This will be an introduction of two new entirely new characters, both from different series. This chapter, when I wrote it, ended up being about fifteen-thousand words long, so I'm going to have to break it up into two or three parts; more likely three.
Anyway, here's part one out of three, probably. Enjoy!
The group had left the decayed fortress behind to begin their journey toward the high-plateaus, where the other and much taller fortress sat on top of. Despite what they initially thought, the distance they needed to travel was far more strenuous than what they assumed, which was mostly due to the many inclines that were all over the green hills. Stopping only once during their hike through the ancient battlefield to have lunch, the trio took cover beneath a tall weeping willow tree to take their much needed break from walking.
Once they were seated down in the cool grass beneath the shade that the hanging branches of the willow tree were blessing them with, Goblin Slayer took out the scroll from his leather backpack containing sealed meals that Kaguya had helped him prepare earlier. Unrolling the parchment paper and reading the menu options to Hero, Goblin Slayer couldn't help but to feel like a restaurant server with how he was going over their available options to the hungry teenager.
Once they each made their own selection, with Goblin Slayer choosing to dine on hearty beef stew, while Hero chose to munch down on a sushi roll, the two of them ate their lunches beside one another. Resting beside Goblin Slayer's thigh as she listened to the two of them strategize the best way they could takedown the Ancient Wyvern, Kaguya was calmly resting on her stomach while using her byakugan to keep alert of their surroundings.
Having been more on the lookout for monsters and any wandering wildlife than anything else, Kaguya became perplexed the moment she sensed what appeared to be a heavily-armored four-wheel vehicle, driving from the West through the bumpy terrain of the ancient battlefield. With the only thing in her past remotely resembling the large blue-steeled humvee in the distance being the coal-powered trains she remembered seeing in the world of the shinobi, Kaguya was immediately on guard the moment she realized it was going to drive near their location.
Alerting Goblin Slayer that there was an unidentified armored vehicle coming towards them, Kaguya had him relay her warning to Hero before instructing them on how far they needed to crawl down the grassy hill that the willow tree sat on top of, so as to keep them hidden from where her Rinne-Sharingan had predicted the armored veichle's field of vision would be. Taking their food with them, so as to not leave behind any evidence of them ever being there, Goblin Slayer and Hero laid flat down on the bottom side of the grassy hill, while Kaguya remained near the base of the tree.
Waiting for the blue-steel armored car to pass, Kaguya was able to use her byakugans to see through the shell of the four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle, and became even more bewildered than she already was, the moment she saw who was inside its front compartment. Sitting in the driver's seat appeared to be a very petite and blond girl who had piercing-sharp cyan eyes, and sitting beside her was another female who was slightly older than her, and who had a petite frame of her own.
The younger one of the two girls had a fairy-like face in terms of youthfulness, and paired with her extremely pale complexion gave her an almost sickly look. The young girl's messy light blond hair that she had tried to keep hidden underneath the officer's cap that looked too big for her gave Kaguya the impression that she was trying to appear more professional than she actually was.
In comparison to the driver, the young girl in the passenger's seat had her pastel-blue hair tied up neatly in large twin tails that were hanging down from the back of her head. Leaning toward the side window with her elbow resting against the door, the teenager with a stoic look in her amber eyes gazed out at the passing fields of grass with a calm expression on her face; one that reminded Kaguya of how calm and collected Goblin Slayer's own facial expressions were, even when he was trying to display emotions.
Despite their age, what really stuck out to Kaguya was what the two girls' outfits were that they had on; each contrasting in style from one another. The blond girl, whose peering eyes would occasionally twitch as she focused on the grassy flatlands ahead, was wearing a formal olive-green button-down collared-blouse that had a silver emblem on her top sleeve reading "C.P.D." in a white military-esque font. Paired with her sharp uniform and holstered gun, the platinum star she wore on her collar was what made Kaguya safely assume that the blond girl was part of some sort of law enforcement organization.
Compared to the professional appearance of the blond driver, the passenger had on a mauve-colored dress beneath a matching cape, and was wearing black sleeves and stockings that covered her pale skin, with her entire outfit possessing a gold trim around each article of clothing she had on. At the ends of her long sleeves and on the tips of her black shoes were red crystal orbs that gave off the same energy signature that Kaguya recognized from the crystals Goblin Slayer had picked up earlier in the forest. The two most unique and eye-catching parts of the pastel blue-haired girl's outfit, at least in Kaguya's opinion, were the metal-chassis device she had on her chest, and the black cat-ear headband she wore on top of her head.
Trying her damndest to figure out what the smooth-round contraption on her chest was, and why it was giving off a power reading that was extremely similar to her own, Kaguya felt a gasp escaping from small lips and her heart skip a beat the moment she saw the passenger's amber gaze widened; a perplexed expression overcoming the young petite girl's stoic face, as she then looked into the direction where Kaguya was.
Believing that the pastel-haired girl had somehow picked up on the chakra her eyes were giving off, Kaguya immediately stopped using her byakugans' x-ray ability. Despite appearing like a freak of nature, in comparison to what a normal rabbit in the wild should look like, Kaguya did her best to appear natural by mimicking the actions a normal bunny would do. Twitching her nose and pawing at the grass that she reluctantly started to chew, Kaguya waited for until the armored vehicle had left the perimeters of how far her byakugan could reach before putting an end to her façade; believing naively that if she couldn't see the girl with pastel blue hair, then she couldn't see her as well, Kaguya felt a weight unburdening itself from her shoulders the moment she figured they were all in the clear.
"There's two young girls inside of that vehicle… One's driving it, and the other one is the passenger. I believe that they're on their way to the fortress on top of the high-plateau as well," Kaguya informed Goblin Slayer, as she hopped through the tall blades of green grass to meet him where he and Hero were still laying down behind the cover of the hill.
Having been eating his soup, just like how Hero had been shoving her face with the sliced pieces of her sushi roll during the entire time they had been hiding, Goblin Slayer placed his empty bowl beside him as he looked up to meet Kaguya's gaze. "I see. Until we know what their intentions are, we should assume that they're dangerous," Goblin Slayer declared first and foremost, as he cautiously rose to the kneeling position; his scarlet eyes focusing on the faint silhouette of the armored vehicle driving toward the direction of their destination.
"… However, using "Occam's Razor", it's safe to say that they're, more-or-less, heading there because of the Ancient Wyvern… Friends or foe, we should be prepared for anything," Goblin Slayer deduced, while hearing Hero getting up from the grass to get into the squatting position.
Turning her head to give Kaguya a perplexed stare, Hero reached up and rubbed her chin as she thought more about what Goblin Slayer had relayed over to her. "… Am I stupid or something, because I don't get it: I thought Rabbit Goddess was the only one who could track the Ancient Wyvern down? What gives, are those two from the area after all, then? How else could they have tracked it down?" Hero asked aloud, while frowning slightly as Goblin Slayer turned around to face her.
Raising one hand up to grab a hold of his bare chin, similar to what Hero was doing, Goblin Slayer lowered his gaze down to where Kaguya hopped over to seat herself down between him and Hero; a thoughtful expression on his face, as he gave a slight nod to the young girl before him. "… You bring up a good point," Goblin Slayer said in a stoic voice, as he waited for Kaguya's three eyes to meet his gaze. "Did you notice anything out of the ordinary when you saw them? Any insignias that might foretell where they're from?"
Reflecting in detail about what she remembered specifically from their outfits, the only two things that stuck out to Kaguya was the silver insignia that the blond girl had on the shoulder of her olive-drab uniform, and all the tech that the pastel-haired passenger wore. Using her connection she had to Goblin Slayer's consciousness, Kaguya painted a mental image of the "C.P.D." emblem that the uniformed girl had on, before doing her best to recall the metal cat-ear headband and metal chassis that the other girl had on as well.
Digesting the few concrete details he had to go off of, Goblin Slayer rose up to his feet while proceeding to think out loud. "Considering that the letters on that girl's insignia were written in "common", we can assume that they can be communicated with… Their technology, including the land vessel they were operating and the devices the passenger was wearing, is more-or-less reminiscent of the other tech we've seen in the basement of the observatory tower… They must be native to this land," Goblin Slayer deduced, as he extended his arm down to grab onto Hero's outstretched hand.
Getting pulled up onto her feet by Goblin Slayer, the cogs in Hero's head were turning as she handed him his bent ebony spear. "… Even if they are from this place, I think we shouldn't rule out them being dangerous yet," Hero chimed in, as she bent down to scoop Kaguya up from the ground. "But, with that being said, there's also a chance that they're friendly, so even if we end up getting into a fight, we shouldn't go straight for their throat, know what I mean? Let's gauge it, and hold back until it's REALLY obvious that they're trying to kill us," Hero logically suggested, which impressed Kaguya, as the celestial being wasn't used to seeing her take a moment to step back and think first before acting.
Leaning forward, so Hero could set Kaguya on Goblin Slayer's shoulder, the young man gave the young girl praise for her input, and agreed to go about doing things her way, in case they ended up encountering the two mysterious females later on. Putting his leather backpack back on, Goblin Slayer took the lead with Hero following close behind him, and used his ebony spear as walking stick as they continued on their journey toward the high and grassy plateaus.
As they drew closer toward their destination, Goblin Slayer and Hero were finally able to see the top-edge of the colossal fortress that sat just out of their field of vision, due to how low they were at the basin of the mountainous terrain. Instead of following the long and winding path left behind by the wheels of the armored vehicle, Goblin Slayer and Hero chose to scale the side of the nearly seven-hundred meter tall plateau instead; a two-to-one democratic decision that Kaguya wasn't at all happy to be grouped into.
Although Kaguya had never once been afraid of heights before in her life, being forced to take the form of a fragile rabbit with a very breakable neck unnerved her, and caused her to dig her claws deep into Goblin Slayer's shoulder the entire time he lifted her and Hero up the side of the rocky cliff. Needing to take off his shirt and armor to avoid getting them scruffed up and soiled from his sweat, Goblin Slayer was using his enhanced strength that Kaguya was anxiously bestowing up with her chakra to use the only set of climbing gear they had fo scale the side of the plateau.
Dangling down beneath Goblin Slayer by the rope that she had tightly knitted around her waist, Hero was completely lackadaisical. Holding her light sword in one hand, and the ebony spear in the other, all Hero had to do throughout the entire hour it took for Goblin Slayer to climb up seven-hundred meters at a ninety-degree angle was to ward off any hawks that were eyeing Kaguya. Other than that, Hero spent most of her time staring at Goblin Slayer's toned ass, and keeping him entertained with her commentary, as the young and shirtless man who she was tied to was working up a heavy sweat.
When Goblin Slayer finally reached the top of the plateau's grassy cliff side, Kaguya immediately sprung off of his shoulder to get her paws back on the ground; letting out an elongated sigh of relief, while her champion pulled Hero up from the rope that was wrapped around his muscular and sweaty body. Although the chakra that Kaguya had given him was the significant reason behind why he was able to climb the side of the plateau in record time, with Hero's added weight to pull, the entire endeavor left him feeling extremely fatigued and parched by the end of it.
Kneeling down and taking his leather backpack off once he and Hero distanced themselves from the very edge of the high-plateau's drop off point, Goblin Slayer was breathing out of his mouth in rapid intervals as he reached into the bag to pull out the scroll containing all the glass cups of iced water that he had Kaguya seal for him before they had left the observatory tower. "D-Does anyone want one, ah, hah…?" Goblin Slayer gasped out, as he moved his thumb over one of the many sealed runes on the parchment paper; all of them containing cups of iced water that were neatly organized on the unrolled scroll in his hands.
Not needing water to drink, Kaguya was about to shake her rabbit head, but then suddenly had an idea as she hopped her way over to the side of the opened leather bag. "I don't necessarily require water to drink, but if you could be a dear young man, may you please unseal three cups of water, aside from the ones that you plan on drinking? The perspiration from your warm skin got my fur soiled in your sweat, and I would very much appreciate it if you were to not only wash yourself, but my underside as well," Kaguya requested, as she stood up on her hind legs to pull out her champion's dirty turtleneck t-shirt; the same article of clothing that used to be all black at one point.
"T-That's fine," Goblin Slayer said with a huff of hot air escaping his dried lips, as he followed Kaguya's request by unsealing the three cups of water that were meant for hygienic purposes, one-by-one from the scroll. "W… What about you, ah… S-Scarlet? Did you want a cup?" Goblin Slayer asked again, before taking a long gulp from one own cup of refreshing ice-cold water, while accidentally spilling some of the iced water from the corner of his lips.
Nodding her head with a happy smirk forming across her lips, Hero stood beside where Goblin Slayer was sitting down and trying to cool himself off. "Yeah, sure! Why not? All that hanging around and scaring the birds away got me feeling thirsty!" Hero said half-jokingly, and waited with her arm extended down, as she watched Goblin Slayer unseal another glass of water from the scroll in his other hand. Taking the unsealed cup of glass water from him, and raising it like one would do in a toast, Hero gave a nod of gratitude to Goblin Slayer.
"Thanks Eren! Cheers!" Hero said playfully with her pinky held out, as she chugged the entirety of the glass cup. Once she drank all of the cup's contents, Hero wiped her mouth using the back of her armored forearm, before chucking it overhanded off the side of the cliff. "Fire bolt!" Hero shouted with a mischrvious look in her apricot-colored eyes, as she used her lightning-fast hand to unsheathed the glowing sword from her hip, before casting her fire-spell out from the tip of her blade; hitting the airbound cup with marksman accuracy, and giggling as she watched it explode into a splatter of molten liquid.
Not only was he unamused that Hero had essentially just wasted a perfectly good glass cup, on something that might have given their position away, Goblin Slayer let out a mildly annoyed sigh as he braced himself to be doused with a cup of ice-cold water. "… Nice shot," Goblin Slayer muttered half-sarcastically under his breath, while still having a silent admiration for Hero's display of skills.
Proud of herself for her quick reflexes and skillful ability to quickly draw from the hip, Goblin Slayer's slight bit of sarcasm from his compliment went over Hero's head, as she twirled the blade in her hand like a swashbuckler. "Thanks! I've had to practice to get that good," Hero said with a slight hit of smugness in her voice, as she stylishly sliced the air with her practice swings, before turning around to dramatically slide her light sword back into its scabbard.
Washing away as much sweat and grim from his face and body by using two of the cups of purified water he had beside him, Goblin Slayer's warm skin felt alleviated the moment the refreshing liquid ran down his head and torso. Letting out a content sigh, Goblin Slayer gently picked Kaguya from the ground; taking his turtleneck shirt from her mouth and setting it aside.
"I could tell— I can see why you're the greatest adventurer of all time," Goblin Slayer said with an endearing smile on his soft facial features, as he positioned Kaguya so that her back was cradled between his thighs, as he sat down cross legged; cool water drizzling down his pectoral muscles and abdomen, while his wet gray-hair stuck to his forehead and the sides of his cheeks.
Lowering her gaze and smiling wide, Hero watched as Goblin Slayer carefully poured the third cup of water down on Kaguya's underside; giggling as she the young man softly rubbed his fingers and thumbs to massage the horned rabbit's chest and belly. 'Oh my gods, that's so freakin' adorable! Look at her little paws! And the way he's- HE'S SCRATCHING THE BACK OF HER EARS, AAAHHHH~!!!' Hero screamed to herself with dopamine coursing through her veins, as she watched Kaguya close her eyes in content, while her champion took care of her immediate needs.
Focusing back to the last compliment Goblin Slayer had given to her, Hero rubbed the back of her neck with her smile softening. "I don't know if I'm really the GREATEST platinum-ranked adventurer there ever was, but it sure does mean a lot that you think of me that way, Eren!" Hero said with her cheeks blushing, as she looked over her shoulder once to make sure that no one was spying on them from on top of the twenty-meter gray stone-brick wall that surrounded the entire pyramid-shaped fortress, before looking away once the coast was clear.
"Uh… In actuality, I'm more like the "youngest" platinum-ranked adventurer, not necessarily the "best" one," Hero admitted with a shrug, as she lowered the ebony spear in her left head down to the ground; using its sharpened blade to doodle in the dirt beneath her. "… But that's okay, I don't need everyone to think I'm the best; I just have to be better than the person I was yesterday, and just keep going from there," Hero mused, with a response that radiated with both wisdom and self-confidence.
Nodding his head as he poured more water down onto Kaguya's white fur covered belly, Goblin Slayer's soft smile widened after hearing Hero's philosophy on what it meant to be a platinum-ranked adventurer. "Admirable response… Although, that does beg the question, doesn't it? As to who exactly is considered the greatest platinum-ranked adventure of all time," Goblin Slayer mused with a relaxed look in his eyes, as he focused on getting the last remaining bit of grime out of Kaguya's paws.
Lowering her gaze down while cradling her small chin in her hand, Hero thought about how to respond to Goblin Slayer's question; comparing each legendary adventurer she knew of side-by-side together. "Let's see… Last person who was accepted as platinum-ranked was a Paladin, and after her was… Sword Maiden, but that was more of an honorary title given to her for her work within the Temple of the of the Supreme God, more than anything else," Hero muttered thoughtfully to herself, while Goblin Slayer gently massaged Kaguya's back; smiling as he heard her mimic a pur.
Thinking back to Sword Maiden, Goblin Slayer frowned slightly as he thought back to how devastated she looked when he told her that she couldn't come with him on his journey. 'I wonder if she would feel betrayed if she knew that I took Scarlet with me, instead of her? Does that make a hypocrite, for telling all of them all that they couldn't come with me, only to take someone who's skill exceeds all of theirs? Does… Does that make me a selfish person?' Goblin Slayer self-criticized, as he lowered his eyelids while picking up Kaguya to set her down on the grass.
"… The last time I was with Sword Maiden, she held that rank in high regard. Perhaps when she used to go by "Female Bishop", she might have dreamt of becoming a platinum-ranked adventurer," Goblin Slayer mused with a bit of guilt in his voice, as that realization alone made him feel even guiltier. 'That's… Probably the reason she was so heartbroken when I told her that it was too dangerous for her… How devastating that must have been to her confidence. I… I really need to go back and make amends with her… With everyone, whenever I get the chance to do so,' Goblin Slayer thought solemnly to himself, while Hero stared down at him with a sympathetic look in her apricot-colored eyes.
No longer focusing on trying to rack her brain to decide who exactly she considered to be the greatest platinum-ranked adventurer of all time, Hero could tell from the change in Goblin Slayer's stoic demeanor that the mentioning of Sword Maiden had brought him sorrow. Putting the ebony spear down by her side, planting it inside the ground with the end of its pole facing upward toward the sky, Hero quietly made her way behind Goblin Slayer, dropping down and standing up on her knees, as she leaned forward and affectionately wrapped her arms around his head.
Instead of questioning the display of affection, Goblin Slayer accepted it with a small smile forming on his lips. Reaching up with one arm to intertwine his finger between Hero's, as they held hands, Goblin Slayer's shoulders slumped and his muscles relaxed as he slowly exhaled while feeling the auburn-haired girl putting her weight against his back. "… Thank you… Scarlet," Goblin Slayer whispered quietly, which only caused Hero to tighten her hug as she planted a loving kiss on the top of his head full of gray hair.