I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 475: Spy Within a Spy

Whenever the sun set, the air during blue hour became incredibly cool.Gauss sat before the campfire, quietly watching the dancing sparks.

Perhaps because his five senses were too sharp, he could still hear the sounds of people jogging along the distant city walls.

War wasn't like everyday work, with shifts on and off, clocking in and clocking out at set times.

It was an unceasing, continuous affair—being jolted awake by horn blasts in the dead of night, hastily strapping on armor and grabbing weapons, and facing the enemy while still half-asleep were common occurrences.

So much so that there were even rare incidents of soldiers accidentally injuring their comrades in their sleep.

These monsters would harass the city walls in varying sizes, unrelentingly, wearing down the defenders' will.

Everyone seemed to be gradually sinking into the quagmire of war.

"Total monsters killed: 85,442."

Aside from him personally bombarding monsters on the front lines with Fireball, his Red Dragon Guild members were also racking up kills on his behalf at the same time.

Many hands make light work.

Even if each person killed just five ordinary monsters, the now 200-strong Red Dragon Guild could accumulate a thousand kills. Based on the previously tested 20% contribution ratio, the number added to Gauss's Bestiary would be 200.

It sounded a bit meager.

But that didn't account for members with Professional Levels; their kill efficiency would only be higher.

Moreover, for Aria, Shadow, and Hephaestus, their shared kill count was 100%, while Serlandul and Albenia's ratio was as high as 50%.

All in all, it was easy for the team's contribution in a single battle to surpass a thousand kills.

In truth, when he had previously taken on the mission to kill the juvenile dragon, the Red Dragon Guild members had already slain quite a few monsters. Unfortunately, he had been too far away at the time, far exceeding the range of shared kills.

A parallel development path was the real way to go.

Right, Gauss's single Fireball could indeed kill three-digit numbers of enemies when monsters were clustered together, making it more efficient than the team. But it wasn't like he always encountered densely packed monsters.

Even on the battlefield, monsters often appeared in a loose formation.

These scattered enemies were best left to the numerically larger but relatively average-strength Red Dragon Guild members to handle.

"What kind of meat is this?"

Aria caught a whiff of an unusual aroma from a distance, but out of caution, she asked first.

"Beef."

Before Aria could even breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Gauss add,

"Gorgon beef."

"As I thought." Aria withdrew her reaching hand.

"You'll eat anything, huh? Aren't you afraid something might go wrong? If you turn into a stone statue later, don't expect me to call for a healer."

Landul, sitting on a rock beneath Lowith, shot me a glance.

Gorgon meat was probably one of the safer options among the many monster food ingredients.

Their flesh, long steeped in energy saturated with petrifying magic, inherently carried a certain petrifying corrosive effect. If an ordinary person took a bite, the surface of their mouth might be petrified. If they chewed insufficiently and their mouth felt fine, that was actually more dangerous.

Because that flesh might release petrifying magic in the throat or stomach, making things much more troublesome for the priest to handle.

Of course, one could also pre-soak and knead the meat in anti-magic potion to remove its toxic magic, but this whole process was not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also sent costs skyrocketing.

Only a few niche, high-end restaurants might serve such dishes.

Without a second thought, Aria knew that the sizzling steak on the grill in front of Gauss was completely unprocessed, additive-free natural ingredients.

"It's fine. I already had a piece before you came."

"Want to try a small piece? Don't worry—if you get petrified, I'll definitely call someone to cure you."

Gauss chuckled lightly.

This Gorgon had been a major contributor to his swift kill of the Transcendent Centaur. If it hadn't sacrificed itself to create a momentary opening for the Transcendent Centaur, Gauss would have had to go through many more deductions to kill it.

If he couldn't deduce the desired future before his mental energy ran out, he might have had to let the Transcendent Centaur escape.

Perhaps that was why the Gorgon's grilled meat tasted especially delicious to him.

As for the petrification problem Aria mentioned...

It had long since stopped affecting him. After his Special Stomach evolved into [Feast], and he then mastered the two gold-quality talents [Dragon King's Progeny] and [Top-Tier Magic Element Body], he became even more immune to the effects of such foreign magic.

Although he was still human on a genetic and appearance level, was he really still human on a physiological level?

Even Gauss couldn't say for sure easily.

"You..." Aria was momentarily speechless.

"Why so serious."

"...Right, I was just joking earlier. If something does happen to you, I'll definitely find a way to cure you."

Aria explained softly.

"Mm, I know."

Gauss nodded with a smile.

He then used the silver knife and fork in his hand to cut a small piece of beef and handed it to Aria.

"Don't worry, eating a little won't be a problem."

Gauss had already tested it with his own body.

For Master-level professionals, even spellcasters, their Constitution was far superior to that of ordinary people.

And Aria, having awakened pure Elf Bloodline through atavism, was naturally rich in magic. Although she was far from Gauss, she couldn't possibly be affected by a piece of thoroughly cooked Gorgon meat.

Gauss had read in books that even now, the elves in the Elf kingdom primarily subsisted on fruit and other vegetarian fare, but they would also occasionally hunt and consume high-nutrient monsters to supplement their bodily needs.

Her concern was more an influence of her human consciousness.

In that regard, she might find it difficult to become a true elf. Even if her bloodline was atavistically pure, her brain's cognition was still that of a human.

"Thanks."

Aria took the fork from Gauss's hand.

She parted her lips lightly, placed it in her mouth, and chewed a few times.

"How is it?"

"It's pretty good." Aria raised an eyebrow in slight surprise.

She had expected at least a tingling sensation from magical stimulation during the chewing process, but there was nothing.

It was like eating fresher, more delicious beef.

Only after she swallowed did a slight warmth spread through her.

She turned to look at Gauss, blinked, her expression complex.

Had she too become a non-human like Gauss?

She was dazed for a moment, then suddenly remembered that her bloodline wasn't really human anymore.

Or rather, she had never been a pure human—she was a human with an extremely thin elven bloodline.

...

"Hey, you're already sneaking food before everyone's even arrived."

A shadow fell over Gauss from behind.

It was Albenia and the others arriving.

"Plenty for everyone, if your bodies can handle it." Gauss spread his hands.

The edible meat from the Gorgon amounted to several hundred kilograms—more than enough.

"But don't go overboard just because you see me eating without a care."

"You know I'm different."

Gauss warned.

It wasn't that he was being stingy, but for Gauss's team members, consuming large amounts of Gorgon meat still carried some risk.

Even though the team's composition wasn't simple—a human with giant bloodline, a half-snake person—the only pure human was probably Shadow. Well, maybe she was...

But anyway, it was fine to just try a little. Not everyone was a monster among monsters like him.

The camp also had plenty of ordinary ingredients.

While grilling meat over the fire, Gauss noticed Serlandul hesitating several times, as if wanting to say something.

But when Gauss cast a glance his way, Serlandul said nothing.

Seeing this, Gauss didn't press the matter.

Since Serlandul was hesitant, it meant he was still conflicted about something. Gauss would wait until he figured it out himself.

If Gauss asked rashly, it might come across as applying pressure.

The next day, when Gauss woke up and came out, he noticed a few missing figures among the Red Dragon Guild members lining up. They were the suspicious individuals he had sensed earlier.

"Guild Leader, after the Guild's investigation, out of those four yesterday, three were moles from the Dragon Worshipers, and one was a servant from the Brennan family in Barry. He was probably trying to establish himself early in our Red Dragon Guild to get close to you."

"The first three were taken away by the Guild, and the last one was dismissed by me."

"We'll be stricter with member screening from now on." Luna looked a bit guilty. After all, having Gauss expose so many spies right after his return made her work look ineffective.

"No matter. In the future, you can ignore the last type. If they behave themselves, you can let them stay." Gauss waved his hand.

He didn't have strong feelings about having "spy insiders" in the team. On the contrary, he thought it would be strange if no one had planted their people given his situation.

People like Luna couldn't possibly achieve 100% screening like he could with [Proof of Leadership].

As he grew stronger, this situation would only become more common in the future.

Aside from organizations like the Dragon Worshipers, members sent by other nobles or factions didn't necessarily all need to be dismissed.

First, they would keep sending people anyway.

Second, their intentions weren't entirely about harming him; more often, it was just about getting in early to gather information on his movements. If their planted people could secure a position in the Red Dragon Guild and influence him indirectly, that would be even better.

Third, Gauss had the [Proof of Leadership] professional trait, plus his Charisma attribute was constantly rising. As long as someone wasn't dead set on killing him, those with ulterior motives would likely gradually come to genuinely support the Guild the longer they stayed—the probability was quite high.

At that point, they might even voluntarily confess their identities to the Red Dragon Guild's leadership and feed intelligence back to them instead.

Finally, when Gauss acted alongside other Red Dragon Guild members, there wasn't really much secrecy to begin with. Letting others know about his activities wouldn't have serious consequences.

For truly important commissions and actions, he always acted alone or with the Gauss team, never mobilizing the entire guild.

The Red Dragon Guild's role for Gauss was merely an additional channel to rack up kills in his Monster Encyclopedia.

"Understood." Luna nodded in acknowledgment.

Though she didn't know where Gauss's confidence came from, since he said so, she would just pass on and execute his orders.

After all, his words always seemed to carry a persuasive power.

Once they were ready, the entire Red Dragon Guild set out to patrol and defend a certain mountain region.

Aside from large-scale battles, this was the daily routine for many adventurers and soldiers on the battlefield.

In the forests and mountains, many monsters either lurked deliberately or got lost and wandered in during the war. In short, many monsters had already quietly taken root in the human defense lines. If they weren't periodically cleared out, as their numbers grew, there was a risk that, under the command of a monster leader, they might flank and surround the human army from the sides and rear while it fought the Green Dragon Army on the front.

"You all go."

"If you encounter a danger you can't handle, launch a flare at any time."

"The area you're patrolling isn't far from here. I can get there quickly to help."

Of course, they probably wouldn't need him. Luna, Aria, and the others on the team weren't pushovers. As long as they didn't run into a Transcendent monster, the current Red Dragon Guild was more than capable of handling things.

After Gauss finished his instructions, he watched the massive Red Dragon Guild team file out through the small gate. It gave him a vague sense of déjà vu, like sending out characters in a mobile game to gather resources.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't an inaccurate comparison.

This trip of theirs would indeed sweep back some supplies for him, along with monster kill counts.

"What should I do next?"

Gauss looked up at the sky.

Today's weather was exceptionally clear compared to yesterday—not a single cloud in sight, the sky a pristine, deep blue. If it weren't for the ongoing war, this would actually be a perfect day for camping or heading out into the countryside to complete commissions and clear out goblins.

"Maybe I should find a nearby area and hunt for wild monsters?"

The Green Dragon Army didn't seem to be gearing up for a large-scale offensive today.

That was actually easy to understand.

Humans weren't the only ones who got tired—monsters were flesh and blood too.

While most of them might be physically tougher than humans at the same level, since they were the attacking side, both advancing and retreating required covering longer distances. So after every large-scale assault, they usually needed a day or two to rest.

Yesterday's war had actually been quite sudden. It was likely an effect caused by Gauss appearing on the front lines.

That was a full-scale offensive launched to support the Transcendent Centaur's assassination attempt.

Now that the operation had failed, the Green Dragon Army was probably regrouping, reflecting on their strategy, and planning their next move.

"Lord Gauss, please hold."

"Lord Xavier requests your presence."

Just as Gauss slowly rose into the air, hovering at a height to scan the surrounding area, several griffin-riding knights flew over and spoke respectfully.

Gauss glanced at the uniform light-blue patterned armor they wore and immediately recognized them as soldiers from the Iron Guard Knights of Falim.

Although the Iron Guard Knights were primarily an army, they were also equipped with a small number of aerial cavalry units.

He remained expressionless, but inwardly he was puzzled.

Yesterday, he had talked with Guildmaster Monroe the whole way and had expressed his desire for families like the Xavier family and the Brennan family not to disturb him too much.

He didn't need any funding, marriage alliances, or other connections.

Logically speaking, the big-bearded Guildmaster was close friends with the Iron Guard Knights' commander. He should have passed Gauss's message along.

Still, since they had taken the initiative to send someone, Gauss figured he might as well go and see what was going on.

It was probably something serious.

If it was anything else, with the prior warning, he wouldn't be giving them much face this time.

In the past, he might have felt some wariness toward the Xavier family. But now, he was no longer just a genius. His current strength was enough to let him act on his own whims.

Even a Border Count couldn't easily push around a powerful Transcendent-level powerhouse.