"It seems... it seems to be an adventurer!"
"But what’s up with that monster?"
"Could it be a disguise?"
Listening to the villagers’ hushed discussions.
It’s quite ironic.
In his memory, he recognized a few people. After all, the village was this small, everyone was familiar with each other, meeting daily.
These villagers used to be the little bullies in the village. Although they weren’t quite thugs, they occasionally used their dominant personalities to bully family and neighbors.
In the past, Gauss seemed to frequently be provoked by them. Fortunately, his family wasn’t weak in the village, so they only dared to take verbal advantages without taking action.
Unexpectedly, facing them now, these few appeared as meek as quails, trembling like mad.
Gauss shook his head.
Riding on a golden chocobo, he waved toward their direction.
Faced with Gauss’s directive, they started feeling uneasy, but for some reason, though they wanted to flee in their heart, their bodies moved involuntarily under his control, shuffling nervously to Gauss and others.
After reaching them.
The overwhelmingly solid aura almost suffocated them.
Just as they thought they were doomed, having really encountered a demon disguised as an adventurer, the handsome figure in black suddenly spoke.
"Carson, Brian, O’Neill. Is my family doing well?"
Hearing him accurately call out their names, the three who had kept their heads down were simultaneously startled, slowly raising their heads.
Gazing at the familiar yet strange face of the man in the black robe.
In that moment, they seemed to have thought of something, but felt entirely unable to confirm it.
There was some resemblance, and that person indeed left to make a living, but he couldn’t be connected to the imposing figure before them in any way.
"I am Gauss." Seeing the three seemingly realizing something but unwilling to believe it, Gauss had to reveal his identity.
Gauss!!!
Instead of joy at encountering a fellow villager, a hard-to-swallow gulp went down their throats.
Utterly disheartened.
The prominent figure before them was indeed Gauss!
Upon confirmation, they felt as if the world began to spin.
They remembered clearly, throughout the years, they had indeed made things difficult for him.
Thinking they might not meet for a lifetime, yet little more than a year had passed, and he had returned as if transformed into a different person.
Guilt-ridden, the three collapsed under Gauss and the others’ aura.
Seeing their panic-stricken state, Gauss felt helpless. Initially, he wanted to inquire about the family’s current situation before formally returning.
But he underestimated both his party’s, especially his own, influence.
Sighing, he resorted to using magic.
"Friendship Spell!"
As magic surged around him, a magical wave reached the trio.
"Tell me about my family’s situation."
Influenced by the trick and Gauss’s charm attributes, the ordinary villagers, like bewitched, ceased trembling and recounted the information Gauss needed.
Hearing everything was well at home, with his elder brother and sister-in-law having a son, Gauss breathed a sigh of relief.
Undoing the spell.
The trio, momentarily stunned, vaguely grasped what had transpired.
An unprecedented terror engulfed them; had Gauss just controlled them?
What was that? Magic? Witchcraft?
With their awareness level, they couldn’t understand the specific effects of the spell, only knowing it was Gauss’s miraculous power.
The feeling of being controlled like puppets left them uneasy and fearful.
"You may go now, and live well in the future. Don’t bully others anymore." Gauss sighed.
He had no interest in taking revenge on them.
Carson and the others nodded vigorously at Gauss’s words.
"Alright, alright, we’ll leave right away,"
They replied, then swiftly crawled and ran off into the distance.
During Gauss’s inquiry, other villagers noticed them too.
Seeing Carson and his companions fleeing in fear, the other villagers, although cautious, merely leaned against doorways, observing Gauss and his party venture deeper into the village.
Seeing Gauss’s face, they simultaneously felt an inexplicable familiarity.
Gauss led his companions to the front of a small courtyard in the village’s corner.
His family’s condition in Stone Creek Village was fairly decent.
They owned land, and his father, Host, had a hunter’s prowess, supporting the family with that skill.
Raising two sons and a daughter successfully, the sons had exceptional physical strength.
Yes, now reflecting with experience, a 5 ability score is a normal person’s health level.
A year ago, apart from having 6 intelligence, his other stats were all at level 5, seeming quite ordinary.
But in those times, especially in relatively poor, meat-scarce rural areas, having a "normally healthy" body was indeed difficult.
However, as old Host’s age progressed, his legs became less agile, reducing hunting trips, and with dwindling wildlife harvests, the household’s diet eventually declined.