I’m not Goblin Slayer Chapter 023

When he ate the meat, Gauss was so moved that he almost cried.

The rich aroma of meat filled his mouth, making the taste buds on his tongue and every cell in his body cheer with delight.

His body was satisfied!

Time spent enjoying delicious food passed quickly.

In a blink of an eye, he was full and content.

After a satisfied burp, Gauss’s mind completely emptied.

“Sir, sir…”

Just as he was about to fall asleep, a gentle and sweet voice called out to him.

He groggily opened his eyes.

“Could you please settle the bill? It’s 2 silver coins and 50 copper coins.”

“Huh? How much?” Gauss, still a bit dazed, instinctively asked back.

“ 2 silver coins and 50 copper coins,” the beautiful waitress politely repeated.

“Is it that much?” Gauss wasn’t trying to dine and dash; he was simply wondering if he had that much money.

2 silver coins and 50 copper coins! Just a few days ago, he was shocked that Haeliel had treated them to a meal that cost 3 silver coins and 40 copper coins for four people.

Now, she was telling him that what he ate alone was almost as much as what four people ate?

Was he the extravagant one?

Hiss! A meal cost 0.03 of a suite. Gauss’s heart was bleeding.

“You can check, all the dishes listed here are what you ordered.” The waitress, still very composed, handed him the menu.

“Fish and chips, air-dried ham slices with cheese, thick-cut high-temperature grilled steak (seasoned with salt and olive oil), borscht…”

The menu was full of dishes he had checked himself, a dazzling array.

He remembered now, he seemed to have ordered more dishes several times during the meal because he wasn’t full.

So, he just kept ordering more and more.

Silently adding up the amount in his mind, Gauss helplessly found that the amount was accurate.

He had indeed eaten a grand meal worth 2 silver coins and 50 copper coins.

The stack of plates next to the table was excellent proof.

Even after paying and leaving the tavern, Gauss’s heart still ached.

Increased income, increased spending. This was perfectly reasonable, but the increase in this meal was simply too fast.

“It was that inexplicable surge of appetite that lured me,” he sighed.

But to be honest, apart from a little heartache, he felt quite comfortable all over.

It was as if that large amount of meat he just ate had compensated for the deficiencies caused by his body’s development.

“Forget it, just consider it an investment in myself. It doesn’t hurt to invest in myself, it doesn’t hurt…”

Gauss convinced himself.

Current cash: 28 silver coins and 52 copper coins

Gauss silently calculated his savings.

He sighed, lamenting that this was the greedy desire of humans. When income increased, spending would also rise imperceptibly.

The money looked like a lot, but it couldn’t withstand spending at all.

Considering that it’s difficult to go from luxury to frugality, Gauss’s desire to earn money increased.

——

In a blink of an eye, it was the next day.

“Morning, Sophia.” Gauss walked downstairs and greeted Sophia, who was mopping the floor in the lobby.

“Morning, little Gauss. Want some breakfast?”

Sophia heard Gauss’s voice, stopped what she was doing, and leaned on her mop to ask.

“Uh…”

Gauss’s mind conjured up images of the black bread and pickled vegetable soup that he was almost sick of, then compared them to the grand meal he had yesterday.

Images kept flashing through his mind. After a round of recalling past hardships and appreciating present sweetness, he realized that everything had changed.

His stomach had been spoiled by delicious food, or perhaps this was the price of becoming stronger?

“Hehe… Sophia, next time. I don’t have much of an appetite today.” With an awkward smile, Gauss waved his hand.

Under Sophia’s resentful gaze, Gauss walked out of the inn with light steps.

Only Sophia was left, starting to doubt her cooking skills, silently pondering.

Could it be that my cooking skills have severely declined? But other tenants haven’t given any feedback?

This problem would likely bother her for a while.

The morning bell chimed, and Grayrock Town had awakened in the early morning.

Breakfast stalls were everywhere on the streets.

Gauss spent 4 copper coins on two meat-filled pies.

Sorry, Sophia, I’m a carnivore now.

The meager black bread and vegetable soup could no longer provide the nutrients my body needed.

“I didn’t expect a street stall to make such delicious pies.” Gauss chewed the food heartily, his mouth full of flavor.

Of course, he wouldn’t admit that this was an added bonus from recalling the black bread just now.

His body, just waking up, quickly regained vitality with the nourishment of the meat juice.

His plan for this morning was to practice Magic Missile.

Mage Hand would temporarily be shelved, and its usage frequency had to be reduced.

One thing he feared most now was that if he used Mage Hand too much and its proficiency reached the standard, what if it triggered the guidance of a professional pathway?

By then, the deed would be done, and the 0-ring cantrip Mage Hand would become his core skill, and he would be in tears.

Mage Hand Proficiency lv 2 ( 15/20). Since he wasn’t sure if lv 3, lv 4, or even other levels were the standard, it was already a bit dangerous now.

After breakfast, he started walking towards the town exit.

There was naturally no place in town for him to practice spells; he could only do so in the vast wilderness outside the town.

Of course, he wasn’t the first to do this.

In fact, many adventurers had a habit of training here. The plains outside the town were large enough to accommodate their training without interfering with each other.

After walking a distance, he found an empty, unpopulated spot.

Gauss began his formal training.

Closing his eyes in meditation, he tried to recall the feeling of successfully casting a spell last time.

It had been several days since he last successfully cast Magic Missile, and at that time, he had entered a particularly focused state.

Now, back in town, relaxed and rested, it wasn’t easy to rediscover the feeling of casting.

“Magic Missile!”

A blue light glowed in Gauss’s palm, but then quickly extinguished.

He wasn’t too disheartened by this.

This was within his expectations; 1st-ring spells were indeed a bit more difficult.

However, based on his experience training Mage Hand, at the lv 1 stage, as long as he put in the time and effort, he shouldn’t encounter too much trouble.

After all, this spell had been imprinted in his consciousness, and the Adventurer’s Handbook had saved him a lot of the learning and meditative model-building process.

He just needed to train.

Once the proficiency growth rate slowed down, he would plan his next step.

“Magic Missile!”

“Magic Missile!”

…

Tired, rest for a while.

“Magic Missile!”

“Magic Missile!”

After a round of practice, Gauss found that this 1st-ring spell was indeed different from 0-ring cantrips.

When he practiced Mage Hand a few days ago, even if he failed, there would be no impact. But with this Magic Missile, even if it wasn’t successfully cast, too many attempts would still bring a sense of fatigue to his mind.

Fortunately, this fatigue was not intense.

Perhaps it was due to his extraordinary 7 points of Spirit attribute.

He just needed to lie on the grass, bask in the sun for a while, and rest.

Finally, with Gauss’s patient practice, he rediscovered the feeling of casting spells.

It was an indescribable moment, as if inspiration had struck.

After a gentle breeze, all his magic power was mobilized.

It quickly tangled, converged, and concentrated in his hand, continuously releasing strange fluctuations outwards. At the same time, the surrounding natural magic energy was also activated, and finally, the magic power intertwined and solidified into shape in his palm.

A Magic Missile condensed in his hand!

Magic Missile! Success again!

This time, there was no enemy charging at him, so he had enough time to observe the spell in his hand.

It was a crystal-clear spherical energy, enveloped by a faint white. The magic power inside surged rapidly, like countless tiny streams intertwining within.

This Magic Missile would not harm him.

Moreover, vaguely, he felt he could control the trajectory of this Magic Missile with his consciousness.

He concentrated, and found that the Magic Missile in his palm indeed shifted slightly by about a fingernail’s width.

It seemed he could indeed control Magic Missile with his will, but his proficiency was too low right now to control it as he pleased.

After observing, Gauss grabbed the Magic Missile and threw it towards an empty area in the distance.

The Magic Missile accelerated in a straight line as soon as it left his hand!

The effect of the magic made it reach peak speed in an extremely short time, pulling a dazzling blue halo in the air within his sight.

“Boom!!”

A roaring explosion sounded.

The Magic Missile exploded the moment it hit the ground.

The blue magic energy burst open like fireworks, and even in broad daylight, the beautiful magical fluctuations were visible.

After a long while, when the magical aftershocks disappeared and the smoke cleared.

Only a pit about 1 meter in diameter and calf-deep was left on the ground that was originally covered in green grass.