A row of wooden huts rose from the ground.
The protective fences outside the village enclosed it, and two watchtowers were built at the entrance.
Compared to the low and rudimentary thatched huts Gauss saw on his first day, it was a different scene altogether.
Gauss and the others finally had time to start training the villagers.
Just like in Goat Village, villagers eager to improve gathered in the open space.
Gauss and the others then began imparting some basic skills and conducting profession assessments.
The village had a population of less than a hundred people, and excluding women, children, and the elderly, there were even fewer suitable young people to train into a combat force.
Looking at the earnest young men and women in the open space, Gauss sighed.
This second village was indeed at a disadvantage compared to Goat Village.
This was not only reflected in the number of people, but even their talents were somewhat lacking.
Many of them had clearly not consumed enough nutrition during their growth period, resulting in a shrinkage of their vitality and physical talent.
Even though he had been trying to improve their diet these past few days, it was obviously not something that could be changed in a day or two.
Moreover, many were already adults. Even if they ate and drank well again, the deficiencies caused by nutritional deficits were permanent.
He could only ensure to teach diligently so that they could grasp more combat techniques as much as possible.
Looking at the three teenagers in front of him who seemed to have a talent for learning skills.
"Ha!"
"Hah!"
The iron swords confiscated from the bandits were swung with a sharp sound.
The remaining twenty or so people, though without a skill book to learn from, still sat in on the training.
Perhaps due to that initial experience when they killed the bandits, Gauss noticed that the proportion of villagers willing to enhance their combat skills was noticeably higher.
Moreover, since he didn’t stop them from listening and learning, many would take the time to join in and listen during construction breaks.
"My arms are so sore."
"Persist, didn’t Lord Gauss say so?"
"The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle."
"...."
Gauss looked at the villagers gritting their teeth and persisting, and nodded to himself.
At the village entrance.
Serdur was dragging a large buck slowly towards the village.
"Are we eating deer today?"
Gauss turned and greeted.
"Yes, Captain. I was originally going to hunt a wild boar, but just happened upon this one and didn’t bother looking further."
The villagers in training couldn’t help but swallow a few mouthfuls of saliva looking at the muscular, well-built buck.
For the impoverished, meat was not much different from a luxury item.
The prey of this era was also more adept in terms of agility compared to what Gauss remembered from his past life, making it difficult for ordinary farmers to hunt, besides the risk of encountering monsters in the forest.
Many had not tasted decent meat for a very long time, until Gauss and his team arrived, bringing some meat to their tables.
Looking at the expectant eyes of the villagers, Gauss shrugged.
"Then let’s start the feast first."
In the center of the village, the village women soon began bustling about.
Large pots had already been set up over several stoves.
Others started skinning, bleeding, and cutting the meat into pieces...
Of course, they wouldn’t consume all the meat at once, the rest would be processed in other ways.
As the crimson pieces of meat were thrown into the boiling pots, along with herbs and coarse salt that Serdur gathered on the way to remove the gaminess and enhance the aroma, the rich scent of meat soon spread throughout the village.
Tempting everyone’s appetite into action.
The children hovered around the stoves, unwilling to move away, their eyes fixed on the meat bobbing up and down in the pot, swallowing mouthfuls of saliva.
Although the adults scolded the children to keep their distance, they themselves couldn’t help but frequently cast their gaze into the pot.
Once the meat soup was finally cooked, Bruno personally took a wooden ladle, and under everyone’s gaze, ladled a big bowl for Gauss and the others first.
Only after getting his approval did they begin distributing the meal to the villagers.
Each person’s wooden bowl was filled with a fair amount of meat and rich broth.
The open space suddenly fell silent.
All that could be heard was the sound of slurping soup and chewing meat.
Though this wasn’t the first time the villagers had eaten meat since Gauss and the others arrived, everyone’s face still showed a blissful expression as if it were their first time.
It was like a sacred ceremony.
Some even had tears welling up in their eyes.
For the first time, they realized that life could be so good.
As Gauss ate the meat soup from his bowl, he actually thought the taste was quite primitive, even a bit gamey.
But seeing the girls who had recently been rescued, taking small bites of their meat, with tears silently falling into their bowls, made the meat soup taste different to him.
After the meal.
Gauss called Bruno to his side.
"Village chief, the village’s basic structure and defenses are set up, I plan to clear the surrounding threats."
"My partner scouted earlier and found that there might be a rather powerful demon lurking to the east of the village."
At the mention of a "powerful demon," Bruno’s expression showed a hint of nervousness.
"Is there anything you need us to do?"
"My team and I will be away for a short period. You should handle the village’s defenses well, just like in the previous drills. There must be people on duty at the watchtowers at all times, and if anything is spotted, alert the village immediately."
"If you encounter an enemy beyond your capability, hide in the cellar."
"Yes, Lord Gauss."
Gauss and his team, having accepted a commission from the Adventurer’s Guild, could only assist as much as they could, but for the village’s future growth, it ultimately depended on their own efforts.
....
Due to the lack of intelligence on this target, Gauss didn’t bring any villagers with him on this trip.
When a demon breaks through to Elite Level, it will either aggressively recruit monster minions or become a loner, hunting the surrounding monsters because their presence reduces the prey available in their territory.
Clearly, the target they were preparing to investigate this time was the latter.
Although it was not possible to judge the strength of these two by their habits, generally speaking, demons that become loners in the wild are often not weak.
Because they need to fight and hunt other demons, improving their skills and level in the process.
"Be extra careful."
"Ying, be prepared."
"Understood."
Even though Gauss’s combat ability had grown stronger, he would subconsciously remind his teammates every time they set out on a commission or mission.
Perhaps it was the unexpected incident they encountered on their first adventure commission that taught him the greatest lesson.
That is, to always be prepared for the worst.
Ying’s presence as the team’s safeguard meant she could activate her ability at any time to regroup the team members.
Subsequently, Gauss could quickly utilize the Flying Technique to evacuate the team.
After riding the chocobos for some distance.
Gauss sensed the increasingly desolate scene that Ying described.
Along the way, even the goblins, usually encountered in the largest numbers, had disappeared as if extinct.
Some wild animals peacefully grazed on grass with heads bowed.
Only upon hearing the thudding of Gauss’s team’s mounts did they run off into the distance.
"What could it possibly be?"
Clearly, when something abnormal occurs, there is often a demon involved.
Gauss and the others dismounted.
And then cautiously began exploring the surrounding area.
"Gauss, look over there."
Aaliyah spotted an unidentified object in the distance.
The group walked over.
Scattered on the ground were piles of rubble.
Clearly, these were not ordinary stones.
Gauss used the Mage’s Hand to lift one.
"Is this an eyeball?"
It was apparent from the rubble that some biological traces were visible.
"Some kind of stone sculpture?"
Gauss quickly shook his head.
Who would be so bored as to bring a stone sculpture to such a remote area and smash it to pieces?
Moreover, he could faintly sense a sort of unique flowing energy from the stones.
"It might be a kind of petrifying ability." Gauss shared his speculation with his companions.