I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 400: Borderland Turmoil Begins, (3)

After clearing the goblin nest, the Red Dragon Guild once again entered a period of rest and recuperation.Although Luna had apologized to Gauss for her mistake and Gauss had told her not to worry about it, Luna still punished herself by tightening discipline training for her subordinates.

She believed that, more than combat ability, Gauss would value the discipline of newly recruited members.

In truth, Gauss only asked a few questions out of politeness, and his attention soon returned to the spoils.

“We need to get a batch of supplies transported out.”

Pack animals have limited carrying capacity, and besides, the guild couldn’t keep moving while hauling so many goods.

He glanced toward where Luna was, and she happened to say they needed some supplies replenished.

When he saw the fourth squad, he couldn’t help but remember Fisher.

That day, he had used Hypnosis Charm to successfully put the exhausted Fisher under a trance and had gained some intelligence as a result.

For example, the power behind Fisher did indeed come from Vespertilia, but Fisher himself knew very little about this evil god.

Of course, Gauss had already expected that.

He had once inquired about the name through the Adventurers Guild and even asked the lake god Mete, but he hadn’t gotten any useful information.

That suggested either the evil god didn’t really exist, or whoever it was exercised extreme caution.

A shallow believer like Fisher, who chased power for its own sake, naturally couldn’t know much.

Fisher could only come into contact with that deity because half a year earlier he’d bought a wooden carving from the black market.

At first sight on the stall, he had sensed something unusual about it and bought it without hesitation.

After one sleep, that wooden carving, which no amount of study had revealed anything special about, had turned into a pile of white powder.

It was at that time that a strange power entered his body, and he learned the name.

At first, he was very cautious and deliberately avoided touching that eerie energy.

The energy was so evil that he feared being tainted by it and becoming a reviled cultist.

Until one day, the energy suddenly interacted with his mana, and to his astonishment the spellcaster level that had been stuck at eight for many years instantly broke through to nine.

After that successful breakthrough, his attitude shifted overnight; he became eager.

As long as power could be gained, he didn’t mind becoming a lackey of an evil god.

So he began frequently communicating with that vague consciousness.

That was when he started to fixate on Gauss.

He had been told that if he killed Gauss, the entity would continue to grant him rewards for level breakthroughs.

After Fisher collected and submitted intelligence on Gauss, perhaps worried that Fisher didn’t have the strength to actually kill him, the entity even offered an evil divine spell — a curse.

Unfortunately, that curse, which could afflict most creatures, had almost no effect on Gauss.

Gauss narrowed his awareness.

He had been thinking about this matter for a long time, which was why he had asked Mete for help when they met.

But now he suddenly felt much more at ease.

From the way Fisher’s attack had played out, Gauss understood one thing.

The evil god called Vespertilia, while hidden, didn’t actually have many ways to interfere directly.

The being couldn’t suddenly strike him down with divine punishment; it could only use obscure means to manipulate creatures in the material world to deal with him.

Moreover, the entity’s intelligence network seemed poor — otherwise it wouldn’t have asked Fisher to gather information.

Gods, or evil gods, appeared to be heavily constrained when trying to meddle in the material realm.

However, one thing to be wary of was that the entity had indeed fixed its attention on him.

All he had done last time was wipe out an insignificant ratfolk nest; it seemed unlikely the entity would hold a grudge over that.

Or maybe it truly sensed something in him.

Respond to force with force, respond to water with earth.

Gauss led a team to send a wave of supplies off the wagon.

At the temporary Adventurers Guild camp outside Blackwater Town, more adventurers and caravans had arrived; some shops and tents had been pushed to the outskirts.

The Red Dragon Guild’s encampment, however, remained undisturbed — no one was foolish enough to pick a fight with an adventuring guild.

Red Dragon Guild’s logistics staff had hurried over from Grayrock Town.

Once the supplies were returned, the whole team sprang into action.

Items that could be sold immediately or had little processing profit were handled by Ivan’s people, who contacted several merchant associations in the camp to solicit bids; the highest bidders bought them outright so they wouldn’t occupy wagon space.

Meanwhile the logistics members were busy processing materials that needed refinement, maximizing the spoils’ profit.

Gauss and his people made two circuits of the camp market.

Many of the items sold there came from monster lairs; he casually bought a few monster-themed cantrips.

As he wandered, many in the camp observed him.

There were only a few guilds stationed here, and as Red Dragon Guild’s Guild Leader he naturally attracted attention.

Moreover, a rumor had been circulating in the camp these past two days: Fang of the Pale Wolf seemed to have been “absorbed” by the Red Dragon Guild.

The rumor arose because people saw members of Fang of the Pale Wolf dismantling their temporary encampment and moving into the Red Dragon Guild’s site, and after the Red Dragon Guild’s main force returned today, the former deputy leader of Fang of the Pale Wolf, Luna, was among them.

“Is that the leader of the Red Dragon Guild?”

“If Fang of the Pale Wolf really merged in, Red Dragon Guild’s strength would become terrifying.”

“Think we have a chance if we sign up to join?”

Red Dragon Guild’s expansion was no secret. Many, though unclear how the Red Dragon Guild managed to swallow a larger group, nevertheless sensed the guild was entering a fast track of development.

They reasoned that if the former wolf guild’s deputy was willing to submit herself to Gauss’s team, the Red Dragon Guild must have qualities unseen to others.

So many were tempted to join.

Fortunately, those tempted didn’t rush forward recklessly to apply in person, but moved in groups toward Red Dragon Guild’s encampment.

Gauss didn’t turn his head, but he heard the comments around him.

His body and senses had reached a near-inhuman level; unless he deliberately blocked outside information, he could hear movements clearly within several hundred meters.

Of course, in crowded places he usually shrank that perception to a few dozen meters.

Beyond that distance most information was useless noise; letting it flood into his mind would be tiring to process.

“Sir, want today’s Kingdom Times? Thirty copper coins a copy.”

“One.”

Gauss took a newspaper from the vendor.

As an adventurer, one must keep up with provincial and national news to stay aware. He bought one whenever he was in town.

Thirty copper coins was trivial to him.

He skimmed a few lines quickly and turned the page within seconds.

What looked like casual browsing was actually careful reading.

With his current reading speed, he could practically do ten lines at a glance and organize all the information clearly in his mind.

“Interesting.”

Ten seconds later he had finished the entire paper, tucked it into his Storage Bag, and wore a pensive expression.

Although things seemed calm nearby, on the national scale stories that shook the central states occurred every few days.

First among them was unrest in the borderlands.

“Borderlands” is not a precise place name but a general geographic concept.

It denotes the vast buffer zone where monsters border the human kingdoms. In theory, borderland lords swear fealty to the Monster King and recognize its supreme authority and leadership.

In reality, those relationships were far from rock-solid: borderland lords retained a significant degree of independence.

The Emerald Forest is one of these seven major borderlands, and its lord, the Green Dragon Queen, is thus called the Forest Lord.

Next door, the borderland adjoining Xianmin Province is the Gigatooth Highlands, whose mountain lord is a mountain giant king possessing ancient high titan bloodlines.

The news Gauss read about the borderlands came from the Gigatooth Highlands. A sleeping mountain giant had awakened, causing mountain tremors that spanned hundreds of miles, triggering earthquakes that destroyed nearby villages and human settlements, killing many low-level adventurers and residents.

“This is the terror of the strong in this world: they can cause natural disasters at a whim... ordinary lives are terribly fragile.”

Gauss shook his head. This was why he refused to stop training and instead kept chasing power.

He couldn’t entrust his life to vague fate or the mercy of the strong. Even now, with some effort he could destroy a town. But only by getting stronger could he protect himself and help others in such turbulent times.

Besides the Gigatooth Highlands disturbance, the paper also mentioned an imperial news item that caught his attention.

Has the Legendary Sword Saint’s holy sword still not been pulled from the ground?

He found this odd; it had been over a year since the empire issued the “Imperial Adventurers Notice” about the sword.

High-level figures likely learned of it even earlier; a year should have been plenty for most aspirants to try.

It seemed the sword’s requirements for a successor were very demanding and unique.

Raw strength alone could not claim it.

After all, the sword’s previous owner, the Legendary Sword Saint Roland, had been a simple farmer when he pulled the blade; he had no profession-related abilities at that time — his power had grown after he took the sword.

They said the selection for the sword’s successor had taken a long time before Roland drew it.

But that was over a century ago now, part of history; no one recorded exactly how long that ceremony lasted.

Much like people seldom care about minor events that occurred before a story, the details were forgotten.

Gauss took out his map.

The six great kingdoms surround the central empire, and the golden sacred imperial capital Aurelian, where the holy sword was located, sat at the empire’s heart — the center of human civilization. Coldjade Province, where he was based, lay on the southern frontier; traveling north would take months by flight, even allowing for rest and detours.

Between countries there are also vast uninhabited zones, dangerous for humans.

He’d heard some major cities had long-range teleportation arrays.

Traveling via a teleportation array could save enormous time.

Unfortunately, the whole Coldjade Province didn’t have one — or at least none he knew of.

Coldjade Province borders the monster lands to the south; building and maintaining a large teleportation array demands huge resources, and if the province fell, any teleport node there would threaten human civilization. So array locations were chosen very cautiously.

Also, not everyone can use a teleport array. The further the distance and the more objects carried, the more energy consumed, and the more fees paid to the owning family of the array; the cost becomes very high.

Even if one could afford it, an application must be submitted in advance with personal identity and travel purpose, then wait for approvals; only after departure and destination cities are both confirmed can one use it.

These procedures make most people choose traditional travel.

“When I reach the Transcendent tier, if the holy sword still hasn’t been pulled, I’ll go try for it.”

Gauss told himself that.

Once he advanced to Transcendent, level 11, his combat power would likely be around levels 14 or 15.

And the significance and social status of a Transcendent professional would change dramatically — the name itself implies everything below is mundane.

Crossing that threshold is like a carp leaping the dragon gate; one is considered a regional powerhouse wherever one goes.

He had no intention of inheriting the prestige of the Legendary Sword Saint for its own sake, but now that his strength was rapidly improving, the long trek to Aurelian might be worthwhile if he could pull the sword.

But what if he failed?

If he squandered time and resources for nothing and his strength plateaued, the loss would be enormous.

In short, his current level’s risk tolerance was too low. It was like when he first adventured and envied another’s full plate armor — at that time, selling him wouldn’t have covered the cost of that fine gear. Now, that armor was ordinary to him; he didn’t buy it only because it was too heavy and didn’t suit his fighting style.

So once he leveled up to Transcendent and his strength and status rose to a higher platform, many of the problems in front of him would naturally be resolved.

That was why he had the confidence to believe he could reach Transcendent in a short time.

If someone else had said this, it would be no different from giving up on ever going to the capital.