Disclaimer: I do NOT own Goblin Slayer or any of these characters.
SHOUT-OUT TO YoungsterAustin. I AM GRATEFUL THAT HE TOOK HIS TIME WITH THIS CHAPTER AND RAN THROUGH IT. THANK YOU!
Author's note: I am so, sooo sorry for this late update, but truth be told, finishing the Pokemon fic was a big pain in the ass. I just... don't like how I started it and consider it a big pile of shit. But it has its fans, so I forced myself to finish it. And hopefully, the sequel will be a leap in quality. Now I can fully focus on GS, so the updates should more frequent.
Now onto Goblin Slayer notes. So. It has come to my attention that surprise, surprise, Noble Fencer is a lesbian. And she is into Priestess. Now, my first thought was: "Cool, I can just make her swing both ways, she will be into Priestess more and problem solved. It's up to readers in the end though." But then one review kinda stuck with me, saying I have only humans and one elf in such a large harem. And I was like. "He/She's right. For fuck's sake, it's a fantasy world with tons of fantasy races and I am intending to give GS a fourth blonde chick. Can't I do better than that?" Look, I am not a guy who has to have diversity literally everywhere, but when 4 out of 7 (including Hero) chicks in the harem are white blonde humans in a fantasy world, then there is something wrong. And I already have a badass sword swinging blondie that can cast spells in Female Paladin in a story, so I don't see anything Noble Fencer would add to the table.
I mean, there are elves, dark elves, dwarfs, lizardman, rheas in GS world. And I bet there are like demons, succubus, mermaids, sirens, centaurs, halflings, giants and all bunch of other races in that world. And out of all of them, GS would have 4 white human blonde girls? I mean, he could but if I am gonna add another character, I want it to be at least a little interesting and different. Tell me your thoughts on that, if even despite all of this you want Noble Fencer, or I could tweak her story for her a little bit so she would be a different race like a demon or even a mermaid, and had different abilities. I might even make a poll on that. First the race and then abilities or some shit like that. We will see. Now since I didn't reply to the reviews before, I will do it here.
Gammagyro: Man, what a long review. I love those! So about the beast Goblin Slayer faces. I don't want to spoil much, but this will have a huge impact on GS and the Guild. Including Heavy Swordsman and others. Every girl will react to this a little differently, I can assure you of that. As for regulations to the harem, no there aren't any. As long as I can picture it in my head and it makes sense, I can write it somehow. About the beavers, I never really thought of that.
YuukiAsuna-Chan: I think Noble Fencer (or her replacement) will be the last member. I too don't want to give GS too many girls to handle. And don't worry about GS. I do not intend to have him all love and dovey soon. Even lemons with him will be kinda weird because I don't think he would show emotions in that either. So there's that. And thanks for the praise on the chapter!
Legion40K: Noble Fencer or her replacement will be the last member. Probably.
Lucian Naruto: Well, is it explicitly said she is a lesbian? Or can she swing both ways?
Onii-Chan69: It can get large and messy, but as long as I have a clear idea where I am heading with this, I think it's OK to add one more girl. I don't want to write a separate story on that. Anyway, thanks for the praise!
Lelouch von Einzbern: Lighting spells? Huh, interesting.
King Crimson: So... a harem for the Priestess? Just joking BTW.
Repost: Aaah, somebody who doesn't like violent tsundere types. My kind of guy. I mean, yes, she is a minor character, but after the five main girls are developed (Sword Maiden, High Elf, Priestess, Cow Girl, and Guild Girl), something will have to spice things up. Hero and one more girl is IMO a reasonable addition. Thanks for the praise BTW!
Dracus7: I already have plans for Hero so you will have to see if she remembers him.
daniel2610994: Someone who thinks Cow Girl is the best girl... I see you are a man of culture as well. Anyway, Priestess being naughty and adorable was exactly what I was going for. So at least that worked out. About Noble Fencer, well, if read what is above, you know how I feel about that. About the battle, it's about to go down right now!
Gyuri97: Thanks for the praise man!
Snebic: You can't wait? Well then, here we go!
Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov: Spearman and Witch will have their own moments as Female Paladin and Heavy Swordsman have now, so you have that looking forward too. I also want to build a sort of bromance between GS, Spearman and heavy Swordsman, because I think the dynamics between have great potential.
MaksmoNero: Don't worry. Noble Fencer is the last one I have in mind to add. Trying my best and thanks for the praise! (I should probably write something spicy because of my nickname, shouldn't I?) :D
And before we will jump to the new chapter, this has some dark elements and dark humor in it. So I hope you can stomach a little bit of darker humor. If not, then probably don't read further.
Chapter 5: Blood eyes meet
The familiar trio of adventurers was walking through the streets of the night town. The red moon was shining brightly on them, and the green one remained hidden behind the grey clouds on the skies. The night was calm and relaxing. The three adventurers just left a weapon shop, where the party restocked with arrows and throwing knives for another quest. They would have went there sooner, but thanks to the condition of a certain elf, they had to wait till nightfall. The green haired elf of the group hoped that the next quest will be anything other than a goblin quest.
The calmness of the night got quickly interrupted when an impatient elf blurted out. "I CAN'T BELIEVE ORCBOLG LEFT WITHOUT US AND THAT HE DIDN'T TELL US! I WILL KICK HIM OF THE STOOL ONCE HE GETS BACK! I SWEAR ON MY HONOR AS A HIGH ELF!"
"Haha! I want to see you try! He will anticipate it and dodge this time." Dwarf Shaman laughed loudly to elf's face, taunting the green elf to explode.
"Wanna bet?!" infuriated High Elf asked the dwarf.
"Sure. One barrel of wine for the winner. Loser pays." Dwarf conjured a toothy grin with closed eyes, already imagining a literal sweet taste of victory.
The high elf suddenly smiled brightly too. Barrel of wine? She can't afford to lose that. The kick to Goblin Slayer will be the most precise kick she will ever do! That will show that stupid dwarf to not doubt elven abilities.
The three stopped for a moment so the lizardman could make the bet official when the two shook hands. With a heavy sigh, Lizard Priest made the bet official between the two by taping the elf's wrist, then the dwarf's wrist, and with the last tap on their joined hands the bet was on.
They resumed their walk to the inn all the while the elf and the dwarf of the group continued to bicker. "Why are you even so mad about this, Long Ears? It's not like we are his official party." Dwarf Shaman asked with a sly smile.
"Well, we should be! We went on so many quests with him he should tell us when he goes alone!" the elf yelled out.
"You almost sound like you miss being be covered in goblin blood." Dwarf Shaman chuckled. Just her protesting and being forced to be soaked in goblin blood makes his day on the quests. An all mighty, stubborn and loud high elf who wears only finest of silks and tunics being drenched in blood smelling as bad as horse shit. Ahh, what a delightful and hilarious sight.
Lizardman silently walked behind his two friends not even trying to stop their ongoing squabble, knowing it would be a waste of time. In his traditional garbs with chest guards, he walked through the streets of an empty night town. Their destination is the inn in which all of them are going to stay during the night. But thinking about it more thoroughly, they should find something more permanent. This sleeping in inns is getting really annoying. They are always cold and for a cold-blooded species like him, it's really problematic. Besides, they spend so much time in this town they may as well buy an apartment here.
"Have you, Dwarf Shaman and High Elf Ranger, thought about moving into this town permanently? I think it would be a very reasonable change that would save us a lot of money." He asked his two squabbling friends in a polite way.
"Hmm... You speak wisely my green friend. From a financial standpoint, I think we should find a more stable place to stay in." Dwarf Shaman put his right hand under the chin, rustling his grey beard thinking about all the possibilities.
"And where would we even stay? We don't have enough money to buy three apartments and I refuse to share a room with an old dwarf. Who knows what would you try on me?" the green elf puffed her chest, closed her eyes and smirked.
Dwarf Shaman smiled widely, having his comeback already prepared. "Like anyone would try something on you. Men like curves, not an annoying plank like you." He said with a snicker.
The elf released a huff of annoyance. "I am still at least young and can develop. How old are you again? 50 000 years old?" she half opened one of her lime eyes and looked at the dwarf with a victorious smile.
"Can we ple-" Lizardman was about to ask them to stop arguing for at least a minute and address the accommodation problem, but his sensitive ears heard someone running in their direction. He looked to his right when they reached a crossroad, and his lizard eyes saw two guards in steel armor with spears running in their direction.
"Can we what? You didn't finish, my green friend." Dwarf Shaman looked slightly upwards to see the face of Lizardman eagerly looking to the right. High Elf Ranger and Dwarf Shaman stopped in their tracks, seeing a concerned face of his friend. Dwarf Shaman and High Elf looked to their right too in hopes of finding out what startled their big scaly friend. And in a dimly litten street, the elf and even the dwarf spotted someone running to them in the darkness. Though it was very hard to even make the shape out of them for Dwarf Shaman.
"You heard them too, right Lizard Priest?" The elf asked, now in a serious tone, getting prepared for a fight if it would come to that.
"Yes." Lizardman replied with his polite manners exchanged for a determined look and a stern reply.
The two young guards were running to them very fast, yelling something Dwarf Shaman could not hear. Fortunately his two friends with their sensitive ears could. Eventually, even his senile ears finally managed to puzzle out what they were yelling.
"Have you seen a pink haired girl with pink eyes riding on a black horse around here?! She rode past us without permission to enter the town and we can't find her!" One of the guards yelled out in the empty streets. When they reached the trio, the two young guards asked them personally. High Elf dropped her guard when she recognized the emblem of the city guards on their armor.
"No, we haven't" High Elf Ranger replied, finally lowering her voice from the constant yelling that took place before. When even the rest of the trio said they haven't seen anyone like that, the guards were ready to look for the girl more. They didn't have to wait long though.
None of the adventurers expected, that when they turn around said pink haired girl will be on her way towards them. Girl's black mare ran towards the group as swift as the wind itself. In the saddle, atop of the black horse rode pink haired girl with a determined look to face all the obstacles that would come her way.
The clanking of horseshoes was getting more and louder on the flagged streets, and before the group could recover from their surprise, the black as night mare jumped over the trio with two guards, leaving them awestruck at the spot. The black mare landed gracefully behind them continuing her swift run, not giving them even a glance back.
"There is someone with her on the horse!" yelled out one of the guards on the spot. The trio of adventurers recovered from their initial surprise and looked in the direction where the mare was slowly disappearing. Though before the horse disappeared, the elf caught a glimpse of blonde hair, white robes, and a golden staff holding the pink haired girl around the waist.
"PRIESTESS?!" High Elf yelled out.
"HEY! STOP YOU TWO?!" The two guards ran after the running horse in hopes of catching it. They are rookie guards, no doubt. They can't be experienced if they think they can catch up to a horse on their own feet. Not to mention, the guards didn't even register elf's outburst, screaming the name of one of the riders, indicating they have some information about them.
Seems like they are not the brightest bunch...
"Priestess?" Dwarf Shaman turned his head to the high elf. Unfortunately, he didn't get a good look at the rider behind the pink haired girl. Firstly, he was kinda scared when the fast horse threatened to stomp them. Secondly it took a while to recover from the initial shock from being jumped over.
"That was Priestess on that horse! With the pink-haired girl from the farm where Orcbolg lives!" High Elf Ranger loudly explained to her two friends.
"Huh. They seem to be in a hurry." Dwarf Shaman rubbed his beard.
Lizardman's brain was already turning gears inside his head. Late at night, the two girls riding on a horse like life was depending on it. Very curious. What could cause such an event?
"AARRGGHH! EVEN PRIESTESS IS DOING SOMETHING BEHIND OUR BACK WITH ORCBOLG! I DON'T LIKE THIS! WHAT ARE THEY PLANNING?!" frustrated elf yelled out, ruffling her green hair in frustration. Really, what they are planning, and why would... what was her name again? Girl Farmer? Farmer Girl? Ou, Cow Girl! Why would she ride to town now? And why picking up Priestess in this late of an hour? It doesn't make sense!
"Heh. I already have some ideas about why a young maiden would go to see a man at the far so late at night." Dwarf Shaman chuckled to himself. He would never have guessed Goblin Slayer is such a ladies man. Seems like his stoic act attracts a lot of lovely ladies to his bed.
"Gross. Do you really think Orcbolg cares about THAT?!" The frustrated elf asked, with rosy ears and a faint blush on her cheeks. Indecent pervert. Mentioning something so gross in her presence. The nerve on this guy.
"Man has his needs." Dwarf Shaman shrugged shoulders.
"I do not think that is the reason. The guards said sir Goblin Slayer's friend didn't even ask permission to enter the town. She rode past them in a hurry. And judging by the expression Priestess and sir Goblin Slayer's friend wore, I think the situation is more dire than we realize. Something must have happened." Lizardman politely informed his friend when he came with a reasonable answer.
"It seems so." Dwarf Shaman rubbed his grey beard again, deep in thoughts.
The elven archer was going to say something, but her long ears caught someone running in their direction. She heard metal, clinging from the direction the black mare and Priestess emerged. Both her and Lizard Priest quickly looked in that direction. High Elf Ranger was again on edge. You never know what kind of sick bastard can emerge from the night. Better be ready at all times. On the other end, Dwarf Shaman simply observed his two friends. Dwarf Shaman looked curiously in the direction where lizardman's eyes were glued in hopes of seeing something too.
Lizardman's yellow and high elf's lime eyes spotted two humans running towards them in the night streets. Their footsteps, frantic, quick and without rhythm. More people who are rushing somewhere. Eventually, even the dwarf eyes spotted silhouettes running towards them in a dimly litten streets.
Clinging of armor became more apparent, and soon, the faces were revealed to them. Heavy Swordsman in his usual black armor and Female Knight in her steel armor with white cape ran towards them as fast as they could. Both clearly exhausted from whenever they ran.
"Sir Heavy Swordsman. Lady Female Knight, what causes such a rush in this late night hour if I may ask?" Lizardman politely asked the two, as the two runners stopped before them, leaned over and breathing heavily trying to catch a breath.
"G-G-Goblin S-Slayer." Heavy Swordsman managed to say between uneven exhales. Running in heavy armor is really not a good idea.
"What's up with him?!" High Elf angrily asked. It gets on her nerves. For some reason, her party is left out regarding the information about Orcbolg. Actually, not her party. HIS PARTY. They should be always the first to receive information about him! Not last! It looks like everyone in town knows what's going on with him except them!
"He is dying." Female Paladin quickly dropped the bomb on the trio when she released a large breath out.
The look of horror struck the High Elf Ranger Her words stopped in her throat and she froze on the spot. Dying? Orcbolg? How? It was an ordinary goblin quest! What was he doing? This shouldn't happen to him, he is far too clever to get ambushed by goblins. He is THE EXPERT after all! She refused to accept that. This has to be a mistake! She had to mishear them.
"WHAT?!" the elf yelled out when she snapped from her thoughts
Lizardman Priest and Dwarf Shaman waited patiently for answers. They looked relatively unfazed on the street, but it was far from the truth. On the inside, both of them were worried about Goblin Slayer. High Elf, on the other hand, isn't so subtle about her worries.
"C-Cow Girl found him beaten up. H-her uncle is t-tending to his wounds, b-but-" Heavy Swordsman had to give himself a pause. The run from the temple was so exhausting he was barely standing.
"BUT WHAT?! SPEAK DAMMIT!" Elf raised her voice. But now, it was not her usual confident yelling. Clear hints of fear were present in her outburst.
"It's not good. He is bleeding out. A lot. He doesn't have much time." Female Paladin managed to finish her fiance's sentence.
Again, silence filled the streets, except for the few deep breaths Female Paladin and Heavy Swordsman. For a moment, nobody knew what to say. High Elf hoped that after Swordsman's but, there will come some good new. Like he is out of danger. Or his wounds were treated and he is recovering. Not that he is going to die. She suppressed the tears that were threatening to leave her eyes and asked.
"Are you trying to say he is going to die?" High Elf surprisingly managed to release a small whisper. No yelling, no screams. Just a mumble she hoped was going to be false. Even Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman gasped at her suggestion, not one of them wanting to believe it.
"That, or Priestess will heal him by the Resurrection miracle." Female Paladin finally straightened up, caught her breath, and spoke to Goblin Slayer's party face to face.
"But the little cinnamon roll doesn't know how to perform one." Dwarf Shaman said warily, he wished this was not true. Lizardman closed his eyes slowly and sighed out softly. Dwarf Shaman is right, she can't perform the miracle without the help of Sword Maiden.
"She quickly prayed to Earth Mother for a miracle at the temple before Cow Girl and her rushed off the temple. We don't know if she has the miracle or not, there was no time to test it. Let's hope Earth Mother indeed granted Priestess the miracle." Heavy Swordsman finally caught his breath too. He looked at his fiance to the right. Earth Mother already gave her two miracles away today. That was more than generous of Earth Mother. And shortly after, they asked for another miracle at the temple, one of the strongest miracles nonetheless. The odds aren't in their favor. They can only hope Earth Mother will be merciful today.
Meanwhile, Cow Girl was encouraging Goblin Slayer's mare to run as fast as she could. Yes, this is Goblin Slayer's horse. But that is a story for another time. She hated herself for doing this, but she again whipped the mare with a horsewhip. "Come girl, faster! He needs you to go faster!" she commanded.
The black mare huffed and thankfully fasten her pace. They were already outside of the town walls, running on the dirt path to the farm. On the empty dirt path, the mare could unleash her full speed. Hopefully, it will be fast enough.
"How are you holding up?" Cow Girl turned her head so one of her eyes could see Priestess holding onto her with her staff in one hand, and with the second one holding Cow Girl's waist. Hopefully, she will be able to save him. Priestess is the only healer with magical abilities she knows.
"Okey. Do not let me slow you down." The blonde priestess said to Cow Girl. And in this dark hour, Priestess's determination brought a little smile to her face for a moment.
Little did Cow Girl knew, that determined face Priestess gave her was an act. She is scared. Very much scared, beyond a simple description. This, this is not like with Goblin Lord. Not a regular heal, but a resurrection.
She, Heavy Swordsman, and now Female Paladin were enjoying their dinner when scared and panicking Cow Girl stormed into the dining room nearly breaking the door, and ran towards Priestess as soon as she laid her eyes on her. The guards of the temple were after her and pacified her on the place. They pinned Cow Girl to the floor right before the table where Priestess with Heavy Swordsman and Female Paladin sat. Desperate Cow Girl was pinned to the floor, lying on her stomach and voluptuous chest, with one spear at each side of her neck. The spears stuck into the floor creating an X shape, trapping her between the two sharp blades. That didn't stop Cow Girl from blurting out that Goblin Slayer is dying, before she was silenced by the guard's hand.
Once Priestess heard Goblin Slayer is in grave danger, she tried to send the guards away, convincing them Cow Girl doesn't pose any danger to them. Unfortunately, she didn't have the status to do so and the guards were aware of that. Plus the fact that Cow Girl slipped by them into the the temple didn't sit with the guards either. The situation escalated into a verbal fight between the guards and Priestess which didn't look well for the sweet priestess. The religious blonde isn't a girl who likes to fight, and most often she backs off, but when Goblin Slayer's life is on the line, she would do ANYTHING to save him. Be it fighting with the guards, or even staying in a goblin nest for a week. It looked like she will lose the fight, but that's when her friends came to the rescue. Thanks to the protection of Heavy Swordsman and Female Paladin, the temple guards quickly learned that opposing Priestess when those two are around is not a great idea. Fearing the two imposing presences, they released Cow Girl. Though they didn't leave the room. They grabbed their spears, got further away, and remained on guard, watching over the filled dinner hall that fell into silence as soon as Cow Girl stormed on the scene.
When Cow Girl was freed, she quickly stood up and explained how dire the situation is, begging Priestess to save Goblin Slayer. On her knees, she was pleading and offering anything she would want, with the only wish being saving Goblin Slayer from the clutches of death.
Like Priestess would take anything for saving Goblin Slayer from Cow Girl. Saving him will be the prize if it will come to that. Heavy Swordsman and Female Paladin had to encourage Priestess to go with Cow Girl. When Priestess heard she is the only chance on saving him with time running out and the fact she will have to try performing one of the most difficult miracles to ever exist, she froze on the spot and got scared. They ask her to not only ask the goddess for a miracle, but to save Goblin Slayer with said miracle she never used nor she will know if she even has it. Simply put, odds aren't in their favor.
As the older ones in the group Female Paladin and Heavy Swordsman took it upon themselves and quickly came up with a plan. Cow Girl listened, agreeing to whatever plan the two experienced adventurers came up with.
Female Paladin shook Priestess up and told her the plan once again. The older blonde of the two saw clearly Priestess's trembling hands of nervousness and she tried to help the small naughty girl that helped her earlier. Out of sheer nervousness, poor Priestess nearly forgot to ask Earth Mother for Resurrection miracle before they headed out. The KEY part of the plan and she forgot it. That's how anxious and nervous she was.
Through the whole situation, Priestess was so nervous, she nearly lost her mind because of it. The anxious blonde ball of mess forgot even the prayer that should be said when asking for a Resurrection miracle.
The prayer was anything like she was taught how to ask the goddess for miracles. At that moment, she didn't ask how she was supposed to, composed and polite. No. She was on her knees, bowing, begging the Earth Mother for the miracle, nearly breaking in tears right there. She couldn't say the proper words even if she wanted too. This was just too personal for her. She choked and stuttered out so many times during the prayer that she feared Earth Mother will not even hear her out in this pathetic state. She even forgot her cleric cap and the staff at the dinner table. Thankfully for her, during her prayer Female Paladin ran back to the kitchen to bring Priestess the staff. With an encouraging "You just have to believe as I did before, and everything will be alright", Female Paladin handed her the staff and with Heavy Swordsman, they waved Priestess off.
However, as they stood there, all alone in front of the temple, it didn't sit well with the two silver ranked adventurers. They decided to ran towards the stables to rent a horse and check Goblin Slayer's condition themselves. Hopefully, they will have still open. If not... well, they will have to "borrow" the horse. Female Paladin only hoped it will not come to that, since stealing is a grave sin, and she just got on the good terms with the Earth Mother.
"We are nearly there." Cow Girl informed Priestess. "Are you ready?" Cow Girl turned her head towards the Priestess.
"No. Not at all." She panicked. "Yes." She quietly managed to say. The lie was not very convincing, and she didn't even know who is she trying to lie to. Is it Cow Girl, or is it herself?
"Fifty-one."
Another goblin killed. They are flowing out of the middle path like water flowing in the rivers. Goblin Slayer cleaned one dead end in the middle path of the cave, and now, he was continuing his exploration deeper in the middle path.
Deeper he went, more goblins were charging at him, with various tools in hopes to kill him. However, their primitive tools and predictable attacks failed to leave a mark on Goblin Slayer's armor. It was getting kinda boring and annoying when not even one hobgoblin or goblin shaman shows up. The stream of goblins seemed endless, and he was wondering when will it end. The middle path was by far the longest of the three paths in the cave.
And the mystery of those unusual deaths and quick rise in goblin numbers still hanged in the air, with a fishy smell to it.
"Fifty-two." Goblin Slayer smashed another goblin head with his club.
What's worse, his feelings aren't getting numb as he hoped so which infuriates Goblin Slayer to no end. How is that even possible? He killed a bunch of beavers, now he is already over half a hundred in goblin deaths, and yet he still thinks about the fact he hugged Cow Girl this morning. What's worse, it seems like killing goblins brings those thoughts up. He didn't think about the fact he carried Guild Girl to bed, but now, in the midst of battle, his mind gets sidetracked and thinks about that too. Seems like killing feelings is impossible. How unfortunate.
"Fifty-three."
"I should find a hobby." Goblin Slayer thought when he smashed another goblin with a club, sheating the bloody club shortly after. He overheard some people in the Guild saying hobbies like painting, make you forget about problems and you just enjoy the moment of creating something out of nothing.
Another three goblins charged at him with wooden spears, interrupting his thoughts for a moment. Since they were so far away, he pulled three throwing knives from the pouch. Holding them between his knuckles on left hand, he threw them one by one at the three goblins charging at him in a line. One hit in the leg. A second one in the shoulder of a second goblin and third knife hit the last goblin in the head.
"Fifty-six."
The armored bane of goblins walked to the three corpses and curiously looked at the dead goblins. Seeing the knives buried in their bodies, he realized. "Knife throwing is a hobby." There was this circus that came near his village when he was a kid and some performer threw knives on the apple upon someone's head. Seems like a very productive hobby too. Missing two goblin heads out of three is not bad per se, but he is still disappointed. Yeah, the left hand isn't his dominant hand, but these are not the results he hoped for after so much training. Especially when his right-hand holds a torch and he had a clear view on those three charging green idiots. Speaking about the torch, he should find a way to lit the paths in front of him by something which does not require a hand to hold the source of light. Constantly switching between the torch, club and bow is getting annoying. Maybe the blacksmith in the shop will have something prepared for him when he gets back.
But back to the topic. Perhaps knife throwing can be his new hobby. Productive and it can be fun.
"No. Too similar." Goblin Slayer quickly shook it off. It is too similar to killing goblins, and as it stands now, that doesn't help him to take his mind off his friends at all. Goblin Slayer sighed. He will have to come up with something else.
Goblin Slayer continued walking through the cave, occasionally killing a goblin when they charged at him. The good news is, that the constant and more frequent stream of goblins coming his way indicated he will soon find the core of their nest. The body count of goblins slowly went from the fifties to sixties and in the end, even seventies. And every goblin was a regular kind of goblin with a spear, a dull dagger, or a short bow. Nothing exhilarating.
The cave again slightly expanded, but it was to the point where the torch illuminated the side walls, so no examination was needed to see if there are some other paths. Goblin Slayer saw a hole in the wall plugged by wooden planks to his right. The order of the planks was so messy it didn't even cover much of the hole. Through the gap between the nearly rotten planks Goblin Slayer clearly saw what was behind.
Another bunch of goblin children.
Goblin Slayer destroyed the wooden plank door with his fists. For a moment he was surprised by the number of children in here. Nine. That's a lot of children. First 5 were slightly larger indicating they are older than the remaining four. So those are two litters of children. They visibly panicked when Goblin Slayer appeared in the doors with a torch in hand. And Goblin Slayer made sure, those goblin children weren't surprised for long. Their screams echoed in an empty cave.
"That's seventy-eight."
Goblin children... so an item like the mirror in the sewers of Water Towns isn't behind this. Probably. They somehow reproduce. And somehow, this kind of reproduction is much faster than with regular women. The fact there aren't any hobgoblins, goblin shamans or goblin champions supports his theory too. They reproduce so fast that they don't have the time to evolve.
He needs to swipe this nest clean. Whatever method of reproduction they found, other goblins can't find out which. If they did, only nightmares would describe what would happen to this world, or more precisely, to the villages.
By now, Goblin Slayer was getting tired. More than seventy goblins have been dealt with, and it shows. Although he is getting tired, he is still not tired enough to withdraw. Not like he would if he had a chance when he knows how serious this goblin quest is.
Goblin Slayer walked out of the small hole where the children were and continued his walk. He knew he is very close. The goblin quest continued without interruptions for a few minutes until Goblin Slayer finally heard something else than goblins gurgling. It was a faint woman's voice.
Screaming?
"No. Too loud for that."
Moaning?
Maybe. That seems about right. The voice is further away, but if it was screaming, the higher pitch would give it away. Seems... strange.
Women in the goblin nest are either dead quiet, with soulless eyes, or they scream in pain, with the eyes of terror. There is no between.
This voice is neither of those.
What is more baffling, the goblin gurgling is heard too.
Question is, should he put out the light on the torch? This is very suspicious, and he considers to try and walk in stealthily. But being without light leads to more troubles too. He was trained in the dark, yes, but goblins can clearly see in the dark. He only hears and guesses where who is. Kinda disadvantageous.
But then again, there is a woman, presumably moaning indicating, there is more space in the area and with that a bigger probability of torches or a campfire in the center of the nest. Plus, if there is a woman and he will just storm in there is a high probability that goblin will kill her on the spot. Goblin Slayer would rather avoid that.
So in the end, Goblin Slayer decided to trust his hearing and went in blind. Storing the torch into the pouch, he stepped forward with one foot, and slowly made his way further in, trying to reduce the clanging of his metal armor as much as possible.
With ears on the highest alert, Goblin Slayer sneaked further into the cave. He didn't have to walk far to finally spot something in the dark. Further down the road, Goblin Slayer saw the light. Several meters in front of him is a sharp turn to the left from where a light comes from.
And it is from here where few moans of a woman are heard. Remaining calm, Goblin Slayer didn't speed up but walked slowly and carefully trying to not make his presence known by his clinging metal armor. When he finally reached the entrance to the lighten part of the cave, he leaned to the wall and peeked his head from the corner to see what is happening.
Thankfully, nobody looked his way so he could examine the scene.
And he got confused as soon as he got a good look.
Burning campfire in the middle and a few torches and the cave walls were one of the normal things that were happening.
Right next to the campfire, there lies the woman he heard before. And... he didn't know what to think. A fairly beautiful slim woman with crimson eyes who looked to be around 25 years old, was sitting on the cold rocky floor leaned slightly backward with her hands supporting her, completely bare with a goblin joined at her hip, humping.
This sight wouldn't be so uncommon, but there were dozen of things that ticked him of. First, the woman wasn't completely bare, to be honest. Her mouth, jaws, and neck were covered in blood, that is flowing down her average-sized chest to her flat stomach. Her hand was covered completely in blood up to her shoulders. He saw her from the side view, so Goblin Slayer has problems to see the other hand, but he suspects it's too covered in blood. Now, the victims of goblins are sometimes tortured, but usually, those are slashes and burn marks. This, it looked like she bathed her hands and mouth in blood. Fresh blood.
Second thing, the black haired woman here is visibly conscious and capable of defending herself, which didn't sit well with him. Clearly, her hands are able to support her, so why not to push the goblin away? Goblin usually breaks the limbs of the women so they can't defend themselves when they rape them, so this is another thing that doesn't make sense. Well, maybe she is afraid to push him away. There are other three goblins around her. Who knows?
Third, when he got a good look at her face, she didn't have the face he got used to seeing in goblin caves like all the other victims. No. He saw a small smile on her lips, with few small moans released in between.
Goblin Slayer observed the scene a little longer. One of the goblins around her suddenly grabbed her hand, which lead to the woman falling on her back. The goblin jumped on her developed chest and just like the one between her hips, he began humping her. But that isn't what grabbed Goblin Slayer's attention.
The way the goblin grabbed this pale woman's hand left a bloody scratch mark on her forearm. The woman didn't yelp in pain or give any sign that this action hurt her. And not even a second later, Goblin Slayer discovered that this woman possesses regenerative powers. The scratch mark released a small smoke like it was burning, and then the wound closed itself.
When he observed the scene for a little longer, the goblin joined at her hip left some marks on her thighs where he was holding her too. And those bloody scratch marks to regenerated quickly. The same with the goblin who jumped at her breast and fondled them roughly with his long nails. They too regenerated.
Then another action caused the armored goblin slaying machine to be confused. The woman extended her bloody arm, grabbed the back of the goblin between her legs and actually pressed him further inside.
"Cum my child, I need a lot more of you. That's what you want, isn't it?" the woman spoke in a voice sweet as honey, but to Goblin Slayer, her voice was as venomous as a snake bite. Though to the goblin at her hip, it caused the complete opposite and with a last violent thrust, he came inside. "Mmmmm..." she sweatly whimpered as the goblin at her hip emptied himself inside of her, collapsing on her flat stomach shortly after.
As the goblin was recovering, Goblin Slayer retreated his head and stood leaned against the wall, thinking. He imagines a lot of things to survive, but this one is one of those he failed to include in his fantasies. How could any woman enjoy such an act with a goblin?
"The regeneration. This is not an ordinary woman." he quickly realized. Then another thing hit him. The scratch marks and rough treatment. She didn't yelp in pain or screamed, only moaned occasionally. And those moans were rather sensual, not those of discomfort. "She doesn't feel pain too? And... enjoys it?" Goblin Slayer asked himself.
Another thing that didn't make sense was what she said. She needs more of them? Does she really want more of them? He got very confused by this. This isn't what he is used to. Well, at least he already knows how to approach this.
Prepare an oiled pepper bomb, throw it on her, kill the two goblins around her waiting for their turn, and kill the one between her legs and the one atop of her chest. The fire shrapnels will kill the goblins and the woman should be fine thanks to the regenerative powers he observed. And it should be painless for her since dozen of scratches don't faze her. Then, ask her questions. Simple plan. And if she dies... well... he fails to feel sympathy for a woman who enjoys such an act with a goblin and wants to make even more of them.
So he went with a plan. Seems like the goblins and the woman are too occupied to register him, so he prepared the oiled pepper bomb. This time he looked for a bomb with a knot to set on fire in his pouch. Goblin Slayer quietly sighed when he was done going through his pouch.
"I am running out of gear."
Last oiled pepper bomb with a knot, poisonous bomb, a pack of matches, three throwing knives, two torches, one antidote, and 9 arrows. All other accessory was already used before.
Stuffed club in his sword sheath and a short bow on his back are his only weapons. Hopefully, he will not get into a fight with that woman. Regenerative powers are a pain in the ass to deal with, especially with the equipment he has at his disposal right now.
Goblin Slayer pulled matches and the last pepper bomb out of his pouch. With one match, he set the bomb on fire. He purposely waited a few seconds, so the bomb explodes as soon as it reaches the women. Watching the knot carefully going out, and when there were just a few strings left, Goblin Slayer stepped out of the corner and threw the bomb on the woman and goblins.
"Mmmm... Maybe we should bring more of your friends for a bigger group session. I ca- Huh?" she carresed the tired goblins head, but the women's talk was interrupted when the bomb landed on her. And immediately after it landed on her stomach between the exhausted goblin at her hip and the one enjoying her breasts, it exploded.
As Goblin Slayer observed the explosion happen near the campfire, he saw the usual. Goblins gurgling in pain as fire shrapnels burned their bodies. The goblins on the woman took the most damage being split in half by the explosion.
"Eighty-two."
And the woman? The explosion caused a fairly big hole in her stomach to be formed. Goblin Slayer saw that one of the burning goblins near the woman had a short sword. Hmm... he should take that. It can be used later, or just sell it. He walked up to burning goblin stepped on his head to squash it, just in case, and picked the short sword. Huh... it's in fairly good quality. Similar to his own sword he brought with him. The sword can be useful, if he gets into the fight with the woman. If she survived that is.
He turned his attention to the woman, waiting if she will regenerate from this. Half surprised and half not, he saw how the flesh was forming around her stomach and how the red eyes of the pale woman came to life again. As she was still regenerating she picked herself up and stood up, looking at Goblin Slayer with her ruby eyes. She stretched her limbs and eyed Goblin Slayer with a displeased expression.
"What do you think you are doing?!" the woman asked, clearly irritated by Goblin Slayer's interruption.
Goblin Slayer's first thought was why she didn't even care that he threw a bomb at her. She should be angry and try to kill him as he did try to kill her. Moreover, she didn't even care he killed the goblins. And she seemed to like them, in her own weird way.
"I kill goblins." Goblin Slayer simply said.
He had to admit, from up close, she is a very beautiful woman. At least from what he knows men enjoy. Long black straight hair, red eyes, pale skin, slim figure, appropriate breast size and a black nail polish. Some freaks might even enjoy blood dripping from her hands and stomach, with the goblin sperm dripping from her vagina. All in all, he would say men probably find her attractive. He could care less about her beauty though. If she really is willingly birthing goblins, then she is his enemy just as much as any other goblin.
The pale naked woman looked at the four dead goblins around the campfire. She frowned and grunted.
"Do you know how long it takes to create these idiots?!" annoyed woman crossed her hands below her breasts.
"Depends on the size of the nest. Two and half weeks in the nest with few women, and one and the half weeks with more women in the nest." Goblin Slayer replied. He still didn't know what to really make of her.
The woman facepalmed. "Rhetorical question. Though I have to admit, you seem knowledgeable on goblins." She smirked.
"I did research." Goblin Slayer simply replied.
"What kind of research?" the woman let her curiosity out.
"Goblin research."
"You are not very talkative, are you?" the woman in front of him sighed. Whoever this guy is, not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
"Yeah." Goblin Slayer said in the usual monotone way.
The pale woman looked at the armor of her visitor. And seeing blood all over the armor, she got angry. "Tell me you didn't kill the other goblins." she raised her voice,.
"I am Goblin Slayer. That's what I do. I kill goblins" Goblin Slayer informed the woman.
"Foolish boy. You just signed a death wish." she informed Goblin Slayer with a confident smirk.
"Why?" Goblin Slayer asked. "She doesn't seem too angry with the fact I killed her goblins. I thought she liked them."
"Are you an idiot or what?! I build this nest all alone and you just come here and destroy my work!" the woman raised her voice yet again.
"Why would you want to make more goblins?!" Goblin Slayer asked.
"Because some idiots destroyed the Magic Mirror in Water Town and I was tasked with finding a way to make more goblins for our new army. And as one of Demon Lord's generals, I take my responsibility to carry the will of Demon Lord seriously. With an army of goblins, I would have accomplished that. You know, give birth to some goblins, attack the village, get more women, raise the numbers more and conquer the town and then conquer more. But you have to show up screwing up everything!" The irritated woman let her frustrations out.
"Then why to kill women you captured and not use them?" Goblin Slayer asked, trying to get some information out of her all the while withholding the crucial information about the identity of those who destroyed the mirror in Water Town.
"You found them?" the woman asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah." Goblin Slayer replied.
"Then you should know why. I need to eat. I believe even a newbie like you can notice a body sucked out of blood and the vampire teeth marks. I didn't exactly try to hide them." the woman replied. Plus, she didn't want to attract too much attention by kidnapping more women and men. Laying low for a little while, kidnapping only enough for her to survive and then raise the numbers up tremendously in the village with dozens of females to breed, and dozens of men to suck dry and satisfy her thirst.
"Vampire teeth marks?" asked Goblin Slayer.
"Yes. I am a High Vampire." The woman proudly informed Goblin Slayer of her heritage.
"What's a vampire?"
The black haired vampire squinted her eyes and tilted her head slightly. "Seriously? You don't know? Creatures of the night? Sucking blood out of enemies to stay alive? Undead immortal beings with nearly no weaknesses? Doesn't that ring a bell?"
Goblin Slayer for a moment put his right hand under the chin thinking. And not even a second later, he answered. "No."
A think vein appeared on her forehead. "Gods, how the fuck could someone as you become an adventurer. You are worthless! Your armor looks like you pulled it out of a garbage and you don't even know what a vampire is. You are the worst adventurer ever!" The woman examined the armored man in front of her. Gosh, such a filthy armor. How could he even fight off so many goblins in this thing?
"I am not an adventurer." Goblin Slayer replied.
"Sure, and that tag around your neck is just for the show." High Vampire raised her bloody hand and pointed at Goblin Slayer's necklace with a dog tag. Her eyes widened slightly and High Vampire froze for a moment when she saw the color of the tag. "And how did YOU even become a SILVER rank?!" she asked in disbelief.
"I don't know." Goblin Slayer again, stood still and replied in his monotone voice.
"I guess standards dropped pretty low after Demon Lord was defeated." The vampire facepalmed with a bloody right hand.
"I suppose." Goblin Slayer said.
Silence filled the cave, leaving Goblin Slayer to think about this situation. So she is some kind of vampire. High Vampire. Now, he obviously doesn't know what vampires are, but since they are separated to high vampires and regular vampires, there is a clear difference. Which one, he doesn't know.
Could be just to distinguish noble vampires and regular vampires, just like elves divide their people. The fact she is one of Demon Lord's generals could support the claim she is of noble birth or has some extraordinary power. Well, the extraordinary power is certain, since the Demon Lord would not have weak generals. At least Goblin Slayer thinks so. He doesn't know much about Demon Lord either.
This at least answers why goblins raised so fast their numbers. Yes, it's just one woman who births them, but the difference from other nests is that this one is more than willing to do so.
Goblin Slayer spent much of his life dissecting goblins and learning how exactly they function. And one of the things he was most interested in was how they breed, and how to stop it. Goblin Slayer has basic knowledge of human biology, and one thing didn't make sense at all. There are just a few days in a month when human women are fertile. He found out that for some reason goblins ignore this cycle, and they can breed with them even in their infertile days. And thanks to this, they can procreate at such a rapid pace.
How exactly he found out little later. Goblin Slayer found out that goblins don't have the same sperm as men have, and that they only need a womb where their sperm takes root and grows. Unfortunately, they only go to humanoid females. That's the reason why every single female who gave birth to goblins doesn't even consider them as their children. That mothering instinct to protect your child isn't there. Goblins don't share a single bit of blood as their mothers. They don't even need their mother after being born. They immediately eat flesh and meat, not breast milk like human babies, so no bonding experience with their mothers is created either.
Goblins can even breed with cows for example. Not the prettiest experiment he did, but it indeed worked. Poor cow though. Fortunately, for at least cows, goblins don't seem interested in cows nor other animals for breeding. On the contrary, they are quite selective in terms of species with which to procreate. The scary thing is, when a really smart goblin appears, he may use these animals to conquer some lands. Though, it will be quite difficult as goblins have same distaste for mating with animals, as regular people have in mating with goblins. At least that is what his experiment with a cow and a goblin suggests.
Another thing was the woman in play here. A vampire apparently. Usually, the goblins are very, simple-minded. Something along the lines "put it in and I will make more of us". Most of the time, they don't even finish fully inside. They are very sloppy and don't really know what they are doing. After all they have minds of children, so they really don't understand how exactly reproduction works. Taking into accord that their genitals are the size of small children and don't reach far, it is very rare for one goblin to manage to impregnate a woman. But where there is the nest of them, it is a different story. More goblins equal more shots, and more shots equal better chance to reach and take root in a womb. And when they have a woman like this here, a woman who makes sure those shots count, it is no surprise that there are so many of them already.
All of this knowledge Goblin Slayer gained through intense research, and dissection of goblins. Thanks to this, he is forbidden to enter the temple already. A few years ago, he walked into the temple in the town, searching for the victims of goblin rape and torture to ask questions. Very disturbing and inappropriate questions by all accounts. It was five years ago, so now he sees it was a little rude of him. Though he would have done it again, in a little more delicate matter.
"Now I care even about hurting people's feelings. I am really getting soft, aren't I?"
"Anyway, I hope you are ready to die. Painfully. This stunt you pulled on me can be repaid only by death." The vampire said, calmly. She thought there is no way she can lose to this adventurer. Maybe the stupidest adventurer to ever walk on this planet. O how wrong she was.
The naked vampire covered in all kinds of filth raised her right hand in an elegant way, and the blood from goblin bodies began floating and spiraling around the woman's right hand. Goblin Slayer has to admit, the way the blood is flowing around the vampire's hand is elegant and kinda beautiful. If only she wasn't covered in filthy goblin fluids.
The slowly circling blood around her raised forearm suddenly flew above her creating four spears made entirely out of goblin blood. The liquid spears looked as sharp as Spearman's own freshly sharpened spear.
"Prepare to die, insect!" the blood-eyed woman yelled, extending her arm above her head. When her arm swung down the spears flew towards Goblin Slayer.
Author's note: Did I say two-parter? I meant three-parter. Sorry. If I would have continued, this would have probably more than 10k words, and that is too much. So I had to split it up, again. Its the same as my Pokemon Story. Always coming up with ideas what I think is cool and what to add.
And I read Goblin Slayer Year One manga so I could make this more coherent in the world of Goblin Slayer. Though I found one problem. Female Knight already had the miracles before, so I kinda did something different with her when I gave her miracles now. (I have no idea why though. Being paladin means being basically a holy knight, doesn't it? A knight with light powers granted from some kind of diety. So why wasn't she paladin when she could do this? It's stupid. If I am wrong or am missing something, feel free to correct me.) So, I will probably do some flashback scenes too. And I studied the characters and found out that Heavy Swordsman has a much bigger party. So, I changed some words in previous chapters to go along with it.
His party will consist off: Female Paladin, Apprentice Cleric, Rookie Warrior, Druid Girl, and Scout Boy. (I came up with a good reason why the other two weren't present at the celebrations.) And I will not include that half-elf boy, because I don't have any plans for him and it would be just pointless.
Spearman and Witch are all on their own in their party.
With Lizardman Priest and Dwarf Shaman, that should be all the major side characters that I will pay my attention too.
And if someone could summarize what happened in the Light Novels I would be very grateful. Spoilers included. I want to avoid some major clashes with the main story, and it could get me ideas for some new arcs. Just write it to PM's and not in the review.
Leave the review, and see ya!