Goblin Slayer, Vol. 7

by Kumo Kagyu

  An instant later, there came the howling of wolves, and a hail of stones rained down into the valley.

  §

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

  First, Priestess invoked a miracle, clinging to her sounding staff.

  How could the Earth Mother fail to protect her devoted disciple? An invisible barrier sprang up around the raft. The incoming rocks and sticks bounced off it, bump, bump, bump, making little splashes as they fell into the water.

  Sweat was running down Priestess’s brow. “I-if it doesn’t get any worse, maybe we can…”

  No sooner had the murmur escaped her, though, than the whistling sound of an arrow chilled her heart. Whatever was up on the banks, it was clearly something intelligent.

  Figures approached the ridgeline. High Elf Archer knelt down, her bow ready and her gaze hard.

  Animalistic howls. Groans. The noise of feet, not hooves. Her long ears twitched up and down, collecting every bit of sound.

  She had seen these enemies before. Knew the sound. She had confronted them in the past. These were…

  “Goblins…?!”

  Goblin riders.

  She cried out when she caught a glimpse of the cruel faces.

  “I thought we were supposed to be in your homeland!” Dwarf Shaman shouted.

  “Well, sor-ry!”

  “So it was goblins,” Goblin Slayer said calmly, tossing the pole to Lizard Priest. “Take the rudder.”

  “Understood!” With his strength, Lizard Priest would be able to push the craft a little bit. There wasn’t likely to be any close-quarters fighting for him, anyway.

  Lizard Priest punted the pole against the bottom of the river, and the raft pushed forward, although it complained.

  “Stinking sons of—!” High Elf Archer drew her bow smoothly despite the quaking vessel, firing off an arrow almost instantly. It passed through the divine barrier around them, slowed, and then dropped toward the ridgeline.

  “GORRB?!”

  There was a muffled scream as one of the goblins was unhorsed—or unwolfed—and fell to the ground. The corpse bounced twice on its way down, colliding with the raft and setting it shaking.

  “Eeek?!”

  “Eep…!”

  Guild Girl and Cow Girl both fought to suppress their screams under the blanket.

  It wasn’t enough that the silent corpse should have an arrow in it; its head was split open and it was gushing dark blood. No matter how many adventure stories one might have heard or read, seeing such a brutal death up close was something else again.

  “What’s wrong?” Goblin Slayer asked. He pulled the arrow out of the body, then gave the remains a ruthless kick into the river. There was a loud splash and the corpse sank out of view.

  Cow Girl watched it disappear. Then, her hand still firmly in Guild Girl’s, she said in a slightly shrill voice, “W-we’re fine…”

  “Good, then.” Goblin Slayer glanced briefly at them then tossed the arrow to High Elf Archer. “I don’t know if we can finish them off. Loosen the heads of your bolts.”

  “Crafty as ever,” High Elf Archer said wearily, tugging at the head of the arrow he tossed her. Even though the head was not made of metal, if it stayed lodged in the body, it would encourage the wound to rot and spread sickness in the nest. It was a classic Goblin Slayer trick, but the kind of thing High Elf Archer wasn’t very fond of.

  “…Yah! Hah!”

  Even so, her bowstring sang out again and again, sending arrows raining down on the ridgeline. Three shots, two screams. No falls. High Elf Archer clicked her tongue. Beside her, Goblin Slayer picked up one of the spears and attached a stone object to the wooden shaft.

  Lizard Priest breathed a sound of admiration. “A spear launcher,” he said. “What a familiar thing you have.”

  “You know it?”

  “It was quite common among warriors of my village.”

  The lizard people prized close combat most of all; they found even simple ranged weapons distasteful. And throwing, anyway, was something humans excelled at. Rhea rock-slingers were nothing to sniff at, either, but rheas generally disliked combat. And yes, Dwarf Shaman used a sling, but his magic and his ax were his main weapons.

  “Will it reach?” Dwarf Shaman asked.

  “Easily,” Goblin Slayer replied, just the one word.

  “Right, then…!” Dwarf Shaman pulled a bottle of some kind of liquid out of his bag. He popped the cap and poured something like peach juice into the river. Meanwhile, he let his consciousness twist.

  “Come, undines, the banquet’s laid; come and sing and dance and play!”

  The spray of water took on the form of a beautiful maiden, and behold, the river began to flow backward.

  No… Not the whole river. Only the water where the raft rested had begun to turn. This was Control Spirit.

  “Maybe I don’t quite see eye to eye with this one!” Dwarf Shaman shouted, glaring into the water. “I can’t get much speed out of it!”

  “It’s enough,” Goblin Slayer said, and then he sent his spear flying.

  It raced toward the sky with unnatural speed. This was followed by a terrible scream—not from a goblin, but from one of the wolves they were riding on.

  “We have little but luck to help us here,” Goblin Slayer spat, readying the next spear. “I do not know how many goblins there are. We can’t kill them all.”

  “May I say, we do have one option,” Lizard Priest said. He was still both manning the tiller and standing guard over Cow Girl and Guild Girl. “Milord Goblin Slayer, might we consider escaping the enemy rather than slaughtering them?”

  “I do not like it. But…” Goblin Slayer loaded the next bolt into his launcher and sent it flying toward the ridgeline with a motion of his arm. It disappeared out of sight, and then a moment later, there was a scream.

  “GOORARB…?!”

  The goblin tumbled off the back of his wolf and fell from the cliff. The corpse flipped about as it hit the water with a huge splash.

  “…We will have to settle this after we escape.” That made two. Goblin Slayer picked up the next spear. “How is our defense?”

  “Holding… Somehow!” Priestess responded, raising her staff and standing as boldly as she dared upon the raft. The entire defense of their party currently rested on her narrow, delicate shoulders. The gods had provided the miracle of the invisible barrier, but it was Priestess’s prayer that maintained it.

  The attacks came relentlessly, and as they did, her breathing grew harder and her legs threatened to give out. It was thoroughly impressive that she could perform three of these soul-enervating supplications to the heavens in a single day.

  “Uhh…!”

  Even so, she was approaching her limit. The barrier weakened as the gasp escaped her. She drew in a harsh breath and forced herself to breathe evenly. She forced strength into her feet on the raft and her hands on the staff.

  “I’m going to add another one…! Give me some time!”

  “Please do.” Goblin Slayer brought up his shield to block a stone that came through the barrier.

  Branches, stones, rocks, and even some arrows. The motley collection of projectiles tapped and clattered on the raft, causing it to yaw this way and that.

  “Hrm…!” Lizard Priest gave a shove with the pole, sending the raft back slightly, but the current was like a rushing wave that washed across the vessel.

  “Wah?! Pfft!”

  “Ah, oh no…!”

  The water soaked the cloths under which Cow Girl and Guild Girl were hiding, provoking more shouts. They were in danger of being flooded out from under their protection, but they clung to each other and held on.

  Guild Girl gave a quick wave to Goblin Slayer, who had glanced in their direction, then she blinked several times. Suddenly, there was a considerable amount of detritus—branches and pebbles and other flotsam—on the raft. Had the goblins flung all this at them? No, it
couldn’t be.

  A look at the water around them revealed a copious number of chips and splinters of wood floating by, even entire barrels drifting along.

  “Hrrgh… Ah!”

  Lizard Priest fought mightily to control the raft’s direction, but the pole collided with a barrel, causing the craft to shake violently. Another wave crashed down on the adventurers, soaking them and inundating their vessel.

  “Oh…”

  That was when Guild Girl saw something glistening white: a human skull drifting right past her.

  She tried to pick it up with a trembling hand, but even as she reached out, the skull was sucked down under the water, and it disappeared.

  She watched it disappear mutely. Soon, it was replaced in her view by several floating piles of trash, restrained with ropes.

  “This m-might be bad,” she said with a quiver in her voice. “I think they mean to sink the raft!”

  The terrible cackling of goblins filled the valley, echoing crazily.

  “GRRROB! GOORRB!”

  “GROBR!! GOOORRRB!!”

  There was no need for the goblins to face the adventurers personally in order to kill them. They could simply capsize the boat, or weigh it down with junk until it sank.

  Yes, flipping the raft over would do the trick. The goblins could point and laugh as the foolish people drowned; if anyone survived, then they could enjoy attacking from the high ground.

  It was now clear what had happened to the boats that had come this way and not returned.

  “Gah! Noisy and in the way…!” High Elf Archer gave one of the piles of rubble a frustrated sweep with her leg, kicking up a spray of water but otherwise having no discernible effect.

  The goblins simply had to keep throwing rocks and rubble from above.

  Dwarf Shaman, equally frustrated, made a series of arcane gestures. “I’m going to have my undine get that stuff off the raft,” he said, “so take some potshots with your bow or something!”

  “‘Or something’?! What do you mean, ‘or something’?!”

  The gorgeous spirit danced upon the raft. Her sensuous movements swept away the rocks and other debris, pushing it into the running river.

  By this point, everyone was soaked from head to foot, but the raft was still somehow stable. That did not, however, mean they could relax. Much damage had been done, and the debris was piled up underwater, making it all too easy to capsize.

  “…So they learned from the lock,” Goblin Slayer muttered, firing off yet a third spear.

  He didn’t bother to watch what happened. There would be a scream, or there wouldn’t.

  The goblins were hiding themselves cannily along the edge of the cliff, following on wolfback to keep up the attack. The river wound its way among the towering spires. There was no ceiling, but this…

  “It is as if we’ve wandered into their nest,” Goblin Slayer said quietly. He used one of his spears to break off an arrow lodged in his shield.

  “O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy…”

  All this was happening in front of Priestess’s eyes. Her knees were shaking still, and not only because of the difficult prayers.

  She was finding it hard to breathe. Her tongue seemed to stumble over words her throat could barely summon forth. Her head spun and her vision grew hazy. Her fingers could hardly move; it was all she could do to hold on to her staff.

  How am I supposed to…?

  How was she supposed to invoke Protection and keep everyone safe? That was the only question for her. It was the only thing she could do.

  What else could she do? How could she see them safely out of this place?

  Her teeth chattered; she set her jaw to stop them. Memory after memory came back to her. She closed her eyes and pushed them away.

  “Oh…”

  At that moment, a light glimmered in her mind like a premonition from heaven.

  Priestess opened her eyes. Her trembling lips formed a prayer as if guided by something other than herself. She raised her staff.

  “O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, please, by your revered hand, cleanse us of our corruption!”

  The gods were great.

  The Earth Mother reached down from the heavens, her hand sweeping through the water and making it clean.

  Everywhere the light touched, the water ran clear, all the filth in it disappearing. Moreover, the great many dirty things in the river were cleansed away and vanished.

  “…Wow!” High Elf Archer blinked, her ears twitching. She was justifiably impressed to see the effects of the Purify miracle with her own eyes. “You really do have your moments, huh?”

  “I don’t. The Earth Mother does… Although she can be a little harsh.” Priestess groaned, the strain of connecting directly to the divine having given her a splitting headache. “Please… Do it now!”

  “GRR?!”

  “GOORB?!”

  The goblins were naturally agitated by this turn of events. The trap they’d laid so carefully had been undone by something they didn’t even understand.

  Their ugly voices echoed as the confusion ran among them.

  Far be it from Goblin Slayer to miss such an opportunity.

  One goblin had leaned over to get a closer look at the river; a spear ran him through from his jaw right out the back of his head. He tumbled into the water in a spray of blood—and then his corpse vanished, purified away by the Earth Mother.

  “Eventually, we will have to find and destroy their nest,” Goblin Slayer said. “You’re up.”

  “Gladly!” Even as he poled the raft along the undine’s current, Lizard Priest opened his mouth wide. He filled his lungs with a great breath, the breath of the wyrm that rules over all things. “Bao Long, honored ancestor, Cretaceous ruler, I borrow now the terror of thee!”

  Dragon’s Roar echoed through the valley.

  Goblins aren’t the only ones frightened by dragons; every living thing fears them.

  “GOORBGROB?!”

  “GRORB!!”

  The goblins’ gibbering mixed with the frightened yelps of their wolves. Goblin riders were still goblins. They were not even especially accomplished riders.

  They tried and failed to calm their mounts; the wolves literally ran away with their tails between their legs. Some of the goblins were thrown to the ground; others clung desperately to the fleeing animals. All of them beat a pitiful retreat.

  The adventurers continued to watch the ridgeline vigilantly for a few minutes. Over against the sound of the stream, they used the pole to keep the raft moving.

  At last an hour passed, then two, and at length, the wind that blew through the valley grew warmer.

  They were floating toward a great, dark wood, a forest of old trees that had stood for thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of years.

  Priestess clung to her sounding staff, praying to the Earth Mother to relieve her anxiety.

  They were nearly out of the valley. That meant they would soon be in the realm of the elves.

  §

  The firecrackers danced into the sky with a series of pops, leaving little traces of light behind them. The sky was quite red now, now that it had caught hold of the salamander’s tail.

  It was not long after they had chased off the goblins and left the valley. The sun was well past its zenith and was sinking to the west, settling behind the trees.

  The adventurers entered the massive forest, landing the raft on the riverside at a place indicated by High Elf Archer. She said the village was still a ways off. In that case, they figured a night’s rest would be better than a forced march.

  “I sure didn’t expect we’d be wearing these so soon…”

  “If we’d known we were going to get so wet, we should have put them on to begin with!”

  “Heh-heh. We wouldn’t have had a chance to wear them otherwise. Oh, do you know how to put it on?”

  “Oh yeah, I’m fine. The only thing I don’t understand is why you’d bother wearing one at all. Like this, right?�
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  A rope had been strung between some tree roots and towels draped over it. From the other side, the women could be heard having an animated conversation. There were four of them, after all; it was bound to get a little noisy.

  After a few minutes, the towels were pulled down from the inside. Four women in swimsuits appeared like a vision.

  “I just don’t get why you would put on clothes specifically to get wet. Can’t you just go without?” High Elf Archer looked very uncomfortable, playing with her hair in an uncharacteristic gesture of embarrassment.

  “Why worry?” Lizard Priest responded promptly. He had stopped working to roll his eyes. He opened his mouth importantly. “I admit I little appreciate skin with no scales, but my judgment is that this outfit rather suits you.”

  “You think?” Well all right, then. High Elf Archer gave a little nod as if she now accepted the situation.

  Dwarf Shaman looked like he was about to make one of his usual smart remarks, but it turned into more of a sneeze, and then he shut his mouth. Perhaps he figured there was no need to deliberately sour the elf’s mood right when they were going back to her home.

  “…I s’pose our opinions on the looks of Long-Ears and friends are well established by now.”

  “I guess. I’m honestly a little jealous…” Guild Girl put a hand to her cheek, though she had no cause to be embarrassed.

  Of course, she came from a part of society where people were taught not to show too much skin. It wouldn’t be quite true to say she wasn’t embarrassed, but it was what it was. The work she did each day couldn’t be undervalued. She wasn’t especially afraid to be seen this way—which made her quite different from Priestess, who was hiding behind her.

  “Oh… Ohhh…”

  The cleric’s face was bright red, and she was trying to make herself as small as possible. She was much ashamed of her own small, youthful body. What she was wearing now wasn’t so different from the outfit she had worn for the dance at the harvest festival, but having others beside her for immediate comparison was not easy. At least Witch, with whom she was discreetly (she thought) infatuated and with whom she certainly couldn’t compare, wasn’t present. She wished she could be like that sorceress someday, but that was only a sign of how far she still had to go.