Time passed quickly during the meeting.
By the end of it, nearly everyone present had a clear idea of what they would be facing in the near future, and the guild had also warned them not to spread the news if possible.
Of course, that was probably impossible to enforce completely.
There were simply too many people present. Sooner or later, someone would leak it.
The Adventurers' Guild was not naïve enough to think it could seal everything off entirely. Preparing for a large-scale war that was about to break out inevitably required a great deal of advance planning, and arrangements on that scale were never something that could be carried out silently.
Whether it was the deployment of city defenses or the movement of supplies and baggage trains, too many people would be involved.
And there were always clever people who could piece together the truth just by noticing the changes around them.
The reason for the warning was simply to slow the spread of the news as much as possible.
For ordinary civilians, knowing ahead of time that the shadow of war was hanging over them brought no real benefit. It would only add to their anxiety.
Even if they wanted to leave Coldemerald Province now, it was already too late.
And within the province, where could possibly be safer than Barry, the Forest Capital? Were they really supposed to drag their entire families into the deep wilderness? That would only be more dangerous, putting their lives and fortunes entirely in the hands of fate.
At least Barry itself had sturdy city walls and magical formations to rely on, not to mention its army and huge number of adventurers and adventuring parties. It was a place strong in both soldiers and defenses.
After the meeting ended, some of the merchant representatives, senior clergy, and military leaders seemed to be called away by city hall officials into a private conference room for another round of talks.
As for the adventurers, some hurried off to make other arrangements, while others stayed behind, discussing and exchanging information.
Gauss had originally intended to leave the guild building, but very soon Bella, the attendant who had led his group inside, respectfully stopped him.
"Lord Gauss, if you would please wait a moment. The Guild Master would like to see you."
She lowered her voice as she spoke.
"Hm?" Gauss raised a brow, hesitated for a moment, then parted his lips. "The Guild Master? Guild Master Matthias Monroe?"
It sounded like a stupid question, but Gauss genuinely was confused.
Today was the first time he had ever met the Guild Master of the Forest Capital. Before this, the two of them had never had any direct or indirect connection.
So why was he looking for him?
Gauss's combat strength was indeed impressive, but because of his level, there were definitely still some people in that chamber who were stronger than he was.
Could it be that he simply cared about promising younger adventurers from the guild? Gauss wondered inwardly.
"Yes," Bella said with a calm nod.
"Then please lead the way."
Gauss did not overthink it. He would go see what was going on first.
"Alia, wait here with the others for a bit."
"All right."
Since the Guild Master had invited only him, Gauss did not rashly bring Alia and the others along.
After letting them know, he followed Bella through the council chamber, out a side door, then down a long corridor lined with paintings, and finally into an office.
Matthias Monroe, who had just finished presiding over the meeting, was now sitting casually on a sofa.
He was not tall, though not quite dwarf-like either—just under one meter sixty.
That height was admittedly on the shorter side for an adult man, though not so unusual as to be shocking, especially in an age where not everyone was well-fed.
But for a Level 15 Paladin who specialized in physical combat, it did feel a little unusual.
"Guild Master."
"I've brought him."
"Thank you for your trouble."
"Then I'll take my leave and not disturb you."
Once Bella stepped out, only the two of them remained in the room.
"Hello, Gauss. Sit."
"Thank you, Guild Master."
Monroe gestured, and Gauss did not stand on ceremony. He sat down across from him.
"That fellow Playaos really does have a sharp eye for people."
"You mean Sir Playaos from Longflute City?"
"Yes, that tiefling kid." Monroe nodded. "People of our profession from neighboring regions get together now and then to exchange insights, so we keep in touch. He mentioned you to me in a letter not long ago."
"He even asked me to look after you a bit once you arrived in Barry."
"And even without him, I've heard your name plenty of times already."
A look of understanding flashed across Gauss's face.
No matter the world, the upper circles were always small. Even two people who had never met could usually find a mutual connection between them with ease.
Playaos was likewise a transcendent Paladin. Though his strength and status were far below Guild Master Monroe's, they were still broadly part of the same circle.
At that thought, Gauss felt a faint warmth in his chest.
He had not actually spent that much time with Playaos, yet the man had still gone out of his way to ask Monroe to look after him. Whether or not it had practical effect was beside the point—that itself was a gesture of goodwill.
"I received quite a bit of help from Sir Playaos while I was in Longflute City."
"Oh, don't try to smooth things over for him." Monroe waved a hand. "That kid already told me everything. His personal commission ended up getting you targeted by the Dragon Worship Cult. If you hadn't been strong enough yourself, the consequences would have been disastrous."
The matter had not been that long ago, so Monroe still remembered the contents of Playaos's letter quite clearly.
What he had not expected was that the genius Playaos described as having just advanced to level 6 had now already reached level 8—and according to the reports, possessed combat strength equivalent to a transcendent level 12.
If he had not confirmed it multiple times, he would have thought the intelligence archive had made a mistake.
Level 8 and Level 12 were not supposed to belong in the same comparison at all.
And now that he had personally felt the faint pressure coming from Gauss, Monroe found himself trusting those reports a little more.
All he could say was that this world had far too many monsters walking around in human skin.
Even someone like him, who in ordinary people's eyes already counted as a genius, suddenly felt almost normal when faced with a freak this rare.
"But the reason I called you here today actually isn't because of Playaos."
"It's because I have a classified commission I'd like to offer you."
"Of course, even though I say that, it isn't mandatory. You can look over the details first and then decide whether you want to accept it."
Monroe took out a formal mission scroll.
By now, Gauss was no longer surprised by this sort of thing.
He increasingly felt like some kind of internal operative. The Adventurers' Guild kept handing him relatively secretive missions.
Only the identity of the person entrusting him with them changed each time.
"Investigate the goblin nest."
"Uncover the secrets of the Black Forest."
"The tiefling disappearance case."
"Investigate the source of pollution in the Talna River, which later led to the Lake God Moterra and the Spirit of the Snow Mountain, Esvel."
Every one of those commissions had brought him considerable rewards at the time, so out of pure habit, Gauss did not feel much resistance toward Monroe's so-called classified mission either.
Besides, just as Monroe said, he could look at the details first and decide afterward.
If he judged it to be beyond his current ability, he would refuse without hesitation. He would not struggle with that decision at all.
He had not yet formally stepped into the transcendent tier, but his combat strength already rivaled transcendents. Even when facing a giant institution like the Adventurers' Guild, he now had a fair amount of autonomy.
Taking the scroll, Gauss began reading through it quickly.
"Raid the Dragon's Nest."
The title alone made him frown instinctively the moment he opened it.
Around here, the only dragon's nest that could possibly matter should have been that of the Green Dragon Queen—level 16, maybe even level 17.
Was Monroe sending him to his death?
But out of patience, he kept reading.
Only then did he realize he had misunderstood.
It was indeed a dragon's nest—but not the Green Dragon Queen's own nest. It was the nest where she kept a group of young dragons she had raised.
As one of the chromatic dragon lords, many adult dragons had the habit of collecting—or outright stealing—dragon eggs and raising them.
Not because those evil dragons had suddenly grown kind. If not for Tiamat's influence, many of them would probably abandon even their own offspring, let alone willingly raise the young of other dragons. They were not benevolent metallic dragons.
The real reason was simple: they could bind those young dragons early on with deeply one-sided contracts, ensuring the younger dragons would serve them for a certain number of years after growing up. In return, they provided the hatchlings with the resources and protection necessary to survive and mature.
Once those young dragons reached the juvenile stage, they were already useful. By adulthood, even ten or twenty years of service would be enough to repay the earlier investment several times over.
Evil dragons were selfish to the core.
The Green Dragon Queen of the Jade Forest, Aesselas, had done exactly that—raising a batch of juvenile dragons of various colors and placing them in another nest located deep in the rear of the Jade Forest.
This commission was asking the contractor to reach that nest and kill as many juvenile dragons and wyrmlings as possible.
Because if they were left alone, then aside from becoming an even greater threat to the frontier once they matured, the cold-hearted Green Dragon Queen might also use them as blood stock right now to create a batch of dragonkin creatures.
After reading through the details, Gauss's face showed clear hesitation.
Objectively speaking, the reward for this commission was extremely rich.
Not that he would be able to capture more juvenile dragons and turn them into mounts the way he had with Hephaestus.
He was self-aware enough to know that the reason Hephaestus had submitted to him was only partly because of his strength—and probably not even mostly because of it.
More importantly, Hephaestus had been dumb enough at the time for a human with dragon blood so close to true draconic lineage to win its submission.
Even after Hephaestus gained true intelligence, the dependence that had formed earlier had already been deeply rooted, strengthened further by [Rider] and [Proof of Leadership].
You could say that the father-and-son relationship between him and Hephaestus had only been possible because of the perfect combination of timing, circumstances, and compatibility. Any one part missing and it would not have happened.
As for getting truly proud dragons—ones who already had mature minds and independent thought—to bow their heads to him, Gauss did not think he had that kind of pull.
On the surface, even their relationship with the Green Dragon Queen was only a contract of exchanged interests, not one of master and servant.
They were simply trading a future term of service in exchange for the time and resources needed to grow.
And that sort of transactional memory was engraved into true dragon bloodlines, so they accepted it rather naturally.
Still, even if he did not capture them as mounts, every inch of them would be a priceless treasure: dragon blood, dragon sinew, dragon meat, dragon scales, dragon hearts…
Everything about a dragon was valuable.
So this commission itself was an immensely precious opportunity.
And somewhere deep down, Gauss could feel that killing dragons would bring him tremendous benefits—not just materially, but on an even deeper level.
Still, the mission really was dangerous.
Although the nest of those juvenile dragons was some distance from the Green Dragon Queen's own lair, it was still deep within the heart of the Jade Forest. In a time like this, security there was likely tighter than ever.
And once trapped that far in, it would be all too easy to draw the attention of truly terrifying enemies.
Honestly, this was one of those missions where both the rewards and the risks were immense.
Gauss had originally intended to refuse on the spot.
But when he opened his mouth, he hesitated.
The reward was just too tempting.
Who could resist the allure of slaying dragons?
That would almost certainly mean a fortune beyond measure.
He felt deeply torn, and the expression on his face turned faintly bitter along with it.
At that moment, he wished more than ever that he were a few levels higher. If that were the case, he would probably have far more confidence in making this decision.
"Guild Master Monroe… you really think highly of me, offering me a commission of this level…"
Gauss let out a sigh.
"Surely there are adventurers stronger than I am. Why not ask them first?"
Sitting across from him, Monroe merely smiled.
There were certain internal matters he could not explain to Gauss.
For a classified commission being deliberately offered to a super-genius like him, even as guild Guild Master of an entire city, Monroe still had to seek approval from above.
In truth, he had not originally planned to give this mission to Gauss at all.
In Monroe's eyes, Gauss's talent was so extraordinary that there was no reason to throw him into that kind of danger.
But the problem was, at present, all of Coldemerald Province had no better executor for the mission.
And much to Monroe's surprise, when he had asked his superiors for guidance, it was his own former superior who recommended Gauss—the very genius Monroe felt ought to be protected—and told him to ask whether Gauss was willing.
That was how this private meeting had come about today.
"There are indeed adventurers stronger than you," Monroe said, "but none of them are suitable for this mission."
"For transcendent professionals, the risk of exposure inside the depths of the Jade Forest is far greater than it is for ordinary professionals."
"Because of Domains?" Gauss asked immediately, clear-headed enough to grasp the key point at once.
The only real difference he could imagine between transcendents and those below that level was Domains.
"Yes. Domains."
"Domains make professionals stronger, but they also dramatically increase the risk of being detected and pinpointed."
"Even a transcendent like me, who appears to have my aura reined in well enough to pass for an ordinary middle-aged man, would still shine like a torch in the dark the moment I stepped onto monster territory."
At that point, Gauss understood why Monroe had approached him.
He really was the most suitable candidate.
He had transcendent-level combat power, which meant that after infiltrating the dragon nest, he had the capability to kill those juvenile dragons. Yet he did not possess a Domain, so compared to other transcendents, the risk of exposing himself in the depths of the Jade Forest was much lower.
An ordinary master-level professional who got close to the dragon nest would most likely die there. But if a transcendent went, they might be pinpointed and surrounded by monsters before even reaching the destination.
"Of course," Monroe added, "while this mission does involve danger, it's not a guaranteed death sentence."
"Those juvenile dragons are unlikely to participate directly in the war. What we want is for you to circle around to the rear and intercept them when the Green Dragon Army is pressing toward the border."
"And the Green Dragon Queen has absolutely no way of returning in time."
"We'll also provide a special artifact. Once activated, it can raise a temporary barrier, seal off the area, and cut off all outgoing signals from within it."