Gauss, Alia, and the grey wolf Ulfen walked across the bleak, windswept wilderness.
There were far fewer travelers and wagons on the road than there had been days ago, and the chill in the air was sharpening.
Both of them were in good physical condition—especially Gauss. Though he lacked a warrior’s class bonuses and heavy combat techniques, his base attributes weren’t necessarily inferior to some Level 1 fighters. He hadn’t been sick in a long time, and his resistance to the cold far exceeded that of an ordinary person.
“Two more quests done.”
Alia crossed off an entry in the small notebook she carried, her breath fogging in the air.
“It might look odd, still doing these little jobs after reaching Bronze rank,” Gauss said, “but honestly, the efficiency’s not bad.”
“Doesn’t bother me,” Alia shrugged, then added with a teasing smile, “though… I hear people have started calling us the ‘Goblin Slayer Squad.’”
Gauss was speechless.
Sure, he admitted his goblin kill count had gone up lately—but wasn’t that simply because most of the active monsters nearby were goblins?
With the weather turning cold, he didn’t want to make long trips, so he’d focused on clearing smaller local contracts. After getting Guild approval, he’d earned permission to take on two adjacent or same-route quests at once. That meant one outing could finish two jobs, and the monster count per trip often topped thirty—while getting back to Grayrock faster than most low-level missions.
Efficiency comparable to a basic 1-star job, but with less risk.
Somehow, though—whether someone had been tracking his quest history or just word-of-mouth from grateful villages seeing a Bronze adventurer deal with “their” monsters—his deeds had started to spread.
A few trips later, the name “Goblin Slayer” was quietly circulating around Grayrock.
By now, many Bronze adventurers knew there was someone in their rank who was “obsessed” with clearing goblin mobs. Most Bronzes had stopped working to rest up for the Winter Hunt, so there was more time for gossip. And Gauss, still grinding away with low-level adventurers, stood out all the more.
“Let them talk. We keep training and getting stronger. Once we’re higher level, the gossip will fade,” he said, recalling something from his past life:
When you succeed, everyone around you suddenly becomes a ‘good person’.
Alia didn’t answer. She didn’t share Gauss’s absolute confidence in eventually reaching the higher tiers. Plenty of people had praised her talent, but compared to true prodigies, she didn’t think she measured up.
After a brief attempt to “encourage” her, Gauss checked his Adventurer’s Manual.
[Total Monsters Kills: 619.]
In his last three trips—six quests total—he’d killed 115 low-level monsters, most of them goblins wandering the wilds. Still, the thousand-kill milestone was far off; there was no way he’d reach it before the Winter Hunt.
The good news: repeated use had pushed Enhanced Leap to Lv3. His activation speed was faster, and each stride was a few centimeters longer. It didn’t sound like much, but over sustained movement, the mobility boost was significant—useful for both chasing and escaping.
Mage Hand and Magic Missile were also close to leveling.
The cold wind bit at them as they pushed on. Nearing Grayrock, the traffic thickened as side roads merged into the main path.
Gauss scanned the flow of people—and spotted a familiar face in a weary, mud-streaked party.
He narrowed his eyes, memory and reality overlapping. Yes—back when he’d worked at the blacksmith’s shop, Marlin had been a surface-level friend. The last time Gauss had visited, he’d learned Marlin had left to become an adventurer.
From the look of things, he’d started taking quests. But judging by the party’s low morale and battered condition, things weren’t going well. Their gear was damaged or missing pieces, and a closer look showed scrapes and bruises.
As Gauss drew closer, he caught the voice of a man who seemed to be their leader, grumbling:
“Told you not to fight head-on! Now look—half our weapons are gone, the quest’s a bust! Winter’s nearly here; I say we disband before we starve!”
The man’s glare shifted to Marlin.
“And you—how many times have I told you, don’t panic! Soon as the fight starts, your hands shake like a leaf… You lot are the worst party I’ve ever led!”
The team trudged on in a cloud of tension.
Gauss hesitated—should he say something?
Ulfen, walking ahead, drew the eyes of everyone nearby, including Marlin’s group. Their gazes moved from the imposing wolf to Gauss and Alia behind him.
Gauss’s eyes met Marlin’s.
Recognition was instant; Marlin’s eyes went wide. That settled the question.
“Small world,” Gauss said with a faint, awkward smile. “So, you’re an adventurer now.”
“Y-yeah,” Marlin muttered, half-covering his face with a hand, rubbing his nose, eyes evasive.
He’d imagined many scenarios of running into someone he knew—always as a triumphant return, mounted, with a haul of loot. Not .
Fresh from being chewed out by his captain—loud enough for Gauss to hear—Marlin wanted to disappear. And Gauss… he looked taller, sharper, more self-assured than before. His polished gear made Marlin’s battered state feel even more humiliating.
Months ago, it had been Gauss’s spoils that had pushed Marlin into chasing the adventurer’s life. He’d convinced his parents to fund sword training, then registered as a warrior. He’d thought he’d climb fast—earn silver, upgrade gear, escape the bottom tier.
Reality had been brutal.
His first party had dissolved after casualties. His second now seemed ready to collapse. Adventuring wasn’t grand—it was grinding the simplest jobs for meager pay, and if you failed, you not only earned nothing, you lost supplies… sometimes even gear.
This was the risk for bottom-tier adventurers—and it could spiral: low completion rate meant no money; no money meant no repairs or upgrades; that meant less strength, which led to more failures, party breakups, and falling into worse groups.
“Last time I stopped by the forge, I heard you’d left. I was going to—” Gauss began, trying to ease the mood.
“Mm.” Marlin’s voice stayed low.
Gauss’s eyes lingered on his bowed head. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel✶fire.net
“Hang in there. We’ll catch up another time.” Seeing his demoralized state, Gauss kept it polite, then moved on with Alia, picking up the pace under the stares of passersby.
When the pair were out of sight, Marlin’s teammates leaned in.
“Marlin, you know that guy?”
“Used to work with him at the blacksmith’s… Why?”
Gauss’s departure had eased Marlin’s tension, but the nervous look on his teammates made him wary again.
“Why? What about him?”