Goblin Slayer, Vol. 6

She wouldn’t say it had all been a mistake, but she feared that her true colors might come out sooner rather than later…

“You’ll be fine,” Guild Girl said, as if she could read Priestess’s thoughts. Priestess realized she had been unconsciously clenching her fist. Guild Girl was still focusing on the tag, writing quickly with an experienced hand. “The evaluation suits your demonstrated abilities. Not that it’s any guarantee of how things will go in the future.”

The quill fluttered furiously as Guild Girl wrote, and then she breathed on the tag. Finally, she carefully put her tools away and picked up the tag politely, with both hands.

“You have skills, and people speak well of you. Even if it’s all one big fluke, that would at least mean you’re lucky, huh?”

Then she held out the level tag: a small piece of steel, the eighth rank. It was attached to a fine chain that could be hung about the neck. Priestess took it reverently.

“I guess…you’re right.”

The tag seemed too light for confidence.

Priestess held back her golden hair with one hand as she put on the necklace. Then she tucked it gently under her vestments and placed a hand to her chest.

“I don’t know yet… But I’m going to do everything I can to find out.”

“Yes! That’s the spirit!”

Priestess nodded at Guild Girl’s encouragement.

She didn’t know yet whether she really had the ability. But she did have people who believed in her.

And that would be enough for now—she was sure of it.

§

Just one step beyond the Guild door revealed sunlight streaming through the blue sky that was almost blinding. The richness of the rays showed that spring was ending and summer was starting in earnest. Priestess squinted against the bright sky.

Now then, what to do?

She probably ought to go to the Temple and make a report, but…

That was when her eyes met those of an elf girl sitting on the curb.

The elf’s ears twitched in surprise; she stepped off the curb onto the walkway and stretched like a cat.

“Hey, you. All done? How’d it go?”

“Good. I got promoted this time.”

Priestess pulled up the chain around her neck to show off the new level tag. It glinted in the sunlight. High Elf Archer looked very pleased.

“Well, good for you. This is, what, the eighth rank? You’re a real priestess now.” She took Priestess’s hand and shook it vigorously, looking as happy as if it were she herself who had been promoted.

Priestess’s head almost spun, but the elf’s wiggling ears made her laugh.

“Yes. But—”

High Elf Archer leaned forward, detecting a shadow in Priestess’s manner.

“What’s up? Not happy about it?”

“Oh no, it’s not that…” Priestess waved a hand to dismiss the notion. That wasn’t it at all. “It’s just… Those goblins, I…”

I let them get away.

That night, she had taken action to save the young adventurers from the danger that took hold of them.

It had been similar to a goblin-slaying quest, but not quite the same.

She knew what would come next. She had been taught about it, seen it for herself…

“Listen here.”

“Eep?!!”

High Elf Archer broke into Priestess’s gloomy ruminations by grabbing her by the nose.

“You’re not Orcbolg, okay? So don’t worry about it.”

“Right…” Priestess pressed a hand to her stinging nose, her eyes reflexively tearing up. She focused on High Elf Archer.

The elf snorted and stuck out her modest chest then declared confidently, “He’s a bit of a weirdo anyway!”

A weirdo, I tell ya, she repeated to herself, spinning her finger in a circle in the air.

“For example, you know why goblins don’t use fire? He says it’s because ‘they haven’t yet discovered fire as a military tactic’!”

And there were lots of other examples, too.

Fire, poison gas. Destroying ruins, digging holes, flooding places. Yeesh!

High Elf Archer was practically livid. Honestly! I swear, Orcbolg isn’t right in the head!

Anyway…

“You can’t compare yourself to someone who thinks like that all the time,” she said. “Everyone thinks different things, in different ways. That’s what makes the world an interesting place.”

You’re you, he’s him. That’s why we can have adventures.

In High Elf Archer’s eyes, the world was exceedingly simple.

Priestess found herself gaping at the archer. A gentle breeze came through, and the elf’s long ears wiggled slightly.

I see…

Over the past year, Priestess had tried in her own way to follow along with Goblin Slayer and the others. And now, she had been promoted.

It wasn’t because she had killed the goblins. It was because she had managed to help the adventurers escape.

That was what people appreciated and valued.

Well, that works for me, then.

She felt something in her heart fall into place.

I’m sure I’ll keep working with him.

And that’s okay.

A gust of wind caught her hair, and she held it back with one hand.

Something about the sight prompted High Elf Archer to exclaim, “Right!” and nod sharply. “This calls for a celebration! Let me get you some lunch. What do you like?”

“Oh, uh, are you sure? Um, well then…”

What should she do? What should she choose? That decision by itself was enough to make her heart jump.

Maybe…since High Elf Archer was offering…maybe she’d pick something just a little bit fancy. The gods wouldn’t mind, would they?

“Hey, what about Orcbolg?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Priestess said. Her smile, like a blossoming flower, communicated something that others wouldn’t understand. “He treated me last year… So I think he’ll pass today.”

§

At the town entrance—just outside the gate next to the Guild, down the street a ways, an unlikely pair walked along purposefully.

One wore a cheap-looking steel helmet and grimy leather armor: Goblin Slayer.

The other was a red-haired boy, dressed in a robe and carrying a staff.

The boy had luggage slung over his shoulder; it was plain to see he was ready to travel.

“I think I’m gonna see a little more of the world, build up my skills.”

“I see,” Goblin Slayer replied, nodding just a little. “Are you not going back to the Sorcerers’ Academy?”

“Er… No… I wanna get even with the bastards who mocked my sister, I really do. But…” The red-haired boy scratched his cheek gently then shrugged. His shoulders looked light, as if they were free of some burden. “I kinda think they’d go on making fun of her no matter what I did. So…it’s okay.”

“…”

“Let ’em laugh. For as long as they live, if they want.”

“Indeed.”

Goblin Slayer’s helmet moved emotionlessly. The boy stopped and looked up at him.

That helmet was filthy. And it made it impossible to tell what expression the face inside was wearing.

This man was kind of disturbing, pathetic, totally obsessed, and killed nothing but goblins. He hardly seemed to qualify as a real adventurer.

“Look, I still don’t really like you.”

“I see.”

Even when confronted so directly, his answer remained dispassionate, and the boy smiled in spite of himself. One could be stubborn, or get annoyed, or act self-important. But this man never got angry.

So what did that make the red-haired boy? A child rebelling against an adult?

“But I’ve been thinking about lots of other things, too.”

Like what comes after this.

Like what came before this.

About my older sister.

About all you guys, and all the help you gave me.

My own failures.

And my own successes.

Plus…what I want to be.

“I couldn’t stand to do what you do, so I’m gonna do something else. I—”

Yes, I.

The boy took in a breath, stuck out his chest, and announced proudly, “I’m gonna become Dragon Slayer!”

His remark would have made even a child laugh out loud. It was such a cheap dream, an all too common one. The sort of mundane fantasy that everyone, whether or not they seriously thought of becoming an adventurer, had entertained at one time or another. Hunt dragons. Kill the strongest wyrm in the land.

But Goblin Slayer, of course, nodded and replied, “I see.”

“Then I’m going with you!” a bright voice interjected from nearby. Someone new jumped up next to them, her movements light and fluid.

She was wearing light armor that allowed for good mobility, along with a sword and shield. A rhea girl, ready to travel herself.

The inconspicuous entrance was a rhea specialty, and indeed, the red-haired boy stared, agog at her sudden appearance.

“Wh-who said you could come with me?!”

“One Porcelain-ranked spell caster all by himself? You wouldn’t last five minutes!”

“…Says the other Porcelain-ranked warrior. The girl Porcelain-ranked warrior.”

“Exactly. It’s dangerous out there!”

“I told you, I’m traveling all on my own!”

“What luck! So am I.”

When he made a point, she rebutted. When she talked around him, he made a different point. But rare is the person who can out-talk a rhea.

“Argh! Man, this is why I hate rheas…” The boy pulled at his hair in frustration.

That was when something happened that caused them both to stop in their tracks.

He and she both looked at the third member of their group as if they couldn’t believe what was going on.

It was ever so faint and ever so slight, but they were sure they’d heard it…

“”

The softest muffled sound of laughter.

It creaked a bit, like an old door that hadn’t been opened in years.

But Goblin Slayer was laughing.

He was actually laughing out loud.

“If you meet a rhea who goes by ‘Burglar,’ mention my name.” If that old curmudgeon even remembers the boy he once looked after… “He may give you a little bit of help.”

That caused the boy to scratch his cheek again. “I’ll tell him, if I remember.” He laughed; his expression was like a sharp sword kept carefully in its sheath.

Sigh. Okay, fine. A companion for the road and compassion for the world, as they say. The boy nodded at the rhea girl.

“Well, let’s go, then… Together.”

“Okay!” The girl nodded, beaming. Her face was bright, a flower turning toward the sun. “See ya next time, Goblin Slayer!”

“Yes.”

The boy and the girl—no, the adventurers—waved as they walked happily away.

As they went down the road, luggage on their backs, they elbowed each other and laughed and chatted.

It wasn’t, Goblin Slayer suspected, exactly because they were friends.

It had to do with what was beginning. Friendship, or trust, or perhaps something else. For better or for worse.