Goblin Slayer - Volume 13 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - I'm Not Afraid Of Any Deathtrap Dungeon!

Time went on, like the leaves that danced off the trees in the wind. A dungeon had been created in some ruins, nearby villages had been informed, and merchants were preparing to set up shop and show their wares.

Many people had to shut themselves up inside during the long winter. It was a dark, quiet, trying season. If there was any event even a little bit pleasant before that fast-approaching time, people would flock to it. When the day came, even the chill in the air would be uncommonly exciting.

“Well, cold is as cold does…” Cow Girl slid out of bed, hugging herself and mumbling about how chilly it was. I hope winter doesn’t get too cold this year, though. The previous winter had been unusually long, and Cow Girl had found herself involved in some very strange events—anyway, it’d been a cold one.

It was hard to make herself move in the chill, so she resolved to get her clothes on as quick as she could. She put on her newly knitted sweater and her work uniform, hung her charm around her neck, and tucked it under her collar so she wouldn’t lose it. The red scale glittered as if with fire—was it just her imagination, or did it seem slightly warm to the touch? Finally, she opened the window, ushering in the light and breeze…

“Hmm…?” She didn’t see him anywhere. Or perhaps more precisely, she didn’t sense him—maybe he had already left. She could see footprints on the frosty ground, left there by a bold stride.

Hmm… Maybe he’d gotten up early just for the sheer fun of crunching across the frost? Not likely…

They were grown-ups now, of course, but she remembered him doing that when they’d been small.

“And that has to mean…”

Cow Girl pulled on her long boots, then crept outside, trying not to make a sound. The canary was chirruping sleepily in the kitchen, but they would both have to wait a little while for breakfast. As for the animals—well, they would be fine. Strangely enough, the barn was warmer than the house where the humans lived, and it had food right there.

Cow Girl reached out toward her fogging breath—that special facet of a winter morning—and looked up at the sky. Then she followed his footprints, walking alongside them, finding fresh frost to crunch. She didn’t have to follow them to know where they went, but it didn’t matter. Chasing after him was part of the fun.

The footprints arrived at the shed he rented. The impressions in the frost started there and returned there as well. Cow Girl pushed the door open gently. It went creak, like a tree. It just did that in the cold; nothing they could do about it.

“Ha, I knew it.” She placed her hands on her hips, sighed dramatically, and injected a note of irritation into her voice.

“…Hrk.”

As ever—as expected—he was there, sitting at the workbench at the far end of the shed. He was wearing every bit of his armor, which must have made him feel even colder than it already was.

“Morning,” Cow Girl said, just a hint of an edge in her voice. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“I did,” he replied promptly. She had to bite back a smile. “I did sleep, as far as it went.”

“And I’m not sure that was very far,” she said, sighing at what sounded to her like an evasive answer. She closed the door behind her. She knew the reasons, all of them, but if he was going to keep it from her, then she could at least be permitted to tweak him a bit.

Once, a winter catastrophe had forced them to survive together in a way she’d never imagined—that gave new meaning to sleep going only so far. To be fair, that was an emergency situation. The reason this time was different, of course. It was simple to see.

She felt floaty, like her brain was sloshing around in her skull. Or like the taste of breakfast after a night when she hadn’t slept. Like the blue of the dawn sky when she hadn’t caught a wink. Her head was clear, her vision sharp, her thinking fast, yet none of it seemed to cohere.

There was something that had to be done. He moved quickly, carefully, but his motions were rough, somehow. Just like her on a morning when she knew he would be coming back from an adventure. Anticipation—that’s what the feeling was. He was looking forward to something.

“So what is it you’re doing today?”

“Directing the inside of a dungeon.”

She’d lost count of how many times she’d asked this question since the decision had been made, but he still took the time to answer. “Hmm,” she responded, also for the umpteenth time, then padded up behind him. She sat down beside him; even with her woven shirt on, she could feel a slight chill from his armor.

She didn’t dislike the feeling.

“Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I’m something of an MC. They call it the Dungeon Master or the Game Master.”

“Sounds important.”

“I think so.”

Now she saw. So that was it. She searched him for clues as his helmet nodded. It was unusual for him but also completely understandable. First-time jitters.

“I can see why you’d be nervous,” she whispered with a chuckle.

He was quiet for a moment, then said slowly, “…To be perfectly honest, I can’t do much in this job.”

“Well, it came up so suddenly, didn’t it?”

“No…” He grunted. Then the helmet shifted left and right. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

Then silence again. Was he troubled or merely thinking?

I’m sure it’s both, Cow Girl thought. She brought her arms around to hug her knees in the chilly shed. Then she leaned to one side, letting her body weight edge over. The armor trembled slightly but supported her.

After a long moment: “I was thinking that as hard as I’ve worked to hone my skills, this is all they amount to.” His words were quiet and spare.

He’d thought about how goblins fought, and based on that, he would arrange goblins and set up traps. That was all. After all the thinking and puzzling over the map of this dungeon, this was the conclusion he had reached. “Everything I have learned and gained is not so important after all.” It’s all just for show.

Cow Girl uttered a confused “Hmm” at this revelation, and finally she could only whisper: “It’s a bad habit of yours.”

I mean it. He picks the weirdest times to have no confidence in himself.

A late dawn peeked through the window at them where she leaned against him. To think that he should lack confidence, when he never hesitated to do anything he thought he could do. Or maybe he only pretended not to hesitate.

He was still so stubborn—that was one thing that had never changed. It was still true, in spite of all the ways he inspired confidence in her. For all that, within himself, he hadn’t the slightest belief that things would go well.

Shivering against the cold, she nestled closer to him. “You used your…tabletop game, was that it?” She was pretty sure that was what it was called. “You used it to test out your dungeon a whole bunch, right?”

“That doesn’t guarantee the real thing will work as well.” He could be so darned direct sometimes. “There are never any guarantees.”

“It never did matter what I said to you when you were feeling anxious,” she said, a gentle tease—causing him, naturally, to go quiet.

It was such a familiar reaction that Cow Girl smiled, strangely happy. It was exactly like it used to be—even though of course there were plenty of differences, too. For example, the fact that now she was able to apologize right away.

“Sorry, sorry. But hey, if that’s how you feel, then just make sure you do the things you can do right now, okay?”

“The things I can do…”

“That’s right. Everything you’re capable of.”

“…” He said nothing at first, just grunted. Then he asked, “Like what, for example?”

“Well, let’s see…” Cow Girl pursed her lips and let out a long, slow breath. A thin strand of white mist drifted up to the ceiling, vanishing as it was overtaken by the morning light. She watched it go, then said, “That’s it,” and nodded firmly. “For starters, let’s have breakfast!”

“A meal?”

“You started shuffling around while it was still dark without even having anything to eat—that’s why your thoughts are so dark.” She puffed out her ample chest and chuckled, proud of this declaration. A bit of a forceful hand—that’s what we need today.

They had worked hard for this day, after all. Like the day when she had worn her blue dress.

Cow Girl tossed herself forward, peering up at his helmet from below. “And we have to polish your armor and helmet!”

“Hrk…” A quiet grunt. Ah, he was feeling awkward. Cow Girl smiled in devilish amusement. She couldn’t see his eyes behind his visor, but she could tell he was looking at her. “You’re not out there to hunt goblins today, after all, right?”

“…That’s true.”

“Then you’d better look like the distinguished Silver-ranked adventurer you are!”

If I don’t get him looking halfway decent, it’ll look bad for me, too, she thought. There was nothing she could do about the cheapness of his equipment, but she wasn’t about to leave it grimy. She picked up a rag off the workbench, gave a little shout, “Hup!”—and reached toward him. As she vigorously polished his helmet, the metal-clad head rocked from side to side. It was like he was at the mercy of a child or a large dog; she was starting to enjoy it. She abandoned all restraint, grinning as she scrubbed at some unidentifiable splotch.

Come to think of it, what happened to the helmet he used to wear, with the horns? From back before he had broken them off. How about that one?

“I can’t change my helmet,” came the immediate answer when Cow Girl asked. “But I would be open to your suggestions about how to look more impressive.” Then he added, “At least, when I’m not hunting goblins.” That only added to her amusement, and Cow Girl started laughing.

They may have had an early start today, but there was still plenty of work to be done. Her uncle was probably planning on setting up shop at today’s event. Selling milk from their camel, perhaps. It was impossible to say whether it would go well, but the only way to find out was to try. That was something she’d learned in the years since she’d been reunited with him—a lesson she’d been schooled in more thoroughly than she’d ever expected.

“Do you think goblins…?” he began suddenly.

“Hmm?” she asked, wrapping herself around him.

“Do you think goblins will show up?”

His voice sounded strange. Tired, but also like a child inquiring of an adult. Whatever she said, she could tell it would become the truth for him.

All right, then; there was only one thing she could say to this old friend of hers.

“I sure hope not.” Then she patted his head gently, his helmet having regained some of its luster.

He was silent for a moment, but finally he whispered: “…I hope not, too.”

§

It was Guild Girl’s belief that a little primping could help invigorate a person for the day. She’d gotten to bed a little bit early the night before (resisting the urge to stay up into the wee hours, checking and rechecking that everything was in order), and now she was waking up early, too.

She climbed out of bed, shivering with the frigid air that sneaked past the stones of the building. She slid her bare feet into a pair of slippers, then tugged back the curtain at the window just a little. The sky was still a predawn blue-black, and she realized that she finally understood what color ultramarine was supposed to be.

She hadn’t heard the temple bells ring yet, but the color of the sky told her she’d woken up right when she’d meant to; she clenched her fist in triumph.

Her to-do list: eat, make herself up, dress, and get out of here. Oh, and make sure she had all the stuff she would need. Five things to do.

I sure wouldn’t be finding anywhere to eat at this hour, she thought, feeling a touch of justifiable pride at having been foresighted enough to have bought some food for breakfast the night before. It was important, she felt, to compliment oneself, even on seemingly minor things. Otherwise, how would one build self-confidence?

Getting dressed before she ate risked getting her outfit messy, so Guild Girl set out her food at the table still in her nightclothes.

“Let’s see, here. Honey-filled bread, a boiled egg, and a baked treat… Then we add just a sip of grape wine.” She put the baked item on its own plate, then sat down, brought her hands together, and closed her eyes. “Thank you, O players who are seated around the great table of the stars…”

She thanked the Supreme God, the Trade God, the Earth Mother, and the God of Knowledge, all the many deities, and above all, the Valkyrie. All of them had made it possible for her to have this food before her and for her to greet the coming day, for which she was grateful. Then she added:

Please let today’s event go well…

Guild Girl was something of an unbeliever—she was usually too busy to pray—but at home, she minded the manners she’d been raised with. Sadly, she’d never been graced with a miracle, but she at least understood how to pray.

She didn’t believe it was pointless to pray to Fate or Chance. No life was free from their influence, an influence that could cause entirely unexpected things to happen.

The gods deserved respect; that was why she prayed, and it was why she and the others were Pray-er Characters.

“Okay! Let’s dig in…!”

I know it’s not very ladylike to act all gluttonous first thing in the morning, but still…

Just because one had time on one’s hands was no excuse to loll around. Guild Girl tried to eat as quickly but also as properly as she could, knowing that even if no one was around to see her, she was always before the gods.

The ritual of prayer was over. Now she had to hurry—but not so much that it was unseemly. She pulled off her nightclothes and tossed them aside, including rolling her underwear down, over the gentle curve of her behind and past her shapely legs. She caught it on her toes and kicked it into the basket, then filled a glass washbowl from a carafe.

She started to shiver the moment she stuck her hand in the water—it was so cold—but she kept telling herself to bear it as she washed her face. She dipped a cloth in the water for good measure and started wiping herself down, removing any trace of sweat from the night before.

“And now…” She draped the cloth carelessly from a hanger, reaching next for a bottle of perfume sitting on her vanity. “Hee-hee… It smells lovely.” She picked her favorite from among the several lined up in front of her, undid the stopper, and savored the aroma. That alone was enough to boost her mood. She could see herself in the full-length mirror, an expensive thing her parents had sent once in celebration. She saw herself drip some of the thick perfume oil onto her palm.

“Hrn…!” she gasped as the cool liquid touched her skin. She forced herself to keep going, covering her arms and legs as well. Her skin was so pale she didn’t need any bloodletting, and her body was slim and svelte—but neither of these things was an accident. They took real work.

She was proud of her body; she exercised fastidiously every day to maintain it. And she enjoyed looking after herself.

“Hrm…”

I wonder if I should use the ribbon and the belladonna eye drops today. The medicine caused her eyes to open wider, which made them quite lovely, but she couldn’t stand how it made them water. A lot of men seemed to like a woman with perpetually brimming eyes, but it was hard to work that way, and she hated that. But the state of her eyes would determine which of her favorite ribbons she would want to wear…

Then again, the man she’d be working with today wasn’t someone who was very concerned about people’s appearances.

“I guess I could consider it…a good-luck charm,” she said. She set her ribbon and the little bottle on the vanity so she wouldn’t forget them, then picked up a delicate tool and started rapidly applying some makeup. Only as much as she felt like, though. A bit of whitening powder on the cheeks, a dash of rouge on her lips. She puckered her lips briefly, and then everything was perfect.

She took out her outfit for the day (chosen the night before) and began to pull it on. For underwear, something new and lacey. Not that it made any real difference, of course.

It’s not like anyone’s going to see it.

She seemed to recall her friend the high elf saying something to that effect in a conversation they’d had long ago. A giggle escaped her at the thought.

With her underwear on, she moved on to her blouse and pants, then her boots, all perfectly fitted to her body. Going-out clothes—not her usual uniform. They were going to get dirty, she knew, but she was still careful not to get makeup on anything as she dressed.

Finally, she took her hair, which she’d let loose the night before so it would be relaxed and wavy, combed it carefully, and then braided it.

Everyone had their own preference for the order in which they did their hair, makeup, and clothes, and even Guild Girl wasn’t sure what the “right answer” was.

But with her skin clean, her makeup on, and her clothes and hair just so, doing up the buttons…

…feels right, somehow.

When she’d done everything, she stood in front of the mirror and twirled around. Then she adjusted her hair a bit. In the end, she hadn’t used the eye drops, so she’d go with this ribbon today—and she didn’t think it looked bad, not at all.

“All right…!” She turned to the mirror and gave it her best smile. The woman in the mirror smiled back at her: not an adventurer, but not a Guild employee, either. Instead, the hostess of a dungeon exploration competition.

Yes, this was perfect.

She was singing her own praises, but sometimes you had to. How could you do your work for the day if you went into it without confidence?

“I’ve got my notebook, my stylus…” She’d be outside today, so she’d picked a sturdy metal stylus. Guild Girl grabbed her bag, full of her writing supplies and everything else she might need, and slung it over her shoulder, then turned toward the door.

“Oops, that’s right…”

She pattered back to the vanity, grabbed the other ribbon and the small jar of belladonna liquid, and added them to her bag. Consider them good-luck charms. Even if she wasn’t sure they would help. Then she left the house, her steps light, locked the door behind her, and headed out into the world. The town was already turning lively—everyone knew this was a festive morning.

§

Festive morning or no, some people were trapped down in the dark, weaving spells!

Three brief words of true power. A sigil formed with the fingers, and Warlock’s thoughts (her surly, annoyed thoughts) came together. The filthy teeth she’d scattered on the cave floor began to bubble and puff up. Bones formed, sinew and blood vessels stretched as internal organs fashioned themselves—it was a sickening sight all around. When it was over, she was faced with ten or so dirty little creatures with green skin.

“And… Facio…ministeralis…goblin. Form goblin servants,” Warlock said, the little devils with their gleaming gold eyes all following after her. It made her look the very picture of an evil mage, but in fact, these things were goblins in appearance only. They were golems with minimal autonomy, hardly different in principle from the Dragontooth Warriors of the lizardmen.

Still, that didn’t mean they could be put to any arbitrary use Warlock wanted. When one failed to have respect for life, tragedy inevitably ensued. Balance was exacted in all things, including magic. Hadn’t the great sage said it? “I’ve seen things you humans wouldn’t believe.” To be able to say that…

Goblins aren’t smart enough to come up with that—or poetic enough.

Hell, if they had been clever enough to understand something like the value of life, they wouldn’t have been goblins. Warlock leaned against the stone wall, making no attempt to hide the fatigue she felt at the shaving away of both her mental and physical strength. She looked around at the other wizards who had each summoned their own troop of goblins.

“Excellent work.” The voice came from behind her, sounding honeyed; Warlock felt her shoulders twitch. She looked over to find an elf woman crossing her arms, looking disgustingly elegant. Warlock wanted to tell her to do something about the way she reeked of face powder, but instead the woman just stood there grinning. Gods, this was awful. She had no idea how Warlock felt—she was enjoying herself. Gods.

“Maybe not quite fit for an archfiend’s wasteland fortress, though,” the elf went on.

“…You say that like you’ve seen one of those.”

“Who says I haven’t?”

Warlock went quiet for a moment, then replied slowly, “Goblins. They only belong in abandoned mines—you know, holes in the ground.” Goblins were only foot soldiers. Warlock looked down at the creatures around her. The real threat was whoever controlled the goblins, like the archfiend the elf had mentioned or some great magic user.

Goblins themselves weren’t remarkable at all. They weren’t important, and they weren’t threatening.

So…was she complimenting me just now?

Before Warlock could ask, the elf woman drawled, “I mean, damn, we could make some decent money with these things.” Warlock was forever wondering if this woman had no impulse at all to hide her uncultured side. Instead, she sighed. “What, like you never thought of it,” the elf woman retorted.

“No, I never did, and if I did, we couldn’t do it anyway,” Warlock said with all the snappishness of someone who hasn’t given up on trying to bring a recalcitrant child around. She used magic for a living. That meant using all kinds of words, yet when it came to this woman, she never knew what to say. Why waste her energy trying to explain when the woman would never listen to her? Strength should be conserved. Especially by wizards.

“Why not?” the elf woman asked, her eyes gleaming like those of a child needling her mother. It was infuriating.

“Why not?” Warlock repeated with a derisive snort. “Because that’s how magic works.”

Indeed it was. Although the less people knew about magic, the more eager they were to speculate and explain. They were like someone feeling an elephant in the dark, or perhaps like an ant frightened by an elephant’s footsteps. They couldn’t calm down until they’d forced the phenomenon into some familiar category. Having done so, they believed they understood it and thought very highly of themselves for their understanding.

Warlock couldn’t stand it. She gave a disgusted cluck of her tongue. Given the choice between a know-it-all idiot and a stupid idiot, she’d take the one who knew they were stupid any day of the week.

Even if it would tire me out having to entertain them…

“Where are the other idiots?” Warlock growled. “I know they’re not stupid enough to forget about their jobs.”

“They said they were going to check out the festival to find breakfast for us.”

“An idiot with an excuse is an idiot invincible,” Warlock said.

Was it considerate of them? Yes, probably. After all, she was going to be stuck here making goblins all day; it was her job. She might grumble, but she was getting paid for it, so she wouldn’t complain too loudly…

But I know them. They just wanted to eat some street food.

The ax wielder, yeah, and the monk, too. The real problem was the weird lady next to her.

“And why aren’t you out there with them?”

“I happen to like it underground.”

“Uh-huh.”

Warlock wasn’t interested in the flimsy excuse; she met it with something equally noncommittal and then started looking around. The interior of the ruins or the cave or wherever they were was now bursting with goblin servants and their wizard masters.

She’s not wrong. It does look like some fortress of shadows or something. The goblins milled about but kept to their assigned places in the cave. Nobody would have noticed if there were real goblins mixed in among them. Not even Warlock. That was how it was, even for self-proclaimed intelligent people. That was the sort of thing best left to specialists, not guessed at by amateurs. It was Goblin Slayer who’d come up with this idea in the first place, and the now-exhausted wizards wouldn’t be much help.

Anyway, not my business if something happens. Out of my hands. Above my pay grade.

“Just wanna say one thing,” the elf woman added. Warlock managed to ask What? without words, shooting a sour look in her direction. “The face powder is a personal preference.”

Warlock squinted at her, unsure what she was saying. Warlock hadn’t even been thinking about the powder. There were too many people in the Four-Cornered World for her to fret about things like that. She was a lot more concerned about people who wanted to boss her around or tell her what to do—and a lot more eager to avoid them. If this elf woman was doing what she did because she liked it, then let her do what she liked. Warlock truly, sincerely could not have cared less.

“…Huh” was all she said in response, the word, like her sigh, slipping away into the darkness.

§

Had there ever been so many people gathered in front of these ruins before? Priestess and the king’s younger sister stood holding hands, openmouthed at the scene before them in the morning fog. The fog came from countless mouths, so numerous that the chill wind couldn’t blow it all away.

In this enormous crowd, there were hardly any spectators—ordinary people who weren’t adventurers. There were a few vendors selling various grilled meats (dog, cat, or chicken; your choice) or hawking treats and drinks, but everyone else present was an adventurer. Or perhaps she should say an adventurer hopeful. Most of them didn’t even qualify as rookies yet.

They walked this way and that, dressed in whatever gear took their fancy, the excitement and nervousness visible in their gaits. The majority of them were orphans or from destitute families, forced into adventuring by necessity. They weren’t there just to have fun—but, well, in some ways it was a matter of perspective. It was always helpful to expand the definition of who was an adventurer and thus attract more of them.

I doubt I could have imagined this way back then, though, the king’s younger sister thought and then bit back a laugh. She was already thinking of the luxuries of the palace and her temple as “way back then.”

You had to be astounding to get people to listen to what you had to say. It was important for anything to be fun and interesting if you wanted to attract people. No one ever wanted to listen to a dirty, seedy-looking nobody mumble on about something difficult or inconsequential.

“I know it must not look like much compared with the festivals in the capital…,” Priestess said, smiling with some embarrassment.

“Who’s comparing?!” the king’s younger sister replied promptly. She clenched her fists emphatically, producing a salutary jangling from the sounding staff in her hands. Unlike before, she was pleased to be standing next to Priestess with all her gear in order. Mistakes were mistakes, but to learn from them and move forward—that was something to be proud of. “I’m really surprised by all the people who want to be adventurers, though.”

“Right,” Priestess agreed. “We have an awful lot of registrants each year.”

“My big brother says there were almost no novices around for a while there…”

He had been referring to a time well in the past, an era she knew only from his stories. The tales of the legendary Dungeon of the Dead, with its endless loot and the adventurers attracted thereby, were the exception, not the rule. The thought reminded her that there must still be people in the world today who were altogether uninterested in adventuring. That was part of what made events like this so necessary.

I have to pay close attention and make sure it all goes off smoothly, the princess thought, nodding to herself with fresh resolve. Then she spotted a stall selling ice treats and found herself drawn to it. She had been presented with milk-based frozen treats before and knew how they tasted, but she thought this smelled a little different than usual. When she asked about it, she was told it was made from the milk of an animal from a far-off land.

It’s always good to be able to try new things, she thought.

“One, please.”

“Coming right up.” The middle-aged shopkeeper nodded a bit brusquely—he looked like the brusque kind—and passed her a frozen treat poured over a baked good. The king’s younger sister handed him a silver coin and took the snack, then pattered back to Priestess, who was bowing to the shopkeeper (maybe she knew him or something); meanwhile, the king’s younger sister took a bite of the treat.

It was chilly and sweet. It had a richness to it—what was richness anyway?—but it wasn’t too heavy. The sweetness of it was positively mysterious, not like sheep’s or cow’s milk. There was only one word to describe it:

“…Delicious!”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Priestess said with a giggle.

The king’s younger sister smacked her lips at this most precious (and tasty) of acquisitions, but then she had a thought. “You want a bite?”

She held out her spoon. Priestess said, “Er,” looking around in distress, but then finally nodded. “Well, since you’re offering…” She took the wooden spoon almost with embarrassment and tasted some of the treat. “Mmm…” She licked it off, savoring the sweetness, and the gentle blush in her face turned to a smile.

The two of them, as similar and as different as sisters, looked at each other and giggled.

A frozen treat in winter—what an innocent thing. It was already so chilly, and the treat so cold, that it made them want something warm—in other words, it made them want to check out the other stalls. One should enjoy the heat of summer in summer, and the cold of winter in winter. Hadn’t some poet said that?

“It’s really surprising, though,” the king’s younger sister said.

The two of them were wandering about in front of the entrance to the ruins, taking in everything they could on the pretext of careful observation. In part because this was the event before winter solstice, every strong (or strong-willed) youngster from every pioneer village seemed to be in attendance.

Priestess, busy looking at the panoply of equipment, all of it either without a scratch or obviously just dragged from a storeroom somewhere, cocked her head and asked, “What is?”

“Well, um,” the king’s younger sister started, looking for the words in thin air. “I mean Goblin Slayer.”

She had no idea whether a given adventurer’s equipment was good or bad, but she understood this much: His equipment was in a far worse state than that of any of the participants in this contest.

“He came up with the idea of making goblins with magic and using them for targets. I thought that was really smart.”

“Huh?” Priestess said, blinking. “But those aren’t really goblins, right?” She was sincerely perplexed.

“They aren’t…?”

“No, they really aren’t.” Priestess sounded supremely sure, supremely direct. She sounded so right and yet so mistaken. No, that wasn’t what drew the other girl’s attention.

Did she always come off like this…? The king’s younger sister felt a bit dizzy. She thought—she was pretty sure—that it must have been because of the ice treat. Not because she’d seen a completely unexpected side of the person who’d been her direct motivation for entering the Temple. Yeah, I’m sure that’s it. The sweets.

She nodded to herself, then looked around at the contest participants in hopes of finding some other topic of conversation.

To repeat, the king’s younger sister, having spent so much of her life in the palace, couldn’t tell good adventurers and equipment from bad ones. Yet, even so, there were certain people who grabbed her attention. Say, for example, the three-person party over there.

“Still…I’m really not sure about participating as the leader of the party. Do you really think it’s a good idea?”

“…A wizard isn’t a very typical leader, and having you support me is out of the question.”

“Hey, don’t you think that’s a little harsh?”

“No, I just think you’d stand out like a sore thumb.”

“It’s not an issue of how you act so much as how you look.”

“Hrmm. Not sure how I feel about that, but all right. Say, I’d like to get something to eat before we start…”

The conversing party consisted of a warrior with blue leather armor and a sword across her back, a wizard wearing a light-pink robe, and a green-clad, spear-wielding—

“Oh!”

“Whoa!”

Let’s prescind, on this occasion, from worrying about which girl made which sound. The king’s younger sister and the green-clad warrior, a young woman with black hair, stopped dead in their tracks and stared at each other.

Huh. Priestess turned back with a questioning look, and the moment must indeed have seemed odd to her. After all, the king’s younger sister (the girl she was supposed to be showing around) was standing frozen next to three adventurers Priestess didn’t recognize. “Is anything the matter?” she asked.

Perhaps some little blunder on her own part. It was the black-haired girl who reacted first. “Y-Your Hi—” She was promptly interrupted by a jab from the wizard’s staff directly into her ribs. “I mean, you’re here! It’s been so long!”

“Er, uh…” Priestess looked back and forth between them, confused. Yes, she was here. Had she met this person before? When? Who was she? Before becoming an adventurer, Priestess had served at the temple, so she’d met a great many people. Not to mention a great many more since joining lay society to begin adventuring.

She had a good memory, but even she was drawing a blank for a second. She quickly clapped her hands, though. “You were at the grape harvest…!”

Yes, that was it. She’d been wearing a dazzling outfit as befitted the occasion, and she’d been alone. Above all, though, the black-haired girl had grown up somewhat since they’d met last; she seemed more adult, somehow. That was why Priestess hadn’t recognized her immediately—but now that she did, there was no question.

Priestess’s face lit up; she took the other girl’s hand tightly in hers. “I’m so glad to see you’re doing well! Are these people the friends you talked about…?”

“They sure are!” the black-haired girl said, a grin as bright as the sun spreading over her face. “My precious friends!” Her two companions blushed a little to hear her say this so forthrightly. Behind the black-haired girl, the wizard pulled her hood down a little farther, and the warrior scratched her cheek self-consciously. Priestess found it touching and smiled. She wished she could say that so openly to her own party members.

“So are you all going to participate in the dungeon exploration contest?” she asked.

“Y-yeah. I mean, yeah! Yeah, that’s exactly what we’re gonna do. Just, you know, to test ourselves out!”

“That’s terrific!” Priestess nodded, taking the somewhat stream-of-consciousness nature of the girl’s answer to be simple nervousness. She didn’t know what the girl’s current rank was, but everyone had their own path to walk in life. Priestess was well aware of exactly how blessed she was to be surrounded by Silvers. For that reason, it wouldn’t have crossed her mind to compare her situation to someone else’s.

If she’d been able to stay with her original party members, who knew what point she might be at now? It wasn’t an easy thing to imagine of anyone. Even if the thought did depress her from time to time.

“I’m surprised, though,” Priestess said, forcing herself to sound cheerful in an effort to chase away the dark feelings that welled up from deep within her. “I never imagined you two knew each other!”

“Er, uh, yeah!” the king’s younger sister said, nodding. Then, thinking better of her tone, she corrected herself: “Yes, indeed we do!” She seemed at once nervous and yet uninhibited, and that set Priestess’s mind at ease as well. Even after the tragedy of being abducted by goblins, she was able to act upbeat—an admirable thing.

Then there was another of Priestess’s cherished friends, Female Merchant. It made Priestess realize that people progressed and developed in their own individual ways. But as long as they were moving forward, that had to be a good thing. It had to be.

“Don’t tell me you’re…here on your own authority? Because…you know.”

Simply observe the king’s younger sister’s reaction:

“Nope, uh-uh, I’m really not!” She waved her hands in a near panic, looking for all the world like a child whose friend has spotted her snitching from their plate.

That’s right… Like a friend.

“That’s good, then…if that’s true.” The other warrior had her hand on her bronze sword and sounded like she didn’t quite believe the young woman. “Wouldn’t want you to worry anyone.”

“I’m on official business this time. Official business!” The way the king’s younger sister reacted to this show of suspicion likewise seemed like someone playing around with an older friend.

I wonder if…I look like that, Priestess thought, picturing herself with her friend the high elf. She smiled (although not happily) and promised herself she would have a bit more dignity.

“Besides, I’ve heard allll about that time you got lost when you were little!”

“If you’ve heard that story, then learn from it instead of acting all high-and-mighty about it. Have a little dignity.”

“Grrr…” When the king’s younger sister, cornered, growled angrily, Priestess finally couldn’t restrain herself any longer. A giggle escaped her, rippling out into the conversation. The other women looked startled for a second—then were caught up in it themselves, all laughing out loud.

Thus, it didn’t demand any courage for Priestess to say what she said next. “Um, maybe you’d like to join them for a while?”

“You sure?” the king’s younger sister asked, but Priestess nodded and replied, “Uh-huh! After all, all that’s really left is to open the event, start everyone exploring, and see how it goes.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” the younger girl said with a wave of her hand. “I’ve, you know, seen a lot of the plans.”

“But not all of them,” Priestess replied. Besides, having seen them was no guarantee that things would go well. Priestess could say that with certainty. She decided, therefore, that the frown the other girl gave her was just some anxiety showing, and went on: “It’s not against the rules or anything. You really don’t have to worry about it.”

“Er, uh… Right. Then that’s…fine, I guess. Yeah. Probably.”

“Oh, that’s if you three are all right with it, of course,” Priestess said, turning to the trio of adventurers. She didn’t think she needed to worry on that score, but it was the most important point. They might be taking part in a contest, but suddenly having a new party member dumped on you could upset a group’s balance. That was one reason why many experienced adventurers refused to mentor rookies without an adequate reward. Those with the courage to go on a dangerous quest with one or two deadweights holding them back were few and far between.

Thus, Priestess let out a breath of relief when the wizard spoke up with the decisive words: “I don’t mind… In fact, I think that would be good. We’ll be jumping into the whirlwind, but in some ways that would be safest.”

“Mm… My job is to simply stand up front and fight, so it doesn’t make much difference to me.” The warrior didn’t look thrilled, but she didn’t raise any objections, either.

The final vote was still to be cast, though…

“Well, sounds like that settles it!” The girl with the iron spear grinned wide enough to show nearly all her teeth. “You’ll be adventuring with us today!”

“Er, uh…” The king’s younger sister didn’t seem quite sure how to react. After spending a moment flummoxed, though, she settled on a smile more or less of pleasure. “In that case, thanks for having me along!”

“Sure thing!”

Priestess let out another sigh of relief when she saw the two of them were chatting amiably. It’ll be fine. Priestess could feel it somehow. She was sure it would go well—the event and everything.

As for her, she would be behind the scenes with Goblin Slayer and his party this time, and while that would be enjoyable in its own way… It does look like an awful lot of fun to be in there exploring.

The king’s younger sister was simply present to observe; she wasn’t supposed to contribute directly to running the event. But even at the most interesting competition, merely observing wasn’t as much fun as being in the middle of the action. Priestess was sure this would be the best thing.

“All right, then, we’ve got her. We’ll have her back to you safe and sound.” The female warrior smiled as she watched the two girls chatter, but her tone and bearing were proper. She looked lovely and confident, making Priestess think of knights she’d seen in picture books.

Speaking of female knights, Priestess had had the good fortune to become close to one—but this woman possessed a different kind of beauty. Priestess was momentarily flustered but straightened up so as not to embarrass herself. “Thank you, ma’am!” Priestess bowed deeply, pressing her cap to her head. “I appreciate that!”

There followed a few more pleasantries, some additional chatter, and the double-checking of a handful of administrative details. When at last Priestess had told them where to check in, she thought she heard someone calling her. She looked over to see High Elf Archer waving eagerly and shouting.

Guess I’d better get going, too, she thought.

“All right, then,” she said, to let the others know she was leaving.

“See you later!” the king’s younger sister responded enthusiastically.

Priestess set off toward her friend at a brisk trot, but suddenly she noticed how warm the air felt against her cheeks. The chill of winter had eased somewhat. No doubt because the sun had climbed into the sky and was pouring its light down upon the world. Somehow, that made her very happy.

That wasn’t (she would have sworn) the reason she completely failed to hear what the king’s younger sister said next, as she turned back to the other adventurers. “Uh…so,” she said, placing her hands on her hips and giving them an expression at once worried and exasperated. “What kind of danger is the world in this time, O Great Hero?”

§

“You look so spiffy today!”

“…Is that so?”

“It sure is!”

Guild Girl was in tremendous spirits. Even the brisk wind blowing past the check-in desk didn’t bother her in the least. After all, the adventurer standing with her wore a cheap-looking but squeaky-clean metal helmet, and his leather armor was polished to a sparkle. Strangely, even his sword with its strange length and his little round shield almost looked like practical battle equipment all tidied up like this.

Granted, there were a few unpleasant dark stains still left, but… Well, that’s part of the charm, I guess! Guild Girl thought. What made her happiest of all, though, were the looks of the adventurers who began to appear as the start time approached.

“Hey, check him out.”

“Wow, a Silver-ranked adventurer…”

“Isn’t his equipment a little…ordinary?”

“Nah, it’s practical!”

“Why doesn’t he take his helmet off?”

“I’ve heard of him—that has to be Goblin Slayer…”

There was an unmistakable respect in their eyes. No doubt there was some ridicule as well. Even in his cleaner state, Goblin Slayer was hardly anyone’s image of the ideal adventurer. But the respect was there—and the trust. Just clean him up a little and display the rank tag that was the proof of his accomplishments, and people’s attitudes toward him visibly changed.

Maybe that was good and maybe it was bad—but to Guild Girl at that moment, it was absolutely good. When she thought of the way people had regarded him only a few years ago!

Er, although to be fair, they do still treat him like he’s a little…strange.

But at least he certainly got passing marks as the adventurer-consultant to the dungeon exploration contest!

“How does it feel?” she asked, puffing out her chest with real satisfaction. “You see how much differently people treat you just because you look a little nicer?” She understood perfectly well, of course, that Goblin Slayer’s only answer would be a simple I see or the like. It didn’t matter. The point was that she was pleased by it. “I’m trying something a little different, too, not my usual uniform—it’s almost like I’m a different person, don’t you think? Heh-heh.”

She didn’t really look at him where he stood beside her as she spoke; she focused on checking the paperwork in her hands and making sure everything was in order. Thankfully, all the street stalls and participants created a buzz loud enough to prevent anyone from specifically overhearing them.

“Hrm…,” he grunted, then said only: “Your outfit appears easy to move in. So it shouldn’t cause any issues.”

“Hmm, well, yes, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it…”

No matter how detached his answer, it didn’t surprise her. Guild Girl put on her best smile and surveyed the crowd. She saw young men and women with every kind of equipment, their faces sparkling with anticipation, no thought of possible failure in their heads. Some might have derided them as stupid, but everyone had the right to at least take that first step.

Guild Girl loved seeing them filled with courage as they prepared to move forward. Particularly since they were about to embark upon her own brainchild, the dungeon exploration contest. She privately vowed that she absolutely would repay their interest.

“I have to say, we got quite a few people!”

“Indeed.”

“Hopefully this will help them learn a little something about goblin hunting, so they can do better in the—”

“They won’t learn.” His words were brusque, as always. Guild Girl gulped a little.

That was fine—perfectly fine. This didn’t surprise her. She expected this sort of response.

“Lots of them aren’t participating,” Goblin Slayer continued. “Of those who are, many will simply quit. I don’t think it will have that much effect in the long run.”

That’s how tutorials were. How many of the people here really and truly meant to take the experience seriously? And even those who did—being serious didn’t necessarily mean you would learn any more than someone who wasn’t.

Umm, which all works out to…

…that he was thinking about it quite seriously and responding in kind.

Guild Girl tapped a finger to her lips thoughtfully, then found an old story floating through her mind. “Once upon a time, there was supposedly a province that chose its fighters by pitting them all against one another in a three-day battle to the death.”

“I suppose that would be the minimum necessary to make it really sink in.” Certainly, it would at least be the quickest way to get the feeling into their bones.

Having learned, though, wouldn’t necessarily mean they would live very long.

Goblin Slayer’s words were cold; he was thinking back to his very first goblin hunt. He hadn’t understood how to optimize his weapons and gear; he’d caught his sword on the wall in the confined space, been ambushed, been poisoned, and broken all his bottles. True, what he had learned from that fight unquestionably influenced his actions later on, but that one experience was not the reason he had survived.

I’ve been lucky over and over again. It was the only reason he could conceive of for why he had come this far. To imagine that all these novices would go on to long and successful careers because he’d put on a single contest for them…

Such a belief would be beyond childish.

Whether or not they held this event was unlikely to have much impact on these people’s futures. If anything, it was a risk to him; he didn’t want to become the kind of shameless person who might think that any success these children experienced later was all thanks to this little thing he’d done.

“U-um…” A small voice pulled the two of them out of their thoughts. They were confronted across the desk with a diminutive figure. A black-haired girl of compact build, wearing a brown leather cap. The sword at her hip was too long for her frame, and it visibly pulled her to one side—although one might find that charming.

The way her voice cracked from nerves was potentially amusing—but they certainly mustn’t laugh now. “Yes? How can I help you?” Guild Girl asked, as politely as she would of any full-fledged adventurer, but the girl fell silent in response.

After a long moment, she finally managed to come out with: “I’d…like to participate in the contest…” Her voice was almost a whisper.

Guild Girl smiled, taking out a blank check-in form and a stylus. “Are you able to write?”

“I… Yes, I can,” the girl said. “Just my name. But…”

Guild Girl held the stylus out to her, and the girl took it, gripping it as tightly as if it were a sword. Then she wrote something on the registration sheet—just a single character. A whirlwind could have written more neatly.

It was her name.

The girl handed the registration sheet back, stealing anxious glances in the direction of the armored adventurer who stood beside Guild Girl. The receptionist diligently continued to smile as she took the paper and launched into her explanation. “Obstacles have been set up in the dungeon as a series of tests. Some of them are enemies; some are traps.”

The girl nodded. Not distractedly; she was clearly thinking hard about what Guild Girl was saying.

“If you get through them, you’ll receive proof from one of the contest facilitators. You want to get all the pieces of proof available.”

“Um, all right.” Then the girl mumbled, “Proof, proof,” to herself. She was the picture of seriousness.

“This will act as evidence of your participation. It’s essentially like a rank tag, so please be careful not to lose it.” Guild Girl held out a vibrant violet-colored scarf. The girl took it, still looking nervous, then tied it awkwardly around her arm.

Suddenly, Goblin Slayer noticed something glinting in her backpack. “A lantern?”

“Oh…” The girl flinched, her body going stiff. Flustered, most likely. Maybe she thought he was upset.

“Goodness,” Guild Girl said quickly, pretending she had only just noticed it. She looked at the girl seriously: “That’s a beautiful piece of equipment. Where did you get it?”

“I, um, bought it…at the armory,” the girl replied slowly. “It’s…a brass lantern.”

“It’s good to keep your hands free while exploring,” Goblin Slayer said quietly. “Not a bad choice.”

“Oh…” The girl tugged her leather cap down over her eyes in an effort to hide the flush of simultaneous embarrassment and happiness in her cheeks. She shifted uneasily for a moment, then bowed her head and scampered off like a frightened rabbit.

Guild Girl watched her long black hair flutter in the wind as she went, then finally giggled. “There goes someone who’s not used to getting a compliment.”

“I’m not surprised.” Goblin Slayer’s helmet moved up and down. Behind his visor, he, too, was watching the girl. “Most children from poor villages—the ones who don’t stand to inherit a farm, at any rate—are like that.”

“And what were you like, Goblin Slayer?”

“Me?” He fell silent. The conversation died, replaced by the inchoate wave of sound made up of the simultaneous voices of all the assembled participants. After a long time, he said quietly: “I was…not a very good child.”

“That girl probably feels the same way about herself.”

His response was only a whisper: “You think so?”

That prompted Guild Girl to smile and nod. “Yes, I’m quite sure.”

All right, then—it was almost time for the dungeon exploration contest to begin.

§

The beating of drums seemed to rumble in the earth, eliciting a cheer from the participants. Breathless anticipation has its own pleasures, but it can also be enervating to get so worked up. That nervousness turns to excitement at the moment of catharsis; how could they do otherwise but shout?

Even when Guild Girl climbed the rostrum in front of the dungeon entrance, they didn’t settle down. She couldn’t blame them. They were about to embark on a dangerous quest (at least, they expected it to be). She studied the crowd silently, her smile never failing.

During her upbringing as a daughter of nobility, she’d been taught that silence could be the most powerful form of persuasion. It was much like how statues of the Earth Mother often depicted her with an enigmatic smile on her face; it was simply the most appropriate thing. That tactic worked for Guild Girl now: The silence gradually rippled out from her like a wave.

The adventurers gathered under the cold sky started feeling awkward, then finally looked at one another and shut their mouths. Satisfied, Guild Girl began to speak as dispassionately as the armored adventurer beside her. “Ten thousand gold coins and the permanent leadership of a frontier town to anyone who so much as survives this poison-fanged dungeon…”

The crowd ooh’d. The stares grew more intense.

“…is something we certainly can’t offer you, I’m afraid,” Guild Girl said, snickering. The rising anticipation abandoned the crowd like a puff of air.

She thought that was good. Nervous excitement was important. But having the wind taken out of your sails was likewise meaningful—at least in adventuring.

“However, we do have prizes for those who successfully complete the contest, so I hope you’ll all do your best out there!” she said. That would help motivate and interest them again. After that, there was some simple housekeeping to take care of. It didn’t do any good to insist that what you were about to say was important or critical; no one would listen to you. You had to get them interested, and then they would want to listen to you of their own accord. “What you’ll be doing is this: entering the dungeon, overcoming the obstacles, finding a series of gemstones, and then getting safely back out the exit.”

That was the whole story. The sort of spoils that would normally reward dungeon exploration would here be the proof that the trials had been completed.

Perhaps they would be wondering what those trials were. But I can hardly tell them that!

Whispering had started among the crowd, and there were a few questions about what they would find in the ruins, but Guild Girl didn’t answer them. Instead, she kept smiling and said, “If you hit any real trouble, one of the facilitators will be along to help you out, so please don’t worry about that.”

The contest facilitators were all experienced adventurers. Like that man in the cheap-looking but well-used helmet standing beside Guild Girl. It bore no obvious grime, but yes, he certainly did look the part of a Silver-ranked adventurer. Judging by the lightness of his equipment, maybe he was a scout? No, he had too much gear for that. But he didn’t seem like a warrior, either. His weapon was too cheap.

The collective gaze looking up at them was one of confusion, but, well, that was okay.

“………………” Goblin Slayer said nothing. He was doing exactly as Guild Girl had asked of him: “Just stand quietly beside me, okay?”

He’d never been the type to become garrulous in front of a crowd anyway. Not that such situations specifically bothered him, either.

“All right,” Guild Girl went on, “I’m going to read off your names. Please enter the dungeon in the order I call you!”

She read a name, and a young man came sprinting forward, exclaiming, “That’s me; I’m first!” He was probably feeling nervous, but his gait was carefree, and he looked courageous. Adventurers could have no truck with cowardice, after all. Care and caution they needed, but if one lacked the conviction to go diving into the unknown, then one had no future in this line of work.

From that perspective…

“Everyone who even participates here has already proved themselves on one level.” High Elf Archer’s ears were too good to miss the footsteps of that first challenger or indeed the drumbeat pounding beneath them.

Inside the dungeon, the adventurers at their various stations all looked at one another and nodded. Along with the wizards and their goblins, Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest were there, ready as they would ever be.

“You just be careful, eh?” High Elf Archer grinned and bopped Lizard Priest on the shoulder. “Don’t go accidentally getting yourself slain.”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha—a dragon in a cave, my goodness. Something the inexperienced would never expect, I can only think!” He opened his huge jaws and laughed uproariously. His little joke helped put the others at ease as well. Even the event facilitators could get nervous. Why shouldn’t they? They were supposed to already know what they were doing—they would have to look good doing it, and they couldn’t make any mistakes.

“And how about you? Think we’d get more takers if you’d stand out there with your mouth shut.” Despite the gravity of the occasion, Dwarf Shaman took a great gulp of wine, then gave a teasing chuckle. “Even Beard-cutter’s managing that much.”

“Don’t lump me in with that oddball.” High Elf Archer was, of course, used to this. She simply snorted and refused to have anything more to do with the dwarf. High elves attracted attention wherever they went, whether they wanted to or not. Anyway, he’s the one who got all the responsibility this time, so it’s only fair to let him have the spotlight, I’d say.

“You’ve only just arrived in town recently, right? It’s gonna be a tough adjustment.”

“Er, yeah…”

Over in the corner with her arms crossed was another elf adventurer, who seemed surprised to find High Elf Archer talking to her. She nodded uncertainly—she’d only just registered with the Guild recently, and maybe she wasn’t used to this yet. Granted, an elf outside the forest was almost guaranteed to be, as it were, a fish out of water. Her party member beside her, a female spell caster, was grinning and talking to her, though, so she was probably fine.

Excellent. A Guild employee stationed inside the ruins clapped as if she’d been waiting for this moment and said: “All right, everyone, could you take your places, please?” The woman had the symbol of the Supreme God, the sword and scales, hanging from her neck—it was Inspector. Now she looked around at everyone and nodded. “Guild employees will be making the rounds periodically. If anything comes up, please be sure to let one of them know.”

“Not like we held back much.” The rough voice belonged to an adventurer wielding an ax. High Elf Archer didn’t much bother to remember other people’s jobs, but she seemed to recall he had been involved with setting up traps.

He sounded prickly, but Inspector simply smiled and replied, “Of course. Be careful, though—some of the kids might be relaxing in between tests.”

“Yeah, good point. I guess so. All right, I get you. I understand.” Having been charged with this particular responsibility, he didn’t seem like he was going to be a bad influence on the adventurer hopefuls.

In other words, everyone here is a full-fledged, outstanding adventurer. The thought made High Elf Archer happy somehow, her long ears twitching.

Beside her, Priestess clutched her sounding staff, still looking nervous—maybe she’d noticed it, too. She had genuinely advanced along the path, but she was still a touch timid. She’d gotten good at handling the details but chose the oddest times to be self-deprecating.

I guess that’s humans for you, High Elf Archer thought. Even the elders of the elves, who had been around since the Age of the Gods, couldn’t fathom them. Those old elves seemed to respect rheas in particular, but the humans were no slouches, either.

People of a great many different races were here to participate in the contest today, but the majority were human. Us “experienced” types better give them a good example to follow.

That meant no special consideration but also enabling the rookies to enjoy adventuring—yet not making it easy on them.

“All right, everyone, let’s welcome them to the gauntlet!”

§

And indeed, a gauntlet it was.

“Yikes?! Owwwww!”

The first young man to come dashing into the dungeon took a board to the face; it had been balanced on the floor right where he stepped.

He dropped into a crouch; his nose hurt so bad that he feared it was broken. He probably didn’t realize that he was immensely fortunate. Had that board been rigged with a spike, as such traps often were, he would’ve been skewered by now, reduced to a corpse.

He looked pathetic, plodding forward rubbing his red nose, but pain is one way of learning. Take the young woman who entered the ruins sometime later; by sheer fortune, she avoided the first trap…

“Eek?!”

…only to stick her foot in a hole, get it stuck between some boards, and pitch forward onto her face. In a second, her brand-new equipment and clothes were covered in dirt. That’s what happened to anything you wore to go adventuring.

“Er, ah, my sword… Where’s my sword…?!”

On top of her dirtied equipment, the fall had made her lose her grip on her weapon; she began to grope around looking for it. She was just lucky that she was still at the mouth of the ruins, where there was some faint light, so she hadn’t yet lit the lantern in her backpack.

Even a torch will go out, if you drop it. A lantern can simply break. And darkness is a human’s enemy. Meanwhile, being on all fours with her rump sticking out made her completely vulnerable to any monsters that happened along. One more reason she was lucky her spill came right at the entrance.

Still, a trap like this should have been simple enough for any young hunter, or an elf, to avoid. Most elves had the abilities of rangers, plus they could see in the dark and were light of foot. That only applied, though, to elves born and raised in the forest. A half-elf raised in a human town might be a bit nimbler than the average human—but not by much.

On the other hand, there wasn’t much trouble overcoming the physical obstacles—at least among the humans. Many of them were the second or third sons of farmers or of some other similar background. Running among the fields and hills was familiar to them, even if they were doing it with a bit more armor now.

“I—I can’t reach…!”

The dwarves and the rheas, however, along with any other diminutive creatures, had their work cut out for them. They might have an affinity with animals, but that didn’t mean they were good at climbing trees.

One such clung close, kicked off with her back leg, then scrambled up the obstacle, finally cresting it…

“Eeyikes!”

…only to find her balance thrown off by the unfamiliar movement.

“Here, grab on!”

“Th-thanks. You saved me…!”

At the last moment, she was held up by another participant, who had worked his way back over the trap to help her.

It wasn’t as if there would be only a single winner of this contest. Some people did lend a hand to those who needed it. That wasn’t against the rules, either—in this event, it was a real advantage.

It was said that even amateurs could be like unto the God of Knowledge if three of them got together. Although, of course, sometimes you wound up with three idiots, and they didn’t get much of anywhere.

“Hmph…” That was probably the thinking of those who snorted and laughed to themselves and went on ahead alone, ignoring the small groups of other participants. Perhaps others regarded these sneerers as arrogant. But maybe they were able to get through the contest on their own. The only way to find out was to try.

It was always an adventurer’s prerogative to make their own choices. Whatever result they arrived at, it was theirs alone.

“Heh-heh. You’ve done good.”

The first of those results was likely to stop the participants in their tracks. After they had gotten past a number of traps, a figure emerged soundlessly from among the rocks. It was a high elf woman, a creature of otherworldly beauty. She would smile at the young men and young women, then take their hands in her own long, pale fingers. That set the young men—and even a few of the young women—back on their heels, but the elf woman didn’t seem to notice.

“Here you go. The first one!”

A bit of gemstone, no larger than the fingernail on their pinky, would be dropped into their palm. If they looked at it in the flickering light of their torches, they could probably discern that it was a sapphire.

A little something we picked up on our last adventure, High Elf Archer thought. The Guild had bought it from them and was now using it as a reward for these participants. This was possible because, as Dwarf Shaman had guessed, the gems they’d found weren’t actually that valuable. But if they didn’t say that to the participants, they weren’t likely to know. All they would see would be a glittering gemstone dropped into their hand by a high elf—it would catch their attention immediately.

High Elf Archer’s heart warmed to see a young girl slip the gem carefully into a pouch at her hip, laughing shyly as she did. She understood very well that value was relative. Each person decided for themselves what was valuable, and no one else could make that decision for them.

Then the participants would proceed farther, ever farther, into the ruins.

Most of them screeched to a halt again when another figure melted out of the shadows: Dwarf Shaman, exclaiming, “All right, lads and lasses, time for a riddle!” With his long white beard and the wine jug ever present in his hand, he looked like a wizard out of a storybook. As such, should they anger him, he might turn them into a frog or transport them into a block of stone or blow them clear out of this dungeon…

Most of those whose only experience of magicians came from fairy tales and old poems froze with fear. They would tremble, they would swallow audibly, and Dwarf Shaman would simply laugh aloud and wave a hand. “Adventuring isn’t just swinging yer weapon around, see, kiddos. You’ve got to use your head sometimes, too.”

Hence the riddle.

Dwarf Shaman’s riddles didn’t demand any unusual intelligence to answer. They were mostly in the vein of Guess how heavy that statue is or Guess how many boxes are in this nested box—that sort of thing. If the would-be adventurers could calm down and think clearly, the answers would come to them fairly easily.

The groups would put their heads together, desperately trying to figure out the response:

“H-hey. How are we supposed to know how heavy that thing is?”

“Well, uh, hold on, hold on. He said you take half the weight of a typical human and add it to…”

“So, uh…”

One, two. Some counted on their fingers—the only way they could hope to arrive at an answer. Most people managed to get past the physical traps all right, but more than a few were beached here. Some turned back dejectedly; others simply gave up and pressed forward, but…

“I got it!”

…one girl lit up as she came up with the answer, though it had taken her quite a bit of time.

“Ha, excellent!”

She almost panicked again as she tried to catch the sliver of emerald Dwarf Shaman tossed to her. She wiped at her forehead—thinking made her sweat almost as much as physical exertion—and tucked the emerald into her bag so she wouldn’t lose it before continuing on.

The ruins were deep; the contest continued.

More such traps and riddles awaited the participants. If you wonder whether tests of wits are any less demanding than duels with the sword, the answer is certainly not. But by the same token, an excess of intelligence won’t make up for a complete lack of martial skill. The world is full of tests of luck, too, like kissing a series of cultic statues in the right order. And indeed, if you adventure long enough, you’ll eventually encounter a situation where sheer, unmitigated violence is the only solution.

It’s challenges like these that reveal an adventurer’s true worth.

What it comes down to is: Getting past a few traps and answering some riddles isn’t everything. For every would-be adventurer knows that there are other things lurking in ruins, dungeons, and caves. Things like…

“GROOROGBB…!”

…goblins.

Several hideous little creatures approached, their movements stilted, like puppets. They might not have seemed terribly threatening to those with a few adventures under their belts, but for the uninitiated, it was very different. Though they might be known as the weakest of monsters, facing them down all by oneself was a frightening prospect.

The black-haired girl was certainly scared. Awkwardly, she pulled out her sword, which was much too long for her. She was even less able to support its weight in her hands than on her hip; it looked more like she was hanging from the sword than the other way around.

“GBBRG…!”

“GOROOGGB!!”

“Ergh…” The girl took a step back, but the next second, she exclaimed, “Yah!” and swung her blade. Maybe she’d done some training, but nonetheless it was a big, wild swing that made it look as if the sword might pull her clear off her feet.

Luckily for her, the halls of the ruins were wide, so the sword didn’t strike against them, but neither did it reach the goblins. There was a great whoosh as the sword swept through the air, and the girl pitched forward, stumbling a step or two. The goblins hadn’t specifically dodged her; she’d simply missed them—but this was no way to go about things.

Blushing with fear and excitement and embarrassment, the girl sucked in a breath, then took another big step forward. “Hi…yah!”

The stroke was too amateurish to be a proper combo strike; it was just one swing after another. But the sword was nothing if not robust, and this time it caught one of the diminutive goblins. The blade bit heavily into the monster’s shoulder, cleaving it down to the chest and sending dark blood flying.

“GORGGBB?!” the creature howled—but the wound was really too shallow to be fatal. This goblin, though, was a puppet created with magic; it had no autonomy, no soul, not even actual life. Any slight injury was considered the same as death for it, and it promptly crumpled. Gobs of froth and spittle covered the floor, and soon the creature didn’t look like a goblin at all anymore.

“I did it!” the girl cried, but the fact that she allowed herself to be distracted in this moment was testament to the fact that she was still new at this.

“GOROOGB!!”

“Eeek!”

It was more than one goblin she had encountered, and the fight wasn’t over yet.

Another goblin jumped over the corpse, slamming into her chest. She took a spectacular fall backward, grunting with the pain. It wasn’t that it hurt so much. It was more that the chill on her behind and the slimy feeling on her legs were unpleasant.

“You little…!” She got unsteadily to her feet and let loose another big swing. Whoosh, whoosh—at least it sounded mean.

Even goblins, though—even puppet goblins—weren’t going to be hit by attacks like that. They simply jumped out of the way, sproing, sproing, the girl’s face getting grimmer and grimmer. Starting to get frustrated, she swung harder, the blade smacking into the rock with a shiing; she could feel the vibrations in her hands.

“You little…!!” Properly angry now, she charged at them, thrusting with her sword. It was a poor stab. Yet, even so, the girl’s long legs and arms, combined with the long sword, managed to bridge the gap between her and the enemy. The goblin was planning to hop backward again, but instead, the blade tore into his neck.

“Oh…!” The girl’s previously flat look turned into one of happiness. She was sure that the squelching feel of goop collapsing under her blade meant the end of that enemy.

In that instant, she was focused only on the goblin in front of her. Naturally, she wasn’t preparing for another attack.

“Wah—hrpf?!”

She found her vision going dark. Her mind went blank. Nothingness. She stopped moving, of course. She couldn’t do anything at all.

She felt a weight on her back, thump, and was driven to the ground. She landed on her chest, a shout escaping her lips. She couldn’t breathe. So heavy. Suffocating.

“GOROOOGOBB!!”

A goblin…?!

She realized belatedly that one of them had jumped on her from behind, pulling down her leather cap. She felt the damp floor. The goop that had once been a goblin sprayed up, spattering her face, making her clothing filthy. She hated that—even though she’d already fallen and dirtied herself once.

“Oh, ohh… Hrrr… Ohhh…!!”

The sounds the girl made were hardly real screams; they were something more like a sobbing child. She shook her head hard and flailed her body, trying desperately to throw off the weight on her back.

It hadn’t been her plan to slam into the wall—just sheer luck.

“GROBG?!”

“Ah…!”

She heard the monster yell and felt his grip loosen; she immediately scrambled away. She didn’t have one second to think about it. She was struggling for breath, but fighting was more important than breathing right now.

She straightened her cap, but her vision was still dim. Her lantern must have gone out. She reached out blindly, and by good fortune, her scrabbling fingers found the sword she’d dropped when she fell.

“Yah…! You little…! Stinking!!”

Holding the sword in a reverse grip, the girl lashed out with all the subtlety of a hammer. One stab didn’t do it; the creature didn’t go down, so she stabbed twice, then three times, and finally let the sword drop.

“Phew… Hoo… Hrnn… Hngh!”

It would take time for it to disappear, and anyway, it wasn’t likely to move again after the thrashing she’d given it. The girl tried to steady her breathing, her small chest heaving up and down, and then she pulled the stopper out of her waterskin. She drank noisily (must mind her supply!) and finally let out a breath.

Then she had a chance to relight the lantern, extinguished during the fighting. Thank goodness it wasn’t broken.

“Huh?!”

Blinking in the renewed illumination, the girl realized there was something wrong with the small bag at her hip.

The mouth is open…!

She felt cold all over, as if the blood had drained from every part of her body at once. She grabbed the bag and turned it upside down over her palm. Nothing came out.

“No way…! But how?!” She scrambled around on all fours, scratching in the dirt, almost in tears. She’d worked so hard to collect those stones, and now they were all simply gone. It wasn’t sadness that brought the tears to her eyes but agony and anger at how pathetic she was.

And yet, the fighting had taken place over a relatively small area. It was simple enough to spot the sparkling gems among the dull rocks of the ruins.

“Let’s see… The sapphire, the emerald…” One, two. She collected them in her hand and counted them, then put them carefully away. She rubbed her face with her sleeve, wiping off tears and sweat and goop and gore, and got her breathing under control again. “Just one more…I think.”

Where is it? Had it rolled away into some dark corner? As the girl looked around, scanning the area, she noticed a narrow space near the wall. Just the kind of place a stray gem might have ended up.

“Maybe it’s here…” Hrrm, huh. Using every ounce of strength in her small body, the girl reached into the crevice…“Yikes!”…and then tumbled clear into it.

What she’d taken to be a crack or a seam in the wall had, apparently, been a door.

Dumped unceremoniously into a dark hallway, the girl vehemently threw her cap on the ground. It’s this heavy thing that makes me keep falling, she thought. She snorted, disentangling herself from her backpack, then brought her lantern to bear. She saw something glimmer in the wavering light. “There it is!”

A tiny shard of diamond glittered near the wall. She trotted over and picked it up, then put it carefully in her bag. This time she closed it extra tightly so the stones wouldn’t escape again. Now she was okay. She had them all back. She hadn’t dropped anything else, nor had she forgotten anything.

“Oh, uh, my sword…!” She quickly gathered up the sword she’d tossed on the ground in her rush to get the diamond and awkwardly slid it back into its scabbard.

That’s everything. Now I’m really ready.

“Okay… Let’s go!” She clenched her fist, checked to make sure the scabbard was secure at her side, and tugged the bag full of gemstones shut one more time. When she set off down the hallway, it was with careful steps—but courageous ones. Wherever she’d been meaning to go, she was all turned around now.

Behind her, the door in the wall closed without a sound.

§

“Ahhhhh…?!”

A group of young people were beating feet, all but throwing aside their swords, shields, and other possessions. From behind them came the clacking footsteps of a walking, armed skeleton warrior.

The young people had managed to make it past the goblins, but here their courage seemed to have finally failed them. Demonstrating what it meant to run headlong, they sprinted down the hallways, running, running. They, of course, didn’t notice Guild Girl watching them from one end of the hall, smiling to herself…

“Heek?!” A young woman who looked like a servant of the Valkyrie gave a cry that made her sound much younger than she was when she saw the living suit of armor standing beside Guild Girl. The young woman went scrambling in what could only be called an unladylike manner, almost stumbling over herself in her haste to escape.

“You can polish it to a shine, but you do still startle people.” Guild Girl watched the shouting girl, the armor padding around her butt clearly evident, flee the scene, and sighed wistfully. “At least I think you looked rather heroic in the sunlight outside.”

“Nothing we can do about it,” Goblin Slayer said, unbothered. “I can’t wear perfume like you.”

“Goodness…” Guild Girl’s eyes widened. Then she realized that of course he would notice such a thing, and her face softened into a smile. You have to be sensitive to smells in a cave, she thought. She was grateful that the ruins were dark and that the orange light of the torch hid the flush in her cheeks.

Guided by Goblin Slayer, with his shield secured to his left arm and a torch in his hand, Guild Girl went deeper into the maze. At the head of their group clacked the Dragontooth Warrior, returning to its original position. The way it looked somehow downhearted despite having fulfilled its job—was that because of the small spark of spirit still left in it, or was it the work of the spell user?

“You said you wanted something other than goblins, so I had this Dragontooth Warrior made up…”

“I guess maybe it is a little much.”

“Yes: Goblins are living things, but skeleton warriors are not.” Surprise and then fear would be the first things people would experience; convinced they could never defeat the thing, they would flee.

It would be easy to ridicule such behavior as foolish or cowardly, even if it was genuinely the right thing to do. It would also be all too simple to praise such actions as evidence of intelligent thinking or maturity. One who lived could always fight another day—but an adventurer who never took any risks would never learn or grow.

This fact seemed self-evident. What was more, goblins were the weakest monsters in the Four-Cornered World. Any warrior should be able to kill them. A scout could sneak past them, and a spell user could use their intellect to prevail. In other words, simply besting some goblins left something to be desired as an adventurer. Even for the man who walked beside her, who had made his Silver rank on hunting these creatures.

Or perhaps that was exactly what made him the adventurer he was. Anyway, if these kids were going to turn tail and run just because they’d seen a skeleton or a suit of armor…

“Well, this is our very first time doing this,” came a voice. “Whatever the truth be, we wouldn’t want people thinking we were too harsh.” A long head emerged from one of the inner chambers—what would those young adventurer hopefuls think if they saw Lizard Priest? Guild Girl smiled at the thought and bowed to him.

“Nice work on that skeleton. How are you doing?”

“Tolerably.” Lizard Priest rolled his eyes in his head, then looked up at the ceiling as if in thought. “Some of them judge that they have, say, a one-in-six chance of victory and do take the challenge, so I am hardly disappointed.”

“If this leaves them thinking they don’t have the chops, though, that would be a problem in itself…”

“Some sifting is necessary. If this is enough to break their nerve, then better they run from us than from something worse.”

What a very lizardman-like perspective. They prized survival above all else, and while they didn’t hesitate to retreat, it was never a sign of cowardice. Withdrawal in hopes that you might conserve your life for some higher purpose was a very different thing from simply running with your tail between your legs.

But still… Guild Girl was human, and most humans had never met a lizardman. She couldn’t follow everything he thought, and anyway, she couldn’t help thinking what a problem it would be if they never got another novice.

“Having said that, youth needs more than fear and trembling to cultivate it.”

Thus, she wasn’t surprised by the next words to emerge from those great jaws. Guild Girl certainly agreed with him—but Goblin Slayer said, “Is that so?” and shook his helmeted head.

“‘There are diamonds among the dirt,’ they say,” Guild Girl replied, nodding. Sometimes the severe noble upbringing she’d had from her mother and father when she was young turned out to be useful. She’d completely ignored that proverb when she was first told about it, but now… “If you whittle down their number too much, the number of diamonds will go down, too. Although strangely, a lot of people seem to think the number of diamonds can only go up…”

“Yes, even so. Crack an egg too early and all you get is a yolk. The shell should only be broken at birth.” Each may be best for a different kind of military service, after all. After adding this in a whisper, Lizard Priest went on: “The elves, I am told, say that those who trim the buds of the tree to help it grow are fools.”

“That makes sense.” Goblin Slayer nodded. It was a very elf-ish thing to say, given how they regarded each branch as being as precious as a bone of their own bodies. “Perhaps I should think about this as well?” He grunted softly, then crossed his arms in thought. Not that they could see his expression behind his visor. “I think my teacher might have been considered somewhat severe by society’s standards.”

“Ah, each has their own way of doing things. Milord Goblin Slayer, you seem to be doing quite well. There is no need for you to change.”

“Is that so?”

“I should say.” Lizard Priest stretched out his neck pointedly, then looked into the chamber.

Oh, for goodness’ sake… Guild Girl sighed hopelessly. There was no question she had a few things to say about Goblin Slayer’s teaching methods, but still…

“Um, I’m done tending to these people. Who is next…?”

“Hmm. That one over there, I believe. It seems he’s hit his head…”

“Stay still, please. There you go; it’ll be all right.”

When Guild Girl saw Priestess zipping around at the instructions of a bald-pated monk, all her complaints vanished. They were at a sort of first-aid station for those who had been hurt or had become unable to move during the competition. They were laid out on fur blankets or seated carefully, Priestess moving among them, helping where she could. She was well trained. She worked hard—whatever she herself might think. She was like a different person from that day when she’d stood nervously in front of the reception desk.

Guild Girl kept those feelings in her heart as she called out, “Excellent work!” sounding bright as ever. “How’s it going over here?”

“Good—nobody seems in any danger of dying, so I think we’re okay!” All right, so maybe it wasn’t great that she could say something like that with a big smile on her face. Without quite meaning to, Guild Girl stole a glance at the helmeted head beside her.

“Um, this person, they bumped their head on the ceiling trying to squeeze in somewhere a little too tight…”

“And this one couldn’t see his feet because of the helmet he was wearing!” The monk chuckled. “He slipped and hurt his back.” He firmly applied a bandage to a young man lying nearby. The boy thrashed and opened his mouth in a voiceless scream, but even so, it was clear that his injuries weren’t that severe. The monk laughed again: “Ha-ha—this here, it hardly counts as a wound. Not even any internal injuries.”

“That’s good,” Guild Girl said with a smile. She hoped the boy wouldn’t be so traumatized by this experience that he didn’t try adventuring again. But still—had there been any spaces tight enough for someone to bump their head…?

“…Hrm.” Goblin Slayer, meanwhile, gave a low grunt. He fired off a volley of questions at Lizard Priest, then turned toward those recuperating at the first-aid station.

“Are you looking for someone?” Priestess asked, trotting up and looking like a little bird.

“No,” Goblin Slayer said and shook his head. “Things seem to be in good hands here.”

“Hee-hee,” Guild Girl chuckled, smiling to herself. Priestess didn’t quite seem to catch the import of Goblin Slayer’s words, but Guild Girl thought she did.

This was a good thing.

People who had messed up, people who had been injured, people with good prospects. There were so many of them here. She hoped things went well. Everything. All of it. For him, too. Yes, all of it…

“Huh?” Suddenly, there came a very displeased voice. Guild Girl looked over to see an ax-wielding warrior scratching his head beside a thoroughly exasperated warlock. She recognized him as the leader of one of the parties that was helping out behind the scenes. “I’m sorry, Miss Receptionist,” the axman said, “but I think we might have a problem on our hands.”

“…Again?”

“‘Again’?”

“I’m sorry—it’s nothing.” Guild Girl waved the comment away and fixed the smile on her face, wishing she could wave away those unpleasant memories of the past as easily.

She couldn’t simply forget all the trouble at the harvest festival. Not that it was their fault, of course… But it had been a problem, all right. No question.

She gave the warrior a serious look and asked, “What’s happened?”

“Our scout found something unusual.”

“Unusual?”

“Yeah.” The man nodded; his next words escaped him in a sort of groan: “A goblin corpse.”

An almost mechanical voice demanded: “Where?”

§

“Here.”

The hurried scraping of metal equipment through the halls was greeted by an elf woman standing in a corner of the maze. She melded with the darkness, virtually invisible even in the flickering torchlight. Goblin Slayer, walking at the head of the column of adventurers, was silent for a moment, then nodded. “You?” he asked.

Hoh. The elf scout, redolent with the odors of face powder and perfume, widened her eyes, but then her lips softened toward a smile. “Better believe it.” A red tongue formed the words in the darkness of her mouth. “I was the one who found it.”

Just as she’d said, there was a goblin corpse resting in a pool of blood at her feet. Goblin Slayer squatted beside it without a word; Priestess quickly held up a torch for him. Goblin Slayer searched through his bag, produced a dagger that looked like a cat’s claw, and began an impromptu dissection.

“It looks like it’s been stabbed, repeatedly…,” Priestess said hesitantly.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s dead,” Goblin Slayer replied, shaking his head. “Rookies do that sometimes. Miss the vital points.”

In other words, one of the participants in the competition fought with the goblin…

That didn’t specifically seem like so much of a problem, but Priestess put a finger to her lips and pondered. Something was off. Something didn’t feel right; the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up.

“…So there’s a dead goblin; so what? Nothing unusual about that.” The axman was trying hard not to look at the ongoing autopsy; he appeared a bit queasy. “We summoned them to be enemies in here, after all.”

How thoroughly uncomprehending. The warlock woman sighed as if she wished for nothing more than to go straight home. “They aren’t summoned. I’m making them.”

“Same difference.”

“It’s completely different!”

It really was different. Warlock added angrily that she’d explained this already, but it seemed to go clear over Axman’s head.

He had at least this much in common with Goblin Slayer: Neither of them was deeply interested in the mechanics of spells. Goblin Slayer stood up, his dissection finished, and promptly asked the warlock what he felt to be the most important question: “Do they leave corpses?”

“In a sense, yeah.” She held out her hand; Goblin Slayer passed her the cat’s claw. Warlock took the surgical knife with an experienced air and plunged it into a spreading pool of goo on the floor near them. She stirred the bubbling stuff for a moment, then, finally finding what she was looking for, withdrew the blade. Impaled on the end was a small, grimy, mostly dissolved tooth.

“This is the corpse. The goblin tooth I used for a catalyst—not enough left to do anything with it now.”

“So you’re saying…”

Ah, that’s right. The feeling that something was off wasn’t so trivial after all.

They did leave corpses. This goblin’s body, and this one alone. Meaning it had been real…

“Goblins,” Goblin Slayer grunted quietly. The softness of his voice, and the visor between it and the world, made it hard to hear what he said next. But those who had been with him a long time, who had spoken with him often, knew. He spat venomously: “The little bastards.”

Priestess and Guild Girl looked at each other, agape. He so rarely cursed.

Guild Girl decided to try putting business first, although her voice squeaked as she spoke. “Does that mean goblins got in here somehow?” She glanced in the direction of the polished helmet, trying to grasp the situation.

“Wouldn’t say so,” the elf woman interjected, her lips forming a smile. She stretched in a way that made her resemble a great cat, then tapped on the walls of the ruins. “Not somehow. This is how.”

There was a clack, and a hidden door opened. There was only darkness beyond, stretching into the distance; they were hit with a gust of cold wind. Subterranean air that had been trapped there for centuries, even millennia, came to them. The odor was absolutely, completely new to Guild Girl.

“Can’t believe you actually found that,” Warlock said.

“Ha, that’s a scout at work,” the elf said, smirking. “Dwarves aren’t the only ones who can find things underground.”

“…Yeah, great.” Guild Girl sympathized with the annoyance in Warlock’s tone—in fact, it was more than that. It was like the floor was falling out from underneath her—so this was what it meant to feel your blood run cold.

This is very, very bad.

They were looking into an uncharted part of the ruins. This meant failure to sufficiently investigate prior to the event. Dereliction of duty resulting in risk. Responsibility. What if someone had gotten hurt already? Her head started to spin, but Guild Girl slapped her cheeks and shook her head, knowing it would do no good to get swept away.

Now wasn’t the time.

What should they do? That was what she had to think about. They had to deal with the most important things, the most critical things, first, and they had to do it quickly. Questions of responsibility could come later. They could investigate later. Do whatever they wanted to her later.

But right now, I have to deal with this!

The dungeon exploration contest had been, it was said, first proposed by a villainous governor, with death an assumption. It wasn’t simply the cruel whim of a nobleman. It had been a genuine competition, staged yearly and enjoyed by both the adventurers and the people. But this was different. This was just a game. People might get hurt, but no one was supposed to die. As long as there were no real monsters involved…

Goblins were the weakest monsters. Yes, they were the weakest monsters. Anyone who was too wary of them, anyone who recoiled at the sight of them, was hardly cut out to be an adventurer. Adventurers had to deal with gigantic slimes, demons, trolls, and sometimes even dragons.

But weak or not, goblins were still monsters. For someone who was not an adventurer, not a soldier, to suddenly be told, “Okay, go kill a goblin!” was asking quite a lot. If it were that easy, one would have to wonder why adventurers existed, why the Adventurers Guild existed.

Maybe…we have to stop the event…

She would rush a message to Inspector, who was overseeing the entrance at that moment. Tell her to hold the participants who hadn’t yet entered the dungeon. Then the adventurers in here would be sent to find the remaining participants and escort them safely out. Then, of course, they would have to sweep the ruins again and hunt down the goblins…

That would be the best solution. Guild Girl started doing some calculations in her mind. They had a whole troop of experienced adventurers on hand, from Axman to Heavy Warrior and his party. Whatever waited for them beyond this door, they would be able to handle it. But the first thing to do—the first thing was…

“No.” Guild Girl’s thoughts were interrupted by a single, sharp word. “We will continue the dungeon exploration contest.” The speaker was brusque, decisive, and so brief as to be almost cold.

“Wha…?” Guild Girl looked up suddenly, causing her braid to bob. In front of her, she saw Goblin Slayer gazing straight down the dark hallway.

“We can’t let the participants know. But we do need to ensure things end safely.” He grunted softly, then said as if it were no big deal, “We can’t spare anyone to explore. I’ll go myself.”

“Are you quite certain that’s a good idea?” Lizard Priest asked, almost sounding pleased.

“Of course,” Goblin Slayer replied. “It’s an excellent idea.”

Well! It was the first time Priestess had ever heard him speak this way, or even Guild Girl, who had known him longer than Priestess had. Maybe even Cow Girl, his old friend, had never heard him quite like this.

It was absurd. Illogical, dangerous, utterly uncertain, a choice this man ought never to have made. A Silver-ranked adventurer like him should have understood that perfectly well.

Which meant, in other words, that at this moment…

“You think I’m going to let those goblins do what they want?”

…he was being selfish.

“ …” Guild Girl took a deep breath of the dusty air and slowly let it out. Guess there’s nothing to do about it, then, she thought.

Mixing professional and personal lives. Dereliction of duty resulting in risk. Questions of responsibility. The words danced through her head, but she swept them all away.

They would do something about it.

She would do something about it.

If this person was willing to go so far for her, then she knew what she had to do. “All right, let’s go with that, then!” She smiled and spoke before any of the other adventurers could say anything. She said it with a clap of her hands, light but decisive, as if suggesting they should all break for tea.

The person in charge had made a decision. She was acting. She was giving instructions. That was all it took to dispel the spreading unease among the adventurers.

“The first thing is obviously that we have to get word to the people outside as well as the other facilitators to let them know what’s going on.”

Lizard Priest was quick to speak up: “I suggest we may wish to prepare to do more first aid.” Thankfully, he seemed quick to grasp Guild Girl’s thinking. It was charming, the way he sometimes looked at the ceiling as if lost in thought. And she was nothing but thankful for the accompaniment of the Dragontooth Warrior.

“It’d be bad news if there turned out to be any other hidden doors that went deeper into the maze,” Axman said, tapping on various places in the wall.

“Let’s put up a rope to indicate the correct path,” Guild Girl added.

“If they go off the path, that’s their own fault,” Warlock said as her companion continued checking the wall. “They have no one to blame but themselves.”

“Unfortunately, civil servants can’t fall back on that kind of excuse,” Guild Girl commented with a slight smile.

“What a pain,” Warlock grumbled under her breath. Nonetheless, when the elf scout and the rest pulled out some rope and started marking off the hallway, Warlock helped them, for which Guild Girl was grateful.

The point is, we have to do what we can, and we have to do it quickly. That was best. Great ideas that came too late were no help at all. Which meant next came…

“The quest,” Guild Girl said; she nodded, coughed, and then stood in front of one of the adventurers. He was staring fixedly down the hidden hallway; his helmet turned slowly to look at her. Of course she couldn’t see his eyes, concealed behind his visor. But Guild Girl looked straight into them anyway. “All right, Goblin Slayer, sir. I’m asking you, as a formal quest, to investigate this hallway and slay any goblins.”

“Yes.”

“Further, if there are any participants lost in there, I want you to rescue them!”

“Understood.”

Each time, he answered almost as soon as she had spoken.

She’d had many conversations like this with him since he’d registered with the Adventurers Guild. Somehow it made her happy, and despite the circumstances, she found herself starting to smile.

No, no—control yourself.

“Let’s see, that just leaves…the reward, right? We’ll calculate the exact amount later, but, um…”

Payment in advance. Payment in advance. I’ll have to pay in advance. Support for necessary expenses. Let’s go with that.

Guild Girl searched in a pouch tied at her hip containing various items she’d thought might be necessary. Her fingers brushed perfume, potion bottles, and her ribbon, and she began blushing as she struggled to find what she was looking for. Oh, for…! Finally, she pulled the pouch clean off her hip and simply handed the entire thing to Goblin Slayer. “Take this, please! Think of it as a down payment!”

“…” Goblin Slayer didn’t say anything.

“I don’t know how much help it’ll be to you, but…!” Guild Girl added, trying to cover for herself. It was a bit like when a princess offers a knight some personal effect of hers to keep him safe as he sets off on a journey—well, okay, it was nothing as elegant as that. Besides, Guild Girl certainly didn’t intend it that way. The moment the idea flitted through her head, though…

She couldn’t have him misunderstanding. She couldn’t have him getting any weird ideas. This was a purely professional matter. But she did want him to come back safely. And she wanted him to trust her to handle things here. He had the good grace to count on her, and she wanted him to see that she could be counted on.

She choked back those feelings, though, buried them deep in her heart, and with a sort of splish, they disappeared.

When he said, “All right,” her heart skipped a beat, and she let out a breath of relief. “That will help.” He took the belt and the pouch, tried it on a couple of times, then finally simply slung it over his shoulder. Relieved by his businesslike demeanor, Guild Girl reached out and helped make sure the belt was secure.

“Um…” This single small sound came from Priestess as the other adventurers started getting into high gear. “Are you going to be all right alone…?” She understood the logic behind his decision—no, the feeling. Maybe it was precisely that understanding that compelled her to ask.

She was used to working separately. She could make it on her own. She’d been promoted exactly because she’d demonstrated as much. But being used to it, being capable of it, didn’t mean it wasn’t nerve-racking.

She’s lucky, Guild Girl thought, noticing a prickle in her heart. She was envious of how this girl could ask that so directly. It wasn’t something she herself could do.

“I once…,” he started, but then he shook his head and said, “No… Never mind. I never told you, did I?”

“ ?” Priestess was perplexed.

He offered a brief word of thanks to Guild Girl, refastening the belt around his shoulder. Then he made sure the sword of a strange length was ready at his hip and his little round shield cinched on his arm. Once he was satisfied with the state of his equipment, he nodded, then plunged a hand into the innards of the torn-up goblin. Without a moment’s hesitation, he smeared the dark gore all over his cheap-looking helmet and leather armor.

“Doesn’t matter if there are a hundred of them. In a cave, I will be victorious.” The slayer of goblins sounded downright nonchalant, his voice rasping like a rusty door from deep in his throat. “I will kill all the goblins.”