But having just acquired the Dragon Language, he wanted to take the opportunity to practice it briefly while flying.
So he temporarily severed the mental link.
He lightly uttered a sound, and short, powerful syllables burst from his throat.
"Humm..."
As he spoke, Hephaestus, who was diligently flying below, suddenly wobbled noticeably.
"Roar?"
What Gauss said wasn’t complicated; he simply said its name in the Dragon Language.
However, hearing Hephaestus’s roar in response, he couldn’t help but frown.
What the heck is this?
What is this Dragon Beast babbling about?
He originally thought that his previous inability to understand Hephaestus’s roars was a language barrier. In reality, its roars could convey simple meanings. Even though their intelligence level didn’t allow them to communicate fluently like true dragons, at the very least, they embodied basic Dragon Language meanings.
Just like many wild beasts, they might not look smart, but their roars and cries can still convey simple meanings, such as food, enemy, fleeing, danger, and so on.
But now that he’s learned the Dragon Language, he realizes he was overthinking it.
He overestimated the "cultural literacy" of the Dragon Beast.
This creature’s roars, when interpreted through the Dragon Language, truly have no meaning. It’s purely nonsensical noise, a complete dunce.
Indeed.
What once sounded formidable to human ears as Gauss now appears as babbling nonsense in the Dragon Language.
No wonder the Giant Dragons don’t consider Dragon Beasts as true dragons, and no wonder the Dragon Mother finds them so irritating, often abandoning them at a young age, letting them fend for themselves.
Giant Dragons are such proud creatures, yet they give birth to such bumbling fools, it’s no wonder they find it bothersome.
It’s safe to say that the existence of Dragon Beasts is particularly glaring in the eyes of the Dragon Mother, shattering her illusion of flawless perfection.
If allowed, she’d probably wish to eliminate any traces of her inferior genes from this world herself.
However, Gauss is not the Dragon Mother.
So after a moment of surprise, he attempted to communicate with Hephaestus again.
"Can you understand what I’m saying?"
"Roar! (Goo goo gaga~)"
Gauss scratched his head.
They’re essentially talking past each other.
To make an inappropriate analogy, it’s like playing abstract music by Hakimi, famous in a past life, for the Neon people.
Even more baffling than that.
"Forget it, I’ll find a way to teach you later?" Gauss sighed.
The kid indeed isn’t very bright, and trying to teach it Dragon Language in just a few phrases seems unrealistic.
He patted Hephaestus on the neck.
Caring for an intellectually challenged Giant Dragon starts with him.
He’s also quite curious if a Dragon Beast, without inheritance, learned Dragon Language, could it then grasp the ability to cast spells?
If it mastered spell-casting through its own efforts, would it differ from a true Giant Dragon?
Hephaestus didn’t know what Gauss was thinking.
It just flew along nervously.
Although it couldn’t understand the meanings of Gauss’s Dragon Language, some vague memories about them seemed to pop up in its mind.
It was back when it first hatched from the eggshell and saw its majestic and beautiful mother.
The syllables it uttered were similar to those.
Unfortunately, after it responded with a few roars, its beautiful Dragon Mother’s gaze turned instantly disappointed and cold, turning away to lie back in the dragon’s nest, ignoring it.
Afterwards, it was fed a few times before the Dragon Mother picked it up and took it away from the nest.
Although it’s not smart, those early memories are like a thorn deeply embedded in its heart, unable to be removed.
The syllables Gauss uttered were a sound that made it both yearn and feel inferior.
Its last shred of pride as a dragon was completely gone in front of Gauss, leaving it with a sense of sadness.
"Roar~"
At its core, apart from appearance and size, Gauss was closer to a true dragon than it was.
...
"Oh~~"
Gauss yawned.
"Gauss, how many points do you have now?" Aaliyah couldn’t help but ask curiously at the breakfast table.
Of course, she knew Gauss went out to clear monsters again last night.
After all, the biological bag has been borrowed.
And judging by Gauss’s look, it was obvious he had quite a night.
"You’ll find out later." Gauss shook his head with a smile.
He knew that Herbert probably overtook him in points again yesterday, so he worked extra last night.
Fortunately, the Dragon Beast’s appetite was particularly good.
Moreover, they were to continue with more tasks today.
They would definitely create a significant point gap today.
Aaliyah felt a bit curious, but seeing Serdur and the others were not, she suppressed her curiosity for the time being.
After breakfast, the group headed out to the Adventurer’s Guild hall.
In the morning, the Guild was at its busiest.
The hall was bustling, and adventurers crowded around the rankings for a heated discussion.
Gauss saw the crowd from afar.
"Are they discussing my rank being overtaken?"
As he thought this, he moved toward the counter to register his points.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the rankings.
He was about to look away.
Then he immediately noticed something was amiss.
He squinted, eyes back to the ranking board.
"Eh?"
Aaliyah noticed his steps falter and followed his gaze.
"Eh?"
Immediately, she also made a surprised sound.
The scene Gauss expected of his rank being surpassed did not appear.
He was still ranked first with 1372 points.
The second was Koman, with 991 points.
Something’s off? Nine out of ten things were amiss!
Gauss’s gaze swept the entire list, and he didn’t see Herbert’s name.
Where did he disappear to?
Even if he didn’t continue to earn points yesterday afternoon, he still had around 1300 points, securely in second place.
But now he was just gone.
Did something happen?
Wasn’t he meant to compete for the top spot with him? Gauss worked hard all night, so where did Herbert go?
No wonder so many people were crowded around the rankings.
Seeing him enter the hall, the crowd immediately parted to make way for him.
The Monster Slayer, the likely champion of the Five Towns United Hunting Contest, arrived at his beloved Adventurer’s Guild hall.
With Herbert mysteriously gone, Gauss’s champion position lost its last trace of uncertainty.
Although even if he were "still around," it would hardly threaten Gauss, he was already the tallest among the short ones, and others saw no possibility at all.
"Herbert’s just gone." Aaliyah chuckled quietly.
"Hmm, let’s go to the counter and ask?" Gauss said steadily.
There must be a reason for the ranking disappearance, and it most likely involved the Adventurer’s Guild.
Only they have the power over life and death in this matter.
"Good morning, Mr. Gauss."
"Good morning."
As soon as he approached the counter, the staff greeted him with a polite smile.
Although as staff of the Adventurer’s Guild, their duty is to provide convenient services to every adventurer, Gauss was special.
"I’d like to register my points."
Gauss handed over the point crystal stone to the staff.
At the same time, he curiously asked.
"Can I ask why Herbert is missing from the rankings?"
The staff didn’t seem surprised by Gauss’s inquiry but still showed some difficulty.
Normally, answering this wasn’t within their job scope, and for someone else asking, they naturally wouldn’t respond.
But the person asking was Gauss.
After considering his words, he provided Gauss with a brief explanation.
"After investigation, Herbert’s points from yesterday involved, involved illicit activities which the Guild has determined as void according to the rules, hence Herbert has also been disqualified from the contest."
The staff whispered.
"Oh?"
Gauss nodded thoughtfully.
Illicit activities, and confirmed and nullified in such a short time, it seems the Guild must have caught direct evidence, possibly even catching him in the act?
No wonder he felt Herbert’s point-gathering speed noticeably increased yesterday.
It seems that underhanded methods truly don’t pay off.
The Adventurer’s Guild won’t turn a blind eye just because you hold some local power.
After all, what noble could come out of a town? In the face of a continent-spanning machine like the Adventurer’s Guild, they’re all mere small fries.