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Goblin Slayer - Volume 4 - Chapter 1




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Chapter 1 – Of Rookie Warrior And Apprentice Priestess

The cheap blade cut through the miasma with a fwwsh , and a giant rat, fat and round, came flying at them. 

“Eeyikes!” 

Its wide, dirty front teeth were sharp, its malodorous breath summoning images of their untimely demise. 

Overwhelmed, he stumbled backward, batting at the creature with his well-used round shield. 

“GYURI?!” 

The rat fell to the ground with a cry, but it quickly scrambled up again. No damage. 

Rookie Warrior shook out his left arm, which had gone numb from the impact despite the shield, and tried to regain his footing. 

“Come on, why didn’t you hit it back?” 

“My whole arm hurts!” 

Behind him, Apprentice Priestess admonished him in her strident, nasal voice. She held a combined sword-and-scales in one hand and a lantern in the other while frowning deeply. 

The sewers reeked with a rotten stench that threatened to turn his stomach. Even keeping his nose blocked didn’t help. 

The slick footing. Wastewater flowing nearby. Giant rats with a bite that threatened much worse than simple pain. The vermin that writhed everywhere. 

All of this was no different from normal. But it still put Rookie Warrior on the verge of tears. 

One day down here, one gold coin in your pocket, they say. 

That was if you met your quota. And that was an important source of income for making a living. 

Still, shouldn’t adventurers at least be dealing with goblins or something…? 

“Watch out, dummy, here it comes!” 

“—?!” 

His friend’s shout brought his attention back, and he heaved a great thrust with his sword, not even looking where he aimed. 

“GYAARU?!?!” 

He pierced fur and flesh and sinewy heart. The sensation was unpleasant. 

It was accompanied by a gush of warm liquid that spattered across the boy’s face. 

He leaned against the thrashing hunk of meat and cried out. 

“H-hrkk…?!” 

When he shoved the rat off his sword, it fell, still twitching, to the ground. 

The black pool of blood at his feet seeped across the ground, soaking his boots. 

“Hey, are you all right? It didn’t bite you?” 

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” 

“…………Okay.” 

Apprentice Priestess put on her best show of nonchalance, but even so, she hurried to Rookie Warrior’s side. Heedless of her white robes, she wiped at the blood on his cheek, and some smeared her fingers. 

“It didn’t get in your eyes, did it? What about your mouth?” 

“Ugh. A little.” 

“What were you doing? Gosh.” 

With an exasperated mutter, she took an antidote out of the bag of items she was carrying. 

Rookie Warrior was spitting out blood and washing his mouth with the canteen. He downed the bitter antidote gratefully. 

Both of them were still Porcelain rank. For them, the Cure miracle, for healing poison, was as much a dream as full plate armor or a suit of mail. 

Still, they could not be underestimated—as the former monster, now an inert lump on the floor, could attest. 

The rat had been busy with something: a corpse clad in rags. The figure’s empty eye sockets and ruined cheekbones suggested a vagrant, but around its gnawed-out throat hung a level tag. 

Apprentice Priestess took the porcelain-colored tag, wrapped it gently in a handkerchief, and put it in her bag. 

The unfortunate girl—they knew she was a girl, for the tag identified her as such—had not been wearing any armor. She had gone down into the sewers with nothing but her clothes and a stick, and the rats, most likely, had eaten her. 

“…Ugh,” Rookie Warrior said. “They’re back.” 

“Don’t sound so unhappy. This is our job, isn’t it?” 

Perhaps it was the death of its kin that drew it, or simply the smell of spilt blood, but another rat had appeared from the sewer depths. 

The creature was bigger than an infant child, its shadow wavering in the lantern light. 

“We need the ear to prove we killed it,” said Apprentice Priestess. “Quick, cut it off before it gets chewed on!” 

“The ear? Me?” 

“Just do it!” 

“You could act just a little more concerned for me, you know…” 

Even as he muttered, the boy grabbed the hilt of his sword, still stuck in the rat’s carcass, and gave it a tug. 

“…Huh?” 

It wouldn’t come out. 

No matter how hard he pulled, the sword, lodged firmly in the meat, refused to budge. 

He braced himself for leverage against the corpse—now weirdly soft after its violent passing—but to no avail. 

And as he stood there struggling, one of the live rats, its eyes burning brightly, was drawing ever nearer. 

“N-no—!” he gasped. “H-hold on a minute…!” 

“Here it comes! Do something, dummy, it’s getting closer!” 

“E-eeyikes!” 

It was the work of an instant: 

Rookie Warrior tumbled backward to avoid the rat’s jaws, landing in a pile of waste. The rotten food, or whatever it was, slopped over him, but it was better than being bitten and risking an infection. A critical hit from those teeth and his throat could be torn out altogether. 

“GURUUURRRU…!” 

The giant rat growled, whipping its tail back and forth, menacing Rookie Warrior. It probably saw the unarmed boy and the little girl studiously hanging back behind him as simply more food. It looked at them as a bit of saliva dribbled from its mouth, the very image of hunger. It obviously had no intention of letting them get away. 

Of course, if they ran, the adventurers would not get to eat, either—albeit for more indirect reasons. 

“Ahhh, darn it all!” Apprentice Priestess gave an unmannerly click of her tongue. 

Giant rats…Giant rats spread illness and are dirty and one is attacking us right now, and they are enemies of Order—enemies of Order! 

She seemed to be trying to remind herself of all this as she lifted the sword-and-scales high and as light began to build around it. It grew into a sword of lightning. 

“Lord of judgment, sword-prince, scale-bearer, display here your power!” 

And then Holy Smite, which she had called forth from the gods, pierced the rat with its blade. 

Emitting a wisp of smoke and the smell of burning flesh, the giant rat soared through the air before bouncing and rolling over, dead. 

The boy pursed his lips with a sound of displeasure as the girl let out a relieved breath. 

“Lucky you. The gods make everything nice and easy, don’t they?” 

“Oh, save it. You know I can only call on them once per day.” Apprentice Priestess glared at Rookie Warrior for his show of disrespect. “Anyway, hurry up and get your sword. I want to collect those ears and then go home and take a long bath.” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

Rookie Warrior approached the body of the first rat hesitantly, and this time put his whole strength into extracting his sword. 

Then… 

Scrrrape. 

“…” 

“…” 

It was a sound they did not like. The two adventurers looked at each other at the unexpected noise, stiff with fright. 

Scrr… 

Scrape. 

Scrrrape… 

Scrape. 

The sound came from deep in the darkness. 

Trembling, Apprentice Priestess raised the lantern. 

Something black and glimmering resolved into the shape of a huge insect. It shone as though covered in oil. One of them, two…then many, many more. Even at a quick count, it was clear they numbered greater than ten. 

While reaching out with their long, thin antennae, the creatures approached slowly. 

They were coming straight for the adventurers, jaws wide. 

“Oh—” 

Apprentice Priestess’s voice caught in her throat, before— 

“Noooooooo!” 

“Idiot! Don’t shout, run!” 

The pair grabbed what they could and scrambled out of the sewers in a panic. 

A terrible scraping sound told them the black insects were still right on their heels. 

How far was it to the exit, again? 

Rookie Warrior reflected: he wouldn’t ask for a dragon. Maybe goblins, at least—although they could drag out your final moments and make it horrific. But of all things, the way he least wanted to die was to be eaten alive by giant roaches. 

§ 

The spring twilight was warm, as if heralding the coming of summer. 

“Hrg…ggrrh…” 

Rookie Warrior woke to a morning light that pierced his eyes, stretching on the hay to work out his stiff body. 

He took a deep breath and exhaled, the air an unpleasant blend of alcohol and animal musk. 

Greeting a new day in the stables was still better than being in the sewers. 

The Adventurers Guild had an inn, of course, but it wasn’t free. True, they were all “economy” rooms—though the beds were just blankets pulled over wooden boards. 

They were hardly suites, but… 

“I just don’t have the money.” 

He let out a slow breath. The previous day’s adventure went firmly in the “loss” column of his finances. 

One antidote, one sword, and—because they hadn’t met the requested quota—no reward. 

He could survive today, because he at least had some money he had scrimped and saved in the past. But at this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he would have to cart his meager possessions back home, or—if he was especially unlucky—maybe even become a serf or a prostitute. 

It had only been a few months earlier that Rookie Warrior had rushed away from his small farming village to become an adventurer. The reason was that Apprentice Priestess, an old friend of his, had set out to train and seemed likely to die if left to her own devices. 

Her perspective, on the other hand, was that she had accompanied him on “some kind of warrior training or something” so he didn’t get left for dead in the underbrush somewhere. 

He felt he would have to set her straight on this matter at some point. 

Well, had felt. 

In the months since they had come to the frontier town, they had done nothing but kill rats. And sometimes roaches. 

Is this really adventuring work…? 

It was enough to cause his dreams to wither on the vine, breaking down his certainty and resolve. 

“Stop it, stop it. That’s enough with that kind of thinking.” 

He gave himself a shake and plucked a stray piece of hay out of his clothes. 

Nearby, a middle-aged man, apparently also an adventurer, snoozed in the deep sleep of a drunk, snoring noisily. 

Across from them, the horses shot dirty looks at the humans who presumed to share their sleeping space. 

He didn’t see Apprentice Priestess anywhere. 

As disappointed as he had been, Rookie Warrior still had enough pride to allow her to sleep in one of those simple beds. 

“Hokay! Today’s another day!” 

Pretending to be in a good mood is close enough to actually being in a good mood, right? He gave a yell, grabbed his stuff, and raced out of the stable. 

Heading straight to the well, he drew up a bucket and splashed water all over his face. Using the cloth at his waist, he began scrubbing vigorously. There were still no signs of any new ability to grow a beard. 

“I’ll start to look more like a hero soon…I hope.” 

Or maybe facial hair would just give Apprentice Priestess a reason to point and laugh at him. Rookie Warrior groaned. 

In any case, there was a lot to do. 

With the minor task of making himself presentable out of the way, the boy went straight back to the stables. He grabbed a small spade from the rack of farm tools and headed around back. 

“Hmmm. Now, where did I put it…?” 

The exhausted state he had been in upon returning the night before left him with only a hazy recollection of what was where. 

He rustled about on the ground for a minute, searching for something, before, with an “Ah, it’s there,” he found the most recent traces of disturbed earth. 

He drove the shovel into the dirt, bracing a foot against it and digging for a while. 

After a bit of work, he pulled his equipment out of the ground—his armor and shield. 

He had had them made shortly after arriving in town, using his meager funds. They were cheap, but without equal. This was equipment he knew he could rely on. 

There was, of course, a reason he had buried them. 

“…Erk. They stink…hrrm. Well, still for the best, I guess.” 

He brought his face close to them and sniffed. 

Tumbling into the pile of sewage hadn’t bothered him when they had been in a hurry to escape. The problem had been when they got back to the surface, and he had realized just how bad it smelled. Not only people in the street, but even his fellow adventurers wrinkled their noses and frowned at him. 

In the end, when they had returned to the Guild to make their report, the receptionist had smilingly said, “Please go clean up, then come back.” 

All the while Apprentice Priestess had stood there, bright red and shaking, staring at the ground… 

We messed up… , he had thought slowly. 

In the end, although he wasn’t much used to it, he washed his clothes, dried them, and rinsed himself off before changing. 

After some consideration about what to do with his leather armor and shield, he had decided the only thing was to bury them in the ground and hope it would take some of the stench off. 

The odor had improved a little, or so he hoped, so he wiped off the dirt with a cloth and equipped himself. 

He wouldn’t have had the courage to leave his precious equipment simply lying around even if he had been in a rented room, much less staying in the stables as he was. 

“Erk…” 

His stomach began rumbling, accompanied by a painful sensation. 

Rookie Warrior instinctively put a hand to his abdomen and looked around with a touch of panic. There was no one there. No one around to hear. 

Now that he thought about it, he had only had some water to drink the day before. 

The sky was blue, the morning sun shining brightly. 

Rookie Warrior heaved a sigh. 

“…Guess I better get something to eat.” 

§ 

“…You’re late.” 

Apprentice Priestess was already at the tavern. 

She was in the corner, and the room was alive with adventurers even at this early hour. 

She was resting her chin on her hands and looking annoyed; Rookie Warrior sat at the table with a short apology. 

“Oh,” he added, “and good morning. Breakfast?” 

“I already ate,” Apprentice Priestess said brusquely, but then she muttered her response to his greeting. “Morning. Anyway. Just hurry up and eat. I want to head down again in the afternoon if we can.” 

There was an empty bread plate in front of her. At his seat, there were beans, bacon soup, and bread. 

Rookie Warrior opened his mouth in confusion, closed it, then opened it again. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“For what?” 

“Ahh…” 

It seemed like if he said anything else, he would just make her angry again. 

And there’s no need to fight first thing in the morning. 

He took a spoon and brought some soup to his mouth. Apprentice Priestess gave a hmph . 

“And your clothes. Are they still hanging behind the stable?” 

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Rookie Warrior nodded. He took a bite of hard bread and swallowed. “They weren’t dry yet.” 

“Okay, give them to me later. That stink will never come out the way you wash them. I’ll do it for you.” 

“Oh, uh…sorry.” 

“I don’t want to end up stinky just because I hang out with you.” And then she turned away from him. 

The failure of their last outing had been entirely his fault. “Sorry,” he murmured, focusing on his food. 

He tore off a piece of bread, dipping it in the soup. When it was good and soggy, he scooped up some bacon with his spoon and ate everything together. The soup was thin and tasted mostly of salt. He ate without a word, dutifully. 

If the guy who was supposed to be the shield was so hungry he couldn’t move, what would their small party do then? This was another part of his job. 

All finished, he tossed his spoon on top of his empty plate and nodded. 

“Okay. Weapons.” 

“It’s a waste just to leave that sword down there.” 

“No, but listen,” he said back, pouring some water from the carafe on the table into his glass. “I need a weapon if we’re going to go back and find it.” 

“And do you have the money?” 

“About that…” 

He gulped down his water. Apprentice Priestess reached for the carafe at the same moment he did, so he filled her glass. 

“Thanks,” she said, putting both hands around her glass and bringing it to her lips. “You don’t have any, do you? Money, I mean.” 

“Maybe I could borrow…” 

“Stop that. Don’t take on any debt.” 

“Nah. I mean loaner gear or something.” 

Borrow a weapon. He thought about some of his acquaintances, wondering if any of them would be willing to lend something. 

It might be easy enough to get his hands on a dagger, but that didn’t inspire much confidence. 

And to borrow anything like a longsword—like the one he’d lost with a single swing—would count against him. 

Trust was not such an easy thing to come by. 

He was just giving a deep, involuntary sigh when… 

“Hm? What’s up, kid? Pretty early in the morning for such a long face.” 

The lighthearted comment sounded above him. 

His head jerked up. He saw an adventurer carrying a spear that glinted in the light. 

The tag that hung around his neck was Silver—the third rank. 

“Oh, uh, well…” 

“I’ve got a date, by which I mean an adventure, so I don’t have long. But I’ll listen while I can.” 

Rookie Warrior suddenly found himself lost for words. Spearman, renowned as “the frontier’s strongest,” beamed a friendly smile toward him. 

The young warrior swallowed. Next to him, Apprentice Priestess jabbed an elbow into his side. He nodded resolutely. 

“Uh, actually, I…I lost my weapon on our adventure yesterday.” 

“Oh yeah?” Spearman frowned instinctively. “That’s rough,” he said, his voice tinged with apparent sincerity. 

“I want to go get it back, but I don’t have a weapon, so…I was thinking maybe there was a chance someone would loan me one…” 

“A spare you can borrow, huh? …I’ve got some extras, so I could let you use one, but…” Spearman looked Rookie Warrior over from head to toe, then concluded: “I’m not sure you have the strength for it.” 

“Erk…” 

The slightest sound of embarrassment escaped him. 

Rookie Warrior was thin and flexible, but in terms of muscles, he was no match for Spearman. 

They just had different body types. Naturally they would use weapons of differing weights. 

“And if you lost this one, too, I’ll bet you couldn’t pay me back.” 

“True, yes?” Even he can’t bring himself to extort money from a junior adventurer. 

A beautiful woman appeared at Spearman’s side, quiet as a shadow except for her murmured words. 

She was a witch who wore clothes that accentuated her full, voluptuous figure. Apprentice Priestess found her face turning red, and she averted her eyes. 

“And a magical weapon, would surely not, suit you well, no?” 

A loaner magical weapon?! 

Rookie Warrior’s eyes bulged as Witch whispered and giggled. 

For a beginner like him, metal armor was the stuff of dreams. A magical weapon might as well have been distant legend. 

I hear you can find them in ruins and labyrinths if you’re really lucky, and I do see them for sale occasionally. 

But they were several digits too expensive for him to ever think of owning one. 

“So instead, let me, give you something, good.” 

Witch retrieved something from her neckline with an elegant motion—a single candle. 

It didn’t appear to be the usual white, but bluish—which was, on close inspection, because of the colored letters covering it. 

The profusion of characters was carved into the candle in a flowing script that Rookie Warrior could not decipher. 

“It’s…” Apprentice Priestess blinked several times. “…a candle?” 

“Yes.” 

Witch winked and lowered her voice as if she were revealing a deep, dark secret. 

“This, see, is a seeking candle…When, you near, the object of your search, it gets, warmer. See?” 

A magic item. Rookie Warrior swallowed hard. 

There was no need for them to use it themselves. If they sold it, it would bring in more than enough for a good sword… 

“Feel free, to, sell it—turn, it into money.” 

Her smile seemed to see right through him, and Rookie Warrior found himself staring at the ground. Apprentice Priestess gave him another poke in the side with her elbow. 

“Oh, um. I, uh— Th-thanks. Thank you very much.” 

“Not, at all. A little, something, to help.” 

Rookie Warrior received the item hesitantly as Witch wore an amused expression and smiled. 

“Well, then. We have our…date.” 

“Yep. Don’t die, kids.” 

Spearman gave Rookie Warrior’s hair a parting ruffle and set off at a jaunty pace. 

Witch followed right behind him through the Guild doors. 

Rookie Warrior set his right hand on his head, where he could still feel that powerful palm. 

“…They’re so cool.” 

“Yeah.” Apprentice Priestess allowed herself a whisper. “Perhaps…” 

§ 

“Uh-uh, nope, no way!” In the grassy field behind the Guild, Scout Boy was seated and waving his hands frantically. “I lost my own dagger recently. The one I have now is borrowed. If I lent it out, Cap would kill me!” 

“You lost it? What happened?” 

“It got dissolved by a giant slug.” 

“What are you doing?” the rhea Druid Girl asked, raising her eyebrows. 

“A giant slug, huh? Lucky you…” 

Rookie Warrior pursed his lips, receiving an elbow in the side from Apprentice Priestess. “We’re Porcelain-ranked, while they’re in a Silver party. We can’t compare.” 

“You were killing giant rats, right?” Scout Boy asked. Rookie Warrior frowned and nodded. 

“And I lost my sword doing it.” 

“You’re just lucky it wasn’t a one-of-a-kind item.” 

Scout Boy glanced up at where Heavy Warrior was swinging his massive two-handed blade. 

There was a whoosh as it sliced through the air, and then a thud as Female Knight leaped in. 

The two-handed sword prevented him from carrying a shield, but the ease with which he wielded it was a testament to the magic power he’d been given. 

Strike, block, hit, parry, slam, overhead swing, deflect, cut, repel. 

His weapon was finely crafted, as was his armor. The shine of the carefully worked weapon was unmistakable even in the sunlight. 

“…Wish I had one of those.” 

“One of what?” 

“That greatsword,” Rookie Warrior said, resting his chin on his hands. “A two-handed blade.” 

“Forget it,” Apprentice Priestess said, her eyes widening. “Even if you had one, think what would happen.” 

“Yeah, whatever.” 

“Does she mean he’d only ever cut thin air?” 

“She means he’d never hit anything.” 

Scout Boy and Druid Girl’s chatter caused Rookie Warrior to turn away in annoyance. 

“If I did hit something, though, it’d be awesome.” 

“Those weapons are so heavy, you’d be exhausted before long.” 

“But I’d look really cool.” 

“And they’re not cheap, either.” Apprentice Priestess wagged her finger reprovingly at Rookie Warrior, and there was nothing he could do but keep quiet. 

“It’s like she cast Silence on you!” Scout Boy barked a laugh. “Boy, has she got you under her thumb!” 

“Oh,” Druid Girl said with a quiet snort and a calm expression, flicking her leaf-shaped ears. “As though you wouldn’t waste all our money if I didn’t hold the purse strings.” 

Scout Boy had brought the rebuke on himself. He gave a click of his tongue, and Druid Girl nodded in satisfaction. Then she asked, “Hey, what if you asked the Guild for advice?” 

“You mean about borrowing a weapon?” 

“No, how to kill giant rats. Maybe they have some tips.” 

“Hmmm.” Apprentice Priestess made a low sound. “I wonder if it could be that easy.” 

§ 

“I’m afraid it’s not that easy.” 

Of course not. 

Guild Girl shook her head slowly at Apprentice Priestess, putting her hand to her cheek and looking troubled. 

“I thought not…” 

“We ask adventurers to do it because it’s not easy, essentially.” 

“If anyone could do it, there wouldn’t be any work, huh…,” Rookie Warrior said. “Oh, one antidote, please.” 

“Of course, here you go.” 

Apprentice Priestess took the proffered bottle and stowed it carefully in her item bag. At least the bitter memory of when she had run and tripped, shattering one inside her pack, served a purpose. 

“Say, how about a healing potion?” added Guild Girl. 

“I’d love one, but…you know, the money… Do you have any bandages, or herbs, or ointments?” 

“It really isn’t that easy, is it? Still, though…” Guild Girl cleared her throat with an air of importance. “There may be something I can teach you…” 

“Really?!” Rookie Warrior rattled his chair as he leaned out over the counter. 

It was past noon, and there were few other adventurers to be seen in the Adventurers Guild. 

Most of them had already selected their quests and set off enthusiastically for adventure. 

Rookie Warrior and Apprentice Priestess had waited until this moment to ask for help, and they would have hated to go home without so much as a single hint. 

“Anything! Anything at all!” 

“Well, it really is a very obvious idea…” Guild Girl raised her pointer finger, which emphasized the neatly trimmed nail. “Strengthen your defense. At least have some chain mail, or something similar, so the rats and giant roaches can’t bite you.” 

“But we don’t have any money…!” All of Rookie Warrior’s excitement dissipated, and the chair clattered again as he slumped back, his voice utterly dejected. 

Guild Girl leaned her head to the side, causing her roughly braided hair to spill down. 

“You can get a slight discount if you buy used equipment.” 

“Don’t they get that from dead people?” Apprentice Priestess asked a bit coldly, and Guild Girl made a how rude sound of displeasure. 

“Some of it comes from retired adventurers, or people who traded up. We don’t carry anything cursed.” 

“But you do have items from dead people, right?” 

“Well, we… But never if they became undead…” Guild Girl looked hesitant for a moment. But soon she wore her smile again. “Anyway, gear is gear, right?” 

Rookie Warrior heaved a sigh. 

And no money is no money. 

“Any other ideas…?” 

“Let’s see… Oh, are you using a lantern?” 

“Yes, the one from the Adventurer’s Toolkit,” Apprentice Priestess said a bit wearily. The Adventurer’s Toolkit contained rope, a lantern, chalk, and several lengths of chain, all in one place. So far, only the lantern had been much use to them, and she sort of regretted buying it. 

“There are people who use a torch instead of a lantern, because it doubles as a weapon.” 

Guild Girl mentioned with a smile that rats and insects both despised fire. 

“What kind of adventurer would do something like that?” 

“Well, for one—” 

Guild Girl stopped suddenly, and it was as though a flower had bloomed across her face. 

Rookie Warrior followed her gaze, finding the entrance to the Guild. 

The saloon-style doors creaked open, and the nose-prickling odor of iron came wafting in. 

It was hard to blame Rookie Warrior for the “Ergh” that escaped him. 

A most curious adventurer appeared in the entrance. 

He wore a cheap-looking steel helmet and grimy leather armor, a small shield was tied to his arm, and a primitive club hung at his waist. 

He was the adventurer called Goblin Slayer. 

“G-Goblin Slayer, sir, I told you, it’s too soon…” 

“Is it?” 

A priestess in white vestments soiled to a gruesome red-black came hurrying in after him. 

Goblin Slayer’s reply was brief. He acknowledged the two at the reception counter, then started walking with his bold stride. He sat down on the bench in the waiting area with a thump. Priestess collapsed next to him. 

Guild Girl, wiggling her fingers down by her side in a sort of signal, squinted as if to say, It can’t be helped . 

“You have to clean up. I’m always telling you. People will misunderstand,” she grumbled. Then she noticed the expressions on the faces of Rookie Warrior and Apprentice Priestess. “Are you two all right?” 

“Oh, we, uh…” 

“Um…” Apprentice Priestess scratched her cheek awkwardly. “We said something rather…rude, before.” 

She was talking about something from several months earlier, but the event was still fresh in their memories. 

They had thought he might be trying to use his rookie companion as bait. 

Now it seemed like a terribly inappropriate thing to think, but at the time they had been convinced they had to rescue Priestess. 

“Ah!” said Guild Girl with a giggle, catching on. “I’m sure it’s fine. He doesn’t let those sorts of things bother him.” 

“Yeah, but it bothers us…” Rookie Warrior said, and then blinked. He rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. Something was off. 

The newcomer wore a cheap-looking steel helmet and grimy leather armor, a small shield was tied to his arm, and a primitive club was at his waist. 

A club? 

“…Doesn’t he use a sword?” 

“Now that you mention it…” Apprentice Priestess looked in Goblin Slayer’s direction, too. “…I guess he does. A really cheap-looking one, though.” 

“Yeah, you’re right.” 


“And that girl is covered in blood spatters…” 

What in the world happened? The young pair looked very worried, but Guild Girl only gave a chuckle and a smile. 

“Wondering about them?” she asked, pointedly tapping some papers against her desk to straighten them. “The best way to learn about adventuring is to ask an adventurer.” 

“S-sure…” 

But that person was Goblin Slayer. 

Then again, he was also an adventurer of the third, Silver, rank. 

But…he was also Goblin Slayer… 

“…Okay, then!” 

It was Apprentice Priestess who stood up with all the enthusiasm she could muster. 

“H-hey, what—?” 

“Asking,” she said, staring fixedly forward, “costs nothing!” 

Then she left the floundering Rookie Warrior and started marching forward with an air of determination. 

Rookie Warrior glanced at Guild Girl. She was still smiling. 

“Aww, man…!” 

Now Rookie Warrior rallied himself and stood. 

Guild Girl’s expression, of course, never changed. 

§ 

“Umm…,” Apprentice Priestess called out, eliciting only a tired “Wuh?” from Priestess. 

It was clear she had just finished an adventure with Goblin Slayer. Apprentice Priestess frowned, only now realizing that she should have chosen a better time. 

“What is it?” 

“Eep…” 

And on top of that, there was that low-pitched, dispassionate, almost mechanical voice. 

The steel helmet moved slowly, with a piercing gaze beyond the visor. The man’s armor was covered in dark bloodstains. 

He really does look like living armor or something… 

With that rather untoward thought in her head, Apprentice Priestess swallowed. 

“Uh— Um!” Rookie Warrior broke in as if to cover for her. He ignored her complaint of Just a second! and continued in a familiar tone. 

“There’s something we’d like to ask you…if it’s okay.” 

“What is it?” 

Goblin Slayer’s reply was brief, and it was delivered in that same low-pitched voice. 

Next to him, Priestess’s head was bobbing from side to side. 

“Quietly, please.” 

“Oh—erk… S-sorry…” Rookie Warrior replied in a strained voice. His hands were stiff, and shaking a bit from nervousness. 

Apprentice Priestess took his hand gently. It was rough and covered in scars. 

“…Was it pretty bad, this job?” 

“We needed some money.” But, no. Goblin Slayer shook the helmet from side to side. “I was made to go along.” 

Rookie Warrior swallowed heavily and squeezed Apprentice Priestess’s hand back. 

“Well, we… We wanted to ask you something.” He took a single deep breath. His hands relaxed. “Why are you using a club?” 

The answer came in a single swoop: “I stole it from a goblin.” 

“S-stole it?” 

“You throw a blade, or stab with it. It breaks or chips. Careful use can help, but a single sword is not good for more than five of them.” 

That sort of sounded like an answer… And then again, sort of not. 

Wait… Maybe it is. 

“Hrrm,” grunted Rookie Warrior. Then he paused for a long moment. “What about rats or roaches?” 

Now it was Goblin Slayer’s turn to grunt. “Rats or roaches?” 

“…Yeah.” 

“I couldn’t tell you.” But… He tapped the club at his belt. “…If you swing this and hit with it, you will damage them. At least you don’t have to worry about the blade chipping.” 

Goblin Slayer rose from the bench, tremendously slowly. Priestess, who had been leaning on him, gave a shudder. 

“It’s easy.” 

“Easy…” 

“I’m going,” he said briefly to Rookie Warrior, who stood thinking. Then the helmet turned to where Priestess was wiping the sleep from her eyes. “Resting?” 

“Oh, n-no, I’m coming!” 

“I see.” 

Priestess stood, too, hurrying to keep up with the bold pace that carried him quickly away. 

But just on the verge of setting off, she turned to the other two adventurers and gave a small bow. 

“Oh, um—hey!” Apprentice Priestess said. 

“Yes?” 

It was now or never. 

Apprentice Priestess had called out almost without thinking, but now Priestess tilted her head. “Can I help you?” 

“Well, um, we just… Why are you covered in blood?” 

“Oh…” Priestess murmured with a look of mild confusion. She blushed ever so slightly. “I…I’d just as soon you…not ask.” 

“Oh…oh really?” 

“Ah, b-but, I’m not hurt or anything, so don’t worry!” She gave Apprentice Priestess a tired but gallant smile. She was covered in sweat and dirt, but there was no hint of a shadow to her expression. 

The level tag that hung at her neck was not Porcelain, but Obsidian. 

Apprentice Priestess let out a breath. 

“Hey…” 

“Yes?” 

“Sorry about before.” 

“?” 

“I think we seriously misunderstood what was going on.” 

Priestess’s eyes widened, and she blinked several times. “—Don’t worry about it!” And then suddenly, the calm, serious girl gripped her staff with both hands. “It’s totally fine. I know how he looks, but he’s a good person…” 

“Not coming?” a gruff voice called from a ways off. 

“We should talk when we get a chance,” Priestess said, and then she bowed to the two of them. Putting one hand on her head to keep her cap on, she ran over to where Goblin Slayer stood. 

“Anything wrong?” he asked. 

But she replied, “No, nothing.” 

“You’re exhausted?” 

“Oh, no… Um. Well, maybe I’m a little tired.” 

“Rest a bit.” 

Even from a distance, the two of them could see Priestess smile just a little as she answered, “Yes, sir.” 

Apprentice Priestess exhaled and shrugged her shoulders. 

“I guess…” 

“Huh?” 

“We’ll have to try our best, too.” 

“Uh-huh!” 

With that, Rookie Warrior and Apprentice Priestess gently bumped their fists together. 

§ 

“All riiiight! Here we go!” 

“Okay, let’s go down the list!” 

On the outskirts of town, just after dawn, with the bluish-purple haze of morning still hanging in the air, the voices of a boy and girl could be heard near the sewage ditch. 

“Antidote!” 

“Check!” 

“First-aid supplies!” 

“Ointments and herbs, check!” 

“Light!” 

“The lantern from the Adventurer’s Toolkit, some oil, and a torch! What about you?” 

“The Seeking Candle… Umm, map!” 

“Check! By which I mean I borrowed it when we accepted our quest.” 

“Fair enough. Now, armor!” 

“My leather armor still kind of stinks…my shield, too. Here, you give me a spin.” 

“Me? It’s not like I plan to get attacked wearing these vestments.” 

“I don’t care, just show me. Otherwise, what’s the point of a checklist?” 

“Yeah, fine… Last, weapons!” 

“Check!” 

And with that, Rookie Warrior took his primitive, but brand-new, club in his right hand. 

It was so pristine, it might still have had a price tag attached. The average buyer would have considered it a cheap item, but the young man could hardly think it so. 

“Good,” Apprentice Priestess said, nodding at the club. She spread her arms wide and spun around once. The sleeves of her white garment puffed out. There were seams and tears in places, but it was still clean and attractive. 

“Look okay?” 

“You might want to do some mending later.” 

“If I have anything to mend with…” Apprentice Priestess put her hands on her hips and, with a serious expression, gave a shout. “If we don’t meet our quota today, that’s it! We’re finished!” 

“I don’t think things are quite that bad…” 

“But that’s the attitude you have to go in with!” 

Rookie Warrior seemed to be relaxed; Apprentice Priestess gave him a smart smack with her sword-and-scales. “We don’t even have the money to go back home. You would end up a serf, and I would be…you know…” 

“A prostitute? Pfft, who would take you?” 

“How dare you say that, jerk!” Her face turned bright red, and her elbow found the boy’s side—right where his armor was tied. 

She looked at him quivering and writhing, and then she snorted. 

“Anyway, you understand?” 

“Y-yeah, I do, but… Well, yeah.” Rookie Warrior steadied himself, adjusted his grip on his items, and nodded energetically. “We’ll manage it somehow!” 

This was a frontier town, one of the places people had labored to claim, and there was a sewer here because, of course, someone had built it. 

It was one thing when a city was built above some old ruins, like the water town was, but there were no public services in an unoccupied field. Dwarven craftsmen and wizards, accomplished builders of all sorts, had been called in to create the stone sewer from scratch. 

Had the sewer been built because the town was prospering, or had the town prospered because the sewer was built? Rookie Warrior did not know which had come first. 

Heck, I don’t even know how it works. 

Beyond the rusted metal doors and down a flight of stairs was a dim, dank stone dungeon. 

A walkway ran along the canal that carried the wastewater, and a rotten stench drifted across everything. 

Without hesitating, Rookie Warrior covered his mouth with a cloth; Apprentice Priestess scrunched up her face and put in nose plugs. 

The sewer was new, but giant rats and giant roaches were drawn to filth. 

For some reason, Non-Praying Characters—the NPCs—seemed to naturally appear in such places. All the more reason to get rid of them before some even bigger threat came along… 

“So which way do we go?” 

“Oh, um, hang on!” 

As Rookie Warrior stood with what, for him, passed for constant vigilance, Apprentice Priestess hurriedly fished something out. 

She took a flint and lit the lantern, then hung it at her waist. She opened it and touched the flame to the candle. 

The Seeking Candle burned with a weird blue-white flame; she could feel it getting gradually warmer in her hand. 

“…How is it?” 

“It’s warm, but still just kind of…” 

“Be sure to keep my sword firmly in your mind.” 

They were there to find a sword, true, but they were also there to kill rats. They had a quota to meet. 

Rookie Warrior, determined that they would accomplish everything they had come for, set off, turning down several sewer tunnels until finally they found themselves deep within. 

It was the nest of the giant rats, which they had finally located after their many dives in search of it. 

“…Ooh, here they are.” 

Perhaps it was the current that brought so much of the food waste from town here. 

That was what the oversized rats were after. One of them, two… 

Rookie Warrior spat on his hand and rubbed it into the hilt of his weapon, then he dove at the creatures. 

“Yaaaaaahh!” 

“GYUUI?!” 

One of them fled from him, but he took the one that was focused on its meal. 

There was a blunt sound of impact that was entirely different from striking with a sword. He felt the weapon connect with the lump of flesh. 

The giant rat screeched and tumbled away, but it was still alive. 

“You—die—now!” 

He had long ago discarded any sense of sympathy for the monsters. It was kill or be killed. If they got their teeth in his windpipe, it was he who would die. 

“Whoa! Yah!” 

The giant rat jumped up and leaped at him, fangs bared. 

Rookie Warrior met it with his shield, throwing his weight behind it in a body blow. His left arm, the one with the shield on it, tingled with the impact of a hunk of meat weighing nearly ten kilograms. 

“Why—you—!” 

But Rookie Warrior had the advantage when it came to body weight. 

He braced himself against the grimy walkway to keep from tumbling, then brought his club down on the rat’s head. 

There was no technique, no secret. A back-alley fistfight had more sophistication. 

“GYU?!” 

There was a crack like the breaking of a wet branch as the rat’s spine broke. Another blow. The giant rat twitched. 

He checked that its eyes were empty, and only then did Rookie Warrior finally wipe the sweat from his brow. 

“Wh-what about the o-other one…?!” 

“It already ran away.” 

Rookie Warrior scanned the area, while the girl nervously holding the sword-and-scales let out a breath. 

She walked briskly up to him and with a practiced eye checked him over for any wounds. 

Rookie Warrior closed his hand as if making sure it still worked, then opened it; then he shifted his arms and legs as well. 

He was unhurt. He hadn’t been bitten. The rat was frothing blood, but none of it had gotten on him. 

“I’m…fine.” 

“…Looks like it.” 

Good. Apprentice Priestess nodded. They wouldn’t need to use their antidote or any of their healing items. 

“So how did the club work out?” 

“I’m not real sure yet…” Rookie Warrior gave a careless swing of the weapon. It wasn’t sharp like a sword, but it was heavier than one, and that made it feel oddly trustworthy. “But I do know that if I hit something with it, it dies.” 

He couldn’t help a sigh, thinking how far he was from the breezy attitude of Spearman or the sturdiness of Heavy Warrior. 

It was just one rat. 

But it was a good start. 

§ 

“What’s the candle say?” 

“Hm…I guess this way is a little warmer?” 

Each time they came to a fork in the road, Apprentice Priestess would hold up the candle to find the right direction, and then they would proceed. 

Unfortunately—if perhaps predictably—the sword was not where they had left it after the previous day’s battle. Maybe the giant rats had carried it off, or the giant roaches had pushed it aside… 

“They’re not goblins. They aren’t just hoarding loot.” 

“Hey, don’t say that, it’s scary.” Apprentice Priestess glared at Rookie Warrior and gave him another jab with her elbow. “If they were really goblins living under this town, it wouldn’t be funny.” 

“For sure.” 

Then they would have to ask Goblin Slayer for more than just advice. 

They continued their diligent search, complaining about the stench. 

Along the way, they met—and dispensed with—a total of three giant rats. And one giant roach. 

The club was soon covered in a thick slime, already speaking to the story of its battles. 

“I guess I didn’t think about how it would make blood and…are those brains? …splatter.” 

“Well, you saw how dirty that goblin guy—” Apprentice Priestess stopped herself. “How dirty Goblin Slayer got.” 

The new weapon was heavy, too, and having to swing it over and over in battle tired him out much quicker than a sword. 

“But I like how you can just swing it without having to aim.” 

“Just try not to lose it or anything.” 

“Yeah—” 

Rookie Warrior grunted his agreement with this opinion as he peeked around a corner. 

There only seemed to be regular-sized rats there at the moment, so there was no problem. 

Beckoning to Apprentice Priestess behind him, he went ahead one step at a time. 

Apprentice Priestess gave a little yelp at the rats’ long tails as they stepped around the rodents. 

“Oh, yeah…” 

“What is it? Got another silly comment to make?” 

“No.” Rookie Warrior shook his head hurriedly, checked to the left and right to make sure they were safe, then sat in the path. “Do we have any string?” 

“Will rope work?” 

“Too thick.” 

“I’ve got some string for holding my hair back…” 

“Thanks.” 

She dug through her bag, then handed the hair tie to him, saying, “Be sure to give it back.” Then she crouched next to Rookie Warrior and watched intently as he set to some kind of work. 

“When we get some money, I’ll buy you a new one.” 

“It comes out of your share, okay?” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

The job was fine, but simple enough. He wrapped the string firmly around the handle of the club until it made a loop of a specific size. 

When he put his hand through it to hold the club… 

“See? Now I won’t drop it.” 

“Hmm…” Apprentice Priestess inspected the jury-rigged strap closely, then gave a snort. “That’s a pretty good job, for you.” 

“Ouch, that hurts.” 

“When we get back, I’ll put on a better one for you.” 

Apprentice Priestess stood with a giggle, but when she lifted the candle to check it— 

“Whoa, yikes!” 

—she nearly dropped it, frantically adjusting her grip to keep a hold on it. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Rookie Warrior stood, too, holding his club in case there was trouble. 

He was inexperienced, but still looked around carefully, his shield up. The girl shook her head. 

“It-it’s nothing. Just…the candle’s getting hotter and hotter.” 

“It’s getting hotter? So that means…” 

He could see that the bluish-white flame of the Seeking Candle had grown noticeably larger. 

Rookie Warrior and Apprentice Priestess looked at each other. 

“We must be getting close.” 

It was critically good luck that allowed him to sense that something was coming at them from above. 

Rookie Warrior immediately moved to cover Apprentice Priestess, giving her a shove as he got them both out of the way. 

“Eek! Wh-what are you—!” 

“Idiot, look!” 

It was like a massive black lump. 

It must have been six feet long, almost twice the usual size. It had a lustrous carapace and six spined legs, and it was waving antennae that looked like lengths of thin steel wire and gnashing its sharp-toothed jaws. 

“What’s the candle say…?!” 

“It’s really hot!” 

“Don’t tell me it’s inside that thing!” 

The bug—it was beyond giant, a huge roach—scuttled toward them. The two screamed and started running. 

§ 

“Wh-wh-what do we do?!” 

“I wish I knew…!” 

The massive black insect crawling indiscriminately across ceiling, floor, and walls was more than a little terrifying. 

The pursuit itself wasn’t the only scary thing. It was the thought of being eaten alive by that creature. 

They hadn’t become adventurers just to become a feast for some rats or roaches…! 

“It’ll catch us at this rate…!” 

That they were still safe as they dashed desperately through the sewers was thanks to the speed of their reaction and the distance they’d had to begin with. 

A giant roach was nowhere near as agile as a human—at least not a Porcelain-ranked adventurer. 

But it was obvious they didn’t have long before it caught and devoured them. 

We have to get to the surface before… No, we’ll never make it…! 

They would have to climb a ladder to get aboveground. If they were attacked at that moment, it would be over. Regular roaches could fly. Giant ones probably could, too. 

“How about we jump in the water?!” 

“A lot of good that will do us if we catch the plague!” 

“Okay then… A narrow tunnel! Maybe it won’t be able to follow us!” 

“It won’t work! Roaches are extremely flexible!” 

A narrow passageway might give them a moment’s respite, but then the bug would squeeze itself in with them. Just the thought was enough to give him a chill. No tunnels, then. 

“We have to fight!” 

“But how?!” 

The scratching made him viscerally sick, and it was coming closer. 

Rookie Warrior looked down at the club in his hand. 

If he hit the roach enough times, it would die. He was sure of that. But how to do it? 

If I just swing at it, I’ll never hit it. 

It was so fast. If he couldn’t stop it from moving, the battle would be hopeless. He just didn’t have the skill. 

“H-hey! Do you think you could hit it with Holy Smite?!” 

“I don’t know…! The gods are the ones who aim the spell, not me!” 

“What if it were coming straight at you?!” 

“In that case, maybe…!” 

“Okay!” 

Now he would have to think fast. If he was going to do it, he couldn’t hesitate. 

Rookie Warrior grabbed the lantern from Apprentice Priestess’s waist. 

“Yikes! H-hey, what are you—?!” 

“You can scold me if we survive!” 

Shouting even louder than Apprentice Priestess, Rookie Warrior looked back. 

The humongous insect was right there, slime dribbling from its chomping jaws. 

Rookie Warrior took a deep breath. 

“Try this on for size!” 

And then he threw the lantern right in front of the insect. 

The impact with the floor shattered the lantern’s cheap casing, and fire leaped up from the flame within. 

The massive roach gave a screech, spread its wings, and rose into the air. The sight alone was enough to make them lose their will to fight it. 

Rookie Warrior felt something warm and wet in his pants. He set his jaw to stop his chattering teeth. 

“Now—do it!” 

“—Ee—ehh—ahhh—!” 

In response to Rookie Warrior’s shout, Apprentice Priestess, who had been trembling dumbly, raised the sword-and-scales. 

“Lord of judgment, sword-prince, scale-bearer, show here your power!” 

A crackling bolt of lightning drove straight into the filthy bug. 

There was a crack of thunder, and a brilliant, bluish-white light banished the dim darkness of the sewers. The miracle lasted only for an instant. 

Smoke that reeked of ozone and burned chitin erupted from the monster, turning their stomachs. 

The huge roach fell to the ground, its abdomen hideously exposed, struggling to rise again with its six limbs. 

“H-hii—yaaaaaahhh!” 

Rookie Warrior lifted his club and jumped at it. He scrambled onto the black abdomen, ignoring the thorny legs clawing at him, and shoved his shield against its jaws. Dark pincers dug into the oiled leather, but his focus was complete. With an animal scream, he raised the club and brought it down, striking, breaking, again and again. 

He paid no heed to the slime flying from the jaws, nor to the blood seeping from his scratches. If he did, he would be killed. 

The sweaty grip slipped from his hand. The string he had tied around it allowed him to regain his hold. And he struck again. 

Strike and strike and strike and strike and strike and strike. Whatever happens, just strike. As many blows as possible. Beat it until it dies. 

“Hoo…ahh…huff…ahh…” 

Finally, he had reached his limit. He didn’t have enough oxygen. 

He tried to clear his head, his vision reddened by the heat of his body, but the effort made him dizzy. Then Apprentice Priestess was there, supporting him just as he thought he would fall over. 

“Are—are you okay…?!” 

“I…I think so.” 

The boy registered that he was covered from head to toe in the roach’s juices. His right hand, gripping his club, was especially bad. 

Where the insect’s head should have been, there was only a spreading pool of fluids. 

The six legs, scrabbling with the last vestiges of life, were still to be feared. 

“Is it…still alive…?” Apprentice Priestess asked. 

“K-keep back. It’s…dangerous.” 

Rookie Warrior swallowed heavily, then drew his work dagger from his belt. He used it to saw through each leg at the lowest joint until it finally broke off. He had to do this, or they wouldn’t be safe. Six times he did it, until his fingers were stiff and terribly painful. But it still wasn’t over. 

“Um…the abdomen, right?” 

He held the dagger in a two-handed reverse grip, raised it, and then brought it down. There was a fsssh and a geyser of fluid from the body. 

The blade hit something hard, and then Rookie Warrior steeled himself and reached into the roach’s stomach. He pulled something out. 

“Found it…” 

He had no idea what the creature had been thinking when it ate this. But the sword he pulled out was unmistakably the one he had so eagerly bought, his first weapon. 

“…Starting today, maybe I’ll call this sword Chestburster, and this club Roach Slayer. What do you think?” 

“I think you should stop talking stupid and drink this antidote, and then we should go home.” 

The boy cut a pathetic figure, every inch of him covered in slime. Some of the stuff had landed on the girl’s waist, which had been bared when the lantern was torn away, and was steaming there. 

The two of them pretended not to notice either of these things as they exchanged a dry smile at their great victory. 

§ 

“Sigh…” 

The sun was setting on the frontier town. 

The two of them had washed head to toe in the river—studiously avoiding any glimpses of each other in only their underpants—and then gone to the Guild to make their report. 

They had checked their equipment, restocked the supplies they had used, tended to their scratches, and finally paid for a simple place to sleep. 

In the end, all that was left were several silver coins that Rookie Warrior now held in his hand. 

This would be their savings. But…how much were we even able to save? 

Squatting by the door to the Adventurers Guild, Rookie Warrior felt like sighing, too. 

“Hey, what are you staring into space for, anyway?” 

“Hmm…” 

Apprentice Priestess, pressing a towel to her wet hair, was just next to him. 

Rookie Warrior made a non-answer, his focus on the people coming and going through the door. 

Adventurers of every stripe were heading out to town with their special items or coming into the Guild. Each and every one of them was loaded with equipment, fatigue mingling with a sense of achievement on their faces. 

The boy and girl did not yet have enough experience to realize this meant no adventurers had died that day. 

“I was just…thinking we’ve got a long way to go.” 

“Well, obviously,” Apprentice Priestess said with a snort, sitting down next to Rookie Warrior. “A little progress each day! The trouble starts when you want more than that.” 

“W-well, sure, but…” 

“Do your best, sacrifice, make your money, and live your life. Can’t complain about that, can you?” 

“W-well, sure, but…” The silver coins in his hand shimmered in the evening light. The bright glints from the metal hurt his eyes. “…We’ve got a long way to go.” 

“…That’s true.” 

But I—even I—was able to deal with some giant rats and roaches today. 

It wouldn’t make for much of a legend, but there was no denying he had put his life on the line. 

“All right! Let’s get some decent food!” he said, and thrust the coins at Apprentice Priestess. 

“…Yeah. I guess we can indulge a bit today.” 

Someday—someday—someday. 

They wanted to be brave. They wanted to be heroes. 

They wanted to be adventurers who might defeat a dragon. 

The coins rattled in the girl’s palm as she stood. 



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