I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 309: Prize Selection

Gauss and his party received an unexpectedly warm welcome upon entering Fisherman's Song Town.It felt as if a local had won the championship.

"This is a bit strange..."

The team members were all somewhat confused by the situation.

But regardless, none of them had any particular inclination to be unwelcome, and being cheered by crowds lining the streets was definitely far better than being scorned.

"You're saying your town mayor wants to invite me to the town hall as a guest?"

A leading guard captain extended an invitation to Gauss.

"Yes, Mr. Gauss," the guard captain replied respectfully. "The mayor learned of your arrival today and specifically instructed us to welcome you here."

"Thank the mayor for his generous invitation, but I might need to visit the Adventurers Guild first."

Gauss didn't immediately accept.

"Of course, please go ahead."

"The mayor said everything should be according to your convenience."

Seeing Gauss's response, the captain said cheerfully,

"Thank you for understanding."

"Then we won't disturb you further here. We wish you a pleasant time in Fisherman's Song Town."

The soldiers quickly departed, simultaneously dispersing the curious residents to ensure they wouldn't interfere with Gauss and his party's subsequent activities in the town, while also giving them ample personal space.

"Quite considerate, the locals of Fisherman's Song Town."

Aria nodded in approval.

Gauss took note of this scene. Although they hadn't met yet, the local mayor had left him with a good first impression.

At least the worst cliché scenarios he had anticipated hadn't occurred.

But thinking about it, this was normal. An official capable of serving as a regional administrator and governing the town so prosperously couldn't possibly lack genuine ability.

After asking passersby for directions to the local Adventurers Guild headquarters, Gauss and his party quietly made their way through Fisherman's Song Town's main streets.

The town was generally quite clean.

When passing through a trade market, they saw the local supervisor randomly inspecting whether the merchants' weighing instruments were accurate, accompanied by a clerk writing a report.

Coupled with the occasional sight of patrol squads, everything in the small town was orderly.

Entering the Adventurers Guild hall.

The building here was nearly twice as large as the one in Lakeside Town and could accommodate more local and out-of-town adventurers.

Gauss saw many young adventurer faces.

"Any archers? Our team needs an archer."

"Clearing fifteen Slimes north of town, anyone want to join?"

"We need a local, settled senior adventurer to guide our team on commissions, generous payment offered."

"...."

Coming to the Adventurers Guild, that wild, chaotic but vibrant atmosphere hit them with the noise of a vegetable market.

These were the adventurers.

A group of ambitious people eager to make a name for themselves, like weeds growing vigorously by the roadside—no matter how much you trample them, they stubbornly grow toward the sunlight.

"Handsome, want to team up?"

Someone recruiting teammates called out to Gauss as he moved through the crowd.

"Sorry, I already have a team," Gauss waved his hand.

The person was about to say more but was quickly pulled back by a companion nearby, who whispered something in his ear.

Then he saw the 5-star badge on Gauss's chest, his pupils suddenly contracting.

Level 5 professionals weren't too common in Fisherman's Song Town either.

Especially since behind that man followed even higher-level companions, that woman as imposing as a great mountain.

Gauss's current face wasn't as recognizable as it had been in Lakeside Town. A few people in the crowd vaguely guessed something about this unfamiliar team with their extraordinary presence but didn't dare confirm it.

"Make way!"

Albenia's deep voice sounded from behind.

Those who saw her uniformly stepped aside several body lengths.

For these newcomers who had just started on the adventurer path, she was far too intimidating.

Arriving at the area serving professionals.

Gauss and the others came to the counter.

Before he could even take off his identity badge and speak, the young woman at the counter smiled and asked first,

"You must be Mr. Gauss?"

"That's me."

Gauss nodded.

He wasn't surprised to be recognized at first glance.

The Adventurers Guild staff must have received advance notice of his arrival to claim prizes.

"I'd like to collect the Blue Lake Hunting Competition champion's rewards. Is it convenient now? What procedures do I need to follow?"

"Of course it's convenient, Mr. Gauss!" The young woman behind the counter beamed.

"Please follow me."

After instructing her colleagues about some matters, she stood up from her seat.

She walked with light, quick steps to lead Gauss and the others.

"The warehouse for collecting prizes isn't here at the guild," the guild young woman explained quietly. "It's over at the town hall square, but it's not far from here."

Gauss nodded.

Leaving the guild, they walked along the road for a few more minutes.

Finally arriving at a relatively less crowded square.

The density of soldiers and watchtowers around significantly increased.

After passing several checkpoints.

Gauss and the others came before a building.

"Lord Gauss, please show your identity badge."

After confirming his identity with the guards again, Gauss was allowed to enter under staff guidance, though his teammates had to wait outside first.

As Gauss proceeded through the passageway, he examined the walls.

Magic patterns were carved into the hard marble.

"This is the vault jointly built by Fisherman's Song Town's Adventurers Guild and the local town government, used to store important supplies and treasures. The security is extremely tight."

"Besides festival prizes, Fisherman's Song Town allocates part of its fiscal revenue each year to purchase curiosities and prizes to reward adventurers who have made outstanding contributions to the town."

Speaking of this, the guiding woman's tone carried a hint of pride.

"Oh?"

Gauss nodded.

After passing through the rune-covered passageway, Gauss arrived at a bright reception hall.

Two people were already waiting in the hall.

One was a slightly overweight middle-aged man with shrewd eyes, the other an elderly man leaning on a cane.

After brief pleasantries, Gauss got straight to the point.

"Do you have any preferences regarding the curiosity prizes?"

The vault staff asked while handing him a prize list.

As the champion of this Blue Lake Hunting Competition, he could choose two items first from this prize list.

This was also why when he approached the Adventurers Guild staff earlier, they brought him here without hesitation.

As the champion, he had selection priority. Other ranked contestants, even if they arrived in Fisherman's Song Town first, had to wait until he finished choosing before they could make their selections.

"Let me take a look first..."

Gauss's eyes quickly scanned the list.

There actually weren't too many curiosity prizes listed.

He actually had some general ideas before coming.

"Can I see all the curiosities in person?"

Seeing the number wasn't too large, Gauss asked.

He felt he could make more accurate choices after actual inspection.

"This..." The shrewd-eyed middle-aged man showed a troubled expression.

But before he could dwell on it too much, the silent elderly man beside him decided,

"Of course, but please wait here for a while."

Gauss quickly realized that among the two, the old man held the leadership position.

"Thank you."

After sitting on the reception room sofa for some time.

Staff brought out various curiosities from the vault one by one.

Gauss also saw several curiosities from the list that had interested him.

His gaze first locked onto a moon-white mage robe.

When he attended the banquet a few days ago, he also wore a white robe, but that was one he casually bought on the roadside before, with nothing special about it—the most ordinary robe.

And the black mage robe he usually wore was clearly outdated compared to his current level.

He needed to update his equipment.

"Can I use the Identify Spell to examine it?" Gauss looked at the old man and asked.

The reason he had them bring out the actual items was precisely to use the Identify Spell.

"Please go ahead," the old man continued.

The old man wasn't surprised that Gauss was eyeing this moon-white mage robe. This mage robe was originally the most valuable prize on the list.

The reward that should have been here was originally a set of magic armor, but two days ago, it was decided to replace it with this mage robe.

Hearing the old man's agreement, Gauss didn't stand on ceremony too much.

He took out his Magic Wand, cast the Identify Spell, then gently tapped it on the robe.

Upon closer inspection, the robe wasn't purely moon-white;actually, some local details were mixed with faint golden patterns, giving it an indescribably elegant feeling.

As the Identify Spell took effect, the robe began to reveal different colors in his eyes.

Not white, not blue, but a shade of purple that pleasantly surprised Gauss.

A purple-quality mage robe?

Purple indicated exceptional-quality curiosity equipment, generally suitable for Master-level professionals.

Although that was said, many poor Master-level professionals still used shabby blue-quality equipment. Wealthy individuals like Albenia who possessed three exceptional equipment pieces were still in the minority.

The Identify Spell description soon popped up.

【Moonlight Robe】

Level: Exceptional Magic Item (Purple Quality)

Description: The masterpiece of a certain female mage obsessed with moonlight and stellar power. She attempted to weave mana radiation from stars into it. Although not fully successful, it unexpectedly endowed this robe with spiritual energy beyond ordinary equipment.

Basic Enchantment Effect 1: Moonlight Energy Storage - Under moonlight and starlight, it will absorb energy from the environment and store it.

Basic Enchantment Effect 2: Stellar Protection - The robe permanently maintains an invisible protective field, providing considerable protective power while also resisting one soul-level curse or mental attack. After use, this effect consumes stored moonlight energy to recover.

Basic Enchantment Effect 3: Travel Essential - This robe has extremely strong self-repair ability and self-cleaning ability. Any dirt cannot stain this robe for long.

Basic Enchantment Effect 4: Tranquil Heart - It helps the wearer maintain stronger spellcasting focus while making it easier to stabilize their mind when disturbed. Moreover, during spell research, theoretical deduction, and magic creation, thinking becomes clearer and sharper, occasionally producing sudden inspiration effects. The wearer's Intelligence and Charisma attributes will receive a certain degree of improvement.

After checking the robe's effects, Gauss was certain this was the equipment he needed.

First, its purple quality made Gauss feel extremely excited.

Before this, he only had one exceptional magic item—the 【Universal Key】—which he hadn't used yet.

And the robe was clearly different from the key. Its importance to a mage was probably second only to a suitable staff.

Moreover, it was foreseeable that if he chose this robe, for quite a long time, this would be what Gauss wore when going out.

First, it could absorb energy at night and store it.

The physical protection it provided might not often be needed since Gauss mastered protective magic, but having an additional layer of strong protection was always better.

No adventurer ever complained about having too many defensive measures, and robes restrict professional's actions much less than armor.

Furthermore, it could provide specific soul and mental-level protection, further expanding Gauss's protective dimensions.

Actually, the higher the level of power, the greater the probability of involving mental dimensions.

The third effect meant Gauss didn't need to worry about repair issues if it damaged, and self-cleaning was also a nice feature, maintaining dignity and cleanliness at all times.

The most important was the fourth effect. With Gauss already mastering many methods to enhance spellcasting focus, this spell could further strengthen it. Gauss didn't dare imagine how terrifying his spellcasting focus and anti-interference ability could become after wearing this Moonlight Robe.

Not to mention its other abilities—assisting mental work, boosting Intelligence and Charisma.

Intelligence was his most relied-upon primary attribute. As for Charisma, while not as important as Strength and Stamina, it was still good.

Higher Charisma provided many conveniences in daily life, and he gradually felt that Charisma as an attribute wasn't just about making appearance better and temperament more elegant. For spellcasters, it also had countless intangible assists.

It seemed to make both personal mana and environmental mana affinity higher.

Looking at the Moonlight Robe, Gauss showed a satisfied smile on his face.

This robe quite suited his preferences.

He originally thought getting two blue-quality curiosities would be good enough.

He never expected there to be such a purple equipment item on the list.

But although extremely satisfied with the Moonlight Robe in his heart, Gauss still didn't immediately confirm his choice.

Being cautious, he held his Magic Wand and used the Identify Spell on all the curiosities displayed before him.

Indeed...

Besides the Moonlight Robe, all other curiosities were blue quality.

Though their colors shown under the Identify Spell varied in depth.

"So, is there any prize that catches your fancy?"

"The first reward I want is this robe."

Gauss first confirmed the first prize that required no thought.

He knew this robe appearing here was most likely specifically prepared for him.

He happened to be a spellcaster, not a warrior, and the best prize here happened to be a robe suitable for spellcasters.

How could there be so many coincidences in the world.

"Okay." The middle-aged man nodded.

Gauss looked at the pile of blue-quality curiosities and fell into thought.

He had thought before coming—first get equipment he could use himself, and for the second curiosity, it would be best to choose something the whole team could use.

So...

He looked around and finally his gaze settled on a curiosity emitting deep blue light under the Identify Spell effect.

【Delicious Magic Pot】

Level: Rare Magic Item (Blue Quality)

Description: A seemingly ordinary portable pot that actually contains unique magical brilliance. The pot body is made of a special alloy with good magic conductivity. The bottom is inscribed with simple constant temperature and flavor concentration runes. You can use it to cook more diverse foods.

Basic Enchantment Effect 1: Portable and Self-Cleaning - The pot is lightweight, easy to carry, while possessing basic self-cleaning functionality, and can clean ingredients for the user.

Basic Enchantment Effect 2: Efficient Cooking - Can heat food faster.

Basic Enchantment Effect 3: Unique Flavor - Food cooked with this pot will have enhanced taste, becoming more delicious. Even if the cook has ordinary skills, with its help they can produce results comparable to professional chefs. If used by someone skilled in cooking, they can even create unimaginably excellent dishes. Additionally, after eating hot food cooked with this pot, consumers will feel physical and mental pleasure, and can naturally recover stamina, mana, and other energies at an accelerated rate within a certain range.

Compared to the other curiosities, Gauss felt this was also a curiosity that could be frequently used while traveling.

Clothing, food, shelter, and transportation are basic life needs. For clothing he had the Moonlight Robe, for shelter the Fold House, for transportation Hephaestus, the Ostrich, and the Living Bag containing them.

The only thing lacking now was in the aspect of food and drink.

Regarding eating, Gauss never shortchanged himself and his teammates.

But limited by neither he nor his teammates being professional cooks, even when obtaining rare ingredients, they sometimes couldn't fully bring out their delicious potential, which was truly regrettable.

But with this magic pot...

"Gulp—"

Gauss couldn't help but swallow.

Their quality of life while adventuring outdoors would likely experience a qualitative leap, right?

Only by eating well could they have more strength to fight enemies.

Moreover, the food it cooked had special effects—not just simply delicious, but also providing a period of energy recovery buff after consumption.

"The second item I choose is this magic pot."

Gauss finally decided.

Hearing this, the middle-aged man showed a slightly pained expression.

Of course, since the prizes could appear on the list, he had mentally prepared for them to be chosen, and these prizes had nothing to do with him anyway. But considering their value, as the vault keeper he still felt pained.

Among this batch of prizes, besides the obviously top-tier robe, in his opinion the most expensive was undoubtedly this magic pot.

Even for certain specific groups, the magic pot's value might not lose to the robe, or even surpass it.

Although it was a rare-quality magic item, because of its uniqueness, its actual value exceeded the quality shown under the Identify Spell.

The rarer the ingredients, the better the cooking effects would be.

After selecting the prizes and receiving approval, Gauss took both prizes on the spot.

He put the magic pot into his Storage Bag, while he directly wore the Moonlight Robe.

The moment he put on the robe, he clearly felt a cool energy circulating through his body, very comfortable.

Simultaneously, his brain felt as if wrapped by some special liquid, becoming more active.

Gauss looked at his status panel.

"Intelligence +1"

"Charisma +2"

Other effects couldn't be tested on the spot for now, but the attribute changes were already visibly apparent.

"Intelligence: 15→16 (15)"

"Charisma: 11→13 (11)"

Both attributes had improved.

His primary attribute Intelligence increased by 1 point, while Charisma, perhaps because the base value was relatively lower, increased by two points at once.

The numbers displayed after the arrows showed his true attribute values without equipment bonuses.

Gauss looked down at his whole body.

Wearing this robe felt indescribably comfortable;he didn't even want to take it off.

And upon closer look, his entire body seemed to faintly emit a certain white light, giving him an additional mysterious, ethereal temperament.

Of course, this light wasn't actual "light"—in Gauss's perception, it was a mental-level overflowing aura.

Beside him, the other three people were somewhat stunned.

Especially the female staff member who brought Gauss in—her face almost instantly turned bright red, all the way to her ears as if about to drip blood, her eyes seeming somewhat dazed.