"It really has been a long time since I came back."
Gauss stood on the street of Gray Rock Town and lifted his head to take in a breath of air.
The air of Gray Rock Town seemed to carry a faint smell of stone—that was the natural scent given off by the paving stones, the city walls, and all kinds of stone buildings.
Every time he went out adventuring and then returned to Gray Rock Town, he would have a very particular feeling.
Familiar, yet with a trace of strangeness.
"It hasn’t been that long..." Aaliyah said with a smile.
Gauss gave her a look and blinked.
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
"We’d better get a place ready in advance for the Red Dragon Team to operate, right?" Serdur reminded him.
With dozens of people, and needing space to store the tools and supplies brought from Farlim, an ordinary inn clearly couldn’t shoulder that responsibility.
They needed an independent base of operations, something like a branch hall.
"That’s actually not hard to arrange." Gauss’s gaze turned toward the direction of Gray Rock Town’s Adventurer’s Guild.
They weren’t some strangers unfamiliar with everything here; whenever there was trouble, they could just go find Guildmaster Abelhard and have him sort it out for them!
...
"Abelhard, I’ll leave it in your hands then!"
"I hope we’re not causing you too much trouble."
In front of a floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked all of Gray Rock Town, Gauss pressed his palms together lightly in thanks.
"What can I do? You’re the great heroes who saved Gray Rock Town."
"Even if it’s hard, I still have to get it done."
"If I want to use some special authority to requisition land for you, I don’t think any of the townsfolk will object."
Abelhard rubbed his temples, a helpless smile on his face.
Gauss had come personally to ask for help.
What could he do? He couldn’t just turn him down, could he? If that got out, the townspeople would be spitting behind his back.
Besides, they were friends by now.
"Still, you lot really move fast."
"You were in Farlim for only two or three months, and you’ve already put together the framework of an adventure group."
"I thought it would take much longer. As expected of you."
"I don’t know either. Maybe the Guild over there opened a back door for us and approved it early?" Gauss shrugged.
Hearing this, Abelhard stroked his chin and let his gaze sweep over Gauss.
"That’s probably it. Otherwise it wouldn’t have gone through so quickly."
The feeling Gauss gave him now had changed quite a bit compared to their last meeting.
If before, when he focused his Perception as a Swordsman at close range, this kid had already given him a faint sense of pressure, now he didn’t feel anything at all.
He certainly didn’t think Gauss’s strength had regressed.
The only possibility was that Gauss’s strength had increased by so much that he could no longer accurately sense it.
If he were the high-ranking official in Farlim in charge of approving adventure group registrations, faced with such a young and promising supernova, he would definitely open the gates wide as well, right?
"You brat, you’re strong like some kind of monster."
Abelhard stood up, muttering a soft complaint.
Every time he saw Gauss, he had the feeling that he was already getting old, about to be swept up and swallowed by the mighty tide of a new era.
Listening to his half-finished grumbling, Gauss only scratched his head in confusion.
Calling someone a monster didn’t sound very nice, but it could still be taken as a compliment, right?
"Then, thanks."
Abelhard waved a hand; he really wasn’t trying to seriously compliment the other party.
He turned around and looked out the window.
"By the way, you all need to be extra careful on this trip to the Black Water Town region. I hear a lot of very powerful Demons have gathered there."
"Don’t worry. The three commissions I took are all Challenge Level 7. Handling them shouldn’t be much of a problem."
Gauss nodded.
The reason he only took Level 7 commissions was simply because he had no choice; his Profession level right now was 7.
Normally, the strongest member of an adventure group was its leader, and setting the upper limit of the group’s commission level at the leader’s level was considered a reasonable standard.
But this kind of "reasonable" clearly didn’t apply very well to Gauss.
Let alone Challenge Level 7 Demons—even at Level 8, 9, or 10, he probably wouldn’t be in much danger dealing with them.
But rules were rules.
The Adventurer’s Guild had followed these rules for so long; they certainly wouldn’t make an exception just for him.
Listening to Gauss, Abelhard kept feeling like he was subtly showing off.
But he quickly dispelled that thought, because he knew Gauss wasn’t that kind of person.
"Sir Belock has also taken troops to the Black Water Town region. You might run into him there."
Sir Belock was the commander of the garrison from Anvil Castle who’d led troops to support Gray Rock Town’s defenses at the beginning of the year.
Gauss was a bit surprised at that. He hadn’t expected that at his age, the man was still running around offering support everywhere; truly, an elder still in his prime.
"I’ll keep an eye out."
Gauss noticed Abelhard’s Mage consultant knocking and coming in from outside the door, and knew the man probably had business with Abelhard, so he didn’t stay in the office any longer.
After a word of farewell, he left.
On the way back to his residence, Gauss was greeted warmly on all sides by the town’s residents.
If he hadn’t walked quickly, the fruits, snacks, and various daily necessities in his hands by now could probably have piled up into a small hill.
"You’re back. Is the matter of the base settled?"
"Very smoothly."
Gauss nodded.
While he’d been at the Guild, the few members of the party had already turned the whole house inside out.