I’m not Goblin Slayer Chapter 077

“Is something bothering you recently? I’ve seen you shut yourself in your room these past two days.”

Gauss’s unusual behavior piqued Sophia’s curiosity.

Gauss shook his head at the question.

“Just reading and thinking about cultivation.”

As soon as Sophia heard it was about cultivation, she had nothing to add.

Although her father used to be an adventurer and even had a small reputation in town, that was all ancient history, and she herself had never known much about it.

“Then good luck to you.” Sophia could only offer verbal encouragement.

She wasn’t overly worried either; after all, reading and thinking indoors was, by all accounts, much safer than carrying a sword and battling monsters in the wilderness.

“No, it’s not enough to just think.” Gauss quickly brushed up on some spell principles and finally decided to go out.

Spells weren’t conjured from thin air; theory was important, but after cramming theoretical knowledge, it also needed to be verified and digested through practice.

As for his destination, he already had a target in mind.

So, after lunch, under Sophia’s worried gaze, Gauss, who had finally been “honest” for two days, couldn’t sit still anymore. He packed his bag, said goodbye to Sophia, and once again left Grayrock Town.

This time, he didn’t take on any specific commissions.

He paid a small fee and hitched a ride on a merchant caravan’s carriage, planning to head to Wormwood Town, a small town centered around herbal medicine, located northwest of Grayrock Town.

Its scale was slightly larger than Grayrock Town, and more importantly, Andani said there was a small gathering of spellcaster apprentices there.

Spellcaster apprentices from surrounding towns had, by unspoken agreement, converged there, gradually forming a small, open organization over time.

This kind of small-scale gathering was perfect for a spellcaster apprentice like Gauss to gain some experience.

With a bit of luck, he might even stumble upon one or two spellbooks he needed at the moment.

Sitting in the carriage, resting his head on a stack of straw, Gauss chewed on a grass root, looked at the clear blue sky, and was filled with anticipation for Wormwood Town.

Speaking of which, although he occasionally encountered adventurers who looked like spellcaster apprentices on the streets of Grayrock Town, he hadn’t formally interacted with other spellcaster apprentices.

Perhaps due to the diversity of cantrips, spellcaster apprentices held a strong sense of caution towards unfamiliar fellow apprentices. So, even when they met on the street, they would often politely keep their distance, appearing to avoid each other.

In an apprentice gathering place, perhaps their interactions would be more frequent?

Gauss guessed it would be so.

Just as he withdrew his gaze, preparing to continue studying his spell principle books, a sudden clamor erupted from the front of the caravan.

The caravan carriages also slowly came to a halt.

Seeing this, Gauss carefully donned his equipment, then flipped out of the carriage.

Approaching a small captain of the merchant guard, he curiously asked, “What happened?”

The small captain shook his head, not speaking.

Perhaps he thought Gauss was too young, or perhaps he simply wasn’t clear on the situation.

Gauss raised an eyebrow.

He disliked this feeling of lacking information, a sense of instability like being blindfolded and having things spiral out of control.

Through multiple mission experiences, he had come to a conclusion: no matter what happened, he first needed sufficient intelligence to support his rational next move.

Thinking this, he couldn’t help but sigh.

If only he were a Bronze-level adventurer, he wouldn’t have to say anything. Just pulling out his Bronze-level adventurer’s identity badge would likely make the caravan members respectfully provide all the information.

Even though he now considered his combat power to be at the top among low-level adventurers, and to ordinary people, the actual danger he posed was not much different from a Bronze-level adventurer—either way, they couldn’t win, it was just a matter of how quickly they fell.

But in terms of reputation, without that badge, he was indeed at a natural disadvantage. He couldn’t possibly act like someone with anger issues, beating people up everywhere he went to prove and flaunt his strength, could he?

The Bronze-level badge itself was a form of credit endorsement. Relying on the Adventurers’ Guild’s vast social credibility, whether it was a country bumpkin or a noble gentry in the city, they would acknowledge the strength of the badge holder. Talking until one’s lips were chapped was not as effective as pulling out a badge.

Gauss took out his bone staff.

He walked towards the front of the caravan, and as he walked, he activated Mage Hand, letting it float beside him, carrying his rapier.

The Lv 3 Mage Hand could still only lift 10 pounds, but its movement speed was faster, and its control precision was higher.

Reaching the carriages in the front half of the caravan, several merchant supervisors and the head guard were gathered together, discussing something in low voices.

Upon seeing a stranger approach, the head guard instinctively wanted to shout him back to sit down.

However, one sharp-eyed supervisor caught sight of the rapier floating in the air, always following him, and quickly pulled back the head guard who was about to step forward.

Spellcaster apprentices still held considerable prestige among ordinary low-level adventurers. If there was no direct conflict, many ordinary people, even merchant supervisors of some standing, were unwilling to rashly offend a spellcaster apprentice.

Because you never knew what cantrips a spellcaster apprentice truly possessed, and many cantrips could silently kill people without a trace.

“Excuse me, Mr. Spellcaster, can we help you?”

“I want to know why the caravan stopped?” Gauss asked directly.

Seeing the head guard being pulled back by the supervisor, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, marveling at the wondrous use of spells, which had saved him from another potential conflict.

If he hadn’t cast a spell, given the grim and unhappy expressions on their faces, it would clearly have led to an unpleasant incident.

“Sigh…”

The supervisor who stepped forward shook his head.

“Our scouting riders who were checking the road ahead discovered a group of goblin bandits blocking the road, numbering in the dozens.”

“Can’t we take a detour?” Gauss asked curiously.

Since they discovered them in advance, why not just go around?

“No, we’re carrying a batch of special medicinal herbs that must reach Wormwood Town before their potency is lost, or the losses will be severe. And a detour would take far too long.”

“It’s strange, we’ve taken this route dozens of times before and never encountered such a situation.”

“…”

Gauss paused for a moment, then understood what was happening.

In short, a group of goblins had blocked the road, planning to rob passing caravans.

The good news was that the caravan had received intelligence in advance from their scouting riders. The bad news was that there was no time for a detour.

A detour would require returning along the road and taking a large circle in another direction to reach Wormwood Town.

By then, if the batch of medicinal herbs on board couldn’t be delivered on time, the merchant guild would incur significant economic losses.

The reason for such carelessness was that this route was generally considered safe, and the caravan had traveled it many times before without encountering any incidents.

Once Gauss understood the situation, he felt more confident.