"He's back."
By the time Gauss returned to Shattered Shell Shoal, Alya and the others had already gathered the spoils.
"Yeah. Let's head back to town and turn in the quest first."
Gauss nodded, not wasting any more time.
It wasn't even noon yet, and there was still plenty of time left in the day.
Unfortunately, Elite Professionals couldn't accept multiple quests in a row.
So they would have to make the trip back again.
Of course, Gauss suspected the local guild had a clever little idea behind that rule.
The other adventuring parties participating in the hunting competition would surely be racing against the clock to complete quests and hunt monsters, too.
If they came across wild monsters unrelated to their quests along the way, would they really just leave them alone?
Most likely, they'd clear them out as they went, to improve their ranking.
That way, by keeping them out in the wilderness longer, the town could get these capable adventurers to help reduce the number of monsters around its outskirts.
Fortunately, Gauss had a dragon.
He didn't have to trudge miserably across mountains and rivers on foot.
Before long, he was back near Lakeside Town.
Everyone dismounted from the dragon and switched to their other mounts.
Gauss Squad entered town and headed for the Adventurer's Guild.
There were plenty of other adventurers on the streets, too. They were probably heading out to complete quests or returning to turn them in.
Quite a few townsfolk had gathered at Lakeside Town's pier, where the civilian fishing competition was in full swing.
The civilian competition of the lake tournament had been scheduled first, so there would be enough spectators once some of the professional events began.
Gauss only watched from the shore for a little while before leaving the lakeside.