41: Chapter 41 The Tower of Deep Burial

The Goblin nest in the wilderness looked somewhat like the entrance to an Eastern mausoleum. The square entrance, built of white stone, appeared at first glance like a mound protruding from the earth, half-buried and giving off a strong sense of being a tomb.

At the entrance, two Goblins armed with low-quality spears and wearing simple leather armor stood guard. Oh, right, they also had a wolf with them. This indicated from another perspective that their current food supply was quite abundant.

One of them looked around, saw no issues, and was about to sit down when it was harshly scolded by the other in an unintelligible language. It reluctantly stood back up and gave a massive yawn. The wolf lying on the ground suddenly twitched its ears. Even while resting, canines never neglect their vigilance.

Ryan, who had recently turned back into a human, said to the Dwarf Taoist, "Do you need me to take a piss and scare their wolf into crying?"

The Dwarf Taoist took a sip of the dark wheat juice Ryan had given him, let out a boozy belch, and glanced sideways at the High Elf Girl. "It's fine. Sometimes Elves can be trusted, like when hunting..."

Elves do not use iron. Their arrows are naturally formed from tree branches. With buds as arrowheads and leaves as fletching, they looked a bit scruffy at first glance. The great bow, made of yew branches tied with spider silk bowstrings, was longer than the High Elf Archer's height.

When the Elf Girl's arrow flew, the Dwarf Taoist suddenly wanted to take back his words because it was clearly a bit off. Before he could open his mouth, the arrow curved, pierced the neck of the first Goblin, and then shot into the eye socket of the second, crushing its brain. Immediately after, a second arrow, which had already been fired when the first was released, finished off the wolf before it could sound the alarm. The battle ended in an instant.

"They seem to be fearing something," Mia whispered as she walked toward the Goblin corpses.

"Could it be because Elves have nested nearby?" the Dwarf Taoist responded.

"Perhaps..." Mia didn't inform them beforehand about the powerful Ogre in these ruins; if she spoke up now, she wouldn't be able to explain her source of information.

Goblin Slayer stood up and walked boldly toward the Goblin corpses, kneeling beside them. "Pfft, hehehe... Uh, ah!! Mia!! What are you doing?" Tuaner, filled with anticipation for what was about to happen, was showing a fox-like smile. At some point, Mia had already poured a small bowl full of Goblin blood onto Tuaner's leather armor and rubbed it in.

Goblin Slayer gave Mia a surprised look and found her smearing Goblin blood onto her own [profane pure white nuns outfit]. After being momentarily stunned, he continued walking toward the Goblin corpses.

"What is he doing? Are these two girls crazy? How disgusting!" Tuaner was still being aggrievedly smeared with foul blood by Mia. The Elf Archer girl was naturally incredibly curious; she approached with light steps to see what tricks he was up to. Seeing her approach, an evil smile finally appeared on Tuaner's face.

By now, Goblin Slayer held a small knife in his hand. He thrust the knife into the Goblin's abdomen and boldly rummaged through the internal organs.

...!?" The Elf Girl's expression froze. She quickly grabbed Goblin Slayer's arm.

"Wait, wait a minute! Even if the enemy is a Goblin, why do this to a corpse...! And look at what that impossibly beautiful woman is doing right now, it's also very strange. Aren't you going to stop them?"

"Hmm? They... they are very experienced! Goblins are very sensitive to scents."

"What...?" The Elf Girl was dumbfounded, standing frozen on the spot.

Goblin Slayer spoke to the girl plainly, giving an answer that didn't seem to match her question. He let his leather gauntlets get covered in sticky blood and pulled the liver out of the Goblin's body. "Especially the scent of women, children, and Elves."

"Eh, wait, wait a minute... I say, Orcbolg, I don't think you would—" The girl was about to flee; she was confident she could outrun this man covered in armor.

"Gotcha!! Why should I be the only one to suffer through this?" Tuaner lunged and pinned the Elf Girl to the ground. Goblin Slayer didn't answer; instead, he wrapped the liver in a handkerchief and squeezed it hard.

The High Elf Archer realized where the filth on his armor came from and why those two crazy women were smearing Goblin blood on themselves. Her face turned pale on the spot...

In a short while, Mia had finished processing the Goblin corpses in the grass—they had been gifted a low-quality burial plot in the Nightmare Cathedral. She did it very discreetly, so everyone thought she had simply buried the bodies. The total number of Goblins in the Nightmare Cathedral reached 165.

The group stepped into the ruins. Because Goblin Slayer knew a lot about similar scenes, he walked at the very front. Ryan, as the melee tank, took the second position to easily cover Goblin Slayer if a battle suddenly broke out. Following them in order were the Lizardman Monk, the Dwarf Taoist, Mia, the Elf Girl, and Tuaner.

Following the circular corridor forward, the murals displayed a mythological war from long ago. This place was likely a defensive fortification built by humans at that time. They didn't encounter any danger until a fork appeared. The Dwarf rarely teased the Elf Girl along the way; she looked ready to give up on life, covered in filthy Goblin blood, as Tuaner pulled her along. "This blood can be washed off... Mia smeared it on me before. We'll just grab her to take a bath together tonight. Her body seems to come with its own fragrance, let me tell you..."

The Dwarf indicated the direction of the Goblin nest based on the wear on the floor, but Goblin Slayer walked in the opposite direction until he reached a wooden door. He kicked it open without any hesitation. An indescribable foul odor made the Elf Girl's suffering slightly worse.

At the end of the Goblin garbage dump, a gracefully shaped Elf woman hung from the wall. Her body was covered in wounds, and her mouth repeatedly muttered, "Kill them, kill them..."

Goblin Slayer drew his sword and charged. After a beautiful thrust, his sword impaled a Goblin hidden in the shadows behind the woman. Mia, meanwhile, had already completed the casting of her Holy Magic Lv2 Healing Spell. A sacred silver-white glow flashed, pulling the Elf scout's health back above the safety line.

"I came here to kill Goblins!" Goblin Slayer's firm voice echoed in the not-so-large room, sending a stir through everyone's hearts.

The Lizardman Monk showed off his skills, summoning his [Dragon Tooth Soldier]. He used a blanket Mia handed him—which she had just pulled from her storage space—to wrap the poor female scout. Although he was momentarily puzzled by the source of the blanket, he didn't ask questions. Then Mia tucked a letter, its ink barely dry, into the blanket. "Your combat partner probably can't speak; take this letter with you."

"Miss Mia is truly thoughtful; this monk admires you." The Lizardman Monk gave the order, and the [Dragon Tooth Soldier]'s bony legs broke into a sprint, heading toward the Elven nest.

The group watched together as the Dragon Tooth Soldier ran out of the underground fortification, remaining silent...