Seeing that the staffer clearly didn't intend to say more, Gauss didn't press her.
At the end of the day, Herbert had just used some "special methods" to farm extra points—most likely some kind of direct transaction where he didn't even personally go out and kill anything.
He'd probably panicked when Gauss' score started climbing too fast. Normal hunting couldn't keep up, so he resorted to shortcuts.
As for why he panicked, it was either greed for the better first-place rewards, or just wounded pride.
The two of them had never met in person, but they were competing from afar. On Herbert's side, just like here in Lakeside, plenty of people were watching him.
Gauss could only hope the guy took this as a lesson.
Getting disqualified from the hunt was just that—disqualified. It wasn't the end of his life.
He might be able to fool the Guild for a little while, fool other people for a little while—but he couldn't afford to fool himself.
Losing a competition at worst meant losing face and a bit of reward.
If he misjudged his own strength and picked a fight in the wild with something out of his league, that could cost him his life.
Every year, countless people died because they didn't know their own limits and charged recklessly at enemies that were far beyond them.
That was what Gauss was thinking when the receptionist finished processing his submission.
The ranking board refreshed.
Gauss' score ticked up to 1,688.
Another three hundred-plus points.
Below him, second-place Koman was still sitting at 991.
The gap was huge now, nearly double—and that was with Gauss joining the competition several days late.
"He probably won't chase anymore."
Gauss withdrew his gaze from the board.
The later in the competition it got, the more participants' stamina would inevitably dip. Efficiency dropped.
Meanwhile, with so many adventurers clearing monsters from around the towns, monster density would be dropping faster than usual as well. The later things went, the longer it would take to find decent targets.
On top of that, the gap between Gauss and the others was simply too big. It was hard to stay motivated when the leader was that far ahead.
When they'd been more or less on the same footing, people could still see hope and grit their teeth to catch up. Now that the gap was this wide, most would rather shrug and give up the chase.
At best, they'd fight over second place among themselves.
But even that wasn't particularly cost-effective. Second place just meant a few more choices of rewards than third. First at least came with the symbolic "blessing of the Lake God."
According to past years, that had never shown any practical use—but having it was still better than not having it.
And besides… there was something strange about Blue Lake. Plenty of people in the five towns sincerely believed in the lake itself.
They believed Blue Lake could bring them health, good harvests, and good luck.
According to the old story, a long, long time ago, when the first settlers reached the shores of Blue Lake, they were exhausted from their journey and almost out of food.
As they bent down to drink at the lakeshore, their last bit of dry black bread slipped from their fingers and fell into the water.
Starving and desperate, they were about to collapse…
When a fairy, glowing like moonlight, stepped out of the mist upon the lake's surface.
In front of her floated three piles of food.
On the left was a heap of soft, snowy-white bread that looked delicious beyond words.
In the center was the shabby, ordinary black bread they had just dropped.
On the right was a basket of plump, gleaming berries, the likes of which they'd never seen before, shining with juicy sweetness.
The fairy asked them in a clear, gentle voice, "Honest people, tell me—was it this precious white bread that you dropped, this ordinary black bread, or this basket of wondrous magical berries?"
The pioneers wanted to answer honestly, but they were too hungry.
So they said all three were theirs.
To their surprise, the fairy was not angry at the lie. Instead, she truly handed all three gifts to them.
Yes—the lake's fairy was said to be such a generous and loving goddess that even when they deceived her, she still showered them with food.
With those gifts and the fairy's blessing, the pioneers survived the crisis, found fertile land near the lake, and built homes there.
From then on, tales of the generous fairy of Blue Lake were passed down generation after generation.
The "Lake God" faith gradually took shape.
Even now, after every festival, villagers from the surrounding towns would toss food into the lake—most commonly black bread.
Partly because it was cheapest and everyone could afford it; partly because tossing black bread was a way to "recreate" the legend, in hopes the fairy might appear again.
As for whether the fairy actually existed—that depended on who you asked.
The first time Gauss had heard the story, he'd felt it was… hard to judge.
Surely, by the usual narrative, she should reward honesty and leave disappointed if people lied, right? If the fairy existed, she sounded like a soft-headed, over-generous mark.
And throwing black bread into the lake? That was practically transactional. Way too utilitarian.
Most likely, all it did was feed the fish, crustaceans, and underwater monsters.
Of course, looked at another way, maybe the Lake God was simply investing. To starving people, bread was precious; to her, it might be nothing. In return, she gained their worship.
And a generous deity was far easier to love than a stingy, harsh one.
In the end, the faith in the Lake God had spread all around Blue Lake.
But there was another explanation—probably the most likely one.
That there was no Lake God at all. The pioneers had simply made up the story themselves.
Storytelling mattered. People are naturally curious. Faced with two places equally habitable, if one is rumored to have a mysterious deity and the other is utterly dull… which do you, as a caravan, a traveler, or an adventurer, choose?
Exactly.
People bring prosperity.
As for the old claim that past champions, after "receiving the Lake God's blessing," were lucky ever after… Gauss wasn't surprised.
Anyone who could win first place in a contest like this was, by definition, already a cut above almost everyone else in the five-town region.
People like that didn't usually have bad luck.
And even if they did run into misfortune, their strength often let them turn it around—maybe even turn it into an opportunity.
As for whether they later got flattened when they wandered outside the five-town region and met real threats… that wasn't exactly within the townsfolk's information radius.
"Gauss, looks like your first place is pretty secure," Alia said, watching the board update.
"The contest isn't over yet," Gauss shook his head.
But Alia seemed to ignore that, drifting off into her own thoughts.
"Gauss, do you think there's really a fairy in the lake?"
"What do you think she looks like?"
"I've never seen a fairy before…"
Seeing her mutter like that, Gauss couldn't help but chuckle.
"All right. If I win, I'll go take a look and see what she looks like for you."
He was mostly just teasing her.
Rationally, he seriously doubted any "fairy" existed.
He'd flown around on dragonback plenty near the lake and never sensed anything particularly unusual. If there really were some benevolent supernatural presence here—whether fairy, spirit, or something else—there ought to be clearer traces.
After updating his score, Gauss took another commission.
Even though his strongest competitor had conveniently removed himself from the game, he saw no reason to change his plan.
Push the points to two thousand first. Then watch how everyone else reacted and decide how hard to push afterwards.
This time he didn't bother with anything fancy—just a kobold nest.
They were perfect for testing his freshly strengthened Draconic.
With Hefeis around, kobolds were nothing but soft targets.
And where there were kobolds, there were almost always goblins nearby.
They liked the same rich resource zones: neighbors, rivals, and occasionally each other's food.
Which one ended up as food depended on which tribe had the stronger leader, bigger numbers, and better weapons and armor.
For Gauss, though, they were a loving pair of brothers. Since they were so inseparable, it was only fair to send them off to the afterlife together.
At least they wouldn't be lonely going through Hell's gate.
Then again… he had absorbed some of their spiritual essence. Strictly speaking, he didn't know exactly where they'd ended up.
As Gauss and his party left the Guild under a cloud of respectful stares, someone else was approaching the town gate.
A tall, slender woman in a black cloak walked toward the entrance with a stride so controlled her pace seemed almost unnaturally even.
She lifted her head and pushed back her hood, revealing a pair of dark, quiet eyes turned toward the town.
"Excuse me, this is Lakeside Town?" she asked one of the guards.
"Y—yes, ma'am." The guard, normally glib and talkative, stammered in surprise. Her presence was that intense.
"Thank you," the woman nodded. Then she added, "Is Gauss here?"
She'd asked without much thought; the guard's eyes lit up.
"Yes, ma'am! Gauss—currently first in the Five-Town Hunting Tournament—is based out of our Lakeside Town."
Strictly speaking, Gauss wasn't a townsman. He'd only been here a few days. But he'd registered and signed up here.
Luck, too, was a form of strength.
"Got it. Thanks." The woman didn't linger.
Before the guards could gush more "introduction," her figure had already slipped past, striding into town.
"Tom, did you just let her pass without checking anything?" the other guard muttered.
"Ah!!"
"…Forget it, she's already inside." The second guard watched her vanish between the buildings. "Besides, she might be looking for Sir Gauss. We really can't afford to offend people like that."
Shadow moved through the streets like a shadow.
She'd already gotten the time. Based on that, she calculated that if Gauss was in town, he'd almost certainly be at the Adventurer's Guild.
So she headed straight there.
"There are fewer kobold and goblin requests around here already. Looks like the hunt really is working," she thought.
"Gauss, that's partly your doing, isn't it?"
"Heh."
Gauss and the others had just finished joking about the commission they'd picked when they ran straight into a black-clad figure at the Guild entrance.
"Eh!!"
Both sides stopped short the instant they saw each other.
"Shadow! Welcome back!" Alia hurried forward, catching Shadow's hand.
Just last night they'd been wondering aloud why Shadow's "breakthrough" was taking so long, and speculating about what stage she might have reached—and now here she was, standing right in front of them.
"Congratulations!"
"Congratulations, Shadow!"
"Thank you."
Serandur and Albena were the first to offer their congratulations.
Even without reading stats, they could feel it: Shadow had crossed the threshold from Level 5 to Level 6.
The aura of a master-tier profession radiated off her—each person's field unique and unmistakable.
That subtle pressure was exactly what separated Level 6 from Level 5.
Gauss studied her in silence for a long moment.
At last, he spoke.
"Welcome back, Shadow."
"Congratulations on making it to Level 6. You've changed a lot."
Shadow's looks had grown even more striking.
If she'd been a tall, cool-headed girl before, she was now firmly a grown woman—curves fuller, presence stronger. Her chest in particular had filled out noticeably. But that same calm, shadowy aura remained.
"Does reaching master tier… trigger body changes too?" Gauss wondered, a bit puzzled.
Given how personal that was, he wisely kept the question to himself.
"Yes. I'm back."
"And you've changed a lot too, Gauss." Shadow met his gaze, eyes intent, then let a faint smile curve her lips.
I changed a lot?
Gauss looked down at himself.
He'd certainly gained a lot while she'd been gone.
But his build and face hadn't changed drastically.
He'd gained Breath Casting, Basic Draconic, a point of Charisma, and then upgraded Draconic to Intermediate.
If he really thought about it… yeah, there were some changes.
Maybe Alia and the others hadn't noticed because they were with him day and night and had gotten used to it gradually.
But Shadow had left for a stretch and was now seeing him again with "fresh eyes"—of course it would feel different.
So that was what people meant by "distance brings perspective," huh?
"Forget it," Gauss shook his head, dropping the thought.
"We were just on our way out on a commission. You just got back and must be tired—want to stay in town and rest up while we go?"
"No." Shadow shook her head with a small smile. "I've been away long enough. I'll come with you."
Gauss studied her for a heartbeat longer.
Since she said so, he didn't argue.
She was Level 6 now. No way she'd be that fragile.
"All right. Come along then."
He pulled his gaze away from her.
He couldn't shake the feeling that she really had changed a lot—not just on the surface, but in some subtle, indescribable way.
She seemed more open, talked more, even.
No wonder they said master tier was a watershed.
Shadow's breakthrough really had turned a page.
~~~
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