The leaves on the ground show quite fresh footprints.
Aaliyah nodded knowingly.
Although we also encountered several other adventurers yesterday and nothing happened, it’s still best to remain cautious when running into other adventurers without knowing the specifics.
After all, one must always guard against others.
Both of them slowed their pace slightly.
As expected, they didn’t have to go far.
Voices filled the air from afar, and Gauss caught a faint, familiar scent.
They stealthily approached the source of the sound, peeking from behind a building.
At the source of the noise, in front of a three-story ruin, two groups were in a standoff.
To be precise, it was four humans against one half-snake man.
Seeing the half-snake man, Gauss immediately understood the origin of the familiar scent.
The half-snake man was the same one they had encountered in the inn two days ago.
However, unlike then, he now wore a slightly worn protective soft armor and held a wooden staff, looking more like an adventurer.
"Hand over that magic bracelet!" the leader of the humans shouted fiercely. "Our team found it first."
"Hiss?——" The half-snake man smiled unsettlingly. "I’m afraid not. I found this, and your companions just came later."
"Don’t listen to his excuses!"
"This creature is just a lowly priest. If he doesn’t hand it over, we won’t hesitate to retrieve it ourselves."
Gauss and Aaliyah exchanged a glance from behind the building.
What a coincidence, stumbling upon a scene of treasure snatching.
Priests are similar to clerics or other holy professions, skilled in restorative spells, buffing allies, debuffing enemies, or other special techniques.
No wonder the team consisting of one two-star and three one-star adventurers dared to act against a three-star adventurer, likely having determined the half-snake man’s profession somehow.
But Gauss and Aaliyah weren’t sure of the specific situation, so they had no intention of intervening.
Besides, the conflict wasn’t related to them.
Soon, the four-member team quickly got into formation, and the lead warrior charged fiercely with his teammate’s blessing spell.
Hiss—Curse trick!
The half-snake man moved swiftly, as a faint purple energy spread out before him as soon as he saw his opponents officially attacking.
The energy spread, covering the entire team.
The mage, ready to cast a spell, suddenly sneezed, and the magic power in front of him went haywire. The grease spell he meant to cast landed awkwardly at the warrior’s feet.
"Whoosh!"
The warrior slipped, his focus being all on the front, and slid a few meters forward before awkwardly regaining his balance.
"Woven! What the hell are you doing!"
He barely got up with his level 2 warrior constitution, shouting angrily without turning back.
"Sorry, boss! That snake creature’s spell messed me up!" Woven, the mage, explained pitifully.
"Be careful!"
The warrior sensed something slightly wrong with his body, but given his level advantage, he was the least affected. Clearly, the cunning half-snake man mainly targeted his teammates.
Hiss! Magic weapon!
Taking advantage of their momentary disarray, the half-snake man cast another spell unhurriedly.
A long whip with a ghostly green glow appeared in his hand out of nowhere.
Then he cast himself a buff spell, twisting his serpent body, covered in golden scales, nimbly avoiding the grease spell area and charging toward the rear of the team like a gold-and-green whirlwind.
"Snap! Snap!"
The magically infused whip lashed through the air, striking the three in the back who failed to dodge in time, cries of pain erupting, as the whip’s magic attack cut through their armor, hitting their bodies.
"Such a strong priest..."
Gauss clicked his tongue in surprise.
He could tell the half-snake man was holding back, showing some restraint, yet he still seemed to handle the team’s attack with ease.
Moreover, his movement speed was lightning fast.
The three 1-star professionals struggled under some kind of trick.
The warrior, the only one managing to barely defend, couldn’t catch up with the nimble snake shadow without the support of his teammates.
Was it his level advantage, spell advantage, or his racial physical advantage?
"The two friends in the back! As fellow human adventurers, please help us deal with this snake monster! There will be great rewards afterward!"
One of the four, a woman, suddenly shouted toward Gauss and his team’s hiding spot.
Gauss was sure he hadn’t been directly seen, but the precise calling out of their position and number meant it wasn’t just a bluff.
Nonetheless, he had no intention of joining in.
He remained silent, not responding at all.
"You two, this snake monster stole the treasure we found first! Once it’s done with us, it won’t spare you either!" The previously shouting adventurer continued.
Gauss remained unmoved.
Firstly, this matter had nothing to do with him; secondly, although they kept calling it a snake monster, the fact that it could register as an adventurer indicated its legitimacy; lastly, he had no idea who stole whose treasure, but he could see that the half-snake man, while having the upper hand, didn’t go all out.
Seeing that Gauss remained silent throughout, and didn’t even show a shadow.
The four realized seeking help was futile and exchanged glances.
"Let’s retreat!" The warrior decided decisively.
They hadn’t expected the half-snake man’s combat power to be so formidable and were caught off guard.
Seeing the few slowly retreating, the half-snake man also didn’t intend to attack again, his snake eyes fixed on their figures until they completely disappeared from view.
Only then did he slowly turn toward Gauss’s direction, his mouth widening, a polite and strangely friendly smile mixed with scrutiny appeared.
"We meet again, you two." The hoarse voice sounded.
Aaliyah instinctively tugged at Gauss’s sleeve.
"It’s all right."
"He probably sniffed out our scent." Gauss wasn’t surprised that the half-snake man could specify their identities.
Serpents can identify various targets by capturing minute scent particles in the air with their tongues. Even while hidden, familiar scents evade their perception.
"What a coincidence." Gauss walked out openly but kept his distance.
"Thank you two for your righteous act, hiss—." The half-snake man deactivated the magic weapon, the glow of the whip fading, offering sincere thanks.
"We didn’t do anything." Gauss responded calmly.
"Hiss! That’s more than enough." The half-snake man nodded.
He felt a clear threat from Gauss. If the man had joined the attack earlier, it would have spelled big trouble for him today.
"Here, this is for you."
A small cloth-wrapped object was tossed at Gauss’s feet.
The fabric unfolded, revealing an ancient-looking bracelet.
Gauss saw the bracelet, raised his brow slightly, showing a surprised expression.
If he recalls, this bracelet was probably the root cause of the conflict between the two parties.
So easily given to them? Just because the two didn’t join the attack on him?
As if seeing through Gauss’s thoughts, the half-snake man spoke proactively.
"Hiss—earlier, I refused to hand it over, just to prevent that group of robbers from succeeding. I don’t really need this bracelet."
Having given away the bracelet, he twisted his serpent body, ready to leave.
Actually, he had another reason he didn’t mention.
Which was that Gauss was one of the rare humans who made him feel an odd sense of familiarity.
"Hiss! See you next time if fate allows!"