I Am Not Goblin Slayer
Chapter 78: Andni’s Past

“You can start by browsing through this.” The child handed over a booklet with a surprisingly mature demeanor.  

Gauss took it and flipped through it briefly. Although he couldn’t verify the authenticity of the contents, the booklet was richly illustrated and looked quite legitimate,  

including a simplified map of the town with marked important shops and districts, as well as the location and schedule of the spellcaster apprentice gatherings he needed to know about, along with various notes and cautions.  

Though called a guide, it was actually a strategy summary prepared by someone else, aimed at travelers arriving in Absinthe Town for the first time.  

After confirming the content and feeling it unlikely to be fabricated, Gauss took out twenty copper coins and handed them to the child.  

Passing through the town square and walking past the liveliest tavern, he spotted that familiar luxury car again—the same group he had encountered yesterday.  

Sure enough, their destination was also Absinthe Town.  

As Gauss observed, just at that moment, the man in the silver chainmail shirt stepped out of the tavern.  

Their eyes met across the distance once more, and the man’s brow involuntarily furrowed.  

This wasn’t because he was surprised to see Gauss in Absinthe Town—after all, he had already inquired about this caravan’s destination yesterday—but he hadn’t expected to bump into him again so coincidentally right in front of the tavern.  

After exchanging nods again, neither had any intention to talk, and they quickly went their separate ways.  

Gauss found a budget inn and checked in.  

He then began to read the guidebook more carefully.  

While reading in detail, he discovered that besides the gatherings, the town also had an interesting place: the Spellcaster Apprentice Mutual Aid Association.  

The guide explained that this was not an official institution but rather a loosely organized grassroots group formed spontaneously by the town’s spellcaster apprentices, with a history spanning several decades. Apprentices could fairly exchange information, form teams, help each other train, and so forth.  

Considering that the gathering would only open at night,  

Gauss decided to visit this mutual aid association first, hoping for unexpected gains.  

Following the map directions in the guide, Gauss eventually arrived in front of a three-story red brick building.  

This red brick building looked no different from the surrounding residences. If not for a sign hanging at the door with the association’s name, Gauss wouldn’t have been able to distinguish it from the neighboring buildings.  

“Mistake?”  

Stepping inside, Gauss’s attention was immediately drawn to a statue in the hall.  

The statue wasn’t large, only about 90 centimeters tall, placed on a display pedestal in the center of the hall and carved in great detail.  

Looking closely, it seemed to be a miniature adult female figure standing proudly with hands on hips on the high pedestal, looking down at him with a condescending gaze.  

Gauss narrowed his eyes, scanning the statue up and down. The more he looked, the more familiar it seemed, and suddenly he realized,  

“Isn’t this Andni?”  

The statue’s face was almost identical to Andni’s.  

“Welcome to the Spellcaster Apprentice Mutual Aid Association. I’m Vice President Lawrence.” A man emerged from the office nearby.  

“Hello, I’m Gauss. May I ask whose statue this is?” Gauss deliberately looked at the statue to confirm his suspicion.  

“That is Mr. Shanyu Ni, a halfling and the first president of your Lawrence Apprentice Mutual Aid Association. He was also a minor professional mage.”  

As expected! No wonder Andni recommended he come here.  

His thoughts drifted back to a few days ago.  

“If you want to train thoroughly, I recommend you come to Absinthe Town. It’s a place where spellcaster apprentices band together for mutual support. I went there many years ago, and I heard it hasn’t changed much since.” Andni had said so seriously before sending him off.  

And she said she had been there—turns out she founded the organization herself.  

Gauss couldn’t help but shake his head.  

“Could you tell me more about Ms. Andni?” He couldn’t hide his curiosity.  

Although he had met the halfling Andni twice and received much care, he knew almost nothing about her personally, and now he wanted to take this opportunity to learn more about her.  

“Heh.” Unexpectedly, upon hearing Gauss’s question, the self-proclaimed current Vice President Lawrence scratched his head awkwardly.  

“Ms. Andni founded the association so long ago that all we know is she was a kind lady. It is said that when she last appeared at the association, she was already an Iron-rank adventurer.”  

Oh? Gauss caught the word Iron-rank and was somewhat surprised.  

Bronze, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum—this was the Adventurers Guild’s ranking system.  

Don’t underestimate Iron-rank as just the second tier; it may look unimpressive, but  

Gauss had been a low-level adventurer for a while and had already inquired in advance about ranks he would eventually reach.  

The highest-ranked adventurers passing through Grayrock Town were usually Bronze-rank since higher-level commissioned tasks wouldn’t reach the Grayrock Town Adventurers Guild.  

Even in a city like Barry, Iron-rank adventurers were considered major figures capable of handling town-level crises.  

Thinking back to a few days ago, seeing Andni slumped in a chair, drooling like a useless wreck, he couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.  

He suspected that Lawrence might have exaggerated Andni’s rank to add prestige to the association.  

Originally, Gauss had guessed Andni was probably a Bronze-rank adventurer.  

Putting aside doubts about Andni’s true strength for now, Gauss moved on to the main purpose of his visit.  

If the Spellcaster Apprentice Mutual Aid Association’s function was as its name suggested, its role would be easy to understand.  

After learning more from Lawrence, he found it wasn’t far from his expectations.  

The mutual aid association was literally a place where a group of spellcaster apprentices helped each other without involving monetary transactions, only exchanging labor.  

The most common activities were helping each other train skills and simulating combat.  

“But if you want to officially join, you need to obtain five introduction letters from ordinary members or one formal recommendation letter. Are you aware of this?” Lawrence asked.  

Gauss thought for a moment. Naturally, he wouldn’t have five ordinary member introduction letters, but it seemed Andni had given him an envelope before.  

He opened it once; it was empty except for a piece of paper stamped with a gold seal.  

“Is this it?”  

He cautiously handed over the letter.  

Before the spellcaster took it, a flicker of strangeness flashed in his eyes.  

The magical aura was unfamiliar. He had sensed similar magical waves on the eighth floor—it was the magical trace left by Mr. Gauss Ni.  

Such magical waves could not be forged.  

Thinking about Gauss’s earlier questions about Ms. Andni, the spellcaster gave Gauss a peculiar look.  

Although very puzzled, since Gauss possessed a formal recommendation letter, indicating he was trustworthy and on their side, the spellcaster could only proceed to help Gauss process his membership application.  

A few minutes later, Gauss received his own member badge and explained the purpose of his visit.