After seven long days on the road, camping by night to rest the horses, Goblin Slayer and his party finally returned to Water Town. At the Temple of Law, the group disembarked and proceeded to enter to make their report directly to the Sword Maiden, but to their surprise found Guild Girl and Cow Girl there conversing with Sword Maiden. The three women turned as the sound of footsteps and were delighted to see Goblin Slayer and his party finally returning.

"Goblin Slayer!"

"My dear Goblin Slayer!"

"You're back!"

"The quest is completed, we've returned."

"Welcome home…or rather welcome back, we're not home yet."

"I see."

High Elf Archer and Priestess rushed to greet their friends, while the men and Wolf casually walked to catch up with the rest of them.

"This is quite the welcome, what brings you all here this fine day?" Lizard Priest smiled as he bowed his head toward the ladies before him.

Cow Girl and Guild Girl looked at one another as if they had been caught doing something they weren't supposed to have done, then turned back toward the others, mostly looking at Goblin Slayer.

"We were concerned, you had been gone for so long this time."

"We only knew you were dealing with this quest, we just hadn't expected it to take you so far away from us."

"Is that so?"

"Fortunately, they were both nice enough to converse with me and tell me all about your exploits."

"I see."

Externally the three women were delighted to have met each other, but internally each grew nervous of the others intentions with Goblin Slayer.

"Just look at her, she might as well be a goddess! So mature, a cloth that barely covers her beautiful form and she's also an adventurer! I thought my only competition was Guild Girl, I had no idea he was also interacting with someone like her."

"He never mentioned how stunning the Sword Maiden was! I'm only able to see him as he comes and goes from the guild hall. His friend on the farm lives with him and I've always been a bit jealous of that, but now should I also be worrying when he's called out here too?"

"Look at these two, so young and beautiful! I don't even know what I truly look like anymore, would he even be attracted to someone like me? How infuriating that one gets to see him every time he comes and goes on his goblin quests and the other is living with him like his w…w…wife!"

"My dear Goblin Slayer, I am overjoyed to find that you and your party have returned unharmed from your quest."

Before Goblin Slayer could even answer both Priestess and High Elf Archer stepped in to answer for him.

"Knowing Orcbolg, he would never admit it, but both he and Wolf endured the most damage on this quest unfortunately."

There was a look of concern and worry among the three women's faces, and soon enough Priestess added her own details about the seriousness of Wolf's condition. Recalling the memory of how serious Wolf's injuries were was difficult for her, but she could at least take comfort in the fact that Wolf and Goblin Slayer were still both beside her.

"Wolf…nearly died during our last encounter. Poisoned and badly injured, he continued to fight on and defend us. Thankfully Goblin Slayer thought ahead and instructed us on how to save Wolf."

Cow Girl and Guild Girl both looked toward Wolf, who curiously turned his head to the side as it looked back at them. Instantly Cow Girl rushed forward and hugged the large dire wolf, tears present in the corner of her eyes.

"I don't even want to think about the possibility of losing this big guy."

"Nor do I." Guild Girl walked toward Wolf and gently patted his head.

Wolf was not sure why they were acting so friendly, but he of course did not mind the attention, as he happily wagged his tail. Both girls then looked toward Goblin Slayer rather angrily which made the armored warrior jerk backwards from their expressions.

"How could you not tell us you were badly injured Goblin Slayer?"

"You were even going to keep Wolf's injuries a secret too weren't you?" Cow Girl still hugging the large wolf.

"I didn't think I needed to say anything…sorry."

"You'll be making up for this one for quite a while Beardcutter."

"I am glad to see you are both well my dear Goblin Slayer, I'm surprised that you both appear to have recovered from your injuries. I trust our Earth Mother acolyte was able to heal you."

"Wolf was healed by her, but I encountered a woman in Mountain Pass who healed my injuries."

The moment Goblin Slayer mentioned another woman, all three immediately gasped, a slight blush visible upon their faces. Both High Elf Archer and Priestess sighed in defeat, surely Goblin Slayer was not so dense as to know that mentioning another woman would infuriate those infatuated with him. Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest could only chuckle silently to themselves while Goblin Slayer looked at the three women curiously.

"What woman!"

As if on cue, all three asked the same question both angrily and with curiosity. Goblin Slayer still oblivious as to the reason they were so mad, it was the same as when he mentioned this woman to High Elf Archer and Priestess back in Mountain Pass.

"She never told me what she was called. We spoke about the goblins, she thanked me for watching over the girl and healed my injuries."

The three women looked at him suspiciously before nodding their heads in approval, they had known him long enough to he wouldn't do anything so shameless with someone he just met.

"If nothing else, I am glad that you are uninjured my dear Goblin Slayer."

"As am I Goblin Slayer."

"And I'm glad that Wolf is okay too."

Goblin Slayer nodded his head yet paused as the thought of his discussion with that woman, he looked back at the smiling women and remembered what he needed to do.

"Before I give my report…I wanted to thank you all for your support, guidance and advice."

The women were surprised by his comment, but soon smiled at his unusual response. Sword Maiden did not know him as long as the others, but like both Guild Girl and Cow Girl, could tell this was out of character for him.

"The Beast Master was attempting to use an army of goblins to take the town due to a personal grudge. He lost his family to goblins and blamed the villagers for not helping him, he found a female partner who aided him in his plan. He knew the people wouldn't react to goblins and hoped that would be enough…he hadn't counted on our party being there."

"His partner, Fallen Magician, was a former adventurer who was caught by the goblins on her first adventure and like Beast Master, blamed others for not warning her about the true horror of goblins." Priestess thought for a moment how close she herself could have ended up like Fallen Magician if not for Goblin Slayer.

The women were concerned to hear about these two people whose twisted sense of revenge led them to use goblins to harm people who had nothing to do with their past tragedies. Sword Maiden, like Priestess, could recall her own torture at the hands of the goblins, even after fifteen years the thought of its still terrified her. Goblin Slayer turned and began to walk away from the group, much to the surprise of everyone around him followed only by Wolf.

"Where you going?" Cow Girl called out as her friend continued away from the others.

"My weapon was lost during the battle, I'm going to buy a new one." Goblin Slayer stopped in his tracks silently staring forward, still keeping his back to the others. "I will return shortly."

Goblin Slayer and Wolf continued through the temple, for the rest of his party they too could see the similarities between him and Beast Master. Cow Girl, Guild Girl and Sword Maiden could only guess what was going through their minds, that is until Dwarf Mage could see their confusion and sought to enlighten them.

"This last quest may have affected Beardcutter more deeply than anyone of could have imagined. He glimpsed a possible path he could have taken if he had the same thought process as Beast Master."

"This Beast Master…he lost everything to goblins too?" Cow Girl thought back to the lost village, her parents, his older sister, all gone that evening she left with her uncle.

"That's what we gathered from our conversation with Fallen Magician, both let their tragedy consume them."

"She also mentioned that Orcbolg must have also gone through such a tragedy himself. He's never told us anything about his past, could you help us fill in the gaps?"

Guild Girl had a pretty good idea of what happened based on her earlier conversation when discussing why goblins did what they did, but he never fully admitted to it. Cow Girl had been there that day as well, she remembered the empty coffins that represented her lost parents and for five longs years though she had lost him too. With a sigh, Cow Girl started to tell them everything she knew or gathered over these last six years.

"More than ten years ago, our village was attacked by the goblins. I had gone with my uncle to help with the birth of a baby cow…we had a big fight that day right before I left. We I came back, everything was gone, there were no bodies to properly bury. You know that spot where the training site is, that used to be the location of our village."

There was a look of shock as they heard this, they were there the day it and the newest adventurers were attacked by the goblins. Goblin Slayer didn't even mention anything about this as they helped train the newest adventurers.

"From what I've gathered, he was the only survivor, he hid for three days while the goblins plundered our village. His sister did not survive, he would mention that he saw everything those little beasts did from start to finish."

Silence filled the room, none of them had any idea that this is what shaped Goblin Slayer into the person he was. This could explain the instability they had seen the first time they had gone on a quest with him into the forgotten Elven fortress to face the ogre. All they had known was that he had been adventuring by himself over the last five years before he had Priestess join him.

"Then it's thanks to all of you that he has avoided the same path of the Beast Master."

The words of wisdom came from Sword Maiden who could only smile as she looked over everyone before her.

"You who have been his connection to his past and support at home, you who have been watching over him and guiding him over his six years at the guild, and the four of you, no I'm mistaken, five of you that have adventured with him. Without you all, he would have surely lost all sense of who he was."

Everyone looked at one another and smiled, to here this from the hero who had helped defeat the Demon Lord, it was indeed high praise. For High Elf Archer she could now think back to her thoughts after the demon incident and say to herself that they had saved Orcbolg. Cow Girl had a thought, she conferred with Guild Girl, before turning toward Sword Maiden.

"Sword Maiden, before we depart, we thought it would be a good idea for us to have a big dinner to celebrate everyone's success, would you please join us?"

Sword Maiden was surprised by the request, then smiled as she nodded her head toward everyone before her.

"Normally I'm not allowed out without escort, but this is a special occasion, so I will gladly join you all for a delicious feast."

As Goblin Slayer returned with new sword, he was greeted by the others who told him about their plans for dinner, reluctant to join at first, he was quickly convinced to join with them. That evening, everyone laughed and talked the night away as they enjoyed their meal, even Goblin Slayer had a light smile under his helmet. They spent the night there in the Temple of Law and departed in two carts the following morning. Sword Maiden thanked them once again, personally given them their reward for dealing with Beast Master and his goblins and wishing them well on their future quests. Away the party went back to Frontier Town, fortunately by the time they would get back they had two days off before their next quest would be available, but little did any of them know that the gods were already planning for the next quest ahead of them.

xxxx

Far to the north, amongst the ice and snow a large doe scrapped along the ground to expose the grass near the stream. The sky was over cast with light snowfall, yet the wind blew constantly, but for this heavy doe the biting cold was not bothering it at all. Suddenly the deer's ears heard the crunch of snow around it, it looked up but saw nothing among the snow, just three large trees nearby. It continued to feed upon the grass when it heard the crunch of feet upon the snow once again. It looked up cautiously looking left and right but still could not see anything among the snow.

There near one of the large trees she crouched in the snow, her fur white as the snow around it, the only thing visible for those who were paying attention was her black nose and her bright blue eyes. Once the deer went back to eating the grass, she was ready to pounce, but now it was her turn to hear something. Both animals looked back to see three goblins rush forward, the doe instinctively took off while the white dire wolf growled as the goblins approached, but stopped as a new scent was carried over the wind…the smell of something rotting. The dire wolf stopped its growling and crouched low to the ground as she watched the group come over the hill behind the goblins.

A large figure, standing nearly three meters tall, shrouded in black, save its exaggerated golden crown, marched forward, but behind it were a couple dozen creatures of different race. There were elves, men, dwarves and goblins, male and female, but the one thing they all had in common was the diseased look about them. These creatures were covered in horrible wounds, bloody spittle hanging from their mouths, their yellow pupil-less eyes not capable of seeing anything, and yet they were focused on the goblins before them. The large figure raised its hands, its elongated fingers, covered by grey skin that seemed to have been dehydrated, pointed toward the goblins and instantly icicles flew forward hitting the three goblins in the back and legs, dropping them to the ground.

"You're no use to me alive." The voice was feminine and just as cold as the snow around her, yet her breath was not visible in the cold air.

The undead creatures descended upon the still living goblins and began to bite into their flesh, their screams echoing in the surrounding area. The dire wolf's instinct told her to stay motionless, so as not to draw any attention to herself. She watched and heard as the rotting creature fed upon the injured goblins, until the large figure in black called the creatures back. The creatures stood and stumbled back toward their master, leaving the half eaten goblin corpses behind, but in mere moments the goblins began to thrash about and finally stood with a moan of indifference as they too walked to join the horde.

"We return to the castle."

The tall women in black moved forward and behind her the horde of the undead followed. Once the horde was out of sight and she could no longer smell their retched stink in the air, the dire wolf finally moved away from the tree and looked back at the direction they had come from. Suddenly, over the howling wind, she could hear the moans of the creatures only they were now louder and there were much more than what she had heard before. She turned and ran in the direction the doe had gone, wanting to get as far away from the evil area as possible. For the dwarves in their fortress who were gathering supplies and inspecting weapons, the cries of the undead were unsettling, but it confirmed their suspicions about their missing brethren.

"You hear that?"

"I hear them clear as day. What a terrifying sound."

"I think you'd best contact your nephew, have him gather his party to aid us, if the undead are beginning to gather and in such numbers it can only mean one undeniable fact…the lich queen is here."