Chapter 43: Gauss’ Origins
After the group rested and recovered their strength, they returned to Valencia Village.
They informed the Village Chief about the cleared slimes and showed him the fresh slime gel. Then, they rested at the inn during noon and departed from this slightly dilapidated village in the afternoon.
“There aren’t many people in this village.”
“Yeah, aside from some outsiders like us in the tavern and inn, you can barely see any locals elsewhere.”
“Young people these days all want to venture to big towns. Maybe in a few more years, this village will be completely abandoned. I’ve seen signs of this happening in many villages.”
“But the village we come from is still quite lively.”
“Didn’t you leave it too?”
“You’re really bad at making conversation.”
“Sigh... That’s why it’s no wonder the number of requests keeps increasing in recent years.”
On the way back, Levin and the others began chatting casually.
Gauss didn’t have much to contribute. He had only recently joined the profession, so he merely listened quietly.
“By the way, Gauss. What were you before? Before becoming an adventurer?” Doyle turned his head to look at Gauss, who was silently walking ahead.
He shifted the topic onto Gauss.
The others also unintentionally looked at Gauss in the center of the team. Doyle’s question echoed the curiosity in their own hearts.
Come to think of it, although this was already their second mission together, Gauss’ identity remained shrouded in mystery.
They had only heard Gauss mention that he was a rookie adventurer.
Before temporarily teaming up with them, he had completed just one commission.
And it seemed that even that had not gone smoothly.
After the mission ended, the team disbanded and went their separate ways. Only Gauss remained in Graystone Town, while the others left to seek treatment from Barry.
If one looked at just this background, it appeared no different from many greenhorn adventurers who faced early setbacks.
But the Gauss before them was clearly no ordinary rookie.
Logically speaking, an adventurer with such a shallow background shouldn’t possess strength as “formidable” as Gauss’.
Especially when they compared it to their own experiences, it made Gauss seem all the more exceptional.
At this point, they could no longer suppress their curiosity.
“Of course, if it’s inconvenient, you don’t have to say anything.”
The road they walked on was flanked by knee-high weeds.
The wind swept across the plains with a rustling sound, stirring the grass into waves.
Gauss pressed down the bangs blown into his face and shook his head.
“There’s nothing I can’t talk about.”
He didn’t think there was anything worth elaborating about his life before becoming an adventurer.
In his memory, it was simply the life of a mountain farm boy for over ten years—barefoot in the fields catching mice, fishing in the river, snaring rabbits and pheasants.
If it hadn’t been for the approaching age of adulthood and the decision to reject a marriage arranged by his parents, resolutely stepping out into the world—
He’d probably still be holed up in the mountain valley, living a sunrise-to-sunset life facing the dirt alongside a plain-looking, wide-hipped peasant woman.
Still, although Gauss didn’t think it was worth mentioning, seeing how curious his teammates were—
And since it wasn’t some disgraceful past that needed to be hidden, he didn’t conceal anything and briefly shared a few details.
“......”
“After I left, I lived alone. As for magic, I learned it purely by chance.”
As soon as Gauss finished speaking—
The other teammates exchanged glances, their expressions mixed.
The answer Gauss gave was clearly not even close to what they had imagined.
Not only was it different—it was utterly unrelated.
They had privately discussed and speculated about Gauss’ identity.
They thought he might be of noble descent.
Considering he wasn’t particularly wealthy, he was probably an illegitimate child. Or perhaps the son or apprentice of a professional mage.
None of those guesses were right. A year ago, he had been nothing more than an ordinary farm boy.
“So you're saying that you gained your current strength in just a single year?” Levin realized the timing Gauss revealed was unusual and asked in surprise.
Actually… it had only been about half a month.
Gauss thought to himself, but his face didn’t show anything.
After a brief pause, he nodded.
In his view, if the timeline was stretched to a year, then having his current level of strength shouldn’t be too outrageous.
Didn’t the Black Anvil Workshop’s boss Groln mention it too?
For ordinary people, the time to become a Professional could be as short as a year or two, or as long as several decades.
Since some people could become Professionals within a year, then the fact that he hadn’t yet become one still didn’t seem like an exaggerated pace.
“One year... maybe you really are a genius.” Doyle couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.
The faint competitiveness he had been holding toward Gauss these past few days suddenly vanished without a trace.
He knew that someone like Gauss would definitely be able to set foot on the path of the Professionals.
The only difference was a matter of time.
Maybe in a few years, after a regular dusk, they might bump into each other in a tavern in a strange town, and by then, Gauss might already be a lofty Mage Professional.
While he himself might still be struggling at the apprentice stage.
The rest also fell silent.
Levin realized that the odds of successfully inviting Gauss to formally join the team were growing slimmer.
He sighed inwardly but then tried to console himself with another thought.
Being able to team up a few more times was already a good thing.
At the very least, having someone like Gauss—whose combat strength was exceptionally powerful among low-level adventurers—meant far better safety for the team.
Gauss turned his head and glanced at the team, which had suddenly fallen quiet.
He couldn’t help but feel like he had done something to deal a severe blow to them.
But this was simply because he wasn’t very familiar with their situations.
Although everyone was a young adult, Gauss was undoubtedly the youngest among them.
Levin and Oliver, the oldest in the team, were close to 30 years old.
Even if they had only started their adventuring careers at 20, that still meant nearly 10 years of lost time.
As for the others, they had at least two or three years of adventuring experience.
And compared to warriors or rangers, the entry threshold for spellcaster professions was clearly much higher.
But as things stood, the younger Gauss was already far ahead of them in the much more difficult magic field, and he continued to grow at a visible pace.
This couldn’t help but make them feel a deep sense of helplessness.
Sometimes, the gap between people was even greater than that between man and dog.
Not another word was said on the way.
Just as they were about to return to Graystone Town, the once-clear sky suddenly filled with dark clouds.
A howling wind blew with bean-sized raindrops pelting them in the face.
The rain soaked the previously passable dirt road, leaving behind potholes and puddles, with dirty splashes bursting up from where the rain hit.
The rain had come so suddenly that the group couldn’t find a suitable shelter in time.
Since they were already close to Graystone Town, they had no choice but to quicken their pace.
Braving the heavy rain, tightening their cloaks, and trudging forward through the mud in their boots.
Whenever they encountered a flatbed cart stuck in a puddle, they had to help push it from behind.
By the time the team finally made it back to Graystone Town, it was already deep into the night.
Soaked to the bone, no one even considered going to the Adventurer’s Guild Hall to submit the mission report.
They agreed to meet at the hall entrance the next morning and disbanded for the night.
Gauss hurried back to the inn and looked up at the sky, still crackling with lightning and thunder.
He couldn’t help but mutter in exasperation.
The weather turned faster than flipping pages in a book.
Not long ago it had been clear skies, and now it was pouring rain.
Fortunately, he had brought a waterproof tarp, so none of the supplies on the flatbed cart had gotten wet.
That was at least some good news.