Serlandul's return wasn't much later than the two had anticipated.

Early the next morning, he silently appeared in his own room.

His return was as low-key as his departure, as if he had just returned from a morning stroll.

When Gauss found him, he was coiled sitting on a simple mat in the center of the room, holding a coiled serpentine silver statue in his hands—the effigy of the Lady of Secret Scales whom he worshipped, its head and tail connected like a perfect circle.

Seeing this scene, Gauss didn't make a sound to disturb him.

Serlandul only performed similar prayer rituals during mornings in town rooms;

if he was out on commissions, there was no such routine or arrangement, so Gauss hadn't seen him meditate too often.

The room was filled with the elegant fragrance of a special aromatic incense, bringing a sense of peace to those who smelled it.

On the small table by his bed were several small bottles and bundles of herbs drying in the shade.

Soon, Serlandul concluded his morning prayer ritual, his pale golden vertical pupils slowly opening.

He wasn't surprised to see Gauss in the room;

he had been praying, not dead.

With his keen awareness, he had detected Gauss's arrival the moment he entered the room.

"Did the advancement succeed?"

"Yes. Very smoothly." Serlandul nodded, his expression calm but upon closer inspection, subtle changes revealed his current good mood.

"That's good."

Every level advancement is crucial for adventurers.

Especially when an adventurer is stuck before a certain bottleneck, unable to progress for a long time, that anxiety and self-doubt deepen over time, affecting confidence and shaking the foundation of self-belief.

Thus, the adventuring profession often sees two scenarios.

Either they break through barriers swiftly, advancing rapidly, constantly solidifying their path and beliefs through level breakthroughs, establishing their fame and great achievements in one go.

Or they completely lose motivation and courage to advance during prolonged stagnation, possibly never breaking through a critical level barrier in their entire lifetime.

Watching latercomers surpass them, their ambitions gradually worn down by reality, numbly repeating daily routines, drowning in alcohol and boasts, or growing resentful and taking desperate risks, ultimately never returning from a commission beyond their capabilities.

Now that the mental block was resolved, the view before him seemed to suddenly broaden.

Even during this morning's prayer, he felt his emotions becoming more tranquil.

"By the way, there's something I need to tell you." After confirming everything was fine, Gauss got straight to the point.

Just like with Aria, he used Message to clearly convey the non-public commission intelligence about the Blackfang Tribe expedition team to Serlandul.

The room fell silent for a moment;

amidst the elegant incense, the two made eye contact, rapidly conducting silent communication.

Not long after, Aria also came to join them.

The three had a detailed discussion about the commission matters.

After a long while.

Gauss clapped his hands.

"Great, that's decided then."

"After breakfast, we'll go to the Adventurers Guild to give them a clear response."

"Then we'll meet with the other party."

Aria and Serlandul nodded in agreement.

...

Lincrest Town.

Second floor of the Adventurers Guild, in a certain meeting room.

The Senior Director sat upright with proper posture.

"Mr. Gauss, you said you want to meet the other party first before deciding whether to accept this commission, correct?"

"If possible, please arrange it."

"That shouldn't be a problem. If I remember correctly, that person came to town a few days ago, though she only visited the guild once. I'll have someone send her a message now to ask if she has time today."

The old man called a subordinate and assigned the task.

Soon, accompanied by the throaty cry of a bird, Gauss glanced through the transparent floor-to-ceiling window while sipping black tea.

An owl soared across the sky, flying toward a certain direction in town.

The efficiency was faster than he had expected.

"Her residence isn't far from the guild, so we should get a reply soon. If she's unavailable today, we might need to coordinate further."

"Then we'll wait here for a while." Gauss said accordingly.

He, Aria, and Serlandul had no urgent matters for now, so they sat in the meeting room drinking tea while waiting.

Staff brought some dried fruits, snacks, and reading materials to pass the time.

Gauss casually picked one.

He had just opened the title page and hadn't read many pages.

When a sudden knock came at the door.

The knock was quite abrupt because before this sound, neither Gauss, Aria, nor Serlandul had heard any footsteps.

"Is it that temporary teammate?" Gauss put down the book and looked toward the door.

He was somewhat doubtful—this was almost too fast.

It was as if the person had been strolling outside the guild entrance, just received the notification, and walked up a few steps.

"Could it be this quick?"

The probability of such coincidence was too small.

So was it someone unrelated?

"Creeak—"

The doorknob turned.

A slender, tall figure walked in from outside.

"Huh???"

Gauss's eyes widened instantly.

He and the woman who entered made eye contact.

Both expressed surprise simultaneously.

"Why is it you again?"

"It's you?"

The woman in neat, practical combat attire stepped back outside, checked the room number to confirm she hadn't entered the wrong room, then came back in.

"Haha, what a coincidence in the world! Do you two know each other?" The Senior Director noticed their unusual reaction, adjusted his glasses, and smiled.

"No, we don't." The woman spoke first.

She pretended to calmly walk to the meeting table, pulled out a chair, and sat down comfortably.

On the ground where no one could see.

Her shadow subtly squirmed, transmitting a teasing thought to her.

The woman pursed her lips slightly upon hearing this.

She knew Gauss definitely recognized her as the person from that night.

She just hoped Gauss wouldn't ask about that night's events in this setting.

Otherwise, she would be truly embarrassed.

"We just had a brief encounter at the market a few days ago, and happened to run into each other on the street yesterday too." Gauss calmly took over the conversation, vaguely explaining to answer the Director's doubts.

Aria nodded upon hearing the explanation.

She had thought the woman opposite was an old acquaintance of Gauss.

The Senior Director chuckled and didn't probe further.

"Since you've met, that's even better. Let me make introductions for everyone."

"This is Miss Shadow, a very excellent Rogue."

"This is Gauss, a young and promising Mage. This is..."

The Senior Director briefly started the introductions, then left the meeting room to attend to other work, leaving time for the group themselves.

After he left.

The meeting room suddenly became very quiet.

A subtle atmosphere permeated the room.

Aria turned her head, constantly looking back and forth between Gauss and the woman named Shadow.

Shadow felt somewhat guilty inside.

Although she knew she had been doing good deeds that night, from Gauss's perspective, it might not appear that way.

But if she actively explained herself, it would seem like a guilty conscience, instead raising more suspicion—when the other party hadn't said anything yet, she would just start explaining on her own...

So conflicted

"That... Miss Shadow, right?"

"Yes." Shadow nodded, expressionless.

"You're a Rogue? Would you mind sharing your level?" Actually, the moment he saw her, Gauss had given her some bonus points internally.

Though still unable to determine if she was suitable for team cooperation, someone willing to help the weak probably wasn't too bad.

"I am. Level 5." Shadow answered concisely.

The level question wasn't worth hiding;

if they were to cooperate later, it would eventually be known.

As for specific profession, she didn't plan to reveal it to someone she just met.

"You are?" Gauss, originally somewhat concerned about her uncertain tone regarding profession information, couldn't help but feel surprised upon hearing the level reported.

Mainly because she looked too young.

Though her actual age was temporarily unknown, she probably wasn't too old—Gauss could detect differences in temperament.

Thinking of this, he instead felt somewhat conflicted.

But currently, it made their paper strength appear inferior—Serlandul, the team's level pillar, had only just broken through to level 4.

Even though Gauss knew his actual combat capability far exceeded level 3, it still didn't change the fact that the parachuted temporary member had instantly become the highest-level member in the team.

A hint of embarrassment showed on his face.

But since he had asked her, he naturally needed to introduce the team situation.

"I'm a level 3 Mage, this is Serlandul, level 4 Priest, and Aria is a level 2 Druid."

"Our team's levels might not be very high, but our actual combat capability is quite good."

Sure enough, upon hearing him report their levels, a brief flicker of surprise passed over Shadow's face, but she quickly returned to calm.

"It's fine. If we confirm cooperation, I can follow your command."

But Shadow pretended not to hear.

Having a shadow that could constantly chat and communicate with her had benefits—not feeling lonely—but also quite a few drawbacks.

Though she hadn't teamed up with others much, she knew that as a temporary member, even if stronger than others, the best approach was to follow command.

Moreover, she vaguely sensed something unusual about Gauss.

She had maintained an expressionless face since entering;

he thought she might be very arrogant, but after brief contact, she seemed simply to be someone of few words who didn't like communicating with others.

A level 5 professional who could set aside pride and follow lower-level teammates' command demonstrated both her professional quality and team-oriented nature.

Gauss spread the commission dossier on the table.

The Senior Director had given it to him before leaving.

"I believe the guild has already briefed you on the commission content. The Blackfang Tribe excels in beast taming. Although this should only be an expedition squad, if it's their handiwork, we might still face wolf cavalry or even small units of flying cavalry."

"And as a scout profession, Miss Shadow... you'll bear significant early pressure, highly likely to encounter enemies first."

"No problem." Shadow nodded calmly.

She appeared quite confident when saying this.

After initially reaching agreement, Gauss immediately continued delving deeper into topics, discussing preliminary preparations, routes, combat coordination, and other matters for nearly an hour along the commission details.

Though called discussion, he mostly did the talking, with occasional additions from Serlandul and Aria, while Shadow was instead the most taciturn.

"Then, we've initially reached cooperative intent?" Gauss concluded, looking at Shadow.

Both had favorable impressions of Shadow too.

"Okay, I look forward to working with you." Shadow stood up and gave a slight nod to the three.

After everything was confirmed, the four left the meeting room and formally accepted this special "informal commission" from the Senior Director.

The commission's completion timeframe was longer than he had imagined.

Tentatively set to be completed within 2 months.

But considering how much time had passed since that exploration team's disappearance, survival likelihood was probably minimal. Their mission focus was primarily on investigating the incident's details and clearing Blackfang Tribe forces.

So the longer timeframe was reasonable—remember the previous squad spent a full month similarly with little gain.

After leaving the guild, the four agreed to meet at the Adventurers Guild entrance early next morning.

Then, after waving to the three, Shadow went her separate way from the group.

Watching her retreating figure, Aria finally said quietly.

"She really says very little."

"But she seems quite nice."

Unless deeply scheming and extremely reserved, most people can generally sense each other's personalities after facing each other for an hour or two.

Serlandul also nodded.

Silence was good—it meant she probably wouldn't arbitrarily dictate to their team.

"We'll see more tomorrow." Gauss led the two toward the inn.

He had arranged with Shadow to first execute some ordinary commissions in the surrounding area tomorrow.

Though looking at team strength, them taking ordinary commissions seemed odd, it was nevertheless a good method to develop team rapport in advance.

The shadow at Shadow's feet was still "chatting" with her.

[Never thought you'd have quite some connection with him.]

But internally she was conflicted about whether to find time to pretend to casually reveal the background of that night's events to Gauss.

She had been conflicted about this throughout the meeting, just hadn't thought of a suitable approach.

[Quite good-looking indeed, just a bit low on strength. Otherwise, you two would truly be a perfect match—talented man and beautiful woman.]

"Indeed... what are you saying? Shade?" Shadow subtly stepped on her shadow.

Shade was the name she gave her shadow.

[Ouch! Why step on me? Embarrassed?]

"Don't want to talk to you."

[But seriously, that Mage named Gauss is quite interesting. Clearly only level 3, but shows no timidity facing you—very poised and steady. Don't you want to..]

This time Shadow didn't immediately refute;

she had indeed noticed Gauss possessed a steadiness and calmness beyond his level.

"Probably just a beginning."

[Then why are you still taking this commission?]

"Precisely because of that, we must take it."

...

Next day.

The temporary four-person team gathered at the Adventurers Guild entrance.

And under numerous strange gazes, Gauss calmly walked into the crowd, facing the bulletin board filled with ordinary commissions with his three teammates, muttering discussions.

Some low-level adventurers had already grown accustomed to Gauss, this "divine person" who recently often competed for tasks together.

They just never expected today, he would escalate further.

Especially seeing one tall woman wearing an identity badge with a full five six-pointed stars, they were nearly shocked out of their wits.

No mistake, right?

A level 5 professional coming to handle such trivial commissions?

Many even rubbed their eyes stealthily, making sure they hadn't miscounted the stars.

Too insane...

Just as low-level adventurers felt utterly confused, doubting if they were still dreaming.

Several more boisterous sounds came from behind.

"This commission has too few goblins—only about twenty."

"Boss, this is an ordinary commission. Twenty-something is already plenty."

"My mistake, really been too long since I've been to such places."

Low-level adventurers turned to see several other adventurers wearing bronze-level badges swaggering over.

And vaguely more badge-wearing figures approaching behind.

Low-level adventurers felt like the sky was falling.

Since when did professionals also start competing for their jobs and begin this rat race? And from the sound of it, they were targeting goblin-related commissions like that Goblin Killer Gauss.

What was the point of all that effort?

Or was the ultimate goal of adventurers to kill goblins??

They had actually saved decades of detours.