I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 275: The Big Eater Bond

Is it acceptable?What a strange question.

When Gauss heard Albenia's question, he couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed.

Could she have a little more confidence?

In the end, Gauss still didn't voice the thoughts in his heart.

He just pretended to be calm and nodded.

"Of course, if you don't mind our team, Albenia. Let's work well together on this upcoming commission."

As he spoke, he politely extended his hand.

"Great!" Albenia quickly grasped Gauss's hand with both of hers.

"Then Lord Gauss, I hope we can cooperate happily."

Gauss's hand was squeezed so tightly it felt like it was caught in a pair of iron clamps.

He instinctively tried to pull it back.

The first attempt ended in failure.

It didn't budge.

He had to increase his strength.

Crack crack crack—

Strange crisp sounds rang out.

"Hiss—"

Gauss couldn't help but suck in a cold breath. Now he truly understood the absolute gap in pure physical strength between them.

"Albenia, look—"

He had to give up struggling and used his eyes to indicate their still tightly clasped hands.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking about the commission and got a bit distracted."

Albenia seemed to just realize it and quickly released his hand, a faint blush appearing on her face that was hard to notice, letting out two dry chuckles.

Gauss looked at her suspiciously.

He had a feeling that at the very end, the back of his hand had been rubbed again.

Was Albenia really acting a bit strange?

Gauss had some vague suspicions in his heart.

But soon he shook that thought out of his head.

He didn't have delusions of being loved.

That symptom where someone just glances at you more or smiles at you, and you delusionally think they like you.

In reality, it's highly likely they're just like that with everyone.

So, for now, he considered Albenia to simply be a nice person.

As for her attitude toward Jon.

Well, that was easy to understand.

Who could smile and welcome someone who owed them money and didn't pay it back?

Since the training ground had been accidentally destroyed beyond recognition by Albenia.

Afterward, Gauss and the others simply demonstrated their abilities, discussed tactics for facing monsters, and then returned to Gold-Silver Town.

Just like with every previous new member joining the team, this time with Albenia temporarily joining, Gauss also held a welcome dinner gathering.

Gauss rented out an entire tavern.

Of course, it wasn't as expensive as one might imagine, because Gold-Silver Town had relatively few adventurers, and the usual customer numbers weren't too high.

"Albenia, are you quite famous in Gold-Silver Town?"

Gauss noticed that everyone in the tavern, whether bartenders or servers, were subtly directing their gazes toward Albenia.

Although her physique was certainly very eye-catching, Gauss had a feeling it wasn't that simple.

Albenia had now changed back into her regular clothes.

Her armor seemed to possess some kind of enchantment effect, allowing flexible switching between battle attire and everyday clothing through gestures.

Earlier on the way out of town, she had worn her full armor just to demonstrate her strength and stamina to Gauss and the others.

Of course, this functionality also made Gauss breathe a sigh of relief.

At least during this commission, he didn't have to worry about his Storage Bag being nearly one-third occupied for no reason.

"Hehe, I caused a little bit of a stir before." Albenia scratched her head. "It's all in the past now, not important, not important."

Gauss nodded.

So it definitely wasn't just "a little bit" of a stir.

But since Albenia didn't want to elaborate, there was no need to dig deeper.

It probably wasn't a big deal anyway, otherwise she wouldn't be able to legally stay in the city now.

Moreover, the way others looked at her didn't contain fear, only curiosity.

"Shall we order first?"

Since Gauss and the others arrived quite early, and with the private booking meaning no other customers were being served, the entire tavern was dedicated to their team, so the food arrived quickly.

Before long, the table was filled with steaming roasted meat, stew, bread, and a local specialty mushroom soup made from fungi that grew on rocks.

Once the meal officially began,

Gauss glanced at Albenia.

Although she initially seemed to maintain a ladylike demeanor of eating slowly and chewing thoroughly for a few minutes because everyone was still unfamiliar, once she got into it, she quickly threw that restraint out the window.

A large piece of roasted meat that could provide half a day's calories for an ordinary person—she chewed it briefly and swallowed it in one gulp.

Then she picked up another piece.

And another!

Gauss swallowed hard.

He rarely felt that there's always someone better, that there are heavens beyond heavens.

Even he found Albenia's appetite quite terrifying.

If she had been born in Gauss's previous life, she would absolutely have been great material for a mukbang streamer.

Just watching her eat was enough to stimulate one's appetite.

The fact that Aria and Shadow beside him were both stunned was the best proof.

"Everyone, eat up."

Albenia licked her lips.

A few pieces of roasted meat had simply opened her appetite, officially activating her hunger.

She was in a great mood today, which made her appetite even better.

Besides her, Gauss also ate quite a lot.

The two of them were like well-matched opponents, eating silently.

Fortunately, all the chefs in the tavern were serving them, so the food kept coming at a pace that could keep up.

Time passed continuously, plate after plate of emptied dishes were taken away, and servers brought up new plates filled with food.

Aria and the other two had finished eating long ago. They sipped on fruit wine that tasted similar to soft drinks while enjoying the mukbang show happening before them.

It turned out that the art form of mukbang worked just as well in another world.

Aria took a sip of wine, looked at Gauss, then turned to look at Albenia.

She had a feeling that a strange competitive spirit had emerged between these two.

But... she had no evidence.

This was just based on her understanding of Gauss's normal appetite.

On normal days, Gauss would have stopped after eating until he was seventy to eighty percent full, but today he was still eating!

When he swallowed the last piece of stewed meat,

Gauss finally silently put down his utensils.

Then leaned back against his chair.

He admitted defeat.

Albenia's physical advantage was just too great.

Even someone like him with [Special Stomach], a naturally gifted player who could convert excess food intake into a secondary mana bar, couldn't possibly defeat a true innate powerhouse like her even when giving his all.

Albenia ate silently by herself for a while, only stopping after clearing all the food on the table. Then she picked up a napkin and wiped her mouth.

That was truly satisfying.

She turned to look at Gauss.

A flicker of surprise passed through her eyes.

Who would have thought that Lord Gauss, who looked so gentle and refined, could actually eat so much?

This is...

This is... so attractive.

Truly worthy of being the man who won her approval at their first meeting.

......

The next day.

After leaving the Adventurers Guild,

Aria came from another direction.

Behind her was a flat cart loaded with ingredients.

"Isn't this a bit too much? This commission shouldn't actually take that many days, right?"

Gauss looked at the spectacular stockpile of ingredients and asked guiltily.

He knew that the reason for this

was that last night's "Food King Championship" had scared the team's logistics manager.

But in reality, there was no need to go this far.

Because yesterday he had simply met his match, which had stimulated his appetite.

His normal appetite wasn't that exaggerated.

Moreover, when necessary, he had prepared some gems and precious metal powder fragments as temporary food.

When he truly needed to replenish mana quickly, his [Special Stomach] could convert these special minerals and metals into energy in the shortest time possible.

"No, we must be prepared for any contingency."

Aria stubbornly shook her head.

With two big eaters on the team, the material reserves had to keep up.

Gauss nodded.

Then he could only store all this food in the Medium Storage Bag.

"Let's prepare to depart."

Albenia also had a mount.

A Northern Reindeer.

This was her mount's breed, not a very common type of mount.

Albenia's Northern Reindeer was a giant deer with a shoulder height approaching 2.2 meters, exceptionally robust and burly in build.

Its fur was thick and fluffy, displaying a mottled pattern of deep brown and grayish-white interwoven, almost like a natural camouflage protective coloring.

Albenia had specially forged a metal helmet for it, covering most of its head, leaving only a pair of eyes that appeared steady yet somewhat fierce.

Just standing there, this giant deer exuded a formidable, imposing presence similar to Albenia's.

Of course, only such a giant beast could carry her;ordinary mounts would truly struggle with such a heavy responsibility.

The "Ostrich" under Gauss took a few steps away to the side.

This was its biological instinct sensing unease.

It would just take time to slowly adapt.

Such a spectacular team soon left Gold-Silver Town under the curious gazes of many townsfolk, heading toward the direction of the Brennan Large Mine.

After embarking on the journey, Gauss was surprised to discover that although the Northern Reindeer was large, both its speed and stamina were quite impressive.

The Northern Reindeer carrying Albenia moved with elegant steps, yet could still steadily keep up with the team.

Just based on this, Gauss dared to conclude that this strong reindeer mount could defeat many Elite-level professionals.

Before long, everyone arrived at the place where they had observed the Brennan Large Mine last time.

The desolate scene reappeared in their vision, no different from when they came yesterday.

"Albenia, are you familiar with this area?"

"Sorry, Lord Gauss, I haven't been here before either." Albenia shook her head apologetically.

She couldn't serve as a local guide.

Because she was actually an outsider herself, having come from the distant Northern Frontier.

"Alright, then Shadow, please investigate further, record the environment inside, monster distribution, and traps set by the monsters."

Although Shadow had already scouted a path leading to the monster town yesterday, having only one path was far from enough. If something happened to that passage, the team wouldn't even know which direction to retreat.

They needed to explore several more paths, preferably mapping out the entire underground environment of the Brennan Large Mine thoroughly.

"Understood."

Shadow nodded.

This was originally her responsibility.

The reason she withdrew early yesterday without further investigation was simply to report the scouting results to Gauss and the others, letting him decide the subsequent actions.

Now that it was confirmed they would proceed with this commission,

she was prepared to investigate the entire complex tunnel system of the Brennan Large Mine.

And this was clearly a massive undertaking.

But this was also where her value as the scout position lay.

A mature team definitely needed professionals with different strengths to complement each other.

Relying solely on Gauss and the Level 6 Warrior Albenia couldn't handle all the work.

Gauss first cast a [Gauss Barrier] protection on Shadow, then Aria and Serlandul began adding attribute buffs to her.

After stacking the buffs, Shadow nodded to Gauss in confirmation, then her figure was suddenly enveloped in shadows. The next moment, she silently "merged" into the ground, transforming into a black shadow that swiftly sped along the hillside toward the mine entrance.

Albenia stood to the side, nodding inwardly.

She admitted that her initial desire to temporarily join this team was indeed a result of getting carried away the moment she saw Gauss.

But after yesterday's ability demonstrations and subsequent interactions, she was beginning to realize that this team seemed a bit unusual.

Especially Gauss—he didn't seem much like an Elite professional;he gave her the feeling more of a Master-level professional who wasn't much weaker than her.

And now, the always silent, almost transparent black-haired girl had also revealed unique special abilities.

With her discerning eye, she could naturally recognize the value of a scout profession possessing such innate abilities.

The help the black-haired girl brought to the team far exceeded what an ordinary Level 5 Rogue could provide.

Moreover, the team members cooperated with each other quite seamlessly.

No wonder they had the confidence to participate in such a commission.

Silently, her evaluation of this team was rising.

"Let's rest for a while."

Gauss and the other two had already retreated to a shaded area under a tree not far away. Seeing that Albenia was lost in thought and hadn't followed, he waved to her and spoke.

Albenia turned to look at Gauss under the tree.

In the shade, that pleasing-to-the-eye face still had no flaws.

She put on a smile again.

"Coming."

But, indeed, the most attractive thing about this team was still because there was a handsome guy.

Besides Shadow who went out to investigate, the raven Eck was also circling in the sky with its crow underlings, collecting intelligence.

Once they spotted traces of monsters on the ground, the ravens would return to report to them.

"Lord Gauss, are you hungry?"

Albenia sat opposite Gauss.

She took out a fragrant pastry from somewhere.

Gauss shook his head.

"Thank you, not hungry yet."

They had eaten breakfast before setting out.

Albenia silently put it away.

Serlandul watched this scene, somewhat belatedly looking at this temporary teammate.

Was Albenia interested in the captain...?

Not sure, need to observe more?

Brennan Large Mine, deep underground.

In a "plaza" transformed from a natural large cavern, mineral dust filled the air everywhere.

Faint light descended from above, coming from large patches of eerie green glowing moss growing on the rock walls, enveloping the entire space in an eerie glow.

A group of goblin-like creatures with rough scales and fierce eyes, holding sharp mining picks and short spears, were conducting quite disciplined drills.

Accompanied by coarse, rhythmic shouts from their throats, their movements were relatively coordinated.

At least they weren't comparable to ordinary undisciplined fighters.

Several Elite goblin-like creatures wearing bone ornaments symbolizing status, holding burning candles in their claws, stood around the edge of the plaza speaking in low tones.

Their crimson, intelligent-glinting eyes vigilantly scanned the surroundings, occasionally issuing sharp commands to adjust the formation of the drilling troops.

Further away, densely packed, beehive-like crude caves were carved into the rock walls.

Some even scrawnier goblin-like creatures were filing out of these nests in columns, heading toward the dark passages leading to deeper mine pits.

They passed by crude ground forges belching black smoke and sparks.

There, the ores they mined and excavated were being hammered away by special goblin-like creature craftsmen with clanging sounds.

The ores would be processed and roughly smelted into metal by the goblin-like creature craftsmen.

One goblin-like creature craftsman was using tongs to pull out a red-hot metal blank, placing it aside to cool.

The forge's scorching flames quickly evaporated the sweat beads on its scales, but this diligent creature seemed completely unaware.

Taking advantage of this rare brief rest period, it, like its other companions, unanimously turned its gaze toward the deepest part of the nest, their eyes filled with reverence and fanaticism.

There resided the "Master" they were willing to dedicate their lives to!