Chapter 442: "Arrogant" Gauss |
Gauss fell into a long silence.
Even he needed to weigh pros and cons repeatedly when facing this choice.
The guildmaster opposite him also knew he was evaluating things in his mind; he only held his teacup and quietly exhaled.
Gauss’s brain spun rapidly.
This commission was undoubtedly a solo job.
Having more people would only increase the risk of exposure, so he would separate briefly from the Red Dragon Guild members, slip past the main battlefield’s attention alone, and probe deep into enemy territory to gather intelligence.
In truth, he did not believe his exposure risk was that high.
The reason was simple: if the Green Dragon Queen knew his movements inside out, he would have been ambushed far more often in daily life.
But so far, he had encountered almost no such situations. The only real incident that qualified was when the Dragon Worshipers used Aria, who had gone out alone, to lure him into a trap.
Putting himself in the Green Dragon Queen’s shoes, if she had concrete means to observe his location ahead of time and knew he was a rising talent, she would surely have dispatched a monster with skilled ranged attack and flying ability to take him out, especially back when he wasn’t as strong as he is now.
It seemed he had long since become a marked name among the monster ranks; when he completed a commission in Blackwater Town, he’d even heard other high-tier monsters mention his name.
If the enemy monsters had not done so, it could only mean they were incapable of it.
Actually, the best timing would have been before his combat power broke into the Transcendent tier. For now, one could only say the difficulty of killing him had increased considerably.
His strength might lose to many Transcendent monsters, but outright murdering him was not simple.
First, the attacker would need solid flight capability, excellent ranged attack skills, speed, and reconnaissance with no weak spots. If they also possessed space-manipulation abilities of the same tier, all the better.
Otherwise, any slight mistake, and he—who mastered Dimension Door and had extremely sensitive Perception—would slip away.
Few would claim flies are stronger than humans; their life hierarchies differ greatly, yet it is still not easy for a person to swat a fly bare-handed.
That was the power of a hexagonal warrior.
Another point: venturing deep into the Emerald Forest to strike a juvenile dragon lair was dangerous, but timing mattered.
The clouds of war were gradually covering the borderlands. If open war broke out, the monster forces would certainly send most of their power to the front lines, leaving the rear relatively sparse.
He could use his mobility and stealth to get to the deep rear.
Unless he left Coldjade Province entirely and abandoned this human-monster war, there was no true safety as long as he remained in this royal land.
Even if he escaped this time, where could he run?
The war the Green Dragon Queen might ignite would likely be just a prelude to greater campaigns, and all humans would inevitably be dragged into this factional conflict.
No one understood the meaning of dragons better than Gauss.
They were not natural benefactors to him.
Killing them after they matured was not only beneficial to him personally; it also delayed the future calamities they might cause.
As for the Green Dragon King—like a Damocles sword hanging over the head—he must not be taken lightly.
It wasn’t that Gauss’s strength couldn’t see the threat; rather, if some unknown weakling could restrain the Green Dragon King on the front lines, there was still a small chance he might be delayed or targeted and die slower due to distance factors.
Gauss ran through all the pros and cons in his head.
The only thing that truly worried him was the Red Dragon Guild teammates—if war broke out and he left the team, would the group fall leaderless?
"But if I leave, what about my adventuring party?"
He voiced his concern.
"Rest assured," the guildmaster said, "if you take this commission, we will not draft your adventuring party to the front line. If your members want to join the fighting, I can use my authority to place them at battle zones closest to me, and I can move to protect them at any time."
Once war erupted, soldiers, adventurers, and other professions would not all cluster in one place. The battlefront would stretch long, creating dangerous and relatively safe areas. Even the strongest could not protect everyone.
Matthias Monroe’s implication was that he would try his best to protect the Red Dragon Guild.
Hearing that eased the worry on Gauss’s face somewhat.
"Guildmaster Monroe, I might need to go back and discuss with my companions. I’ll give you an answer tomorrow," Gauss said as he rose.
"Very well. Think it over. But regardless of whether you take it, please do not discuss this commission with many people." Monroe had already noticed the change in Gauss’s expression.
"I understand."
Gauss nodded.
Intelligence was critical. If it leaked and the Green Dragon Queen’s forces learned of it, they would set targeted deployments in advance, and whoever carried out the task—him or someone else—would face enormous risk.
He was very clear on this.
"Then I won’t keep you, guildmaster. I’ll take my leave."
"Safe travels."
Matthias Monroe stood and watched Gauss head out the office door, only returning his gaze after a long while. Then, alone in his office, he sighed.
Even now, he didn’t know whether assigning the commission to this prodigious magic genius was the right decision.
In his understanding, a genius of Gauss’s caliber could no longer be limited by rank bottlenecks; barring death, he would steadily break through to Legendary. The only difference was timing.
They could remove him from the warfront and relocate him to safer locations—Carlos Kingdom’s capital, or even the imperial capital Aurelian.
"What are you thinking, Sage?" he murmured to himself, bewildered.
Had the situation deteriorated so much that there was no time for a genius to develop steadily? Must external shocks be used to accelerate the process?
With the intelligence he had, Monroe couldn’t grasp the deeper reasons. Even a top Transcendent in others’ eyes could be no more than a pawn when facing Epic and Legendary enemies.
In this world, the more people who knew crucial intelligence, the higher the risk of exposure. Behind it lay forces beyond the five senses, entangling causality.
Therefore, the most important plans and intelligence were known by as few as possible; sometimes not even the planners or executors retained full knowledge—deep memories could be wiped by certain means.
Outside the Adventurers Guild, Gauss met his companions at the gate.
Most had already left; only his teammates remained, waiting because he had been held back.
"Gauss, did the guildmaster want something?" Aria asked softly, curious.
Not only she; the others also glanced over.
"I’ll tell you when we get back."
Seeing Gauss’s reaction, Aria realized his private meeting with the guildmaster must have been weighty. If it had been minor, Gauss would have said so offhand.
They all nodded and didn’t press further.
"Then let’s go back."
They boarded the carriage arranged by the guild and returned to their lodgings.
Ivan excused himself quickly; he needed to arrange procurement and pre-stock necessary supplies, since materials and resources would rise in price once war began.
The rest accompanied Gauss back to the room.
"Guildmaster Matthias Monroe wants to entrust me with an extremely important mission," Gauss said, adjusting his wording in his head. Then, imitating Eden’s ability and using spiritual power, he achieved an effect of "secret telepathy."
A sudden voice in their heads startled them for a moment, but they quickly adapted.
"You don’t need to speak aloud. Just think the words in your head, and I’ll hear them."
Before any teammate could speak, Gauss’s voice echoed again.
Although the ability required prior preparation, its secrecy exceeded that of ordinary spells; it felt like he had set up a private team voice channel.
"I understand."
"Roger."
"Lord Gauss, I love you!"
"So amazing."
Gauss mentally heard several voices at once.
"Albenia, don’t entertain irrelevant thoughts."
The real Albenia, hearing her thoughts vocalized, hurriedly covered her mouth.
"Okay."
Experiencing that strange sensation, she forced herself not to imagine more.
Thoughts, however, were peculiar: the more you tried not to think, the more tangled fantasies burst forth like weeds.
Many strange daydreams that normally surfaced only in sleep now crowded her mind.
Soon her face flushed, and she cautiously glanced at Gauss.
Her guild leader had just been subjected to embarrassing things in her mental world—if he found out, he would certainly be furious.
Luckily, under her uneasy stare, Gauss remained expressionless and even looked at her with puzzled confusion.
This guy must be thinking of something bizarre.
"Anything else?"
"No, Lord Gauss, continue."
Her worries were unnecessary.
Gauss’s mental link was not mind reading.
Why did he insist they silently think their words? Because only focused mental speech could be intercepted by him. He could not access the complex private thoughts that happened simultaneously in someone’s mind.
After a brief distraction, they returned to the matter at hand.
After Gauss explained the commission was highly confidential and details couldn’t be revealed, Aria and the others asked if they could join.
But when Gauss hinted at the danger and that more people would likely increase risk, silence fell over the group.
"Gauss, can I help?" Shadow asked curiously.
Her stealth was the team’s best; Gauss hadn’t encountered anyone better in that domain.
On the way back, he had indeed considered bringing Shadow.
In the end, though, he dismissed the idea and decided that if he accepted the commission, he would go alone.
Shadow’s talent was strong but energy-limited; aiding his stealth would increase her burden, and the travel distance for this commission was clearly not short.
More importantly, he felt there was no need to drag his teammates into danger.
They did not possess battle power like his at the Transcendent tier, nor the durability to absorb such risks. If things went wrong, they would suffer greatly.
He leaned toward taking the commission because a deep instinct told him killing a True Dragon would be immensely beneficial to him.
He vaguely sensed the origin of that instinct.
Since it concerned him personally, he did not want to involve the team.
So, facing Shadow’s request—even though she could likely assist—he shook his head.
"Is it really that important?"
"Yes. I want to go."
Gauss had originally planned to progress steadily, step by step.
But plans couldn’t keep pace with change. With human and monster war looming again, he realized that to protect himself and those he cared about in an uncertain future, he had to accelerate his power growth.
He was still too weak; a single Emerald Kingdom domain from the Green Dragon Queen could potentially annihilate him and his partners.
He did not want to leave his and his teammates’ lives to someone else’s uncertain protection. The reality was he could only trust in the mysterious strong figure that Guildmaster Matthias Monroe mentioned.
This unease would not vanish; as long as he remained weak, it would keep returning for years.
Until he became strong enough to decide his and his teammates’ future by himself.
Hearing his sincere tone, Shadow fell silent for a long while and ultimately did not insist further.
"Then be careful," Shadow said, looking into his eyes.
"I will."
Gauss had overlooked one thing: while mental communication was not mind reading, it wasn’t the same as spoken words.
It was essentially a mental signal, and unlike speech, it carried many subtle and explicit messages.
So when he spoke, Shadow "heard" more than just the words.
She sensed his desire to protect, and the anxiety that quietly sprouted in his heart after hearing news of war.
Even someone who usually acted effortlessly had weaknesses and worries—some he didn’t even notice himself.
"After I leave, you can wait in town for my return. Guildmaster Monroe promised he won’t conscript the Red Dragon Guild. Once the mission officially starts, I should be back within a few days at the latest…"
Seeing his teammates’ silent reactions, Gauss explained the Red Dragon Guild’s arrangements.
"No, we’ll fight too."
To his surprise, his teammates exchanged looks and shook their heads at his suggestion.
"Gauss, you should go and do the mission without worrying about us," Aria said.
"But…"
"Captain, there’s nothing to worry about. If we die, it only proves we weren’t strong enough," Serlandul added.
"Yes, the moment I became an adventurer, I accepted the possibility of death."
"Isn’t that the resolve every adventurer should have?"
Gauss looked into their eyes and could feel the determination behind them through their expressions.
His pupils contracted, and a sudden realization washed over him.
All this time, he seemed to have shouldered the responsibility for his teammates’ safety alone. That protection was also a form of extreme pride.
He arrogantly assumed his teammates must rely on him.
But in truth, even those who seemed cowardly in the face of death harbored something in their hearts greater than life itself—maybe a thirst for wealth and recognition, a belief in saving others, ambitions to dominate, or other desires. There was always a reason quietly supporting an adventurer to leave a comfortable life and keep killing monsters.
What were his teammates’ beliefs?
He realized he had never considered that question.