Going Home

There was no helping it.

The maintenance state of iron weapons among goblins, especially those in such small settlements, was thoroughly dismal.

Although Gauss did not understand why this group of goblins had suddenly run over to occupy the ruins, the vast majority of goblins preferred living near caves or swamps because their nature favored damp underground environments.

However, this living environment happened to provide the necessary conditions for rust to form, and ironware exposed to damp air for long periods would rapidly oxidize.

Moreover, low-level goblins also lacked maintenance materials such as rust-preventative oil, causing the iron weapons they possessed to be heavily rusted, battered, and shoddy substandard goods.

Gauss and the others began collecting the spoils of war within the ruins.

Before long, a small pile had been stacked up in the open space.

Meva picked and chose among them, and considering that the carriage space was limited, she threw out some worthless junk that took up space.

"These, they should be worth about twenty to thirty silver coins?"

After all, it was a settlement of twenty goblins, possessing a rudimentary capability for raiding, and the accumulated spoils of war were still quite substantial.

Hearing the valuation stated by Meva.

Gauss also calculated silently in his heart.

Adding the mission reward, it would probably be six or seven silver coins for each person.

Calculated like this, he was quite satisfied.

Although it couldn't compare to the earnings in Birch Village, that time had belonged to pure blind luck.

Normal adventuring could not always scavenge high-value Magic Items, otherwise the prices of Magic Items wouldn't be so exorbitant.

This kind of mission belonged to steady and secure happiness; the danger coefficient was not particularly high, and the earnings were quite respectable among low-level adventurers.

After doing it another dozen or so times, one could buy a house in Grayrock Town.

After clearing the battlefield, the time was already close to noon.

These trivial matters before and after the battle consumed far more time than the duration of the actual combat itself.

Perhaps seeing that the commission was nearly completed, the expressions on everyone's faces relaxed.

Except for Daphne, who was treating Doyle's minor scrapes, the others finished maintaining their weapons and prepared to eat to restore their stamina.

It was also at this time that Gauss discovered the tips of the ears beneath Meva's lowered black shoulder-length hair were surprisingly of a pointed, slender shape different from ordinary humans.

Perhaps noticing Gauss's gaze, Meva turned her head.

"What is it?"

"What's going on with your ears?"

" Oh, these? There's a very thin Elven bloodline inside my body."

After Meva finished speaking, she ceased talking and lowered her head again to rummage through her pack for food.

No wonder I previously felt her movements were exceptionally nimble; it turns out to be the influence of bloodline power, Gauss thought upon hearing this.

Among Intelligent life, Elves were considered very strong individuals: longevity, magical affinity, hyper-perception, innate stealth ability, and an inborn Talent for archery. Their only flaw was low reproductive capacity.

Perhaps precisely because of this, humans with more mediocre racial Talents instead surpassed them from behind, establishing kingdoms belonging to humans upon the great land.

In the afternoon, the Night Owl Squad did not set off to return to Grayrock Town either.

For one thing, although the morning's battle had been relaxing, it had still consumed some strength after all.

For another, and most crucially, even if they set off in the afternoon, they couldn't possibly rush back to Grayrock Town before tonight.

They simply camped in the ruins, waiting to set off again on the morrow's early morning, which also conveniently left some time for the packhorses to rest and recover their stamina.

In the afternoon, Gauss, with nothing to do, wandered around the ruined buildings.

The ruins were everywhere mottled and broken.

The walls and interiors of the buildings were overgrown with weeds, and one could tell that they had been abandoned for a very long time.

Aside from a few buildings whose main structures were well-preserved, he found that many buildings looked as though they had been split open: huge voids existed above the roofs, piercing straight down through the floorboards to the underground, just as if attacks from the heavens had destroyed them.

The plaza in the village was likewise pockmarked, resembling the surface of the moon.

So was this ruin destroyed "artificially"? Or had some meteorite fallen?

The more he observed, the more incredible Gauss felt it was.

If it was caused artificially, this existence was definitely an extraordinarily powerful person.

Producing an attack comparable to the baptismal shelling of wars from his past life, the power of an individual in another world could actually grow strong to such a degree.

Thinking of this, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Alongside the fear, there was also a bit of yearning; his longing for the realm of professional practitioners grew deeper.

One day, he too would be able to master this power.

The journey back to Grayrock Town still held no unexpected events.

Gauss smoothly concluded the second commission of his life.

Submitting the mission, collecting the reward, selling the spoils of war, and splitting the reward.

Once they had been distributed their respective mission rewards, a group of "working stiffs" impatiently disbanded on the spot.

Although the mission itself wasn't difficult, it couldn't stand up to the rushing and exhaustion of the journey on the road.

Having not bathed for several days, everyone reeked of body odor, and not a single person wanted to linger for even a moment.

Gauss once again tallied up his reward of 7 silver and 15 copper coins, putting them back into his coin purse with satisfaction.

Cash: 19 silver and 30 copper.

For the coming period of time, Gauss would need to be relatively frugal.

The previous purchases of 10 silver coins for the Rapier and 15 silver coins for the leather armor were both considered advance investments to acquire better weapons and armor, ensuring greater safety for subsequent commissions.

Yet after investing, earning returns was naturally required.

He planned to follow Leven's Night Owl Squad to execute commissions for a period of time first.

To earn some money and replenish his small treasury.

After all, wanting to craft a Wand required a Base Material of at least 70 silver coins.

Of course, he wasn't purely riding coattails.

In truth, he and the Night Owl Squad belonged to a relationship of mutual need.

His Magic Missile was equivalent to the trump card of the Night Owl Squad, serving a role identical to the Cleric Daphne's Life Sustaining Technique.

Even if it usually didn't play a role, with their existence present, the team members would execute missions with greater peace of mind.

Taking a hot bath at the bathhouse, Gauss, once again restored to neatness, walked toward the inn.

Sophia was just preparing to close the door when she suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure in the pitch-black alley.

She hurriedly stopped the movement of her hands and opened the door back up.

"Little Gauss, you're back? Hurry, come right in."

Gauss raised his head and saw Sophia, with her plump figure, beckoning to him under the warm yellow lamplight. A warm sensation welled up in his heart.

Busy for a few days only to return and see an acquaintance anew.

It felt just like coming home.

Come to think of it, the original owner actually had a home as well, only...

At the mere thought of home, having absorbed the memories and emotions of the original owner, he felt somewhat emotionally complex.

Later on, when he had time, he would go back and take a look, perhaps?

Pausing for a moment, Gauss calmed the suddenly erupted surge of emotion.

"Yeah, I just smoothly concluded the mission," he squeezed out a smile toward Sophia.

Although the process was somewhat bland, Gauss felt that if every time could be as bland and uninteresting as this one, it would actually be quite nice.

"You didn't encounter any danger, did you?" Sophia asked with concern.

"Just a few goblins, nothing dangerous." Having finished speaking, Gauss turned his thoughts and couldn't help changing his words to issue a warning.

"Of course, it's not dangerous for me. If you accidentally run into them, Sophia, you really must be careful and not treat goblins as anything less than monsters."

"Rest assured, I'm not bold like you adventurers."

"Right, want some late-night snack? It's my treat."

"Uh..."

"You've already eaten again?"

"Then—then I'll have a little."

The next day.

Gauss overslept again.

On the second day after officially concluding commission work, being a little lazy was also entirely reasonable.

He didn't get out of bed until noon.

Walking downstairs...

Sophia was sitting in front of the counter, listlessly resting her chin in her hand as she looked out at the street through the window.

The noon sun was bright and clear, and along the street, commercial shops displayed open-air stalls while pedestrians wove back and forth in a continuous stream.

The drainage ditches on both sides of the street flowed with living mountain stream water, and between the stone crevices, moss and nameless little wildflowers were nourished.

Vines crawled all over the exterior walls of the building opposite the inn, rustling and swaying as the wind blew past.

"Ha—" Sophia and Gauss, who was walking downstairs, let out cozy yawns in unison.

"Good afternoon."

"Right, lunch has been made for you."

"Sorry to trouble you."

Today Gauss was prepared to eat lunch in the shop.

Last night's late-night snack had proven that meager vegetarian food truly didn't hold off hunger, so he had submitted a request to Sophia to add meat dishes to the menu.

Sophia had agreed.

Actually, Sophia's cooking skills were quite good, but a clever housewife could find it hard to cook a meal without rice; the food usually provided to travelers was kept as cheap as possible to the utmost, making it impossible to whip up any fancy variations.

Besides, fine ingredients were simply something a poor ghost like Gauss's original self could never afford.

Fortunately, present-day Gauss eating a bit of meat didn't pose too much of a problem anymore.

Watching Sophia's retreating figure as she hurried back toward the kitchen, Gauss yawned once again.

Today he prepared to go to Widow's Alley to stroll around that small shop dealing in Magic Items that Boss Gron had recommended.

Although he hadn't yet saved up enough money to purchase a Wand at present, couldn't he still inquire about the specific situation?

Who knew, there might even be an unexpected pleasant surprise?

Even at worst, finding out clearly just how much money was needed would give him a clear goal to strive toward.