I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 284: Awakening

"You're awake?"Aria pushed the door open and entered the room, seeing Gauss sitting up on the bed quietly reading a book, and said with surprise.

"I made you worry." Gauss said apologetically. "How many days have I been asleep?"

Gauss could clearly feel his body still had some stinging pain, and rationally speaking, he shouldn't have been able to wake up so quickly.

"A full seven days."

Aria brought porridge to Gauss's side.

During Gauss's days of slumber, she and their companions had been taking turns caring for him.

"Seven days... That's a bit faster than I expected."

Gauss shrugged.

He was very grateful he hadn't woken up to find months or even a year had passed.

Seven days wasn't really that long.

"You say that so lightly, but you really scared us all." Aria pursed her lips and complained.

"Don't push yourself so hard next time. When we encounter enemies that are too strong, we can retreat first."

"Mhm, mhm." Gauss nodded.

Seeing Aria scoop up the porridge with a spoon.

He felt a bit embarrassed.

"I can do it myself."

Although his body still stung with every movement now, he wasn't a pampered person - he could endure this level of pain.

"Here we go again." Aria sighed, her brow furrowing.

"I just said not to push yourself."

"You're a patient right now, so just accept being taken care of peacefully."

"......"

Gauss smiled guiltily.

Helpless, he could only accept her care.

"Ah, open up." Aria blew on it to cool it, then brought the spoon to his mouth.

Gauss hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth and ate it.

His team companions knew his appetite well - this bowl of porridge contained plenty of finely minced meat, making it very flavorful.

Aria continued feeding him spoonful by spoonful.

"By the way, Aria, what about that drake?"

From Gauss's observation, he should have returned to town by now.

This meant the worst-case scenarios he had worried about hadn't occurred, and judging by the timeline, his companions should have completed the commission's wrap-up.

Compared to other spoils of war, he was more concerned about the existence of the Red Drake.

This was related to whether he could become a Dragon Knight.

How cool were Dragon Knights? And being cool lasted a lifetime.

"Don't worry, it's very well-behaved, just staying in the bag recovering and sleeping."

Aria patted the Living Bag for storing mounts beside her.

Of course, she didn't mention the downside.

That was, after the Red Drake entered, other animals - whether the Ostrich, Ulfen, or Eck - didn't dare go in anymore.

It had now become the Red Drake's exclusive space.

Probably Gauss would need to personally train the drake before it could coexist harmoniously with these ordinary mounts and animal companions.

But since Gauss was currently recovering from injuries, she didn't mention these trivial details to bother him.

After all, just the fact that the Red Drake was staying quietly inside was already quite miraculous in itself.

Aria had some understanding of true dragons and drakes.

The debuffs stacked from Five Chromatic Evil Dragons, Red Dragon, and Drake made it incredibly difficult to handle.

Yet, that Red Drake seemed to have genuinely submitted.

Thinking this, she looked at Gauss again.

If others knew he had subdued an evil dragon, they would surely exclaim in disbelief.

Subduing an evil dragon was far more difficult than slaying one.

"Don't worry, we haven't told anyone about the drake." Aria added, as if knowing what Gauss was thinking.

Although a week ago Gauss hadn't had time to give many instructions before falling unconscious due to his physical condition.

But Aria and the others weren't so foolish - they naturally understood the significance of a Red Drake.

Not only had they concealed its existence when reporting the commission, they had even cleaned up all traces of the drake from the battlefield and nest beforehand.

To the extent that the Dragonborn Goblin wasn't even reported as a target.

It wasn't because they were overly cautious - both Gauss and the drake had suffered severe injuries and lost combat capability.

If someone had gotten greedy at this critical moment and attacked them, it would have been an extremely troublesome situation.

So, Gauss's team handled all matters related to the drake with great caution.

The only current problem was...

Gauss's thoughts slowly drifted.

"What about Albenia?"

"Albenia is at the blacksmith shop, but she visits you almost every day." Aria answered.

Judging by her tone of address, Albenia must have become quite familiar with her during Gauss's slumber.

"Speaking of timing, it should be about right now."

Before her words faded.

Gauss heard distinctly heavy footsteps approaching.

Soon after, Albenia's tall figure appeared at the doorway.

Gauss faintly smelled fresh iron filings from her - clearly she had just come from the blacksmith shop.

"Lord Gauss, you're finally awake!"

Seeing Gauss, her eyes immediately lit up as she quickly approached the bedside.

"Does your body hurt?"

"A bit."

Gauss noticed Albenia's attitude toward him hadn't changed at all, and had actually become more enthusiastic.

He also felt more trust toward Albenia now.

If previously much of his trust in her came from the Adventurers Guild, now his trust came more from her actions.

Although this commission had the Adventurers Guild as the referral party, with various commission details officially registered, if she had been a profit-driven person, she might have taken advantage of his unconsciousness to eliminate the entire team.

As for the possibility that she might have considered the Adventurers Guild's investigation and therefore didn't act, that possibility couldn't be completely ruled out, but Gauss didn't want to overcomplicate things.

Gentlemen judge by actions, not intentions.

Whether this was due to her nature or her inexplicable favorability toward him.

The objective fact was that after he fell unconscious, Albenia still performed her duties diligently.

And even helped Aria and the others clean up the battlefield and keep information confidential.

"Thank you, Albenia." Gauss sincerely thanked her.

"I didn't do anything? Lord Gauss, what are you thanking me for?" Albenia scratched her head in confusion.

"I should be thanking you, Lord Gauss. We agreed I would hold off that creature from the front, but in the end you ended up bearing the burden alone."

A flicker of guilt passed over Albenia's face.

Even now, she could still recall Gauss's injuries from a week ago.

His skin cracked all over, blood streaming down his face, and reportedly his internal organs had shifted.

For a mage in the team to sustain such injuries was a warrior's shame.

In her view, Gauss had risked his life to protect them - Gauss at that time had likely activated some kind of blood-boosting state with enormous costs.

"Lord Gauss, you're too kind."

If previously her favorability toward Gauss was just appreciation of his appearance, now she genuinely respected him from the bottom of her heart.

He truly was a good captain.

As a mage, he could have easily stayed protected within the team - even if teammates suffered casualties because of it, no one could blame him - but he was willing to take on the greatest risks himself.

Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Gauss, her cheeks slightly warm, fortunately concealed by her healthy wheat-colored skin.

"Next time, please don't be so impulsive. Feel free to stand behind me." Albenia took a deep breath, her gaze becoming firm.

Next time...

Gauss silently repeated it in his heart, thinking for a moment.

But for now, he just nodded silently and responded with a smile.

"Okay."

Although this commission had the Adventurers Guild as the referral party, with various commission details officially registered, if she had been a profit-driven person, she might have taken advantage of his unconsciousness to eliminate the entire team.

Recovering, taming the dragon, and absorbing the gains from this commission.

He could feel that some kind of change seemed to be happening inside his body.

In his sea of consciousness, the power sources representing Magician and Sword Soul were in a very active state, just hampered by his unusually injured body, maintaining their current condition.

Fortunately, he could feel that his body's recovery speed was quite encouraging, so he wasn't particularly anxious.

"Lord Gauss, after you recover, I've prepared a surprise for you." Albenia suddenly said mysteriously.

Surprise?

Gauss met her gaze, seeing her secretive expression, and felt somewhat curious.

After Albenia's arrival, Serlandul and Shadow arrived one after another.

They had been busy these days selling various supplies looted from the goblin-like creature nest.

"Captain, you need to rest well these days and avoid moving around to prevent secondary damage to your body." Serlandul examined Gauss once more. "I'll prepare medicine for you later."

Although he felt Gauss's physical injuries weren't major problems anymore, to ensure absolute safety, he still seriously cautioned.

Injuries were something that couldn't be taken lightly, whether for ordinary people or professionals.

Many professionals failed to fully recover after injuries, leaving hidden ailments that affected subsequent level advancement, or even shortened their lifespans.

"Okay, okay."

Gauss found his team members treating him like a key protected object one after another, and couldn't help but smile wryly repeatedly, though his heart felt warm - it was all out of good intentions and concern.

"What about you? Shadow, do you have any advice?"

He looked toward Shadow standing silently in the corner and asked with a smile.

"Me..."

Probably not expecting Gauss to suddenly look at her.

Shadow, who had seemed distracted since entering the room, was momentarily stunned.

"Recover well and get better soon."

"Mhm, received." Gauss looked at her and blinked.

He increasingly felt she had something on her mind.

He had initiated conversation precisely because he noticed her inexplicably low spirits.

......

Time passed quickly.

In the days after waking up, Aria implemented strict management over Gauss.

He had no choice but to lie leisurely in bed for many days.

During this period, besides his teammates, Jon, the guild master of Gold-Silver Town's Adventurers Guild, also came to visit him.

More praise followed.

Although Gauss's team hadn't reported the Red Drake and that powerful Dragonborn's existence, clearing out a massive goblin-like creature tribe was undeniable work.

Learning the intelligence, he was somewhat surprised by Gauss's team's speed and efficiency - their strength somewhat exceeded his expectations.

He had originally thought it would take at least half a month of stalemate.

Early morning, Gauss lay in bed watching the bright sunshine outside the window.

"My body should be able to get up now."

Gauss had been lying down for almost ten days and felt his joints were getting rusty.

But Aria wasn't quite reassured and insisted that Serlandul conduct a thorough examination.

He turned to look at Serlandul.

"How are the examination results?" Gauss was quite confident in his perception of his own body.

"......"

Serlandul hesitated for a moment.

Looking at the examination results, there weren't major problems anymore.

But out of caution, he had originally planned to instinctively give a conservative assessment.

However, when he saw Gauss's increasingly determined gaze, he thought for a moment, then showed an apologetic bitter smile to Aria beside him.

"Sorry, Aria. The captain's body should be able to get up and move around now."

"You!" Aria gritted her teeth.

This guy had actually betrayed her.

They had agreed beforehand that regardless of the results, they would let Gauss rest more - with their care he could rest a while longer to ensure absolute safety.

She never expected him to change his statement in the end.

What an unreliable guy.

"Hmm?"

Gauss glanced at Aria's hand on his waist and gave her a "you understand" look.

After all, Aria herself had said that once she got Serlandul's confirmed results, if there were no problems, she would let him move freely.

"Hmph, hmph."

Aria pouted.

She removed her hand from Gauss's body.

Gauss got down from the bed.

"Whew—"

Comfortable.

The feeling of having both feet on the ground was so wonderful.

It made him feel like he had become a complete person with functioning limbs again.

He stretched.

"Crack—"

His long-unmoved body produced crisp bone sounds.

"Be careful." Aria cautioned uneasily.

Who could blame her - Gauss's injuries back then had been so frightening that she had almost developed psychological trauma.

She was deeply afraid that if Gauss moved, his skin would crack open like that time again.

"Relax, relax."

Gauss waved his hand.

He wasn't a greenhouse flower - his constitution gave him stronger recovery capabilities, not to mention those racial talent bonuses.

"Lord Gauss's body is truly strong."

Albenia nodded repeatedly nearby, her eyes full of admiration, her cheeks slightly reddening again.

She liked handsome men, and she liked strong bodies.

And Gauss possessed both.

How could such a perfect being exist in the world?

Especially when she remembered Gauss's half-human, half-dragon form, that powerful stance of suppressing the drake with one hand, she couldn't help but swallow.

It was just too heart-stirring.

The group walked out onto the street, preparing to head toward the town outskirts.

Gauss had other reasons for being eager to get up and move around.

He couldn't wait to see that Red Drake.

As Gauss and the others walked along the road, they attracted many gazes again.

During this period, through the Adventurers Guild's publicity, almost all townspeople knew that Gauss's team had mobilized to clear out a goblin-like creature nest located in the mine not far from Gold-Silver Town.

Some rumors claimed the goblin-like creatures numbered in the thousands.

Others corrected that the number was ten thousand.

That the carts carrying spoils could stretch from one end of town to the other.

This was a classic case of "three people spreading a rumor makes a tiger."

No one could clarify the exact numbers, because most specific commission intelligence wasn't disclosed to civilians.

The reason Jon was willing to provide a general idea was that the commotion Gauss's team created that day was too big, including the subsequent cartloads of spoils - it was impossible to hide.

It was better to actively release information, avoiding civilians' wild speculations while also enhancing Gauss's reputation, essentially doing Gauss and the others a favor.