Goblin Slayer, Vol. 6

All kinds of what? Was there any way she could finish that sentence proudly, confidently?

She followed instructions and used miracles, praying for everyone’s safety. Praying to the gods. But could she herself do anything? If so, what?

Priestess found she could no longer speak. She looked at the ground, clenching a shaking fist.

The young man stuck out his chest triumphantly. But he took a hesitant step back, then two, as Lizard Priest approached him aggressively. “To judge others invites judgment upon oneself,” the lizardman said. “For if you insult one cleric, you have insulted them all.”

Lizard Priest made a broad gesture with his head. The boy looked around, and only then did he realize: from the newest to the most experienced, every adventurer in the room was looking at him and Priestess, who was blushing furiously.

“I think you may find this world a difficult one to survive in without some help from the gods,” Lizard Priest continued. Who could blame the boy for the slight groan that escaped him then? He had been shouting in front of all these people, with no thought for the future.

“Hey, you! How about you look me in the eye and say that?”

“Come off it, moron. We’ve got giant rats to hunt. It’ll be good practice for us.”

“Let go! Lemme go! I’m gonna teach that guy a lesson! Let! Me! Go!”

Apprentice Cleric flailed about, waving her staff, as Rookie Warrior dragged her away.

The apprentice’s reaction was somewhat extreme, but all around the room, responses were similar. Perhaps some favored Priestess because she was a girl, others because hers was a familiar face against one they didn’t know. But most of the reproachful glances leveled at the boy were motivated by more than that.

Some adventurers derided clerics, who didn’t stand in the front row, as nothing but healing machines. But there were plenty of adventurers who had been saved by those same clerics. Everyone got injured at one time or another. Writhing in pain, poisoned, cursed, abandoned: none of these were pleasant.

If you had a cleric in your party, then you were in good stead, and of course, anyone who offered alms could be treated at a temple. How could anyone look down on those who worked for them, prayed for them, made miracles happen for them?

“H-hey, I’m—” But no adventurer would simply back down like that. “I’m an adventurer, too!”

The boy announced himself boldly, although he knew he was at a disadvantage here. His passion caused a few of the onlooking eyes to widen with admiration.

The business of adventuring was, ultimately, one in which everyone must take responsibility for themselves. So if there was a person who really had the strength to stand completely on their own, with no divine aid, then they could quite well make fun of clerics and get away with it.

“Goblins? Hah! They’re nothing! So what does that make a Goblin Slayer?”

He jabbed his staff in Goblin Slayer’s direction as if he might cast a spell on the adventurer, a classic pose of wizard contempt.

“Don’t take notes! I won’t teach you my goblin-slaying secrets! Try some rats instead! It’s bullshit, all of it!”

All the emotions he had held back until that moment came pouring out of him.

“I damn well will kill goblins!”

In the face of all this aggressive shouting, Goblin Slayer only tilted his head the slightest bit, quizzically. Beside him, High Elf Archer’s ears twitched and she crossed her arms as she looked at Goblin Slayer. “Who’s this, Orcbolg? Your little brother?”

“No,” Goblin Slayer said firmly. “I only had an older sister.”

“Oh?” The archer let out a sigh and shrugged with the sort of grace attainable only by elves. “I guess I just hear that sort of talk so much these days that it doesn’t surprise me anymore.”

“Is that so?”

“So who exactly is this kid?”

“A newcomer,” Goblin Slayer said. “A wizard, it would seem.”

Goblin Slayer wasn’t looking at the outthrust staff, but at Priestess. She was still peering at the ground, her shoulders stiff, completely silent. She was fifteen—no, sixteen now. She had been an adventurer for an entire year, but she was still young. What could he say to her, when the work of that year had been denied as if she had done nothing important?

“Well, that makes it easy, doesn’t it?” a bright, eager voice broke in. Everyone turned to look at the new speaker. “I heard everything. And as a Lawful Good knight, I can’t let it go!”

Female Knight stood there, snorting triumphantly. Her wide smile made it all too clear that she had butted in mostly for the fun of it. Behind her, Heavy Warrior muttered, “I couldn’t stop her,” and held up an apologetic hand.

“The hell? …Who’re you? This doesn’t involve you.”

“Heh-heh! One day I’ll be a famous paladin, but I don’t blame you for not recognizing me now.” The boy’s disbelief didn’t seem to faze Female Knight, who puffed out her chest importantly. “But hear me now, young man. I have an excellent idea!”

Female Knight was not the most refined person in the room, but she gave an elegant snap of her fingers, the noise audible throughout the Guild Hall. She didn’t seem to notice the look of displeasure that came over High Elf Archer’s face. Instead, she pointed directly at the young man. “If you’re so confident, then go slay some goblins.”

“Th-that’s exactly what I wanna do!”

“You all heard him,” Female Knight said, her eyes shining dangerously. “However!” She wielded her pointer finger like the tip of a sword. “Your leader will be that cleric girl!”

“Whaaa?!” Priestess, fixed by that finger, came back to herself with a yelp. She could hardly figure out what was happening, as she looked back and forth between the outstretched pointer finger and the wizard boy. “I-I-I’m supposed to give—orders? To— To this boy?”

“Whaddaya mean, ‘this boy’? And hey, it’s no fair to add conditions!”

“Don’t be naive, young man. Knights know better than to show their hand. Better to curse yourself for having been taken in!”

“U-um, I haven’t said I’ll accept yet…”

“Nor do you need to!”

Priestess’s attempts at objection were adorable. Heavy Warrior looked up at the ceiling without a word. No lightning bolts came crashing down. Apparently, the Supreme God was admitting that Female Knight was indeed Lawful Good. They’ll let anyone be an agent of Order these days…

“Hrm,” muttered Goblin Slayer, who had kept his distance from the commotion. “What do you think?”

“I presume the boy’s failure to be reflective springs from a lack of experience,” Lizard Priest responded with a somber nod. He rolled his eyes once. “I do not know how many spells he can use, nor how many times he can use them, but I do like his spirit.”

“We don’t know about his spells,” Goblin Slayer agreed, and after a moment he added, “I assume he can use one, or maybe two.”

“What do you think, master spell caster?”

“For better or for worse, he’s unpolished,” Dwarf Shaman responded without a moment’s hesitation, merrily stroking his beard.

Deeply engaged in his argument, the boy had no idea he was being evaluated from the sidelines like this.

“He’s rough-hewn,” the dwarf went on. “Just dug up. Still got bits of earth clinging to him. We won’t know what’s in there until he’s been polished up a bit.”

“Shall we do a bit of polishing?”

“I’m for it.”

“Then it’s decided.”

A calloused hand landed on Goblin Slayer’s shoulder. It belonged to a giant—Heavy Warrior.

“You’re not usually the type to praise another adventurer, Goblin Slayer.”

“I wasn’t trying to praise him…” It was impossible to tell whether he was being ironic or simply honest. Because he couldn’t tell, Goblin Slayer tilted his head. “Did I?”

“You did.”

“I see… And I think it’s unusual for you to worry about anyone else.”

“Hey, it wasn’t me that was worried. Blame her.” Heavy Warrior jerked his chin in Female Knight’s direction, taking in Priestess and the boy along with it.

At a glance, perhaps it seemed they were simply arguing. But in the end, Goblin Slayer had been unable to say anything to her.

Why Priestess was part of his party now, and what had happened to her first group: these were things only she and he knew.

And yet, it was Lizard Priest who had interceded against the young man, and Female Knight who had changed the subject.

He had not been able to do either of those things.

“…Sorry for the trouble. It’s a help.”

“Don’t fret,” Heavy Warrior replied with deliberate bluntness. He looked away, scratching his cheek. “I owe you more than this. I’ll pay you back a little at a time.”

This caused Goblin Slayer to lapse into thought. He had no memory of a debt. But this seemed important to Heavy Warrior.

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“I see,” Goblin Slayer said shortly. Inside his helmet, he followed Heavy Warrior with his gaze. “I believe I owe you a debt as well.”

“Repay it a bit at a time, then.”

“I see.”

“…So. What’s on your mind?”

“I am thinking about how to kill goblins.”

Heavy Warrior seemed caught between a frown and the slightest of smiles. “Mighta guessed,” he muttered. It was the natural reaction of any adventurer familiar with this man.

This Goblin Slayer.

People called him strange or weird for talking endlessly about goblins, but they called him that out of affection, for they knew him well.

“However,” Goblin Slayer said quietly as he looked around the Guild.

There were Female Knight and the new boy, still arguing, while High Elf Archer had given up trying to snap her fingers and had settled for complaining instead.

There were Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman, watching the room and laughing as they made plans.

There were various adventurers, some he recognized, others he didn’t, standing at the fringes of the group and occasionally offering jabs or jeers.

An inspector at the reception desk was chortling, while Guild Girl herself couldn’t restrain a small smile.

There was Spearman, having just accepted an assignment, exclaiming “Yahoo!” and bounding off, only to be chided by Witch.

And in the midst of it all, looking thoroughly confused, was Priestess.

She was saying, “I can do it, too,” and snapping her fingers for the edification of High Elf Archer. The cleric seemed a little panicked, a little flummoxed, and more than a little awkward, but she also seemed to be enjoying herself—to be truly happy.

It was how things always looked here. The people, the faces, might change, but the scene would go on.

“However,” Goblin Slayer said once more. “It would be best if all goes well.”

“You got that right,” Heavy Warrior said with a smile, and he clapped Goblin Slayer heartily on the shoulder.