Gauss and the others walked along the street.
Maybe it was just in his head, but he felt like there were noticeably fewer civilians out and about than before.
"So, Alia—are you saying you might be switching into a different class?"
Gauss asked, curious.
Alia had already woken up from her coma. Like Gauss, her injuries weren't severe.
But unlike Gauss's situation, according to Playaos, he hadn't actually given her much direct treatment—most of her recovery had been handled by some mysterious energy inside her.
"Yes. More precisely, I'm still in the middle of switching."
Alia raised an arm.
She wasn't casting anything, yet a distinct, bright ribbon of moonlight coiled around her forearm, giving her an extra touch of sacredness.
But when she talked about it, she didn't sound particularly happy—if anything, she sighed quietly to herself.
The group made their way to an open patch of ground.
Then Alia buried the Powderwing Butterfly's body—its two halves now completely dried out—in the soil, and covered it with her own hands.
As a contracted companion, the Powderwing Butterfly's death was a real loss for her.
"Whiiine…"
Silver Wolf Ulfen and Raven Echo stopped fooling around too. They lowered their heads, grieving their fallen companion.
Battlefields always changed in an instant—sometimes the price came at the worst possible time.
"Rest in peace."
They fell silent for a moment, holding a brief vigil.
With a gentle flow of Alia's nature power, a small white flower pushed up through the soft earth.
After the burial, they started back toward Longflute Fortress.
"Welcome back to the city, Sir Gauss."
The gate guards saluted respectfully.
Over this short span of time, Gauss's team had exploded in fame.
Before, he'd been a nobody in a huge city like Longflute Fortress. Now, overnight, everyone from street hawkers to nobles and merchant magnates had heard of a young, accomplished dragon rider.
And he had a record that sounded outright impossible.
"Is that him?"
"Move—let me see!"
"An elite-tier adventurer killed a transcendent-class one? That's insane!"
"Tell me about it."
"That's Crimson Dragon Knight Gauss."
"No wonder he could subdue a proud red dragon."
"I heard that red dragon's wingspan is bigger than the castle!"
"And that giant woman is huge too!"
…
Along the street, civilians stared at the Gauss squad—back out for the first time after the storm—craning their necks to get a look at a once-in-a-century genius.
These past few days, even while Gauss had been resting in the castle, the city had been drowning in stories about him.
In taverns, restaurants, and especially in bards' tales, the hottest story by far was Gauss.
Goblin Slayer. Lake God's Chosen. Crimson Dragon Knight. The elite who crossed the gap and slew a transcendent powerhouse—people couldn't stop talking about any of it.
If anything, they only hated that they weren't him.
In such a short time he'd become a citywide hero—too compelling to ignore.
Everyone could see it: his future strength would be limitless.
"I heard Sir Gauss is obsessed with killing goblins."
"Maybe that's the secret—why he grows so fast and fights like a monster."
Some people even "researched" his rise, convinced they'd uncovered the key.
Because supposedly, early on Gauss hadn't been any different from other novice adventurers—if anything, because he kept farming goblins around his first little town, he'd been laughed at and mocked with the nickname "Goblin Slayer."
Other adventurers had meant it as an insult: he was too scared to challenge harder prey, addicted to slaughtering weak goblins beneath his level.
But now that he'd shown outrageous talent and power, even that old "trash nickname" was starting to get rehabilitated.
Even city folk who'd barely ever been bothered by goblins were starting to find the title kind of endearing.
So strong, yet patient enough to grind "small fry" out in the fields—polishing skill instead of blindly chasing danger. That was the kind of discipline people praised and tried to imitate.
And plenty of young rookie adventurers straight-up declared Gauss their idol.
"I've decided—starting tomorrow, I'm hunting goblins too!"
"I heard goblins aren't even weak—they're really crafty!"
…
Hearing all these people talk about him, Gauss couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.
It was all hindsight logic: they saw he hunted goblins a lot and assumed copying his routine would produce the same growth.
That was obviously unrealistic.
Still, he didn't think the impact was necessarily bad—especially for low-tier adventurers.
They needed to be grounded and deal with the "small" monsters.
Compared to high-end threats, the ones that hurt civilians most were often these countless low-level creatures.
…
"Thank you, Teacher."
"Study hard."
Gauss brought Abby to a school.
In a major city like Longflute Fortress, there were naturally institutions that trained boys and girls to step onto the path of a profession.
They had proper facilities, training grounds, and instructors across classes—warriors, mages, rangers, and more.
Of course, private schools like this didn't usually accept ordinary commoners. They were meant for nobles' children, landed gentry, and wealthy officials and merchants.
But with Gauss's connections in the city, getting Abby in wasn't difficult.
Abby knew she'd been admitted because of Teacher Gauss.
She waved at him, then disappeared down the corridor.
Gauss smiled softly.
He thought of Rhein—and his little sister at home, Cicero.
Back when he'd returned home for those few days, he'd left behind some basic warrior skill books and taught a little.
But Cicero's body still hadn't fully matured, so for now she could only build fundamentals.
Still, it was easy to imagine she had more potential than most.
After all, Gauss occasionally sent money and foundational training potions back home.
Maybe in a few years, when the "three kids" grew up, they could form an adventuring party of their own.
His little sister Cicero as the warrior, Rhein and Abby as mages…
Gauss shook his head and shelved the thought. He wasn't going to force plans onto children.
If they chose to team up later, great. By then he might already be established, with a full adventuring company—big tree, good shade.
And if they wanted to carve their own paths, he wouldn't interfere.
Leaving the school gates, a cloaked tiefling youth waited by the street. When he saw Gauss come out, he hurried over.
"Sir Gauss."
"This is something Lord Playaos asked me to deliver to you."
"Thank you."
Gauss accepted the storage pouch.
He wasn't unfamiliar with the tiefling ranger—he knew he was one of Playaos's trusted runners.
Over the years, Playaos had quietly selected promising tieflings in the city, investing resources to raise them into professional adventurers.
Because of shared blood, these people often obeyed him—and the executive Noah Shade—without question.
And that was exactly one reason the Hayes family disliked Playaos and Governor Noah Shade.
Tieflings might have miserable lives at the bottom, but among them you could sometimes find truly gifted talent. With the right resources, they became solid fighting power.
The problem was that Playaos's prestige among the city's tiefling network was so overwhelming that other factions struggled to win over that ignored pool of strength.
"Wait—don't go yet. I haven't paid you what we agreed on."
Seeing the tiefling ranger about to vanish, Gauss quickly stopped him.
"No need. Lord Playaos said you've already completed the commission—this pouch is part of your payment."
"I completed the commission?"
"Didn't Lord Playaos ask you to investigate the tiefling orphan disappearances? With the crackdown on the Dragon Cult, the culprit got swept up too. That's your contribution."
The ranger hurried to explain, terrified that if he took Gauss's extra money, Playaos would scold him when he got back.
Playaos had emphasized repeatedly: deliver the pouch, and absolutely do not accept any commission from Gauss himself.
Raised from childhood under Playaos's wing, the tiefling ranger didn't dare disobey.
Seeing how nervous he looked, Gauss didn't press.
He stood there, though, thinking about the provincial Capital's Falrim Adventurers' Guild.
Neither he nor the body's original owner had ever been to Falrim—same for the last several generations.
That was part of why, when Playaos first pinned credit on him, Gauss didn't dare accept it.
But after several days of thinking… maybe Falrim really did have some connection to him.
Once the snow-mountain commission was resolved, he might need to go to Falrim and see for himself.
Gauss looked north.
As they continued traveling, they were getting closer and closer to the snow mountain tied to the lake guardian's request.
But before setting off for real, he still needed to stay in Longflute Fortress for a while.
Both he and Alia were at a critical juncture.
He'd asked Playaos to purchase a large batch of mental-restoration potions, magic potions, and mid-grade mana crystals—because of his coming breakthrough.
Inside him, the class-manifested "Magical Cup" had reached its peak.
The once-solid cup walls had split with spiderweb cracks. He didn't feel discomfort—on the contrary, he felt like he was about to be reborn.
He'd asked Albena and Shadow about it: this was the necessary path from elite to master—a kind of "break, then rebuild" metamorphosis.
Once complete, the class core would be dramatically strengthened.
Both the intensity and total volume of mana would rise—one reason master-tier mages could cast the same spells far more powerfully than elite-tier mages.
The next stretch of time was extremely important for him.
Master-tier professionals were the first true step onto the world stage—the level that could meaningfully participate in city-scale disasters and major events.
Even if Gauss already had master-level combat power, without the actual breakthrough, he was still "elite" in rank.
He poured a thread of mana into the storage pouch.
Playaos had sent more—and better—supplies than Gauss had requested yesterday.
There was even a 4th-circle spellbook inside.
And it was directly tied to his abilities: a water-control spell.
Playaos had probably heard Gauss received the lake's blessing and deliberately collected water magic for him.
"…Honestly."
Gauss shook his head.
He knew the bigger intent likely came from Governor Noah Shade, but Playaos had clearly put in real effort too.
"First, I'll head back and discuss the retreat training plans with everyone."
Gauss returned to the house.
"If nothing unexpected happens, Alia and I will both be going into closed-door training for the next few days."
"After that you'll just be free to do your own thing in the city?"
"Sure."
"Be careful. Even though the Dragon Cult has taken a huge hit in the city, there might still be remnants."
"Don't worry, Lord Gauss. If any sewer rats show their faces, I'll show them what my great axe can do."
Albena said it with full confidence—and with teeth-gritting hatred when the Dragon Cult came up.
By now, in the squad's hearts, the Dragon Cult had the worst reputation possible.
When the time was right in the future, they'd absolutely retaliate.
Gauss had said as much in the team meeting, and everyone had agreed.
"…That's kind of what I'm worried about."
Gauss sighed.
Still, he also thought it was extremely unlikely there were Dragon Cult members in the city stronger than Albena, Shadow, and Serandur.
So after a few reminders, he didn't belabor it.
Playaos and Governor Noah Shade had clearly gained a lot from the storm—cracking down on enemies, flexing thunderous methods, and winning some public support from people who admired strength.
At least inside the city, Gauss's party was safe.
After arranging everything, Gauss left with Alia.
They didn't head out of Longflute Fortress—instead, they rode toward the city center.
Inside the central fortress, where every inch of land was priceless, there was a vast private natural woodland estate. Alia would complete her class change and breakthrough there.
Gauss himself wasn't picky about the environment—he didn't need a lush natural field to break through.
But for safety, Playaos had still prepared a training ground for him, reinforced by special magic arrays to increase ambient mana density.
"It's Sir Gauss—let them through! Let them through!"
They passed multiple tight checkpoints without delay.
The guards had been briefed in advance, and didn't stop even their chocobos for inspection—they waved them through immediately.
In Longflute Fortress, Gauss could come and go as freely as if it were his own home.
If he didn't find it uncomfortable, he could even live openly in the Hayes family castle and enjoy attentive maid service.
And no Hayes noble brat would dare disturb him.
During those days, the only person he met was the head of House Hayes: Viscount Mason Hayes.
An elderly, genial man with a fluffy white beard.
Playaos had vaguely hinted that Governor Noah Shade's rise was backed by the viscount—Noah was the viscount's illegitimate son.
Before becoming executive, Noah, Playaos, and several others had spent years adventuring outside the city.
As for why the viscount handed the governor seat to a bastard son instead of a "legitimate" clan prodigy—Gauss couldn't say. Mason Hayes surely had his reasons.
"We'll split here."
Gauss escorted Alia into the dense garden.
"Keep her safe."
"Don't worry, Sir Gauss," a squad captain promised with a grin. "Lady Alia won't come to any harm here."
This was the innermost district of Longflute Fortress—the area with the strongest security.
Normal elites? Useless. Master-tier intruders? Still not enough. Even Transcendent-tier attackers would struggle.
City walls, arrays, watchtowers, guards, hidden agents…
Layer upon layer formed a fortress no individual could break.
"Then I'm leaving her to you."
Gauss said goodbye to Alia, then rode on a bit farther.
"Is this the place?"
He felt the temperature around him rising.
From a luxurious compound ahead drifted curling steam, and the air carried faint hints of sulfur and a strange mana scent.
"A hot spring?"
"Welcome, Sir Gauss!"
A line of maids bowed in unison.
Someone led the chocobos away to the stables, and the maids guided Gauss into the compound.
Before him lay a pool of clear blue hot spring water.
So much mana saturated the place that it had condensed into mist.
Even the maids here all had mana—because this "treasure land" wasn't a blessing for ordinary people.
For normal folk, it would be a disaster zone: it would shorten lifespan and damage health.
~~~
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