure up a plot in his mind of how he would move from here, and what interactions he would be able to have with the people of this country.
"Ally. Why don't you tell this gentleman some of our stories. I have some thinking to do."
"Ehhh... alright.", Ashley said as she took her legs off the table and let out a creepy smile.
"How about I tell you about the time we killed and tortured a psychopath..."