I Am Not Goblin Slayer
Chapter 25: The Lower-Tier Ecosystem

"Little Gauss, would you like some breakfast today?"

"Next time, Sophia. I'm heading out first!"

Gauss stepped through the inn's doorway.

Having made some progress with his Magic Missile practice, he planned to visit the Adventurers Guild.

After reaching Level 2, the speed of gaining proficiency through regular practice had significantly decreased.

Compared to hard training, practicing skills in actual combat yielded better results.

Moreover, the numbers in his Monster Encyclopedia had remained stagnant for some time.

Total monsters slain: 12

"Next stage: Reach cumulative total of 50 monsters killed."

Practicing Magic Missile was like sharpening his axe before chopping wood - now that his axe was sharpened, it was time to test its edge.

Most crucially, during these days of practicing spells near town, his small savings had been depleting rapidly. He needed to take on some commissions to replenish them.

Current funds: 26 silver coins 15 copper coins

In just a few days, over 2 silver coins had quietly vanished.

The vast majority of this money had been spent on food and drink.

And this was with him consciously restraining himself, avoiding extravagant spending at taverns.

"What's going on? I just ate a bit more meat, didn't I?"

Gauss shook his head.

During these days, he had deliberately chosen relatively "cheap" street vendors or small eateries, none of which were particularly high-end establishments.

Even though he ate meat with almost every meal, how could the expenses be this exaggerated?

Gauss felt this problem wasn't his fault.

The blame lay with this world's exorbitant meat prices. This world should examine itself - after all these years, has technology and productivity developed at all? Why couldn't meat transition from luxury item to common consumer good?

Shaking his head again.

His craving for meat probably wouldn't diminish anytime soon.

His continuously increasing mana reserves made him like a teenager going through puberty, expending enormous amounts of energy daily. A vegetarian diet simply couldn't sustain him - his body would quickly develop problems.

Moreover, he had no intention of restricting his culinary desires.

Cultivation was already arduous enough - what was wrong with enjoying some proper meals? Living like an ascetic had never been his life's pursuit.

Entering the Adventurers Guild hall.

The crowd was as large as ever.

This was the norm for the Adventurers Guild, especially during mornings and evenings when adventurers would swarm in like housewives rushing for supermarket discounts in his previous life, constantly milling about the hall, probably checking for suitable missions.

Having visited several times now, Gauss had completely dispelled any mystique about this place.

Through careful observation, he'd noticed some adventurers who dressed the part but merely lingered around notice boards, browsing commission information while nodding repeatedly, yet showed no signs of taking action even after long periods.

There were even a few figures he vaguely felt he saw every time he came.

He reasonably suspected that among the vast adventurer population were some extras, possibly even hired by the Adventurers Guild itself to make the hall appear more bustling and stimulate adventurers' "mission-grabbing" enthusiasm.

Shaking off these random thoughts, Gauss also approached the mission board to browse available tasks.

First, he ruled out gathering missions - collecting materials often required spending large amounts of time searching aimlessly through forests, wasting time. Moreover, he lacked the techniques, tools, and experience for proper herb-gathering and preservation.

Some escort missions were quickly eliminated too.

The fixed monster extermination commissions were also just for browsing.

Those were long-term missions issued by Grayrock Town's municipal office, but precisely because of this, those areas had long been swept clean by adventurers, making monsters scarce there now.

Gauss primarily focused on monster-slaying commissions posted by civilians.

In this world, many lower-tier monsters like goblins had little intrinsic value, producing no usable materials.

Thus, villagers or civilian settlements would often pool money to post commissions at the Adventurers Guild.

One might wonder - for minor nuisances like goblins, even a dozen shouldn't be match for a village of several dozen people. Why wouldn't villagers handle them themselves rather than hiring adventurers?

Gauss had similar doubts initially.

But after talking with villagers in Birch Village, he understood the reasons.

First, groups of minor monsters fought differently - their strength couldn't be measured by simple numerical comparisons. Many weaker monsters, through constant battles with beasts and other creatures in the wild, developed rich group combat experience.

Second, unfavorable terrain like jungles, dens or other wilderness environments disadvantaged human combatants.

Most crucially, combat inevitably carried risks of injury and death. Villagers engaged in long-term farming work rarely possessed proper fighting spirit. Even if one or two exceptions existed, they couldn't motivate the rest.

While Gauss found goblins easy to kill, this was entirely because his original hunter physique was already superior among ordinary people, his above-average intelligence granting him a low-grade bullet-time ability in combat, plus the advantages of magic, weapons and teammates, making him seem like a "war god."

Ordinary villagers lacked such conditions - any fight would rarely conclude without injuries, often accompanied by villager deaths.

Rather than risking themselves, timid villagers preferred pooling money to hire the Adventurers Guild.

Over time, this became conventional wisdom across the continent - monster-related troubles were best handled by adventurers.

Gauss suspected the Adventurers Guild had subtly promoted this notion - if no one posted commissions, how could the guild operate?

After browsing the corkboard for some time, he still hadn't found a satisfactory commission.

He hoped to find commissions involving fewer than five weak monsters.

Such tasks weren't nonexistent, but were relatively rare, as villagers wouldn't spend money on guild commissions unless the monster threat became serious.

Moreover, while many lower-tier monsters had low intelligence and combat power, survival instincts drove them to band together, continuously expanding their numbers.

Thus, in monster ecology, there existed a situation similar to "predators hunt alone while prey gather in herds."

"Besides, I probably couldn't get them anyway. Those safer missions likely get snatched up by lower-tier adventurer teams the moment they're posted," Gauss shook his head.

In any field, competition was fiercest at the bottom tiers.

"Maybe... check over there?"

His gaze drifted toward the hall's corner where the crowd was densest.

If he wasn't mistaken, that was probably where adventurers formed impromptu teams. Not every adventurer had fixed teammates, yet many missions couldn't be completed alone, necessitating temporary recruitment at the guild hall.

Just like how he'd previously volunteered to join Hayley's team.