“The weather’s getting a bit cold.”

Gauss exhaled, lifting his gaze away from the book in his hands.

He remembered that autumn always came suddenly, but such chilling cold like this year was rare.

“I need to get a few more thick clothes.”

All of Gauss’s clothes were summer wear;

the only winter clothes were those left behind by the original owner, stored in the inn’s luggage.

Now, not only were the sizes ill-fitting, but the clothes were also too thin.

He decided to buy a fleece-lined warm coat.

In the inn’s main hall, Sophia was adding wood to the fireplace, preparing to warm up the first floor of the inn.

At the counter, the clerk Winnie carefully polished water glasses.

“I’m here, sorry to keep you waiting.” Aria entered from the door, wrapped in thickened clothing. She greeted Winnie and Sophia familiarly, then sat down opposite Gauss.

“No problem, I just woke up too.”

Their schedule today was still tight.

Although they had submitted an adventure commission yesterday and earned a total commission of 1 gold and 10 copper coins by handing in Rust Frog tongues, splitting about 50 silver coins each, they still had plans for today. The main focus was selling those Rust Frog skins.

Rust Frogs were not raiding monsters;

generally, they rarely actively attacked caravans or villages and definitely did not collect human weapons.

Their value was almost entirely in the tough frog skins covering their bodies.

After special processing, these skins could be made into lining for light or even medium armor, sewn into leather or chain armor joints, chest, and abdomen—key areas—to provide slight resistance against corrosive damage from acid, swamp poison gas, and so on. Wearing armor lined with these skins helped adventurers explore sewers, swamps, and fight specific monsters like slimes.

They could also be made into partial protective components, gloves, boots, or even processed into waterproof water bags, raincoats, or small tents.

Of course, when used for close-fitting items, the toxins hidden in the skins had to be thoroughly removed to prevent slow poisoning of the wearer.

Aside from that hazard, Rust Frog skins were generally quite valuable.

Therefore, the two needed to find a knowledgeable leather merchant to get a good price for this relatively intact batch of skins.

Besides selling the frog skins, Gauss also needed to go to the food workshop and commission them to make nearly four hundred pounds of frog meat into jerky as reserve rations for the team.

Coincidentally, the middleman Aria contacted also had news: a small house near her residence was up for sale, and Gauss planned to check it out.

Adding in the purchase of autumn and winter clothes and boots, everything piled up together. Gauss was destined to be busy today, but fortunately, Aria had no other tasks and was ready to accompany him.

With a tight schedule and heavy tasks, the two rested briefly before leaving the inn and stepping onto the main street of Grayrock Town.

First, they visited several leather shops in town, showing off the rolled-up peeled frog skins.

As for leading the transaction, it was the same as last time—Aria took charge, being more experienced.

Although Gauss was tempted to try using the “Friendship Technique” to cheat and see if it worked, he quickly dismissed the idea.

The local leather merchants were well-rooted in the area;

if they suspected magical manipulation beforehand and reported it to Grayrock Town Hall, Gauss could face prison time, or at best, a small fine.

So unless he could be absolutely sure he wouldn’t be caught, it was better not to casually use magic to control others within the town’s jurisdiction.

Because of the variety and wonder of magic effects, magic control was far stricter than fighters or other professions brawling on the streets.

Many large cities even had dedicated “Anti-Magic Departments” employing anti-mages, spies, and anti-magic knights to deal with such cases.

After Aria’s hard negotiation, the entire batch of frog skins was successfully sold for 1 gold, 50 silver, and 60 copper coins.

Adding the commission of 1 gold and 10 copper coins, the total revenue from the Rust Frog task reached 2 gold, 50 silver, and 70 copper coins.

By comparison, the last ratfolk mission, excluding the income from evil god intelligence, brought in only 1 gold and 80 silver coins from commissions and loot.

On the surface, the Rust Frog earnings were higher, but considering the greater damage and repair costs to equipment, the actual profit might not exceed the ratfolk mission.

Gauss calculated silently in his mind.

However, his motivation for completing tasks was not entirely about money.

High earnings were certainly worth celebrating, but he was more focused on accumulating entries in the Monster Encyclopedia, increasing the number and variety of kills.

If he only pursued high profits, it would be better to directly challenge elite monsters with high bounties.

After receiving 1 gold, 25 silver, and 35 copper coins, Gauss now had 9 gold, 5 silver, and 30 copper coins in cash.

After selling the frog skins, the two found a small shop by the street to rest briefly, ordered two cups of warm black tea, and waited for the real estate middleman’s arrival.

“By the way, Gauss, should we join this year’s Winter Hunt?”

Aria suddenly said, noticing a passing guard as if she had just thought of something.

“Winter Hunt?” Gauss looked at her curiously.

“Ah, I forgot, you probably weren’t an adventurer around this time last year.” Aria slapped her forehead, somewhat annoyed at her own habitual assumptions.

Usually, a Bronze-rank adventurer would have some seniority and couldn’t possibly be unaware of the Winter Hunt.

But Gauss’s background was too fresh, and she sometimes accidentally overlooked that.

She then explained:

“The Winter Hunt is a large-scale hunting event organized before winter arrives, where adventurers are gathered to clear monsters on the forest outskirts. Each year during the cold winter, berries freeze, animals hibernate, and the food available to forest monsters sharply declines. Starving creatures will then become desperate and attack human granaries or raid caravans.”

“So, border towns like Grayrock, the town hall and Adventurers Guild cooperate to preemptively clear the threat, disrupt their gathering plans, and prevent larger disasters.”

“In addition to bounties for different monsters, Bronze-level and above adventurers participating in the Winter Hunt receive extra subsidies.”

“However, not everyone qualifies to register. Besides Bronze adventurers, only a few lower-level adventurer teams with outstanding combat power registered in the guild can join.”

“After all, large-scale concentrated operations easily trigger bigger potential crises.”

After Aria’s brief introduction, Gauss gained a basic understanding of the Winter Hunt event.

“I want to participate.” He nodded without hesitation.

He definitely wouldn’t miss such an excellent hunting opportunity.

It could increase his kill count, expand the variety and number of monster encyclopedia entries, and earn money.

He was also planning to pay off his loans early, buy spells, mounts, and upgrade equipment—all of which cost money.

“It’s just that relying solely on our town’s Bronze adventurers, wouldn’t our strength be somewhat thin? After all…”

He recalled having personally been on the Adventurers Guild’s second floor, where most active adventurers were like him, one-star “newcomers,” occasionally seeing two or three-star Bronze adventurers.

As for four or five-star Bronze adventurers, they were already rare, not to mention the subsequent Iron-rank adventurers. After so many days of leveling, Gauss had yet to see a single adventurer wearing an Iron-rank badge in the guild’s base.

High-level commissions and adventurers were obviously concentrated in larger city guilds.

“Don’t worry, according to past practices, besides the guild’s top ranks taking action, the town will spend a lot to hire higher-level adventurers to be stationed here. We mainly need to deal with lower-level monsters and weaker elites. Those true leaders and stronger monsters will be handled by higher-level adventurers.”

“I see.” Gauss nodded, his last worry disappearing.

Although having higher-level adventurers stationed couldn’t guarantee zero mistakes, adventuring was no child’s play;

no one expected zero risk.

Thinking of the upcoming Winter Hunt, and the many kinds of monsters flooding out like schools of fish under the pressure of food scarcity in the forest, his heart grew warm with excitement.

After completing the Rust Frog commission, he had accumulated 13 types of common monster encyclopedia entries. Following the usual process of completing common commissions one by one, it would take quite a long time to reach 20 types.

But the Winter Hunt seemed different. According to Aria, it was a sort of small-scale “beast tide” event, with various monsters mixed in. He would be able to kill new types of lower-level monsters more efficiently and quickly expand his encyclopedia.