Goblin Slayer II – 04 – Shout It Out

The peace of the training grounds is disturbed by the screams of those working on rebuilding the village. Goblin Slayer tells his students to form a defensive posture and await his return; if he doesn’t return due to death or injury, they’ll have to take care of themselves.

Slayer meets up with his party and other experienced adventurers, and they prepare to head to the tunnels in order to stop the flow of goblins. Priestess fears the rookie fighters will be targeted by the goblins already above ground, and asks to lead them on her own.

While Slayer and his pals do their thing in the tunnels, The goblins do indeed target the younger weaker kids headed home. They’re able to hold out until Priestess arrives with Wizard Boy, the Rhea warrior girl, and the other older fighters.

While everyone fights back the goblins, who are both on the ground and in the trees, Wizard Boy actually stops and thinks properly about what he can and should do. He doesn’t need to be a goblin slayer here. His job is to protect the others.

Taking a page out of the Dwarf’s book, rather than simply tossing fireballs at the enemy, he uses a spell in order to amplify his shouting, causing the large-eared goblins to flee in pain. Rather than chase down and massacre them, everyone uses the opportunity to pull back to the safety of the town.

As for the adventurers in the tunnel, Slayer has the Dwarf blast a hole in the ceiling, above which is a lake that floods all the tunnels. He then has the mage use ice magic to freeze the water and cause the tunnels to crumble. The goblins are beaten above and below ground without too much trouble.

For her efforts apart from her main party, Priestess ranks up to Steel, and while she surely earned it with her heroism and poise, she still intends to prove she’s worthy of the rank, both to her friends and to herself.

As for Wizard Boy, he came out of the battle with a realization: he doesn’t need to avenge his sister by becoming a copy of Goblin Slayer. Instead, he intends to go adventuring and learn more about how to be a proper wizard.

He’s accompanied by the Rhea warrior girl, who doesn’t take no for an answer and actually induces a jolly laugh from Slayer. As they take off on their adventure together, Cow Girl stands beside Slayer, noting how happy he looks. It was a good night for the adventurers and a bad night for the goblins. Why wouldn’t he be?

P.S. I love how the OP, featuring “Entertainment” by mili, goes SO FUCKING HARD. The vocals, which range from tender and docile to downright Wagnerian, really match Slayer’s inner turmoil and seething rage against goblins.

Goblin Slayer II – 03 – Don’t Be a Stranger

Episode three is a bit of a respite from the goblin battle that preceded it and all about preparation and training. The little Rhea Warrior gets the piss beat out of her by the Onna Kishi because she’ll only get worse in a real battle. The Spearman tries to build up Wizard Boy’s stamina, while Slayer teaches the girls how to use a sling in case they’re out of options.

The day ends with Cow Girl, Priestess and Guild Girl providing a tasty lunch for everyone, and talk turns to dreams everyone has. Rhea wants to “make it” as a warrior even though she’s solo, while Wizard Boy simply wants to get better at defeating goblins.

Priestess tells him about a Wizard she knew wanting to slay a dragon, and when he says that’s unrealistic (unaware she’s talking about his sister) she says it’s a dream; it’s fine to dream. The Spearman also invites Slayer for drinks, and after a quick glance at Cow Girl, he accepts.

That said, I was extremely worried when he was prepping to leave and Cow Girl said her Uncle was also out, leaving her “all by her lonesome.” That dread of potential trouble on the farm affected the laid back atmosphere of the boys drinking at a non-guild tavern.

Slayer doesn’t get too drunk, but the three are tipsy enough to open up about their dreams. Slayer admits that he once wanted to be a legendary hero (kind of like Sword Maiden), but then the real world happened, and now he’s content to slay goblins and train others to do so.

The next day of training, Priestess is having lunch with the Rhea warrior, and with the Lizard Priest’s help, is able to recruit her into her party for an adventure of their own, so they can hopefully be promoted in rank. The Rhea girl warns her not to expect to much of her; I hope they take it easy with whatever their first job is.

Slayer continues to train novices and go out for drinks, and Cow Girl seems a little lonely. She also seems worried, as she drops her mask after he leaves. The village they lived in is being rebuilt, and both of them have mixed feelings, she believes the only thing to do is keep on living as the world turns and accept that change is a certainty.

Of course, some things never change, namely that you never know when goblins will pop out of the ground and swarm around you. One of the men working on the village rebuild learns this the hard way, and when Slayer and the trainees hear screams, Slayer draws his sword and instantly knows what’s up.

It was nice to see everyone take it easy this week, but the time for taking it easy can dry up fast. When goblins are running amok, dreams must be set aside, and all anyone can do is pray they have the skills, strength, stamina, and support to make it through.

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.