Goblin Slayer, Vol. 7

by Kumo Kagyu

  “Oh, you’re fine,” Cow Girl laughed, patting Priestess on the shoulder. Cow Girl thought of her as sort of like a little sister and found her willowy body adorable. She also felt that she herself had gotten a little muscular from all the work she did. She twisted her hips around for a look, a dubious expression on her face. “Good enough… Maybe?”

  “That is not a question I can answer,” Goblin Slayer said. He had taken four of the sharpened sticks from earlier and set them in the ground, describing a square. His helmet was pointed toward the group of women; he wasn’t so uncouth as to fail to spare them even a glance. Still, his appraisal may or may not have made them very happy… “But personally, I think they look good on you.”

  Sheesh. Cow Girl sighed. Somehow she knew that after taking a quick glance, he had immediately looked away again.

  Her cheeks softened into a smile. It was just how he was.

  “I think you could stand to learn a little more about girls’ feelings.”

  “Is that so?”

  Guild Girl giggled beside her. “I think our dear Goblin Slayer is fine the way he is.” Yes, she might wish he were a little more attentive, but there was something about him being him that made her heart dance.

  He thinks they look good on us. Personally.

  The brief sentence was as good as a sonnet from him.

  “I would be…embarrassed if anyone looked at me too long…”

  So this is good by me. Priestess was trying to make herself even smaller. Her cheeks were red, and it wasn’t just because of the sunset.

  High Elf Archer leaned forward as if hoping to get Priestess to unwind a bit. “So I just have to duck in the river and scare up some fish, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Although I won’t eat them,” she said with a glance around. “But no choice.” She almost looked upset, but her ears fluttered happily, and she ran into the water, kicking up little splashes.

  Lizard Priest watched the girls chat and play on the riverbank from the corner of his eye. He nodded solemnly. “Now, perhaps these leaves will do for your purposes.” The huge armful of leaves he was carrying rustled as he shook them. His long tongue slipped out and touched the tip of his nose. “I apologize I could not gather more. It will soon be dark.”

  “I know,” Goblin Slayer said, standing up. “Let’s get the crossbeams set, then.”

  It was straightforward work. They just needed to affix upper and lower crossbeams, eight in total, to the wood poles Goblin Slayer had put in the ground. Then sticks would be laid on the lower level to make a crude floor, while leaves would be spread on top as a roof. A nice, simple shelter.

  Considering the presence of poisonous snakes and insects in the forest, it would be foolishness itself to put up a roof but then sleep on the bare ground.

  They built two shelters: one for the men and one for the women. Normally, they had only five people, but today it was three men and four women.

  “Gracious me,” Dwarf Shaman said, looking away from the ongoing work to check on the girls in the water. He was on fire duty; he wasn’t tall enough for anything else. Dwarves were unrivaled for their handling of fire, but as a keeper of spirits, it wasn’t his strong suit. Dwarf Shaman quickly gave up on trying to strike a spark and instead produced a flat stone from his bag.

  “Dancing flame, salamander’s fame. Grant us a share of the very same.”

  He pressed the stone between his hands and incanted Kindle, producing a firestone. He tossed the glowing rock from hand to hand (“Hot, hot!”) and surrounded it with some other stones. It would do in lieu of a fire.

  The glow from this makeshift “bonfire” shone on the party. At the moment, it was being used to dry out their sopping clothes, but no doubt the garments would soon be replaced by fish.

  “Don’t you think it’s a bit…unguarded, letting the girls play like that?”

  “I will keep guard enough for all of us.” Goblin Slayer had finished laying the floor and had started on the next step. “And I want to give them a chance to relax.” As he stood sticks up in the earth, his helmet inclined ever so slightly toward Cow Girl and Guild Girl.

  Then it turned to High Elf Archer, who had dragged Priestess in to help hunt for fish.

  “Perhaps it’s ’cause this is her homeland,” he grunted softly.

  “Ho-ho! She had no time to show this side before. Ah, hold! My skill does not match yours.” Lizard Priest laughed, showing his fangs, draping leaves on the wooden beams as soon as they were up. “But why, milord Goblin Slayer, do you display the compassion of Maiasaura?”

  “…What do you mean?”

  “That you are rather a more considerate person than your appearance would suggest.”

  “Is that so impressive?” Goblin Slayer let out a breath. “Am I so impressive?”

  “I would call it a quality more valuable than mithril,” Dwarf Shaman said, tossing a small stick onto the fire. The dancing salamander opened its jaws and took a bite and, with a crackle, grew hotter.

  “Just look at that long-eared lass,” Dwarf Shaman went on. He indicated the river with one heated branch. High Elf Archer was there, reaching into the water with both hands as if to catch a fish. But she missed and, instead, sent up a great splash straight at Priestess.

  That caused Cow Girl to burst out laughing, whereupon Guild Girl splashed her, too.

  Maybe High Elf Archer had grown tired of the fruitless fishing expedition, or maybe she had just decided to forget it, but in any event, she had dragged Priestess into it…

  “I don’t believe she thinks of herself as a high elf at all.” Dwarf Shaman chuckled, his smile almost hidden by his beard.

  “Whatsoever the case, we are already in the land of the elves,” Lizard Priest said, plopping himself down by the fire and rubbing his scaled hands together.

  Once they had somewhere to sleep, all that remained was to wait for dinner. And he did love both meat and fish.

  “I don’t believe the little devils will easily reach us here.”

  “You don’t?” Goblin Slayer took his cue from Lizard Priest, sitting down as well. He clapped his hands to get some dust off then muttered, “I thought the same.”

  “…That right?” Dwarf Shaman shrugged, his eyes half-shut, and he grabbed the flask at his hip. He uncorked it and began pouring spirits into a cup from his bag. He offered the drink around.

  “Anyway, start with a drink,” he said. “Not enough to get drunk, of course.”

  “…”

  Goblin Slayer looked silently from the drink to Dwarf Shaman, then at the girls playing in the river.

  Cow Girl noticed him and gave a big wave. Goblin Slayer nodded.

  “Very well.”

  Shortly thereafter, there came a cry of “We got some!” and the fellowship was able to proceed to dinner. Perhaps unwilling to be left out, High Elf Archer had helped catch seven separate fish. Dwarf Shaman snorted softly but skewered and grilled the catch without complaint.

  The seven of them (including the girls) sat in a circle and waited for the fish to cook. Though they’d been so shy earlier, playing around seemed to have helped the girls relax, and now they sat there with just a single blanket over them. Their clothes, which hung over the firestone, were not yet dry, and they couldn’t put on any of their other clothes because their supply of outfits had to last until they reached town.

  Instead, they dried off their bodies, mopped their sopping hair, and waited eagerly for dinner.

  “Well, looks like everyone’s having a good time.” Dwarf Shaman pulled a variety of small bottles from his bag of catalysts. He opened each one, taking a whiff to check the smell, then distributed pinches onto the food.

  When at last they could hear the crackle of melting fat, he announced, “That should do it,” and distributed a skewer to each of them.

  Despite the simplicity of the meal, an enticing aroma wafted from it, no doubt thanks to Dwarf Shaman’s spices.

  High Elf Archer brought the food up
to her nose, giving it an experimental sniff, after which she glared at the dwarf. “…You know I can’t eat this.”

  “I just wanted you to feel included. Patience. If you won’t have it, I’m sure someone will.”

  “Hmph…” High Elf Archer’s long ears drooped as she looked the fish in its dead white eye, before tossing it to Priestess.

  “O-oh! I can’t possibly eat two of them…”

  High Elf Archer smirked. “What’s the matter? There’s a feast tomorrow, you might as well get some practice eating. I’ll have some dried beans.”

  “…All the more reason to make sure my stomach’s empty, then.” She grimaced at High Elf Archer, but the ranger ignored her. Priestess blew on her fish to cool it, starting in with little nibbles.

  The fat melted in her mouth with a slight bitterness, then a salty flavor spread across her palate. “Mm!” she exclaimed, her cheeks softening into a smile. Then, “Are we close?”

  Uh-huh. High Elf Archer nodded, popping open the beans she had retrieved from the luggage. “We’re probably right on the border between the forest and the village. They might even find us before we find them.”

  “So your older sister is going to be a bride,” Cow Girl said, taking a generous bite of her own fish and murmuring, “Mm, that’s good.” Then she said more loudly, “I’ll bet elf brides are gorgeous…”

  “Well, obviously!” High Elf Archer chuckled and puffed out her chest as if Cow Girl were talking about her. She spread her arms and elaborated: “My older sister is especially beautiful! She’s a high elf, after all!”

  Dwarf Shaman looked up from his meal long enough to interject, “You’re walking evidence of how that doesn’t prove anything.” But in her current mood, High Elf Archer was able to ignore even this slight against her.

  “Ho-ho-ho. I hope they will be welcoming toward a lizardman,” Lizard Priest said. He had taken a round of cheese from his luggage and was slicing away at it with his claws. He stuck pieces on his skewer, where he cooked them over the fire. His scaled hands hissed as they rubbed together in anticipation while he waited for the cheese to melt.

  “You really like cheese, don’t you?” Guild Girl said as she watched him. She was taking dainty bites of her own fish. “It seemed like you were something of a coordinator in that battle earlier. At least from what I could hear…?”

  “Administration has its own trials.”

  “Spare me the details. It’s all trouble.”

  So many things to think about. Guild Girl smiled ambiguously; no doubt she had more than enough concerns of her own.

  In fact, neither adventurers nor staff knew that much about the day-to-day work of the other. There were so few opportunities to experience either the danger of adventure or the brutality of desk work.

  “I’ve had some really informative experiences on this trip. Even if they were a little scary.”

  Sorry, High Elf Archer seemed to say, her ears drooping again. “When we get to the village, I’ll be sure someone gets a piece of my mind. ‘What are your guards doing?!’ That sort of thing.”

  “I’ll have to be sure to greet your sister properly, though,” Guild Girl said. “I need to let her know how much I appreciate all you do for us.”

  High Elf Archer scratched her cheek as if embarrassed. “Going to my sister with that sort of thing is all well and good. But as for my older brother…”

  “You have an older brother?” Goblin Slayer asked quietly, in between stuffing pieces of fish into his visor.

  Well, I mean cousin. High Elf Archer answered shortly, her pointer finger drawing circles in the air. “I can’t quite remember what you humans call it. A brother-in-law-to-be?”

  “You mean the groom?”

  “Yeah, that’s it,” she said with a nod. She popped more food into her mouth and looked at the sky. It was already nearly black, a medley of stars just visible through the leaves of the trees. With a cadence like music, High Elf Archer explained that the elves called this the “rain gate.”

  “My cousin,” she said, “he’s been crazy about my sister for ages, acting all big about it!”

  “Well, pride is certainly the one thing everyone associates with elves!” Dwarf Shaman quipped.

  “Exactly!” High Elf Archer replied. “He’s a real elf’s elf.”

  “But if they’re getting married…,” Priestess said, putting a finger to her chin in thought. Then she smiled as the answer came to her. “Your sister must have figured out that he cared about her!”

  “He wasn’t exactly subtle about it. Not that I know what she sees in him. It all seems like a lot of trouble to me.” Then came that tinkling laughter. High Elf Archer hugged her knees. “You know what elves do when they want to get someone’s attention? They sing to them.” Her voice was quiet, as if she was revealing a secret, and carried just a hint of mischief. “He went around singing this epic ballad about all his great martial achievements, until he got beat up.”

  “Ah. Some bandits got him?” Lizard Priest asked with amusement.

  “No—my sister did!”

  The entire party laughed.

  High Elf Archer shared one story of old times after another, tales she could never have told at a wedding reception. Like the time her cousin had wanted to catch a deer as a gift but failed. Or the time he had gotten sick, and her sister had been so worried about him that she couldn’t sleep and ended up catching cold herself. There was the time her sister had overcooked some baked treats (an uncharacteristic lapse), but her cousin had eaten them all with a straight face.

  There was the fact that High Elf Archer had learned everything she knew about herbs, fruits, and more from her sister, while her cousin had taught her archery and how to cross a field in a hurry.

  Or when she’d said she was going to leave their village, her sister was opposed, but her cousin supported her…

  She had spent two thousand years in these woods. There were so many memories scattered throughout those changeless, ever-turning days.

  In the middle of this flood of stories, Goblin Slayer said, “So this is your home.”

  “That’s right.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Well—” High Elf Archer’s eyes narrowed like a smiling cat’s. “It’s where my heart is.”

  Goblin Slayer nodded. Cow Girl blinked at him for a moment.

  Then he said, “And there are goblins near it.”

  The note of anger in his voice was unmistakable.

  The place was strange, eerie.

  The sun was just rising, a hint of light coming from just beyond the horizon. The sky, where it was visible through the branches, was a deep blue.

  Goblin Slayer rifled through his item bag in the predawn light. From the simple sleeping area behind him, beyond some bug netting, came soft groans and gentle snoring.

  It was Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman, both of whom were still asleep. The dwarf might not get up until breakfast, but the lizardman would awaken come dawn.

  As for the women, Priestess would already be up and at her prayers beside her bed. Guild Girl woke up at the same time each day, which was before breakfast; she said it was most convenient for her work. Cow Girl would soon be awake as well.

  High Elf Archer had taken an early shift of guard duty as she planned to sleep until someone roused her.

  A party that didn’t let its spell casters get sufficient rest was a party that would soon be destroyed. For that reason, High Elf Archer and Goblin Slayer traded off turns on the watch. As it happened, Goblin Slayer was quite happy to take the later shift.

  From midnight until dawn, he had no desire to sleep. The chance to let someone else watch from evening until the dark of the night, while he rested, was something new this year, a small—

  “Luxury, perhaps.” He put some fragrant herbs through the visor of his helmet and chewed on them. A bitter flavor spread from his throat up to his brain, stimulating his focus. He crunched down on the tough leaves a second time.

  Y
es, the place was eerie.

  Goblin Slayer adjusted his grip on his sword so that he could draw it at any time.

  Would the goblins gang up and attack us in the middle of the day?

  Attack a group of armed adventurers, perhaps assuming that the element of surprise overcame any disparity in armament.

  Was it possible?

  Above all, there was the wolf pack to consider. Goblins were bad enough, but they had a contingent of riders. Imagine the resources that must take to support.

  And yet they are able to do it.

  Food. Stables. Equipment. And amusements—yes, amusements.

  Was that why they were attacking the boats?

  They were located directly beside the elf village. Why had they built such an elaborate operation?

  What for? What were they planning?

  Goblin Slayer chewed the leaf once, twice, three times more.

  His thoughts came in a flurry of disconnected ideas, bubbling up and then disappearing.

  Suddenly, a voice called out.

  “Awaken, on your feet! Where do you varlets think you are?”

  A gust of wind through the woods carried the interrogation to them.

  Goblin Slayer whipped out his sword and jumped to his feet. He found himself, however, met with an obsidian blade.

  With great annoyance, he looked up at the weapon’s owner.

  Someone was standing on the raised floor, having torn aside the bug netting. The sun was at his back, but it was clear he was—

  “An elf?”

  “Indeed. And this is our territory.”

  The one who spoke so proudly was an elf warrior, young and beautiful—as all elves are. He wore leather armor, carried a bow, and had a quiver of bud-tipped arrows at his hip.

  More striking than anything, though, was the armor protecting his head. It was a shining headpiece made of mithril.

  The elf with the shimmering headpiece regarded Goblin Slayer balefully, his expression suspicious.

  “…Do you really fight with that sword?” the elf asked.

  “Against goblins, yes,” Goblin Slayer replied evenly.