Chapter 66: Just Don’t Let Him Know You’re a Weakling
Five people had been traveling together, but because of their skill types, the apprentice rogue Meiva and the apprentice priestess Daphne were largely unaffected by his presence.
But Levin, Doyle, and Oliver were different.
Gauss had been killing monsters with such ease that their own skills had become useless, and they too needed monsters to train their abilities.
Yet now, as soon as they warmed up, the fight was already over.
If this continued, their skills would deteriorate.
Their pride would not permit Gauss to hold back and let them deal with enemies he could easily defeat.
So naturally, they decided to separate for the time being.
Gauss had sensed this all along.
He did not feel strongly negative about their decision and understood their choice.
A considerable portion of adventurers were idealists who set out on the toughest path for the sake of their extraordinary dreams, regardless of life or death.
Objectively speaking, his rate of progress had indeed diverged from that of the Night Owl team.
Even if it wasn’t this time, a separation was inevitable sooner or later—at least things parted on good terms for now.
He had returned to being alone again.
Gauss stretched lazily.
Being a lone wolf had its advantages and disadvantages.
It was freer, but also more dangerous.
He decided to take things one step at a time.
At least compared to a month ago, he had some ability to take care of himself.
In terms of personal strength, he was among the top of the lower‑level adventurers who had not advanced to a vocation.
Lower‑level adventurers did not have many flashy abilities; they relied more on weapons and raw brawling with enemies.
Although he was careful by nature, he was not inherently timid.
Otherwise, when he first arrived in this world, he would not have dared to hunt goblins armed with nothing more than a small wooden spear.
……
Beside a field of wheat transitioning from green to gold, a figure carrying a knapsack was walking steadily.
Under his jet‑black fringe, a pair of emerald eyes quietly surveyed the surroundings.
Gauss gazed at the ridges between the fields.
His eyes swept the area with caution.
After returning to solo status, he had not joined any temporary party again.
It wasn’t that he had some dramatic reason like “leaving the previous team,” because adventurer groups in this world often came together only to break apart again.
He was just a little lazy.
The thought of meeting a group of strangers again made him decide to take on some simple solo commissions first.
Since he was alone, he chose a commission location north of Graystone Town.
What was the strategy behind this choice?
Naturally, it was safer.
Geographically, Graystone Town was on the southern border of the kingdom, with the Emerald Forest to its south.
Viewed from high above, it formed almost a harbor that enclosed Graystone on three sides, with a vast cleared no‑man’s‑land in the middle.
The farther north one went, the stronger the influence of human civilization became.
Correspondingly, the chance of encountering powerful monsters in the wild was smaller than in the south.
Unless he had extremely bad luck and stumbled upon a high‑grade monster roaming north.
But if that happened, he could only chalk it up to bad luck.
“This time the task target was still goblins,” Gauss said to himself as he looked at the commission notice.
Although the farther north, the lower the chance of encountering powerful monsters, the low‑tier goblins were still as ubiquitous as flies.
He had once been curious, but now he gradually understood the sheer relentlessness of the goblin race.
Once their group was crushed, goblins began to flee—almost as if it were coded into their genes.
They would hide in deep mountains or forests, then forcibly breed with other mid‑ to small‑sized animals.
Through their strong reproductive capacity, they would spawn the next group.
Although these new individuals were weak, they could rely on numbers in the early stages to survive.
Even if humans completely eradicated goblins nearby, the southern kingdom, which had spawned countless monsters, often had wild animals wandering out that carried goblin spawn into areas of human activity, making them difficult to predict.
It was said that green‑skinned goblin cubs who fully absorbed maternal nutrition could go without food for several days after birth, and after a few days of growth, they would begin to move around, subsisting on fallen leaves, grass roots, and seeds to survive.
Just like in some documentaries Gauss had seen in his previous life, even in small mountain ponds there could be fish—goblins were similarly tenacious.
Unless the vast southern monster-breeding nation, the root cause, was completely destroyed, goblins would never be eradicated.
“Found them!”
Suddenly, Gauss saw clear footprints on the ground.
Following their trail, he finally spotted a few sneaky goblins at the edge of his vision, constantly plucking unripe wheat heads.
Crop thieves!
Yes, some goblins would steal human crops for food.
Gauss had heard that goblins originally would not eat human-cultivated grains, and even had a kind of physiological rejection to them.
Compared to crops, they preferred rotting meat, insects, or wild berries—high-quality protein.
But at some point, goblins’ digestive capabilities had improved, and now they could digest nearly any food humans could or couldn’t comprehend.
“Five goblins—then the rest must be in their lair.”
He patiently observed for a while.
Once the goblins were all carrying large bundles of wheat, he quietly circled around to block their path of return in advance.
The five goblins also noticed his presence.
Their cloudy eyes drifted around him.
Noticing he was alone, they all revealed excited expressions.
A lone human!
They preferred fresh meat over grains.
Gauss checked that his Mage Armor was intact before tossing his pack aside and drawing his rapier.
With a sharp step forward, his body dashed swiftly along the field ridge.
“Swish!”
A flash of sword light!
The goblins, lost in their delightful fantasies, never expected his speed.
The blade easily passed through the wheat heads.
The moment they touched the blade, the stalks burst like dandelions.
It sliced through the wheat stems without resistance and finally cut into the goblin’s fragile neck.
Before it could react, the first goblin was cleanly decapitated along with the wheat it held.
Dead!
Countless green-yellow grains mixed with sticky blood bloomed like flowers across the midday farmland.
“First one!”
Gauss spun rapidly.
His rapier traced a semicircle.
These goblins weren’t carrying any weapons.
With wheat bundles in hand and on their backs, their movements were clumsy and they had no chance to resist.
“Whoosh!”
The semicircle slash severed the surrounding wheat stalks.
Along with them fell three goblins, their eyes wide open in death.
Gauss watched the last goblin, frightened out of its wits, drop its bundle and flee on all fours.
He didn’t rush to chase.
Glancing at the direction it ran off to.
He wiped the blood from his blade, cleaned up his scent a bit, then calmly picked up his pack and followed.
He had, of course, deliberately left a guide.
“Monster kill count: 82.”
He had just killed four goblins, and earlier by the pond, he had run into three slimes while fetching water and swiftly dealt with them too.
That brought him to this number.
Getting closer to the 100 mark.
He planned to linger in nearby villages for a few days.
In the morning, while talking with the village chief, he learned that several villages nearby had these “wheatfield rats.”
These rats—no doubt the goblins—were the perfect fuel for leveling up.
Long accustomed to stealing, they had developed a timid, evasive nature.
And it just so happened that his favorite thing—was squashing soft targets.