Goblin Slayer, Vol. 2

by Kumo Kagyu

  “I mean, there are things that scare me, too,” she whispered.

  Whether the words reached his ears or not, she wasn’t sure.

  “…That’s cold!”

  A drop of the melted ice crème dribbled onto her hand, provoking her surprised exclamation. She looked awkwardly at Goblin Slayer and wiped the drop away with a handkerchief.

  The crispy treat that served as a bowl had completely soaked through.

  “…Hrk.”

  She stuffed the rest of the dessert into her mouth, and the chill gave her a headache. She discreetly wiped away the tears that jumped to her eyes, pretending they weren’t there; then she rose.

  “Okay! Shall we go now, Goblin Slayer, si—”

  “Goblin Slayer! There you are!”

  Priestess stopped dead. She was sure she recognized that spirited voice, but she certainly hadn’t expected to hear it here.

  She looked up to see a tough-looking adventurer in blue armor, carrying a spear—it was Spearman.

  “What’s the big idea, summoning a guy by letter…? I’m telling on you to Guild Girl!”

  “Telling her what?”

  “That you and this girl were having a little date!”

  “We’re shopping.”

  Goblin Slayer brushed past Spearman, who had come on full force just as he did at home.

  Nearby, Priestess turned slightly red and hurried to straighten up, although there was no point.

  “Heh, heh, heh-heh.”

  Witch was all well-formed limbs, and she stuck to Spearman as closely as a shadow. Her eyes played over Priestess, then closed a little, alluringly. Priestess found herself swallowing heavily.

  “Ah, um…”

  “You seem, well. That’s, good.”

  “Ah yes, ma’am.”

  Priestess hurriedly got up from the bench and bowed her head, then reached up to straighten her cap.

  She found Witch a very impressive woman and was loath to embarrass herself in front of the spell caster. She cleared her throat quietly.

  “Ahem… And… What brings you here? Do you have work here, too?”

  “Yes, work. That’s, quite, correct.”

  A snicker. Her answer, like her laugh, seemed shrouded in smoke. Priestess wasn’t sure if the spell caster was teasing her.

  Witch produced a long pipe from somewhere or other with a wave of her hand and lit it with a murmur of “Inflammarae.”

  A sweet aroma drifted from it. Cloaked in the smell, Witch said, “Come on,” and gave Spearman a tap on the elbow.

  “…Feh.”

  Spearman continued to glare at Goblin Slayer, and after a moment, he gave one sharp click of his tongue.

  “Listen up.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Sheesh. I’m not your delivery boy, got it? You dragged me all the way out here to bring you this…”

  He gave Goblin Slayer a hempen pouch with something stuffed inside it. It looked heavy.

  Goblin Slayer tucked it neatly into his bag. His helmet turned toward Spearman, and he said dispassionately, “Sorry. Thanks for the help.”

  “…Hrg.”

  “I asked you because you are the most easygoing and trustworthy adventurer I know.”

  “…Hrrrrgg…!!”

  “Heh, heh, heh-heh.”

  Witch seemed quite unable to contain her laughter, and Spearman glared daggers at her.

  Naturally, Witch paid him no mind, and the stare got him nowhere.

  “…Need any more bodies? We might be able to help you out…for a reward, of course.”

  “No. We’ll manage.”

  Priestess looked at Witch and blushed slightly.

  Ever since their battle against the goblins, the two spell casters seemed to have come to understand each other on some level.

  “Anyway, ain’t they got stuff like this around here? Buy local!”

  “I can’t use the local variety.” Was that embarrassment, or regret, or both? Goblin Slayer shook his head at Spearman’s complaint. “It isn’t fine enough.”

  “Whatever you say.” Spearman shrugged, doing his best to convey annoyance and disinterest simultaneously. “What’re you gonna use it for, anyway?”

  “I think you know.”

  Priestess’s smile deepened. Yes, of course. He always had just one thing in mind. True, that was what worried her sometimes, what made her unable to leave him alone……

  “Goblin slaying.”

  He was completely beyond help.

  Thus Priestess and Goblin Slayer parted ways with Spearman and Witch, finished their shopping, and headed back. The long summer day was edging toward twilight, the red evening sun casting long shadows. Even in exaggerated silhouette, Priestess only came up to his shoulders.

  “……”

  She looked absently up at him—or the helmet that hid his expression.

  Will I ever catch up with him?

  The rank tag that dangled around her own neck was Obsidian. The ninth rank. A long way from his Silver.

  He was called Goblin Slayer for goblins were all he ever fought. It had been months since she’d met him. There were some things she understood now, but there were others she didn’t. And there were some things he’d taught her, and others he hadn’t.

  “…Oh.”

  Coming out of her reverie, she realized they had already reached their destination.

  The burble of water was quite loud now, and when she looked up, there was the Temple of Law.

  And three adventurers fully equipped.

  A smile spread across Priestess’s face. In the evening sun, it looked like a rose blooming.

  “Everyone! You made it back.”

  “You better believe we did! Sheesh, that was rough!” High Elf Archer waved, looking tired but unconcerned. “When we got back to the surface, you guys hadn’t returned yet. So…”

  “Naturally, we were just talking about whether to come meet you.” Beside her, Dwarf Shaman stroked his white beard and slapped his protruding belly. “Well, we had a few close calls. Let us regale you over dinner.”

  “Hold on, dwarf! Talking about work at mealtime is not allowed! Not allowed!”

  “Oh, everything’s ‘not allowed’ with you! How do you expect to get a man like that?”

  “Hrn…!”

  High Elf Archer demanded just what he meant by that, her ears lying flat.

  Dwarf Shaman, of course, had a comeback ready, and soon they were at it as usual.

  “Gosh. It’s always nice to see you two getting along so well.”

  When they had first met, Priestess had tried to stop these arguments, but now she was used to them.

  Goblin Slayer glanced over at their lively banter but soon looked away.

  “Tell me. What close calls? …Did they involve goblins?”

  “I am afraid it is not a story best told while we stand here.” Lizard Priest rumbled in his throat and slapped his tail against the ground. “Let us hold council inside the Temple.”

  “Well, in that case…,” Priestess broke in with an idea. She passed the bundle she was holding to Lizard Priest, who reached out to take it. It included her personal equipment, along with provisions for the entire party. They would all have to look it over together. “I’ll make dinner tonight. Let’s all talk after that.”

  “I have no objection. Milord Goblin Slayer?”

  “I don’t mind, either,” came the dispassionate answer.

  Priestess pursed her lips. This was the moment of truth.

  “Okay, Goblin Slayer, sir. During dinner, you have to talk about something other than goblins.”

  “Hr…”

  “Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!” Lizard Priest’s eyes rolled merrily in his head, and he touched his tongue to his nose. “One must respect the requests of one’s traveling companions. Come, you two, we’re going in.”

  High Elf Archer and Dwarf Shaman fell silent when he hissed at them—as ever.

  Lizard Priest ushered them rather bodily inside. Priestess ma
de to follow them, but:

  “…?”

  “”

  Suddenly she realized that Goblin Slayer, next to her, had stopped where he was.

  In the long shadows cast by the crimson sun, he stood alone. He looked like a child whose friends had drifted home while he was caught up in his games.

  Priestess wasn’t sure what brought the image to mind.

  “Goblin Slayer, sir? Shall we go?”

  “…Yes…,” he murmured when she called to him. “Hmm.

  “Companions.” He rolled the unfamiliar word around in his mouth. “…I suppose they are.”

  Then Goblin Slayer and Priestess followed slowly after them—their companions.

  No! Dammit! Damndamndamndamn, gygax it all!

  How could we fumble so badly?! How could this happen?!

  To think our ritual site has been found—!

  We were to establish ourselves beneath the city, invading quietly, attracting sacrifices for the goblins until the rite of the resurrection was ready. All we needed was to turn the goblins loose, let them kidnap a few women.

  If we only had that charm, that magical item, we could summon our lord, the Dark God…

  I knew we should have gotten rid of that wily archbishop—a thorn in our side.

  The first to feel our wrath will be that accursed Sword Maiden, who prevented our miracle ten years ago. How can she still call herself Maiden, after we defiled her to her most secret places? That is why—Argh!

  Why are all the goblins murdered?! Where did I go wrong?! Our plans were perfect! Decisive!

  No. Your plans were no such thing.

  Th-th-th-that voice! My most vaunted lord! Have mercy on this, your humble servant! Bless me with the merest scrap of your power!

  No. But look and see.

  Hrr—?!

  “Hold it right there, villain! Hah! I always wanted to say that!”

  “Why would you purposely throw away the element of surprise?”

  “Aw, you gotta announce yourself. If you can provoke the other guy, you can get him to focus his attacks on you.”

  Women with black hair—two of them… Adventurers?!

  Why?! How?! How did you discover our sect’s hiding place?!

  “Critically good luck!”

  Wha—?!

  “We know all about your plans!”

  “Know this: You have nowhere to run!”

  No—impossible! A sorcerer and a swordmaster? Surely—surely—!

  I see now. It was you! It was you, I see now! Curse you—sworn enemy of my lord, the Dark God! Receive what is coming to you—here and now!

  “Heroes on the case!!”

  “When I say predicament, I mean—that thing,” Dwarf Shaman said when the explorers reunited the next day.

  In the deepest reaches of the catacombs, they had found a room like a chapel. Benches of carved stone filled the small room, at the end of which was an altar. A full-length mirror was set in the wall, its surface strangely watery. It was huge, nearly the size of a large battle shield. Perhaps an object of worship.

  If so, then this room was a temple or at least some holy place.

  They had taken the hidden staircase, which went down and down until, at last, it began to climb again. And at its farthest extremity had been this hall.

  And the problem—the predicament—was resting there.

  “Wh-what…is that…?” Priestess asked in a small voice, peeking out from the shadows of the hallway.

  High Elf Archer, long ears drooping, shook her head.

  “We don’t know. But…I think it’s an eyeball.”

  At first glance, one might describe it as a flying eyeball.

  The massive eye was almost the height of a person. It floated just above the floor, waiting for the adventurers in the middle of the room.

  The monster’s geometrically shaped bloodshot pupil turned this way and that. From its eyelid—if you could call it that—grew wiggling feelers. On the end of each was an eye, a vast number of them. Each one seemed to be a miniature version of the main eye in a way that was hard to describe, and each bore a glinting twinkle. Its mouth was full of sharp teeth that suggested a large cat. It seemed most unlikely to be friendly.

  The creature must have noticed them watching it from the hall, but it showed no reaction. It seemed impossible that it hadn’t seen them. It simply hadn’t yet recognized them as a threat.

  It was a truly unhallowed, otherworldly thing, a blight on this sacred place.

  “From its appearance alone, I am willing to guess it’s an agent of chaos,” Lizard Priest said, his eyes narrowing in displeasure. “At the least, it was not created by any god of order.”

  “It might serve to our credit to get rid of it, but we’re not sure what it is,” Dwarf Shaman grumbled with a shrug.

  “It’s one of those monsters whose…whose name must not be spoken,” Priestess replied, quivering.

  On an adventure, few things are more dangerous than challenging a foe you know nothing about. If you can’t establish your front and rear lines, so much the worse.

  Three of the explorers had come face-to-face with this strange creature while investigating the ruins the day before. It was Lizard Priest, their best fighter, who had ordered them to avoid combat and determined to make a tactical withdrawal the previous day.

  Wasn’t this a bit beyond goblin slaying? And shouldn’t they ask their quest giver, Sword Maiden, for her instructions?

  “That doesn’t matter,” Goblin Slayer said unhesitatingly. “This is still goblin slaying.”

  After that, there was no arguing with him. The party had not wanted to come down here in the first place.

  But what were adventurers who didn’t occasionally leap into dangers unknown? Safely, of course.

  Now, seeing the creature in the chapel, Goblin Slayer said, “Giant Eye will do for a name.”

  “Never one to get too fancy, were you?” Dwarf Shaman said with a touch of sarcasm.

  “Referring to the Bug-Eyed Monster as a Giant Eye,” Lizard Priest said, his eyes rolling in amusement.

  “Not bad. I’ll go with that.” High Elf Archer nodded, her ears bobbing. She set an arrow in her bow and tugged the string gently.

  “And,” said Priestess, pulling her sounding staff close to her, “what do you plan to do about this…Giant Eye? I guess we should start with Protection?”

  No one objected to the idea.

  “Then, in accordance with our custom, allow me to go out front. The more tanks we have, the better.”

  “I’ll stand back here and shoot like I always do, okay?”

  “Now, what about yours truly…?” Dwarf Shaman stroked his beard and looked up at the ceiling. Some tree roots had spread through the old stone. The party was probably well outside the city now, no longer under the streets of the water town. The plant life that had been growing in the fields for who knew how many years had penetrated all the way down here. Before many more centuries had passed, these ruins would probably belong wholly to the trees.

  It was simply a reminder: None could best time.

  “No matter how you look at it, that is a Giant Eye.”

  “Trying to be funny, dwarf?”

  “Keep it to yourself, long-ears. I’m dead serious.”

  Dwarf Shaman grimly waved away the elf’s tease.

  Dragons breathed fire, harpies sang, and snakes had their poison… Giant Eyes were able to see.

  One would not survive underestimating all those wriggling tentacles, nor the sinister eye that lurked below them.

  “We take away its vision,” Goblin Slayer muttered. “I don’t care how. Can you do it?”

  “Sure as stone.” Nodding, Dwarf Shaman dug in his bag of catalysts, then began to run his hand over the ground beneath his feet. “Gnomes are well and good. But how about I whip up a Spirit Wall?”

  “All right.”

  Dwarf Shaman nodded firmly and gave his belly a smack.

  The conversation over, Goblin Sl
ayer set to checking his own weapons and equipment.

  Everything looked like it would function as good as brand-new, but his well-used leather armor was broken in, and that pleased him. He fixed his small shield firmly to his left arm; the sword he had ground down was good for use in a confined space. Everything in his item bag was in order. Last was, as always, his grimy helmet.

  It was awfully poor stuff for an adventurer. Even a beginner would have better-looking equipment.

  But those who knew who this man was would never belittle him for it. Goblin Slayer had exactly what he needed.

  “You could try to look a little cooler,” High Elf Archer said with a chuckle.

  “Yeah…,” Priestess said, scrunching up her face in thought before giving a little clap. “I’ve got it! How about a feather in your helmet, Goblin Slayer, sir?”

  “Not interested.”

  He summarily dismissed the girls’ input, then rose to his feet.

  High Elf Archer looked with surprise at the lantern bobbing at his hip.

  “Hey, Orcbolg. No torch today?”

  “There’s something I want to try. Fire would only get in the way,” he said and carefully closed the window of the lantern. “Let’s go.”

  At his signal, the adventurers leaped into the room and took their usual battle formation. The dwarf and the priestess stood in back, focusing themselves so they could offer their spells and prayers.

  At first, the Giant Eye only goggled at the boorish intrusion.

  It was Priestess who first realized this was actually the creature’s way of attacking.

  “O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, by the power of the land grant safety to we who are wea— Ahh!”

  “BEBBEBEBEBEHOOOO!!”

  Her eyes went wide as she was thrown into the air by an invisible shock wave.

  High Elf Archer gave a shout as Priestess thrashed, then crumpled and fell.

  “Are you all right?!” she called loudly, trying to run even as she maintained a line of sight to shoot. Priestess sat up, panting.

  “Ye…yes…” Pale and kneeling, she nodded.

  That brutal gaze had violently severed the thread of spirit that connected her to the gods above. It felt as if her soul itself had sustained the blow, and her spirit ached bitterly.