The message from the business staff wasn’t very clear. They only knew it was an invitation from Haylir, and thinking they hadn’t met for a while and the distance wasn’t far, they set aside what they were doing and made the trip.
"Haylir, what’s so special about today?"
Bell walked with a slight limp, but it wasn’t too serious. He appeared much more mature than half a year ago, suddenly growing from a boy into a man, with a mustache on his lips.
Mia hadn’t changed much, just holding a thick book and wearing glasses, making her look more composed.
Pushing the door open into the private room, she asked Haylir casually.
Mia, who entered together, was also a bit curious.
Their gazes lingered briefly on the two other "strangers" in the room.
Although they vaguely felt one of them seemed familiar, they couldn’t immediately recall who it was.
At this moment, they were both quite puzzled. With outsiders present, why were they called over for a meal?
Haylir intentionally didn’t reveal Gauss’s identity.
"Let’s order, and eat first."
Bell and Mia glanced again at Gauss.
Then they sat down in the empty seats near Haylir.
"Guest’s choice, Haylir, you order, would you?"
Due to the presence of strangers, the two felt somewhat reserved.
"Hahaha, I won, Gauss." Haylir suddenly turned to look at Gauss. "I told you they absolutely wouldn’t recognize you!"
Gauss shrugged helplessly.
He really didn’t expect that his former teammates wouldn’t recognize him at all, considering that when he looked in the mirror, he felt his features hadn’t changed much.
"Gauss... such a familiar name..." Bell murmured quietly to himself.
Mia, however, seemed to suddenly remember something, her eyes widening.
She looked at Gauss.
"You’re Gauss, oh my god!"
She gasped.
No wonder when she entered, she felt a vague but indescribable sense of familiarity from him.
"I can’t blame me; your change is just too big." Mia looked slightly embarrassed.
Only then did Bell have a delayed realization.
His memories uncontrollably returned to more than half a year ago, in the corner of the Adventurer’s Guild hall in Gray Rock Town.
That boy in tattered linen clothes, holding a wooden spear, finally overlapped with the aristocratic-looking young man before him.
He opened his mouth, feeling a mix of emotions.
There was nostalgia and joy at seeing an old friend, and also a hint of buried inferiority and envy.
Haylir briefly introduced Gauss’s recent situation to the two, along with Serdur by his side.
Upon learning Gauss was already a Level 2 Professional,
their reactions were much more exaggerated than Haylir’s.
Especially Bell, who even borrowed Gauss’s official Adventurer’s bronze badge to admire it for a while before reluctantly returning it.
It was clear that he still harbored the last bit of an adventurer’s dream in his heart.
However, reality forced him to temporarily set aside his dreams.
Though it had been more than half a year, and there was some awkwardness among them, the overall atmosphere at the dinner table was relatively relaxed.
They each talked about what they had been busy with recently and their plans for the future.
The only outsider, Serdur, did not intend to interrupt, quietly eating his meal the whole time.
But from his occasional pause, it was evident he wasn’t as carefree as he appeared.
The host and guests enjoyed themselves, and after eating and drinking their fill,
they waved goodbye at the restaurant entrance.
Gauss watched the three of them leave, a smile appearing on his face.
He believed that farewells were merely for better reunions.
This meeting had also relieved him somewhat, having accomplished another goal in coming to the Forest Capital.
Meet old friends (✓), purchase mount (✓), explore labyrinth (in progress).
Knowing his former teammates were doing well, he felt an indescribable ease in his heart.
However, like the three of them, he needed to start working hard for his future!
"Shall we start the mission next, Serdur?"
"Alright, Captain."
The two didn’t waste time. Before heading to the city’s west, they had already taken on a hunting mission outside the western city from the nearest Adventurer’s Guild branch.
Gauss had registered a small team with the Adventurer’s Guild back in Gray Rock Town.
However, the current mission targets needed a bit more to raise the team to Level 2.
It was a perfect opportunity to sprint towards progress while Aaliyah was in "Cultivation."
Once the team was upgraded to Level 2, they could take on higher-level team missions, and perhaps find some labyrinth-exclusive team missions for some extra earnings.
"Let’s go."
Gauss mounted his chocobo.
This time, they had taken on a quest to clear out goblins.
The number exceeded a hundred.
There was a high probability of encountering an Elite Goblin-level expert.
This type of mission suited Gauss perfectly.
His two white-quality talents, Energy Storage Glands and Crawler Species, both needed goblin kills to upgrade.
Especially the Crawler Species, which was still at the Initial Level, was just right for an upgrade during this mission.
Besides, he was a major hunter of goblins, having mostly dealt with goblins early on, and now the elite demon guide had no goblin entries—how could that be justified?
It was time to return to an old trade.
The silhouettes of the two quickly disappeared at the end of the street, hurrying toward the city gate.