When he saw Gauss return safely, Gron Bates—one of the people directly involved—let out a long breath of relief.
If anything had happened to Gauss, Gron would've carried that guilt for the rest of his life.
"Good… good… you're fine…"
Behind him, two little kids—a boy and a girl—peeked out, staring at the Gauss who had just appeared out of nowhere.
Gauss lowered his gaze and noticed the cat ears on their heads twitching again and again.
It was a clear sign of nervousness and unease.
But they weren't crying. They weren't clinging to anyone, demanding to know where their parents were. For children, that was already incredibly strong.
With that thought, he gave them a reassuring smile.
Then he looked at the others.
"Let's get out of here first."
Even though they were some distance from Blackwater's Town center, this was still far from safe—especially with the centaur leader sending its subordinates to conduct a wide-area search. It wouldn't take long for them to reach this area.
"Alright."
Everyone understood that. No one wasted time, and they moved quickly through the forest.
With two children in tow, the return trip took much longer than the way in.
When they reached the former gnoll village—now the Red Dragon Company's temporary camp—Gauss immediately called Serandur over to check the children.
Living in a safe room dozens of meters underground for so long—food and water or not—had still left them with minor illnesses.
To be honest, hearing Alia's description earlier had shocked Gauss.
These two kids' mental fortitude was stronger than most adults'. Living in an enclosed space for three to four months wasn't something you could just "endure."
Thankfully, it was over now.
Maybe they already understood their parents weren't coming back—because they acted guarded and resilient, and only showed real trust toward familiar Gron.
Even so, Seraphina—the older sister—brought her brother Edgar in front of Gauss and bowed deeply.
"Thank you… for saving us."
Gauss looked at them. Even after Serandur's first treatment, their faces were still ghost-pale. His feelings were complicated—but he didn't dodge their gratitude.
Two children, losing their parents so young… at least Gron could watch over them. A tiny mercy in a cruel situation.
He crouched down and gently patted both of their heads.
Then he took out a few beautifully wrapped candies from his storage pouch.
"Try these. They're really good."
Maybe because they understood this handsome man was the reason they were alive, the siblings—despite meeting him for the first time—felt an instinctive warmth toward him.
"Thank you."
After hesitating, Seraphina accepted the candies.
She unwrapped one, fed it to her brother first, then took one herself.
As the candy melted, sweetness flooded her mouth—just like the kind-looking big brother had promised.
And maybe that sweetness tugged loose memories of life with their family…
Her eyes blurred with tears.
But now… they didn't have parents anymore.
…
Rescuing Seraphina and Edgar was a strong start to the Red Dragon Company's operation in this region.
For their safety, Gauss escorted Gron and the children back to the adventurer camp first.
"Master Gron—what are you going to do from here?"
"I'll raise them," Gron said in the carriage. His rough hands gently cupped the kids' cheeks, and a kind smile softened his face. "I'll treat them like my own."
The children were curled into the seat, one on each side, clinging tightly to him.
With patience, Gron had earned their trust.
Gauss nodded.
From what he'd seen, Gron hadn't married and had no children.
Taking in his best friend's kids might fill that empty space in his life.
"Please forgive me—I can't pay you the promised commission right now," Gron continued. "I need to go back to Grayrock first and deal with my belongings. Then I'll take the kids to Falrim."
"Falrim is safer. And they can get a better education there."
"That's good," Gauss agreed. "Then we can look out for each other."
But when it came to the payment, Gauss waved it off.
"As for the commission—forget it. I didn't do this for money. And raising two kids in Falrim isn't cheap."
Gron shook his head stubbornly. "That's not how it works. I have to pay you."
"I've got hands and legs. If I run out of money, I'll earn more. And their father already left them enough assets in the safe room."
Seeing how firm he was, Gauss didn't push.
He'd deal with it once they were back in Falrim.
Maybe he could even bring Gron into the Red Dragon Company someday—though the company already had plenty of smiths.
Still, a skilled smith was never "too many."
This world had countless adventurers, and warriors were the most common by far. Armor got lost in the wild every day. Armor got broken and needed repairs every day. Demand never stopped.
"Then we'll be going," Gron said, leaning out the carriage window. "You should head back too."
"See you in Falrim."
"See you in Falrim."
The carriage rolled away.
…
Maybe because of what had happened in Blackwater's town center two days earlier, Gauss noticed the surrounding monster territory had become more active.
Different monster clans seemed to share intelligence—passing along key information between them.
At the roadside, Gauss listened to three goblins chattering in their garbled language, using Comprehend Languages to translate.
"Human!" "Catch horned human—leader reward treasure." "Kill?" "Kill!" "Want eat." "Can't eat."
Maybe the translation spell was imperfect—or maybe goblins were just that fragmented in how they communicated. Either way, what reached Gauss's ears was a jumble of short, broken messages.
Watching the goblins get more and more excited—like the "horned human" was already theirs—Gauss couldn't help a dark line of irritation forming across his forehead.
Even if he was at his weakest, there was no universe where these three scrawny monkey-things were catching him.
That was the limitation of ordinary goblins.
Even when they received information, they couldn't think rationally, couldn't analyze what it meant—so they couldn't grasp the simplest truth:
Gauss was far beyond what they could handle.
Gauss focused his attention on the three goblins.
They didn't have to argue anymore about whether to eat him or trade him for treasure.
Thud.
All three goblins started foaming at the mouth and collapsed.
When Gauss shared what he'd learned with his teammates—combined with the centaur leader calling his name instantly back in the city—it confirmed what they already suspected:
He was famous now. In several cities across Coldemerald Province… and among the monster clans along the Jade Forest's border.
Alia and the others could only sigh.
It was the classic problem: the higher your name, the bigger your target.
"Let's try not to leave survivors," someone said.
They couldn't be sure low-tier monsters would connect the dots and realize Gauss was the very "target" their superiors wanted. But they all agreed: leaving fewer traces meant less risk.
If every monster died, then no one could carry news back.
Gauss looked at the Hotstone Mine ahead.
Their first commission target was there: a massive open pit mine occupied by roughly 2,000–3,000 kobolds.
The mine had been dug down into a deep valley.
Whether humans once owned this land or monsters owned it now—no one ever stopped mining natural resources.
Clang!
Clang-clang!
Kobolds swung their picks, striking the weak points of the rock face with practiced precision.
Cracks spread. One blow, two blows—until chunks the size of fists broke loose.
They filled baskets, hoisted them onto their backs, and carried them down toward the mine tunnels.
At the tunnel mouth stood larger kobolds in shining iron armor—overseers with vicious eyes.
They cracked whips, drawing blood from miners who tried to cut in line.
"Ah! Aaaah!"
Scenes like that played out again and again.
At the front of each line, miners handed over ore and received their "pay"—usually a lump of sticky black sludge.
It looked like bone powder, insects, dirt, maybe a trace of rat meat, and shredded roots boiled into a paste.
Real meat went only to the stronger fighters.
And the miners accepted it without complaint.
They ate. They drank murky water from a nearby pond. Then they picked up their baskets and went back to the wall.
If you didn't view it from a human perspective, kobolds were hardworking, tireless, brutally efficient.
"What a waste…"
Watching from a distance, Gauss shook his head.
Even if these miners spent their whole lives digging and never harmed a single human directly, their labor itself was a crime in human terms.
They mined ore. The ore became weapons and armor. The weapons armed more monsters. The monsters killed more humans.
If anything, these "producers" were even more important than the fighters.
For creatures with absurd reproduction like goblins, as long as they had equipment and food, they could rebuild an army even after being slaughtered down to a tenth of their numbers.
Like weeds on a plain—endlessly regrowing.
"All exits are covered. Everyone's in position."
Shadow appeared beside Gauss.
"Then we start."
Gauss nodded.
Shadow relayed the order.
Whoosh—!
An arrow cut the air and planted itself in a watchtower kobold's heart.
Below, kobolds heard something strange and started to lift their heads—
—and a beam of sacred moonlight descended from above.
The moonlight looked gentle, but in that moment it was a terrifying kind of radiation.
In a blink, the kobolds caught in it began to melt.
"Exit one secured!"
"Exit two cleared!"
"Exit three—"
In under a few minutes, all five valley exits were silently erased.
Hotstone Mine was now a sealed cage.
Any kobold trying to flee would be met by Red Dragon Company forces and clay constructs waiting in ambush.
But the real battle was at the center.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The endless sound of metal striking stone echoed through the valley.
The kobolds looked numb to it. Even the overseers did.
Crack!
"Don't slack off, idiot!"
"Aah!"
Only when a whip struck flesh and pain screamed out did the overseers smile.
For monsters, torment was entertainment—sometimes even when the victim was their own kind.
The overseer didn't notice that the young miner's raised eyes held something rarer than hatred.
Not hatred.
A kind of awe.
The third whip froze in midair.
The air temperature skyrocketed.
Before confusion could even form—
Red fire, like molten magma poured from the sky, came crashing down.
Fire swallowed everything in an instant.
Like divine cleansing flame, miners and overseers alike—along with the ore itself—were consumed.
In that thousand-degree heat, hatred and twisted pleasure became meaningless.
A colossal presence had arrived.
It spread its wings, casting an enormous shadow.
Red scales flashed under the noon sun like molten gold—dazzling, domineering.
A dragon.
Above the valley, the beast flew. It lowered its long neck, and a pure, white-hot torrent poured from its jaws.
Where it passed became a hell of fire and heat.
It had come here for one thing:
To erase this clan.
Below, the kobolds stared up in a daze as the fire-rain fell—
until it swallowed them whole.