Somkid introduced himself to Nawa as a member of the Transport Guild. While not one of the three major guilds in the country, it was still one of the top, perhaps even surpassing them in some aspects. The Transporter Guild, in particular, was among the top five largest guilds in the world.
The Transport Guild didn't earn its income from monster hunting like typical guilds. Instead, it acted like an agency, providing labor for various support tasks to other guilds. These included transporting monster meat, raising livestock, and construction work, with their operations spread throughout The One Nest.
Despite its large membership, almost all members were mere laborers who joined The One Nest to perform menial tasks that no one else wanted. In the eyes of most people, laborers were considered incompetent and unworthy of association.
Somkid himself was one such laborer. Despite being in The One Nest for many years, his stats were only Rank D. In the eyes of most players, Somkid was nothing more than a homeless person or a beggar found in subway stations.
But Nawa didn't think that way. In his eyes, everyone had different strengths and talents. It was difficult to judge who was truly useless. Therefore, whether it was an uneducated beggar or a professor from a top university, he could listen without prejudice.
And after conversing with Somkid for a while, Nawa realized how fortunate he was to have met this man. Somkid, besides his vast experience, also possessed an extraordinary memory and analytical thinking. Even without ever using the system's data, he could understand almost the entire picture of the Jotandia Kingdom.
According to Somkid, the size of the Jotandia Kingdom was far greater than Nawa had ever imagined. Its area was almost the size of the entire continent of Australia, or ten times larger than Thailand. Matthehorn, where Nawa was currently, was just a small city in the southernmost part of the kingdom, almost bordering the ocean.
Within the Jotandia Kingdom, there were approximately thirty cities, both large and small, scattered throughout. There were two main cities serving as the kingdom's centers: the capital city located in the central part of the kingdom, and the northern frontier city of True River.
The reason Truriver City is as important as the capital is because it's close to Macedonia, the sworn enemy of the Jotundia Kingdom.
More than half of the kingdom's military strength is based there, and the current ruler is the Jotundia Kingdom's Grand General, Thana, the president of The Future Guild, whom Nava met at the press conference at The One Association.
As for Mattehorn City, where Nava is currently located, the Jotundia Kingdom doesn't pay much attention to it. Although it's near the sea, the Mattehorn Mountains block its access, preventing it from becoming a port for communication with other kingdoms.
Not to mention, Mattehorn Mountains are home to the Rocs, large flying monsters; even the smallest ones are larger than passenger airplanes.
The system's minimum strength assessment of the Rocs is High Elder, with some potentially reaching Warlord level. This makes traveling across Mattehorn Mountains to the sea dangerous and almost impossible.
However, this is also an advantage, as it means the Jotundia Kingdom doesn't have to worry about invasions from other kingdoms in this direction.
Matthehorn is considered one of the safest cities in the Jotandia Kingdom, second only to the capital. Furthermore, the monsters surrounding the city aren't very high-level, making it a popular gathering place for working-class players waiting for their next assignment. Somkid is one of them.
Nawa was surprised that someone with Somkid's intelligence could be in this situation. Even if he hadn't reached high rank, he shouldn't be stuck at rank D.
However, Nawa kept his curiosity to himself, as it would be impolite to ask such a personal question. He simply asked Somkid's permission to add him as a friend in the system, which Somkid readily agreed to.
The friend system functions similarly to sending emails, but the transmission speed is even slower than a 1G internet connection. A few words can take minutes, or even hours or days, depending on the distance and location of the two players.
Additionally, there's a service fee: 1 copper coin for every 10 characters for a regular message, and ten times faster for emergency messages. The service rate is 10 characters per 1 silver coin. At such an exorbitant price, players wouldn't message each other unless absolutely necessary.
But considering that in The Oneness, a place where players risk their lives, sometimes a single sentence can save your life, it doesn't seem that expensive.
In Nawa's mind, Somkid was a respected senior player, kind and harmless. Their friendship grew rapidly, to the point where Nawa felt comfortable confiding in him about some of his worries, including his father's illness.
"Sigh…that disease again? Since The Oneness was discovered, the number of people suffering from coma has increased many times over. My relatives have the same disease."
Somkid spoke as if indifferent, but Nawa felt genuine sympathy for him.
"Do you happen to know any medicine that can cure this disease, or do you know anyone who might know how to cure it?" Nawa asked, his face full of hope.
"As far as I know, there's no cure for this disease. We can only prolong its life," Somkid said, then paused for a moment, noticing Nawa's sorrowful expression, before continuing:
"Don't lose hope, little brother. This is The Oneness, a world where there's even a way to revive the dead. Why wouldn't a coma be incurable?" Somkid tried to comfort him. Nawa, knowing this, forced a dry smile.
"Hmm…actually, I didn't want to tell you, because it's just a rumor, and the probability is very low," Somkid said softly.
"What kind of rumor? Tell me, even though the chances are slim, I want to hear it," Nawa asked seriously.
"Okay, but don't get your hopes up too high. It's something we talked about while drinking. Many years ago, I drank with a herbalist… I think his name was… yes, yes, his name was Mandis."
"He likes to brag that he's a descendant of an ancient medicine king and that he's concocting a potion that can cure all diseases and injuries. But he's probably just drunk and boasting, because it's been years and we haven't seen any such potion appear,"
Somkid said nonchalantly, as if not wanting Nawa to get his hopes up too high.
"Is that medicine man from Taiban Village?"Nawa shouted, his face full of hope, because that name was the same as someone in the guard's quest.