When Nila and the others stood at the bow of the boat and, by the dim light of dawn, saw the stone dam standing on the river in the distance, lines of hot tears suddenly slid down their excited cheeks.
Few humans could truly empathize with what they felt in that moment.
It was a profound emotion that went beyond personal survival. For the first time in their lives, they felt that the race and nation they belonged to were this powerful.
It could grant people the most precious thing of all: dignity.
They were no longer pitiful wretches who could only scrape by under the oppression of monster tribes, but members of another of the strongest civilizations on this land.
Looking at those beautiful, magnificent human structures in the distance, Nila and the others were all overwhelmed by an enormous shock.
Gauss did not interrupt this rare moment of emotion. He simply returned silently to the stern and continued casting Control Water, letting the current beneath the boat push the large wooden vessel forward at high speed.
The fact that they had managed to travel from the great river into the coastal waters in just two short days, circle around, enter an inland river, and return to human territory was all thanks to his magic.
Of course, Moterra's power had also helped tremendously.
In natural bodies of water, his affinity for water became stronger, and the effects of his water-related spells also improved.
Very soon, Gauss's fast boat was stopped in front of the stone dam.
Nila and the other tribal humans were like country bumpkins entering a grand estate. From the moment their feet touched the stone road, they excitedly exchanged hushed words. They stared at everything around them: stone buildings, defensive structures, even the soldiers standing nearby.
Not to mention the squad of soldiers guarding the river mouth—even any human without an intellectual defect could tell something was strange about this group.
Gauss had only stored some of his own clothing in his storage space. It was not enough to clothe several dozen people.
And even when he was willing to offer his own daily clothes, Zeck and the others chose to politely decline, continuing to wear the same grass garments and beast hides as everyone else.
So from appearance and dress alone, they were already different from ordinary people in linen clothes.
Even more so, the curiosity and wildness of the wasteland that they could not suppress made them look like a group of primitives.
The squad captain was just about to sternly order these strange people coming off the boat to come over for inspection.
Then his sharp eyes suddenly spotted the pure white figure slowly rising from the stern.
He would swear on anything that it was the most beautiful figure he had ever seen in his life. Even though the person was quite far from him, and judging by the body shape was a man, he still did not doubt his judgment.
The words instantly stuck in his throat.
The "important person detection radar" in his mind was blaring.
If these were people brought here by that person, then perhaps they were not suspicious strangers of unknown origin after all.
Maybe something special had happened?
Because the difference in image and bearing was far too obvious, he naturally did not regard the man flying up from the stern and the wild people walking off the bow as companions. He quickly realized there must be some special reason behind this.
Still, questioning and inspection had to be conducted. That was his duty. No matter what, he had to do it properly. Otherwise, if someone reported him, both he and his position would be finished.
It was just that his attitude during the work needed to change slightly.
Relaxing his facial expression, he brought several soldiers and walked toward Gauss, who lightly landed on the dam.
Confirming the newcomer's identity and purpose was his main duty.
Travel documents, proof of identity, inspection of cargo and passengers—none of these could be omitted.
If he allowed a suspicious person of unknown identity to enter, and that person caused damage within the kingdom, then once the matter was traced back, his life would be over.
Fortunately, under his slightly anxious gaze, Gauss soon produced a badge and commission documents sufficient to prove his identity.
"Thank you for your cooperation. Please allow us to verify these."
"All right. Thank you for your trouble," Gauss said with a nod.
Ever since stepping onto human territory, even he had unconsciously relaxed quite a bit.
This had nothing to do with strength or weakness. It was a very strange feeling. They were clearly breathing air under the same sky, yet when he was in monster territory, he felt a faint rejection from body to soul, as though the rules of the world were reminding him that he did not belong to that land, that he was an "alien object" upon the earth.
The originally rather cumbersome inspection procedures were completed quickly.
This was mainly related to Gauss's fame. Once the authenticity of his adventurer badge was confirmed, the expressions of the checkpoint soldiers became even more respectful.
Many of the soldiers stationed here possessed class levels. Even if most of them were only at the lowest Level 1, that was still enough for them to understand Gauss's status in the adventurer world better than ordinary people.
"Do you need us to dispatch accompanying soldiers to escort you?"
"Please rest assured, we absolutely do not mean to monitor you."
Gauss declined the staff's kind offer and continued on his way with the remaining people.
After that small episode just now, Nila and the others gained a deeper understanding of Gauss's status in the human world.
They exchanged looks and realized that the man who had saved them from the monster world was an extraordinary figure even in human territory.
As the boat continued sailing, more human buildings, villages, and towns began appearing before the tribal humans' eyes.
They also understood why, more than a century ago, their ancestors had dared to invade the monster kingdom in force.
Gauss did not bring Nila and the others to Barry, the City of Forests, which was currently on the front line of the war. Instead, he set them down in a town to the northwest.
After the local Adventurers' Guild learned of their situation, they promised Gauss that they would properly settle these humans who had come all the way from monster territory and help them integrate into the human kingdom as soon as possible.
"I'm leaving now."
"I'll come back to see you later."
"Live here from now on. If the flames of war spread here, evacuate with the others toward the kingdom's interior."
"Nila, study magic well."
Having fulfilled his promise, Gauss said his final farewell to Nila and Zeck before departing.
Nila looked at Gauss's beautiful face. Her lips parted slightly, but in the end, she only nodded.
"All right."
Reality cut off the final trace of unrealistic fantasy in her heart.
Before leaving, however, Gauss had informed the guild that Nila possessed decent magical talent. Later, there should be a specialized mage to help her begin formal magical education.
That was his parting gift.
Watching Gauss mount the dragon and finally disappear into the horizon, Nila quietly sighed. It took a long time before she withdrew her gaze.
She had a feeling that the next time she saw Gauss, it might be a long, long time from now.
Perhaps they might not meet again in this lifetime.
Standing beside Nila, how could Zeck not understand his daughter's thoughts?
He simply had not said anything about it along the way.
A powerful person like Gauss was destined to live in a different world from ordinary people like them. Meeting him at all had already been a turn of fortune. They could not ask for more.
Now that they had returned to a human town and no longer needed to live in constant fear as they had before, that alone was already a dream they had never dared to imagine.
What was more, Gauss had not simply left them here. Before leaving, he had specifically instructed others to take good care of them.
Even a "primitive" like Zeck could guess the weight of Gauss's words. Since arriving in the town that morning, guild workers had been thoughtfully arranging housing, jobs, subsidy applications, and other matters for them.
His daughter Nila also had a chance to walk the proper path of a spellcaster.
"Let's go back."
"Only by becoming stronger will you have a chance to stand before him."
Nila, usually quiet, nodded. Hearing her old father's encouragement, motivation rose in her heart.
The far outskirts of the Forest Capital.
The flames of war still continued without end.
By now, the war had expanded from the large-scale legion battles at the beginning into various small-scale but more frequent skirmishes and infiltration battles.
From plains to hills, from swamps to forests, from streams to lakes, the figures of humans and monsters fighting had never disappeared.
Huff, huff—
An adventurer gasped heavily.
Just now, in a fierce chase, he had become separated from his team.
Now he was stranded in the woods, with not a single companion in sight.
All he had was the cold sweat constantly seeping from his back.
He knew that he was in great danger.
Being alone in wartime, whether for a monster or a human, was an extremely terrifying situation.
He gripped the short blade in his hand and swallowed.
The forest seemed to hide countless beasts and monsters.
Of course, that was not his imagination.
Just moments ago, he had heard several abnormal howls.
Those were the roars monsters used when gathering.
That meant the monster tribe that had scattered their team was nearby, while his companions, at least for now, were not here.
Thunk!
A cold arrow tore through the air with a chilling whistle, brushing past his cheek before striking the tree trunk not far in front of him.
The arrowhead buried itself in the wood, and the entire shaft trembled violently.
"There's an enemy behind me!"
Almost instantly, feeling as if needles were prickling his back, he understood that.
He quickly turned around and, using the nearby trees for cover, lowered his body and quickly peered back.
There, a gnoll warrior riding a warg held a bloody human head in one hand.
When he saw the face on that head, Finley, leaning behind the tree trunk, felt his pupils violently shrink.
He knew that man too well. It was Captain Gabriel, whom he respected most—that honest, family-loving strong man.
Not only was Gabriel powerful himself, but in daily training, he would do his best to provide combat guidance to every squad member. He was a rare good captain.
And yet such a powerful captain had now been dismembered by that monster, his head with its eyes still open carried around like a trophy.
They had fallen into a trap.
This monster tribe was larger than they had seen before.
Their earlier show of weakness and escape into the dense forest had only been to lure Finley's overconfident team into the woods, then ambush them.
Regret, hatred, terror, and countless other uneasy emotions surged in Finley's heart.
But it was already too late. His captain was dead. His remaining companions were likely being hunted through the forest by monsters, one by one.
And now that he had been discovered, he definitely would not leave this dark forest alive today.
"Come out, little rat."
Unlike goblins, gnolls generally had noticeably higher intelligence.
And an elite gnoll with a challenge level could even speak a few words of human Common.
The elite gnoll warrior wore a hideous, vicious grin, cold light flashing in its eyes, as if it could see the trembling human hiding behind the tree trunk.
It waved a hand, signaling several other gnoll subordinates to circle around from other directions, while it walked slowly toward the human's location.
Tap.
It made no attempt to hide its intentions. Its footsteps landed on the ground, soon producing crisp sounds as it snapped twigs and leaves beneath its feet.
Now that the strongest human leader in that team was dead by its hand, it no longer needed to worry about its own survival. It finally had a chance to properly toy with these damned humans.
Compared to killing him cleanly, it enjoyed the taste of torturing someone when victory was already decided.
It wanted to see the other party reveal that hopeless, powerless expression before it.
Just like how it had once been on the main battlefield, facing human powerhouses whose attack shockwaves it could not even withstand, watching companions around it wail and die one by one, its spirit shattered as it fled in panic and survived only by luck.
It wanted to repay that despair doubled onto these humans.
Only in this way could it briefly escape the terrifying psychological shadow it still had not left behind.
It was like a causal spiral, endlessly repeating downward.
Tap.
The footsteps were already extremely clear.
Captain Gabriel's teachings flashed once more through Finley's mind.
After taking a deep breath, he seemed to reconstruct the gnoll's standing position in his head based on the sound and the body shape of the gnoll leader he had captured moments ago.
Push off the ground. Turn. Grip the blade. Stab with full force.
Clack!
Every step went smoothly until the final one. Just as his short blade was about to stab into the gnoll leader's abdomen—
a rough, powerful hand clamped tightly around his wrist, preventing him from advancing even an inch further.
Finley's heart went cold.
Before he could raise his head, the gnoll's strange human Common sounded beside his ear.
"You're too weak. And the price of weakness is only—"
Splash.
The words stopped abruptly. A hot liquid splashed down over Finley's head.
Then it slid down his forehead, the corners of his eyes, the wings of his nose, his lips, and his chin before falling into the soil like a stream.
He stared blankly and licked his lips. The thick liquid was slightly warm and had a strange sourness to it.
Blood? Whose blood?
Finley raised his head and saw that the powerful elite gnoll in front of him had become a headless corpse.
Its death seemed to have happened so suddenly that even its bodily motion had frozen in that instant.
As for its head, it had fallen two meters away. Ironically, the face on that head also wore the expression of one who died with eyes wide open.
Finley felt that the forest was extremely quiet.
So quiet it was almost eerie.
Turning to look around, he saw several more headless gnoll corpses standing stiffly in place in other directions nearby.
What… happened?
"You're safe now."
A voice sounded from above Finley's head.
Gauss slowly descended.
Along with him descended several other adventurers: Finley's surviving companions.
This was already one of countless human teams he had saved along the way. By rough count, there should have been several hundred people.
Of course, even with Gauss acting, not every rescue allowed him to save everyone.
Many times, by the time he appeared, the human team had already suffered losses.
There were even cases where the entire group had already been wiped out, their corpses long cold.
Gauss could only do what he could.
The Future Sight he possessed could only briefly freeze the space-time around him and deduce the future.
It still could not reverse the past.