Goblin Slayer - Volume SS1.02 - Chapter 1.1

Interlude – Of How Everything Starts With A First Step

“They call it a dungeon crawl, but it’s just mapping out an old mine. There probably won’t even be any monsters there. How about we get right to it?” 

“Wait, hold on,” the young warrior blurted, and he regretted speaking almost as soon as he opened his mouth. 

They were in the Adventurers Guild late in the morning, after most of the quests had already been claimed. Sunlight slanted in through the windows, revealing all the dust the adventurers had kicked up. The Guild tried hard to keep the place clean, but with so many visitors wearing so many dusty boots, it was a losing battle. 

The warrior could smell the dust in the air with each breath he took. “…I mean, uh… You know,” he said, scratching his head. He was apparently trying to make an excuse for something. 

Four pairs of eyes stared back at him blankly (or perhaps, wondering what in the world he was thinking). A closer look revealed that everyone staring was even less experienced than the warrior—in fact, they looked like they had just arrived at the Guild that very day. Their equipment was cheap but unblemished, brand-new. And their eyes sparkled. 

The girl who stood at the front of their group, her long silver hair tied in a ponytail, looked most earnest of all. She was human, tall, well-endowed, with long legs and toned muscles that suggested she was a martial artist. 

But her eyes—they reminded him too much of someone else, and the young warrior could barely get the words out of his mouth. 

“They… They don’t know if there are monsters down there. That’s why they need someone to investigate, right?” He swallowed, then added, “Ambush is always a possibility. It’s better to be careful.” 

“Huh? Oh, uh, right. You’re right.” Flustered, the silver-haired martial artist turned to her companions. It was obvious the idea hadn’t even occurred to them. He could see that not one of the men or women was wearing a helmet, or even carrying a shield. 

And they’re going to go out and be adventurers. 

It was only because he had been on several adventures himself that he understood. He had been so helpless, so immature, so foolish. He saw what an immense difference just a few hours’ experience could make. 

They didn’t know. Didn’t realize what unimaginable dangers lurked out there. All they had was the belief that they could hack their way out of any situation with their own strength. 

“What do we do…?” 

“We can’t turn this down. We hardly have any money.” 

“That’s why I said we should think about going to the sewers…” 

“And how long would we have to be there to make enough for four people?” 

The rookies’ huddle seemed to be going nowhere. Just from listening to their back-and-forth, the warrior was fairly sure that the group would end up dead someplace, a textbook case. 

It would have been easy to point and laugh. Nobody would have blamed him for simply walking away and forgetting about them. They had nothing to do with him. 

Adventurers had to take responsibility for themselves. No one told them how to live, but the trade-off was that no one would be there to help them when they died. 

The one modicum of sympathy in their lives was that the Guild afforded them some social status. Compared to being cast out into the wilderness with nothing… 

I’m just the same, aren’t I? 

A moment later, the young warrior heaved a sigh. When he’d started out, he’d been no different from these kids—even now, he was still little more than a greenhorn himself. From that perspective, it was shameful to be patronizing and talk down to them. 

If I was just going to get upset about it, I would have been better off not talking to them in the first place. 

He scratched his head again and turned on his heel as if to leave. He had been planning a nice, easy quest for this afternoon… 

“U-um!” 

A voice from behind stopped him in his tracks. He turned around, and there was that earnest gaze. 

The silver-haired girl bowed her head, making her ponytail bounce. 

“I’m sorry for the trouble. And thank you so much for the advice!” 

That wasn’t exactly what I intended, though. 

The girl jogged back to her friends, her silver hair following her like a tail. 

The young warrior heaved a sigh, again. 

Moping around forever isn’t going to help anyone… I guess. 

“…You said you had to map out an old mine?” The young warrior started walking toward the newly minted adventurers. He was already thinking about how to help them make good decisions while still letting them find their own way…