I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 344: Eberhard’s Request

Gauss's arrival naturally couldn't be hidden from others.Although Grayrock Town was remote and not exactly prosperous in terms of commerce, as one of the transit points for many adventurers entering the Emerald Forest, its information flow was quite developed.

As early as these past few months while Gauss was away, locals had frequently mentioned that Gauss was an adventurer who had come from Grayrock Town. Many of them had even met Gauss face-to-face.

When talking about this, perhaps many of the visiting merchant caravans and migrant workers didn't believe it, but the locals took great pride in it.

Although Gauss's current temperament had changed significantly compared to the past, his main physical characteristics of black hair and green eyes still hadn't undergone any obvious changes. So after a little observation, many people could vaguely guess his identity.

Of course, guessing was one thing, but the diners eating in the main hall wouldn't rashly approach to disturb this adventuring party's meal. They even subconsciously lowered their voices when talking, afraid of disturbing them. Or perhaps they wanted to hear clearly what Gauss and the others were chatting about.

At the dining table, while waiting for the food to arrive.

Gauss was introducing his past experiences in Grayrock Town to Albenia and Shadow.

He didn't consider the original body's life of struggling on the poverty line in Grayrock Town as some shameful experience. Or rather, those slightly painful and bitter memories in his mind had now become insignificant anecdotes.

After chatting for a while, the food was quickly served.

"Sit down and eat with us."

Gauss promptly invited Sophia to join them at the table for the meal.

He also wanted to learn about her life in Grayrock Town over the past year.

Although from what he observed—the expansion of the shop, the increase in staff, the renovation of the inn—all these changes undoubtedly indicated Sophia's situation was improving steadily. But the specifics were clearer coming from the person herself.

"Didn't encounter any trouble, right?"

"Everything's going very well, what trouble could I possibly have?" Sophia smiled. "Thanks to you, people always come to take care of the shop's business."

"What about you, Gauss? Have you been well?"

Sophia's gaze shifted to Gauss's teammates.

Although she was just an ordinary small-town resident and understood relatively little about adventurers and their lives, she could still tell that Gauss and his teammates were clearly completely different from the adventurers in this town.

Their equipment was more luxurious, and the aura they exuded from their bearing and conversation also had a noticeable difference.

After all, a person's speech and temperament continuously improve with growing experience and broadening horizons.

Less than a year might seem insignificant, but Gauss and the others had resisted the beast tide outside Lincrest Town at the outpost, dealt with the Treant rampage in the Dark Forest, blew up the Goblin rock cave nest, sank the Goblin mothership at sea, provided "educational support" in the countryside, subdued the Drake, executed the evil witch, confronted the Dragon Worshipers, and had an audience with the twin gods to learn of the prophecy.

One could say an ordinary adventurer's entire lifetime of experiences might not be as rich as what they had gone through in this past period.

Having experienced so much and faced several life-and-death crises, everyone had acquired a certain composure and self-possession.

Of course, Gauss only selected some interesting travel anecdotes to share with Sophia, such as the scenery of Coral Bay, the Blue Lake festival at Lakeside Town, the tiefling encounter at Longdi Fort, and so on.

Oliver, listening to me share the travel experiences, also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling gratified for my growth.

The former small-town youth had already grown into a legendary existence in the eyes of ordinary people.

After finishing the meal.

Gauss's gaze turned to the several cavalrymen waiting at the inn's entrance. Actually, they had arrived while he was halfway through his meal, but they hadn't disturbed him and had waited until he finished dining.

After making eye contact with Gauss, the leading man nodded and walked in.

"Lord Gauss, President Eberhard would like to invite you and your teammates to visit the Adventurers Guild headquarters when you have free time. He wishes to meet with you."

"I understand. Then I'll go to the guild this afternoon."

Gauss nodded.

He wasn't surprised by this.

Actually, not just in Grayrock Town—ever since he made a name for himself as the Crimson Dragon Knight and achieved the remarkable feat of killing the Transcendent Dragon Priestess, whenever he passed through some small towns, he would receive invitations from the local Adventurers Guild presidents.

Some simply wanted to meet him, to see if they could get acquainted. Others wanted to entrust him with some tricky, high-difficulty commissions.

But at that time, he was busy heading to the snowy mountains and returning, so he didn't delay too long on the road.

Grayrock Town was, after all, his "hometown." He naturally couldn't decline the invitation using the excuse of a busy schedule like he would for ordinary passing-through towns.

Speaking of which, he had met Eberhard a few times before, so he recognized him.

Of course, this acquaintance was one-sided in his view. Back then, he was just the most ordinary Level 1 professional, inconspicuous during the Winter Hunt activities, and even very envious of President Eberhard's griffin mount.

But now, in terms of mounts, he was far ahead.

Shaking his head, he pushed these thoughts from his mind.

Gauss wasn't in a hurry to go to the Adventurers Guild immediately. Instead, he took his teammates back to his own home not far from the inn.

Having been away for over half a year, the house had accumulated a thick layer of dust.

He checked the traps he had left behind, confirming that no outsiders had entered the house during his absence. Then he used magic to quickly clean the entire house, making it spotless again.

Serlandul would stay with him in the same house.

Shadow and Albenia would temporarily stay at Aria's home.

After resting for a bit and finishing washing up, Gauss's team set out on the town streets again.

The frost protection left by Aisweir was still very effective, especially for adventurers like them who needed to be active outdoors frequently.

Besides greatly improved cold resistance, it was as if a special force field enveloped their bodies. Snowflakes would naturally curve and avoid them as they approached their immediate surroundings.

Gauss was very familiar with the way to the Adventurers Guild.

Arriving at the town square, he glanced at the sword-shield-staff symbol above the entrance porch and stepped into the guild hall.

"Huh?"

The scene inside the guild hall was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Based on last year's experience, after winter began, the number of people in Grayrock Town's Adventurers Guild hall would rapidly decrease.

This was because many of the adventurers active in Grayrock Town weren't locals. They would choose to return to their hometowns during the season when it was relatively inconvenient to undertake commissions, then return to Grayrock Town or other similar towns the following year after the snow melted.

But currently, the number of adventurers in the hall was still quite high.

Gauss raised an eyebrow, thoughtful.

"Mr. Gauss, long time no see."

Not far in front of him, a petite but sweet-looking blonde staff member raised her hand and greeted him.

"Petra, it's you."

Gauss also waved in acknowledgment.

"Still working as a receptionist?"

"No, I've been promoted. I'm now a guild steward."

Petra straightened her posture, indicating her steward uniform and the work ID hanging on her chest.

"Congratulations on the promotion."

"But compared to you, the little achievements I've made aren't worth mentioning."

Petra had worked as a receptionist in Grayrock Town for several years.

"President Eberhard is waiting for you in the reception room on the third floor."

Petra gestured with her hand.

Precisely because of her familiarity with Gauss, she had been assigned to wait and receive him at the main entrance.

"Then let's go."

Gauss headed towards the hall stairs.

Almost 90% of the gazes on the first floor were focused on him, with the crowd murmuring quietly.

Walking up the stairs to the second floor, the number of people decreased significantly. Those who could come here were all professionals.

However, their attention towards Gauss was no less than that of the lower-level adventurers on the first floor.

Gauss's gaze swept over the crowd and suddenly spotted a few somewhat familiar figures.

"Levin, Meva, Oliver?"

Gauss looked surprised.

He hadn't expected to see his teammates from the second adventuring party he had joined, called the Night Owl Squad, here.

Levin was the shield bearer and also the captain of the team back then. Meva was the Rogue, and Oliver was the archer.

He didn't see the swordsman Doyle or the priest Daphne, though.

"Gau... Gauss?"

Levin suddenly running into Gauss made his body tense up. He seemed somewhat flustered, then somewhat awkwardly raised his hand in greeting.

"Welcome back to Grayrock Town, Gauss." Meva, on the other hand, appeared very poised and natural, her gaze curiously looking at the companions behind Gauss.

She seemed to be quietly observing Gauss's current teammates.

Oliver remained as taciturn as ever.

Gauss glanced at the adventurer badges hanging on their chests. Clearly, they had all crossed the professional threshold and become Bronze-rank adventurers.

From this perspective, the former Night Owl Squad indeed lived up to its reputation as an "elite squad."

Even without counting him, three of the five-member group were already known to have advanced to become Level 1 professionals.

Of course, Levin and Oliver were both not young anymore, so their promotions were a natural progression.

"Congratulations on advancing to professional."

"Thank you."

Advancing to professional was indeed something Levin took pride in. When he returned to his hometown some time ago, he enjoyed the glorious treatment of returning home in splendor. But when his gaze fell upon Gauss and his teammates before him, he suddenly felt it wasn't worth boasting about.

Now, he and this former teammate seemed to be people from different worlds.

Gauss glanced at Petra, who was quietly waiting for him to finish chatting.

"Sorry, I have something to attend to now. If you have time, let's have dinner together tonight."

"Okay... okay." Levin nodded.

"Then it's settled."

Gauss waved his hand, then followed Petra up to the third floor.

After he left, Levin felt much more at ease, letting out a long sigh of relief. He withdrew his gaze from the stairs, clicking his tongue in surprise.

"Could it be that President Eberhard is looking for Gauss to discuss something?"

After all, the third floor was the president's office area. Ordinary adventurers generally didn't have the opportunity to go up there.

"Don't think about it too much. Let's submit the commission first." Meva, as if sensing her captain's complex mood, changed the subject.

Entering the reception room on the third floor.

President Eberhard and his deputy were already waiting there.

Eberhard stood up and shook hands with Gauss and the others, exchanging a few simple pleasantries.

He then gestured for Gauss and the others to take seats freely around the round table.

"May I ask what instructions President Eberhard has for our team?" Gauss looked at this not-so-familiar red-haired man.

Among the official personnel of Grayrock Town's Adventurers Guild, besides the former receptionist Petra, the only one he was familiar with was Vice President Sherry. As for the actual person in charge before him, this was their first conversation.

"I wouldn't dare presume."

Eberhard waved his hand.

He could sense a faint, almost imperceptible pressure emanating from Gauss.

This indicated that, at least in terms of actual combat power, the other party was not inferior to him, perhaps even stronger.

This also meant that the intelligence he had gathered about Gauss probably wasn't exaggerated.

A year had passed. The young man he had secretly kept an eye on back then had already grown into a powerful adventurer on equal footing with him.

And this was just the present. Anyone with a bit of logical thinking could tell from Gauss's rapid breakthrough speed that his future was limitless.

Perhaps in a couple of years, when he met Gauss again, he would have to use honorifics.

For adventurers, there was no emphasis on seniority or age. Here, the only principle was that the strong were respected, and strength was supreme.

Having the bigger fist was the hard truth.

Thinking of this, he became even more serious.

"I'd like to inquire about Gauss's plans for next year?"

"Next year..." Gauss pondered for a moment.

Actually, regarding next year, that is, New Calendar 1016, Gauss's team had privately discussed it.

There were essentially three routes: heading east to the Forest Capital Barry, traveling west to re-explore the Coral Bay and Tarna River basin area, or going north to the provincial center, Falim.

Ever since he crossed the Master rank and possessed considerable strength even within this tier, Gauss's team's range of activity would become much more flexible. They no longer needed to be as cautious and meticulous as in the past. They could venture deeper into areas with relatively dense monster populations.

They could more intensively purge the monsters within the human kingdom's territory.

Firstly, he needed to kill a large number of monsters to enhance his strength. Now that he had ample mana and possessed large-scale destructive spell capabilities, as long as he was careful, he shouldn't encounter too much danger. Secondly, it would also build his reputation, accumulate prestige, and allow for resource plundering from larger-scale monster tribes.

However, doing so might require him to establish a logistics team to distribute the various captured materials, monster parts, and other resources on his behalf.

As an adventurer, he didn't have much energy to personally handle these trivial matters.

"Our team is currently still internally discussing the activity routes for next year." Gauss didn't reveal his plans.

"I see... If possible, I hope Gauss and your team can stay in the Grayrock Town area for a while at the beginning of next year." Eberhard requested with a grave expression.

"Has the situation in the Emerald Forest changed?"

Gauss looked directly at Eberhard, getting straight to the point.

"Yes. According to intelligence gathered by the guild's spies in the forest, the Ogre tribe, one of the major tribes under the Green Dragon Queen, has begun activities in the forest's border areas."

"Last year's Winter Hunt was just a preliminary operation. We reasonably speculate that this medium-to-large Ogre tribe is planning a bloody city-sacking and plundering raid."

"We just aren't clear yet which of the surrounding towns is their target."

Eberhard looked at Gauss.

As the president of Grayrock Town's Adventurers Guild, having finally waited for such a powerful figure to return, he naturally hoped the other party could stay in Grayrock Town a bit longer.

Even though Grayrock Town's defensive capabilities had been significantly strengthened over the past year.

But if Gauss's team, possessing formidable combat strength, could be stationed in Grayrock Town, the safety factor would undoubtedly increase greatly.

However, whether to agree depended on Gauss's decision.

"I understand..."

Gauss nodded.

If it was a large-scale monster tribe, then this beast tide would be far more terrifying than what they experienced previously at Outpost 11.

"I'll try to stay in town for a while longer."

Gauss agreed for now.

He could also accept many commissions in the town's vicinity. Moreover, if a beast tide attacked the town, it would be a perfect opportunity for him, this monster-slaying machine, to accumulate entries in the Monster Encyclopedia. He wouldn't need to go through the trouble of gathering intelligence and investigating monster nests across the vast wilderness.

Also, he could use this time to see if he could start building his own logistics team.

Hearing Gauss's reply, Eberhard breathed a sigh of relief, as if given a shot of adrenaline.

For him, for the entire Grayrock Town and the surrounding area, this was undoubtedly good news.

Although the higher-ups and the provincial capital Falim would also provide support, because they needed to guard against the Green Dragon Queen and its several monster generals, and the entire front line was too long and narrow, there might not be sufficient forces allocated to Grayrock Town.

"I thank you on behalf of the residents of Grayrock Town."

"President, there's no need to be so polite. After all, I am also a member of Grayrock Town."

Gauss certainly didn't want this town, which held so many of his memories, to completely disappear from the map.

His gaze turned to the Monster Encyclopedia.

"Total monsters killed: 11,896"

Perhaps this number would see rapid growth soon.

Actually, what limited the increase in the total kill count, besides strength, was more often constrained by factors beyond combat, such as travel and intelligence gathering. This resulted in them rarely having the opportunity to encounter truly large gatherings of monsters.

The Goblin nest in the cave, Hephaestus's Goblin-like creature army, and the monster vassal army driven by the Dragon Worshipers. But these single engagements were basically limited to a few hundred to a thousand at most.

A paradise where monsters gathered everywhere.

A few hundred or a thousand monsters thrown into it would be just a drop in the ocean. So even if this terrifying monster nation diverted a fraction of its power, it would be enough to gather into a monster ocean for sacking cities and plundering lands.

His gaze passed through the window, over the town, reaching the distant horizon where the touch of green representing the Emerald Forest lay. In his heart, there was unease, but also a thread of eager anticipation.