Serdur shared a room with him.
Ying and Albena temporarily stayed at Aaliyah’s house.
After a brief rest, the freshly washed Gauss Squad once again stepped onto the town’s streets.
The protective snow and wind charm left by Aisweir was indeed significant, especially for adventurers like them who needed to be outdoors frequently.
Besides greatly enhancing their cold resistance, it seemed as if they were enveloped in a special field, causing snowflakes to naturally veer away when they approached.
The road to the Adventurer’s Guild was very familiar.
Upon arriving at the town square, he glanced at the sword and shield symbol above the entrance porch and stepped into the guild hall.
"Eh?"
The scene within the guild hall was somewhat unexpected to him.
Based on last year’s experience, after winter sets in, the number of people in Gray Rock Town’s Adventurer’s Guild would rapidly decline.
Because many adventurers active in Gray Rock Town were not locals, they would choose to return to their hometowns during times when commissions were inconvenient, and then return to Gray Rock Town or similar small towns after the snow melted the following year.
Yet there were still many adventurers in the hall now.
Gauss raised an eyebrow thoughtfully.
"Mr. Gauss, long time no see."
A short but sweet-looking blonde receptionist waved to him from not far ahead.
"Petra, it’s you."
Gauss also waved in response.
"Are you still working as a receptionist?"
"No, I’ve been promoted. I’m now a steward of the guild."
Petra puffed up her chest, indicating her steward uniform and the work badge hanging on her chest.
"Congratulations on the promotion."
"But compared to you, my achievements seem insignificant."
Petra had been working as a receptionist in Gray Rock Town for several years.
"Chairman Abelhard is waiting for you in the meeting room on the third floor."
Petra gestured with her hand.
Because of her familiarity with Gauss, she was arranged to greet him at the entrance.
"Let’s go then."
Gauss walked toward the staircase in the hall.
In the first-floor hall, nearly 90% of the eyes were focused on him, and the crowd was whispering.
As he walked up to the second floor, the number of people significantly decreased, with only professionals able to reach there.
However, their attention toward Gauss was no less than that of the bottom adventurers on the first floor.
Gauss glanced over the crowd and suddenly saw two familiar figures.
"Levin, Medvedeva, Oliver?"
Gauss looked surprised.
He hadn’t expected to see his teammates from the second squad he joined, called Night Owl Squad, here.
Levin was the Shield Master and also the captain, Medvedeva was the Wanderer, and Oliver was the Archer.
The Swordsman Doyle and the Priest Daphne were nowhere to be seen.
"Ga... Gauss?"
Levin, holding a shield, awkwardly raised his hand in greeting.
"Welcome back to Gray Rock Town." Medvedeva seemed quite relaxed.
Oliver remained as silent as ever.
Gauss noticed their Adventurer’s Badges, indicating that they had all crossed the professional threshold, becoming bronze adventurers.
From this perspective, the Night Owl Squad of those days truly lived up to its reputation as an "elite squad."
Even without counting him, three of the five-member group were already known to have ascended to become Level 1 professionals.
Of course, Levin and Oliver weren’t young anymore.
"Congratulations on the professional advancement."
"Thank you."
The professional advancement was indeed a source of pride for Levin; during his recent return to his hometown, he enjoyed the glory of a triumphant return, but upon seeing Gauss and his teammates, he suddenly felt it was insignificant.
Now, he and his former teammate seemed to belong to different worlds.
Gauss glanced at Petra, who was silently waiting for him to finish chatting.
"Sorry, I have some matters to attend to now. If you have time, let’s have dinner together tonight."
"Al... alright." Levin nodded.
"It’s settled then."
Gauss waved and then followed Petra up to the third floor.
After he left, Levin retracted his gaze from the stairs.
"Chairman Abelhard sought Gauss for something, right?"
The third floor was where the chairman’s office was located.
"Don’t overthink it, let’s submit the commission first." Medvedeva seemed to sense her captain’s complicated emotions and diverted the topic.
...
Entering the meeting room on the third floor.
Chairman Abelhard and his deputy were already waiting there.
After rising to shake hands with Gauss and the others and exchanging some pleasantries,
Abelhard indicated for them to sit around the round table as they pleased.
"I wonder what instructions Chairman Abelhard has for our squad?" Gauss looked at the red-haired man who wasn’t very familiar to him.
Among the official personnel of Gray Rock Town’s Adventurer’s Guild, aside from the former receptionist Petra, the only other familiar face was Vice Chairman Shirley; as for the true leader before him, this was their first conversation.
"I wouldn’t dare."
Abelhard waved his hand.
He could feel a subtle pressure emanating from Gauss.
This indicated that, at least in terms of actual combat strength, the other wasn’t inferior to himself, perhaps even stronger.
This also meant that the information he had about Gauss was likely quite accurate.
A year had passed, and the young man he had covertly observed had grown into a powerful adventurer on par with himself.
And this was just the present; anyone with a bit of logical thinking could see Gauss’s limitless future potential from his rapid progress.