Out of a vague sense of unease, Lin Yun asked the young warrior following him, "Have you heard of Goblin Slayer?"
"Goblin Slayer? What's that? Someone who specializes in killing goblins? I don't think I've heard of him." The young warrior scratched his head, only to realize there really was no information about that name in his mind.
"What about the rest of you?" Lin Yun asked the others. With no Thief around, he could ask some rather strange questions.
"Uh, Goblin Slayer? If even this guy, who's always running around bars and the Adventurer's Guild, doesn't know, then neither do I," Female Fighter said sheepishly.
"Um, I just came out of the Temple, so I'm not really sure either," Goddess Priestess said, looking shy.
"If you're only talking about a title, none of us know it. And you should explain what this so-called Goblin Slayer refers to. Is it a person, or a special kind of goblin?" Female Mage pushed up her glasses and shot back at Lin Yun.
"Well, have you ever seen someone who often wears armor that looks really dirty, a helmet about the same style as mine, and a broad short sword at his waist? Oh, right, he's a silver-ranked Adventurer, though he ranked up by killing goblins." Lin Yun recalled some of Goblin Slayer's defining traits and described him.
"Have you seen or heard of him?" Female Mage turned to ask.
"Hmm." The young warrior folded his arms and thought it over. After a moment, he realized, "I'm really sorry, Silent. I honestly don't remember him. I know all the silver-ranked Adventurers around here, but I've never seen or even heard of the person you're describing."
"Is that so? I understand." Lin Yun furrowed his brow beneath his helmet. He felt as if he'd caught onto something. Now, perhaps he needed to verify it.
"But speaking of Goblin Slayer, the goblins have been really rampant lately. They've been raiding a lot of nearby villages, stealing things and abducting the girls," the young warrior said, as if Lin Yun's question had made him think of something.
"Yeah. I heard the Demon God Army near the imperial capital is making a move, too." Female Mage looked troubled.
"Um... I wonder if I can say something." Goddess Priestess suddenly asked, sounding very hesitant.
"What is it?" the young warrior asked.
"Can I keep adventuring with you all, with Silent, in the future?" Goddess Priestess asked timidly, her eyes flicking toward Lin Yun.
"What are you trying to do?" Female Fighter glared at Goddess Priestess as if she sensed a threat, looking ready to give her a beating unless she came up with a good explanation.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I know I'm immature, but... but I want to follow Silent and learn how to be a Priest properly." Seeing Female Fighter's expression, Goddess Priestess instinctively wanted to cover her head, but she stubbornly kept her eyes on Lin Yun as she spoke.
"You'll have a chance." Lin Yun didn't give her a direct answer. He had a vague sense that something was going on, and the most important thing now was to figure out the world's Main Quest.
"Come to think of it, that Goblin Slayer Silent mentioned sounds pretty cool. How about we focus on killing goblins from now on? Let's see... we could call ourselves the Goblin Extermination Squad. What do you think?" The young warrior suddenly seemed to get fired up.
"No. It'd be a waste of time, and goblins are just goblins, after all." Perhaps remembering the humiliating scene from earlier that day, Female Mage immediately refused, her face turning ashen.
"True, goblins are just goblins, but... you saw those girls today." The young warrior's voice suddenly dropped.
"..." Female Mage said nothing this time.
"Admit it. They may be goblins, but look how hard things were for us today without Silent. Especially that huge goblin. I don't think we could've beaten it on our own. If we couldn't, I might've just died there, but you girls would've been tortured." Everything that had happened that day had clearly been a shock to the young warrior, inspiring a change in his outlook.
At his words, Female Mage lowered her head. Goddess Priestess seemed at a loss, while Female Fighter nodded, evidently in agreement.
"Besides, we may be the lowest-ranked Adventurers, but if it's this hard for us, then for the villagers it's a disaster. The higher-ranked Adventurers don't even bother clearing out those goblins. That leaves only us." The young warrior spoke earnestly.
"True. The goblins really do need to be cleared out." Watching the young warrior, who seemed like a completely different person with such a heightened sense of purpose, a glint flashed in Lin Yun's eyes. The hint was so obvious that it would be silly not to follow it. Of course, he wasn't talking about the young warrior's hint, but the one coming from somewhere higher up.
If Lin Yun hadn't noticed it before, he understood a little more now: the world's Dungeon Master was pointing him toward the Main Quest.
Still, he needed to analyze things further. But before that, going out to kill some goblins and becoming the Sword God of Ten-Mile Slope wouldn't be a bad idea, would it?
"Silent, you agree with me?" The young warrior's face lit up at Lin Yun's words.
"I'll hold off on giving my opinion for now. Discuss it among yourselves first." Although the hint had been strong, he could still have misinterpreted it—or been misled—so Lin Yun wanted to make sure before deciding.
The young warriors took this to mean Lin Yun didn't want to interfere with their team's decision and was only withholding his opinion for the time being. This made the young warrior even more excited.
Female Fighter smiled as well. "True. After seeing those women being violated today, I have to fight back as one of them." At that moment, Female Fighter looked as if she were glowing red with the fervor of a certain unspeakable ideology.
"I... I'll do my best." Goddess Priestess clenched her fist, as if trying to encourage herself.
Then everyone turned their eyes to Female Mage.
"All right, all right, I get it. If we're killing goblins, then we're killing goblins. I'm the best student at the Magic Academy, after all." Seeing everyone looking at her, Female Mage finally buckled under the pressure. She gave an affected huff and raised her chin, as if afraid anyone would notice her bright red face.
"Good! The Goblin Extermination Squad is born!" The young warrior excitedly raised his sword and shouted.
Watching him, Female Fighter unconsciously raised her arm, and even Goddess Priestess timidly lifted her staff. Female Mage looked at her companions, then finally raised her own staff... leaving only Lin Yun.
"..." Lin Yun had almost let the chuunibyou spirit in his Qilin Arm get the better of him, but he forced himself to hold back. He couldn't let his hard-won dignity go to waste.
Seeing that Lin Yun didn't join in, the young warrior was a little disappointed, but in the end, he said nothing.
After nearly forty minutes, Lin Yun and the others finally made it back to the small border town. They went straight to the Adventurer's Guild. As usual, it was bustling, but Lin Yun noticed that at least the oddly dressed players from earlier were gone. He had no idea what they'd gone off to do. Perhaps they'd finally realized they had money and gone to buy equipment?
He didn't know, and Lin Yun wasn't concerned about it for now. What concerned him more was how to get a good price for the pile of junk on his back.
Ah, no. He also needed to ask around.
He went straight to the counter and saw the pretty receptionist again, the one with the dangerously generous bust. The young warrior, with the air of a lackey serving some noble, placed the voucher he'd gotten from the coachman on the counter and said to the receptionist, "Miss, here's the voucher. Please settle our quest reward. Thanks."
"Of course. No problem. You're back from the quest. Thanks for your effort, Silent." Wearing a professional smile, the receptionist first spoke to the young warrior, then nodded to Lin Yun.
The receptionist really was a good person. The rewards for goblin-slaying quests from little villages were often too meager, and technically, the Guild should have rejected them. They wouldn't even make enough to collect a commission, so it was a completely unprofitable business.
Yet the receptionist still helped process them and waived the Adventurer's Guild's commission, encouraging higher-ranked Adventurers to take on goblin-slaying quests. She also often recommended suitable quests to new Adventurers, always watching them grow with a worried look. She really had the air of a caring older sister.
"Right, I wanted to ask: is Goblin Slayer here?" Lin Yun nodded and asked the receptionist.
"Goblin Slayer? Um, is that a title?" The receptionist tilted her head and asked.
"No, never mind. Thanks." Lin Yun's brow lifted beneath his helmet, and he shook his head.
So the world of Goblin Slayer didn't have Goblin Slayer? Was this the Main Quest's storyline, then? He just didn't know whether it would end with defeating the Goblin King or going to the City of Water.
Before you continue