Goblin Slayer II – 02 – Stick to the Plan

The Boy Wizard is rearin’ to murder some goblins, but soon learns that it’s not quite that simple. He also seems to chafe at the Priestess being the party’s leader; surely someone so delicate shrivels into a tiny ball in the heat of battle, thinks the desperately green, compulsive rookie.

The party seeks information from a dwarf craftsman, who like our Dwarf loves to day drink. He says a party of five went in, including two women, but they were all Porcelain and Obsidian ranked. Considering how the goblins treat their captives, it might be best if all of them died.

The party heads in, and immediately the boy is shocked by the level of blood and gore. Even so, when he first heard there were potential hostages, he’s determined to blast through the many rooms of the mausoleum as quickly as possible so he can be the hero.

The other party members go about their usual business, but the boy messes up their pace when he falls for a simple trap of bones and guts that makes him scream in horror, alerting the goblins. He finds the female acolyte, who is alive but being tortured with wire and nails.

In a rare moment of selflessness, the boy warns the others not to come in as the acolyte was bait and now a giant troll has arrived. But Slayer and the others pay his warning no heed, and the Priestess lays down some Holy Light to enable them to fall back with the hostage.

In a brief moment of respite, the boy sees the Priestess laboring from her magic use, and is ready to apologize for insulting her earlier. However, he doesn’t get the chance, as the troll is still ticking, even though Goblin Slayer set his head on fire. I’ll also note that the Goblin Slayer couldn’t seem more put out having to slay something that isn’t a goblin.

That said, he uses a nifty bit of chemistry, having the dwarf summon rain to douse the troll’s flaming head, then using a tosses substance to quickly freeze the heated stone-like flesh. From there, the Lizard, Slayer, and Elf bring the big guy down and mop up the goblin dregs.

It’s a testament to their skill, experience, and teamwork that even with the boy committing numerous blunders that should have killed him and others, this party got through this with minimal trouble.

The party returns to town to celebrate, but it doesn’t feel like a victory for the boy wizard. He knows he fucked up royally, but also knows that even though the acolyte is alive and recovering, he knows that “simply being alive”, as the Elf says, isn’t enough.

The acolyte, the sole survivor of her party, could well be ostracized in the future for her failure. The boy doesn’t know how quick this cuts to the Priestess’ past situation. He also finally mentions the reason why he’s so desperate to get out their and kill goblins: his sister was killed by a poison blade.

It dawns on both the Priestess and the Goblin Slayer that this boy is the little brother of the female wizard in the Priestess’ doomed party. Slayer gets up and leaves, retiring to an alley to remove his helmet, vomit, and curse himself for not being able to save everyone.