Gauss walked along the country path with a complicated mood.
Soon, a young man responsible for guarding the gate led him to the village chief's house.
This was the basic procedure for many commissions near the village.
After showing the way, the young man saluted the two and hurried back to the entrance.
Recently, monsters seemed to have become more active again.
Even small villages like this began organizing able-bodied men, planning to establish a fixed armed squad to defend against small monster groups that might wander by.
"Please have a seat, heroes."
This time, the village chief looked to be about thirty years old.
From his eyes, Gauss could tell that the chief seemed to recognize him or had at least heard of the title "Goblin Killer."
The chief's originally anxious expression relaxed considerably with their arrival.The title Goblin Killer truly brought a sense of reassurance to ordinary villagers.
Moreover, his gaze shifted to the indigo-colored badge hanging on Gauss’s chest, which glittered softly, making him feel even more assured.
Professionals were taking on the tasks usually assigned to lower-tier adventurers—how could they not be confident?
After learning the approximate location of the goblins from the village chief,
Gauss and Serlandul rested briefly before setting out.
After leaving the village, Gauss was still discussing the earlier matter with Serlandul.
"It feels like someone is pushing things from behind."
"But that’s a good thing, right?" Serlandul didn’t pay much attention.
Even if he was now part of the Goblin Slayer Squad, somewhat like a tag-along, what did it matter?
"Many people wish they had a nickname that others recognized but don’t."
Serlandul’s words were true; adventurers had to at least be Black Iron rank before earning a nickname, right?
And the nickname had to be distinctive enough to be memorable or associated with major events they completed or participated in.
So many nicknames were either linked to various monsters or related to events, locations, and the skills of the adventurer.
For example, Undead Scourge, Wheatfield Ranger, Ring of Rock, Law Eater, and so on...
Very few Bronze rank adventurers got nicknames, so if they did, they quietly enjoyed it.
He mounted the ostrich, shook the reins, and Golden Spike stepped forward, carrying him out of the village.
"It should be nearby."
According to the village chief’s vague description, the goblin lair was in a nearby valley.
The two had searched for quite some time before finding it.
Gauss couldn’t help but miss Aria a bit.
With her here, Eck could have quickly spotted the destination from the sky.
After all, everyone had their specialty.
However, the terrain ahead was slightly more complicated than expected.
Endless low hills intertwined like jagged teeth, and the valley was filled with ravines of varying depths.
It looked less like a valley and more like a fragmented wasteland carved by rainwater and wind erosion.
They followed a ravine that looked like the main channel deeper inside.
As they went further, yellowish weathered rock walls flanked both sides, only a few meters high, but the rustling stones and thorny shrubs blocked their view, greatly increasing exploration difficulty.
The wind howled "ming ming" through the valley, adding a chilling sense of desolation.
The valley’s interior was dimly lit; the rock walls blocked most light.
The air was filled with a rotten manure stench mixed with an inexplicable fishy smell.
"There are indeed signs of monsters living here."
Gauss, wearing the Empathy Bracelet, eyes gleaming faintly, quickly spotted various traces and footprints left on the ground.
"It seems there’s more than one type of monster…"
He guided the ostrich to the rock wall, reached out to touch it, and pinched off a few brittle rocks.
With a slight squeeze, they turned into flowing fine sand in his hand.
"Looks like I need to be careful using Magic Missile. Serlandul, keep an eye on the surroundings. Don’t blow apart these rock walls and bury us inside." Gauss warned.
When carrying out commissions, it was important not only to focus on the target but also to pay extra attention to the terrain.
Countless adventurers died each year from falling from heights, drowning, cave-ins, and other accidents.
Gauss often saw human remains by water edges or below waterfalls.
"Understood, Captain."
The two proceeded cautiously.
After controlling noise and carefully exploring several branching paths,
Suddenly, Serlandul stopped gliding.
Its snake tongue flickered nimbly in the air several times.
"Hiss—"
"Captain, there are monsters ahead."
Its snake tongue allowed it to detect scent molecules emitted by monsters from afar, ignoring terrain obstacles.
"Got it."
Gauss nodded.
"Can you tell what kind of monster it is?"
"Let me think… That stench… should be goblins."
The mission intelligence also noted that other races of monsters lingered in the valley, but compared to goblins, which liked to harass humans, some other monsters were relatively docile.
"Let’s approach." Gauss said.
Serlandul wasn’t surprised.
Having spent time together recently, it roughly understood some of Gauss’s habits.
For example, Gauss held a will to eradicate monsters thoroughly; once encountered, he tried not to let them escape.
Unlike other spellcasters who stayed at the rear, Gauss liked to charge ahead and personally slay monsters, seemingly enjoying the process.
So after his first display of impressive combat power, Serlandul mostly played a supporting role.
If it could save trouble, it didn’t mind; after all, Gauss was keen to shoulder more work.
Often, all it had to do was cast a blessing spell on Gauss before battle and occasionally curse enemies, then wait quietly for Gauss to perform.
Though it seemed simple, the blessing spell enhanced Gauss’s attack damage, while the curses hindered the enemy’s performance, increasing kill efficiency through this push-and-pull.
When the two passed through the ravine, an open area suddenly appeared ahead.
Sunlight shone down from above.
"They really are goblins, but… winged goblins!"
Gauss looked at the resting targets in the clearing.
This was his first time encountering this creature.
Winged goblins were a special type born with leathery wings, capable of flight.
Their combat style involved throwing rocks from above onto enemies.
However, because their wings were seen as a gift from Tiamat, they were envied by the wingless goblins—the ordinary goblins—leading to discord between these close relatives.
Despite their ability to fly, they still could not escape the physical weaknesses inherent to goblins.
Their combat strength was slightly above ordinary goblins but far from elite monster level.
The only thing to note was their ability to flee using flight if overwhelmed.
So, given that the goblin entry already existed in the encyclopedia, would this winged goblin add a new entry or be recorded under goblins?
Gauss and Serlandul exchanged a glance and quickly communicated using Message.
Serlandul dispersed its spirit weapon and pulled out a crossbow.
At the same time, it cast a blessing spell on Gauss.
Gauss alone stepped into the relatively open valley.
The winged goblins quickly took to the air but had not yet panicked to flee.
Compared to their mining goblin cousins, these winged goblins were more aggressive and more willing to actively fight other creatures.
They often used their flight ability to hunt wild creatures in groups.
Gauss was soon identified as an enemy invading their home.
"Thud!"
Several large stones slammed near Gauss’s feet.
The Bone Staff appeared in his hand.
Previously, the narrow rocky corridor was unsuitable for spellcasting.
Now it was slightly more open, reducing the risk of being buried alive.
Also, melee attacks could hardly harm the airborne winged goblins.
"Boom!"
Three Magic Missiles struck three winged goblins.
The falling goblins hit the ground and took their last breath.
"Killed winged goblin *3."
Gauss’s ordinary monster encyclopedia interface showed a new 27th entry.
He quickly scanned it and found no new title had been added; it remained as "Goblin Killer," but the number of recorded types increased.
Were different species recorded separately but sharing the same title effect and progress?
That maximized benefits.
After Gauss officially started attacking, the winged goblins belatedly realized this human was no pushover and tried to escape by flying up quickly.
But at that moment, a strong wind suddenly swept through the valley.
The fragile leathery wings of the fleeing goblins couldn’t support flight in the gust and were tossed about.
Some even fell directly to the ground with a crash.
"Boom!" "Boom!"
Gauss didn’t stop attacking while the winged goblins struggled to adjust.
The Bone Staff in his hand functioned like a long-distance Iaido weapon from his previous life, continuously shooting out projectiles.
The number of winged goblins wasn’t large, and soon, under Gauss’s spells and Serlandul’s curses, they were all wiped out.
"Total monster kills: 1,875."
The milestone of 2,000 was getting closer.
This group of winged goblins carried few "treasures"; even their weapons were primitive stones.
Gauss only collected some of their blood and dissected their leathery wings, hearts, and internal organs.
"There are also a few goblin eggs here." Serlandul found several brown eggs in a nest made of branches and tapped the shell.
"They should be close to hatching."
Goblins were oviparous with fragile bodies and short lifespans, prone to early death.
They laid over ten eggs yearly, with typical incubation ranging from weeks to two or three months.
"Destroy them."
Though eggs, they were nearly hatching and couldn’t be eaten.
Also, Gauss had no taste for live food from his previous life, and he remained uninterested in this world.
Goblin eggs held no extra value.
So when encountered, destroy them on the spot.
Gauss took out his steel longsword and smashed the eggshells one by one.
Rust-colored viscous egg fluid poured out quickly, and inside, little lizard-shaped creatures curled up.
Just as Serlandul said, these eggs were indeed close to hatching; several tiny goblins could already move and crawl slightly.
Soft little wings resembling bat wings covered their backs.
Baby goblins looked cuter than adults, with big heads and soft bodies.
They kept making soft "mama" sounds, sounding endearing.
"Crack!"
Red blood splattered out.
Gauss glanced a few times and quickly killed the baby goblins.
"Captain, you’re a bit heartless."
Gauss gave him a look, as if to say Serlandul wasn’t also killing these young ones right now.
Both were mature adventurers; they couldn’t afford fake compassion for monsters.
Even if baby goblins only called out a couple of times adorably, or even shouted for their parents, if they had the numbers advantage in the wild, they would turn vicious and slaughter passersby.
The roles of miners and bandits were interchangeable.
Not to mention, monsters roaming near human habitats compressed human living space.
Today it’s Five Cities, tomorrow it’s Dry City—only a night’s peace at best.
"Let’s continue."
After checking the surroundings,
the two continued exploring the valley.
Though the terrain looked unimpressive, the number and variety of hidden monsters were quite considerable—truly a place full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.
Besides the mission targets goblins and goblin-like creatures, Gauss also encountered a giant spider.
After killing it, he unlocked the 28th entry in the ordinary monster encyclopedia.
Looking over the ground littered with goblin corpses,
"Total monster kills: 1,935."
They were getting closer to the goal.
As usual, after battle, they began scavenging.
After collecting the loot, they cleaned the blood off their bodies.
Once everything settled, Gauss finally had time to observe the surrounding environment.
"Something feels off around here."
"Yes, it’s too barren," Serlandul nodded. "This kind of weathered landscape is rare around the Emerald Forest."
It was as if cursed; the land had lost vitality, unable to grow green plants, with only the toughest thorns able to take root here.
The two exchanged glances and hesitated for a moment.
After a long pause, Gauss took the initiative to speak.
"How about… we do a simple search nearby?
Obviously, something abnormal is going on here; otherwise, the withered environment is inexplicable.
Abnormalities can sometimes bring benefits but can also cause danger.
Since we stumbled on this, if we don’t investigate and just turn back, we might keep thinking about it later."
"Alright, Captain." Serlandul actually had similar thoughts,
but as a team member, he wouldn’t express his opinion before Gauss spoke to avoid disturbing his judgment.
"Shall we proceed together?"
Actually, during their earlier monster search, they had roughly explored the valley,
but the search purpose differed greatly, affecting the kind of clues they could find.
When focusing on monsters, they saw mostly fur scraps, footprints, scents, droppings, and so on.
Now, focusing on the weathered environment itself, Gauss soon made a new discovery.
He looked down at the ground and then squatted.
His fingers gently brushed the soil as the fine sandy earth shifted under his touch.
"This ground seems to be sinking gradually in a fixed direction.
Though the slope is small, it should eventually converge at a lowest point."
After Gauss’s hint, Serlandul, who was using his snake tongue to gather information, also noticed it.
The entire terrain showed an imperceptible downward trend.
Following the slope should lead to the abnormal lowest point.
After a brief exchange, the two began feeling their way and checking constantly, winding through ravines and forks, finally arriving at a "dead end" indistinguishable from other branch ends.