01-12: Goblin Slayer

She wanted to ask if that was a joke. She decided it was not.

The party had been confident. A young swordsman eager for glory. A martial artist who cracked her knuckles. A scout with a quick smile and quicker hands. They had laughed at the simple job: clear a few caves, collect the bounty, earn a name for themselves. Goblin Slayer 01-12

He did not know what to do with her tears. So he stood there, helmet tilted, and said the only comfort he knew: She wanted to ask if that was a joke

He lit a second torch. The corpses caught. The smell followed them for days. A young swordsman eager for glory

Lizard Priest, a hulking saurian with a gentle voice, told her once: “He is not a man who fights goblins. He is a weapon pointed at goblins. Weapons do not ask why. They only aim.”

He nodded once. Then he knelt, pulled a small pouch from his belt, and began sprinkling powder on the dead goblins. When she asked what he was doing, he said, “Making sure.”

Then the ambush came.