"Has something been bothering you lately? I've noticed you've been shutting yourself in your room these past couple of days."
Gauss's unusual behavior had piqued Sophia's curiosity.
Gauss shook his head.
"I've just been reading and thinking about cultivation."
As soon as she heard it was about cultivation, Sophia had nothing to add.
Her father had once been an adventurer, and had even been somewhat famous around town, but that was all ancient history. Besides, she herself had never known much about it.
"Then do your best!" Sophia could only offer some verbal encouragement.
She wasn't too worried. After all, reading and thinking in a room was surely much safer than running around the wilderness with a sword, fighting monsters.
"No, this won't do. I can't just keep thinking." After cramming on the principles of magic, Gauss finally decided to go out.
Spells couldn't simply be dreamed up. Theory was important, but after cramming on the theory, he also needed to put it into practice to test and absorb what he'd learned.
As for where to go, he already had a destination in mind.
So, after lunch, under Sophia's worried gaze, Gauss—who had managed to "behave himself" for two whole days—couldn't sit still any longer. He packed his things, said goodbye to Sophia, and left Grayrock Town once again.
This time, he hadn't taken on any particular commission.
He paid a small fee to ride in a merchant caravan's wagon, intending to head for Wormwood Town, northwest of Grayrock Town. It was a small town whose main industry was herbs.
It was slightly larger than Grayrock Town. More importantly, Andeni had told him that it had a small gathering for Spellcaster Apprentices.
Spellcaster Apprentices from the surrounding towns all congregated there, and over time, a small, open organization had taken