Freshened up with a shower and new garments created by BBB after the messy romp he had with High Elf Archer, Goblin Slayer was feeling better than he had in a while as he left the elf's bedroom with her by his side. Together, the two of them were able to introduce themselves to the rest of Noble Fencer's party members. Describing what the holographic interface menu looked like while tapping away at it, Goblin walked alongside High Elf Archer through white-mocha walls of the fourth-story corridors; the dim yellow-light of the hallway lights guiding their path, as the two of them held hands. "Imagine a rectangular surface that's flat… Like a window panel; translucent, with constant changing images displayed on that same surface… It's always back-lit, which means that I can see it, even when it's dark… There's little labels and buttons within it that allow me to do different things, and BBB's always standing near the corner, so if there's something that I need then she'll be able to do for me herself," Goblin Slayer explained in a relaxed voice, while searching through the list of recommended songs that aforementioned AI chibi wanted him to choose from.
"Here… It's pretty simple in the grand scheme of what I'm capable of doing with it, but I can change the ambient music from it… Like so," Goblin Slayer said, as he used his free hand to press down on the gray-button that the white text in the middle reading, "Late Night Nostalgia | Lofi HipHop Mix"— giving BBB a mildly curious expression, the moment he realized that it was an hour-long playlist. Reassuring him that he was making the right choice by flashing him two thumbs up, BBB smiled back at him as she watched him look away from the holographic interface.
Like he had said, the smooth jazz playing from the speakers faded away, and in its place rhythmic beats mixed in with acoustic sounds from the first of many lofi songs began playing crisply within the halls of the manor. Even though she had seen him utilize the power of the Moon-Cell several times by then, witnessing what Goblin Slayer was capable of always captivated her sense of childhood awe; everything about Goblin Slayer inspired her to feel happy, safe, and at peace when she was with him.
Smiling with a content expression on her beautiful face, High Elf Archer gently squeezed her interlaced fingers with Goblin Slayer's— tuning into the electronic-mixed music that was a new and invigorating treat for her long ears, as the two of them continued down through the west wing of the fourth floor's labyrinth of hallways. "Listening to this is relaxing… Almost like my worries are melting away each time the music gets really deep sound-wise… What would you call that, Orcblog?"
"Bass: what you're describing is called "bass"," Goblin Slayer replied without missing a beat, furrowing his brows slightly at himself, after realizing that he had just said something that only his other self would have knowledge on. ' Huh… I guess I do remember things from back then after all… I wonder if the Moon-Cell getting closer to this world has anything to do with these memories coming back; surely that's the case, ' Goblin Slayer thought quietly to himself, before brushing it off as he and High Elf Archer arrived at the door leading into a small work-out room that he had managed to create during the construction of the manor.
Entering the room and being hit with the smell of musk in the air, Goblin Slayer was thankful for the fact that BB had the foresight to install an entire ventricle system throughout the house; cycling out the air with the outside, and altering it using the special air conditioning unit that was built on the roof itself. Opposite to the side of the room the door opened up to was an entire wall fitted with mirrors that covered it up entirely; allowing them to see themselves past all of the workout equipment placed within the small gym, and allowing for the ripped woman with long-black hair tied up into a ponytail to check her form, as she raised herself up from a squat with a heavy set of iron cast weights attached to the barbell she had raised over her shoulders, and behind her neck.
Even though Goblin Slayer wanted to be respectful of the young woman who was working out, he couldn't help but to immediately find his eyes drifting off to where her bubble-butt was sticking out in his direction; the black leggings she wore left little to the imagination, and paired with the fact that she was only wearing a bra on top, Goblin Slayer was able to use the reflection of the mirror-covered walls to see the black-haired woman's FF-cup sized breasts. Closing his eyelids to regain his composure, Goblin Slayer waited for the muscular woman to drop her barbell on the padded floor before turning around to look at him with sweat drenched down her smiling face.
" Ahh, ahh…! Y-You're, the- ahhh, ahhh…! You're the " big-cheese" around here, ain't ya, ahhh, ahhh…? " The young woman with dark-blue eyes huffed out, before placing her hands down on her wide-hips as she raised her head up to take in a breath of musky air into her lungs. Composing herself by regulating her breathing, the physically strong woman let out a relaxed sigh as she slowly opened her eyelids while looking back down at where the blushing preteen was gazing up at her. "S-Sorry if I overstepped any boundaries as your house guest! Relena told us to get settled in for the night, and I usually try to get a workout in before bed… Speaking of which, can I just say that I'm IN LOVE with what you've done with the place?! Like seriously, I don't even know what most of this stuff in here does, but it gets me PUMPED just thinking about it!"
Finding the work-out enthusiast's optimism to be infectious, Goblin Slayer let out an amused chuckle as he softly let go of High Elf Archer's hand; something that she wasn't too keen on him doing, but still nevertheless released his hand from hers. "It can be overwhelming, can't it? Here, this is probably the best machine we've got that'll help you with upper-body training," Goblin Slayer said, as he made his way over to the most complex-looking workout machines within the small gym; a matted charcoal multi-workout station that came equipped with galvanized cables, adjustable weighted plates, and padded resistance-systems.
Being the most intrigued with the knowledge that seemed like second nature to Goblin Slayer, High Elf Archer quickly checked the tall, athletic woman out for herself, before approaching the machine that her fiance was getting set up. "What the hell even is this thing, Orcblog? It looks like some sort of torture device," High Elf Archer said with a concerned tone, as she watched the preteen sit down on the metal-mounted chair, before securing his legs in underneath the padded bar that went over his thighs. "Is it going to hurt you being in that thing?"
"Only if I overextend myself, then yes," Goblin Slayer replied with uncertainty in his voice, as slid his toned, yet still slender arms through the two vertical bars that were part of the machine's "chest press" mechanic. "This entire thing is known as a " multi-functional home-gym"; I'm fairly certain that these things were popular, but I'm just saying that because I think they were? As in… I have a feeling that they were, but- y-you know what I mean, " Goblin Slayer trailed off with an embarrassed look forming on his blushing face; after realizing that he had been rambling, and that he was only confusing the two women with his excessive words.
Knowing for a fact that Goblin Slayer would only embarrass himself even more without his help— as no matter how old he was mentally, the fact remained that he still had the body of a ten year-old— Fairy Knight casted a reinforcement spell onto his body, while still residing within his soul. And so then, Goblin Slayer was able to impress both women watching him as he extended his arms outward; lifting the weights behind him nearly effortlessly, thanks to his servant giving him her own strength.
Quickly realizing why he was able to do chest-flies with the resistance being set at nearly three-hundred pounds, Goblin Slayer silently thanked Fairy Knight for her assistance, as he continued with his set, before moving onto showing the workout-enthusiast what the remainder of the machines were capable of doing.
Twenty minutes later, Goblin Slayer was invigorated with the work-out he had just done, and felt a slight confidence boost with the way both women were staring at him with widened eyes and excited expressions on their faces. "And that's how you operate those machines; if you need help getting started, I'd be happy to offer it. It would have to be sometime tomorrow, or even the next day though; tonight, I'm wanting to introduce myself personally to the rest of your team before going to bed. since we're all going to be working together to clear out that stronghold in the afternoon," Goblin Slayer explained, as he watched the athletic woman make her way over to the multi-function gym to get herself situated.
"I'd really appreciate that if you could, uh… G-Goblin Slayer, right? That's what you go by?" The woman with black hair asked with an apologetic smile across her face; feeling embarrassed that she had to ask to make sure, as in her eyes it felt rude not knowing the name of the preteen who had not only saved their lives, but was allowing them to live in his home.
Having been momentarily distracted upon seeing High Elf Archer taking her own top off before making her way over to the treadmill in the corner of the workout room, Goblin Slayer was blushing as well as he looked back over to where the woman was staring at him from the comfort of her padded seat. "That, or you could just call me by my actual; I'm not picky about it," Goblin Slayer said reassuringly with his heart beating quickly in his chest, as he noticed the sweaty valley of flesh that was withheld within the tight-bra that the muscular woman had on as he walked over to here to stick his hand out outward her— the angle he was standing at while she was still seated gave him a perfect view of her cleavage.
"Ren… Ren Ashta," Goblin Slayer introduced himself formally to the strong woman, who gave him a knowing-sly grin as she grabbed his hand with her dominant hand, all the while using her left hand to slowly reach up to grab the middle of her black bra's cups.
"Junko Mikamura, at your service Ren! Otherwise, my actual title is simply "Fighter"; it was my father's title that he passed down onto me, whenever he retired from the Adventurer's Guild," Fighter said with a suggestive look on her face, before pulling down on her bra to allow for her massive tits to spill out over tugged-down cups; allowing Goblin Slayer's widen eyes to stare down at them, while shaking them softly from side-to-side to make her sweaty breasts jiggle for his viewing-pleasure. "Consider this a special little " thank you" from me to you, for saving our asses out there… Keep on doing good things out there, Goblin Slayer; this world needs people like you."
Having had an eyeful of Fighter's glistening breasts, Goblin Slayer thanked the martial artists for her "little gift" to him, before telling her that he needed to head out to finish greeting the rest of Noble Fencer's party. Understanding him and finding herself even more impressed with the level of restraint he was able to have on himself, Fighter thanked Goblin Slayer for his time and wished him a good rest of the night; letting him know that she was going to finish her workout, before trying her luck with the bathing area, that was in the next-room over from the gym.
Before parting from the gym, Goblin Slayer asked High Elf Archer if she wanted to come with him to make his next stop, to which she politely declined with doing; telling him instead that she wanted to get some exercise in, before their "big day" at the summit of the Mythril Mountains. Leaving the two athletic women to keep each other company, Goblin Slayer fixed the knot of his black tie as he closed the gym door behind him; being greeted with fresh air from the air duct above him, as he made his way to the third floor with nothing but the lofi-playlist and BBB keeping him company.
Having met almost half of Noble Fencer's party of eight adventures, which included herself as part of that number, Goblin Slayer was so far finding them for the most part to be young, and quite enjoyable in their own separate ways; or at least what was the impression he was getting of them. While he enjoyed his walk down the floors of his lakeside manor thus far, what he wanted to do next was something that was far less enjoyable than personally greeting the remainder of Noble Fencer's party.
The third story of the manor consisted of hallways that led to completely furnished bedrooms that lined both wings of the floor; all bedrooms were being occupied by the traumatized women who they had rescued from the goblin-infested cave. Knowing that he would eventually have to expand by constructing private homes and streets throughout the fast-field that waited for him outside the walls of his lakeside manor, Goblin Slayer spent a few hours ensuring that each woman had her needs taken care of; reassuring them all in private that he would be able to provide for them medicine from his older sister that would flush out their unwanted fetuses before it was too late. Handing out extra blankets, glasses of water and reading material to those who needed something to distract their broken minds with, whatever euphoric high that Goblin Slayer had gotten from being in the presence of High Elf Archer and Fighter had dissipated; allowing his own troubled mind to reflect on the past sins he had committed in his other life.
' I wondered how many of those poor women that I've been responsible for hurting… It's like Chris said, I didn't make people suffer out of any order given to me by my father; that was all my own volition. I think I took pleasure in hurting others, because I must have been hurting too… Not that any of it excuses the things that I've done. And it's like Artemis said, not all of that was my fault, ' Goblin Slayer tried reassuring himself, as he made his way down the flight of stairs leading to the ground level of the manor; pausing once he reached the last step, while staring down at the floor with guilt still flourishing within him. ' ... Or is thinking like that selfish of me? I don't know; it's not like blaming myself is going to fix anyone's problems… Oh well. '
Author's Notes: This is a short chapter where we're introduced to Fighter, and about what became of the survivors. It showed a bit of Goblin Slayer's and High Elf Archer's relationship. Is it slow? Maybe. There's going to be another two slice of life chapters after this, before the final arc of the story; one where Goblin Slayer is met with enemies that are actually able to put up a fight against Melusine; ones that are from Melty Blood.
Whenever I do go about writing the sequel to this story, I'll probably still occasionally update to make lemons here and there. Maybe. I'm excited to start off with the next part of this story, one where we get a six-teen year old Goblin Slayer who's more like himself from the end of Year One, and one that's more brooding than his child-self. Just some ideas, but yeah, I think this story will go on for about ten or so more chapters, before wrapping up with the end.