This will be the chapter before we get to Goblin Slayer flying solo with Kaguya. The author's notes will be at the bottom. Please enjoy this chapter!
Aside from Priestess, the reason every girl had for sleeping with him that night was all the same: he was cold, and they wanted to warm him up with their body heat. The reality of it was actually because all five women thought he had died, and wanted to embrace him in his sleep out of a sense of being clingy. That, and of course, it was out of a concealed feeling of lust that each woman had for him that was hidden behind their original excuse of simply wanting to keep him warm.
Once everyone had embraced Goblin Slayer and the joy of him being in full health wore off, the mood of everyone during breakfast had damped, as they all sat around the large dining table with their plates of food hardly touched in front of them; save for Goblin Slayer himself, who was scarfing down the enormous helpings of hash browns and scrambled eggs with pieces of toasted bread.
Being too overwhelmed with anxious thoughts of how her older sister and the rest of her kind were doing back home, High Elf Archer couldn't even bring herself to scope up a single bite of breakfast. So when she looked over with her worried eyes to where Goblin Slayer was downing an entire glass of orange juice to himself, High Elf Archer couldn't help but to feel bewildered at how unaffected in the aftermath of the Ancient Wyvern.
"Orcblog! You're gonna freakin choke if you keep eating like that; slow the hell down," High Elf Archer scolded, as she narrowed her eyes slightly at him.
Putting down the empty glass on the table, Goblin Slayer quickly patted his mouth dry while Kaguya sat on top of his shoulder; keeping his neck warm with her white fur, as she patiently waited for him to finish his meal. "Sorry," was all Goblin Slayer had to say to High Elf Archer, before immediately using his fork and knife to cut a chunk out of the ham steak Cow Girl cooked up for them that morning.
Being so filled with uncertainty and concerns himself, not even Lizard Priest had it in him to touch the slices of cheese that were on his plate; a delicacy that he considered to be the "sweet nectar of the gods". Just like everyone else at the table, Lizard Priest was amazed that Goblin Slayer had such a massive appetite. "Impressive that you are able to chow down without freeing the least but imposed by the bleak future ahead of us… Your mental fortitude has once again surprised me, Goblin Slayer."
Always wanting to lighten up the mood, even if he himself was just as nervous about his home as everyone else was, Dwarf Shaman raised his bottle of fire wine as he gave Lizard Priest a over exaggerated look of shock. "Aye! What about me, Scales?! Aren't cha gonna say anythin' about my fort-tit-tube, eh?!" Dwarf Shaman playfully demanded, and shook his orange bottle of almost empty alcohol at the unimpressed reptilian man.
"It would more impressive if you were to put the bottle down for once in your life," Lizard Priest replied with a disapproving look in his exotic eyes; making Dwarf Shaman let out an uncomfortable chuckle, as he placed the near empty bottle down on the table beside his untouched breakfast.
"Hehe, uh… T-Tough crowd this morning," Dwarf Shaman mused while chuckling uneasily, as he immediately decided to promptly shut his mouth.
Agreeing with Dwarf Shaman's comment, Sword Maiden nodded her head as she reached subtly underneath the table to place her hand on top of Goblin Slayer's thigh; rubbing her palm up and down his leg to comfort herself. "It would seem that way," Sword Maiden said quietly, while listening to the way Goblin Slayer was gobbling down the rest of his ham steak. "So… Let's not dance around the subject any longer. What are everyone's plans from here on out? We should openly discuss where we're all going to be, in case there comes a time where we need to check on one another," Sword Maiden announced, as she gently squeezed her fingers around Goblin Slayer's upper thigh.
Raising her hand to speak first, Cow Girl, who had been sitting on the other side of where her best friend was thoroughly enjoying her cooking, decided to be first amongst them to speak. "I'm probably just gonna be here guys, haha, uh… You know, doing my job on the farm, and all that fun stuff," Cow Girl said with a small grin on her face, while knowing that her answer wasn't a surprise to anyone. "Uh… If you guys need a place to stay or are looking for work, umm… W-We could always use a hired hand on the farm! But… N-Not sure if that's even something any of you would be interested in. But hey, the offer's always open!"
Even though it was apparent by the reluctant smiles in the room, save for Goblin Slayer who was still rushing to finish his plate, that no one was at all interested in downgrading from their lifestyles to that of a farmer, the thought was what counted, and it prompted Sword Maiden to speak up. "That's very generous of you to say that, young lady; I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are all extremely blessed to have someone like you in our lives," Sword Maiden said with an appreciative look on her face, before turning her attention over to High Elf Archer. "Princess, how about you?"
Having not expected to be picked so soon to talk, High Elf Archer immediately turned her longful gaze away from Goblin Slayer; her cheeks pink as she looked back at all the others around the table, who were waiting for her to speak. "Well… I think I'm gonna take a break from the whole adventuring thing for, uh… I don't know, maybe a few months?" High Elf Archer guesstimated, as she wasn't too sure of the details of how long she was going to be gone for. "I kind of just wanna make sure that my sister's doing well, and maybe do my part in helping around the kingdom. Can't be too sure whether or not that Ancient Wyvern was the only mythical monster to come back, ya know?"
Nodding his head with a methodical look in his drunken eye, Dwarf Shaman was receiving a sideways glance at Lizard Priest as he finished the rest of his fire wine before letting out a loud belch. "Oo, excuse me, heh heh," the white bearded dwarf said with a smile on his lips, while High Elf Archer gave a half-hearted chuckle from finding his burp to be childishly amusing. "Aye, I agree with ol' Long Ears about returning home. If it be true that these dreadful monsters are crawling out of whatever miserable pit they had been hiding in for all this time, then ya can be yer arses that the dwarfs will have a day in the matter! Might be thinking about re-enlisting in the Paragon's army with the way the world's going!"
Unlike High Elf Archer and Lizard Priest, Priestess was unaware of that part of Dwarf Shaman's past. "Y-You were part of the dwarven military?!" Priestess asked with a genuinely surprised look on her adorable face.
Had he not known Priestess to be as cute and naive as she was, the proud dwarf would have taken offense to the bewilderment on her face when she made it clear to him that she had a hard time believing that he had once served in his people's army. "Aye, Lassie! You're looking at the ex-commander of the Aegis Division! Used to be in charge of over five-hundred fine men and women who were the first ones to see action during any armed conflict!"
Having heard a countless number of times about Dwarf Shaman's glory days of when he was a young officer in the dwarven army, High Elf Archer scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah… Let me know how that works out for you, "Beer Gut"," High Elf Archer said with a snide look on her grinning face, as Dwarf Shaman gave her a playfully offended look.
"Aye "Anvil Chest", don't be jealous because you WISH you had these sort of curves, heh heh!" Dwarf Shaman shot back, as he stood up from his seat before lifting his shirt up to show off his bare stomach to High Elf Archer, who began snickering as she shook her head at him.
"Pfffttt! Freakin' weirdo, hehehe… Eh?" High Elf Archer piped up, as she looked away from where Dwarf Shaman was making a fool of himself to look over to where Goblin Slayer was standing up from his chair. Curious as to what he was doing, High Elf Archer along with everyone watched their friend make his way to the kitchen sink, where he promptly washed his dish before drying it with a hand towel, Kaguya resting on his shoulder the entire time.
Being the one who was closest to the kitchen sink, Guild Girl turned around in her chair to stare at the back of his head full of soft gray hair. "You haven't really spoken at all this morning… Is everything alright with you?" Guild Girl asked with a concerned look on her face, and found herself holding her breath the moment Goblin Slayer turned around to gaze down at her with a serious look in his scarlet eyes.
"… I'm going to get my inventory cleared out, I'll walk all of you back to town soon," Goblin Slayer said with a low and determined voice that instantly made the breathless receptionist blush. "It would be a shame for all of this food to go to waste… I would suggest finding some containers to have it for later, if none of you are hungry right now," Goblin Slayer said, before immediately walking out of the kitchen; making sure to ruffle Cow Girl's head of red hair affectionately along the way.
Already beginning to hear the legs of multiple kitchen chairs skidding across the wooden floorboards of the dining area behind him, Goblin Slayer came to a halt once he was in the middle of the living room. Turning around slowly, he stared back at all of his friends who were crowding into the living room and out of the dining room; their expressions ranging from worry to outrage.
"And where the hell do you think you're going, Orcblog?! Don't tell us that you're actually thinking about hunting down that Ancient Wyvern!" High Elf Archer demanded with her teeth bared at him, and her green eyes narrowed; as the thought of Goblin Slayer going up against something that she couldn't protect him from terrified her.
Taking in a deep breath, Goblin Slayer momentarily averted his gaze over to Kaguya's rabbit face looking back at him, before turning his attention back to his friends. "I'm going to get my last set of armor on, and head down to town to spend my saved up gold for more effective gear. As of right now, none of my current weapons are suited for what I'll be up against," Goblin Slayer said with an apologetic look in his scarlet eyes, as he smiled softly at the looks of shock on his friends' faces.
Hating the idea just as much as everyone else was, Priestess balled her small hands into fists by her sides, staring down at his socked feet with frustration and sadness in her teary eyes. "That's…! T-That's just suicidal!" Priestess objected, as she raised her chin up to shake her head at the way Goblin Slayer was looking at her. "Y-You can't do that! Y-You don't know anything about Ancient Wyverns, or even just about dragons themselves!" Priestess protested, as she raised a hand up to point at him.
"Y-You finally just got your life back! There's no more goblins to slay! N-Nothing! You could finally take back your freedom, and p-put that nightmare of yours to rest!" Priestess continued to rant, as she thought back to the conversation she and Goblin Slayer had the other day at the capital's marketplace. "S-So why…? T-Tell me why you're so willing to throw your life away like that, and just expect for all of us to be okay with it?! Why? WHY?!?"
Maintaining his calm composure and gentle smile on his face, even in the face of seeing the small and petite blond girl visibly shaking with anger and sadness as she stared up at him with bloodshot eyes, Goblin Slayer took in a deep breath, before slowly exhaling through his nose. "It's my responsibility to ensure the safety of all of you… I've seen what that monster was capable of upclose; what you saw at the town was merely a glimpse of its power," Goblin Slayer stated as a fact, while remembering how much devastation was caused by the Ancient Wyvern summoning a meteor shower. "I landed a critical blow to its brain, after I stabbed my sword through it's left eye, but… Now that our element of surprise has been lost, and it now knows what to expect of us… I fear that if it were to return to full health, then there wouldn't be anything any of us could do to stop it."
Although she herself had a hard time seeing the battle taking place in the forest during last night, Sword Maiden had been amongst many to both hear and feel the ground quaking from each time a meteorite struck the Earth. "Without its barb or its left eye, and having a brain injury from your last encounter with it… I believe your concerns are valid; there's nothing stopping it from destroying towns and cities from the skies instead of the ground," Sword Maiden said with a grim voice, as she began to understand why Goblin Slayer was insistent on killing the Ancient Wyvern while they still had a chance to do so. "Allow me to come with you to town as well: we'll all be needing to purchase some additional supplies for this-"
"-I'm sorry… I can't allow any of you to travel with me once I leave town; not this time, I'm afraid," Goblin Slayer reluctantly interrupted with the smile on his lips disappearing, as he watched the look of utter disbelief wash over Sword Maiden's blindfolded face. "This… This is something that I have to do on my own, from here on out."
Heartbroken and feeling incredibly hurt by the implication that Goblin Slayer saw her as a potential liability if she were to come with him, Sword Maiden let out a quiet gasp as her jaw dropped. "Do you… Do you truly think that little of us, Goblin Slayer? Is… Is it because of what we said in the tavern? W-What I did?" Sword Maiden asked with a gentle voice, as she reached out to pull Priestess in closer to her, so the younger woman could cry on her white garments.
Shaking his head patiently at her while feeling High Elf Archer's glaring eye burrowing in on his very soul, Goblin Slayer gave each and every else in the living room with him a gentle smile before taking a deep breath in to sigh. "No… It's because I love you all that I can't have you any of you come with me. This isn't anything like hunting goblins... Trust me, it's for your own good," Goblin Slayer said quietly, giving Cow Girl the sense that him talking about leaving them behind wasn't any easier for him than it was for them to hear it.
Gritting her teeth even tighter, High Elf Archer finally lost her temper and decided to act on impulse alone. "J-JUKKETER!!!" The feisty green-haired elf screamed with rage in her eyes, as she leapt forward with her dagger drawn. Jabbing the blade forward in an attempt to stab Goblin Slayer in the shoulder, High Elf Archer could hear her friends shout and scream as she watched him easily dodge her knife; as if though he had already been anticipating exactly where she was going to plunge her dagger at him.
"L-Long Ears! Get a hold of yourself!" Dwarf Shaman shouted, as he and Lizard Priest immediately sprung into action. Putting her into an arm lock, Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest struggled to keep the frenzied elf girl still, as she snarled at Goblin Slayer with tears pouring down from the corners of her heartbroken eyes.
"Y-YOU DON'T GET TO SAY THAT!!! N-NOT AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH!!!" High Elf Archer screamed on the top of her lungs, squirming in the hold that her companions had on her, as Sword Maiden reached over with one hand to pull the dagger out of her gloved hand. "Y-You…! You… Y…" High Elf Archer trailed off with a raspy voice, before slowly becoming too succumbed by her own overwhelming frustration and feeling of sadness to continue to form any more coherent words.
Standing there, feeling cathartic about having to leave his friends behind in the state that they were in, Goblin Slayer felt his heart breaking from the sight of seeing Sword Maiden holding a sobbing Priestess close to her; the two of them deeply hurt and saddened by Goblin Slayer's decision to pursue to the Ancient Wyvern by himself. Looking back over to High Elf Archer, who was being sat down on the middle cushion of the leather couch, as Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman kept her still in their arms as she shook violently with tears and snot leaking out of her betrayed face.
Stepping beside where Sword Maiden and Priestess were standing, Cow Girl made her way over to Goblin Slayer, coming to a halt once she and him were standing only less than an arm's length away from one another. Staring back at him with her blue gaze, Cow Girl appeared to have a level-headedness about the situation, in comparison to most of the others in the living room. "… Can I help you get your armor on, at least? It'll be faster if I help you," Cow Girl said with a soft smile forming on her soft and pink lips; which was somewhat surprising for Goblin Slayer to see her being so supportive of him leaving her, unlike everyone else.
Unable to give her an immediate answer right away, Goblin Slayer looked over Cow Girl's shoulder, where Guild Girl was staring back at him with a reassuring look. "You two go ahead and do what you need to do to be ready! I… I think it's time for the rest of us to head back to town. We've all got a lot of work to do too, not just you, after all!" Guild Girl said with an optimistic and supportive tone, as she made her way behind Cow Girl to address the distraught party members.
"… The Ancient Wyvern isn't the only thing we all have to worry about. While Goblin Slayer is busy tracking it down, the rest of us are going to need to pull our weight too! He isn't going to be here to solve our problems, so… So let's stop feeling sorry for ourselves, and get to work!" Guild Girl said with a cheery attitude, while trying to lift the spirits of everyone before her. And while it was still obvious that none of them were over Goblin Slayer refusing to have them come with him, all five of the adventurers did have an understanding that Guild Girl's words did have truth to them.
Pulling Goblin Slayer away as Guild Girl began to rally up the adventurers to go back into the kitchen to pick up before they headed back to town, Cow Girl reached down and grabbed him by the hand. "Come on, they'll be fine. We got some stuff to talk about anyways in private," the red headed farm girl said with a reassuring look in her dazzling blue eyes, as she led Goblin Slayer out of the living room and out through the front door; giving Guild Girl time to wrap things up, while she and Goblin Slayer headed inside the large shed in the back of the farm.
Locking the shed door from the inside, once Cow Girl and Goblin Slayer were alone, she made her way over to the small table he kept at the corner of his shed. Twisting the knob of the oil lantern that he kept on top of his the small table, the small fire inside illuminated the entire inside of the small building in a gentle glow; allowing for Goblin Slayer to see the patient and undering look on Cow Girl's smiling face, as she plopped her robust bottom down on top of his small mattress.
And there we have it! Goblin Slayer broke the hearts of his party members, and even Sword Maiden herself. Only reason why he wanted to go alone will be explained more in the next chapter, as he and Cow Girl have a chat, as he empties his backpack and gets ready to head out to begin his investigation of finding where the Ancient Wyvern went.
Don't worry, Sword Maiden, Priestess, High Elf Archer, Lizard Priest, Dwarf Shaman, Guild Girl, and Cow Girl will be in the story sooner or later, it's just going to be focusing on Goblin Slayer, Hero, and Kaguya for a little bit.
That's all I'll say for now, but just know that I'm super excited to write the next arc, which takes place in a new lore-rich island that leads to Goblin Slayer getting new gear and the ability to cast spells later. Okay, that's all for now. Cya.