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Goblin Slayer - Volume 9 - Chapter 8.1




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Interlude – Of Just Before The World Was Saved Somehow

Three adventurers ran headlong amid the piles of snow. Even Harefolk Hunter, leading the group, was struggling for breath, so the other two were, of course, in even worse shape. 

What they needed more than anything now, though, was time. 

They had to be alert for the sasquatches who had fled into the mountains. Those creatures were dim enough that they might not know when to give up. 

Weighing especially heavy on their minds was the unexpected turn at the foot of the mountain. Anxiety filled them for the friends who had gone to investigate. 

It’s probably no big deal. 

But then again, big deals were practically the definition of an adventure. Even the gods at their table high in the heavens knew not how the dice would land. 

Rookie Warrior could feel his nerves fraying. Yes, the snow and the wind had cleared up, but the powdery stuff trapping his feet hadn’t melted, and wouldn’t. There had probably been snow here since the dawn of time. 

I should’ve thought harder about my footwear. 

It was a little late to regret this particular choice, but Rookie Warrior couldn’t help the thought. Only the fact that he had kept himself alive during the battle in the cave allowed him to feel regret now. He would have to savor that good fortune, feel his regret to the full, and let it make him wiser next time. 

Despite the sting of his failure to prepare, Rookie Warrior didn’t stop moving as he glanced back over his shoulder. “Hey, you all right?” 

“I’m…managing…!” Apprentice Cleric’s breath came in gasps. Her sword and scales was reduced to nothing more than a walking stick. Her warm clothing, which she wore against the blustery hills, left her red-faced, pearls of sweat gleaming on her forehead. 

The boy smiled faintly; he must not look much better than she did. He reached out a hand. “Here.” 

“…Thanks.” 

Was the brevity of her reply down to bashfulness, or just fatigue? She looked away from him, but Rookie Warrior took her small hand firmly and helped pull her up out of the snow. He glanced forward again to find the bounding Harefolk Hunter well ahead of them. 

“Heeey! Sorry, but can we catch just a little—” 

—break, he was about to say, but he interrupted himself. Harefolk Hunter had stopped. Their long ears bobbed in the wind, and they held out a chubby white paw in the corresponding direction. 

“—? …What’s up?” 

“Something’s coming this way!” Harefolk Hunter shouted. 

At this warning, the adventurers immediately took fighting postures. They were at the edge of exhaustion, inexperienced, and this was Harefolk Hunter’s first adventure. 

But adventurers they were. 

They had no spells, they had used up their miracle, but they could stand and fight with the weapons they had—it was the most natural thing in the world. Rookie Warrior stepped out in front, covering Apprentice Cleric behind him. Harefolk Hunter came leaping up, readying their crossbow. 

And then they waited—a minute? Two minutes? Or perhaps it was only a few seconds. To Rookie Warrior, it felt like an hour. 

At length, Harefolk Hunter blinked. Rookie Warrior could see figures coming closer. Just shapes, at first. Then more distinctly. Two small shadows. 

One, indeed, very small—a rhea. And a red-haired— 

“It’s— It’s you…!” 


“Buh? Hey, the heck’re you doing here?” The red-haired wizard boy blinked in confusion, just as self-important as ever. The rhea girl who came running up beside him—Rhea Fighter—gave the boy a friendly kick in the behind with her bare foot. 

“Eeyowch?!” 

“Hey guys, been a while! How ya been?” 

You can just ignore him, she said with a wave of her hand, very much taking her own advice when it came to Wizard Boy’s yelp. 

Apprentice Cleric took a long look into her face, then slowly smiled. She worked her numb fingers, squeezing the hand with its small but unmistakable sword. “Thank you…! Yes, we’ve been great! How about you? You’ve been well?” 

“We’ve done a hundred straight adventures!” Rhea Fighter boasted with a shy smile. “Bit hard to stay grounded. It’s been nothing but training for us.” Then her eyes, glittering with the characteristic curiosity of a rhea, settled on Harefolk Hunter. “Well! Seems like you’ve got some stories of your own. Just look at this adorable friend of yours!” 

“Er…,” the adorable friend said with some hesitation. “Do you…know them?” 

“They’re friends,” Rookie Warrior answered promptly. “Right?” 

“…” Wizard Boy was silent for a moment, but then he replied reluctantly, “Yeah.” That made Rhea Fighter giggle, and he shot her a look before trying to change the subject. “So what’s the story? Some kinda quest?” 

“Right, well…” Speaking quickly, Rookie Warrior summed up the situation as it stood. With a pointed sigh, Apprentice Cleric provided details he missed in his anxious rush. Then Harefolk Hunter added a thing or two, and finally the others nodded. 

“I get it,” Rhea Fighter said. “So that’s why those people were called up.” 

“Called up? Those people…?” Apprentice Cleric cocked her head, mystified. 

“Uh-huh,” Rhea Fighter said. “Ol’ Teach, he said he had something to do hereabouts.” 

“…And he said until he was done, we should keep ourselves busy, maybe by helping those people.” 

“He’s no master of mine, though,” Wizard Boy muttered to himself, looking sullen. 

“Those people…” Harefolk Hunter’s ears stretched even longer. “…You mean the ones over there?” 

Until the hare mentioned them, Rookie Warrior had been all but completely oblivious to them. Apprentice Cleric, too. She was no more perceptive than any other girl her age. For that matter, even Harefolk Hunter had only noticed them a moment before. 

Over the snowy ridge appeared three adventurers. A warrior and a wizard—both women. And leading them, a small, dark-haired girl. She had an ostentatiously large sword at her hip, but she came dashing through the snow like a little child, her smile as bright as the sun. 

“What’s the deal?” she demanded. “Something happen?” 

“Er, well, my… friends…” Wizard Boy glared at the grinning Rhea Fighter. “They…” 

He went on to explain the situation even more briefly than Rookie Warrior had, the girl nodding along. 

“Sounds good, right?” the girl said, turning to her companions. “I think I can make a difference here!” 

“Not much choice,” the female warrior said with a nod, and the wizard muttered, “Saw this coming.” 

“All it takes is someone in distress to get you involved,” the warrior said. 

“…Yes, I thought it might come to this,” the wizard added. 

The girl tugged playfully on the end of her nose with a shy laugh. Then she gave Rookie Warrior a hearty slap on the shoulder, puffing her little chest out proudly. “Way to go, boyo, looking after these two lovely ladies all this time! You just leave the rest to yours truly!” 

“…Huh? Huh?!” As the girl’s meaning dawned on Rookie Warrior, his eyes went wide. Harefolk Hunter barked a laugh. 

As for what happened after that, surely it hardly needs to be spelled out. 



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