The Adventurer's Guild in Gray Rock Town is a stone-built, three-story building.
Walk straight along the town's main avenue to the end, and the building painted bright red facing the square is the Adventurer's Guild's premises.
On the porch with a pointed roof, the sword-shield-staff emblem representing the Adventurer's Guild flutters in the wind, with adventurers constantly coming and going beneath it.
Having been in the town for over a year, Gauss had yet to enter inside, mostly just stealing glances when he passed by the entrance.
The reason the old self dared not go inside was not because the Adventurer's Guild had any restrictions on visitor identities, but rather simply out of an inferiority complex.
The old self always felt that only powerful adventurers, professionals could step inside, and venturing there casually might invite questions from others or strange looks.
Under the watchful gazes of two guards in elite light armor at the entrance, Gauss walked inside calmly, just like any other adventurer.
The first floor is a public hall, similar to the service halls of public institutions from Gauss's previous life.
The hall was bustling, with adventurers carrying various weapons, armor gathered in groups of three to five exchanging conversations.
"There's nothing worthwhile on the task board today?"
"Last time, when I chopped that Jackal-Wolf People my sword got dulled, and the commission earned wasn't enough to repair the weapon, a big loss."
"Although goblins appear weak, if there are more than three, it's entirely different, you must be careful."
"...."
Gauss turned his head to observe the hall's environment.
He even saw quite a few non-pure human species, such as Half-Beastmen, Dwarves, and Gnomes, though humans were the majority of adventurers.
Moving his gaze away from the crowd, he looked at the surrounding facilities.
The consultation desk formed a semicircular arc around the hall, with several receptionists sitting there.
Besides the consultation desk, various task information was also posted on the notice board on the surrounding walls.
"Common material task: Submit slime cores obtained from Slime Monsters. Task reward: 3 Silver Coins/5 slime cores, this task is permanent."
"Common material task: Blood Tooth Fern, requires preservation of the plant's vitality upon submission. Task reward: 50 Copper Coins/plant."
"..."
Tasks covered several walls, dazzling Gauss, so he chose to head directly to the front desk to inquire about taking tasks and the requirements involved.
The receptionist named Petra, with a sweet appearance, stood properly behind the desk.
"Hello, Receptionist Petra, employee ID E21051, how can I help you?" she enthusiastically began, with a just-right smile on her face, clearly well-trained.
"I'm here for the first time. Are there any requirements for taking tasks?"
"New adventurer, huh? Well, you need to register as a personal adventurer first, by the way..."
"The registration fee is 1 Silver Coin, can you accept that?"
"I can." Gauss took a Silver Coin from his pocket, silently relieved that he had sold the goblin pendant a few days ago; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to pay the registration fee, which would have been embarrassing.
"Great, then please fill out this adventurer registration form."
"Thank you." Gauss quickly scanned the form Petra handed over.
Besides name, age, basic physical information, and permanent address, he also needed to fill out his preferred weapon or skills.
After filling out truthfully, Gauss handed the form back to the receptionist.
"I'll register you from this side then."
She swiftly operated something under the desk and took out a white emblem within seconds.
"This is your personal identity and adventurer level proof as an adventurer. You will need to present this emblem for tasks and submissions, please keep it safe. Losing it will require 1 Silver Coin for a replacement."
Gauss took the emblem, flipped it over, and examined it closely. This rhombus-shaped emblem was made from a type of white metal, with exquisite plant patterns etched on its surface, showing good craftsmanship.
"Miss Petra, I'd like to take some goblin combat tasks, preferably with fewer monster numbers." After completing the formalities, Gauss straightforwardly inquired.
The reason for continuing to target goblins was, firstly, due to the fact that ordinary goblins are the most common low-level creatures, and secondly for psychological inertia, having already slain a goblin, he felt more confident facing them again.
Other creatures hadn't been fought before; just by their names, he wasn't sure of their exact strength.
"Goblins, huh, let me check." The receptionist thought for a moment and pointed Gauss to a wall.
"That wall has some goblin-related tasks, though numbers are mostly in double-digits or more. If the numbers are too few, villagers generally won't offer commission fees to post tasks."
Petra implied that too few goblins wouldn't pose a threat to village appearance, and naturally, there wasn't task sources for such.
After thanking the receptionist, Gauss walked to the area she pointed out.
Sure enough, the wall was covered with many combat tasks, and goblin tasks were thoughtfully posted in nearby areas.
[Normal Bounty Task]
Task reward: 10 Silver Coins.
Task description: The sheep pen of Treeclaw Village has been attacked by a group of goblins. Please help the villagers eliminate the goblin group lurking near the village. The goblin number is estimated between 10-15.
Task submission item: Complete left ear of goblins.
Task time: 5 days.
[Normal Bounty Task]
Task reward: 50 Copper Coins/goblin.
Task description: Assist the guards in exterminating goblins wandering the main road leading to the Jade Forest. This task is permanent.
Task submission item: Complete left ear of goblins.
Task time: Permanent
...
There were quite a few tasks related to goblins.
This was naturally so, as the Adventurer's Guild is the only one in the surrounding areas, and tasks from all villages and outposts within its jurisdiction would be submitted here.
And goblins are the most common among all demons, attacking villages, and robbing convoys is their daily routine.
Gauss looked around and couldn't help but frown.
Indeed, as the receptionist said.
There weren't any tasks for solitary goblins he wanted. Besides some indefinite location permanent tasks, commonly causing disturbances were goblins in groups of more than ten.
And currently, even with the mastery of a 0th Ring trick, Mage's Hand, he still couldn't handle double-digit goblins.
Just as he was puzzling over this, he suddenly heard a hushed conversation nearby.
He didn't mean to eavesdrop since he happened to hear the word goblin.
"Birch Village is a bit far, huh..."
"Can we handle 7 or 8 goblins?"
"Relax, goblins are ordinary creatures, I can take them down one by one."
"..."
The speaking group consisted of one male and two females, appearing around the age of eighteen.
The woman with long brown curls wore fitted light armor, carrying a bow and arrows slung over her back, and a dagger on the side of her tall boots. Her confident demeanor suggested she was the leader, rallying her two companions with hands on her hips.
The other woman seemed much weaker, with black short hair and bangs covering her forehead, her eyes darting around, with two daggers at her waist.
The last young man stood expressionlessly with arms crossed leaning on a column, a long sword hanging at his side.
Judging by the gear, all three looked more impressive than Gauss, at least with their neat leather and light armor. Their weapons appeared shiny and new.
Though perhaps too new, showing no signs of prolonged use.
Are they newcomers like me? Gauss noticed this detail, pondering silently.
Have they accepted a goblin task already?
The female archer grasped a task sheet in her hand.
Seven or eight goblins, fewer than what's on the wall, yet for a team, although the payout would be less, it's relatively safer.
Feeling as a mage, surely he'd need the front line.
After thinking briefly, Gauss stepped forward to greet them proactively.
"Hello, I'm Gauss, a novice adventurer. Is there room in your team?"