Chapter 46: The Wharf and the Vanished Water Ghosts
"Are we almost there?"
"I think so, let me check."
In the endless wilderness at noon, several figures were slowly advancing, following an old horse pulling a cart down a narrow path.
Gauss walked while observing the environment around him, not to appreciate the scenery, but to compare it with the map in his mind.
The places he walked by would light up the surrounding area.
So usually, when he was traveling outside, he would subconsciously name and mark landmarks or places with distinct features.
To make the map information appear more detailed.
Now, this mental map was completely dark except for the area around Gray Rock Town.
Several lit, winding paths extended from Gray Rock Town, the ends connecting to several villages.
These were all places he had passed during previous tasks.
This map feature might not sound very useful, but when you’re in a vast sea of trees or an endless wilderness with no man-made structures in sight, you’ll appreciate the comfort it brings by letting you know where you are and how far from town you are at any given time.
Never worrying about getting lost.
This in itself is a very powerful skill, especially for bottom adventurers.
In fact, when he becomes a professional with enough strength to venture into more complex ruins, secret realms, and underground cities, the map might provide even greater help.
Mazes, caves, the underground world, sea adventures, no matter the environment, as long as he’s passed through, he won’t get lost later.
After casually marking a water source, he retreated from the map in his mind.
In his view, the silhouette of a shimmering great river had already appeared in the distance.
That was the destination of their current commission, the Enns River.
This mission was to clear a group of water ghosts haunting the riverbank, about twenty in number. The group needed to search the area around the docks and eliminate the monsters.
This was the second mission they executed after the heavy rain; the last one was clearing skeletons in a graveyard.
Ordinary skeletons were arguably the weakest monsters he had encountered so far.
Unfortunately, there weren’t many, Gauss had already killed a lot, and in the end, there were only eight.
Moreover, there were very few skeleton-related commissions, and it was by chance that Gauss and his team got one.
Probably because skeletons are too weak, so weak that there’s no need to pay adventurers for it; villagers can just grab a pitchfork and deal with them easily.
The pure shame of monsters.
Fortunately, those eight skeletons nudged Gauss’s monster-killing progress forward a bit, and now he’s just ten short of reaching a total of fifty kills.
The number of ten monsters sounds achievable within a single mission.
"Everyone, be careful. This heavy rain might have brought other strange things besides water ghosts," Levin, as always, reminded everyone before officially entering the dock.
Gauss nodded upon hearing that.
The river was already home to many monsters, and with the continuous rain, it was indeed possible that creatures from other places were drawn here.
Above the docks along the riverbank stood a small fishing village at a higher elevation.
Below was a smooth wooden pier, with dozens of small boats docked at the shore, colorful aquatic plants swaying under the boats, and the sunlight piercing through the water’s surface creating a breathtaking view.
Sailors, loaders, and fishermen were working diligently at the dock.
"Everything seems normal."
The group looked down from above for a long time, able to see all the scenery along the riverbank, but they didn’t notice any water ghosts haunting the riverbank as described in the commission.
"Let’s check at the tavern first."
The group headed towards the village’s only tavern.
This mission was issued by a trade association in Gray Rock Town, which also managed and operated this dock.
The village’s tavern was part of this trade association’s property as well.
Inquiring at the tavern was definitely the right move.
"Mermaid Tavern."
The tavern’s sign was a beautiful fairy with a fish tail and a human body.
Even during the daytime, the tavern was already bustling with noise.
Workers eating, merchants drinking, and some locals chattering, shoulder to shoulder, exchanging toasts.
"Creak——"
Accompanied by the tooth-gritting sound of the door hinges.
The door opened, and glaring sunlight poured into the dim and noisy tavern.
The sudden commotion drew everyone’s attention inside the tavern.
Under the watchful eyes of the tavern’s patrons, after a series of synchronized and muffled footsteps, a group of fully armed men and women entered the tavern.
The burly man leading the way, with a serious expression, walked in like a cold, hard wall, and the few people following him also didn’t look easy to deal with.
Their aura made most people present instinctively avert their gaze and continue with their original actions.
The originally noisy atmosphere quieted down as if someone suddenly called for silence, and voices dropped to a whisper.
Gauss unobtrusively observed, noting Levin’s deliberately stern demeanor.
Secretly, he thought he had learned something.
Striking an appropriate pose can also reduce unnecessary trouble from others, especially in a tavern with a mixed crowd. If you look too easy to bully, some drunken troublemaker might just start something.
What he didn’t know was that in the eyes of others in the tavern, he looked even more formidable.
Leather armor, a round shield, a longsword at his waist, nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for his particularly bright emerald green eyes.
But just meeting his gaze would unconsciously evoke a strange pressure from deep within one’s mind.
That was the mental pressure of 7 points affecting ordinary people.
Even though Gauss didn’t intend it, this phenomenon would occasionally occur.
"You’re the adventurers who accepted the quest, right? I’m the owner here, Harvey."
"Hello."
After standing in the hall for a while, the tavern owner soon came over to connect with them.
"Let’s discuss in the private room inside."
To avoid affecting the tavern’s regular business operations, the owner led them to a VIP private room.
"We didn’t seem to see any water ghosts? Wasn’t it said there were about twenty of them entrenched by the riverside?" Gauss casually asked after closing the door.
"Heh heh..." Hearing Gauss’s inquiry, the tavern owner Harvey showed a trace of embarrassment.
After meeting his gaze for a moment, Harvey felt an inexplicable pressure and silently averted his eyes.
"It was indeed the case, but yesterday a group of sailors from the village had some drinks and in a moment of drunken courage went to kill the water ghosts."
"Killed them all?" Gauss instinctively asked, thinking that their trip might have been in vain.
Harvey shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Of course not, they injured a few sailors and left two water ghost corpses. The other water ghosts disappeared and haven’t shown up by the riverbank since then."
"A lot of merchant ships will be docking to unload goods soon, so brave warriors, do you think you could quickly help us locate the hiding water ghosts and eliminate them completely?"
The group exchanged looks.
Secretly, they were quite speechless; why did that group of drunkards have to scare them off?
Now the water ghosts were startled and hiding, which meant more work for everyone.
Perhaps seeing their silence, Harvey spoke up again.
"How about this, I’ll apply to the guild for another commission and offer you an additional 20 silver coins as compensation, how about that?"
Upon hearing this, the group started reconsidering.
Water ghosts are high-reward creatures, which is why they chose this quest.
The original reward was 1 silver coin per water ghost, and now with the additional 20 silver coins and potential loot from the water ghosts.
The total reward for this quest could rise sharply to 60 silver coins or even higher.
Each person might get over 10 silver coins.
Honestly, earning over 10 silver coins from a single mission is quite impressive.
"We need to discuss this further."
"Alright, inform me once you’ve decided." Harvey tactfully left the room, giving the group space to discuss.
"What do you all think?"
"With 20 more silver coins, it seems worth continuing."
"Also, there’s a lot of loot to be scavenged from the water ghosts, weapons, supplies they’ve collected from shipwrecks, even parts like their gallbladders, intestines, and tongues can be used as raw materials for making poison."
"If no one objects, let’s continue with the mission." Levin nodded after gathering everyone’s opinions.
"But everyone needs to be careful, I have a feeling something’s off." Ever since Levin arrived nearby, he’s felt a heaviness in his heart, surrounded by a sense of unease.
His instincts as a Shield Soldier seemed to be at work again.
But he couldn’t quite explain the feeling, so he could only remind his team to be cautious once more.
Everyone nodded, not taking Levin’s warnings too seriously, as he often reminded them this way.
Gauss, meanwhile, was pondering whether he could reach his goal of 10 more monster kills with a bit of effort this time.
Total monster kills: 40/50
Monster types killed: 3/5 (goblin, slime, regular skeleton)