When the battle ended.
Everyone sat down without a care for appearances on the ground, which was strewn with flesh and blood, and gasped for breath.
More than twenty kobolds had fallen.
Gauss had eventually stepped in.
At first, the battle had gone very smoothly. The villagers had outnumbered and overpowered the kobold scouts left outside.
But when more kobolds came crawling out of the cave, the battle grew fierce again.
Just as a kobold knocked down a young villager and was about to stab him with a stone dagger, a flash of swordlight severed its arm and neck.
With Gauss watching over them, everyone had been able to clear out the small kobold lair without suffering any casualties.
After briefly waiting for everyone to catch their breath, Gauss began calmly pointing out the shortcomings in their performance.
Kobolds were even weaker than goblins in a straight fight, and this small tribe had no powerful leader. In theory, more than a dozen trained humans should have been stronger than them.
But being stronger was one thing. Taking them down without injury still required teamwork.
And teamwork in battle depended on sound combat skills and the right mindset. Even after many practice runs, plenty of people would still fumble once they faced a real battlefield.
They had panicked and chosen the wrong ways to respond to the enemy, and they had failed to hold their formation.
That was why Gauss had needed to step in and save them from danger.
He had quietly observed from the sidelines. He had seen clearly who had done well and who had fallen short.
Now, as he reviewed the battle, he had no intention of sparing anyone's feelings. He pointed out every mistake one by one.
Under Gauss's cool assessment, many people in the crowd