Chapter 61: Visit
In a buy-back shop near the Adventurer’s Guild, the small team sold off all the miscellaneous items they had obtained from the Kobold commission.
Most low-level adventurers dealt with their spoils at these shops, and the prices were generally fair.
The amount of money the group received turned out to be more than expected.
The total value of the spoils came to 25 silver coins and 60 copper coins, with the majority coming from the corpse of the old Kobold, which sold for 12 silver coins.
The rest of the junk in the cart fetched another dozen or so silver coins.
The group gathered around the once-again empty flat cart, faces beaming with joy.
For adventurers, the happiest moment in a commission was undoubtedly when they got paid.
Clutching the round, smooth silver coins in their palms, all the exhaustion from the journey felt worthwhile.
The happiest among them was Daphne. Her eyes crinkled from her wide smile, filled with longing for a wand.
After the group split up, Gauss took another look at his coin pouch.
A one-day task had earned him 11 silver coins. He was quite satisfied with the efficiency.
He counted his money again.
As the growling of his stomach reminded him of his hunger, he quickly sought out a tavern.
This time, he didn’t splurge entirely on meat, instead ordering a mix of staple foods and a few side dishes with both meat and vegetables.
It wasn’t until he had eaten close to the amount of two to three grown men that he began to feel full.
Whether it was just his imagination or not, Gauss felt a wave of warmth coursing through his body when he stood up to pay the bill, as if digestion had already begun.
Was this the effect of 【Rapid Digestion】?
But considering it was still just the weakest initial tier, it shouldn’t have such an immediate effect. It was probably influenced by psychological suggestion.
……
“Business’s been better lately?” Gauss leaned on the counter, glanced at the hall, then at Sophia, who couldn’t hide her smile.
“You noticed too? It’s because more people have come to town.” Sophia smiled sweetly. “I also put a small signboard at the door to attract customers.”
It was clear she was in a good mood.
Gauss nodded.
He recalled the wooden signboard he had seen last night when he returned to the inn, drawn in simple ink strokes.
Not everyone could afford to rent a tavern room.
Privately run inns like Sophia’s became a viable alternative.
Though it was a bit far from the town center, it was quiet and had a pleasant environment.
“Sophia, are you raising the rent?”
He suddenly remembered that the signboard last night mentioned a rate of 4 copper coins per room per day, and 60 copper coins per month.
It had doubled.
After all, his current monthly rent was still the previous 30 copper coins.
“Shh—”
Sophia quickly stopped Gauss.
Only after glancing at the other tenants chatting in the hall did she breathe a sigh of relief.
She leaned in and whispered into Gauss’s ear.
“This is just to make some money off those out-of-towners,” Sophia said, blinking. “I’ve done my research. The nearby inns have all raised their prices.”
So it was the beginning of “peak season,” and she was taking the opportunity to hike prices.
Still, even at double the rate, it was much cheaper than most tavern rooms.
Considering the inns in town were nearly full, a slight price increase wouldn’t scare away customers.
Gauss opened his mouth, but didn’t say what was on the tip of his tongue.
He had wanted to say he was an out-of-towner too.
But thinking about how the very first thing he saw upon arriving in this other world was this inn—
In a way, it wasn’t much different from his own home.
“If you plan to raise the price again, just let me know. I’m not hurting for money right now anyway.” Gauss accepted the glass of water from Sophia, paused for a moment, then spoke.
“I can earn several silver coins with a random commission.” He was actually downplaying it—he had earned 11 silver coins in just one day yesterday.
“No way it’s that much. Even if you’ve got some money, don’t spend lavishly. You should save up while you’re still young.” Sophia kindly reminded him.
She didn’t know much about adventurers, but just based on common sense, it wasn’t easy for a newbie adventurer to make money so quickly.
“Believe it or not.” Gauss smiled and shook his head.
He didn’t intend to explain any further. Saying too much would make it seem like he was bragging.
Besides, he still felt that being a low-level adventurer wasn’t very respectable, so it wouldn’t be too late to share after officially advancing to a Professional and becoming a notable Bronze-ranked adventurer.
Giving the other party a surprise at that time would be better, since Professionals still held quite a bit of status in Graystone Town.
After drinking some water at the counter and feeling that the drowsiness of the morning had been completely dispelled, Gauss wrapped up his small talk with Sophia and left the inn.
“Tier 1 Spell: Mage Armor lv2 (10/20)”
“Tier 1 Spell: Magic Missile lv2 (11/20)”
“Tier 0 Cantrip: Mage Hand lv2 (19/20)”
The proficiency levels of his spells were all increasing rapidly.
Mage Hand, which he hadn’t even intentionally practiced, was already close to reaching lv3.
However, he didn’t feel that guiding force that usually led to a Professional Path, so it was likely that lv3 Mage Hand still didn’t meet the threshold to trigger that advancement.
It was unclear whether there was any difference in this regard between Tier 1 Spells and Tier 0 Cantrips.
Thinking about how Mage Armor had only been practiced for a few days and was already at lv2 (10/20), he figured that even reaching lv3 or lv4 shouldn’t take too long. At the very least, he was progressing much faster than other apprentices, so he felt reassured.
His growth really had been fast—especially when compared to the rest of the Night Owl Team, the contrast became even more apparent.
But this morning, Gauss wasn’t planning to practice spells. Instead, he intended to visit a swordsmanship instructor to shore up his foundational weaknesses.
Yesterday, in a casual chat with Doyle, he had mentioned wanting to train in swordsmanship to strengthen his fundamentals, and Doyle had recommended his “mentor.”
In a world with adventurers, there naturally existed various instructors who taught adventuring skills.
It was said that in large cities, each Professional Path had its own guild, and only those who became Professionals could officially join as members.
However, there was no such Professional Guild in Graystone Town, and Gauss wasn’t a formal Professional yet. So if he wanted to learn some basic sword techniques, he had to pay for instruction.
He actually had a better option—Groln, the boss of the Black Anvil Workshop.
But considering Groln didn’t want to reveal his identity as a Professional, and since they weren’t close, asking for training would be too presumptuous. So he preferred to just pay for it.
After all, he only needed someone skilled in swordsmanship to guide him in the basics; getting a Professional would be overkill.
Wandering around town and arriving near the place Doyle had described, Gauss soon found the courtyard.
The door was ajar, and in the open area enclosed by an earthen low wall, a dozen or so boys and girls were swinging their swords under the guidance of a middle-aged man.
“Hello, I heard you offer swordsmanship training here? Doyle sent me.”
As soon as Gauss stepped into the courtyard, all eyes were immediately drawn to him.
In those young eyes, there were looks of envy, curiosity, and even a hint of wariness.
Unlike these newbie “reserve adventurers” who hadn’t officially embarked on their journeys, Gauss looked like a seasoned veteran.
Especially the weapons on him made the group of youths still training with wooden swords green with envy.
Even though he didn’t look much older than them.