Goblin Chapter 476: Wings on the Back (Patreon)

Gauss followed the griffin riders down in front of the Iron Guard Knights’ camp. From there, the rest of the way had to be entered on foot.

The Iron Guard Knights had their own separate camp division. They neither mixed with ordinary adventurers nor were they stationed together with Barry’s army.

Beyond that, their logistics, medical care, and meals were all handled internally in a unified manner.

As Gauss walked through the military camp, he could clearly feel how elite the Iron Guard Knights were. They wore light-blue patterned armor of a similar style. Whether army mages, warriors, spear cavalry, mounted archers, or other members, one could tell at a glance that they belonged to the Iron Guard Knights.

Their spirit was also more outstanding than that of ordinary soldiers, carrying an upward, confident vigor.

An invisible “mist” had begun winding around Gauss the moment he landed.

It seemed that if he came into conflict with this legion here, he would be struck by that power and become the shared enemy of the entire legion.

Gauss’s expression did not change. He glanced at the griffin rider beside him.

Perhaps Gauss was not the only one who had this experience. Seeing his calm expression, the knight leading the way quickly understood what he meant.

“Lord Gauss, this is not directed at you. Every non-legion member who walks in here will feel pressure from the military momentum condensed by our Iron Guard Knights.”

“Because we are currently not in combat, this aura is already being maintained at a low point. If it has offended you in any way, please forgive us.”

“I understand.” Gauss nodded.

The group followed the internal gravel road toward the depths of the camp.

Along the way, they passed many training grounds for legion soldiers. The soldiers were all focused on their respective training, and only those resting cast curious glances in Gauss’s direction.

Gauss secretly nodded.

A military force’s combat power could often be glimpsed from small details.

Speaking of which, long ago, on the road to Lincrown Town, he had once briefly spent time with a cavalry captain named Bard.

Bard was a Level 4 professional. In Gauss’s eyes back then, he had counted as a decent fighter. But at that time, Bard had only been the captain of a small squad sent out to carry out a commission.

From this, it was easy to imagine how strict the Iron Guard Knights’ requirements for strength truly were.

As Gauss walked, almost everyone he saw was a professional. There were very few soldiers who had not condensed a class rank. Beyond that, he would occasionally run into level 5 professionals or even stronger master-level professionals.

These “great figures” who were lofty and unreachable in the eyes of ordinary people were merely middle-ranking officers in the legion.

Even the griffin riders responsible for receiving Gauss were master-level professionals.

This was the foundation of the Zevier family, the strongest family in Coldemerald Province and holders of the border count title.

Perhaps they lacked something in terms of top-end power, but commanding the resources of a province still allowed them to continuously cultivate sufficient living military strength.

Not everyone could possess conditions as favorable as Gauss’s, enough to ignore the olive branch thrown by a count’s family.

For most seedlings with some talent, one path was an uncertain future, struggling as an adventurer on their own. The other path was joining the Iron Guard Knights, growing with the army’s resources, though they would need to sign a long-term contract. Many would choose the latter without hesitation.

Serving others was not shameful, especially when the target was the Zevier count family. This family’s prestige and reputation had long since taken deep root in Coldemerald Province.

The military camp was huge. As they walked, Gauss chatted casually with the griffin riders beside him.

Perhaps it was because they respected his strength, perhaps because their superiors had already informed them, or perhaps because what Gauss asked about was not confidential information. In short, the riders answered everything they knew.

Their identities and family backgrounds varied. Some were illegitimate sons of nobles, some were collateral descendants, and some came from ordinary families. All of them had seen recruitment posters on the streets of Falim when they were young, passed through layer after layer of strict screening, and finally joined the Iron Guard Knights.

To them, joining the Iron Guard Knights was not a contract of servitude. At the end of each year, they had a fixed five to ten days of rest. If an emergency required them to be on duty, they could later make up the time whenever they were free.

Aside from that, they could receive subsidies and gifts during major festivals, and their salaries were never withheld or delayed.

Overall, joining the Iron Guard Knights was an excellent job for them. So even after the contract period ended, many people did not actually leave the army, but applied to extend their service.

On one hand, the benefits were excellent. On the other, they had grown used to the full and disciplined life of the legion. Retiring rashly might instead leave them lost.

As they chatted, Gauss soon arrived before a three-story brick-and-stone building. A vertical sign at the side read: Combat Command Center.

“We will escort you only this far.”

A woman dressed like a secretary had long been waiting at the entrance. She took over from the knights and continued guiding him.

“I am very sorry. Commander Winston should have come to receive you himself, but he is currently discussing important matters with several gentlemen.”

“Please move to the reception room. Refreshments and drinks have already been prepared for you.”

The entire building had been constructed with special sound-absorbing materials, but even so, Gauss could faintly hear reprimanding voices coming from above.

It sounded as if some disagreement had occurred.

Under the guidance of this gentle, water-like woman, Gauss went to the reception room and sat for less than ten minutes. Soon, the woman beside him indicated that he could rise.

He had only just left the reception room when he ran into Winston, who was walking quickly down the stairs.

“I’m truly sorry, Brother Gauss. I invited you here, yet left you waiting. It really was because something came up unexpectedly.”

“It’s fine. I happened to have skipped breakfast. The pastries were quite good.”

One did not strike a smiling face. Since the other party had taken the initiative to apologize, Gauss had no reason to keep holding on to the matter.

His peripheral vision withdrew from the carriages driving away at the entrance.

Those carriages were luxuriously decorated and had a very typical noble-carriage style.

After some polite greetings, he and Winston walked toward the top floor.

Although this was a temporary command center, the interior was still furnished with elegant red carpets and hanging paintings. Overhead, dazzling crystal lamps cast soft light and shadows.

Although the Iron Guard Knights were an army, they were, after all, the Zevier family’s private army. Their military budget and standards were not something ordinary armies could compare with.

The two entered a reception room.

After they sat down, an attendant brewed tea for them and bowed before leaving the room.

Very soon, only Winston and Gauss remained inside the old-fashioned, lavishly decorated room.

Winston quickly got straight to the point.

“Brother Gauss, I invited you here this time because I have a private matter I wish to verify with you.”

A private matter? Verify?

Gauss’s heart stirred slightly.

But he still chose to listen patiently.

“I wonder if Brother Gauss has met my disappointing nephew, Locke Zevier.”

“He has been missing for quite some time.”

Locke? Missing?

Gauss raised an eyebrow. Why was he asking him this out of nowhere? If someone was missing, should they not go looking for him themselves?

Gauss had very little contact with members of the Zevier family.

Seemingly to resolve his confusion, Winston took out an extremely lifelike and finely drawn portrait.

The moment Gauss saw the portrait, he raised his eyebrows. He quickly recognized who the person in the painting was.

Of course, this was because he did not deliberately suppress his expression. He knew that since the other party had asked him, they must have learned some clue.

“Yes. I met him once.” Gauss nodded and admitted it.

This person was the arrogant noble youth he had encountered back in Lincrown Town. At the time, the other party had arrived late and delayed their group’s progress toward Outpost No. 11.

He still remembered that his mood had not exactly been pleasant back then.

“I didn’t expect him to be from your Zevier family.” Gauss shook his head.

That young man had not left him with a very good impression, but that was all. He truly had no deeper connection with him. He only remembered that the youth had been accompanied by an old retainer with considerable strength.

The retainer had been powerful, but had not shown much arrogance. He had probably been the noble youth’s guardian.

Winston’s expression became awkward. Clearly, he also knew something about his young nephew’s temperament and could roughly guess what Gauss was thinking at this moment.

“After we arrived at Outpost No. 11, I never saw him again.”

Gauss spoke truthfully.

He really had not done anything to the young man, so he had plenty of confidence discussing this matter.

Of course, most of that confidence came from his current strength. If an ordinary elite professional or even master-level professional faced the Zevier family’s questioning, even if they had done nothing, they would likely be unable to hide their panic and would keep overthinking, doing everything they could to prove their innocence.

“Does Lord Winston suspect I harmed him?” Gauss chuckled and shook his head. “I had no grudge against him, and I especially would not do something so unnecessary.”

Winston paused for a moment on Gauss’s calm face before giving a wry smile.

“I have heard of Brother Gauss’s character, so naturally I do not suspect you. I merely wanted to learn more from you about what happened at the time. After all, my nephew and Mo Jarl disappeared after leaving that outpost.”

“However, according to our family’s prophetic methods, he does not seem to have died. For some reason, he simply has not returned.”

“Afterward, we sent people to search that forest, but we have never found any trace.”

Winston felt somewhat helpless. Although the boy was an incompetent descendant of his elder brother and had no right of inheritance, he was still a member of the Zevier family and carried the same blood. They still had to do their utmost to search for him.

Considering that this was already one of many cases of noble direct descendants disappearing within Coldemerald, they needed to intensify the investigation even more.

“Oh?”

That surprised Gauss a little. He had thought that since the nephew mentioned by Winston had been missing for so long, he should already have been killed. He had not expected him to still be alive.

However, back then, that boy and his guardian had clearly gone to the outpost for some special purpose. Perhaps they had encountered some difficult situation.

Gauss thought for a moment, then selected the parts related to the noble youth from the events that had happened over those days and told Winston everything in detail.

Winston focused especially on asking about the conversations Gauss had occasionally heard on the road between the youth and the old man named Mo Jarl.

Does the problem lie with that old man?

Gauss thought silently, but he had no intention of asking further.

In the end, it had nothing to do with him.

He had no desire to get involved.

“Thank you for the intelligence, Brother Gauss. If there are more clues later, or if we find traces of my nephew, our Zevier family will certainly repay you generously.”

“All right. I’ll pay attention.”

Afterward, Gauss discussed some proper matters with Winston. For example, Winston invited him to fight alongside the Iron Guard Knights when they launched a charge. Winston valued his powerful and mobile flight ability greatly, as it could help the knight order break apart part of the threat from the monster army in the sky.

When facing these battle-related matters, Gauss did not immediately agree. He only said that he needed to discuss it further with the Red Dragon Company and President Monroe.

After he left, a figure slowly walked out from a hidden chamber in the reception room.

“How was it?”

“It should not be him.”

Hearing the answer, Winston let out a breath of relief.

To be honest, if the matter had involved Gauss, the situation would have become extremely complicated.

Putting aside the fact that they had no evidence, even if the evidence were conclusive, acting against someone who could quickly kill a transcendent centaur on the battlefield would bring tremendous pressure.

Although Winston was a level 15 warrior and far stronger than that transcendent centaur, if Gauss wholeheartedly tried to flee, Winston would probably find it difficult to stop him. At most, he could heavily injure him.

This was actually related to combat style. As a legion commander, many of Winston’s combat methods required large-scale group warfare to display their full power. Against a lone, highly mobile target like this, he could not bring his strength to its limit.

A professional like Gauss could make every noble family with great holdings feel terrified.

If they truly tore their relationship apart, then even if they could crush his Red Dragon Company and kill all his friends and family, the unburdened Gauss would turn into the most terrifying ghost, using powerful spatial magic to descend and kill every noble descendant who dared go outside.

Not to mention that behind Gauss stood the Adventurers’ Guild.

In other words, even if Gauss truly were the mastermind, they would have to pretend to know nothing.

Fortunately, the current mystery seemed unrelated to Gauss.

Then what was the purpose of targeting the direct descendants of multiple noble families?

For some reason, Winston Zevier suddenly felt somewhat oppressed.

Bloodline was glory, but it was also a shackle.

After leaving the military camp, Gauss soon went to speak with President Monroe and informed him that he wanted to hunt around the nearby area. The bearded guild president naturally had no objection.

The area around the wall was relatively safe. If a transcendent combatant like Gauss was willing to diligently “work,” that was a good thing for everyone.

He only reminded Gauss a few times to pay attention to safety and rest, and to contact them immediately if he encountered danger. Then he smiled and watched Gauss leave.

Gauss had Hephaestus follow the Red Dragon Company. Fortunately, in situations that were not long-distance travel, he was no longer too lacking in mounts.

Under the curious gazes of many adventurers, Gauss mobilized the power of Top-Tier Mana Body inside his body.

Energy Mimicry!

The powers of Dragon King’s Bloodline and Top-Tier Mana Body began operating inside him at the same time.

Generate dragon wings…

Gauss silently thought this. Then he felt heat and itching in his back.

A tingling sensation spread from both sides of his shoulder blades. Large amounts of mana and dragon-vein power gathered there, like bamboo shoots about to break through the soil.

Gauss did not suppress that power.

The next moment, a brilliant platinum radiance elegantly unfolded from behind him.

It was like light and magic were rapidly weaving together. First, smooth, jade-like solid wing bones took shape. Then a thin pale-golden membrane began growing from the edges of the bones. Finally, fine platinum scales began covering the surface of the dragon wings.

A pair of beautiful yet fierce physical dragon wings “grew” from Gauss’s body.

Gauss’s feeling at this moment was very special. Reason told him that humans did not grow wings, but he could still control this newly appearing organ as naturally as moving his own arm.

This sense of control was completely different from the energy dragon wings he had used before, or shaping spells like Bigby’s Hand.

It felt like a true part of his body.

This sense of control was completely different from the energy dragon wings he had used before, or shaping spells like Bigby’s Hand. It felt like a true part of his body.

He controlled the dragon wings and curved them downward, then reached out and touched them. The hard texture was indeed real.

At the same time, Eden could not help making a sound.

It vaguely felt that although the method Gauss was using had a different outward form, its essence was extremely familiar.

Why is this so similar to my Mimicry talent?

Is Gauss still human?

Even Eden, a Demon King species, could not help marveling in surprise. Needless to say, the watching adventurers and soldiers were even more shocked.

They had personally seen Gauss grow dragon wings, and could not help swallowing.

If many people had not learned Gauss’s identity during yesterday’s battle, the order around them might have completely collapsed at this moment.

But could someone please answer the question in their minds right now? What exactly was that lord’s current form?

Could magic explain this?

Seeing the shocked, envious, and confused gazes around him, Gauss had no particular thoughts.

He could not keep hiding Top-Tier Mana Body and never use it. This thing was not some explosive finishing move. It could be used under normal conditions, so he had no intention of concealing it.

As for whether others would develop suspicions because of it, he was not afraid.

After all, he was originally just an ordinary human.

His racial talents would not change his essence as a human.