Gauss finished selecting a few commissions and noticed that several more bronze-rank adventurers had gathered nearby.

Their gazes, just like his earlier, were fixed intently on those goblin-related commissions.

"Boss, these look like they're along the way."

"So poor—these tasks."

"Ordinary tasks are like this."

"Not even enough for one meal."

Those bronze-rank adventurers bragged and discussed openly as if no one else existed. The other low-tier adventurers listened with envy but dared not step forward to contest the commissions.

All they could do was watch these bored professionals pick and choose jobs that matched their own ranks.

Gauss stared at them with a puzzled expression for a while.

Then he called a few teammates to the counter to register.

He had a lingering feeling.

Their taking ordinary commissions shouldn't have anything to do with him, right?

So why...

He couldn't figure it out.

Although he didn't understand, he chose to respect it—everyone had the freedom to hunt goblins.

Gauss wasn't one to meddle or to indulge excessive curiosity, so he let them be.

Whatever they did had nothing to do with him.

[Another goblin contract?]

While Gauss handled the paperwork at the counter, Shadow heard the voice in her head again from the back of the line.

[Almost all the commissions they take are goblin-related. Your temporary captain is a strange man. But it's no wonder he managed to get that Blackfang Tribe commission.]

"Maybe... he’s specifically taking goblin-related jobs to practice for that commission?" Shadow mentally told Shade and offered a plausible guess.

"Or perhaps there's some special reason he must kill goblins?"

Although she spoke little, that didn't mean she was indifferent toward her three temporary teammates.

Ever since she first made contact with Gauss and the others yesterday, she had been quietly observing them.

The one she cared about most was Gauss, who had given her an odd sense of familiarity at their first meeting.

But even now she couldn't pinpoint where that peculiar feeling came from.

She had lost too many memories, and occasionally flashes of bizarre, hazy images would return.

So she rarely dwelled on the strange things happening in her mind.

Whenever she tried to think too deeply, her head would erupt in sharp pain that forced her to abandon the attempt to recover memories.

Still, that inexplicable sensation made her pay closer attention to Gauss.

Maybe, through him, she could unravel the puzzle of her fragmented memories.

From her observations, the team was led by Gauss;

the other man and woman seldom contradicted him when he made a decision.

That was why she had volunteered to follow orders yesterday.

She judged that even if she wanted to command the team, even with Gauss's agreement, the other two members would likely object—so out of reason, she chose to be an executor.

That decision was also influenced by the good first impression Gauss had given her;

otherwise, she wouldn't have yielded so easily.

They formally accepted the commission.

Without wasting time, Gauss and the others tidied up at the gate. Except for Serlandul, the rest swung onto their mounts and rode toward the town exit.

Shadow rode a plain horse.

Yet under her control it moved especially steady and swift.

Aria's gaze lingered on Shadow’s mount for a moment. Gauss noticed her stare and sent a message to ask.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it just feels... odd."

Hearing that, Gauss looked a little longer too, until Shadow's gaze met his and he quietly withdrew his eyes.

First, take care of the commission...

Half a day passed in the blink of an eye.

Because they had taken unremarkable ordinary commissions, any single member of the team could easily handle each task, so executing them caused no difficulty.

As Gauss had said at the start, these commissions were only for team practice—to get a feel for working together.

They treated ordinary commissions as formally important.

They traveled, camped, Shadow went to gather intel while the others stayed on guard.

After gaining information, they carried out the formal subjugation.

Serlandul provided buffs and curses against enemies;

Aria provided control and summoned animal companions;

Gauss drew aggro and served as the main attacker;

Shadow acted as scout and provided ranged support.

After several short commissions, everyone became a little more familiar with the process.

In truth, the main adjustment was between Gauss’s original small team and the temporary member Shadow.

Shadow possessed outstanding archery;

she could hit a target at a hundred paces with deadly accuracy.

During goblin hunts, her arrows sliced through those green-skinned lives like a sudden spring downpour of pear blossoms.

In terms of attack speed, she was even a bit faster than Gauss.

Gauss felt a little concerned about that.

"Monsters killed total: 3645"

It increased by 34.

He thought about it. Since she was only a temporary teammate for this commission, he had no right to dictate others' behavior. He scratched his head and said nothing.

But he noticed something else.

Shadow seemed to hide a very important ability. Though she tried not to reveal it, in one flash Gauss suddenly noticed something odd about the shadow beneath her.

The irregularity was extremely subtle—too slight for ordinary people to spot even when staring. But Gauss was not ordinary. His senses were exceptionally keen, and because his Intelligence and Perception were both high, they combined into an even sharper intuitive ability.

In an instant he caught that tiny discord between her body, her shadow, and the lighting.

It was like a single dissonant note inserted into an otherwise flawless symphony.

Although fleeting, the sense of disturbance was undeniably real.

Her shadow moved on its own?

Was that her special power?

Gauss glanced at the shadow connected to the boots on her feet, observed briefly, then withdrew his gaze.

After that brief mismatch, it seemed to return to normal.

[Oh no, I think he just noticed me.]

[This man's senses are sharper than a dog's. I only shifted a little bit.]

Shadow fell silent.

She subjected her shadow Shade to a short cold shoulder.

[Sorry, I know I was wrong.]

"Forget it. Just be more careful next time, especially in front of strangers. For now they're teammates;

once the formal mission starts they'll find out anyway."

Shadow shook her head.

Her shadow wouldn’t obey, but it had apologized—so she could forgive it.

Mainly, she put herself in the shadow’s position: if she were bound inside another's shadow with self-awareness yet forced to restrain herself constantly before others, she would feel humiliated.

Still, she had ordered Shade not to move freely in front of others.

A subconscious warning told her she must minimize exposure of this ability.

"I'll keep an eye out and find a chance to mention it."

Gauss glanced at her, and she looked back.

Two days later.

The newly formed Gauss team assembled at the town exit.

On this clear morning they prepared to start the special commission they had taken from the Adventurers Guild.

"Everything's ready. The guild's potions are packed... food, drinking water, feed for the mounts..." Aria checked off items on parchment with a pen in hand.

She crossed each provision off the list after confirming it with Gauss.

"Bandages and common antidotes are with me, and I have an insect-repellent salve—one for each person. Apply it to the skin: colorless, odorless, but effective against insect bites."

"I prepared lots of spare arrows and signal flares." Shadow, standing quiet to appear a bit more sociable, suddenly spoke and patted the saddlebag beside her horse.

"Thanks for the effort."

"Don't mention it."

"By the way, Shadow, I packed extra feed grains for the mounts. For other basic supplies, we prepared more than enough for four people. If yours falls short, you can ask us."

Gauss volunteered the offer because he worried about Shadow’s taciturn nature making her embarrassed to speak up.

"Thank you."

Watching teammates methodically check supplies, Shadow glanced up at the gentle sunlight and felt a sudden sense of ease.

Once everything was confirmed, Gauss vaulted onto his ostrich and patted its long neck.

"Let's go!"

Leaving Lincrest Town, the party headed west.

On the map, running east to west, lay Barry City, Grayrock Town, Lincrest Town, and their destination at the frontier: the Obsidian Path of the Heron Mountains.

So, from early spring until now, Gauss had largely kept traveling due west.

To the south of that route lay the Emerald Forest, one of the natural monster-border barriers.

"The destination isn't exactly close, but we'll pass a few villages along the way. If we plan it right, we'll have a place to rest at night," Gauss folded up the map.

Long road travel was an unavoidable aspect of adventuring.

Most adventurers traversed like this: walking, riding mounts, upgrading to better mounts, or using teleportation arrays for long distances.

Each method had pros and cons.

Walking and riding were freer and let you alter routes, potentially encountering special events. The former saved money;

the latter was more efficient but required care.

Teleportation was fastest but costly and not available everywhere.

Many traditional, ascetic types insisted on measuring land with their own feet even when quicker methods existed—they believed true adventure came from walking barefoot on the earth.

Following caravan roads, they occasionally met other adventurers, caravans, and villages.

If they encountered scattered minor monsters, Gauss adhered to the motto of not letting minor good deeds go undone—he dispatched them quickly.

By evening they reached their planned stop: a small village called Charlie Village.

The hamlet had a few dozen households, but only one modest inn for travelers.

"Welcome, four travelers from afar." The innkeeper was a half-orc.

Gauss was momentarily startled when he saw him.

Generally, one rarely saw half-orcs in rural human villages. Halflings, dwarves, or gnomes were more common.

"Are you adventurers? Quite a few people have been heading west recently." The half-orc seemed unbothered by Gauss and the others' differences and continued.

"Lots of adventurers going west?" Gauss repeated curiously.

"Yeah. In the past few weeks, many groups," the half-orc said as he wiped a cup on the counter. "All of them looked... not ordinary. Well-equipped, leaving in a hurry. Some say the mountains to the west haven’t been peaceful lately. Maybe something big is about to happen?"

"We're only heading west by chance. Our destination is the west coast. My half-snake companion needs to visit family," Gauss lied—he couldn't disclose the commission's true details. He had planned this excuse before departure.

The half-orc discerned Gauss's caution and didn't press further.

"Alright. Just be careful. Lately it's best not to go far from the village at night. I heard livestock have mysteriously disappeared in the next village, and someone saw the silhouette of wolves under moonlight."

Wolves...

Gauss couldn't help but draw connections.

The Blackfang Tribe’s famed image was the wolf-riding goblin. Even if not directly tied to that tribe, there could be indirect links or a butterfly-effect connection.

The four took the best rooms in the inn.

After a simple dinner, they gathered in Gauss's room to discuss.

"There are wild wolves around here. Could they be responsible for what's connected to our commission?" Aria guessed.

"Let's stay tomorrow and ask around the nearby villages," Gauss suggested and looked to the others.

Although the commission pinpointed the Obsidian Path, that spot was only where the survey team vanished last—it didn't mean the culprit lurked only there.

Ordinary goblins might lack such awareness, but higher-ranked goblins—especially elite leaders of large tribes—hid nests more discreetly.

The mountain range and even farther areas might be their gathering places.

"Ask around. There might be valuable leads. I can use Animal Communication and see if I can coax some info out," Gauss said—just what Aria had suggested earlier, so she had no reason to refuse.

"I think that's fine." Serlandul nodded.

Facing the three sets of gazes, Shadow agreed: "I have no objection."

Unanimous decision: investigate the wild wolf reports in surrounding villages.

That night passed uneventfully.

The next day, after getting the address of the village that had recently encountered wolf attacks from the half-orc innkeeper, the team set off without delay.

They reported to the village chief, who immediately showed a relieved smile.

He had been worried and planned to gather the able-bodied villagers to drive off the wolves with farming tools. He hadn't expected a group of well-equipped adventurers to appear by chance.

So he offered information and begged them to drive away those persistent wild wolves haunting the area.

"Here's what's happening..."

"Starving packs of forest wolves," Gauss determined that his mission and commission target might be linked. "Leave it to us."

From the chief’s description, Gauss roughly guessed the wolves’ den location.

They left the chief’s house.

"Let's begin."

Soon Shadow's figure suddenly vanished from the spot and melted into the surroundings.

"She disappeared? A spatial spell?" Aria rubbed her eyes.

"She merged into the shadows," Gauss explained.

Because he had already suspected it, he watched more carefully this time.

Her movement was faster than the eye could catch, but he still noticed it.

First a black shroud enveloped her, then she instantly flattened into a plane of shadow and merged into the nearby building's shade.

Everything happened so fast it looked like spatial teleportation.

"Oh," Aria nodded.

She released Eck and his small birds to gather intel for the group.

Not long after Eck and the birds flew off, Shadow “grew” out of the ground where she had merged.

"I found that pack of forest wolves."

"So soon?" the three exclaimed in surprise.

"Follow me," Shadow said as she walked ahead.

Her steps were light;

even when treading on leaves or grass she made no sound.

To wait for the others, she slowed her pace somewhat.

Guided by her, the group soon saw five lean forest wolves resting close together.

Forest wolves were ordinary animals, not monsters, so they wouldn't pose a real challenge to Gauss's team.

In short order, the wolves were subdued by a flash of light and pinned to the ground.

Then Aria and Ur began to act as the team's interpreters and mediators.

"Howl~~"

"Howl howl~~"

No one knew exactly what they were communicating, but at one point Gauss saw Aria’s brows knit sharply, and then shock spread across her face.