9
The sun had just risen when Goblin Slayer had awoken from his slumber, he got up, had breakfast with Cow Girl and her Uncle, he made an effort to eat slowly so as to not alarm her, she often fussed whenever he was eating to fast.
He then got up and accompanied Cow Girl on her delivery morning run.
He too had business in town, he had to get his armor back from the shop and pickup a few special orders for the Keep.
On the way to town they met a few adventurers that stayed in Slayer Keep, they were a patrolling the countryside for goblins and waved at CG, they didn't recognize him without the armor.
"I bet they'd be shocked if they knew you're their boss."
"Yes."
He answered in his usual awkward manner and the rest of the trip to town was in silence after that.
"I'll drop these off and we can meet up latter to head back home. What are you gonna do?"
"Get my armor and supplies."
"Good...good. You know...you don't have to head back immediately." She said to him a bit more nervous than usual.
"You could take an afternoon of for some sightseeing, alone or with me...you...you have others that help you know, It's alright to go a few hours without...without goblins."
At that Goblin Slayer was silent, on some level he knew that there was something wrong with him, that he was on a path that would not end well, that he needed to heal, to get better.
But there had always been so many goblins and he was the only one, destroy one nest, two more came.
Take a quest, three more were issued, but now, now with Slayer Keep and with Priestess, HEA, LP and DS that had become his 'party' of sorts after they purged that great nest.
Things were not the same as before.
"I...I...suppose it is true. I...I will." He said and this made Cow Girl smile and almost burst into tears there and then, she gave him a hugg that lasted for quite a while before letting go.
There was more than just hope for him.
He was healing!
That small part of her old friend was still there, and it was slowly coming back.
A few minutes passed after that, as he made his way towards Blacksmith's shop.
"Come back fer yer gear are ya?"
"Yes. And the special order."
"Got it right here. Just finished burning the clam shells an hour ago, their in a wagon out back along with the powdered charcoal and sulfur and saltpeter. No extra scroll yet, but I'll get it as soon as I find one."
"Thank you." Goblin Slayer said to him and put on hi armor, then he payed and left the shop with several horses and carts.
"That was Goblin Slayer? Why is he using such bad gear and what's with the clothes he's wearing? Isn't he a lord or something? Shouldn't he have better gear and more expensive clothes?"
"Only a greenhorn and valley child would be preoccupied with stuff like that. Using enchanted gear and flashier armor is a waste against goblins. As for clothes, well use yer head boy! If ye spent yer coin on an expensive silk shirt you'll be the dandiest corpse in the goblin nest. If ye spent that money on normal clothes and use the remainder for an antidote, stamina potion or a smoke bomb you'll be out of fashion but alive! Now start using yer head and go and make armor, we got customers to service and our bellies to feed."
After he finished with Blacksmith, Goblin Slayer stopped at the guild in order to meet with the other errand he had to run.
"Is it ready?"
"Yup. Here it is." Witch said and handed him the item he had commissioned from her.
"Thank you." He said and left, once he was gone the other adventurers in the room started to gossip.
"That's him right? Damn! I must have past him a hundred times without noticing the guy!"
"He must have been planning Slayer Keep for years! It's the only explanation of why he always went after goblins all the time."
"I heard that they killed a thousand strong horde recently and that their goblin boss was strong enough that he almost wiped out their hundred strong party, then Goblin Slayer charged him, punching the boss to the ground and then he ripped his head of!"
"I heard that he's a prince in disguise from a foreign land that came here to build his own kingdom."
"I heard a bishop say that sometimes the gods have kids with mortals, that's how demigods are born. Ya don't think..."
Witch giggled at that, she knew the real story of their recent mass quest and of his past, and she got a good laugh out of how rumors exaggerated the truth.
Now she liked Goblin Slayer as a friend, he was a good business associated to her and overall she considered him a good soul, but she was feeling a bit mischievous and this opportunity was to good to pass up.
"And he's always hard working, any woman that marries him will have to get used to a busy husband." She said and immediately the female adventurers heads all perked up at that.
Not a lot of people outside the guild knew this, but often adventurers got to marry nobility, rich merchant's daughters and a few of them princesses for their deeds.
This made it very, very hard for women adventurers to find husbands since they often moved around, it was hard to meet single young men and with the male adventurers getting hitched to the previous mentioned women, it was rather difficult to find a husband.
And now the collective group of women adventurers within the guild hall just realized something from Witche's little stunt.
1. There was a gold rank that was single and he didn't seem interested in princesses.
2. There was a gold rank that was single and he didn't seem interested in princesses.
They all let out a collective grin at that.
So did Witch, in a Cheshire cat manner. Things were going to be really fun from now on.
Just then Goblin Slayer suddenly stopped in the middle of the road, turned and drew his sword and readied his shield, yet nothing came.
"What was that? I just felt a chill down my spine...Like...like a whole goblin horde was about to pounce on me!" He muttered to himself, but quickly recovered and went on his way.
He eventually reached Slayer Keep and dropped off the wagons, after he escorted Cow Girl home.
Goblin Slayer was about to turn back towards the Guild to pick up a quest when he remembered his friend's words.
So, slowly and more than bit unsure of himself, he decided to take a stroll down the countryside.
It had been a while since he did this. In fact the only time he remembered just wasting some time was when he was young, before...before it all happened.
Before he realized it nighttime was coming, he was about to turn back when,, with the last of the day's light, he spotted something on the track of dirt at the bottom of the small hill he was on.
Slayer Keep.
Night had come and gone, morning was nearing and the Keep was still quiet as it's army was slumbering away quietly.
Warrior was on the battlements, deciding to be a good captain and relieve early the one in charge of this shift . Besides, Warrior had brought his breakfast with him, so he could miss it.
It had nothing to do with the fact that Noble Fighter was also on guard duty now, and it was a pure coincidence that Warrior brought enough food for two.
And as they both coincidenlty ate the food and drank from the same cup of wine they both jumped in shock as they saw the Goblin Slayer running at full speed towards the keep, just as the morning sun was rising.
"Ligh'em up! NOW!" Goblin Slayer said and then ran towards the town, he had to get to the Guild and quick!
Warrior and Noble Fighter's blood ran cold at that, they both looked into each other's eyes, gave a mutual node of determination and ran to the top of the keep.
Once there Warrior started ringing the emergency bell, waking up the keep's inhabitants.
None of them were angry at the sudden call, for they knew what that bell meant, and each and every single one of them knew what task lay ahead.
Noble Fighter reached her destination, took a torch and started the fire.
Soon morning proper came and with the sun in the air those that lived near all saw the smoke from Slayer Keep rising.
From the Guild town's inhabitants, to the dwarf miners in the nearby mountains, the elf traders on the road, to the within inn's or returning from a quest adventurers tot he peasants within the nearby village, all awoke and saw the great warning beacon being lit.
It all meant one thing:
A goblin horde was coming.
A big one!
A very, very big one!