UPDATE: 16 JANUARY 2023: Removed Chapter 3 to expand on ending.
UPDATE: 17 JANUARY 2023: Expanded more on the introduction of the chapter, by writing out the segment of the story where Kaguya actually does the act of killing every single goblin, and then some.
I also expanded on the scene of where Goblin Slayer and Priestess are passing through the capital's market.
Confident with the knowledge that she had a significant amount of more time than she needed, Kaguya performed her genjutsu that she had time to perfect: "Amenominaka". Instantly being able to rewrite whatever dimension she chose to jump to, Kaguya instead chose to break through the astral planes that were holding the fabrics of the universe together.
In contrast to the blue skies and bright sun that had been leaking through the openings of the overhead branches of the forest she had been in, traveling outside of existence itself brought Kaguya into a paradoxical realm that resembled space itself. Surrounded by an endless sky of dark purples, blues and glowing black hues, the infinite cosmos around her revealed starry-like orbs near and around her; endless possibilities that took the form of galactic-like multiverses, all of which orbited around singular points of light.
'It reminds me of my own home… But of course, the size and power here in comparison to what I've grown accustomed to seeing is on a much grander scale than what I'm used to… Such an endless stream of possibilities, and somehow the only being in all of existence who can defy everything around me is in this world, and this one alone,' Kaguya thought to herself with a sense of both awe and bewilderment, as she hovered in the vast infinite nothingness, just outside of the massive celestial orb that was the world that Goblin Slayer inhabited.
'Now that I have a grasp of what I'm working with... Committing an interdimensional cleaning on this scale surely would sprout at least a small amount of God Trees for me to harvest from… Although, that all depends on how potent the souls of these so-called "goblins" are,' Kaguya thought to herself, while still believing that killing anything with green skin and negative energy inside of them would cover her bases.
Opening up her third eye, the Rinne-Sharingan, the truth seeking orbs around her formed a massive circle behind her that expanded outward for millions of light years. Forming an angelic light from her body that expanded outward within the circle behind that, Kaguya was using the subconsciousness of everyone who was asleep in Goblin Slayer's world to pinpoint her targets. Once in tuned with every goblin, hobgoblin, and orc who were still under the after effects of her Infinite Tsukiyomi, Kaguya instantly killed every single one of them by ripping their life force out; defragmenting their very souls into raw energy that she was hoping to transpire into God Trees being born.
Even though Kaguya wasn't a stranger when it came to committing genocide, the one she had just committed was her highest yield of lives she had ever taken at once, which made it that more shocking for her when she realized just how little of a difference that made. 'How is this possible?! Trillions of those filthy vermin dead, and all their combined souls only amounted to a FRACTION of chakra that's needed to even create a single seed?!'
Although she hasn't originally planned on using the lifeforce of the goblins for her personal gain, the temptation of being able to have her own chakra fruit grown within less than a day was beginning to take precedence over her original motives. 'It… It doesn't matter: what I'm doing is helping mankind again; it's what I've always done, and what separates me from the rest of my vile clan… Their world would be better off without the rest of those monsters,' Kaguya thought to herself; coming up with her own justifications for widening her scope of targets, as she began to rip the lifeforce out of more monsters who had stronger souls than meager goblins she slayed.
Snuffing out the lives of those who were still under her spell became more demanding, as the ones with more powerful souls were putting up a fight against her hold on them. Progressively as Kaguya moved up the food chain of monsters based on their lifeforce, she found it increasingly becoming more taxing on her. No longer able to smite the dark forces of the world on a mere whim, Kaguya was needing to concentrate harder than she ever had; straining her mind, body, and soul.
'Almost there…! I-I knew it…! I knew that I didn't need anyone from my clan to sacrifice themselves to create the seeds…! All I need to do is repeat this process as many times as I need to, and soon…! And soo-NGHH!!! S-Soon, all of existence itself will be under my protective d-domain,' Kaguya thought to herself while trying to find enough motivation to push through all the agony she was putting herself through. 'No more betrayal... N-No more having to live, knowing that those traitors are going to always be seeking a way to dispose of me... N-No more... N-No more pain...'
Having originally thought that the strain she was feeling was a result of her own doings, the moment Kaguya finally gave in to take a break was the horrifying moment that she realized that the pain she was feeling wasn't from her pushing past her own limits, but from an invisible outside force that was retaliating against her power. 'S-Something's… Something's absorbing my chakra! I-IMPOSSIBLE!!! HOW?!? W-WHAT'S POWERFUL ENOUGH TO EVEN DO THIS?!?'
Having been the predator that was now turned into the prey, Kaguya was beginning to panic as hundreds of questions were going through her head as she remained suspended over the world that was attacking her. 'W-WHY CAN'T I MOVE!?! D-DID I AWAKEN SOMETHING?!? WHAT DID I EVEN END UP ACCOMPLISHING?!? W… WHAT'S GOING ON NOW?!?' Kaguya thought horrifically to herself, as she watched helplessly as the entire orb of every astral plane of the collection of contained multiverses unraveled into bright bursts of luminescent colors that momentarily blinded her with its overwhelming lights.
'Is this…? Is this what it's like… What's it like, to… To die…?' Kaguya thought wearily to herself, as whatever had a hold on her mind, body, and soul finally released its grip on her very existence. Limp and unable to move a single muscle in her celestial body, Kaguya was able to pull herself from the gravitational force that was dragging her back to the world she had tried manipulating to satisfy her own motives; all of which were ones that had been hidden behind good intentions.
The last thing Kaguya remembered seeing before blacking out was seeing the sight of the once volatile orb appearing to return back to its previous state; to how it looked before invoking its celestial wrath.
Having just finally gotten through the part of the beaten road that was within the woods, Goblin Slayer felt the Earth shake momentarily underneath his feet, as the sight of the horizon full of grassy hills suddenly became corrupted by red, green, and blue glitching lights. With how quickly he had experienced what one could best describe as being a sudden shift in reality, Goblin Slayer wasn't even sure if what he saw actually happened, or if it was just his eyes playing tricks on him.
'How odd… Either that was the aftermath of Kaguya using her magic to annihilate the goblins like how she promised me, or… Or what I just saw was merely the result of experiencing a head rush after losing my balance just now,' Goblin Slayer thought to himself, as he rose back up to his feet while adjusting the arm strap connected to the wrapped-up leather bag he had over his armored back.
'This calls for an investigation to be conducted… I shall hold off on having any assumptions, until I gather enough evidence to safely reach a fair conclusion,' Goblin Slayer thought to himself, and took one more look at the cloudless sky, before continuing on down the path closer to the town that resided on what was known as the "Frontier".
It had been one particularly strange day for the Adventurer's Guild, to say the least. One moment Guild Girl was walking into work with a flask filled with the latest craze on the market called "coffee", and was heading to the front desk to begin her day at work. However, just as she was about to start the work day by assigning a quest to the first adventurer in line, she, along with everyone else in town, immediately fell asleep and collapsed to the floor.
When she finally stirred awake after feeling the floor shake for a split second underneath her, Guild Girl found herself laying face down with her empty flask still in her hand; drool oozing out of the corner of her mouth, as she was stirring awake after having just had one of the best dreams she had ever had. Believing the cause of her sudden lapse of consciousness to be, at first, a consequence of her burning the midnight oil instead of going straight to bed like how she was supposed to do.
However, it didn't take long for Guild Girl to conclude that her previous assumption wasn't at all the probable cause behind why she had fallen asleep so suddenly. Upon picking herself and her empty flask up from the coffee-stained floorboards behind her wooden desk, Guild Girl realized that every single person in the lobby with her was also in the midst of picking themselves up from the floor.
With no one having any clue as to what had made them all pass out for a few minutes, everyone in the lobby after throwing around their own theories came to the conclusion that a powerful sleep spell had gone awry, and thus caused each and everyone one of them to have briefly fallen asleep. Satisfied with the explanation, since Guild Girl had heard of such events happening to others who attended wizardry school, she organized everyone back in line before proceeding to assign their parties the quests she had available.
Even though Goblin Slayer would only come into the headquarters of the town's Adventurer's Guild branch in the afternoon to see what goblin related quests were available, seeing him in his worn-down armor was always the highlight of Guild Girl's day. Seeing Priestess come in first, followed by High Elf Archer, Lizard Priest, and then finally Dwarf Shaman; all of which began to immediately discuss amongst themselves what they were doing, before they passed out.
Smiling at them and just passing the time by doing her job until Goblin Slayer's arrival, the day seemed to be going as it normally would for Guild Girl. That was, until the adventurers who she had previously sent out yesterday were returning with disappointment in their eyes, as questions of getting compensated for traveling were being asked to her by every single one of them.
From what she quickly gathered after receiving the first of hundreds of complaints, every monster, bandit, wizard, and other malicious entity out there who the adventurers had been sent out to dispatch were all already dead when they got there. Those who had been fighting in the midst of suddenly falling asleep reported to her that when they woke up, their enemies were laying on the ground and no longer were alive; seemingly having died in their sleep.
While the miraculous turn of events was something to celebrate on its own, it also meant that those who had delegated the quests out to the Adventurers' Guild had become reluctant to pay the adventurers who accepted their quest when hearing of how their enemies had died. Bombarded with angered crowds of adventurers who were threatening to rally the kingdom to shut down their establishment if they weren't given reparations, Guild Girl had to get into contact with the Examiner through the help of a mage, who created a communication portal between the two after feeling sorry for her predicament.
Needing to put up a temporary sign on the front desk to let the crowded lobby filled with upset adventurers know that all services were halted until further notice, Guild Girl was instructed by the Examiner to divide the frontier's deposited funds into small fractions to compensate those who had spent their own money on traveling expenses. By the time that Guild Girl had finished handing out meager amounts of coins to the unsatisfied parties in the room, the frontier's Adventurer's Guild had to be closed due to lack of funding.
When all was said and done, the two-way portal spell between Guild Girl and the capital's Examiner ended when the older woman heavily implied to the blond girl that they were all going to need to find a new job soon. Having kept a small pouch filled with a few coins for herself, Guild Girl was dragging her feet behind her as she stood outside the front entrance of the once proud building she was employed at. Locking it with a key before putting said key into the small lockbox that was welded onto the bottom of the nearby cast-iron lantern post, Guild Girl was still in shock by the time she stumbled over to where Goblin Slayer's party was standing.
Unlike the rest of the parties who had been poorly compensated for their wasted time, the only one out of the group who was still feeling worked up about there being no more quests to be had was High Elf Archer. Seeing the wide-eyed expression on Guild Girl's face as she stood within their circle, Dwarf Shaman was the first of them to offer his condolences to her by raising his bottle of fire wine to her.
"Aye lassie, my most sincere apologies for how your day has turned out. Perhaps a swing of this will make you forget your troubles, even if just for a wee bit?" Dwarf Shaman offered, while attempting to lighten up the mood as he shook the orange-glass bottle of wine in front of Guild Girl's face.
Shaking her head as she let out a melancholy sigh, Guild Girl gave the white-haired dwarf a soft smile while shaking her head at the bottle of alcohol. "No thank you, I'm afraid I don't have time to drown my sorrows at the moment… I've got to go back home and update my résumé… I hope that coffee place is hiring right now; it smelt really good in there this morning," Guild Girl mused, while trying to think positively in light of how uncertain the future was for her.
Catching on to what the other blond woman was implying, Priestess took a step forward toward Guild Girl with a sympathetic look on her soft face, while Dwarf Shaman took a step back to give them space; shrugging his shoulders, before rising the bottle up to take a long drink from his fire wine. "That's awfully unfortunate to happen to someone like you…! If you're interested in relocating, I have some connections through the church; they're always looking for someone with your experience."
Appreciating the practical offer that Priestess was offering to her, Guild Girl politely smiled at her before saying "That's truly generous of you, but… I'm afraid that I'm not that religious, so I doubt they would ever consider me for any position they have. With all due respect, I can't exactly imagine myself refraining from giving into particular activities; especially those that might be considered sinful by the church's standards."
Curious as to what the blond woman was implying, Lizard Priest titled his head to the side as he and Guild Girl made eye contact. "What sort of sinful urges could someone like yourself possibly have? I am afraid that I do not understand what sort of wrongdoings a front desk receptionist could find themselves constantly tempted by," Lizard Priest explained, to which earned him an amused and drunken smile from Dwarf Shaman.
"Aye Scales, isn't it obvious?! We see it everyday, for cryin' out loud!" The drunken man slurred out with an entertained look in his eyes, as he wobbled over to where the tall lizard man stood. Leaning on Lizard Priest's shoulder, Dwarf Shaman pointed his arm up and kept his thumb and three fingers held tightly around his swishing bottle of alcohol, as he pointed a finger at Guild Girl. "The lassie has impure thoughts pop up in her noggin every time she sees Beard Cutter…~! She gets all smiley and blushes as red as smelted steel being forged~! Ain't that right, my lady~?! Haha!"
Unable to deny the accusations being drunkenly thrown at her, Guild Girl bowed her head to try and conceal the embarrassed look on her crimson face. "Uh, hehe, uh…! Umm… S-Sometimes… M-Most of the time… E-Every time I see him…" Guild Girl admitted with a smitten smile on her face, while Dwarf Shaman cackled out loud.
"… Maybe that's the real reason why you lost your job," High Elf Archer muttered sarcastically under her breath, while crossing her arms over her flat chest while glaring at Guild Girl, who was too busy staring down at the ground to notice.
In light of Guild Girl admitting to have lustful thoughts of Goblin Slayer whenever she saw him, High Elf Archer became visibly frustrated and defensive, all while Priestess became worried, as she had never thought to consider her own impure thoughts as sinful enough to make Earth Mother question her own dedication to Her. And as the two women within his party were dealing with their own jealousy and conflicting thoughts, it then finally dawned on Lizard Priest as to what Dwarf Shaman had been trying to say to him.
"Oh? Does the Earth Mother forbid her followers from mating?" The naive lizard asked aloud, as reproducing in his own culture wasn't seen as taboo by any means. Upon asking his question, Lizard Priest received shocked looks from High Elf Archer and Priestess, while Dwarf Shaman nearly choked on his next gulp of wine after hearing his friend ask such an inappropriate question.
Confused as to why he was receiving the reactions he was getting, especially from Guild Girl who had a guilty look that she was trying to conceal on her crimson face, Lizard Priest looked around at his party members before asking "What?! What did I say?! What I asked was a simple question! It was not meant to be taken as a crude joke!" Lizard Priest said out loud with a worried look on his face, as the last thing he wanted to do was been seen as disrespectful.
And while Dwarf Shaman was finding absolute entertainment from what he was hearing, Goblin Slayer was first spotted by High Elf Archer as he approached his group in the midst of Priestess doing her best to explain her church's doctrine to Lizard Priest. Putting her leather gloved hands on her hips, High Elf Archer was looking past her mint-green bangs with her emerald eyes, as she leaned forward to huff at Goblin Slayer as he was finally noticed by the rest of his party.
"About time you showed up, Orcblog! You're usually here around noon, and it's about to be dinner time within a couple hours… You must have hit your head pretty hard earlier when you fell asleep, otherwise I don't understand what excuse you would have in order to be THIS late!" High Elf Archer scolded, as pointed an arm up to point at the low sun.
Rolling his eyes at how much his green haired companion was complaining, Dwarf Shaman shook his head as he waved his hand dismissively at her. "Aye Beard Cutter, pay no mind to ol' "Anvil Chest"; she's just bitter because there aren't any more adventures to be had, at least not at the moment."
Offended by the insult that was aimed at her breasts, and lack thereof, High Elf Archer gritted her teeth at the snickering dwarf as turned away from Goblin Slayer to face the heavy drinker. "Bite your tongue, old man! Talk about my chest one more time, and I'm gonna take that bottle of cheap wine from you, and shove it up straight up your drunken ass!"
Chuckling more quietly this time, Dwarf Shaman took another chug of his wine, as he decided to not test her patience. "Aye… Ain't no way for a princess to talk, innit…?" The man murmured to himself, and received one more playfully dirty look from High Elf Archer, before she once again turned her attention back over to Goblin Slayer.
"Anyways… The news is this, Orcblog: every monster, every bandit, and pretty much every anything that posed itself as a danger? Yeah, they're all dead now, for some reason, and, uh… S-Since you're free now, did you want to go get dinner together?" High Elf Archer asked bodly with her cheeks glowing, while turning her back on Priestess and Guild Girl, as each of them turned to give her a shocked and envious look.
Raising his hand up to grab a hold of his helmet's chin guard, Goblin Slayer thought back to what Kaguya had promised him earlier, and smiled behind his visor as the news of there being a mass extinction of goblins. "… Yes, that... That would be a good place to go," Goblin Slayer said aloud, as he was formulating the best way of how he could give the news to everyone of his agreement with Kaguya.
Smirking triumphantly while leaping up to click her heels together with how happy she was with his response, High Elf Archer was performing her own preemptive celebration dance in front of everyone, which promptly ended the moment she heard Goblin Slayer say "I shall meet you all at the tavern in four hours. I need to travel to the Temple of Law, I have… An important discussion that needs to be held with its Archbishop."
Disappointed that her private invitation had instantly turned into a group meeting, the only thing that made High Elf Archer feel even more upset was when it was revealed that Goblin Slayer was going to be seeing Sword Maiden again; a beautiful woman who she felt inferior to when it came to grace, maturity, and looks. "Oh… I see… That's fine too, I guess," High Elf Archer muttered, as she turned around to face the rest of her party, as well as Guild Girl herself. "Alright, you heard Orcblog, didn't you? Let's just muck around town, and-"
"-May I come with you, please? I heard that the Temple of Law is starting to enforce appointments now, so it'll be easier for you if I were to join you," Priestess offered politely, after interrupting High Elf Archer in the middle of her instructions. Holding onto to her staff with a hopeful look in her dazzling blue eyes, Priestess was silently praying to Earth Mother as she waited anxiously for Goblin Slayer's response.
"I see. Yes, I would appreciate it if you were to accompany me," Goblin Slayer said in his usual stoic voice, before turning around from the group to begin walking through town. With High Elf Archer and even Guild Girl staring off with disbelief in their eyes, both women watched with envy as Priestess immediately followed closely behind Goblin Slayer; only moving forward to position herself at his side, before not-so-subtly hooking her small sleeved arm around his armored arm.
The frontier was a considerable distance from where the capital was, and with a limited amount of time to spare Goblin Slayer decided to bite the bullet by paying out of pocket for four fast-travel scrolls; two for each of them to get there, and two to get back to the home afterward. Due to how Goblin Slayer was normally was accustomed to receiving judgemental looks from other adventurers for the old armor he wore, it was surreal for him to recognize to complete lack of attention he was receiving as he and Priestess made their way through the beautiful brick-laid sidewalks of the kingdom's capital.
Noticing the line of adventurers who were standing outside an unemployment office, all of which were hoping to receive work of any kind to stay afloat with how expensive it was to live in the capital, Priestess couldn't help but to suddenly think back to Guild Girl's predicament, and wondered about her own future. "Earth Mother has bestowed upon us Her greatest blessing… Ridding the world of all its evil, and bestowing us with a new era of peace; an era that many of us weren't prepared for."
"Yes… Yes, I believe you are correct," Goblin Slayer said methodically, as his scarlet eyes through his helmet's visor gazed over to the crowded market district that they were passing through; with so many adventurers trying to sell their inventory, it made the young man think about his own future.
Noticing the shift in Goblin Slayer's voice, Priestess looked up at him while holding his arm affectionately around hers, and smiled optimistically at him. "But, it's a wonderful problem to have! I would much rather prefer going back to working at a temple, than to ever go back to living in a world with goblins, wouldn't you agree?"
Distracted but still paying enough attention to not block out the young blond woman's optimism, Goblin Slayer averted his gaze away from where he saw a line forming outside elf a tavern full of adventurers trying to drown out their sorrows, and turned to look down at Priestess' wide smile. "I agree… It's just… I never thought that this day would ever come… I've always assumed that I would die chasing an unachievable goal," Goblin Slayer admitted, now that there wasn't any reason to keep his resolve against a species that no longer existed. "That is... If it's true that the goblins are actually gone forever. We shouldn't get our hopes up entirely just yet."
"Tch... Don't be so pessimistic...! Look around you, isn't this proof enough?" Priestess asked, as she pointed over with her staff toward an entire raiding party that were fully equipped for goblin hunting. "People who took inspiration from your endeavors are starting to sell their possessions; that's unheard of when it comes to goblin-hunting parties! That wouldn't happen unless there want a reason for them to be out slaying goblins!"
Looking over to where Priest had been pointing to with her now lowered staff, Goblin Slayer stared out toward the groups of adventurers who had mimicked his tactics from the stories they had heard of him on their travels. The moment they made eye contact with him, they alerted one another of Goblin Slayer's presence, resulting in them egging each other one before finally they all made their way over to him.
After taking a few minutes to thank Goblin Slayer for inspiring them to have made a positive difference in their communities, back when there were goblins to hunt, the armored man was left silently wondering just how he had apparently inspired so many people to join him on a mission that he had thought was his alone to be burdened by.
'It... It must be true then. If... If there's no more goblins left, then... Then I suppose it's truly time for me to move on; to let go of all of this... Hatred, that I've been carrying around for most of my life,' Goblin Slayer thought cathartically to himself, as he always imagined the feeling of being freed from the shackles of his past being far more liberating than what he felt right then and there. 'This feels less like freedom, and more of a reminder of what I signed myself up for... And least I can leave this world, knowing that everyone's going to be safer than they would have ever been with me around... It's... It's tragic to know that I won't be here long enough to share that happiness with them.'
"Goblin Slayer... Can I... Can I tell you a secret? Something that I've... That I've been thinking about for a while now, but just never had to heart to tell you?" Priestess asked with a slightly nervous smile on her face, as Goblin Slayer turned his head over his shoulder to stare back at her through the visor of his helmet.
"That is fine," Goblin Slayer responded back, while feeling curious as to what secret Priestess had been keeping from him since they first started traveling together three years ago.
"I… I've always wondered about your future myself; ever since we started to go on adventures together," Priestess revealed, while thinking back to the first quest she took after her first party had fallen prey to the goblins he had saved her from. "To annihilate an entire species of creatures who were harder to exterminate than cockroaches… To me, I've always figured that you would continue to fight them until either your body gave out, or… Or, as you said: passed away fighting for what you believed in," Priestess admitted, as she tightened her hold around his arm, while averting his gaze down to her feet. "I… I've always thought that you being able to actually have a happy ending would always be out of your reach… B-But now? That… T-That doesn't seem so unobtainable for you anymore."
"I... I see," Goblin Slayer said in response to Priestess admitting her previous and borderline nihilistic thoughts to him. "If that was the case, then why did you stick around with me, especially when you already had your suspicions about how things would cathartically end for me?" Goblin Slayer asked, while trying to wrap his head around the idea of someone else dedicating themselves to such a lost cause, if they already knew the unfortunate and probable outcome.
As they passed through the residential area filled with condos for the wealthier class and drew nearer toward Sword Maiden's temple, Priestess gave Goblin Slayer a vulnerable gaze. "I would have had to go through so much pain and suffering before finally being allowed to die, had it not been for you… You saved my life, and… And ever since those goblins attacked my first party, I… I've come to find my confidence again through you, and through your bravery," Priestess explained with her cheeks becoming brighter, as she and Goblin Slayer approached the bottom step of many that led up to where the massive ivory temple stood on top of its colossal and tall stone-laid foundation.
"… I see," Goblin Slayer said with a softer voice than usual, before tightening his own hold of Priestess' arm as the two of them made their way up the polished stone steps to the gorgeous front entrance of the Temple of Law. Passing through the marble pillars that stood outside of its twelve foot tall double-doors, Goblin Slayer was able to skip needing to set up an appointment with Sword Maiden, thanks to Priestess being there with him.
Allowed entrance into the temple, so long as his blond young companion was there to escort him during his entire stay, it took only twenty or so minutes for Priestess to sign all the legal documents she needed to fill out, in order for her to even be inside the temple herself. Commenting on how political the church was getting, and how she missed the old days when she didn't have to bother with paperwork. Needing to carry around the permit on her person, Priestess led Goblin Slayer up the many, many flights of stairs, until they finally reached Sword Maiden's private quarters.
Knocking his closed fist against Sword Maiden's front door, in a way that wasn't too intrusive or obnoxious, Goblin Slayer and Priestess stood outside her chambers; patiently waiting as they heard the faint sound of the archbishop's footsteps drawing near from the other side of the white marble door. "Archbishop! It's Goblin Slayer and I! He wanted to say something important to you!" Priestess called out to Sword Maiden by using her title out of respect, as to announce themselves to her, due to her legal blindness.
Upon recognizing Priestess' youthful voice, as well as hearing the news that her beloved hero had come to pay her a visit, Sword Maiden was quick to undo the protective wards she had placed within her room before finally unlocking her reinforced door. Opening it up to greet them with a smile while her black blindfold was tied neatly around her drop-dead gorgeous face, Sword Maiden didn't have to squint long before making out the recognizable silhouette of Goblin Slayer's armored body.
"I… I believe you've come here to bring an explanation behind the sudden annihilation of those foul creatures… Am I to be corrected?" Sword Maiden asked with a knowing expression on her partially obstructed face.
Having wanted to wait until they were all gathered together at the tavern to discuss the true reasoning behind the goblins' mass extinction, Goblin Slayer had to resist the urge to reveal the bizarre truth right then and there to Sword Maiden; especially since he knew that she hated goblins just as much as he did. "All will be revealed tonight during dinner at the "Rose And Crown Tavern". I understand that the Temple of Law is getting stricter with their scheduling; are you free to come back with us to the frontier?"
"… For you, and only you, I'll always be there when you need me," Sword Maiden replied back with an amorous tone in her voice; her heart racing in her chest, as she felt butterflies swarming around in her stomach at the idea of having a night out with the man she adored the most. "Please, allow me to pack my gear; I never leave home without out."
"A wise decision," Goblin Slayer said with approval in his voice, as he and Priestess waited inside of Sword Maiden's chambers. Even though Sword Maiden was able to get around and locate her belongings, with her retinas having been burned many years ago, Goblin Slayer and Priestess still lended her a hand in locating her items on her behalf; making sure to hand them to her, so that she could feel independent as she stored them away in her leather backpack.