Before the town fell, while the monster army was pouring into the streets, ad‑hoc escape teams made up of commoners and Adventurers were sent out through various secret tunnels and side doors.
After this battle, Black Water Town had in effect been erased from the map.
Those who stayed behind in Black Water Town to resist would be slaughtered to the last in short order, and the stretch of empty land between the Jade Forest and Black Water Town would soon be flooded by a massive number of monsters, who would absorb and convert that area into their own territory.
If the surrounding land was not seized back, it would slowly be transformed into the Blackwater Forest and then meld into the Jade Forest as a whole.
Although this raid had come suddenly, incidents like this were not unheard of even during the past century of relative peace.
Every so often, towns and human settlements along the frontier would also fall and turn into monster playgrounds.
And humans likewise had organized offensives against the Jade Forest, logging trees and building towns, establishing forward outposts.
Wasn’t that what happened just last year? Although Outpost No. 11, where Gauss had been dispatched, was lost, several other outposts had driven deep into the Jade Forest. Rumor had it that the beginnings of small towns had already formed there; given a few more years, they might grow into small human settlements similar to Gray Rock Town.
This border line that looked stable on the map had in fact always been shifting, and in recent years the rate of that movement had been steadily accelerating.
Though he felt both sympathy and curiosity about what Black Water Town had become, Gauss knew that going there alone right now would not be wise.
In the defense of Gray Rock Town, he had experienced firsthand how terrifying a motley army could be.
Rushing off to Black Water Town in a fit of hot‑blooded zeal to kill monsters would be no different than suicide.
After a short rest, the refugees had a bowl of hot food, and their mental state improved somewhat.
Even though Gauss was confident in his own strength, he still needed to reach the town as quickly as possible, lest something go wrong.
By the time Gauss led this massive column to Gray Rock Town, it was already deep into the night.
After arranging everyone’s lodgings, he himself, exhausted, finally went home and had a proper night’s sleep.
The next morning.
The sky cleared.
After several days of bitter cold, the temperature had finally risen somewhat today.
Many town residents came out into the streets to bask in the sun for warmth.
The streets were unusually crowded today, and every now and then one could spot unfamiliar faces.
"They must be the refugees from Black Water Town, right?"
"Seems so."
"Lord Gauss has been busy with them for two days straight."
"It’s horrible. I heard Black Water Town has completely fallen, with at least several thousand dead and wounded."
"A lot of those who escaped the town later were killed on the road as well."
The residents of Gray Rock Town looked at the ragged refugees waiting in line at the charity stall for porridge. While they felt sympathy, there was also a trace of fear.
The fall of a town meant countless lives lost; even for those who survived, a bleak future awaited—no home to return to, families torn apart, property gone...
"Hello, have you seen a little girl with black hair? She’s nine, her hair is about this long, and she has a birthmark here on her face."
"Sorry, I haven’t."
"Mary! Mary!"
Many of the people from Black Water Town were still searching for their relatives.
When they fled, everything had happened too fast, and many of them had been separated from their families in the chaos.
Gauss and the others arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild.
"First send some people to the town hall to help register the civilians from Black Water Town."
Gauss had brought back nearly two thousand people in total.
Getting all these people properly settled was indeed a massive undertaking.
Housing, food, heating, medical care...
The town hall naturally couldn’t handle it all and could only entrust the Adventurer’s Guild to help.
"You’ve really worked hard."
Abelhard grasped Gauss’s hands gratefully.
Strictly speaking, Gauss had no obligation to take the initiative to round up the refugees scattered across the wilderness, yet he had done just that.
Even though these people had all been heading toward Gray Rock Town, finding the right direction in the endless snowfields was not easy, not to mention that the monster armies were still hunting them in the snow.
You could say that a delay of just one day might have led to a completely different outcome.
The low temperatures, the enemy, limited food stores, getting lost—any one of these factors could have doomed the entire refugee column.
"It was my duty."
Gauss waved it off.
In Gray Rock Town, he was the only one capable of doing it.
Abelhard’s griffin was also afraid of the extreme cold, and over long distances it simply could not match Hephaestus.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Gauss and the others started cashing in their rewards.
Everyone exchanged their points for skills they could use now or would likely need in the future.
Gauss also exchanged for that 4th‑circle Spell, the Biological Positioning Skill.
He needed to rely on it to track down enemies.
Compared to others, he had a natural edge: he was familiar with many kinds of monsters, and his mental strength was high enough that his detection range would be much greater.
It just so happened that this Spell was available right here in Gray Rock Town, and Abelhard quickly had someone bring up the Magic Scroll.
Gauss also took the opportunity to describe to Abelhard how his transformations were ruining his clothes, asking him to help think of a good solution.
"There is a kind of outfit‑switching Magic."
Standing to the side, Albena suddenly spoke up.
Gauss had been busy outside these past two days, and this was the first time she’d heard of this particular problem of his.
"Outfit‑switching Magic?"
"Yes."
Albena nodded.
"Just like my armor. I commissioned an alchemist to inscribe an outfit‑switching magic pattern on it, so it can appear on my body the instant battle begins."
With that reminder, Gauss finally recalled that her armor could indeed be summoned onto her at any time.