"Well, let’s do our best and let fate decide."
Gauss felt a lot more at ease upon learning about this.
At least humanity wasn’t completely unaware of the impending crisis, and presumably, they would make some preparations.
In the evening, Gauss met with the Tiefling Paladin Pleos, and after a secret discussion, he left Flute Castle the next day, officially starting his return journey.
Retracing the path he came on was quite an intriguing experience in itself.
Especially now, although winter was gradually approaching, the squad, protected from the wind and snow, didn’t feel much discomfort from the cold, making the journey much more pleasant.
With the passage of time, revisiting the old places also brought many changes.
The vast wilderness once filled with Yenogu’s jackal-wolf henchmen had been cleared out by the Golden Eagle family, and when Gauss passed by, he only saw traces of a few active goblin groups, presumably migrated from other places after the jackal-wolf power was eradicated.
The goblins didn’t expect that, having barely survived the scourge of the jackal-wolves being annihilated by humans, they would immediately face their racial enemy as they began to settle.
Gauss naturally wouldn’t show any mercy towards them.
He understood the principle of eliminating evil thoroughly.
The best time to eliminate a goblin group is always now.
Each goblin eliminated could potentially save a human or even an entire family.
Continuing forward, he arrived at the herbal village where the Mind Shifter witch was born. The village chief and several elders were no longer there, and according to the villagers, they had been escorted to Sen City, awaiting judgment from the city court.
Though the village lost the witch’s protection, it had established fences and watchtowers under the leadership of Professional Mage David, the current village chief.
As soon as Gauss and his team arrived, they were discovered by the militiamen stationed in the watchtowers.
The young and able-bodied were organized to receive basic weapon training, and even the herbalist women couldn’t avoid this if they were out and about.
Seeing the changes in the people and events of this place, Gauss once again realized the significance of his journey.
...
"It’s really cold, this weather."
"Let’s gather some extra firewood on the way back today."
"Rohde, stop slacking off! Come help us gather the spoils."
In the lightly snowing wilderness, a young adventurer squad of two men and two women was busily engaged in their tasks.
Beside them was a large boar with wooden arrows protruding from its backside.
The leader of this squad was clearly the female archer Mira, who was calling the slacking Priest Apprentice Rohde to hurry over and carve the edible parts from the boar.
Soon, under the collective effort, the large boar was divided into dozens of pieces of varying sizes, along with its hide and two relatively intact tusks.
With skilled hands, Mira wrapped the choicest loin and leg meat in oilcloth, storing them in the professional adventurer backpack the squad had pooled their money to purchase.
"Today’s haul is pretty good; it’s enough to feed a few families for several days, and we can even sell some for money," Mira said, wiping the sweat off her brow and smiling.
Hunting such a well-fed boar during the first snowfall of early winter was indeed a stroke of luck.
Especially since their outing this morning was actually for another task, but after spending the entire day without finding any trace of the monster, they encountered this road-blocking boar on their way back.
This also indicated that the fledgling adventurer squad was already on the right track.
Despite it being just a boar, for most inexperienced rookie squads, it was already a formidable enemy.
A boar’s hide is tough, and without enough power, even arrows that hit their mark might not cause significant harm, not to mention an injured boar could go into a frenzy and charge wildly.
"I really wish Mr. Gauss could see how we’ve grown," Mira said, hands on her hips but suddenly sighed.
Though it had been months, she still vividly remembered that handsome man who saved them from an attack by Water Ghosts.
She had even acted as a town guide for him.
Though she realized then that Gauss was a seasoned adventurer, she didn’t expect his fame to grow so significantly afterward.
So much so that she had never seen him again after that guiding task.
Blue Lake hunting champion, Lake God envoy, and even...
"You’re talking about Mr. Gauss..." Rohde, upon hearing this familiar yet distant name, couldn’t help but fall into contemplation.
"I heard that during the blessing ceremony in Yuge Town, he was visited by the Lady of the Lake, the first time in hundreds of years."
"A Lake God envoy is truly a remarkable personage; it’s not so easy for us to meet him now."
"Rohde, your information is outdated!"
"Outdated?"
"Haven’t you read the newspapers these past few days?" the young mage Pello wagged her finger.
"Mr. Gauss now has a new title, Red Dragon Knight, and the scourge of the Dragon Worship Sect..." Recalling the news from the newspaper, Pello still felt incredulous, just like when she first saw it.
"What is that?"
This caught Rohde, who hadn’t kept up with the latest news lately, by surprise.
Pello and the other two who were already aware of this went on to explain it to Rohde, who was still in the dark.
"..."
"An extraordinary being at least level 11? That’s just...so...incredible!"
"Now you know, right?" Pello and Mira nodded proudly.
They couldn’t quite imagine how powerful the legendary extraordinary professionals could be, but they themselves weren’t even level 1 official professionals yet; a level 1 professional could easily defeat their rookie squad.
Level 11, that must be immensely powerful.
"And dragons...have you seen a dragon?"
"I haven’t."
"Does seeing one in an illustration count?"
...
"Boom!"
As the group chatted away in the snowy field, a sudden gust of wind surged from overhead.
Their hair was whipped and tousled in the air.
The sky seemed to have darkened a shade.
"Watch out!"
Realizing something was amiss, they looked up and saw a large, winged creature slowly descending in front of them in the twilight glow.
"What...is this?"
They stared slack-jawed at the terrifying creature before them, collectively swallowing hard.
The appearance of this winged creature made the surrounding temperature rise several degrees instantly.
It also made their bodies instinctively tense up, as their blood circulation sped up.
It...it’s a dragon!!!!
The dragon they had just been casually talking about.
They didn’t expect it to appear right in front of them in the next instant.
They could even smell the strong sulfuric scent it emitted.
Under its gaze, they felt as if immobilized by an Immobilization Skill, standing still.
Even though their brains were frantically sending signals to move their legs, their feet just wouldn’t take that first step.
It’s over, we’re doomed!!
The red dragon was slowly lowering its head toward them.
Mira nervously closed her eyes, her heart nearly stopping. Goodbye, father, mother...
After a while, with no sensation of pain, Mira slowly reopened her eyes.
Am I okay? Or have I already died?
In her deep confusion, a young man in a moon-white magic robe, with a tall stature, jumped off the dragon’s back from her blind spot of vision.
"Long time no see, Mira."
Hearing her name, Mira slightly turned her head to look.
Instantly, her bow and arrow slipped from her hands, falling into the snow with a "thud."
Her mouth dropped open, her eyes wide, her cheeks flushed.
"Ga-Ga...Gauss, sir?!" her voice trembled with excitement, nearly breaking.
Surviving a brush with death and seeing the one she admired most left her stumbling over her words.
The other three sat down in the snow in a daze, staring at Gauss blankly.
To them, Gauss was the living legend they could hope to encounter; little did they expect that shortly after mentioning him, he would descend from the sky.
It even gave them a sense of unbelievability, making them feel they were in a dream.
Seeing their reactions, Gauss smiled wryly.
He hadn’t expected to coincidentally see Mira and the others he met on his first visit to the lakeside town on his return trip there.
"Relax, you all have had a good day’s harvest."
Gauss’s gaze fell on the boar carcass that had been neatly divided on the ground, revealing his approval.
He had given them pointers when they first met, and now it seemed they had at least become competent adventurers.