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The brutal fight over, he ground his boot into slain goblin’s cadaver.
He was stained crimson with the monster’s blood, from his grimy steel helm and leather armor to the mail made of chain-linked metal rings that covered his entire body.
A small, battered shield was fastened to his left arm, and in one hand, he held a brightly burning torch.
Heel braced against the creature’s corpse, he reached down with his free hand and casually withdrew his sword from its skull. It was a cheap-looking blade, its length poorly conceived, and now it was drenched in the goblin’s brains.
Lying on the ground, an arrow in her shoulder, the young girl’s thin frame shook with fear. Her sweet, classically lovely face framed by long hair almost a translucent gold was scrunched up into a mess of tears and sweat.
Her slim arms, her feet—her whole gorgeous body was clad in the vestments of a priestess. The sounding staff she clutched jangled, the rings hanging on it striking one another in time with the quaking of her hands.
Who was this man before her?
So strange was his appearance, the aura that cloaked him, that she imagined he might be a goblin himself—or perhaps something far worse, something she had no knowledge of yet.
“Wh-who are you…?” she asked, pushing down her terror and pain.
After a pause, the man answered, “Goblin Slayer.”
A killer. Not of dragons or vampires, but the lowliest of monsters: goblins.
Normally, the name might have seemed comically simple. But to Priestess, at that moment, it was anything but funny.
You’ve heard this one before.
The day an orphan raised in the Temple turns fifteen, they become an adult and must choose their path: Will they remain in the Temple as a servant of the goddess, or will they leave and try to make their way in the greater world?
Priestess had chosen the latter, and a visit to the Adventurers Guild was how she had chosen to do it.
The Adventurers Guild—created to support those courageous questing souls—was first formed, so it was said, by a handful of people who met one another in a bar. Unlike other workers’ associations, the Adventurers Guild was less a labor union than an employment agency. In the ongoing war between the monsters and “those who have language,” adventurers were like mercenaries. No one would tolerate the existence of armed toughs if they were not managed carefully.
Priestess stopped in her tracks as the vast branch office that stood directly inside the town gates took her breath away. When she entered the lobby, she was taken aback to find it bustling with adventurers, even though it was still morning.
These buildings boasted large inns and taverns—usually together—as well as a business office, all in one. Really, this kind of clamor was the natural result of providing these three services in one place.
For every ordinary human in plate armor, there was an elven mage with staff and mantle. Here there was a bearded, ax-wielding dwarf; there, one of the little meadow-dwelling folk known as rheas. Priestess wound her way through the crowd, past males and females of every race and age imaginable carrying every possible type of weapon, toward Guild Girl. The line snaked on and on, full of people who had come to take on or lodge a quest or to file a report.
A spear-wielding adventurer was chatting with one covered in heavy armor.
“And? How was the manticore in the pass?”
“It wasn’t much. If you want a big one, I think you’d better try the ruins or something.”
“Fair enough, but you’re never gonna put food on the table that way.”
“Hey, I’ve heard there’s an evil spirit making trouble up near the Capital. Whoever goes over there might be in for a nice payday, hey?”
“Maybe I could handle it, if it’s just some low-level demon…”
Priestess was brought up short no less than three times listening to their casual conversation, and each time she pulled her sounding staff close to herself to steel her resolve.
“…Soon I will also…!”
She had no illusions that an adventurer’s lot was an easy one. Priestess had seen firsthand the wounded return from the dungeon, coming to the Temple, begging for a healing miracle. And healing such people was precisely the creed of the Earth Mother.
How could she shrink away, then, from putting herself in danger to do as she had been taught? She was an orphan, and the Temple had saved her. And now it was her turn to repay that debt…
“Yes, what brings you here today?”
The line had steadily moved along while Priestess stood lost in thought, and now it was her turn.
Wearing a gentle expression, Guild Girl attending her was a girl, still young, but older than Priestess. Her immaculate outfit was impeccably kept, her light brown hair woven into braids. A quick glance around the hall left no doubt the guild front desk would be a demanding place to work. That the receptionist showed none of the strained demeanor all too common among professional young women was perhaps a sign of how well she knew her job.
Priestess felt a bit of her nervousness ebb. She swallowed and spoke up.
“Uh, I…I want to be an…an adventurer.”
“Is that…right?” Guild Girl asked, her sweet expression momentarily slipping as she hesitated briefly, seemingly at a loss for words. Priestess felt the receptionist’s eyes moving from her face down her body, and strangely embarrassed, she nodded.
The feeling faded as Guild Girl reassumed a smile and said, “I see. Can you read and write?”
“Um, yes, a little. I learned at the Temple…”
“Then fill this out, please. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask.”
It was an Adventure Sheet. Gold letters paraded across the light brown vellum.
Name, sex, age, class, hair color, eye color, body type, skills, spells, miracles… Such simple information. So simple it almost didn’t seem right.
“Oh,” Guild Girl broke in, “you can leave the ‘Abilities’ and ‘Adventure History’ spots blank. The guild will fill those in later.”
“Y-yes, ma’am.” Priestess nodded, and then with a quivering hand, she picked up a pen, dipped it in an inkpot, and began writing in precise letters.
She handed the finished sheet to Guild Girl, who looked it over with a nod, then took a silver stylus and carved a series of flowing letters into a white porcelain tile. She passed the tile to Priestess, who discovered it bore the same information as her Adventure Sheet in closely spaced letters.
“This will serve as your identification. We call it your ‘Status.’ Although,” she added teasingly, “it doesn’t say anything we can’t figure out by looking at you.” Then she calmly told the blinking Priestess, “It will be used to corroborate your identity if anything happens to you, so try not to lose it.”
If anything happens?
For a second, Priestess was caught off guard by Guild Girl’s businesslike tone, but it didn’t take her long to connect the dots. The only time they might need to “corroborate your identity” was when you’d been murdered so horrifically no one could tell who you were.
“Yes, ma’am,” Priestess said, and she wished her voice would stop shaking. “But is it really this easy to become an adventurer…?”
“To become one, yes.”
The other girl’s expression was unreadable. Was she worried or perhaps resigned? Priestess couldn’t tell.
“It’s harder to move up the ranks. That’s based on kills, how much good you’ve done, and personality tests.”
“Personality tests?”
“Sometimes you get the I’m-strong-enough-to-do-it-all-by-myself types.”
Then, under her breath, she added, “But there are all kinds of eccentrics out there.” And when she said it, for an instant her demeanor changed. Softened into a warm, wistful smile.
Oh, Priestess thought, I didn’t realize she could smile like that.
Guild Girl noticed Priestess watching her and hastily cleared her throat. “Quests are posted over there.” She indicated a corkboard that covered almost an entire wall. “Choose ones that are appropriate to your level, of course.”
Pickings were slim, since the huge crowd of adventurers had been going over the board all morning. But the Guild wouldn’t have a board that size if they didn’t need it.
“Personally,” the receptionist said, “I’d recommend getting your feet wet by cleaning the sewers. No pun intended.”
“Cleaning the sewers? I thought adventurers fought monsters…?”
“There’s honor in hunting giant rats, too. And you’ll be doing some real good in the world.” She added under her breath, “Newcomers with a little experience could move on to goblins, I guess,” and there was that wordless look again.