The king appeared to smile at this unadorned assessment. As if he was glad someone had said it. “What with the tournament on top of everything else, we’ve hardly been able to spare anyone.”
“Seems it’s true no matter where you go—hammers and flasks are always in short supply.” Dwarf Shaman stroked his beard agreeably. He even took a little sip of his own most crucial possession—his wine—notwithstanding the fact that they were in the royal presence.
Guild Girl felt like she might keel over, but the king didn’t seem inclined to reprimand him.
The only ones who could take wine from a dwarf were the dwarf king or that most high lady of the high elves.
“Okay, so we go get this Earth Mother’s staff.” High Elf Archer waved her ears to indicate that she had it all figured out and puffed out her small chest. Dwarf Shaman looked at her, clearly not convinced that she really understood. High Elf Archer took Priestess’s shoulder. “This is the perfect job for you!”
“You…you think so?”
“Sure I do!”
Priestess wasn’t sure, but High Elf Archer was trying to be encouraging.
That, however, was when the king said, “I’m afraid not,” and for the first time, he sounded something less than even. He closed his eyes, took a breath, let it out, and then said briskly, “I want the girl to stay here.”
Priestess took a long moment to blink: Ummmm…
In that time, the king’s hesitation vanished. “There are several reasons. Not least that in the past, you have done well for me.” The king’s gaze lighted on one man, who stood by the wall as if feeling he didn’t quite belong there. This man wore grimy leather armor and a cheap-looking metal helmet. “If things get out of hand, the party will be at the enemy’s mercy. Hence, we can’t be sending Gold-ranked into that grotto.”
Why not?
“…So it’s goblins?” The voice was almost mechanical, so cold it hardly seemed human.
King nodded: That’s right. “Goblins have taken up residence in the shrine in the mountains. If we send gold-ranked adventurers, it’s as good as declaring that this is no ordinary place of worship.”
But…
Yes. There was another way.
“You’re different. You could go to the shrine, face the goblin infestation, and—”
“W-wait just a minute! Please…” Guild Girl stood, her voice shaking. She was pale and sweating, trembling with what was obviously terror, but she spoke. “I-i-if I… If I may, sire. I’m th-the Guild staff member responsible for him.” Her voice went up an octave, then cracked. She sucked in a few painful-sounding breaths. “As such… Ahem. Well, a request like that… I’m afraid…”
I can’t countenance it was what she wanted to say, but the words simply wouldn’t come out.
How else was she supposed to feel? He was now, beyond question and with all esteem, a Silver-ranked adventurer. He had spent years reaching that point, and she had spent years watching him. Finally, he was here. The world was ahead of him.
And he was still going to be pigeonholed as a goblin hunter? Would he be sent to slay goblins all his life?
I don’t want to…to give him back.
Wasn’t he an accomplished, perfectly respectable Silver-ranked adventurer?
But…
But that was exactly why there was no other answer to this problem, and Guild Girl knew it.
Who else was there to go? Who else besides the five—no, four—Silver-ranked adventurers here?
Well and good. But this request came from the king himself. And he was going to have to refuse it? True, it wouldn’t be listed in the official records—but that was exactly why it could leave a black mark.
And besides, when it came to slaying goblins, who else was there? Who else could—?
“I don’t mind,” came a low voice.
“Wha…?”
“I said, I don’t mind.”
A short, brusque whisper. A muffled sound from beneath the helmet.
Why?
Guild Girl didn’t voice the question, yet the helmet turned to her. He looked at her from behind his visor and nodded. “Because,” he said, then paused briefly before he resumed. “I once received help.”
For a second, Guild Girl wasn’t sure what he was talking about—but then she realized it was the time, years ago, when he had been faced with a horde of goblins. At that moment, when he had been powerless to do anything, she was the one who had turned everything around.
She hadn’t done it with any idea of earning gratitude or putting him in her debt. “N-no, I wasn’t trying to…,” she said, but the rest wouldn’t quite come out.
He shifted from his spot, then moved between her and the king as if to protect her. “If there are goblins, then I’ll go.”
“…So you’re accepting?” the king asked.
“Yes.”
Finally, he felt as if all the gears had clicked together.
When I come right down to it, I’m an outsider here.
He could visit the capital, observe the festivities, take in the tournament, and yes, it was exciting. But it was not where he belonged. Until a situation like this arose, he had no part to play.
And having no part to play was a wonderful thing indeed.
But I don’t mind.
He decided that this was well and good and stepped forward.
He would deal with the goblins in front of him and then go on to the next thing. That was enough.
That was enough—it was enough to reward him.
“I don’t quite understand, but…,” his childhood friend began, her voice reaching his ears in the stillness. No, she wouldn’t know exactly what was going on. Even he didn’t, really.
Politics, matters of state, the kingship. He understood none of it.
He understood only that he was needed. And thus, there was only one thing to do.
“But…you’re going on an adventure. Right?” she said.
“No,” he said with a slow shake of his head. This was no adventure. “I am going to slay goblins.”
That was why they called him Goblin Slayer.