"It's getting a bit chilly."
Gauss exhaled, white mist forming in the air as he lifted his eyes from the book in his hands.
He remembered that autumn always seemed to arrive suddenly—but this year, it felt colder than usual.
"I'll need to buy some warmer clothes."
All of Gauss's current clothes were for summer. The only winter gear he had left was something from the previous owner of his body—stuffed in his travel bag back at the inn.
It no longer fit well, and even then, it was too thin to be of much use.
He made a mental note to buy a fleece-lined coat.
…
In the inn's common room, Sophia was adding logs to the fireplace, getting it warm for the day.
At the front counter, the new clerk Winnie was carefully wiping glasses.
"I'm here. Sorry to keep you waiting."
Alia entered from the front door, bundled in thicker layers. She greeted Sophia and Winnie with easy familiarity, then took a seat across from Gauss.
"No worries, I just got up too."
Today's schedule was packed.
Though they'd already submitted the Rustfrog hunting quest yesterday—cashing in 1 gold and 10 copper worth of tongues and splitting it evenly (around 50 silver each)—they still had business to handle today.
Top priority: selling the Rustfrog hides.
Rustfrogs weren't the kind of monsters that raided villages or looted caravans. In fact, they rarely even initiated attacks. Their real value lay in their durable, highly useful hides.
Properly tanned and treated, the skins could be used as inner lining for light or medium armor—especially around joints and vital zones like the chest or abdomen—to grant mild resistance against acids, swamp gases, and corrosive attacks. Perfect for adventurers delving into sewers, swamps, or fighting slimes.
They could also be made into gloves, boots, water-resistant pouches, rain cloaks, or even small tents.
Of course, when used for personal gear, the toxins embedded in the hide had to be fully neutralized—otherwise they could slowly harm the wearer.
Despite this hazard, Rustfrog hides were still worth a good deal.
Their goal today was to find a leatherworker who could recognize that value—and pay fairly for it.
Beyond that, Gauss also needed to visit the town's food processors to commission 400 pounds of frog meat into jerky for long-term use.
Coincidentally, the real estate broker Alia had contacted had news: a small house near her own had just gone up for sale. Gauss planned to go check it out.
Plus, he needed to pick up new autumn and winter clothes.
Busy day ahead—but fortunately, Alia had no quests scheduled, and she was happy to tag along.
After a short break, the two headed out into Grayrock's streets.
They began by visiting several leather shops, rolling out bundles of stripped froghide.
As before, Alia—far more experienced in negotiation—took the lead.
Gauss had been tempted to use Friends to "cheat" his way into a better deal, but quickly dismissed the idea.
Local merchants were well-connected. If any of them figured out they'd been magically influenced, they'd report it to the town hall. Even if he wasn't jailed, the fine would be massive.
In towns, magic—especially control spells—was strictly regulated.
Unlike public brawling between warriors, spell use came with serious consequences. Larger cities even had anti-magic departments staffed with enemy mages, spies, and anti-magic knights.
Thanks to Alia's skillful haggling, they sold the entire batch of hides for 1 gold, 50 silver, and 60 copper.
Add in the quest reward from yesterday—1 gold and 10 copper—and the total profit from the Rustfrog operation reached 2 gold, 50 silver, and 70 copper.
By comparison, the previous ratmen mission (excluding the bonus from reporting the evil god) had only earned them 1 gold, 80 silver in total.
On the surface, the Rustfrog job was more profitable—but factoring in their corrosive attacks, equipment damage, and repair costs, it might not have been that much better.
Still, Gauss wasn't doing it just for money.
Yes, a good payout was nice—but his real goal was to expand his Monster Index and raise his total kill count and monster variety.
If he were just chasing gold, he'd be better off hunting elite monsters with high bounties.
After splitting the profits (1 gold, 25 silver, 35 copper each), Gauss's current cash on hand totaled 9 gold, 5 silver, and 30 copper.
With the hides sold, they found a small café on the street to rest. They ordered two cups of warm black tea and waited for the real estate broker to arrive.
"Hey Gauss, have you thought about joining this year's Winter Hunt?"
Alia glanced at a passing town guard, then asked.
"Winter Hunt?" Gauss tilted his head.
"Ah—right. I forgot. Around this time last year, you weren't even an adventurer yet." Alia smacked her forehead. Sometimes she forgot just how new he was.
Most Bronze-rank adventurers had at least a little experience by now. How could anyone not know about the Winter Hunt?
But Gauss was different—young, newly ranked, and rapidly rising.
She explained:
"The Winter Hunt is a large-scale monster culling event held right before the coldest months hit. During winter, berries freeze, animals hibernate, and monsters in the forest start running out of food. That's when they get desperate and start attacking human granaries or ambushing caravans."
"To prevent that, towns like Grayrock preemptively thin the monster population. The Town Hall and Adventurer's Guild team up to stop major outbreaks before they start."
"There are individual bounties on certain species, plus Bronze-ranked and higher adventurers get extra rewards."
"That said, not just anyone can join. Apart from Bronze-rankers, only a few well-registered novice parties with proven strength get approved."
"Too large a force creates other risks—like drawing even more powerful monsters into the fray."
After hearing her explanation, Gauss nodded, eyes gleaming with interest.
"I'm in." He didn't hesitate.
It was the perfect opportunity.
He could rack up monster kills, complete his index entries, and earn cash all at once.
He still needed gold—for spell scrolls, mounts, better gear.
"But… won't just our town's Bronze-rankers be a bit underwhelming?"
He thought back to what he'd seen on the guild's second floor: mostly Level 1 newbies like himself. Occasionally a Level 2 or 3 Bronze would show up.
Level 4 and 5 adventurers were rare. And as for Black Iron adventurers? He hadn't seen a single one.
Clearly, higher-ranked adventurers operated out of bigger guild branches.
"Don't worry," Alia reassured him.
"As usual, the Guild's upper ranks will be involved, and the town will also hire stronger adventurers as extra support. We'll focus on clearing the lower-tier monsters and weaker elites. The true bosses or dangerous creatures will be handled by the veterans."
"Got it," Gauss said. With that, his last concern vanished.
Sure, nothing was guaranteed. But adventuring was never risk-free. If you feared danger, you had no business being out here.
Just thinking about the Winter Hunt—of countless monsters driven by hunger, flooding the forest—made his blood run hot.
After the Rustfrog mission, his Monster Index now had 13 species logged.
If he kept going at his current pace, it would take a long time to reach 20 and unlock the next racial trait.
But the Winter Hunt was different. From Alia's description, it sounded like a mini-beast tide—a chaotic blend of species, all mixed together.
Perfect for farming new kills and filling the index fast.