civilwarnovels Chapter 301: They’re Gone
Chapter 301: They’re Gone
The effect of Intermediate Draconic Language was a full tier stronger than Elementary Draconic Language.If there were a true dragon before him now, he would absolutely have no language barrier when communicating.
Of course, this was limited to just the language aspect having no obstacles.
Whether a dragon was willing to communicate depended more on other factors.
However, the significance of Draconic Language wasn't only in communicating with true dragons—this point could even be ignored, because Draconic Language itself was the benefit.
When Gauss completely accepted this blue-quality ability, the smile at the corner of his mouth was almost hard to contain.
No adventurer would ever complain about being too strong.
If you could kill an enemy with one punch, why throw two?
Very good.
Gauss put away the Fold House and activated Fly.
His body broke free from the ground, hovering lightly in the air.
Flying now no longer had the strenuous feeling from the very beginning.
Perhaps it was because true dragons were inherently masters of the sky, and even he, this "human-shaped pseudo-dragon," carried some of the demeanor of a high-altitude lord.
"Whoosh—"
His flight speed had also noticeably increased quite a bit.
Gauss flew towards the direction of Lakeside Town.
In the blink of an eye, he had been out for several hours;it was still noon when he left, and now the sun was setting.
He was gradually beginning to understand the meaning of "time passes unnoticed in the mountains."
Returning to Lakeside Town, Gauss descended outside the town, then walked unhurriedly into the town.
Along the way, many gazes, both overt and covert, fell upon him.
His fame around the Five-Town Alliance of Blue Lake, especially around Lakeside Town, was changing day by day.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the rising "supernova" currently in the spotlight.
Especially since Gauss also had a handsome face that most people wouldn't dislike, which gave him extra points.
"Is that guy Gauss, the one everyone's been crazily talking about these past two days?"
"That's him."
"Really incredible. Over thirteen hundred points in two days—converted to monsters, that's over thirteen hundred Goblins or Goblin-like creatures."
"Even if all those monsters were tied up for me to behead one by one, I couldn't kill that many. My arms would be too sore to lift my elbows..."
"That's why he's a great adventurer, and you're just a peddler."
"Really as handsome as others say."
"If I could be with him, I'd be willing even if it meant eating well and drinking fine!"
...
Gauss walked through the crowd.
He acted as if he hadn't heard the discussions, his face calm and unruffled.
This wasn't because he was arrogant or putting on airs, but because he was genuinely accustomed to it.
People's thresholds for various things and emotions constantly rise through different experiences.
Maybe only the first few times, a slight secret pleasure would involuntarily surface in his heart, but after becoming an adventurer, he had heard such discussions and praises so many times that it was naturally hard for any ripples to appear.
Or rather, anyone who could still feel overwhelming joy in such situations probably had a touch of narcissism.
"Back?"
At the inn entrance, Gauss encountered Aria.
If he remembered correctly, her afternoon plan was to go shopping on the town's commercial street to replenish supplies.
"Mm."
Gauss nodded.
Aria looked at him a couple more times.
"Gauss, your voice sounds nicer." Unlike when the stranger Maggie was present in the morning and it was inconvenient, now she directly complimented him.
"Is it related to your bloodline?"
"Yes." Gauss nodded. "Pretty good, right?"
"Mm-hmm." Aria nodded quickly, feeling a bit envious.
Having a nicer-sounding voice was something most people would find hard to resist.
"By the way, Gauss, let me tell you something."
"Hmm?"
"That second-place Herbert is catching up to you."
"How many points does he have?"
Although Gauss didn't care much about temporary wins or losses—after all, he felt that normally, it would be hard for adventurers of similar levels to be more adept than him at killing monsters—hearing Aria specifically mention this still made him somewhat curious.
"When I checked after lunch, he seemed to have 1311 points already?"
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Gauss raised an eyebrow.
Since he was busy with Draconic Language matters in the afternoon and hadn't gone out to kill monsters, his points were still at 1372.
Herbert had indeed closed in again.
Moreover, in just half a day, he had gained another two hundred points?
Although this speed wasn't particularly fast for Gauss, compared to Herbert's original average of two hundred points per day, this speed seemed a bit too fast.
If Herbert continued gaining points in the afternoon, at the rate of two hundred per half-day, he would probably reach over fifteen hundred points upon registration, thus overtaking him.
Didn't he need rest? If he remembered correctly, Herbert should have been participating in this competition for many days already;normally, he should be approaching fatigue, right? Gauss couldn't help but scratch his head.
Originally not too concerned, Gauss now felt a bit of urgency, but he didn't show it in front of Aria.
It seemed he needed to go out again tonight to make up for the points missed this afternoon.
"Let's eat first."
...
Night fell.
A crimson fire drake soared into the sky on the outskirts of Lakeside Town.
Gauss sat on Hephaestus's back.
Perhaps because he had obtained the Intermediate Draconic Language racial talent, he clearly felt Hephaestus's attitude towards him had changed somewhat.
This change might even be something it itself hadn't realized.
In the past, Gauss's "communication" with the drake Hephaestus was generally through a method similar to "telepathy" to convey thoughts.
But having just obtained Draconic Language, he wanted to practice a bit during the flight.
So he temporarily blocked that mental link.
He lightly uttered short, powerful syllables that burst forth from his throat.
"Oom..."
As he spoke the syllables, Hephaestus beneath him, which had been diligently flying, suddenly swayed noticeably.
"Roar?"
What Gauss said wasn't complicated;he just said its name in Draconic Language.
But hearing Hephaestus's roar in response, he couldn't help but frown.
What the heck was that?
What was this drake babbling about?
He originally thought that his previous inability to understand Hephaestus's roars was due to the language barrier, and that its roars could actually convey simple meanings. Even if, due to intelligence level, it couldn't communicate fluently like a true dragon, it should at least have the most basic Draconic Language meanings.
Just like many beasts that don't seem very smart—their roars and cries can still convey simple meanings like eat, enemy, flee, danger, etc.
But now, after learning Draconic Language, he realized he had overthought it.
He had overestimated the drake's "cultural attainment."
This guy's roars, understood through Draconic Language, truly had no meaning;they were completely incomprehensible noises—pure, utter foolishness.
Yes.
The roars that originally sounded quite majestic to Gauss's human ears were, in Draconic Language, idiotic gibberish.
No wonder the five-colored true dragons didn't consider drakes as real dragons, and no wonder the Dragon Mother was so irritated by drakes that she often drove them out while they were still young, leaving them to fend for themselves.
True dragons were such proud creatures;giving birth to such clueless fools who only knew how to screech would inevitably cause distress.
One could say that the existence of drakes was particularly grating in the Dragon Mother's eyes;it would shatter the flawless filter she saw herself through.
If allowed, they might even wish to personally destroy the evidence and erase the traces of their inferior genes from this world.
However, Gauss was not the Dragon Mother.
So after a brief surprise, he continued trying to communicate with Hephaestus.
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
"Roar! (Gurgle-gurgle~)"
Gauss scratched his head.
This was like talking to a brick wall.
To make an inappropriate analogy, it was like playing the abstract music "Hakimī," which was hugely popular in his previous life, for a Japanese person to listen to.
It was even more baffling than that.
"Never mind, I'll find a way to teach you later." Gauss sighed.
The kid really wasn't too bright;expecting it to understand Draconic Language in a few sentences didn't seem realistic.
He patted Hephaestus's neck.
Caring for intellectually challenged drakes starts with me.
He was also quite curious: if a drake without inherited knowledge learned Draconic Language, could it master spellcasting ability?
If it acquired spellcasting ability through its own efforts later in life, what difference would there be between it and a true dragon?
Hephaestus didn't know what Gauss on its back was thinking.
It just flew somewhat restlessly.
Although it didn't understand the meaning of Gauss's Draconic Language words, it vaguely seemed to have some memory of them in its mind.
It was from when it had just hatched from its egg and saw its majestic, beautiful mother.
The wondrous syllables she uttered were similar.
Unfortunately, after it roared a few times in response, the beautiful Dragon Mother's gaze instantly turned disappointed and cold, and she turned away to lie back on the dragon nest, no longer looking at it.
After that, it was fed a few times, then picked up by the Dragon Mother and sent away from the nest.
Although not clever, that initial memory always remained like an unremovable thorn deeply embedded in its heart.
The syllables Gauss uttered were sounds it yearned for yet felt inferior about.
Its last shred of draconic pride had now completely vanished before Gauss, leaving some sorrow in its heart.
"Roar~"
Ultimately, apart from appearance and size, Gauss was closer to a true dragon than it was.
...
"Yawn~~"
Gauss yawned.
"Gauss, how many points do you have now?" At the breakfast table, Aria couldn't help but ask curiously.
She certainly knew Gauss had gone out again last night to clear out monsters.
After all, the Living Bag had been borrowed.
And judging by Gauss's appearance, he had clearly been busy last night.
"You'll know in a moment." Gauss smiled and shook his head.
He knew Herbert's points had likely overtaken his again yesterday, so he had worked a bit harder last night.
Coincidentally, the drake's appetite was inexplicably quite good.
Besides, they still had to go out today to continue their commission.
They would definitely be able to open up a sufficient points gap today.
Aria was itching with curiosity, but seeing that Serlandul and the others didn't seem curious, she temporarily suppressed her curiosity.
After breakfast, the group set off for the Adventurers Guild hall.
Early morning was when the guild was most crowded.
The hall was packed with people, adventurers gathered around the ranking board, discussing fervently.
Gauss saw the crowd from afar.
"Are they discussing my rank being overtaken?"
Thinking this, he walked towards the counter to register his points.
Suddenly, his peripheral glance caught the board.
He was about to look away.
But he immediately realized something was wrong.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, his gaze returned to the stone slab of the board.
"Huh?"
Aria noticed his steps halt and followed his gaze.
"Huh?"
Then she also made a sound of surprise.
The scene Gauss anticipated—his rank being surpassed—did not appear.
He was still ranked first with 1372 points.
Second place was Koman with 991 points.
Something's wrong? Nine out of ten points, something's off!
Gauss scanned the entire board but couldn't find Herbert's name.
Where had he disappeared to?
Logically, even if he hadn't continued increasing his points yesterday afternoon, he should still have over thirteen hundred points, firmly in second place.
Now he was simply gone.
What had happened?
Weren't they competing for the top spot? He had struggled all night;where had Herbert gone?
No wonder so many people were gathered around the board.
Seeing him enter the hall, the crowd immediately made way for him.
The Monster Slayer, the presumed champion of the Five-Town Alliance Hunting Competition, had arrived at his loyal Adventurers Guild hall.
After Herbert's mysterious disappearance, Gauss's champion position lost its last bit of suspense.
Even if Herbert were "still around," it would have been hard for him to pose a threat to Gauss, but he was the best of a bad lot;the others couldn't even see that sliver of possibility.
"Herbert is gone." Aria chuckled quietly.
"Mm, let's go ask at the counter." Gauss said calmly.
There must be a reason for his disappearance from the rankings, and it was probably related to the Adventurers Guild.
Only it held the power of life and death.
"Mr. Gauss, good morning."
"Good morning."
As soon as they approached the counter, the staff member proactively greeted them with a smile.
Although, as Adventurers Guild staff, their duty was to provide convenient service to every adventurer, Gauss was special.
"Register my points."
Gauss handed the points crystal to the staff member.
At the same time, he asked curiously.
"May I ask why Herbert has disappeared from the board?"
The staff member wasn't surprised by Gauss's question but still showed a slightly troubled expression.
Normally, answering this question wasn't part of his job scope;if anyone else asked, he naturally wouldn't answer.
But the one asking was Gauss.
He weighed his words, then gave Gauss a brief explanation.
"After investigation, Mr. Herbert's points from yesterday were found to involve rule violations. According to the rules, the guild has determined them as invalid, so Mr. Herbert has also been disqualified from the competition."
The staff member lowered his voice.
"Oh?"
Gauss nodded thoughtfully.
Rule violations, and having his results canceled so quickly after being confirmed—it seemed the guild had obtained direct evidence, possibly even caught him in the act of violating the rules?
No wonder he felt Herbert's points acquisition speed had noticeably increased yesterday.
It seemed taking crooked paths was indeed not advisable.
The Adventurers Guild wouldn't go easy on you just because you had sufficient local influence.
After all, what kind of nobility could come from a small town? In the face of a continental machine like the Adventurers Guild, they were all small fries.