The moment Gauss climbed onto the dragon's back, he finally understood—viscerally—just how enormous this dragon was.
He honestly felt like the space on its back was big enough to build a house.
Under Esvel's gaze within the ice-mirror, the dragon lifted them smoothly into the air.
A strange power seemed to surround it. Sitting on its back, Gauss and the others didn't feel the slightest discomfort—no wind bite, no dizziness from acceleration or turning. It was as if they were standing on solid ground.
Gauss knew this was only because the dragon was honoring Esvel. Otherwise, with a full-grown dragon like this, forget riding it—just standing in front of it without losing composure would be difficult.
With a few wingbeats, the dragon covered an absurd distance.
It was as if space itself compressed under the sweep of its wings. Before long, they pierced through ice-clouds and left the endless mountain range behind.
Only from this height did the scale of the range become clear. The territory they'd crossed over several days was just a tiny, insignificant sliver of it.
"Want to chat, big guy?" Gauss tried to speak with the dragon beneath him.
But whether he used Common or Draconic, the dragon had little interest in conversation. It only looked mildly surprised when it heard him speak Draconic—nothing more.
"My duty is to deliver you out of the snow mountains."
The dragon's temperament was cold. It obeyed Esvel absolutely, but beyond its assignment, it had no intention of offering any extra "service."
A little while later, the dragon flew beyond the snow belt. Once it reached the plains outside the mountains, it set them down.
"Goodbye, big guy," Gauss said.
"If we ever get the chance…"
The dragon exhaled frost and shot into the sky at a speed far greater than its approach.
It wasn't that it disliked the human wrapped in strong draconic aura. If anything, it sensed a faint familiarity from him. But the gap between their "levels" meant a proud adult dragon would never go out of its way to form ties with Gauss.
To a long-lived adult dragon, most humans simply weren't worth paying attention to—after all, one long nap might be long enough for that human to die of old age.
Even among humans, different strata had social walls. Across species, it was even more so.
"So where to next?" Alia asked.
"Back to Lakeside Town first," Gauss replied.
Winter had arrived.
The year's end was approaching.
He wanted to tell Moterra what he'd learned from Esvel—especially the warning about coming chaos. If informing Moterra helped even a little, it was worth doing.
And Moterra had promised him a reward once he returned.
The holy water's flexible offense-and-defense forms—and its strong suppression against evil—were immensely useful to Gauss as someone who hunted monsters constantly. He couldn't help feeling a little anticipation for whatever "remaining payment" Moterra had mentioned.
Still, thinking about those two sister spirits made him shake his head.
Esvel had been expanding her power endlessly just to keep something evil pinned down, while Moterra had slept for ages and only woke up when she noticed the water changing.
So that's how it is—big sister carrying the world on her shoulders…
He teased the "carefree" lake spirit in his head, then started the return journey.
Passing by Longflute Fortress, they disguised themselves a little and slipped into the city.
No one paid them much attention.
Even though only a week or two had passed, the city already looked different.
People were clearing snow by the roadside.
Tiefling orphans and poor residents queued at the city's welfare porridge tents, waiting for staff to ladle out hot gruel.
Before Gauss had left, Playaos had mentioned this—Governor Noah planned to use confiscated Dragon Cult assets to subsidize the bottom strata.
"Ethan, aren't you working for Old Tanner? Get lost—don't clog the line. Folks with steady jobs shouldn't be here!"
"…"
Gauss withdrew his gaze.
They also stopped outside Abby's private academy for a while. Through the fence, they saw Abby and other apprentice mages practicing spells under an instructor's guidance. Gauss nodded with quiet satisfaction.
"Want to go see Abby?" Alia asked softly.
"No," Gauss said. "Let's not disturb her and York this trip."
They'd been gone less than half a month. Abby's life had only just stabilized. There was no need to meet again just to repeat another farewell.
"But we can go see little Rhein."
His first apprentice—Rhein—he hadn't seen her in half a year.
They left the school. This return to Longflute Fortress was mainly so Gauss could report to the Adventurers' Guild: the Talna River basin would likely see steadily increasing monster activity in the near future.
He'd asked Esvel about it before leaving; she hadn't objected.
At the guild, Gauss submitted his intel.
He received a 100-gold information reward, but also learned from Guildmaster Ferguson that the guild had already carried prophecies about the Talna crisis for some time.
"Fine," Gauss murmured. "Do what you can, then leave the rest to fate."
He felt more at ease. At least humanity wasn't completely blind to what was coming—surely they'd prepare in some way.
That night, Gauss met privately with Playaos again, discussed a few matters, and left Longflute Fortress the next morning, fully committing to the return route.
Retracing their path was unexpectedly interesting.
And even though winter was deepening, the party didn't feel the usual bite of cold—Esvel's storm-and-snow blessing helped a lot, making the journey far more comfortable.
As time passed, places they'd visited before had changed.
The vast grassland once crawling with Yeenoghu's gnoll packs had been cleared out by the Golden Eagle family. When Gauss passed through, he only found traces of goblin groups—likely migrants arriving after the gnoll threat was removed.
Unfortunately for the goblins, their "good news" didn't last long.
They'd barely put down roots before their racial enemy arrived.
Gauss didn't show mercy.
He believed in finishing the job.
The best time to wipe out a goblin tribe was always now.
Every goblin killed today might save a human—or an entire family—tomorrow.
Moving on, they reached the Herb Village—the one that had produced the mind-transferring witch.
The old village head and elders were gone now. Villagers said they'd been taken to Sena City to face trial.
Without the witch's protection, the village had still survived—under David, the resident mage who'd become the new headman. They'd built palisades and watchtowers.
When Gauss's party arrived, the militia spotted them immediately from the tower.
Seeing these people and places change again reminded Gauss why the journey mattered.
…
"Whew, it's cold."
"Cut more firewood on the way back today."
"Rode, stop slacking! Get over here and help strip the loot!"
In the snowy wilds, a young four-person adventuring party was busy at work.
Beside them lay a boar, its flank studded with arrows.
Their leader—Mira, the same archer girl—was barking orders, telling the trainee priest Rode to stop loafing and help carve up the boar.
Before long, the animal had been broken down into dozens of pieces: meat cuts, hide, and two intact tusks.
Mira wrapped the best loin and leg cuts in oilcloth and packed them into the party's hard-earned adventurer backpack.
"Good haul. Our families can eat for days—and we can sell the rest."
She wiped sweat off her brow, smiling. In the first snowfall of early winter, landing a fat boar was luck.
They'd actually gone out for a different commission, but found no monsters—then ran into this boar on the way back.
It meant their rookie team was finally becoming competent.
Even a boar was dangerous to a newbie party: thick hide, raw power, and it ran wild when injured.
"I wish Gauss could see how much we've grown," Mira sighed.
Months had passed, but she still remembered the handsome man who'd saved them from water spirits.
She'd even served as his guide.
Back then she'd known he was experienced—but she'd never imagined his fame would explode like this.
After that day, she'd never seen him again.
"Gauss…" Rode muttered, thinking. "I heard he met the Lake Goddess at the blessing rite in Fisher's Song Town. First time in hundreds of years."
"Lake Goddess's envoy—that's a real big shot," Mira said with pride.
"But your news is outdated!" the young mage Pelo scolded.
"What?"
"Have you not read the papers?" Pelo wagged a finger. "Now he's got new titles—Crimson Dragon Knight, Bane of the Dragon Cult…"
"Wait—what?" Rode's brain stalled.
Pelo and the other two explained excitedly, while Rode turned pale.
"An 'Transcendent' is… Level 11+? That's insane."
"Right?" Pelo nodded, still stunned like the first time she read it.
"And a dragon… have you ever seen one?"
"Never."
"Picture books count?"
…
WHOOM.
Right then, wind suddenly tore overhead.
Everyone's hair whipped around.
The sky seemed to dim.
"Careful!"
They looked up—and in the last light of dusk, a massive winged creature descended in front of them.
"This… this is…?"
They stared, mouths open.
The creature's presence made the air feel several degrees warmer.
It was… a dragon.
The dragon they'd been talking about.
They could even smell the strong sulfur on its breath.
The dragon lowered its head slowly.
Mira's limbs locked up like she'd been hit with a paralysis spell.
Even as her brain screamed run, her legs wouldn't move.
We're dead.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Goodbye, Father. Mother…
A long moment passed.
No pain.
Mira opened her eyes.
I'm alive? Or already dead?
From the dragon's blind spot, a young man in a moon-white robe jumped down from its back.
"Long time no see, Mira."
Her bow slipped from her fingers and hit the snow with a soft thunk.
She gaped, face going red.
"G-Gauss?!" Her voice cracked.
The other three collapsed into the snow too, staring blankly.
To them, Gauss was living legend.
They'd barely spoken his name, and now he'd literally dropped from the sky.
It felt unreal, like a dream.
Gauss looked at their reactions and laughed helplessly.
He hadn't expected to run into Mira's team again either.
"Relax. You did well today."
His gaze fell to the neatly butchered boar skeleton.
He even looked a little impressed.
He'd once given them advice.
Now they looked like real adventurers.
~~~
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