Ch 4.
"And then he just keeled over from the blow and died! I mean it's not the first time we slayed a dragon, but the damn beast seemed half dead when we fought it. Hell, I could even see its ribs!" Spearmen said to those that were gathered at the table inside the Guild's dining hall.
"The same thing happened to us. We were on a Troll Slaying mission in the mountains and we found them bashing each other to death over half a cow. It was easier killing them, but this is still very strange!" Female Knight added to the conversation.
"We had something similar to us happen to us when we were hunting kobold raiders. They all were surprisingly weak and tired when we slayed them." Middle-Aged Monk said as Half-Elf Wizard, Axe Fighter, and Rhea Scout nodded in agreement.
„ the same happened with my quest to slay ogres in the southern fields. So for some strange reason monsters from quests from top to middle rank are becoming weaker and hungrier. But why? I mean this has been happening all month. What's happened all of a sudden to cause such an effect in their ranks?" Heavy Warrior asked.
It was not unheard of monster activity to drop, this was sign that a demon lord was gathering a horde and the monsters were leaving their territory and gathering to its banner.
But this was different! The monster were just either becoming weaker or dying off.
They behaved like a great famine was plaguing the land, but last year's harvest had been great and this year seemed to be the same.
So what happened to change the situation so radically?
"The mountains, the hills and the fields. Come now dearest colleagues, what do these 3 things have in common?" Witch said as she took out a map of the area and used her pipe ash to mark the locations on the map.
"No one? How sad! And I was hoping you all were not just all sexy beyond belief!" Witch said in an alluring and flirty pout which did manage to make the men, and most of the women, blush like crazy!
Except Spearman, who didn't even notice her remark. This made Witch almost sigh in exasperation, since the only man she wanted seemed to be the only one not interested.
"It's simple really, they all surround the hilly forest!" Witch said and drew a circle, using the quest locations as marks for it.
"But what happened a month ago in the forest, for it to have such an effect on the monsters?" Amazon asked.
"A month ago? Nothing! But three months ago something did happen!"
"Wait! Witch, you're not referring to that dump they call 'Slayer Keep' are you?" Spearman said to her, half in anger, half in contemplation.
Just because he didn't like Goblin Slayer and his groupies, didn't mean he couldn't admit that what Witch said might be true.
"Well let's take a look at this logically. The monsters that we slayed are lord and kings to lesser monsters. And goblins are bottom feeders. So what would you say they are in those terms?"
"Peasants or serfs?" Half-Elf Wizard said.
"Correct cootie! And peasants pay tribute to their lords and kings. That tribute sustains his knights and himself, so let me ask you a question. What would happen to a king's knights if they didn't get the tribute?"
Witch said and the whole hall fell silent at that.
"Chevauchée! That blood covered weirdo was doing a chevauchée this whole time!Tch…..Slayer Keep indeed!" Spearman said in a angry tone, though he did have a small smile on his face.
"Chevauchée?" Axe Fighter asked in confusion.
"It's a military maneuver. It means you first raid an enemy's territory and burn their crops, steal their cattle and main the peasants so they can't work. This way you starve and therefore weaken your enemy before the battle." Spearmen added and gave a small chuckle.
"T-that….actually makes sense. It explains why bigger monster tolerate goblins in their territory." Hal-Elf Wizard said, remembering that monster were savage but not beret of intelligence. It made sense that they'd form some kind of society with a hierarchy and tributes.
"So this was the answer all along! The answer to how to fight monster easier was THIS all along!...Guess he really did deserves that promotion." Spearman said before he got up from the table and walked to the reception desk.
"I want that silver ranked adventure about a frost wyrm in Kibar Pass. Also…are there any request for goblin slaying in the region where the wyrm is?"Spearman asked.
He was the first, but he would not be the last to also take on any available goblin killing missions while taking on the bigger ones.
XXXXxElsewhereXXXXXXXXXXX
"Puh!" Guild Girl said and plopped her head on the desk in exhaustion.
"Another one, that makes 8 that use the same equipment as him! Boy, they sure love copying him. Looks like you have 8 more rivals for Goblin Slayer's attention!" Inspector teased her.
"It's not funny! Just look at the paper work they submitted! At the class portion they all wrote down: same as Goblin Slayer, the problem is we can't classify him1 why? Because his file and each and every report he gives, he's listed differently! Look at this: he registered as a ranger since he said he wanted to hunts goblins, then in others he's classified as a scout because he uses traps. And in another he's a fighter since his weapons are so short that he's basically using martial arts! But he's none of these things!" Guild Girl complained.
They had been trying to figure out this riddle for two hours now! And the paperwork stack actually increased, since during their meeting there had been new adventurers that registered at the guild!
"He moves swiftly and hunts monsters like a ranger, but he's to melee focused for that. He sneaks and sets trap like a scout, but his armor is too heavy and too noticeable for true stealth. And he fights like a fighter, but he doesn't use heavy enough equipment to be classified so." Inspector added.
"Exactly! He doesn't have enough characteristics for any class!" Guild Girl said in a humph of indignation.
"There's your answer! We just make a new class."
"Eh? Make a new class?"
"Why not? Before guilds the adventurers were just mercenaries. After the guilds they became more organized and specialized. They made up classes as the guilds appeared, so why can't we do the same now?"
Guild Girl remained a bit hesitant, but as she pondered on what to do, another stack of paperwork was brought to them.
"I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. "She said and gave the papers a death glare.
"Allright, so let's see what we have to work with. He moves fast, he's lightly armored, practically half naked with what he uses when confronted with bigger beasts. He's just stealthy enough for ambushes, he hits hard but has weak defenses. So he's a fast offensive type adventurer, who's basically also a glass cannon. He excels at ambushes and hit and run tactics. But what name should we use for this new class?" Inspector asked
"You forgot to mention that he exclusively hunts goblins. He is Goblin Slayer after all." Guild Girl added with a smile. That men might exasperate her, but she still cared about him.
"That's it! Why it's in his name already!"
"What is?"
"Goblin Slayer! We name this new class 'Slayer'!"
"Slayer?" Guild Girl said, testing how the new title rolled off the tongue.
"I like it!"
With that they started working on the paperwork and that day the gods watched as 8 new Slayers joined the Guild, how high ranking adventurer started taking goblins seriously and the one who was responsible for this?
The man who was not a hero.
But trough his actions, he had saved the lives of many future heroes.
Who would not save or change the world.
But those that followed and learned from him.
Where was he?
"22, 23….and 24."
He was slaying goblins of course.