Important Notice: Read the manga for the Goblin Slayer Side Story II: Dai Katana. The following prologue had plenty that was lifted straight from it. I don't own anything.
More than half is my own original writing but the beginning parts (especially some of the dialogue) are not mine! Those said parts are my own novelization of the first to third chapters of the original manga.
As I have not read the light novel, if there are too similar wordings/phrases/sentencing with how I wrote this, then I will as soon as possible rewrite this fic!
Written for fun. Lots of terms feel too similar to my other fic…
What happened in the beginning has been lost to legends.
Was it a miserable farmer that dug up a keystone or was it a foolish boy that destroyed a shrine's seal? A firestone from the sky?
No matter the cause, it didn't take long before 'Death' started flowing out over the continent. Diseases spread with the wind, swallowing up people and raising the dead.
The trees withered.
The air grew stagnant.
The water turned bad.
The King of that time then proclaimed,
"Find the source of 'Death' and seal it away."
They gathered brave heroes from all over the continent.
However…
They all got swallowed up by 'Death' and their corpses desecrated.
The only thing that remained was the words from one party:
"Farthest to the north is the mouth of 'Death'."
No one remembers who said it. The adventurers were also swallowed by 'Death' since long ago.
'The Dungeon of the Dead'
On the steps to death's door, to the depths of hell, people started to gather. And before long, Fortress City was made.
Adventurers would gather companions.
Challenge the dungeon.
Fight.
Acquire fortune… and occasionally died.
These glorious days seemed to continue forever and ever.
The wealth kept flowing, the monsters kept coming, and the hacking and slashing continued on.
Life was bountiful and so one by one the adventurers got caught up living their dreams and lost interest.
All that remained next to 'Death' was some smoldering embers of days long gone by.
The ashes from the days of the adventurers.
Horrid, cruel laughter. Mocking her, humiliating her. If anybody were in her position, they would rightly be terrified of what the laughter foreboded. Regardless of what the hysteric howls and guffaws came from, be they human or demihuman or otherwise, there was no good at being the subject of such noises.
If they had come from a human or perhaps anyone as sentient and complex, there was an assortment of possibilities at why they could be laughing at someone. Perhaps if that someone had just made a fool of themselves and the consequence of such was the ridicule from those around.
Lighthearted. Comedic. Maybe someone could say that it was wrong of them to laugh but such overly righteous people would only be deemed uncomedic, a stick in the mud.
But such sentient living creatures were capable of cruelty that required tact and intellect, and when it all fell into place, and whomever they wanted to find pleasure in making miserable fell into darkness, the wicked creature would cackle in twisted joy.
The creatures – no, monsters laughing at her were not capable of such things.
They were foolish, but they were not mindless.
They were mocked as weak, but their brethren could stand against the mighty that scorned them. And it only made it easier for these monsters to take advantage of their arrogance and enact their own ways of finding abominable entertainment.
Filthy and barbaric monsters that only found pleasure in fulfilling their base desires of immorality.
They were none other than, the goblins. Green rough-skinned little humanoids that are treated as mere pests of human villages, intent on stealing livestock and women. Their quick methods of reproducing being the most hideous yet the most dangerous factor.
And right now, they had successfully lured and beaten down a lone adventurer wandering in their cave. A blonde maiden that couldn't have been older than sixteen, and to the goblins, smelled delicious to both their drooling mouths and their perverted lust.
They had been wary of the weapon that the girl held but not enough to scare them away from ambushing her from the shadows of the cave, dimly lit by the torch that she held. Before they could knock her to the ground and hold down her arms and legs, she was able to kill two of their kind before her sword was caught against the cavern wall.
With her guard down and weapon unable to be readied once more, their assault began as one by one they threw their claws, crude weapons, and bodies at the adventurer.
A rookie like her didn't stand a chance as she laid defeated on the ground, at the mercy of the goblins.
Since they could only be born as males, goblins needed to find and capture a female, their sick tastes preferring humans and elves, to become a breeding sow. Now that they managed to easily capture a young and attractive girl, there was only one thing that awaited her now.
However, as they were about to have their way with her, one of the goblins found it an entertaining idea to make the girl suffer and cry out in even more agony before they would begin violating her to their heart's content. Picking up the still-lit torch that had fallen on the cavern floor, it excitedly made its way in front of the blonde girl, gathering the attention of its fellow goblins, and shoved the fire in the maiden's face.
The intense burning torment assaulted her eyes and she screamed as much as her throat could allow, her shrieks only delighting the goblins more. Dancing around in a frenzy, their lust abated so that they could enjoy the pain in the adventurer's voice, their howls bounced off the earthen walls and became loud enough to deafen the girl. Only pain and fear existed in her mind, their echoing voices breaking any coherent thoughts, her eyes and face screaming for the flame to be put out, fear for what was to come next.
Their sadism would not die down, vile and rotten creatures as they were, they drew blood from the girl with their filthy claws and rusted blades and felt pleasure in her cries of pain. There would be no doubt that the injuries would scar her body even if she made it through this ordeal alive and traumatized. Such actions would only be mercy compared to the dark enjoyment they would have as soon as they tired of just making her suffer.
Soon after torturing the girl to near unconsciousness, taking their sweet time before the main event, one of the sullen goblins that had been shafted to being the lookout for any new wanderers, suddenly yelled something in their tongue.
Frustrated at having been halted, they reluctantly stopped the process of stripping the girl of her clothes and stayed silent, observing for the strange sound that their lookout had heard.
And then they heard it.
Heavy footsteps pounded across the floor, the shriek of metal grinding on the rock as something was dragged through the ground, something was coming and the goblins were high on alert.
The girl could wait. Another one had come to meet their fate.
The maiden who almost had her clothes forcefully torn off could not see where the goblins had gone, their hands that had been greedily groping her had vanished. The voices of glee that surrounded her was replaced with the aggressive growls and the ear-piercing noise coming from somewhere.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
She heard one goblin's footsteps sound out, disappearing as it went further away and towards where the noise was coming from. The next sound that came resembled what a large fruit being smashed open by a hefty solid something would most likely sound like. And then the noise grating on earth continued, unfazed by what had just happened.
The goblins began to feel to anger, irritation and deep inside, an irrational fear of what was coming from the dark. The growls and light footsteps of their brother who had gone to attack whatever was approaching had not resounded after that noise of crushed flesh. It seemed as if attacking on masse would do them better and they rushed forward to bury their crude weapons into what took their fellow.
The maiden shakingly felt something more sinister than a goblin coming as more and more sounds of ripping, tearing, and something heavy being swung in the narrow cave without any mercy in its force.
There was silence, and then the pounding footsteps returned, but nowhere was the grating noise. The fear for her life had come back, doubled by not being able to even open her eyes as the burning sensation was still there. But a sliver of a fight entered her heart and she felt around for the torch that a goblin had dropped near her and thrust it at the presence that was nearing.
The footsteps stopped a short distance away from her, as if her pitiful attempt at warding it away had been successful. But the small hope within her had been sunk as she felt her grip on the torch being forced from her hands, pulled away from her, grabbed from what felt like its searing end like the fire had meant nothing. She waited her doom but was greeted with something else.
"Are you… injured?"
A raspy voice, from someone that sounded like they hadn't spoken in a long time. The strangest part about it, was that it belonged to a boy just as young as she was, possibly even younger.
True enough, the figure that she could not see, couldn't have been old enough to even be called a young man and his height said just as much. A spiked helmeted boy wearing heavy dark armor that didn't suit his stature, small traces of black at the ends of a messy matt of grey hair that partially obscured the almost glowing crimson eyes staring down at the defeated blonde. Though she could not see it, her experience working with holy magic allowed her to feel the presence of something dark and unholy by in his hand.
A bastard sword that was unwieldable in a tight battleground like a cave, if it had been anybody else brandishing it, then in their inexperience they would have swung the sword haphazardly and be met with the cave's ceiling or walls. The blade was almost as tall as its owner, if planted down on the ground, it would easily reach the boy's chest. Its runes breathed magic that belonged to Non-Prayer monsters and it horrified the girl who had recognized what type would wield such a dangerous magic.
"D-Death K-Knight!"
The person that loomed over her prone figure paused whatever he was about to do.
"No, you are mistaken…"
The calm and almost emotionless voice responded, the sound of which that should have terrified her but strangely enough, helped soothe and assuage the horror that she experienced and would have been subjected more of in the hands of the goblins.
From the darkness that she could not see out of, a shadowy light emerged, forming the figure of the boy that stood before her.
The silhouette of a hollowed warrior.
Her knight in black plated metal.
A profane savior with a vendetta against detestable little green men.
An armored young boy more broken in spirit than she could possibly imagine.
"I am Goblin Slayer."
Her hands reached out to the voice and his gauntleted hand grasped it.
Captain entered the Golden Knight Tavern with his party members, a well-endowed purple-haired wizard and a dark-skinned half-elf scout. As brand-new adventurers hoping to challenge the 'Dungeon of the Dead', sans the half-elf who was already an experienced adventurer, the other two had recently arrived to Fortress City and thinking of getting a little rest before they started planning their next move.
"Excuse me, coming through!" A feline demihuman waitress loudly said, her path of delivering alcoholic refreshments being blocked by Captain's form. Moving out of the way, he glanced around for a place to settle with his companions before hearing Half-Elf scout yell out.
"Hey! Captain! Nee-san!"
Looking at where he heard the half-elf had called out from, Captain saw the distinct looking scout, with his white hair and dark features, waving at him from another area of the tavern.
"There's a table over here!"
Moving towards where he was, their other companion, and the only other female in the party, walked behind him as she absentmindedly trailed after him while looking around at all of the adventurers in the room. A scarred man counting his gold coins with another person at the table who must have been his party member.
There weren't only human adventurers there too but demihumans as well, working with other races that were different from their own. Captain and his female wizard companion witnessed a lizardman and a human laughing over some conversation they were having and even a dark-elf working with another person.
So distracted was Captain that he had accidentally slowed down and allowed the person behind him to suddenly smack into the arm he raised to pull his hat down a little lower.
"Ow!"
Captain turned to look behind him and at his cousin, their party's "big sister" and the rearguard spellcaster that would deliver offensive and devastating attacks from a distance.
"Come on, why did you just stop like that all of a sudden? If you just stand there staring at everyone, people are gonna think you're some country bumpkin, you know?"
He didn't respond. Not even to point out that she was also the one who hadn't noticed him slow down in the first place.
"We can't let our guard down just because we managed to become adventurers," she pointed out like it was a matter of fact.
She sighed and shrugged with her hands to her sides, "What would become of you if you didn't have your big sister with you?" Proudly smiling to herself as if she were his doting elder that had to be the one teaching him about such things.
The half-elf nearby who was watching their interaction chuckled and asked, "Nee-san, Captain, is it your first time here at a tavern?"
Waiting for them to come and sit at the table he had found just for them, he continued, "No matter what, once you've found a seat, the highest priority is to get some ale. That's the way of the adventurer."
Seeing a waitress that was nearby, he yelled out, "Therefore, excuse me, waitress!"
His female companion got his attention and tried to warn him, "Alcohol at noon already? Are you a rhea or what?"
Partially offended but mostly being humorous, he replied with a matter-of-fact statement.
"Elves and rheas are like siblings, while I'm a half-elf which is more like a cousin to them, so I'll that slide this time."
As his two companions chatted with each other, Captain noticed a young girl sitting at a table just a little further from them, one whose beauty could astound anyone. The one particular thing about her, however, was her pale eyes that could only indicate one thing.
The girl was blind.
"-ptain!"
"Captain!
Like he had been brought back into reality, Captain refocused his attention back to his party members that were trying to ask what he would be ordering from the waitress standing by.
"Sorry. What was it?"
"So are you fine with some ale, captain?" Half-Elf Scout asked.
"That's fine."
"I want some pressed fruit if you have that," Female Wizard added.
Ordering some food to go along with their beverages, it didn't take too long for the waitress to arrive with the party's requests. The three raised their mugs to each other as a toast to their beginnings as brand new adventurers in Fortress City.
"All right then, for good luck," their captain calmly saluted to his two party members.
After spending some time to eat, drink, and relax themselves, Half-Elf Scout decided to be the one to begin getting into business.
"Well then, what should we do after this, Captain?"
Female Wizard turned to look at him like the answer was obvious.
"What we're gonna do? Challenge the 'Dungeon of the Dead' of course. It's why we got here after all."
The scout rebutted, "Hold your horses there. No matter how you look at it, we're only three. We can't just waltz into the dungeon with that few members."
"We should find some more people first."
What better place to look for hopefully battle-oriented people than the place where other adventurers liked to congregate in: Fortress City's popular bar. Well, the scout knew of a better location to look for adventurers but he wanted a drink before they continued walking around the city, and so he had them visit the tavern first.
"I see," Captain replied.
"You got a point," his cousin admitted, "but that would be easier said than done. It's not easy to know who to recruit."
Stabbing into some of his leftover food, Half-Elf scout said, "You're right. If we consider that Captain is at the frontline, and me and Nee-san are in the rearguard…"
"A party usually consists of four to six people. So, we need one or two more frontliners and another magic user apart from Nee-san."
"If we have something like that, we would have a balanced team. Though more experienced ones are preferred, of course."
A sly smile grew on Female Wizard's face, "Oh my, are you saying that you will not be on the frontline?"
Not allowing himself to be provoked, Half-Elf scout only answered, "I mean, it's not like I can't be on the front but as a scout, I won't last long."
Their captain finally decided to speak up, "You sure know a lot. Have you entered the 'Dungeon of the Dead' before?"
"Ah, not really. I've only heard stuff so…"
"And? Do you have anyone in mind?" Female Wizard asked as she sipped on her mug filled with juice.
"Well… not really…"
"What should we do?"
Slam!
The doors of the tavern were suddenly blown open and those inside either quickly turned to see what had happened or were too used to this occurrence and ignored the two rough looking adventurers.
The two of them yelled out,
"Hey, appraiser!"
"Is the appraiser here!?"
Captain and his two companions looked over in part annoyance, part curiosity, at the rude duo that interrupted the conversation they were having.
"Man."
"Why are they so noisy? Can't they keep it down."
Surprisingly enough, a timid looking blonde sitting at a table in the room managed to speak up and stuttered out that she was the appraiser they were looking for.
"Oh, there you are appraiser," one of them said.
They approached her and the other adventurer asked, "Are you done with the stuff from yesterday?"
"Ah… y-yes… here's the evaluation…"
"Nice."
Passing a piece of paper to them, she reached down to get the equipment they had given her to be appraised while the two of them read what was written down.
She knew that they would be upset by the contents and braced herself for it.
And as expected,
"Huh?"
"A dull sword, rusted chainmail, and a moldy leather armor?"
One of them turned furious,
"Hey appraiser, you're not trying anything funny now, are you?"
"No, I… I would never…"
The eye-patched one sat himself down next to her and slammed his boot down on the table, frightening the girl and putting even heavier pressure on her.
"I'm sure you know what will happen if you try to fool us. Give us the real evaluation, will ya?"
Meanwhile, with the three-member party, they had been observing the entire incident and couldn't help but pity the girl.
"What the… that's… extortion, right?"
Female Wizard's companions would not give an answer, preferring to stay silent and mulling over their own thoughts about what was happening.
Half-Elf Scout decided that knowing more about who the people involved would help them find a decision, and noticing a waitress would be coming by, it looked like he'd find an opportunity to get some information.
"Waitress, a moment please?"
"Coming!" Said the cat-eared waitress who held up a notepad and a feathered pen to take his order.
"So first, a refill on the ale. Also, could you tell me what is going on over there with all the shouting around that girl?"
Her face adopted a mischievous expression, misunderstanding him, and teased the young man.
"Really now? You gonna hit on her?"
"Well you could say that."
Seeming like the half-elf was simply interested in knowing why the blonde girl was being targeted by a bunch of belligerent adventurers, rather than the girl herself, the waitress told him what he wanted to know.
"I can't say I've heard more than rumors. But it seems like there was a mishap during her first adventure."
"A mishap?"
"It's not a nice story… But she ended up here in this Fortress City."
"But the rumor of her mishap started to spread. So, right now…"
"That makes sense, adventurers stand and die by their own reputation, right?"
"Well… sure I guess that's sort of the reason."
The half-elf looked at her in confusion and he explained himself.
"Well you need to be able to trust your partners after all. And if you can't adventure on your own then you can't earn money to feed yourself."
She was about to say something but was cut off.
"Such a cruel world we live in," noticing a strange expression on Captain's face, "Hm? Why are you making that face, Captain?"
"It's nothing. What does she do nowadays?"
"So that's what it was, huh? She's an appraiser, you know."
"An appraiser?" Captain asked.
Half-Elf Scout took it to explain to his companion, "Yes, for example, you find some treasure in a dungeon but it isn't certain that you know what that reassure really is."
Still looking at a loss, he continued, "Therefore, you need to verify what kind of effects it has, how much it's worth or if it's cursed or something."
"That's what an appraiser can investigate for you."
Captain interjected him to ask a question.
"But can't you do that at a weapon shop as well?"
The half-elf was more than competent enough about the topic to answer him.
"That's true but you often more than cover the appraisal fee with the amount you get from selling known items. So, doing an appraisement beforehand is better."
"I see."
Female Wizard, who had a knowledge of different types of magic, added what she had on her mind, "But if she knows how to do appraisal work… then she is able to ascertain the true nature of items. Which means she has to be at least a bishop of the Supreme God."
Captain thought to himself for a bit and mumbled, "So she's an adventurer and a high-level priest, would it really make sense for her to be all alone now?"
"To think that a person like that does not have any companions. That is simply awful."
The cat-eared waitress that was listening so intently, not having been allowed to finish telling them all of the rumors surrounding the girl, finally found an opening to interrupt them.
"Oh, that's what I was about to tell you."
Getting the three's attention, the party of adventurers turned to look at the waitress.
"Hm?"
"She does have a companion and it's the reason for-!"
The waitress stopped herself suddenly.
"The reason for what?"
Out of three in the party, Captain was the first to notice the abrupt disappearance of the chatter that surrounded the tavern. Half-Elf Scout and Female Wizard were the next to observe the silence, and all three looked around to see what had happened.
Almost the entirety of the occupants in the room had their heads turned to the tavern's entry, even those that had ignored the two adventurers' rude entrance.
After all, no foolish adventurer would dare to ignore such a dark and imposing figure.
Though he was but a child no older than fourteen, the armor he wore that was much too large for him still cut a sinister appearance. Black metal plates and spiked at the ends of several areas of the armor, pauldrons that would have much better fit the broad shoulders of a grown man, clawed gauntlets and heavy metal boots.
On top of it all was a horned helmet with a visor that let the boy see through it, a malevolent red seeming to radiate out and pierce through those his glare was the target of.
He would have looked silly at first if one did not notice that at his side was a sheathed longsword that cast an unholy aura around him.
There was no mistake in the minds of everyone in the tavern.
This was a Non-Prayer.
A Death Knight.
They should have stood up as soon as they recognized what it was. But fear and despair gripped them down and those that had the will to struggle against it, forced the dread down and fixed their eyes at the monster for its next action.
They thought to themselves,
Had the city fallen?
Have the dead escaped the dungeon?
Will more come if they try and kill it?
Where were the city's protectors?
What was it doing here in the middle of the city?
It took a step, and the another. Heavy and pounding on the wooden floor, like what was walking wasn't a young boy but an adult man. It was approaching one of the tables with three occupants, one of which was the blonde being yelled at by two adventurers unaware of what was currently happening outside of their attempt at harassing the poor girl.
"I'm sorry, I don't know. It's got to be…"
"I can't believe it!"
"If you don't know, then look into it!"
"Ugh, you're useless. Just like that other time you messed up, huh?"
"What was it now, goblin hunting, right?"
The girl shook at the mention of them.
"You actually managed to fail against goblins. Did you have that look on your face at that time as well?"
One of the two got close, his hand approaching to touch her.
"How about doing some other 'work'?"
The girl prepared herself for what was to come.
But just like before, he was there once again.
Cold metal gripped onto the hand that was about to lay a hand on her.
"What you-!?"
Beneath the visor, whoever was inside, unleashed an unspeakable terror into the man.
There was no magic. There was no trick. There was no skill.
It was only the one inside the dark armor showing his seemingly glowing red eye.
People say that the eyes were a window to a person's soul. And what the man saw inside reduced his will, sucked away any bravado he was about to use to intimidate the one that stopped his hand, and forced his legs to give away.
Left shaking down on the floor, the man looked to his comrade in arms and found no hope in the fear that reflected in his eyes.
Not a single eye was not on what was about to transpire.
Captain readied his blade.
There was only one good guess at what was about to happen. After all, the dark armored monster had its gauntleted hand on the hilt of his sheathed blade.
A slaughter would begin.
But…
"Leave."
The raspy voice of a young boy startled the onlookers and even Captain himself. No one could have expected that kind of voice from something that looked so horrifying.
"W-what…?"
"I said leave."
The one on the floor looked at his partner again in a mix of confusion and terror.
"Now."
Not needing anything more than that, the two of them scrambled in a rush to get out, leaving behind their appraised equipment for the sake of getting away from the monster.
The tavern and the people inside were still.
What now?
Should they attack the armored monster?
Why did it tell those two adventurers to leave?
Why had it not slaughtered them instead?
The first person to move was Captain, who had silently crept up from where he was seated and had a steady hand nearby his own sheathed blade and was slowly advancing step by step in case things became bloody.
However, the girl that had been staring at the death knight suddenly took action and what happened next made everyone's jaws drop at the absurdity.
The maiden that looked like she belonged among the nuns in the city's church stood up and ran at the unholy presence and then pulled herself onto it in an embrace.
"Thank you!"
Captain had to blink and take a doubletake, the hand on his blade dropped.
Half-Elf Scout had an expression of someone that saw a person sprout wings and fly.
But Female Wizard had a different way of thinking about what was happening.
"What a gentleman!"
The collective around her that heard what she said thought about ordering more ale just in the hopes that the alcohol could help them understand what in the world she just said.
"Alright, all of you go back to your drinks, I'll be handling this."
Under all of the unbelievable events happening, someone that had been standing idly by the entrance in the hopes that the armored monster would have attacked the two adventurers was the only person that could probably resolve this.
The knight of diamonds, Diamond Knight.
"Don't wander away from me."
The knight said as he approached the death knight still being embraced by the blonde maiden.
"My friend was in trouble."
The maiden almost swooned, looking quite strange since she was just a bit taller than the boy in black armor.
"Either way, the guards won't hesitate to attack you if you're wandering around by yourself in the city."
"I was back from killing goblins."
"Yes, I'm aware. I had to personally escort you back into the city."
"Thank you."
Diamond Knight raised a hand to his handsome face in a state of clear frustration and yet the boy he was so exasperated with, could not see just how much he annoyed the knight was with him.
Raising his head up, he glanced over at the other person that had been creeping forward until he stepped in and looked down at the blade the person must have been readying to cut down the boy he was escorting.
Diamond Knight felt another wave of vexation cross his features.
"A strong spirit is good but it can get you killed. The difference between people with dungeon experience and those without is too great."
The man with the straw hat gave no response.
"You wouldn't have gotten away unscathed if you drew that sword against this boy. But I suppose that shows something about you. Perhaps you are also here to challenge the dungeon?"
The knight leaned in further to emphasize his next point.
"If so, don't take things lightly. Those two from awhile ago were in a six-man party yesterday. Now they're only two. You understand what happened, right?"
Captain knew exactly what Diamond Knight was trying to imply and he shuddered at what the knight said next.
"They got swallowed by the dungeon's death."
Diamond Knight moved to return to talking with the boy in dark armor but before he did,
"Even Lords need to be careful."
He tapped Captain's shoulder.
"You got a good sword."
And then walked away, releasing Captain from the pressure of just speaking with Diamond Knight.
"Death Knight."
The boy who had been shuffling himself ever so slightly, uncomfortable with how long the blonde maiden at his side was still intimately sticking close to him, shifted his visor to see Diamond Knight approaching them.
"I am Goblin Slayer."
"While you're staying in the city, you'll be titled as Death Knight."
"I don't understand."
"You don't have to. It's just what the Guild and the higher ups want."
"I see."
Diamond Knight sighed, holding back the urge to just have him thrown out, and then called for the attention of the girl next to the death knight.
"You there, you're a priestess, am I correct?"
The girl nodded in the direction of where she heard that voice call her from.
"Don't let this one off your side. Not even when he's off to hunt goblins."
She paled and her breath hitched, but as she clutched onto the gauntlet of the one that had saved her, an incongruous feeling of reassurance and warmth from holding onto his cold armor.
"I will."
"Good, that's one problem that I won't have to spend so much time one."
"And Death Knight."
"Yes?"
"If you're taking her into the dungeon, place your life on the line for her, am I clear?"
"Alright."
While the boy still indirectly managed to aggravate him with how he spoke, Diamond Knight was satisfied for once with his curt answer.
"Then, I shall take my leave."
With that said, the knight left without another word and without needing any farewells in return.
The rest of the people in the tavern had no clue what to do next, but for now it seemed like the dark armored thing wasn't a threat and they could probably return to their drinks and food.
It took some time but an idle chatter started settling into the surroundings and the adventurers dropped the tension in favor of going back to what they were doing. Though the atmosphere was quite dampened as compared to before, there was no helping it until the strange boy left and they were allowed to speak about him behind his back.
Three people had a different idea, however, and the one girl in their party was the first to go up to the two currently in the center of everyone's attention.
"Hey, you there, you were so cool!"
A busty purple-haired girl said, getting the boy to turn his visor at her and the priestess to look at her, or rather look at the direction where she heard the gushing voice had come from, with a little suspicion.
"It's reassuring to know that there are gentlemen like you around!"
A half-elf dressed like a scout walked up next to the tall one wearing a straw hat and nudged him lightly, saying,
"I gotta hand it to you Captain, managing to walk up to this guy while all that was happening was pretty cool too."
Leaning a bit close to whisper in his ear, "You're thinking the same thing as I am, right?"
"Maybe… I would have preferred if it was just the girl but…"
"Yeah, it looks like it's a package deal. She was just specifically asked to watch over him."
"It might not be difficult to ask the priestess, the knight on the other hand…"
"I'll see if we can invite them over to talk, alright?"
Stepping away from Captain, Half-Elf Scout walked over to Female Wizard who was trying to have a chat with the death knight but unsuccessfully getting much from him.
"Mind if we can have a chat with the two of you, Sir Death Knight and Miss High Priestess?" the half-elf said, pointing a thumb at the table they had been using.
Goblin Slayer, or as Diamond Knight had ordered him to be called, Death Knight looked at the three with confusion, his head tilted slightly to the side.
"Who are you three?"
The most adept at social situations and conversation took it upon himself to answer.
"Well, Sir Death Knight, we're brand new adventurers in the city, and we came here to take on the 'Dungeon of the Dead'," Half-Elf Scout said.
"I see."
"And we're actually looking for new members to fill up our party since it's just the three of us right now."
"I see."
Half-Elf Scout felt his sweat drop.
"…And we were hoping to find some more people to fill up our frontline and backline…"
"I see."
Half-Elf Scout's smile strained itself.
"…Maybe someone who can use healing magic and an armored warrior that could protect her…"
"Is that so?"
Half-Elf Scout's train of mind stopped thinking for just a second.
In that small amount of time, Captain walked forward to ask directly.
"We have a job for you two."
"Is it about goblins?"
"No."
Death Knight's interest had disappeared and he turned to leave for the doors to exit the tavern, expecting his companion, or perhaps his 'ward', High Priestess, to follow suit.
"W-wait," surprisingly it was High Priestess who had stopped him from departing, "can we hear what they have to say first?"
"Okay," was his immediate reply and she smiled brightly at him for listening to her.
Captain and Half-Elf Scout would not bother to complain about the peculiarity of the couple and were simply satisfied that Death Knight was allowing them to speak their piece.
"Please, come to our table and let's talk."
A little while later, the five found themselves situated in one table with a new batch of beverages handed to them by a waitress who was wondering the same as the others were.
Would the knight in dark armor take off his horned helmet to drink or not?
The answer to that was the boy taking one of the mugs and putting it up to his visor and spilling the liquid into it, making the others stare at him in complete bafflement.
"Aren't you going to take off your helmet?" Female Wizard asked.
"No."
"But why?"
"Goblins could strike me down from behind."
"But there aren't any goblins in the middle of the city…"
"I see."
Despite what he said, Death Knight gave no indication that he would be taking his helmet off.
"So… you want us to join your party, yes?" High Priestess asked.
"A bishop with experience in adventuring and has appraisal skills as well. If you compare that to us, it should be us begging you to take us with you," Female Wizard praised.
"And since we overheard that diamond guy saying that you're supposed to be always be next to this guy or else he'd get in trouble, it would be fantastic if Sir Death Knight also agreed to join our party as well!" Half-Elf Scout added.
"That blade of yours, can you wield it?" Captain inquired of the boy in black armor.
"Yes, I use it to kill goblins."
The three of them were starting to find that Death Knight was a little too obsessed with those types of monsters now.
"Ermm… Can I ask why you two came to this city?" Female Wizard asked, trying to indirectly figure out why nothing but goblins existed in the boy's head.
High Priestess was the first to answer, "After my first mission… I went here so that even if I couldn't go into the dungeon, I wanted to find a way to help…"
"Help to save the world?" Captain asked.
The girl nodded ever so slightly.
"Then what about you, Sir Death Knight?"
"Goblins."
The three looked at each other, once again confused by what he said.
"But I just told you… there aren't any goblins in the city…"
"My master told me to go here after he trained me."
"Your master?"
"He taught me how to slay and fight."
Ignoring how disturbing that sounded, Female Wizard continued to ask another question.
"What kind of person was he to train such a young child?"
"He said that his sword was bound to me by accident."
"Like a magic enchantment?"
"I don't know."
"Then because of that, he decided to teach you how to use that sword you've got with you?"
"Yes."
"And what about that spooky armor you've got on?"
"It's heavy."
"Yeah… we can see that…"
"But did your master give it to you too?"
"Yes. He said it would fit me when I got older."
"No wonder, it looks way bigger than you. But why would he give you that instead of something that fit you better?"
"I don't know."
Captain raised his only question, and depending on the boy's answer he had another one to ask.
"Are you truly a death knight?"
"My master said so."
"…Then what kind of master can discipline a Non-Prayer class?"
The answer was left unsaid but those at the table knew exactly what it was.
A Non-Prayer itself.
"Why did your master point you here?"
"I don't know."
The three were puzzled, the boy practically knew nothing about this master of his and what his intentions were with the boy. Half-Elf Scout did have a theory in mind, but as of that moment, persuading him to join their party was more important and he might have just gotten a good idea on how to go about it.
Whether they could trust the boy in the dungeon was still a mystery, but given how he was only interested in goblins, clearly his master had mentored the wrong person for whatever ambition he had.
"Did you come from far away, Sir Death Knight?"
"I suppose."
"Were you hunting down goblins along the way?"
"Yes."
"Then perhaps you noticed little differences in them as you got closer? Like behaviors and numbers?"
"They were much smarter, better at fighting."
Half-Elf Scout would have almost smirked but settled with a proud grin on his face.
"Then those things must have escaped from the 'Dungeon of the Dead!' Most likely from before Fortress City was firmly established!"
"Eh? Then why would goblins still be around these parts' wildernesses?" Asked Female Wizard.
"The city probably thinks they aren't worth the effort and leave it to adventurers."
"They have been alive for far too long," Death Knight spoke, "learned to travel elsewhere or hide better."
Captain looked towards Half-Elf Scout and the two shared a glance that conveyed what they were both thinking.
They've found a hook and they only needed the boy to take the bait.
"Sir Death Knight, may I ask you what's the one goal that brought you all the way here from far away and why you learned how to fight even though you're so young?"
The dark armored boy needed no time to think about his answer and from beneath his visor, a red glow of pure hatred emerged.
"I want to slay every last stinking goblin on this planet," his voice may have been a young boy's but to those that he sat alongside with, it could only resemble that of a demon that lived purely out of the loathing of life.
And they would thank the gods above that this demon only abhorred the little green cretins.
"T-then, what if I tell you that unless someone destroys the 'Dungeon of the Dead,' goblins and all other manners of monsters will pour out of there and into every city and village in the world."
"Then I will destroy whatever that is."
"Great! Your master or whoever must've sent you up here to do that!"
That was a most definitely a lie and though Half-Elf Scout didn't know the true reason why Death Knight was sent to Fortress City, he thought it was more likely that his master had ordered him to travel to the dungeon and bide time until the city was destroyed instead.
Unfortunately for that Non-Prayer, the irony was that they would use his own weapon for the opposite impetus.
"Then are you willing to join our party!?" Female Wizard excitedly asked.
Death Knight put a hand on the chin of his helmet and thought for a few seconds before responding.
"No."
"What!?"
"Why not!?"
He suddenly stood up, surprising the four that were there.
"I will destroy it myself."
High Priestess hurried to grab onto his arm, halting him from walking away once more.
"You can't face it alone!" Female Wizard yelled out.
"That's suicide!" Half-Elf Scout added.
"Sir Death Knight… please… you promised that knight that you wouldn't leave me…"
Technically, High Priestess was the one that had been told not to leave him and he promised the knight that he would forsake his life to protect her but nobody was willing or even thinking to correct her.
Captain spoke last, "You will need more than the strength of one person to destroy the dungeon. There are monsters far stronger than goblins inside it."
The boy paused.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah! If you come with us, then together we can conquer it!"
"I see… then fine."
"You'll agree to party up with us?"
"If I must, then yes."
"Nice!" Female Wizard cheered.
"We just need one more frontliner then, Captain!"
The man wearing a straw hat didn't say anything about the boy's acceptance to join them but instead turned to High Priestess.
"And how about you? Would you mind joining us in our quest?"
"Well… if Sir Death Knight is going, then I must but… I haven't even challenged the dungeon. So, I'm just…"
Half-Elf Scout took a swig of his ale at succeeding to coax Death Knight into their party but it seemed like High Priestess needed just a bit more motivation to travel alongside them other than deeming it necessary so that she was beside the boy in dark armor at all times.
"Hey now, you don't have to put it like that. Excluding me, both Captain and Nee-san don't have any experience fighting the dungeon. They're just some novices."
"Have you ever been in the 'Dungeon of the Dead,' Sir Death Knight?"
"I've never heard of it before."
"I guess that's to be expected from a kid growing up in a village far away… but for me, I was moved by Captain's strong ambitions to challenge the dungeon, so I've decided to accompany them."
Half-Elf Scout stood and thrust a thumb to his chest and declared out loud,
"So one day! My name will be known all across the world as the one who unearthed all the dungeon's secrets!"
A brief silence followed, and then Female Wizard decided to ruin her companion's little moment.
"Did you two know that he ended up in a tree after pestering a magic-wielder. That must've been rough, right?"
The half-elf sat back down in embarrassment while Female Wizard continued to speak.
"I cannot deny the fact that I do not have much experience as a magician. It's the same for my broth-"
"I'm her cousin."
"-As you can see, he's more bark than bite."
A soft silence came as they waited for the girl to give her answer.
"…Understood, if you're fine with me, then I accept… and you'll be with me, right?"
The last portion was directed to the dark armored boy sitting beside her.
"Yes."
Pleased with their brand-new additions to their team, the three-member party welcomed the two with open arms. Well, High Priestess was, although Female Wizard was more than happy enough to accept Death Knight into their ranks, the same could not be said of her two companions.
The Death Knight would have to prove himself in the dungeon if was to earn their trust.
But slapping his hands together to get everyone's attention, Half-Elf Scout declared what their next action to do would be.
"Alright! Shall we head to the temple then?"
"The temple?"
"We still need one more person, right?"
"Maybe two… just in case," said their captain, implying something to the half-elf, who understood what he was trying to get at.
"Yeah, I gotcha."
"Didn't you say four to six members in a party was the normal?" Asked Female Wizard.
"I'm not completely sure where Sir Death Knight will be positioned just yet... A Non-Prayer class isn't anything I've ever worked with."
"What about Dark Elves, haven't you worked with one before?"
"Something like that but a death knight's completely different from them and we still don't know how good he is in battle."
"I guess…"
"I can kill goblins."
Half-Elf Scout awkwardly laughed at Death Knight's attempt to prove his mettle.
"Don't worry, seven members shouldn't have such a significant disadvantage, and if we can't find another person, then we'll still be a six-man party. Right now, we'll focus on actually having six people in our party."
"And you're saying that we can find someone to join us in the temple?"
"A lot of different people gather at the temple, people separated from their party, getting treatment, praying to the gods or begging for money. If you're looking for adventurers, it's the best place to look."
Raising a hand up, High Priestess let everyone what that she had something to say.
"I-I could probably guide you there. I've only been there once before but they introduced me to the place."
"That would be good."
"Oh, could you put in a good word for us then?"
"Well, their highest priority is to help people, so there is no need for that."
Half-Elf Scout was the first to stand up from his seat, "Well then, let's go ask them!"
Following suit with the half-elf, the others rose to exit the tavern.
High Priestess panicked a little at her new friends' suddenness, fumbling to get her sword, only to have the boy in dark armor hand it to her before motioning to get a move on.
Her cheeks tinted themselves a light pink and she took the sword from him before grabbing his gauntlet and pulled him along as she hurried to catch up with their brand-new companions.
"Oh man. And here I thought that we were actually heading for the temple, not doing some shopping trip… Why is it that women love shopping so darn much?"
Half-Elf Scout gave a long sigh of boredom.
"I expected it to only be adventurers here. I thought that Fortress City being this close to the dungeon would've been less bustling."
Came the reply of his Captain, staying out of the scout's discussion.
"Cities are in no danger of goblins. Just small villages."
Their third male companion added, having only goblins in mind.
"Well, even the treasures from the dungeon would just be some pretty rocks without a way to spend them. And coins just metal pieces."
"So, both adventurers and merchants are taking their share of the dungeon's wealth. Simple, right?" Half-Elf Scout said before flinging a coin to Captain.
"And as for you, what's up with you and goblins anyway?" Turning to Death Knight, Half-Elf Scout asked the biggest question he had in mind that he hadn't bothered to bring up earlier.
"They destroyed my village and killed my sister."
"Oh… I'm sorry for your loss…"
"I will avenge them."
"Best of luck to you then…"
"Once the dungeon falls, I will take my leave."
The atmosphere was much too heavy for any of the two to say anything else.
Meanwhile, their female party members were buying a strip of cloth for High Priestess to hide her eyes behind.
"So, it has to black?"
"Yes."
"Like that kid's armor?"
"…Yes…"
"How about this one then? Here, I'll put it on for you."
Tying it around her head, Female Wizard looked at the blonde's resulting appearance and nodded approvingly.
"I'll buy it for you and then let's hurry back, alright?"
"A-ah!"
"No, no, don't start arguing with me about that."
As soon as Female Wizard paid for the accessory, they made their way over to their male companions and she announced to them,
"Now servants, give me your thoughts and opinions."
"It's fine? I like that mysterious vibe it brings," were Half-Elf Scout's impressions, annoying Female Wizard at how uninspired his answer was.
"The black suits her, I think. Although I don't know much about accessories," were Captain's verdict on the matter.
"And what about you Sir Death Knight, what do you think of it?"
"I don't know," were his desponding words and Female Wizard smacked his helmeted head for it.
"Try another answer."
"It looks good."
Half-Elf Scout laughed heartily in the boy's expense and Female Wizard turned to berate him as well, High Priestess only shook her head with a small smile on her face, a faint blush on her face.
"Alright, everyone. Let's head over to the temple already."
The party of five turned to look at a large construction on a plateau, the only structure that sat atop the flat landform, and moved together towards it.
After some time, they were finally able to get past numerous housings and streets that separated them from the plateau and hiked up to the entrance of the temple. As they were about to enter the building, a man that might have been an adventurer shoved them out of the way as he left the temple.
From inside came a yell, "You greedy heretic! Get out of my sight!"
The man that the yelling must have been directed at muttered to himself audibly enough for the party of five to overheard, "Damn! Calling me a heretic. Those greedy priests…"
Light footsteps clacking on the temple's floor alerted them to an approaching nun.
"Oh? And who might you be?"
Not recognizing these new faces, the woman greeted them kindly, "Welcome to the god of trade's temple. What business do you have-!?"
A boy that was surrounded by an aura of unholiness made the nun take a step back and stop herself from continuing.
"Why have you brought this foul monster here!?"
"Whoa, lady, calm down! He's just an adventurer like us!"
"I'm afraid I cannot let that one enter this hallowed ground!"
The rest of the party was put into a tough situation but the boy elected to stay outside as long as the four finished their business inside, although High Priestess and Female Wizard were more reluctant about his decision.
But it couldn't be helped. The boy did not simply look like a death knight, because if his words and Diamond Knight's were to be believed, their newest party member was a genuine Non-Prayer, a death knight, and the ramifications of him entering a temple would be far too much trouble than it was worth.
It didn't help that the dark armored youth looked like he was feeling uncomfortable from just being nearby the temple. Whether it was the effects of the holy area giving him a status defect or he was just distressed by the woman's clear distaste, it was apparent that the boy was just as wary of entering the temple as the nun.
"Alright, we'll go in while you stay outside, we'll be back, alright?"
"Yes."
Once the four entered, the nun gave the boy one final glare before shutting the wooden doors and leaving him outside. With nothing to do, Death Knight took a few steps away until his feet stepped on grassy earth and sat down to face a cliffside of the plateau that overlooked the city beneath him.
He had never been in a large city like this. His thoughts dwelling on a childhood friend of his that would have most likely asked him to buy her a souvenir if she heard that he was all the way here. Had his older sister been alive, maybe the two of them would be going around hand-in-hand as they toured the city.
It had been an entire year since he had last seen those two. When his village was attacked by a horde of goblins, he was able to escape and find a strange black robed man and interrupted a ritual that he had been preparing.
Strangulation was what came after. The man ran over to choke the boy for not only ruining the ritual but also binding an important artifact onto the child.
The man had gotten enraged but he stopped himself from killing the young boy. In the man's vision was a boy whose red eyes were filled with nothing, no happiness, no sadness, no innocence.
But deep inside, the man had seen it, rage and hatred.
He introduced himself as only 'Acolyte.'
For a year, Acolyte had transformed the boy into a ruthless warrior that could harness the black magics of necromancy from the runeblade that he needed to wield, for the boy held no innate ability to use the magic himself.
He had to survive against the undead monsters Acolyte would raise to slay him.
To become strong enough to raise the heavy metal bastard sword and swing it hard enough to butcher skeletal warriors.
To become agile enough to dodge the swings of their weapons.
To be able to use the magic in his blade to raise a warrior of his own and release a bolt of necrotic magic.
To become so adept at fighting that the monsters summoned could not challenge him no longer.
He showed promise but ultimately, there was a limit to the physical capabilities of a child.
In the end, Acolyte found that the boy could not grow any stronger until the day the boy was a grown man. And so, he pointed him to Fortress City and bid farewell to the boy, leaving with no explanation, nor objective for the boy to complete, just six words.
"You will return to me victorious."
After days of trekking and hunting down goblins that were unlucky enough to settle in the wilderness that he traveled through, adapting and learning from every one of the encounters, he had come across a cavern not so far away from Fortress City and rescued a girl being tortured by goblins.
High Priestess would not leave his side until they both reached the city and he had gotten confronted by the city guards on their arrival. The blonde maiden pled for him but he was taken away to meet with Diamond Knight while High Priestess took up appraisal to earn a meager living, hoping that the boy would escape possible execution.
Death Knight didn't know the circumstances behind it but he was offered a job as an adventurer in the city despite both his age and his class. So as long as there was some sap obsessed with culling goblins, what's the worst that could happen? But there had to have been more to it than that, the Guild employees thought, as they were ordered to hand the boy any and all quests that had anything to do with goblins.
The boy didn't care, nor think about anything else besides the missions he was given. It was easy to ignore the looks that everyone gave him, terrified or disgusted. He would occasionally meet with High Priestess who wanted to see him plenty of times, and a strange friendship between them was borne.
He didn't think of her beyond an acquaintance that he had saved, but he felt oddly protective of her. As for the girl, he was unaware of the great admiration she had for him, her savior.
And then,
It just so happened that on this day, Diamond Knight had been asked to escort him back into the city after he left to hunt down goblins, and coincidentally saw the girl that he had saved being harassed as he was on his way.
Suddenly, he found himself not on another quest to crush a goblin hideout nearby the areas of Fortress City but now in a party of adventurers that were aiming to challenge and destroy the 'Dungeon of the Dead.'
It was far cry from a year ago, when the only thing he was surrounded by were animated dead and his master who kept everything but his training a mystery to the boy.
Strange. That was as all he could think of to describe his situation right now.
An unknown amount of time passed but it was not long before the doors of the temple were opened suddenly, and the four adventurers he had traveled to this temple with had reappeared, along with them was one more person he didn't recognize, a woman with black hair, carrying a spear in hand.
Half-Elf Scout yelled at him to come over there.
Female Wizard was waving energetically at him.
Captain only looked at him, but he felt that he was expected to rejoin them.
The woman that must've been a new party member they were looking for, looked at him with curious eyes.
High Priestess, despite her blindness, knew where exactly he was and if he had squinted, he would have seen the warm smile she had, relieved that the boy was okay.
Very strange, this feeling in his chest.
Death Knight stood up and made his way over to his companions.
And then the vivid images faded to black.
A man in heavy dark armor shook himself from his thoughts.
No, his memories of when he was a young boy.
They were on the way to meet with someone from the city's arena, Bugman Monk.
But now was not the time to be reminiscing days from so long ago.
Adjusting the armor that he wore, the memories of when it was too big for him resurfaced.
Feeling the satisfaction of the crunch beneath his metal boot.
He brought himself back into reality.
The young woman that worked in the Guild would be mad at him for this.
Stories of a dark armored adventurer wandering the wilderness to hunt down goblins.
Truthfully, he only caused trouble for the Guild and the higher authorities by doing so.
Adventurers were paid to do goblin-slaying and yet before they could arrive,
He was already there.
A death knight going around in public that created endless problems for everyone.
But what could they do?
He was after all,
One of the seven adventurers that brought a demon lord down.
One of the seven adventurers that destroyed the 'Dungeon of the Dead'.
And the only one of the seven that asked only to be free to slay goblins after it all.
The other adventurers that survived pressured the authorities to relent to his request.
But on the first day of the death knight's freedom, a village had reported him as a monster.
Thus, they ordered him to always show his rank-plate when he was around others.
It had been an entire decade since his beginnings as an adventurer.
And yet,
What he did in the beginning, was the same as what he did now.
With his sheathed bastard sword, he crushed the little goblin infants that were hidden away.
Transparent but grey wisps of wind flowing from the corpses and into the blade.
Though sheathed, its runes had become more powerful since a decade ago.
His master, the rhea, would have thrown him into a frozen hell for using this weapon.
And then the man remembered, his master had done exactly that during his training.
The teachings of his newer master were more important to him than his former from a decade ago.
The former taught him how to swing a sword, the latter taught him how to use it against goblins.
'A longsword in a cave? Was he a fool?' His master would have sardonically said.
Regardless, a decade of experience was more than enough for his sword to be an extension of his arm rather than a weapon.
"Twenty-two."
He moved to make his exit, fully aware of the tricks with shadows in a cave.
The light of the tunnel was ahead but…
Four people emerged.
A boy with a sword at his back.
A girl with a witch hat.
A second girl with her hair bundled in a ponytail.
And another girl, that reminded him of High Priestess- Sword Maiden, he corrected himself.
They had been talking quite loudly, even from here he could hear all their noisy chatter.
Had he not slaughtered the goblins inside, they would have been already alerted.
Most likely, if he wasn't here, they would have met their demise.
The dark knight didn't think arrogantly, just logically.
Ah, now they saw him.
The closer he got to the cave's entrance, the more apparent his form became.
The priestess looked panicked, the wizard and the girl looked terrified.
One of them, the boy who unsheathed the sword at his back, yelled at him,
"Hey, what is that!? That's not a goblin!"
Hmph. How indignant.
"Stay back!"
"W-we should run!"
"Our quest-!?"
"You think we can beat that thing!?"
"If that thing came from in there, then those goblins must be dead!"
"G-guys, please…"
"Stop being an idiot!"
"It's getting closer!"
"You girls go, I'll handle this!"
"Why are you being so stubborn!?"
"I-I'll cast a spell, just let me-!"
"W-we don't have the time, l-let's just go!"
These young adventurers were much too inexperienced to take this mission.
He would need to scold the Guild for allowing this to almost become a tragedy.
The benefits that came with the rank they gave him was the authority they let him have.
Though he never really bothered to use it all that much.
His other former party members that survived might have been enjoying it right now.
One of them was an Archbishop with mountains of responsibilities.
Disregarding those thoughts, his footsteps halted as he neared them.
They had silenced themselves, breaths abated, eyes focused entirely on him.
Their foolishness forced them into this position and were shocked at how close he was now.
If he was the death knight that they thought he was, his sword would've cleaved them then and there.
Slowly raising his hand, their hearts might have stopped if he did anything suddenly.
Putting it inside his chest plate, he pulled out and revealed a piece of metal dangling down from his neck.
Their mouths were agape, eyes widened, and the boy dropped his sword to the ground.
Gold.
The dark armored man that looked like a Non-Prayer was an adventurer like them.
Not just any ordinary adventurer but one that achieved the second highest possible rank.
No, silver was the highest for an adventurer.
Gold and platinum ranks belonged to a different league.
That could only mean one thing,
This person had committed a feat comparable to defeating a Demon Lord.
Someone that must have been present during the war against Chaos' forces ten years ago.
"W-who are you?" The priestess asked, the only one that could properly say anything coherent right then.
"I am Goblin Slayer."
As soon as I get to read the Dai Katana novel, I'll write flashbacks to what happened but for now, this story will jump into present time.
You're free to imagine what Goblin Slayer's death knight armor and runeblade look like.
But I bet you thought of Frostmourne first. His helmet remains the same though, it's too cool to replace.
Now, you're probably wondering how the much the chronology was changed.
GS was 10 when his village was attacked and also when the Demon Lord lost.
Sword Maiden is 5-6 years older than GS.
GS was trained for five years and when he was 15, Year One events happened. In Vol 1 of Year One, it states that five years ago the Demon Lord was defeated. This is backed up by Vol 1 of Goblin Slayer stating that the Demon Lord revived after a decade but was killed by Hero and GS is 20 years old there.
This would mean that in her first year as an adventurer, Sword Maiden and her party had wiped a Demon Lord and the Dungeon of the Dead in one year.
If I want GS to be part of that party, then he'll need to be a bit older (but not too old because Priestess is 4 years younger than GS in canon and it'd be way too weird if the age gap between the two is too large).
For now, I'm thinking just 1 year older.
He will be 10 when his village was attacked. Trained for 1 year as a death knight, so he will be 11. He joins the party and in one more year will defeat the Demon Lord.
Five years will pass as Rhea/Burglar tutors him, and thus he will be 17 in Year One and then 22 at present time.
Voila.
Does it make sense now? Leave a review if it does or doesn't!
Update: No, this isn't dead. I just have a hard time writing a second chapter, I just really liked how this chapter turned out, feels like I can't make a good enough second chapter, but that doesn't mean I'm not writing it.