The morning started out as dull and dreary as I preferred them to be. After enduring far too many decades filled with exciting wake-up calls, courtesy of a surprise artillery barrage or an assault on the regional headquarters I happened to be occupying at the moment, I found boredom to be much more preferable than the typical types of excitement I encountered on a frighteningly regular basis.
I began my day like any other, rising out of bed and glancing around to see if I was indeed the last one to rise yet again while muttering a string of curses against the protests of my aching body. As good as the rejuvenant treatments Amberley provided were, there were some things that no amount of medical treatment could cure. The aging process could be slowed and even reversed a few times, but never stopped. Considering I was already over a century old, fighting on the front lines no less, it was nothing short of a miracle from the Emperor himself that I was merely complaining about my old bones instead of having died of old age years before my retirement, for all the good that ended up doing me given my current predicament.
A quick inspection of my shared room revealed that Priestess and Jurgen had already departed, the former to take care of her daily prayers at the temple she used to call home, while the latter presumably had put in an order for all three of our meals with Padfoot Waitress as he continued to remain painfully oblivious to her attempts to flirt with him afterwards, if he hadn't found some other menial task to keep himself occupied with. Knowing that I still had a few minutes until my breakfast that morning would be ready and no desire to meet at least one of the faces I had started to become painfully familiar with since their return to the Adventurer's Guild last month, I took my time putting on my greatcoat before striding out into the bar that served as the main seating area of Frontier Town's Adventurer's Guild.
I made sure to give a few nods to Heavy Warrior and Witch, offered a few inspiring words and made idle promises to listen to whatever tall tales other adventurers made up about themselves without any intentions of following through with them, and finally took a seat at my party's usual table by the front entrance to the Guild. From there, I had a perfect view of the regular assortment of everyday sights one would come across when they first step foot into the most organized gathering of mercenaries I have had the pleasure of working with. The Guild staff were working tirelessly in preparation to post the day's quests, a mostly civilized gathering of hopeful adventurers waited by the quest board in order to receive the safest and most lucrative jobs with only a few elbows thrown in between them every now and then, and a few of the rookies I had trained tried their best to point out my arrival to their fellows without drawing my attention and doing a poor job of it as usual.
All in all, it was a very ordinary day where nothing could seemingly go wrong, much like every one since my encounter with the Ogres which felt like an eternity ago. That is exactly why I should have known it was only a matter of time until my usual luck decided to rear its ugly head.
At first, I thought the worst that was going to happen was that Half-Elf Scout would try to 'get to know me better' once again as I soon saw her emerge from the same room she and her odd companions had claimed for themselves since they returned to Frontier Town. That peculiar bunch of xenos and abhumans had returned to Frontier Town a while back much to my surprise, and offered to join Goblin Slayer and the rest of us on whatever quests we undertook, no questions asked. There was more than one occasion where I was tempted to pull out my laspistol and silence the arguments that had cropped up because of that arrangement, particularly once High Elf Archer realized that Goblin Slayer's title wasn't merely for show after the first dozen of goblin hunts he accepted without informing her of his intentions, but our greenskin purges had been going smoother than ever as a result.
Thankfully for me, none of the abhumans and the other xenos were with Half-Elf Scout, so I would be safe for the time being. I don't quite know what her relationship was with that group, but whatever was going on between them, she clearly took it upon herself to act as their protector. Had the Eldar woman not been the lowest ranking adventurer amongst them or dwarfed by Lizard Priest who already fulfilled the role of rear guard quite well, to say nothing of how we ended up saving her during our first quest together, then perhaps her self-appointed position might have been worthy of some respect. Instead, it left her looking like she was at a loss of what to do with herself both during and outside of our quests.
Then again, maybe that was just the hangover from last night, one so strong that she still looked ready to throw up over the railing and onto the unsuspecting quest receptionists below, which had that effect on her. Apparently Eldar couldn't handle their liquor as well as most other species according to Dwarf Shaman, something High Elf Archer begrudgingly confirmed during one of their usual arguments.
I personally didn't give a frak either way so long as she continued to leave me alone until after I had eaten or Jurgen returned from wherever he had wandered to. At that point I could either lock myself away in my room claiming to have important business to attend to or use Jurgen's repulsive odor to drive her away and let her be someone else's problem.
It was just as I was starting to fear that the Eldar was finally going to abandon her post in front of her allies' door that I finally saw something set my palms tingling at the mere sight of it.
Goblin Slayer walked into the Adventurer's Guild notably earlier than usual and lacked his usual confidence or habitual disregard for anyone and anything standing in between him and his crusade to purge every last greenskin on the planet which instantly set my nerves on edge. Instead of walking across the mostly empty bar floor as if he were marching boldly into battle, he looked as if he were stumbling around in a daze I had seen all too many times while serving amongst the rank and file within the Imperial Guard, a look I would have mirrored myself just as often if I weren't practiced in hiding my personal thoughts so well. The boy's unsteady gait, stiffer than usual movements, and the way he didn't scan the inside of the Guild for potential threats like he usually did, bore a striking resemblance to a guardsman who knew that they were beyond the Emperor's protection due to the sheer number of the enemy we were up against and had all but given up hope of seeing tomorrow. The last time I had seen that look on a guardsman's face was when she realized that it wasn't the ground that was moving but the horde of Tyranids stretching from horizon to horizon that had besieged us, their numbers almost as endless as their ferocity which, luckily for us, hadn't been the case.
Goblin Slayer, for all his many faults, was not nearly as prone to giving into despair as the average guardsman. If anything, I found his desire to rush headfirst into the nearest goblin nest to be more of a problem than any potential hesitation or attempted desertion would have caused. To see the once calm and unnervingly stoic and groxheaded man appear to have reached his breaking point and lost all hope was disconcerting to say the least.
For but the briefest of moments I considered tracking down Jurgen and Priestess so we could escape Frontier Town before whatever doom Goblin Slayer believed was in store for it could arrive, but as fate would have it, I never had the opportunity to leave undetected as Half-Elf Scout was still watching me despite her head splitting hangover. Even if she wasn't watching my every move as she tried to keep the contents of her stomach where they belonged, my mysterious departure would have likely caused some more astute individuals to question the reason behind my all too fortunate departure and ruin the reputation I was trying to build.
"Excuse me, please listen to me." He spoke once he was close enough for the throng of adventurers to hear him.
At least, they would have heard him if they all weren't preoccupied with their attempts to place themselves closest to the quest board once the quests for the day were finally posted. A few heads turned in his direction but disregarded him almost immediately, likely believing whatever Goblin Slayer had to say wasn't important, unlike myself. I was perhaps the only one whose attention was firmly focused on the boy because I could tell whatever it was he had to say, my continued survival almost certainly depended on it.
"I have a request." Goblin Slayer said, raising his voice loud enough to catch the attention of everyone present, even breaking the Guild staff out of their frantic race to organize the quest sheets with his unexpected announcement.
"Goblin Slayer has a request?" Someone blurted out, being one of the few adventurers with enough presence of mind to say anything.
There was other talk about Goblin Slayer only adventuring solo or exclusively letting beautiful women accompany him on his adventures, I could only assume the latter never had the pleasure of encountering Jurgen for obvious reasons, but none of them stepped forward to ask what his request would be. Even I chose to remain silent, mostly because I was too terrified to do anything but weigh the benefits and drawbacks of skipping town the moment the opportunity presented itself.
"A goblin horde is coming." The grimy adventurer announced. "They're targeting a farm outside of town, probably tonight. I don't know how many."
Goblin Slayer paused and the adventurers once again took the opportunity to gossip amongst themselves as they processed his news. Most of the adventurers dismissed his news as nothing worth worrying about while others audibly wondered why he couldn't handle such numbers on his own. I did neither because I knew Goblin Slayer would never consider asking for help if he thought he wouldn't need it. That alone should have told the adventurers present everything they needed to know about the approaching danger the goblins presented when even a loony who was willing to take on over a hundred goblins on his own felt he had no chance for success on his own or with the assistance of his current companions, myself unfortunately included. Whether or not he took our presence into account before deciding additional help would be required is a question I did not dare to ask aloud in fear of what the answer might be.
Of course, whenever he assaulted a nest of goblins alone or with us, he was always the aggressor and attacked them before the greenskins could mount an effective defense. I personally had never heard of any stories of Goblin Slayer ever being put on the defensive against his usual foe, and I could only assume that even he thought his odds of success of facing an army of goblins given time to prepare an assault was negligible at best.
"But from the number of scouts, I believe there is a Lord among them. In other words, at least a hundred goblins." Goblin Slayer added to his already grim news. "Likely several hundred, with multiple Champions and other advanced breeds."
It was the latter half of that last declaration that made my blood run cold and raised an eerie silence within the once lively bar area. I knew from personal experience that a Goblin Champion was just as deadly as an Ork nob, if you stripped away their lethal ramshackle equipment and replaced it with whatever clubs and leather armor they could muster. Even then, one would still be left facing an almost Ogre sized goblin that could easily crush the life out of even the most experienced adventurers if they made the smallest mistake.
And Goblin Slayer said there would be multiple Champions attempting to raid a farm that laid less than a day's travel away from Frontier Town. It didn't take a savant to know where such a powerful force would turn their sights to next. In fact, their tactic seemed quite similar to those used by competent Imperial forces as opposed to the usual frenzied attacks I came to associate with goblins during my brief time on this planet. Securing a beachhead in order to stage an assault on a nearby target of interest was a textbook strategy a depressingly low number of officers within the Imperial Guard employed, the overwhelming majority favoring reckless charges that I used to think only Orks were stupid enough to implement, before being proven wrong on multiple occasions early into my career.
The adventurers within the Guild must have come to the same conclusion I had as well shortly afterwards and the Guild staff were already raising a ruckus trying to figure out how to stop the oncoming horde. Aside from sending an urgent message to Frontier Town Governor in the hopes he could muster enough forces to deal with this issue, or at least minimize the civilian casualties depending on when they finally arrived, there was only one thing I knew I could do to help out. Of course, I wanted to wait to see if anyone else had a death wish before volunteering to join Goblin Slayer's suicide mission to see if he would even need my presence, while my services could be put to better use elsewhere, such as organizing and overseeing an evacuation for the citizens of Frontier Town should the worst come to pass.
"A Goblin Lord, what's that?" I heard someone shout amongst the concerned chattering within the Guild, likely a rookie given how young their voice sounded.
That was a question I also had after working alongside Goblin Slayer after he had mentioned them in passing on multiple occasions. Given how he always spoke of them in the same breath as Champions, all I knew for sure is that I was better off letting them be someone else's problem to deal with. Much to my immediate terror, Goblin Slayer gave the rookie who made the inquiry a horrifyingly honest answer that was only made worse given how he was the person who knew the most about the greenskins native to this planet.
"A Lord is a goblin who is focused on neither combat strength nor magic, but leadership." He informed us. "But that doesn't mean they can't possess either. We may consider them to be the platinum ranks of the goblin world."
Once again, another small panic spread throughout the revelation that the enemy encroaching on Frontier Town was the equivalent of a Warboss, a terrifying foe that I only had the displeasure of meeting once in person and had no wish to encounter yet again. To compare such a goblin to the legendary heroes of this backwater planet must have been unimaginable to the adventurers present given the ruckus they raised after Goblin Slayer's declaration.
"Our enemies are this Lord and the army he has rallied behind him. There is no time to prepare to meet his army with another. I cannot hope to face them all by myself in an open field." Goblin Slayer carried on before doing something I never thought I would ever see the blockhead do.
"I need your help… please." He begged as his voice trembled with a fear only those close to him would be able to detect, bowing as low as he could to the adventurers present in the hopes any of them would take pity on him.
"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Spearman callously asked as he stood up and walked over to Goblin Slayer, his cocksure attitude still remaining after hearing the latter's dire news.
"This is the Adventurer's Guild and we're adventurers. If you want something from us, then skip the requests and file a quest like everyone else. That means making sure there's a reward worth taking your quest too, got it?" He told my questing partner rather brusquely.
Had I not been still struck with terror at the horde of greenskins we were about to be swarmed by, I would have smacked the idiot for saying something so idiotic when lives were at stake. Sure he had a point since no one would willingly fight an army out of the kindness of their hearts, but he also conveniently forgot that not dying or receiving a worse fate at the hands of the approaching goblins was the best reward any of us could ask for at the moment considering we would be the goblin's next target once they captured the farm. Or at least, that is what I thought before he kept on talking.
"You're right." Goblin Slayer said in a rare moment of understanding of the people around him.
I silently screamed at how naïve the fool could be for thinking anyone would willingly fight an untold number of goblins of their own volition and was tempted to step in for the boy to gain the support he so desperately desired, but was still frozen in place as I watched to see if my intervention would be necessary or if I could quietly make my departure without it impacting the future of Frontier Town. By this time the crowd of adventurers had gotten caught up in the spectacle around them, joining in with Spearman in demanding proper payment for their services or insulting Goblin Slayer for making an informal request for their services.
"You're damn right I am." Spearman told him. "So let's hear it, what are you going to give us for fighting an army of goblins?"
A pregnant silence fell across the room as everyone, myself included, waited to hear Goblin Slayer's answer.
"Everything." He said. "Everything I have."
It was a bold declaration for sure, but not nearly enough to sway anyone to his side. It was common knowledge that goblin slaying quests were hardly lucrative, even though that wasn't quite true when you took as many as Goblin Slayer did. Even then, he was hardly what one would consider rich by any stretch of the imagination. His insistence on using the cheapest equipment available and living on a farm instead of a high end inn didn't help with his image either.
And it was as I remembered that last little fact that the reason behind Goblin Slayer's desperation finally sunk in. The goblins weren't about to just attack any random farm. They were going to attack his home. His family.
Everything he held near and dear to him was in danger. No wonder he sounded like a frightened little child as opposed to his usual self.
"All my possessions, all that is mine that I can give will belong to those who accept my quest." He solemnly stated. "My equipment, my wealth, my knowledge, my time. And-"
"Even your life?" Spearman asked, looking noticeably shaken for a change as he finished Goblin Slayer's speech for him.
The entire Guild fell silent as they waited for him to answer, and rather than let this farce continue any longer, I decided now would be as good a time as any to whip these sorry excuses for adventurers into action before they made a run for it like I had been planning to. Similarly to how I made my own first impression in the Adventurer's Guild, I stood up, raised my laspistol towards the ceiling, and fired off a single lasbolt to grab the attention of everyone present. The sharp crack of ionizing air and the brief rain of charred splinters that fell over the frozen crowd when the lasbolt I fired nearly burned a hole through the roof achieved the effect I desired better than I could have ever asked for. All eyes were on me as the gathered adventurers and Guild staff fell silent and looked to see what I would do next.
As horrified as I was by the mess I was about to involve myself in, I didn't let any of my fear show as I showed Goblin Slayer how to get an entire room of self-serving mercenaries to volunteer for a suicide mission.
"You should be ashamed of yourselves. All of you." I started, acting every bit as intimidating as a Commissar should in the face of an armed force considering desertion and making quite a few adventurers look away from me in shame before I could even truly get started with my act.
"You say you are adventurers, and yet I do not see a single one amongst you worthy of your ranks or titles." I continued, pouring as much disgust as I could muster into each of my words to sell my charade. "All I see are cowards, curs, and the most shameful crooks I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with attempting to shake down one of their very own for everything he is worth in his moment of need."
"That's easy for you to say! You don't have anything to be afraid of since you can just leave here unlike some of us!" Someone spoke out from amongst the crowd.
I quickly glared at the source of the commotion in the way only a Commissar could before they had a chance to say anything else and make me lose the sway I was starting to have over the crowd. There were no further protests coming from that direction, and yet I couldn't just ignore what they said since he was perfectly correct in his assumption and I had been planning to do so until moments prior.
"You're absolutely right." I announced, earning a few confused murmurings as I conceded to the now silent heckler. "I could abandon the friends I've made here, the people I've come to know and love in my brief time in Frontier Town, the very town itself, and even the country if I so desired if this goblin menace were allowed to fester to such a degree."
I paused for a moment before finishing my statement, letting my words linger in everyone's mind to add a dramatic flare to my words to sell my act. "But I won't."
"Oh really, and why's that 'Hero of the Imperium'?" Spearman sneered at me.
I was about to demand him to answer the same question he asked of me, but before I could say anything, I couldn't help but to notice that Spearman didn't look nearly as stuck up his own arse as he usually was when dealing with me or Goblin Slayer. It was faint, but I could notice his stern expression waver ever so slightly in anticipation as he waited for how I would rebuke him.
That was the moment the foolhardy adventurer's uncharacteristically harsh words finally made sense. The damned braggart wasn't trying to rob the grimy idiot beside me for everything he was worth, he was trying to help the poor fool in his own roundabout way and failing miserably at it since he knew as much about encouraging an army to fight for his cause as he did about women. He didn't care what Goblin Slayer had to offer him, he was merely trying to get the stubborn oaf to make his request sound as appealing as possible so the boy would have a respectable number of adventurer's rallying behind his filthy image.
And I fell for such an obvious act like a juve on his first day in the Schola Progenium.
I couldn't help but to laugh at myself after realizing Spearman wasn't nearly as foolish as I initially believed him to be. Neither he nor anyone else present knew that was why I let out a hearty chuckle at his question, leaving me with little choice but to pretend I found his question humorous and play up the numerous songs about my heroism as much as was humanly possible, finally taking advantage of the reputation I had been building up for myself in my companion's moment of need.
"Why, you ask? It's simple, really. Our enemies are goblins." I explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm surprised the 'Frontier's Strongest' couldn't figure that much out."
"Uhh… what?" Spearman asked, having been caught completely off guard and dropping his charade immediately.
Rather than face the spiky haired flirt to deliver my response, I instead addressed the crowd at large to ensure they knew what I said next wasn't directed only at a single adventurer. "Ah, my apologies. Sometimes I forget that not everyone here knows who I am."
"My fellow adventurers, most of you only know of me as 'Commissar Cain'; the porcelain- *ahem* obsidian ranked adventurer as of yesterday, who managed to beat a silver ranked adventurer in single combat on the same day I registered with the Guild, a common companion to Goblin Slayer on his quests, and whatever titles the bards feel like giving me to help fill their pockets with a few extra coins that day." I started, earning a small wave of snickering at that last part. "Others who know me better believe me to be a just yet fair combatant who is more than willing to get his hands dirty and take his fair share of whatever dangerous tasks my party has been tasked with, something I believe several of the silver ranked adventurers here can attest to."
Spearman played along with my act and nodded in agreement to my assertion. Unexpectedly, Female Knight took the moment to say her own piece on the matter, as opposed to Witch who I had been expecting to speak up on my behalf, acting like the Sister of Battle her attire resembled.
"He's right. Heavy Warrior and I went on a quest with him to eliminate a whole forest filled with Orks, more than we could count, and he definitely didn't let us down." She said, giving me her wholehearted approval.
Thankfully she didn't say any more than that, as I'm sure hearing her recount how I single handedly took on an army's worth of Orks wouldn't have helped cultivate the image of a hero with realistically repeatable achievements I was trying to portray for myself, something she likely understood as well as she motioned her partner to shut up before he could say anything.
"I thank you for your appreciation of my efforts on that quest, but don't go so far as to undermine your own accomplishments." I told her, feigning humility as best as I could given the circumstances.
"Although I am only obsidian rank and have only been an adventurer for a few months now, despite having come from a more prestigious background than most here, I would like to think I am as much of an adventurer as everyone present here today." I continued, trying to present myself as but one of the many common adventurers I present in the Guild today. "And like most if not all adventurers here, I would like to say I know a thing or two when it comes to goblins. Not nearly as much when it comes to our resident expert on the dastardly little buggers, but enough to know the danger they pose and how to deal with them like everyone else here."
"Isn't that right?" I asked the crowd, a murmur of assent spreading out amongst the adventurers.
"Good, because that is exactly why I will stand by Goblin Slayer's side and face whatever lowly army of goblins are intent on attacking his home." I told them, feigning confidence the entire time. "Goblins are a lot of things. They are weak, cowardly, disgusting little creatures that only pose a threat to fools who underestimate them, which is exactly why I find it so hard to believe that not a single one of you think you have what it takes to stand up to an army of them with our combined power."
The murmuring of the crowd became noticeably more pitched as the once genial air about it became more noticeably sour at my insult, exactly like I wanted it to, and I didn't have any intent of stopping there. Had I been talking to guardsmen instead of a bunch of glorified mercenaries, I would have tried to appeal to their sense of duty towards the Emperor and maybe made a few idle threats to anyone stupid enough to argue with an officer with the authority to execute any dissenters whenever they felt like it. Instead of appealing to their sense of duty or holiness, I needed to appeal to what really mattered to these people: their pride.
"I've served several years, several decades in fact, acting as both an officer commanding my forces and fighting alongside the common soldiers underneath my leadership throughout countless battles against a wide variety of enemies intent on destroying Imperium I hail from. Whether it be hordes of Orks that are millions strong, Dark Eldar slaving parties believing the outlying territories of the Imperium to be easy targets for them, and even the strongest champions that Chaos could throw at me, my troops and I have faced them all and triumphed over every single one of them without fail. I suppose you could say I am something of an expert when it comes to defending the people I have sworn to protect, and the citizens of Frontier Town are no exception."
I waited a few moments to let my boasting sink in, never bothering to tell them none of it was exaggerated or how none of my actions had ever been performed willingly. There were plenty of things people like them were better off not knowing, after all. The fact that I never intended or wanted to accomplish any of those feats were chief among them. Even so, I could see that my words were having quite the effect on the crowd as the adventurers and even the Guild staff were slowly becoming enraptured by my speech, although there was still some noticeable resentment coming from the former. I could tell from the fire in their eyes and the hopeful looks they were giving me that they only needed a small push in the right direction before I had an army of my own to pledge to Goblin Slayer in order to crush the army of goblins he warned us about.
"After surviving the worst the gods and daemons of Chaos had to offer, I am frankly surprised anyone could consider something as weak as an army of goblins only a hundred strong is something to be afraid of. Then again, I guess you are all only adventurers. You're nothing like the royal soldiers or city guards I am used to working with, after all."
As I finished the last part of my speech, I knew what effect that would have on my audience but even I was surprised by their passionate response. A great uproar about being compared to soldiers and the local equivalent of PDF flunkies rose up amongst the adventurers, and not for the reason I expected for. I had gleaned during my brief time at Frontier Governor's estate, after talking with the living sack of lard over a barrel of the finest amasec at his disposal, that the soldiers employed by the nobility of this world and adventurers had something of a rivalry between one another. It was quite understandable given how both groups fulfilled a similar role with one holding a steady job with only a mild risk of dying horribly while the other boasted of a slim chance of fortune and a much more realistic opportunity to be remembered as a legend, whether through their heroic deeds or from managing to bed the local ruler's daughter on the basis of their reputation alone. I thought that any arguments that would have risen up between the two would have gone similarly to those that rose up between different regiments sharing a living space, complete with the occasional brawl and attempted murder.
Instead, what I was witnessing was the same fury I would have expected from rivalry between two regiments of guardsmen with centuries of history between them, complete with childish name calling and other such petty insults being sent my way for daring to insinuate that adventurers would run from any fight quite unlike the local soldiers which they assured me were more craven than they were. That wasn't quite the response I was hoping to get out of my audience, but it was something I could work with nonetheless. Anger was just as exploitable as shame, after all.
"I find it hard to believe adventurers like yourselves are as reliable and trustworthy as a common footman when not a single person here is willing to fight alongside myself and Goblin Slayer against whatever pathetic forces this Goblin Lord can muster against us." I told the irate crowd, silencing all but a few, one which just happened to be Spearman.
"Oh yeah, soldier boy?" He goaded me, his efforts looking almost comical with the way I didn't even have to try to look down at him when he stepped towards me. "Well, if that's how it is, then I suppose I have to show you exactly what a real adventurer can do."
The spiky haired fool then turned his attention to Goblin Slayer who remained impassive ever since I took over his recruitment efforts for him. "I'll help you show those goblin bastards who the real heroes around here are, but you will owe me one hell of a drink afterwards." He declared.
"For you, I'll make it a whole bottle." I said with a hearty laugh. "Is there anyone else that feels like showing this old soldier what an adventurer can do or is Spearman the only one here with a spine?"
"I can hardly… let you do this alone." Witch chimed in, standing up in support of her partner.
"Hell, I can't have you and the local guards showing us up and still be able to look at myself in the mirror tomorrow." Heavy Warrior shouted as he raised his greatsword. "Besides, I can't let that idiot beside you take all the glory for himself, now can I?"
"Oi! Watch it, big guy!" Spearman fired back as a chorus of giggles erupted around him.
"It wouldn't be proper for a disciple of the Supreme God to let the forces of Chaos do whatever they please." Female Knight joined in as she rallied to our cause. "And be sure to save a couple of drinks for me too once all of this is over."
"Of course. I can hardly forget to save a few gifts for a lady as lovely as you are." I replied, trying not to think too hard about the pointed look she gave her partner as if waiting for him to say something.
With all of the silver ranked adventurers stationed within Frontier Town voicing their support for Goblin Slayer, the rest of the adventurers within the Guild started to announce their own intentions to join the defense of his farm and intents to make me foot the bill for the night's revelries should we be successful in fending off the goblins. From the rare few bronze ranks present to even the most recently registered porcelains, every adventurer within the Guild had soon pledged their services to us and made it all too clear that we would be paying for their drinks after we finished slaughtering every single goblin that dared to challenge us.
Amongst all the commotion my efforts to support Goblin Slayer's cause, I managed to make out the faintest of whispers coming from the armored fool beside me once he managed to break away from the rest of our party. It was faint amongst the cheers of the militia I had assembled, but I heard it clearly nonetheless.
"Thank you." Goblin Slayer said.
"Don't thank me yet." I told him, my palms tingling as I prepared myself for what I needed to do next. "We still have some more preparations to make before the day is over."
Special thanks to Doc43Souls and Tireless Traveler for beta reading this chapter!
Author's Corner:
The moment you've all been waiting for is almost upon us. The Goblin Lord's forces draw near, and Cain is finally able to put perhaps his most underappreciated ability to its full use. As great of an individual combatant as the HERO OF THE IMPERIUM might be, his ability to rally and help coordinate an effective fighting force while preventing it from falling apart in the face of overwhelming odds is perhaps the most important skill he has to offer. Anyone can kill an Ork Warboss with Cain's luck, but to consistently turn a laughable assortment of inexperienced fighters or two regiments more willing to massacre each other than the enemy into an efficient kill team? If you ask me, that's what really sets apart Cain from most other heroes scattered across the Imperium. Anyone can do a job well when provided the right materials for it, but it takes a true master of his craft to be able to work with whatever tools are provided to him.
Comments:
A guest called "JerrysDead12": 'Avoiding Stupid Deaths in the 41st Millennium' Here's to a fun reference, am I right?
After binging through this lovely little fic, I couldn't help but to include a shoutout to it. That, and I really do imagine Cain would find that book to be a very useful read for everyone he serves with… excluding the parts about killing superior officers when most convenient, so long as he is not amongst them.
And a 'Guest' who prefers to remain anonymous: (On a matter of preferences… probably?)
Hey, to each their own. I know some people aren't exactly a fan of either W40K or GS and that have voiced their support or hate for this series as well as my own portrayal of how Cain and I ain't one of those authors who get bent out of shape over it.
longlongmaaan: Alright something in that third intermission is very funny. I never thought I'd see the day when Jurgen would be considered of a higher rank than Cain but it really is true lol.
Considering he is the one filling out all of the paperwork regarding quests and the only one with a fully automatic lasgun, it's no wonder the best butler in W40K is getting the respect he deserves at long last. At least he has someone on his side outside of GS' party, even if she is just a Waitress.
That's all for me. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all again soon!
