For every step, I will be there for you,
And every second, for the rest of my life,
You will find me here, waiting for you...

| I |

There was a land. Dry land, with ground no longer able to bear fruit. Empty land, where nothing but death to be seen as far as eye could reach. Lifeless land, where bones of the dead piled all around and where broken weapons were left to rust away. Dark land, that light could reach.

There were goblins in that land. Vile creatures that feel no remorse. Heartless monsters incapable of compassion. Vengeful demons out to ruin or steal all that is not theirs. Cold-hearted murderers that show no mercy. Cruel animals with no souls. Brutal vermin that needed to be destroyed.

There was also a man. A single figure clad in armor that ventured through that land, never resting, never stopping. Always moving ahead, never looking back. No matter how hard the wind pushed against him, he continued to march on. Goblins feared the man, but in their foolishness, they always attacked. And he always killed them. Never allowing them to stop him, no matter how many there were.

The man left nothing but blood and death behind him, but he didn't stop. There was something he had to reach.

A different land. Fruitful land filled where life bloomed into all shapes. Land full of wonders he had long forgotten existed. Land that death didn't belong in. Land full of light.

There was a sun over that land. A warm sun that warmed the man's heart even though it's heat couldn't reach him. There was a women inside of the sun. A beautiful women that always looked at him. She always had a smile on her face, as warm as the sun itself and as beautiful as she was herself.

The man always thought he was alone, until he saw her. At first he thought little of her. She was just another soul that happened to cross paths with him. Just another soul that he will never see again.

But she was not just that.

Before the man knew it, he was drawn to her. Without him realizing, she changed the path he walked and showed him the new land he has since been trying to reach. And she waited for him there, smiling at every step he made. Waiting until he can leave the land he himself created and join her in the new, better land.

"Grrr... Where the hell are they!?" A couple of heads turned at High-Elf Archer's annoyed shout. She smacked her hand against a brick wall of the Guild House, growling loudly. "We were supposed to meet here half an hour ago, how can they be so late again!?" This has been going on for over a year now and no matter what she told them, it didn't seem like they had any plans of changing that status quo, they outright suggested that they just change their usual meeting time to a later hour. Nearly every time they would make plans to head out and do some adventuring, be it goblin slaying or something else, the two pillars their little group arguably depended on the most were nowhere to be found. Unless someone was brave enough to go into their house at the outskirts of the town. So far no one dared to do it more then once.

"Geez, Long-Ears... These two are married, what do you think they're doing?" Dwarf Shaman spoke up, not moving from his place on a bench. He didn't seem even fazed by Goblin Slayer's and Priestess' absence in the slightest, and neither was Lizard Priest, who was far more focused on eating some new kind of cheese Cow Girl started to make recently specifically for him since he is by now one of the main clients her farm sells goods to. "Really, one would think you would get used to our two lovebirds doing what pleases them..." A mischievous smirk appeared on his face just as Elf Archer turned away with a pout, crossing her arms. "Or is it that you're just jealous that a little human girl lost virginity two thousand years before you? Two thousand and still counting, might I add."

Her fingers closed around her upper arm. "Gh... Would you kindly stop rubbing salt into the wound?" She could almost hear him laughing at her reaction, even though he made no sound. "I-It's just that we elven women hold ourselves to a higher standard! We don't just hop into the bed of the first guy that we like. A-And I'm still young by elf standards, so there's no rush!" That was truth to an extant. Elfs do tend to take their time when it comes to developing relationships in most cases, High Elfs especially so, but still, most get married between seven hundred and a thousand years of age. No matter how you look at it, she was a whole millennium late to the party.

It was only natural that someone beat her to the cake.

She loved Priestess like a sister, but there were times when she was just straight up jealous beyond belief of what she has. Almost every time when she would look at the girl and Goblin Slayer being together, nearly glowing with some strange form of light, she just couldn't help but wonder, what if she was in her place? What if she didn't hesitate when Sword Maiden asked if any of them is a virgin these couple of years ago? Would she be in Priestess' place now? Would she be able to make him as happy as the young cleric does? And most importantly, does she really believe their relationship started because of nothing more then that one morning they've spent in Sword Maiden's bedroom, or does she just wish it did?

Looking back, it was unlikely that it did. Priestess knew him longer then she did and even back when they first met the two, she could tell the girl had a slight crush on her armor-clad goblin slaying mentor, even if at the time it was clearly a one sided feeling. It's hard to really pinpoint when she noticed the Slayer himself starting to act differently around Priestess, as it didn't seem like even Goblin Slayer himself was aware of it until events of that morning unfolded, but she remembered Dwarf making a comment about it a day before their meeting with Goblin Champion in the ruins.

Before she knew it she was biting on her thumb. The image of what she saw on that day when she busted into Sword Maiden's room without a care... It was going to remain engraved on the back of her mind even long after her currant party passes away. Seeing him just pound that girl from behind while not even giving a damn that they're being watched... And that absolutely blissful expression Priestess had on her face... It made her realize just how much she wished that she was in her place. And not because she was turned on at the moment. At least not only because of that.

In that single moment, she felt as if someone had taken the blinders off her eyes for the first time in her life to give her a glimpse of her own feelings. And then show her that the object of those feelings is already holding someone other then her. Then before she knew it, they were getting married and she along with Dwarf Shaman were asked to participate in the ceremony as spectators, with Lizard Priest being one to actual perform it. She was honestly flattered that both of them thought of them as close enough friends to know their true names since the ceremony is usually extremely private with only direct family members allowed to participate and the priest performing the ceremony forced to leave the ceremony while the vows are being spoken unless the married couple says otherwise. Not that there were many people on the ceremony even when taking that into account. Slayer's whole immediate family was dead after all, and Priestess herself was orphaned even sooner then him, though she doesn't know what happened to her family. Besides them, the only ones present were Cow Girl with her father, the Head Priest from the temple where Priestess grew up and Guild Girl.

The thing about the ceremony was, that even though she was happy for them, when she saw them sealing their vows with a kiss, she really felt like someone had just stabbed her in the heart. She honestly couldn't remember a time in those two thousand years she's spent walking the Earth, when she wanted to cry so badly. Good thing she wasn't the only women there.

Finally deciding to snap herself out of that train of thoughts, she smacked both of her hands against her reddened cheeks, just in time to notice that the two people she was internally raving about were no more then fifty meters away from their meeting spot. Naturally, they were walking hand in hand, as if on their way to a date, which somehow didn't seem like a stretch. They sure as hell would be giving off an impression like that if Goblin Slayer wasn't wearing his full armor, save for the helmet that he was holding under his free arm. He used to never walk around without that armor of his unless somehow both of his sets were in need of repair, But naturally under Priestess' influence he started to not only walk around without that helmet, but occasionally even without that damned tin can on him.

And the effects were clear to anyone who saw him when he took his helmet off in public for the first time on the day after the attack on the farm. Or in case of her and the others, when they saw them going at it. Back then his skin was pale, sick-looking and nearly completely gray. His eyes were dull, almost as if he had no soul left in him, just cold hatred for goblins and a mission to fulfill. Even his hair was barely kept in order, probably only so that it wouldn't obstruct his vision. The combination of all that made it so that even if he was rather handsome when it came to his face, just about any women would turn a blind eye to him when it came down to it. Hell, she was sure that if she saw him sleeping without the armor on, she would just assume he was dead and for a long while too.

Right now though, all of that was gone. His skin gradually started to return to a healthy color in time, his hair were just one Priestess-pressured visit to a barber away from getting in proper order, and on one day a spark that wasn't there before appeared in his eyes out of seemingly nowhere and with it a resolve she's never seen in him before. Not that he was anything but determined before, its just that it seemed like his priorities suddenly shifted overnight. Like there was something that became more important to him then killing goblins.

And she had a pretty good idea what that something was. Or rather – who.

The one thing that didn't change about him, was the almost never changing poker face that was seemingly a permanent feature of his head and his general preference for short, to-the-point sentences. That and he was still bent on eradicating the goblin race off the face of the earth, if not quite as maniacal about this as before.

He wasn't the only one to change though. Compared to lizards, dwarfs and especially elfs, humans age and change fast, especially when they are young. Priestess is naturally no exception. Being twenty years old now, she has arguably changed even more then her husband did. She was noticeably taller, judging with her expert eye, Elf Archer would say she was around 175cm tall, slightly above her own height and only about 5cm lower then Goblin Slayer. Her whole figure became far more feminine, with wider hips, thin waist and more mature facial features. In her eyes there was no longer that innocence of a novice she saw when they first met, but experience only emphasized by a scar on her neck. A gift from a time when they accidentally stumbled into a small group of demons that were sleeping directly underneath a goblin nest they were taking care of and got woken up when damn Orcbolg decided he hasn't used explosives nearly enough lately.

The scar isn't very big and there wouldn't even be that left, but the wounds the demons left wouldn't heal even if a healing miracle was used as long as the demon that caused the wound was still breathing. To make things worse, by the time they've wrapped things up, or rather by the time Goblin Slayer has ripped and teared the demons to pieces quite literally, she has already lost enough blood to pass out despite having bandages around the wound and as such was unable to cast a miracle on herself. The wound ended up getting infected and she had to spend almost a month bedridden. They would have used a healing potion, but those were destroyed in the fight.

The whole ordeal did end up earning her a Ruby Rank though. Took her only four years to get there, a pretty impressive achievement as most adventurers take twice as much time before making it to the fifth rank. Most aren't lucky enough to be working with four Silver Ranks though. Also, Guild's ranking system wasn't the only hierarchy she's been climbing in those four years. Just before the whole ordeal with demons she was called to the Grand Cathedral of Mother Earth in the Capital City where she received the second Rite of Ordination, moving her position in Mother Earth's church from a Deacon to a Presbyter. She naturally received new robes to show that, but the change was limited to switching the blue color for red. It did fit her quite well if she were to be honest.

And then there was the... Biggest change... Her breasts.

That was not to say she now donned balloons of the same caliber as Cow Girl or Sword Maiden, but seeing as back when they met for the first time the girl had breasts almost the same size as she did, maybe slightly larger, the sudden difference was hard to swallow. While she remained stuck with her unimpressive chest, Priestess' only continued to grow over time. By the time her growth period came to a definite end, she was a whole three sizes larger then her, and all the while she still had to listen to all those anvil jokes. If watching her and Orcbolg's marriage was like a stab wound to the heart and Dwarf's comments about her virginity like pouring salt onto said wound, then that was adding an insult to the injury.

She knew that feeling like this was stupid, downright idiotic. Lifespan of a human is like a blink of an eye for her. Elves can live even up to 50.000 years with no issue, and the oldest of her species have went on for twice as long. That 60 to 80 years top that humans get is almost laughable in comparison. It's really no wonder elves are considered by most to be stuck up and looking down at other races. For the most part, that is exactly how her people are and what they do.

By all means, she shouldn't be freaking out like that over a single human that was bound to die thousands of years before she even starts to approach the age when elves become capable of having children. She should be happy that she can be his friend, she should be happy that she can go on adventures and have fun with him, she should be happy that he found someone that makes him happy. But she wasn't. Because that someone wasn't her. Just some girl from a temple. "H-Hello everyone..." The girl in question spoke up. "Sorry we're late, I... Um... Spilled some m-milk on myself and had to wash to get rid of the smell... C-Can't have goblins catching up on it, right? He he..." Right, 'milk'... Let's go with that...She wasn't going to call attention to that obvious lie, but unfortunately there was a certain dwarf in their group that didn't care about being tactful quite as much as she did.

"Oh, please. You don't have to hide that stuff from us. If you two want some time alone to have fun don't let us hold you back." He said with a wide smile as he scratched his beard. Priestess immediately blushed at the comment and tried to deny everything, but one would have to be blind to not notice how she was moving while on her way here. For a moment her legs almost seemed to have turned into cotton. Goblin Slayer naturally gave off no such signs. "It's only natural that two people who are in love would want to spend some time in private, that's just how things are. Wouldn't you agree Long Ears?"

"Maybe so, but don't you think it's a tiny bit rude to be late for a planned meeting because of that? Repeatedly?" She sighed, holding her hand over her eyes. There wasn't even a need to look at Priestess to know that she's blushing even harder now as she started to apologize again. Elf Archer was about to move the conversation away from that and towards the reason why they are here – their job, but once she turned to face Goblin Slayer, she immediately noticed something strange. There was someone else standing beside the Slayer. "And who are you?" All eyes turned towards the man in loose brown robes that only now turned his gaze away from two birds sitting on the road and looked at them.

"A potential new party member. If none of you have a problem with that at least." Goblin Slayer explained. Almost automatically, Priestess picked up where he left off.

"He's an old friend of mine from the temple. We used to study together before he went off to another temple high in the Northern Mountains. We accidentally bumped into each other today and since he's an adventurer too, I suggested that he might join us."

"New adventurer?" Lizard Priest finally turned away from his cheese and took interest in the newcomer while Elf Archer took a better look at the man. He was certainly built like an adventurer and he did have some chain around his neck – most likely Guild's dog-tag, but she couldn't tell what rank he had because the tag itself was hidden under his robes. His eyes had a deep orange color that could have made him quite intimidating if it wasn't for his almost childish smile and carefree stance. There were some small tattoos on his face that seemed to be either tribal or religious. Maybe both. Two black lines on each cheek and one that went from the center of his forehead down between his eyes. His hair was black and short, only as high as a nail is wide. When it came to height, he was on the low end, lower then both Priestess and herself, though not by much. He seemed to have noticed that everyone is staring at the chain around his neck and decided to pull it out, revealing his tag, and his rank along with it. Bronze... Not bad... "May we know who you are exactly, sir?"

"Ah, right." As she was the closest one to him, the man reached his hand out to her. "You can call me Monk. Monk Key." Dwarf chuckled at that. Starting of with a pun, huh? She thought as she shook his hand, surprised by how strangely it felt. His hands were pretty small for a man, but packed quite a lot of strength that for some reason didn't cause her any discomfort. Quite opposite actually, holding his hand felt surprisingly good. Feeling strangely about that, she quickly pulled her hand away and rested it on her hip. "Priestess wrote some letters about all of you. I'm honored to get a chance to work with a group like yours." He slightly bowed his head while holding his hand over his chest.

"Alright mister Monkey, enough with the flattery, better tell us what you can do?"

In response, he pulled two straight wooden staffs from his backpack, each around a meter and half long. She noticed that there was a locking mechanism at one end of each of them just as he connected two pieces into one. He twirled his weapon in his hand for a second before speaking up again. "I've been trained in staff combat in the northern temple of Mother Earth. As you probably know, the area is pretty dangerous, even for experienced adventurers. I also know basic healing miracle along with Ice Knife, Gust of Wind, Ice Storm and Wind Wall. Four uses." That was not a bad lineup, she had to admit that. She's heard stories about the monks from the temple in northern mountains, and if they are half as good as people say, then this Monkey might just be a pretty good asset. "I'm also a professional massager." So that's probably why his grip felt so strange... He must have been trying to do something to me.I'll have to watch out for that.

The thing is, she wasn't buying the whole 'we just bumped into each other' thing. There was something fishy about that, she just needed to find out what exactly. "Alright, let's say that I'm sold. This is still a bit of a sudden, don't you think? Why did you come here anyways, I've heard the adventurers get paid far better up north with all those dangerous monsters that live there, why would you move all the way here, it must have taken at least a couple of months to get to this place too. Why bother?"

"Now, now, we can discuss this stuff later." Priestess cut in. "He has to take care of the paperwork with the Guild, so he won't be joining us today anyways."

"Right. I better get to that before the line gets too long. Damn, there's a lot of people here..." He hid his weapon back in his backpack and stepped towards the entrance to the Guild House. "It was nice to talk to you all. I'll see you after your work is done." He went inside with a final wave of his hand.

"That's right. The job." Slayer went into the serious mode as he turned to her. "You said you have something good?"

"Yeah, the job got posted last night and your Guild Fangirl's been keeping it hidden just for us. Some large circus got attacked by goblins and they're offering a pretty nice sum for retaking their equipment from them."

Having heard the magical word, he put his helmet back on. "How many of them are there?"

"We're not sure, but the guy from the circus made it sound like there was a lot. We do know they have at least one shaman leading the tribe and possibly a hob or two with them. They should still be busy looting the area. The guy said they were attacked here." She pulled a map out of her belt and pointed at an area south of the town, approximately forty kilometers away.

"Alright. Let's go kill those goblins."

One day later...

"Heh... That's refreshing..." A now empty glass was brought back onto the table, with its content already resting in Dwarf Shaman's stomach. Said dwarf was quick to grab his supply of fire wine and fill the glass again. "You guys sure you don't want any? The batch I got recently is pretty damn good!"

"I'm sure." Elf Archer replied, keeping her eyes closed and face turned towards the window "Don't you think drinking this early in the day is kinda stupid? How do you want to go on a quest if you're drunk?"

The dwarf only shrugged. "I'm not going anywhere. Nothing interesting or important to handle today anyways. Not even any goblins for you to kill, Beard Cutter." The man only nodded in acknowledgment. He wasn't even wearing his armor today, the set he was wearing on the quest with the circus yesterday was undergoing regular maintenance and the spare one needed to get repaired after taking a fireball to the left shoulder-plate a few days before. Nothing major happened to him as he quickly removed the steel plate before anything else could get damaged by the heat, but the whole segment needed to be replaced after that, and the rest of the set was already overdue for some professional maintenance. And so, he was now sitting in his civil clothes, with only a short sword at his side, and most likely a knife hidden somewhere on him.

By now it wasn't really anything special to see him like that, but the first time that happened after he showed his face in public during the aftermath of Goblin Lord incident, he was basically the talk of the town. Not that she was surprised by that. At the time the only people that knew what he looks like were Cow Girl, her uncle and their party. The others only ever saw him wearing his helmet, making their reactions fairly understandable for the most part. He actually found it somewhat amusing to see the face Spearman was making when he realized that the man he was conversing with just a few days before was actually Goblin Slayer, though he didn't show that on his face and neither did he say anything about it.

"Seriously... First the Lizard says he'll be meditating whole day long and now you too... If this keeps up I'll end up going out with the new guy..." The Elf laid her head on the table with a sigh passing her lips just as the food she ordered from Guild's bar was brought to her. "Thanks miss." She received a friendly wave and smile from the waitress as she started to dig in. "Actually, there's something I wanted to handle with you, Orcbolg." She said, still chewing on her food and continued after swallowing. "A couple of traders just came to town and they're paying nice money for fox hides. Figured we might grab our bows and get some easy cash before they leave the town. You in?" Four years ago she wouldn't even bother asking, unless she was able to somehow work goblins into the equation, but since then he's started to slowly accept quests other then goblin slaying when those were not available. Goblins were naturally still his number one priority, but he was slowly expanding his horizons.

He still wasn't interested in any big prey like dragons and manticores, but whenever there were local problems with animals like wolves attacking farmers and their livestock or giant rats coming out of sewers to attack people, he was more then glad to take the job. A couple of times he even took on bounty hunting requests, going after a couple of criminals that were seen in the area and even helping to catch a group of drug dealers that were setting up their base in the forest behind the town. With that you could even tell when he's gathering money for something as he only ever makes just enough to cover his expanses with very little saved for later. He always does this right before someone's birthday. And it just so happened that there was one such even approaching.

Slayer turned his head to face her. "Very well. I have no other plans for today if there are no goblin slaying quests, so unless something appears I will go with you." She mentally patted herself on the back as she continued to eat, now with a small smile on her face.

The door to the Guild House suddenly opened, with Cow Girl coming inside. She immediately looked around, obviously searching for Goblin Slayer. She spotted him in no time and approached their table. Priestess was with her too, which immediately made the Slayer flash a quick smile at her. "Hello, how's everyone doing today?" The farm girl asked. Priestess meanwhile walked over to her husband and the two enjoyed a brief kiss.

"Fine." He said. "And getting better." Priestess rolled her eyes at that and ruffled his hair in response before turning around and walking out of the Guild House. Goblin Slayer quickly went after her, quickly finishing his glass of water. Today was one of scheduled deliveries from the farm and the two were known to lend a hand by unloading everything into the storage, in exchange getting an occasional discount on food they order. It used to be just Slayer doing that, but with Priestess starting to train her body more and more seriously, she also started to do it. The girl has quite a bit of muscle on her by now, though it doesn't show too much and she was nowhere near as fit as Cow Girl when it came to pure strength.

Soon enough, the two started unloading the cart full of food, moving between it and the storage room on the back of the building. "What about you two? Any plans for the day?"

"Nothing for me. I'll just focus on relaxing for today. Long Ears here is going out with our married man though. Seems pretty happy about it too." He slowly gulped down another glass of wine, savoring the taste and ignoring his elven friend's blush tainted glare. "Maybe you want some? You've never had any, right?"

"Um... Maybe later. Uncle will get mad if I start drinking before we finish work on the farm."

"I'll hold your word for it." With their short exchange finished, Cow Girl went over to the front desk and started filling out the delivery papers handed to her by Guild Girl. The Dwarf meanwhile placed the payment for the food he ordered before on the table and got up. "Alright, that will be enough for now. I'll take a stroll through the market, see what those traders you mentioned have to offer. If you don't know what to do with yourself until Beard Cutter is ready to leave you can go to the sparing range. That Monk guy's been there whole morning looking for people to spar with. Might be a good chance to see what he's really capable of."

"Nah, I'll finish eating this and go look for those two; see if I can help out. I'm not in a mood for sparing today."

Few minutes later...

"You two are such a great help..." Guild Logistic, the man in charge of the storage room said, sighing and scratching his head. "There's always so much things to do around here that just having you guys handle carrying this stuff saves us a whole lot more time and effort then you probably think. Thank you so much."

"I see." The Slayer replied, putting down another crate. However, just as he was getting back into standing position, he felt a light smack at the back of his head. "Don't mention it. We're glad to help out." Satisfied with that reply, Priestess started to walk back towards the main hall to reach the cart again with Goblin Slayer right behind her. Quite consciously, she started swinging her hips from side to side, knowing it was bound to catch his attention. And it did. However it wasn't long before she stopped doing that and halted altogether. "Is something wrong?" He turned his gaze towards the direction she was looking at. It turned out that what she was focusing on was Witch, who was standing idly by the window. He wasn't really sure how he would describe the relationship between the two women, they seemed to be good friends, if not necessarily very close ones, but there was some strange mentor-student vibe he was getting from looking at them. Though what she would be mentoring her in was a mystery to him, after all they practice two completely different types of magic and neither is a close quarters specialist. He would even argue that in that area Priestess comes out on top.

The women noticed them and waved her hand, first to greet them, and then to motion Priestess to come closer. "I'll go talk to her for a second." She said turning her face in his direction for a second before walking away. Not seeing any reason to get involved in their business, Slayer simply continued on with his currant task. "Hi." Priestess said as she approached the older women.

"Hello... There..." She said with a gentle smile, with her smoking pipe placed in her hand, just a few centimeters from her mouth. "I've got... What you... Asked for..." Priestess' smile immediately grew upon hearing that. "It was... Quite hard to... Get a hold of... The ingredients..." She reached her free hand into her pocket, pulling out two small bottles. One filled with orange liquid, the other with blue one. "Mixing them... Together... Was a tall... Order too... You know...?" She handed both bottles to the young women. "Orange one... Is for you... And blue..." Her eyes turned towards Goblin Slayer who was just on his way back to the storage room with another crate of food. "For him..." Priestess took the two bottles into her hand, looking at them with a dreamy expression for a short while, something that didn't sneak past Witch's attention. She only smiled at that reaction.

"Thank you so much for doing this for me. You have no idea how much this means to me." She slid both bottles into a secure pocket on her belt. Her hands were almost shaking from excitement as she did that.

Witch only smiled at her words and looked to the side, where Spearman was standing with his back to the wall, talking to some of his adventurer friends. "Do I... Really...?" Upon noticing that the women is staring at him, the man quickly turned his face away as if to pretend that he didn't notice her. Too bad he also started blushing brightly after seeing the loving look she was giving him, all the while gently rubbing her stomach. Priestess didn't see that bit though. "By the... Way...I've seen... Your friend... Outside..." She turned back to the other women. "Is he ready... For tonight...?"

"I think so. I mean, that's the main reason why I called him here after all." With that said, she reached her hand towards the pouch strapped to her belt. "How much do I-" Witch halted her moves before she could even detach the leather bag from its place.

"You owe me... Nothing... Consider this... An early... Birthday gift... From me..." She winked at her, making Priestess sigh. "Now... Come on... Otherwise... He'll finish... All by himself..." With a light push on Priestess' butt, she forced the girl to get back to helping out her husband. She then started to look up at the sky through the window. "I hope... That everything... Will work out... For you... This time..." Muttering those words too quietly for anyone to hear, she turned away from the window and started to approach Spearman, only making his blush grow deeper with every seductive step she made.

Few minutes later...

The final crate was placed on the floor, right next to all the others. "This is the last one." Slayer said, turning towards Guild Logistic behind the table. He was in the middle of putting together several files, all concerning the supplies Guild just received and other orders that needed to be made. Neither Goblin Slayer nor Priestess would say it to his face, but looking at the huge pile of papers he still needed to go through the two couldn't help but pity the man. It actually made them glad that they risk their lives almost every day instead of sitting behind his desk, reading through one dull document after another and making sure everything is in order.

The man sighed. "I really can't thank you enough. I'll make sure the cooks throw in something extra next time you two eat here." Adjusting his glasses, he went back to working on the papers while Goblin Slayer and Priestess were getting ready to leave. "Oh, right... I'm sorry but can I ask for one more favor?" The two stopped in their tracks and turned to face him. "If it's not too much of a problem, could you please move those two boxes into the alleyway behind the building? There are old documents there that we no longer need to keep in the archive. I didn't have time to get rid of them for the past week and they just lie around here. Could you please help me with that too?" He begged, almost with tears in his eyes.

Slayer and Priestess looked at each other for a second before both nodded. "Sure. We've got nothing to do for now anyways." Priestess said as Slayer picked up the first box and passed it over to her. "Hah... Those are heavy..." Slayer turned to her, already holding his box. "Don't worry, I can handle it." To demonstrate, she started to walk towards the door on the back of the storage room that led to the hallway from which they could exit into the back of the building. Naturally she was still swinging her hips from side to side as she walked in front of him. She could be quite the tease if she wanted to, though for some reason she never expected it when he decided to turn the tables on her.

For example by having them go to a secluded location where no one would interrupt them, just like the one they were heading to right now. The boxes they were carrying were indeed filled with old documents that were only taking up space by now, but the Guild was not going to start its regular cleaning of archives until the next month at least. While Priestess was busy talking with Witch, he asked Guild Logistic to allow him to prepare those two boxes solely so that he can take her to that back alley. Where she will yet again be proven that teasing him like that is guaranteed to garner a response.

Once they entered the alleyway he quickly placed his box aside and closed the door before quietly approaching her from behind. "Kya!?" Before she could realize what was going on, he took a hold on her hips just as she bent over to place the box on the ground. "W-What are you-!?" He pushed her towards the wall, forcing her to push back against it with her arms while his hands started to slide upwards on her body all the way up to her breasts. She gasped at that, leaving her mouth open and easy for him to take hold of as well. Feeling his tongue suddenly pushed into her mouth, Priestess released a surprised moan and almost immediately pulled her head away. "W-We can't do it h-here! Someone might s-see u- Aaaaah~" To silence her protests he gently squeezed her hardening nipples and started to nip on her neck, slowly moving his mouth over to her ear.

"Did you really think you can swing your hips like that in front of me and not get anything in return? After all the other times you tried to tease me before?" With her nipples now hard enough to show through the fabric of her tightly fitted clothes, he got back to gently massaging her breasts. He gave the back of her ear a slow lick, finishing it by chewing on her earlobe for a short while. She didn't say a word, slowly losing herself in the pleasure he was giving her as her legs started to feel weak. "Or maybe you're actually hoping for things like that to happen?" He moved one hand down between her legs, making sure she gets to feel him slowly sliding his hand along her clothed body. "Well, either way I'll make sure you enjoy yourself as much as I'm about to."

With all he had to say already said, he started to lick and kiss her neck again, occasionally starting to place light bites on it. Soon enough his hand was pressing against her now slightly wet, black shorts. Hearing her quietly whispering his name as she moaned, he immediately started to rub her pussy through the fabric. Her hands almost gave in on that very moment, but in the last second she managed to get a hold of herself just in time to avoid having her face hit the wall. Her legs were a different story though. If he wasn't holding her up with his hand, she would have landed on her knees already. And once that almost happened, she was more then glad to accept his another attempt to kiss her, leaving her happily moaning into his mouth as her breast and crotch were being gently caressed by his hands.

Feeling that her crotch is already soaked, he slipped his hand into her shorts and pulled them down, knowing perfectly well she's not wearing anything else underneath them, before starting to rub her bare pussy. This time she didn't manage to fully maintain control over her hands. Before she knew it, her lower arms were both pressed against the brick wall. Wanting to hear her moans more clearly, Slayer pulled away from her mouth and moved his hand away from her breasts, pushing it into her mouth instead to keep it open, all the while doubling his efforts between her legs. He didn't wait to push two fingers into her awaiting lower lips, immediately being rewarded with her releasing a cute scream into the air.

After four years of being in a relationship with her; a relationship that was sexual from day one, and being married for over two years on top of that, it is only natural for someone like Goblin Slayer to grow extremely proficient in pleasuring his partner. He knew everything there was to know about where to touch her, how hard to press, how fast he should move, how deep to go... The amount of research and experimentation he's put into this was only dwarfed by his extensive knowledge and experience in slaying goblins, and he's been learning to do that since he was a child. There was also one thing he learned that became his ultimate weapon against her. The knowledge of her limits. He knew every inch of her inside and out, he knew exactly how far he needs to push her to make her cum, and by now was able to do it in less then a minute, with his record resting on ten seconds flat.

He also knew how to keep her just a small step away from reaching an orgasm, denying her that pleasure whilst driving her crazy with the pleasure he actually was giving her.

Before she had a chance to do anything about it, she was already pushed to that state, left to helplessly moan out his name and swing her hips around, begging him to finish this and let her cum. In response, he only pushed her harder against the wall to stop her from moving too much, effectively pressing her hard nipples against the wall in front of her. "P-Pheese...(please...)" She moaned out, calling his name afterwards. He showed her no mercy however. Now that she was completely at his mercy, he was going to enjoy watching her squeal in pleasure every time he pushed his fingers inside of her, rubbed her clit or lightly bit on her neck. Her pussy was helplessly dripping by now, staining her shorts and forming a small puddle on the stone walkway, right between her shaking legs.

When she felt his erection pressing against her butt, she started rubbing herself against it, hoping it will make him impatient enough to stop the game he was enjoying and decide to finally stick it in. Not that she had any chance of succeeding. She would if she tried this four years ago, and in fact did succeed on multiple occasions back then. But that was four years ago, when he was still new to this, still inexperienced. All that has changed by now and no matter what she did, he would remain unmoved by it. He was going to let her cum when and only when he decided so, and for now her pleading only made him want to watch her struggle more.

On occasion she would teasingly call him 'a bit of a sadist', which only confused him. Being a sadist implies he enjoys making her feel pain and humiliation, and he wants neither. He never did anything to intentionally hurt her or make her feel ashamed. That's what a goblin would enjoy, and he had no interest in anything of that nature. All he wanted to give her were love and pleasure, by all means necessary. He supposed he could be called somewhat dominating when it came to sex, but that was only because the women who was quivering under his touch right now enjoyed it. Well, mostly because of that. He did admit to both himself and her that he does enjoy the position. Perhaps that's where 'a bit' part comes from.

Now, as much as he enjoyed watching her drown in pleasure, his fingers were starting to get tired, and even though normally on its own it wouldn't be enough to make him stop, they were not really in their house now, they were outside. Technically someone could walk out of the Guild House at any moment only to see them partake in what is not exactly an acceptable public display of affection. He was fairly confident that there will be no one here for some time at least, he made sure that Guild Logistic will keep people away from the alley but anything could happen.

To Priestess' great pleasure, he finally sped up his movements. Only slightly though, with the state she was in only one slightly faster move of his fingers was enough to make her cum in an instant. He quickly moved his hand to cover her mouth as she screamed in bliss, not stopping to finger her for even a second. The sheer strength of her orgasm made her completely lose control over her legs, making Slayer's hand the only thing that kept her standing. Despite how much Priestess has changed in those four years, the one thing that definitely remained the same as it was during their first time having sex up to this day, was the way she came. No matter how experienced she got at this and how many times they've done this, her orgasms still remained as strong as ever.

And she still pissed herself on occasion. Particularly when he was toying with her for any longer period, like he did just now. The moment her orgasm hit her with full force, she pissed all over her shorts and the box of documents she just brought there a few minutes before. He still genuinely thought that she has some sort of problem with her urinary system, but looking back at the time he voiced those thoughts and more precisely her reaction at him suggesting she should start wearing dippers to counter the problem, he remained quiet on the matter. He really didn't want her to force him to sleep on the street again. It was bad for his back. And pride too.

Ignoring her orgasm, Slayer continued to move his fingers, splashing her juices all over the place and only prolonging her orgasm further. It was bound to stop sooner or later though, and just as it started to slowly weaken, he begun slowing down his movements, eventually pulling his fingers out and simply resting them against her still dripping crotch. He could feel her lightly running her tongue along his fingers, which were now back in her open mouth. For a short while he simply stood there, pressed against her and listening to her heated pants as her body trembled with the aftershock of her orgasm. Eventually, he did step away from her, watching as she slowly regains her senses. And once she did, he was rewarded for his efforts when she turned her half opened eyes towards him, still pressing herself against the wall, and moved her robe away, showing him her lower lips as her free hand started to spread them open. She didn't need to ask, every man would understand the message.

He was more then happy to take a hold of her outstretched butt while pulling out his member. He placed it right between her butt-cheeks, lightly squeezing it between them and slowly sliding it up and down. She could already feel pre-cum on her skin. "Please... No more... Teasing... Please..." She panted out. Before he fulfilled that request though, his hand took hold of her face and brought their lips together, sliding his tongue inside of her mouth just as he started to penetrate her awaiting pussy. Slowly, just how she likes it.

Moans started to fill his mouth as he continued to fill her. His hand moved away from her butt, only to find a new resting place on her waist, all the while his other hand gently caressed her cheek. Before long, she felt his tip press against the entrance of her womb. And there was still barely more then half of his length inside of her. The sensation only filled her with more excitement, which she voiced with a louder moan that sounded inside of Slayer's mouth. Moan that soon turned into a light scream once he started to push his way into her womb. Before long, he was completely buried inside of her, bringing her to a small orgasm. Slayer pulled his mouth away from hers, giving her time to get her composure back to somewhat acceptable level before kissing her again and immediately starting to push himself in and out of her.

He started out slowly, but very soon picked up the pace. She was happily pushing her butt against him, perfectly timing her moves with his thrusts and squeezing the walls of her vagina so hard he could swear she was a succubus trying to suck him dry. Though to be honest, the figure of speech didn't really reflect how succubi operate. They do suck out energy from people, mostly through sex, but they rarely kill their 'food'. They are parasites, not predators. Killing their hosts is not something most of them would consider desirable. The most one can expect after spending a night with one is a headache comparable to a mild hangover.

Now, Priestess was hardly a succubus, but she certainly did act like one at times. Usually she is rather meek and submissive, but there are times when when the mood strikes her and it almost seems like someone has flipped a switch inside her head. When that happens, there is quite literally no way of stopping her from getting what she wants – him. And at those times, she wants him a lot. Each time that happened, he always ended up completely exhausted after being forced to pleasure her whole night long and more often then not, also throughout most of the morning. As one might imagine, the first time that happened, he actually started to think she might have secretly been a succubus this whole time. She could become so dominating, possessive and most importantly horny beyond reason, that it actually terrified him every time that happened. And right now... Was no such time.

Just one quick look at her was enough for anyone to know that the women he was mercilessly pounding from behind was more then happy to completely submit to her man at the moment and just allow him to pleasure her. When he decided to stop kissing her, her tongue just rolled out of her mouth as she looked up at him, cross-eyed. "I love you..." Those were honestly the only words that came to her at the moment. "I love youuuuuuuuuu~ She could feel another orgasm approaching fast, and had absolutely no desire to even try holding it off.

The same could be said about Goblin Slayer. He grabbed her hips on both sides and sped up even further, almost leaving her insides entirely before quickly pushing himself all the way in again with each thrust. And then, just when he felt he's about to reach his limit, he moved his mouth right next to her ear and whispered her name. "...I love you too." He said right before cumming along with her. Their lips smashed together in an instant as his arms moving up to wrap themselves around her stomach. He pulled her as close as he could, burying his whole length as deep as he possibly could while shooting out one load of cum after another straight into her womb. The brief moment that has passed between the moment they came and when they regained their senses seemed like their little corner of eternity. During that moment, the world around them seemed to have turned blank, leaving only the two of them in each other's mind.

When they did come to their senses, they were still kissing deeply, with both of their bodies shaking lightly as they basked in the afterglow, letting their heart rates calm down. After what seemed like an hour to them, despite only being a couple of minutes in reality, their lips finally separated and their eyes opened. Slayer could see her bottom lip trembling as they kept their faces right next to each other, as if they were unsure whether they should kiss again or not. In the end, it seemed like they both came to an agreement that neither had enough yet and started closing the gap between their mouths again.

However, just as their lips were about to touch again, they both froze stiff. And the reason for that was a sound of a rock rolling on the ground. It was quiet. So quiet in fact, that if they were anyone else they wouldn't even have noticed it, let alone reacted. And the reason for that was simple. Goblins.

That quiet sound everyone would simply dismiss is what on more then one occasion was the deciding factor between life or death for them. In a dark cave where you see only as far as your torch will let you, with enemy small enough to fit into nearly every small hole you pass on your way, a single sound like that is a true blessing for both of them. And with 90% of all their jobs being goblin slaying and many of those requiring them to enter into goblin nests, they started to react to those sorts of sounds almost instinctively at some point in their careers.

They both quickly turned their heads towards the source of the sound only to see the last thing they wanted to see. Honestly, even a goblin would be preferable to this. With 'this' being High-Elf Archer slowly stumbling backwards whilst facing them before breaking into a sprint and running out of the alleyway before either of them could say anything. Not that they had anything in particular to say to her. Just one question that popped into their heads. "Was she crying?"

At the same time...

The last couple of months were sure as hell what Monk would consider interesting, to say the least. First his, long time friend and pen-pal requests his help in some great plan of hers, then she actually explains said plan in... detail... and he ends up just feeling bad for her to be pushed this far to get something so many people never even think they might struggle with. In the end, he ends up traveling across the country to help her with it and once he finally is about to meet her again, he has to wait for almost half an hour by the doorstep of her house, wondering why is there a silence ward around the building. Only to get the answer when he crossed the barrier and heard her heaving sex. Loudly.

It may not seem like a lot considering that all of that happened in the span of several months, but for a guy that can sit on a metal pike for over a week with his legs crossed, not eating or drinking and balancing a vase that was slowly being filled with rainwater on top of his head, that was a lot of developments for such a 'short' period of time. There was also a fact that Northern Mountains, while being filled to the brim with dangerous creatures, were hardly a place where a lot happened. It might have gotten a reputation as one of the toughest places for adventurers to work in, but that was mostly because the actual amount of quests that were posted in the Guild's Outpost there rarely went beyond double digits in time frame of a month.

Entering Guild's Building in this area and seeing she sheer amount of quests just waiting to be completed made him feel like a child seeing a huge Christmas present waiting to be opened. Not that he actually knew the feeling, he's never celebrated that particular holiday. Unfortunately, before his childish happiness could spread even further, he realized why there are so many quests. Nobody wants to take care of them. All the high level, experianced adventurers only chose to bother with the big, important tasks that would bring them a lot of prestige and money, leaving the smaller, less important quests to the young newbies that were neither equipped nor experienced enough to handle most of them, forcing them to keep to the smaller jobs, such as goblin slaying and other getting rid of pests from sewers.

Not many people end up taking care of the mid-level quests as a result. Meaning that while newbies are being shoved into what is considered an 'easy' job and the 'big fish' sit on their asses, waiting for another dragon to pop up, everything in between is left untouched by anyone save for some bored Silvers that had enough of waiting or larger parties.

The newbies dying on mass is also a huge problem. Guild in this area has no skill requirements for joining whatsoever while back in Northern Mountains only 1 out of 5 recruits would be deemed good enough to get accepted by the guild. Here, literally anyone could join, be it a former soldier with years of fighting experience and training or local farmer who got cocky after scaring off a single goblin with a pitchfork. Just looking at how fast the application process was finished here was enough to give him a general idea of how high the mortality rate among young adventurers is. He had to wait a week before getting his first tag, a week that he's spent on being tested and lectured by retired adventurers while the guild was running a background check on him. Here, all it took was to sign some piece of paper that meant nothing and there you go, 'now you're an adventurer, please go over to the quest board and pick what monster you want to tear you apart and/or rape you.'

To the credit of the girl behind the desk that called herself Guild Girl, she was more then aware of how things are and at the very least tries to talk things out with her boss. Apparently she managed to negotiate setting up a small school for where retired adventurers and occasionally active silvers give lectures to lower ranked adventurers. She was unfortunately unable to make such lessons mandatory before joining or at least being allowed to take on a quest. Even if she was able to sway most of the freshly baked adventurers to wait those couple of hours before another lecture starts, and even goes as far as to cover the housing costs for some if they need to wait a day before another lecture starts, a lot of the overconfident ones ignore her completely and take their first quest anyways. Most never return, while those that do, become even more confident. And the more false confidence they gain, the sooner they'll fall.

As far as Monk was concerned, she's the one who should be running the show around here, not just be the face of it. Even if she was a rather pretty face if he was to be honest. He could easily tell how much it hurt her to be forced to send those cocky idiots to their deaths just by looking at the expression she made when one such group of morons laughed in her face and all but spat on it when she suggested they wait two hours for a lecture to begin before going on a quest to clear some ruins from low-level giant spiders that made it their lair.

Seeing that, he hurried to get the paperwork associated with moving to a different guild territory finished and then squeezed all the info about the quest from her before rushing out of the building to catch up with the group.

Unfortunately, by the time he got to them, one was bleeding out on the floor, two were poisoned and waiting to get eaten in cocoons while the remaining two were surrounded from all sides. Once he took care of the spiders, gave the antidote to the two in cocoons and used healing miracle on the one that almost bled out, he outright dragged them all back to the Guild House by their ears and made a public show of them all, pulling their tired, beaten up asses to the middle of the hall with their bloodied and dirty clothes still on and screamed 'these five would like to accept Guild's gracious offer to lecture their sorry asses on why running into giant spider's nest head on with no preparation is generally a bad idea', afterwards walking over to the quest board and picking the first quest he laid his hands on, accepting it and leaving the silent Guild House and shocked Guild Girl behind. He also 'accidentally' smacked the five newbies over the head with his staff.

After finishing the quest he took, he ended up accepting five more that day as he waited for Priestess' party to return from their quest. And seeing as by the time it got dark outside they were still nowhere to be seen, he decided to rest for the day and meditate until next morning. Plan that went to hell when he saw Guild Girl sitting by herself in the near empty Guild House. Feeling a strong amount of respect and admittedly being quite charmed by her looks, he ended up joining her for a chat instead.

Now, by no means did he consider himself some sort of ladies' man, but he would lie if he said he didn't try to low-key flirt with her. It didn't seem like she really took notice though. Or she did and ignored him. With the amount of man she interacts with daily he wouldn't have trouble believing that she has people trying to make a pass at her almost everyday. In fact, he would be surprised if it wasn't so. Either way, he ended up having a nice conversation with her that only strengthened his positive opinion of her.

And that was all that led up to his currant ordeal. "What the hell are you doing you fool!?" He yelled at the top of his lungs as he approached the young girl in front of him. "Is this how you think you should be holding a sword!? A goblin would knock it out of your hands with no problems!" To demonstrate, he lightly stroke at her weapon, subsequently making her loosen her grip enough for him to simply push the sword out of her hand. And in order to literally beat the message into her hand, he rotated his staff around in his hand and smacked the top of her head, getting a satisfying 'thump' sound out of it. Now I get it why Master liked hitting our heads so much..."If you don't want to use a shield, keep your both your hands on the handle, you're holding a long sword, not arming sword- No, not like that, keep your hands further apart, you'll get more leverage that way."

Yes, the five person group he saved the previous day was now training under him.

With little to no new jobs posted and all the important ones handled by him the previous day, he figured he might use that day to get to know some of the adventurers that work around here, so to do that he started to hang around the Guild's sparring arena where he ended up facing several other adventurers, including several Silvers. Some he ended up befriending; like for example the duo of Heavy Warrior and Female Knight, others he started to genuinely loathe. Such as some overly cocky porcelain ranked asshole calling himself Rhea Scout that kept on raving about how he should be Ruby Rank, and after that started to loudly insult Guild Girl for purposefully keeping him down. It seemed like he was de-ranked by her before and was looking for an opportunity to appeal that decision directly with the Guild Master and defeating a Bronze Rank was suppose to be one of the main points of his appeal.

Now, Monk was not one to show off, but there was something strangely annoying about his face so upon hearing him go on about 'that blond bitch with fake tits' for the fourth time, he decided to help him out and remodel his face a bit with his staff. In his honest opinion, the idiot looked a lot better with bruises and swelling that covered up half of his ugly face. Unfortunately, it just so happened that his victim client passed out sometime during the procedure. Not that there was anyone that had a problem with that happening.

And that's when the Newbie Five, as he started to call them, arrived. They all but dropped to their knees as they started to beg him to train them. He was just about to direct them to other adventurers that were willing to train them, but then he suddenly noticed Guild Girl smiling at him through the window and... Just said 'yes' without thinking. Whether that reply was an answer to their request or just a comment regarding Guild Girl and her damn fine looks didn't matter, the result of that was the Newbie Five jumping around in joy and Guild Girl chuckling before going back to work while he just sighed and accepted his fate.

"And you!" He moved to another member of Newbie Five. This one was a boy, probably only a bit over 16 years old and yet the biggest, most muscular person in the group. Despite Monk being a whole head's length lower then him, he still held an overwhelmingly strong grip on him with his sheer presence. "You're holding the grip of that ax too hard! Ease up on it a bit, you'll be cutting heads with it, not damn trees!" Nodding, boy swung at a training dummy, but before his attack even made it half way to the target, Monk thrusted his staff forward, hitting him square in the chest and knocking the air out of his lungs. "And stop moving your shield back when you strike! What's the point of even having it if you move it aside every time you strike and open yourself up for counter!? Even animals can notice an opening like that!"

Turning towards the third kid, this one a boy too, just a bit older. And much shorter. "You might want to try using a crossbow instead. You have short and strong arms, you'll be able to put them to a better use with a good crossbow rather then a bow. Shorter arm means you'll be able to pull on the chord harder and reload faster, or use crossbows with higher draw weights with little to no problems. Why do you think dwarfs like to use them? But if you think you should stick with bows, you should look for someone else to teach you. I don't know that much about archery myself." With that said he lightly stroke the back of boy's knee with the tip of his staff, making him drop on one knee. "Also spread those legs wider! A light wind would knock you off your feet with a stance like that!"

The fourth member of Newbie Five was another girl. A very slim and agile one at that. "You know, there's really no point in having that second sword if you're not even going to use it..." He took a fighting stance as he stepped in front of her. She did the same and just as he stroke at her, purposefully holding back, she blocked the attack with both of her blades. Seeing that coming, and even outright expecting it, Monk simply allowed her to move his staff aside while the second end of his weapon approached the back of her head at a rapid pace. Before she realized what's going on, she was already holding her head while hissing in pain. "If you have two swords start using them! You can block with one and attack with the other, overwhelm the enemy with too many attacks to block or defend against two opponents. You might also want to switch the sword in your off-hand to something lighter and shorter."

"And finally you..." The final member was a boy, seemingly the oldest person in the group and something akin to its leader. The moment Monk took a fighting stance, the boy stroke with his pole-arm. That was a bit of a surprise for Monk, but the attack was just sloppy enough for him to simply push it aside with his staff and line it up with his face before thrusting it forward, right into his forehead. "It's good that you don't hesitate to take action, but that's not what we're working on today, is it?" He waited for the boy to get up before continuing. "Your stance and technique are good enough for now, but remember that if people get too close or your attack misses you can always easily slide your weapon back and strike again."

He's been schooling them like that for half an hour already. Kids were all farmers, so they were relatively fit as is, but none had went through anything that even resembles basic training. The only one that had some actual knowledge was the one with a bow, being a son of a hunter. If they were to become adventurers for real, he had to start teaching from the scratch. Problem was, that today he wasn't exactly in the mood for explaining to a group of novices why katana isn't going to cut through your opponents weapon or why blunt force weapons are more effective against armor then swords. "You kids can leave for now. Come back tomorrow morning if you want this to continue. Just don't go on a quest that's above your skill level again." They thanked him for the lesson with a bow and left the sparring ring.

Now, being lazy was not really the only reason why he decided to send them off for now. There was also a second one, namely High-Elf Archer who was sitting on a bench with her head down. The moment those five left them alone in the area, she immediately got up and walked over to a barrel full of training weapons. "Going straight to business? Not even going to say hello?" She pulled a wooden pike out of the barrel and turned to face him. He could immediately say she's been crying recently. "What's wrong?"

"I don't feel like talking about it, Monkey. I'll get over it if I move around a bit." She took a fighting stance, holding her hands close to one end of her staff for maximum reach. He was quick to prepare too, except he was holding his staff by the middle part.

"Are you going to call me like that from now on? It's kinda annoying." They started to circle one another, carefully stepping sideways, waiting for the other to make the first move. "Also, are you sure you want to fight me with a staff? I kinda have a home-ground advantage here."

"Should have thought about it before making that horrible pun." She quickly stepped into her weapon's range, performing two fast strikes aimed at his head that he easily blocked, before making one more step and thrusting her weapon forward. Monk immediately adjusted his grip to increase his reach after smacking her weapon away and swiped at her chest. She dodged easily and stepped away from his range. "And do you really think I haven't learned how to use things other then bows in those two thousand years?" She attacked again, this time stepping right into his range of attack with her staff held in the middle with both hands. They exchanged several short range strikes before separating again. Monk however was quick to follow up on the attack, striking at her weapon with enough strength to knock it back. She used the momentum this created to turn the other side of her staff towards him, but he did the same before her and hit her in the stomach with a thrust strong enough to make her take a few steps back. "Damn... 1:0 for you."

"We're counting points? Alright then. Thought it was just a friendly spar though." He came at her again, suddenly halting when he saw her attack from above. Sidestepping the attack was easy, but then she suddenly changed the direction of attack and would have managed to hit him if he didn't block just in time. In doing that, he managed to get an opening that he gladly took, getting her in the head after letting the momentum of her attack carry it over his head. "2:0"

"Who said we're friends?"

"We're not friends, but I wouldn't mind having you as one." This time she attacked, rushing straight at him. However she overextended herself when making her strike, allowing Monk to knock her weapon down to the ground at smacking her hand before she managed to pull away. "That's three. Now tell me what's biting you. You're getting sloppy."

She tightened her grip on her staff. "I told you already, I don't want to talk about it." Instead of pulling away, she charged in to surprise her opponent, but only ended up giving him perfect opportunity to simply sidestep the attack and smack her right in the stomach. This time she quickly stepped away before he could attack again.

"Four. Is it about Goblin Slayer?" She paused for a second, unintentionally opening herself to an attack again. By the time she snapped out of it, Monk was already close enough to strike, but at last second she managed to raise a defense and stop his strike right before it hit her arm. However, with Monk being so close, he had no issues with simply hooking his leg over hers and pulling her to the ground where he dropped his staff onto her stomach. "Where did those two thousand years go? Because it sure as hell doesn't seem like it went into training. Or your breasts for that matter. I mean, I've got nothing against small breasts, but to call breasts small one must have them in the first place, right? Oh, and now that's 5:0 for me."

"Grrr... Not another one..." Seeing him extend his hand to her she pushed it away and got up on her own, helping herself with her staff. "So what if it's about him?"

"Nothing, its just that love problems tend to grow until the point of blowing up in your face if they're not addressed." He took a step forward, but as soon as he did that she took a step back.

"W-Who said it's a love problem!?"

"Your face." She blushed hard at that. He made another step forward, this time being met with a thrust sent at his head which he easily dodged and countered with his own, which unlike hers hit its target. "Six. So? I'm guessing that you like him and are jealous of Priestess. Am I right?" He stopped attacking for now even though she has almost completely dropped her guard as she looked around the area. "We're the only ones here, don't worry."

"...Alright, s-so what if you're right? What am I suppose to do about it, try to get between them? They're married god damn it, and love each other like I've never thought possible. Who am I to step between them..." She apparently completely forgot about their duel and all but dropped her staff to the ground. "But... But it hurts, you know... Whenever I look at them being all happy, I just... I just..." Her eyes dropped down to the ground. It honestly seemed to him like she was about to cry. "What the hell am I suppose to do about it... How can I stop those feelings..." After a short while she suddenly turned back towards him. "A-And why the hell am I talking about this to you of all people!? I met you, like, yesterday!"

"Hell if I know. Heard somewhere that most people find it easier to talk about stuff like that to strangers because they seem less likely to judge you or have a bias on the situation. And in most cases you're not as concerned with their opinion of you as you would be if you knew them better." Just like her, he fully lowered his stance and approached her, halting about a meter away from her. "And about what you should do... Well, If you have problems with your feelings piling up inside you, how about you just release them?" She rose her eyebrow.

"As in... Confess?" He nodded, making her blush. "H-Huh? Are you dumb or something? They're married! Married! You seriously want me to go up to a married man and tell him that I love him!? And then what? Ask him out for dinner? What chances do you think I have?"

The man scratched his head. "Somewhere between extremely slim and none whatsoever. And if I were to take into account what Priestess is planning, even lower then that." He paused for a second. "No, wait... How is a chance for something suppose to get lower then zero? Probability doesn't go into negative..."

"...So what? Are you telling me to just go to him and confess for the sole purpose of getting rejected?"

"Yes." With that said he got into fighting stance again, taking a step back. He waited for her to do the same, which she hesitantly did after a while of dumbfoundedly staring at him. The first move he made was slow, just enough to get her back in the fight. When she pushed that strike away he immediately followed it up with another, this time a stronger one. She dodged it and swung at him herself. Monk grinned seeing her get back into the fight as he blocked the attack and pushed her away using his far superior strength. He followed that up with an overhead strike that she was forced to block using the midsection of her staff. This gave Monk a chance to strike as he raised his arms higher and thrusted his weapon over her guard, hitting her square in the chest. "Seven."

He expected her to back off after that attack, but to his surprise, that's not what happened. As his staff was still held high, she pushed herself forward, right underneath it and before he could muster a response, smacked him in the forehead so hard he fell over and landed on the ground. "Alright... I'll do it..." She said, slowly reaching her hand to him.

It wasn't long before a smile worked its way to his mouth. "I guess that's one point for you."

Some time later...

"By the gods... Why is it so freaking hard to just buy you a damn drink!?" Spearman's head hit the table with a thud as Goblin Slayer stared at him with a raised eyebrow, utterly confused by his friend's behavior. Both man were sitting alone in a corner of the Guild House, away from everyone else. The reason for that was simple – Spearman needed some relationship advice, and by some miracle Goblin Slayer happened to be the only one of his immediate friends that was actually married. Adventurers rarely do that if they are dedicated to their work. And in order to loosen up his tongue a bit, he decided to get him to drink something first, but the task proved itself to be more difficult then he anticipated. The reason for that was simple too – Goblin Slayer doesn't drink much. "Come on, just pick something already!"

"I'm fine with just water."

He gritted his teeth. "Alcohol! I'm talking about alcohol, damn it! What do you want to drink!? Doesn't matter what, it's my treat!" Quickly realizing that he needlessly raised his voice Spearman started to look around to make sure he hasn't attracted any unwanted attention. Specifically Witch's attention. She was kinda the reason why he was trying to be secretive about this whole thing. 'Trying' being the key word here.

"But I'll be going out to hunt foxes soon. I shouldn't be drinking now."

"Then how about this: you tell me what you would like to drink, and I make sure that there will be a table full of it when you're back, alright?" This time he started speaking in a hushed voice. "Now come on, tell me what your favorite drink is?" Slayer only continued to look at him in confusion. "Come on, there must be something that strikes you fancy. Gin with tonic, Malibu with milk... Come on, what is it!?"

"Glass with vodka."

"Grr... Fine, whatever. We can be drinking vodka all night if that's what gets you to talk." He was just about to leave his seat and walk away when Slayer suddenly halted him. Seeing how strangely the man acts, Slayer decided he should investigate further.

"I don't really need to be drunk to talk with you. What do you want to talk about with me? I rarely see you this nervous." Spearman stopped to look at him. There was a genuine interest in his eyes, something that just four years ago was reserved for goblins only. That girl really did change him a lot. He would almost be willing to say that by now he is a completely different person. "Is it about goblins?" 'Almost' being a very important word. "If so, then lets start with where they are. Are there any villages threatened? And how many are there? Should I be expecting and shamans or-" Spearman quickly rose his hand to stop him from continuing.

"Let me stop you right there. I don't want to talk you about goblins..." The man sighed as he sat back down on his chair. "It's about..." A blush appeared on his face as his eyes turned to the side. "Women..." Scratching the back of his head he glanced over in Slayer's direction, only to see as he nudges him to continue with his eyes. "...Tell me how... How did you... P-Propose to Priestess..." His last words got a little quiet, but it was no issue for Goblin Slayer's sensitive hearing.

"I see. So you want to propose to Witch then, am I right? Can't say I'm surprised, I've heard you two have been in a secret relationship for almost a year before everyone found out."

Spearman was quick to shush him, pressing his hand over Slayer's mouth. "Not so loud, damn it!" He started looking around again. "For a while now she's been following me no matter where I go. And she always appears when I least expect it, its almost as if she had some way of tracking me... I can safely talk to you only now because your wife took her away to get something ready with that Monk guy that showed up yesterday. I don't know when they'll get back here, so please hurry!"

"...So it has nothing to do with goblins?"

"No! I don't care about your precious fucking goblins!"

"Then find someone else to help you." With that simple statement, Slayer got up and started walking away.

"H-Hey! Are you serious!?"

"No. I was joking." Just as quickly as he walked away, Slayer returned to his seat. A joke... Can't believe I actually lived to see a time when can make them freely..."Now, about me proposing... What exactly do you want to know?"

Letting out a relieved sigh, Spearman made himself comfortable on his chair. "Basically, how should I get around to doing it myself?"

"Hmm... I think the common view of the event is man dropping on one knee to ask his women a if she wishes to marry him while holding out a previously prepared ring. Nothing was different for me."

"I know that, but... There has to be more to it, right?"

"Not really."

"No need to set up the mood? Wait for the perfect moment?"

"Not really."

Suddenly, Slayer's head was lightly hit with a metal sounding staff. It didn't take long for both man to realize it belongs to Priestess. The reaction of Spearman was immediate. He got off his chair so fast it seemed like it just burned him and started looking around, clearly searching for Witch, whom he spotted talking with Monk next to the Quest Board. "Now, that's not very nice." Priestess started, smiling brightly at her husband as her aura darkened, making Slayer gulp. "Your friend is asking you for advice, I'm sure you can do better then that."

"Umm... So, there is really no need to set up a perfect atmosphere or wait for the best moment. Those factors can be taken into account, but you should not forget about the element of surprise. Make sure to not give away any hints as to the nature of your plan until the last moment for the maximum effect. Trying overly hard to lay the grounds for the proposal may tip her off to it which will lessen the impact. You should also make sure to make the move of getting on one knee seem as natural and casual as possible. You should be aiming for the outcome where she doesn't understand what is going on until a bit after she notices the ring."

The dark aura surrounding the girl disappeared in an instant as her chuckle reached Slayer's and Spearman's ears. "Now that's much better." She started to lovingly embrace Slayer from behind with one hand, as the other one played with his hair. Not stopping any of that, she looked over at Spearman who has just gotten back to his seat after one more more glance in Witch's direction. She was still discussing something with Monk. "He's right. You shouldn't be overthinking this. In the end what really matters is her response, right? I mean, he proposed to me right after we blew up a goblin nest... If you need more help, feel free to ask me. I'm glad that you're finally getting ready to tie the knot." Looking at the girls smile was contagious, of that Spearman was sure as the corners of his lips started to slowly rise.

"And you..." Her eyes turned to Goblin Slayer, who was still enjoying having her hands running through his hair. "Archer is waiting for you outside. Here, I already grabbed your bow and arrows." Her mouth moved over to his ear. "You know, when I went back to change my clothes..." She said quietly as she passed him the bow and quiver full of arrows that she was carrying on her back until now. "Just remember what we talked about before." She whispered again, only loud enough for him to hear.

"...I will." He replied after a while of looking into her eyes, getting up from his seat afterwards and leaving after giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Half an hour later...

To say that their time spent hunting was awkward for both of them was an understatement. A grave one, to say the least, though each of them felt like this for a different reason. "Damn it..." Elf Archer muttered as she watched the fox she targeted run away. She had just missed a shot. That doesn't happen often, but somehow that was the third time today. Luckily, Slayer was there too, and he was not a slouch when it came to archery either. With his bow already prepared by the time fox started to run away, Slayer got the small critter in the hind leg. The arrow went deep enough to make the leg completely useless and subsequently slowed down the fox enough for Slayer to catch up to it with no problem and finish of the struggling animal with a knife to the neck.

When he was sure the fox was dead, he picked it up by the tail and attached to bag he was wearing. There were already two other foxes there. "There's been a lot of them in the area lately. Cow Girl's been saying they've started to approach the farm lately and already tried to attack their chickens once. Getting the population down before they start to get too bold might be a good idea." Looking back at her, he only got a quiet 'yeah' as a response. She wasn't even looking at him, just at some random rock in the area. "Let's rest for now. There's still a lot of time left before we have to head back."

He sat down on the nearest rock and placed his bag on the ground. Elf Archer muttered another quiet response and sat down as well, placing her priced bow against a tree along with all her arrows. Silence followed, broken only by the sound of birds and small animals stirring up the bushes and fallen autumn leaves. Slayer guessed that some larger predators, such as wolves, might get attracted by the smell of blood, so he covered up the foxes they've killed with a piece of cloth specifically prepared for that. He also thought it might be a good idea to eat something, but seeing how his companion nervously fondles her thumbs and taps her foot, all the while biting on her lip as if she was on the verge of saying something, he decided to leave her to think for now and not disturb the silence that surrounded them.

And he was right. After a while, she finally spoke up. "H-Hey, Orcbolg..." She fell silent again, but quickly picked up where she left off as she saw he was focused on her. "So, listen... There's something we should talk about..." He knew very well that this was going to be a difficult conversation for her, but it needed to be had. Their relations will suffer because of it if they back away from it now and both of them knew that more then well enough. "W-We've known each other for a while, right? A-And we've been through a lot together. We risked our lives together, fought against the odds, went on adventures, killed goblins... Oh boy, we killed a lot of goblins..." She sighed. "A-Anyways... After all that we went through... I-I just wanted to say that you came to mean... A lot t-to me. As in, it's hard to even imagine what my life would be like without you around." Her hand started to tightly squeeze at her chest.

Slayer still remained quiet, allowing her to speak to her heart's content. "The time I've spent with you... A-And others too, is very important to me, but... I... At some point started to have those...F-Feelings...For you..." She was visibly shaking, still refusing to look him in the eyes as her own started to get slightly wet. "A-And they just wouldn't go away, no matter how long I waited... S-So I decided that I will let them all out... I-I know that you're married and probably don't feel the same as I do, but I-I hope that you understand." Her eyes closed as she slowly breathed in and out in a failed attempt to calm her racing heart. "Orcbolg-" She suddenly slapped herself. "No..." Slowly, she got up from her rock and finally faced him. Then, for the first time since they met, she called him by his name. "...I love you..." With her eyes closed, she stood there like a statue, knowing perfectly well what comes next.

". . ."

". . ."

"I see." She almost laughed at his choice of words. Those overly short responses used to drive her insane, almost as much as his constant attempts at blowing up caves, flooding them with water or filling with poisonous gasses. "I feel flattered that you feel like that about me. Few years ago I wouldn't even allow myself to think that someone might love me. You and the others have changed me. Outright saved me from myself and obsession that I created. You're very important to me too... But I don't love you. I never did, and never will." And there it was. The rejection she knew was coming. And still, even though she knew she will hear those exact words from him, they still hurt. It was as if the knife that was plunged into her heart at his wedding was suddenly twisted and forcefully ripped out of her, letting the blood flow out of her.

Blood that took a form of tears that started to uncontrollably flow from her eyes mere seconds after his words hit her. Before she knew it, she was loudly sobbing with her face down and both hands holding her chest, as if to stop a bleeding that wasn't there. She kept repeating to herself that she knew this would happen, that she has to get her shit back together... But none of that worked. It just made her cry more. The conviction in his voice when he said he never loved her and never will completely shattered any wall that she might have set up to protect her feelings and smashed straight into them. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that what he said was an absolute truth.

She didn't know how long it she just stood there like that, crying like a two thousand year old baby, but she didn't care. And neither did Goblin Slayer. He just gave her space for the feelings she's been holding inside to flow out. All he did was stand in front of her, not touching her, not hugging, not trying to make her feel better... He just stood there.

Some may call him cruel for that, after all a girl just confessed her honest feelings to him and got only a stone cold rejection in return. By all means the right thing to do seemed to be giving her a shoulder to cry on, a bit of closeness she longed for all this time... But he didn't do anything. And that's because he knew it has to hurt. If she is to let go of the feelings she has for him, it can't be his shoulder that she cries on, he can't give her the closeness she hoped to receive from him... He can't give her false hope. Because now that he has pulled out the knife he unknowingly pushed into her heart, he can't put it back in. He has to let the blood flow, so that the wound can heal in time. So that she can move on.

The critters of the forest seemed to have fallen silent as Elf Archer wept, only the wind passing between trees was there to disturb the perfect silence that engulfed them. Her tears continued to fall with seemingly no end to them. However, what has a beginning, also has an end. And the end of this elf's tears was approaching. She simply run out of them after minutes of constant crying. From then it was only a matter of time before she calmed down enough to speak up again. "...Has Priestess told you to go easy on me? 'Cause you failed at that bit miserably." She asked, wiping her reddened eyes dry with the sleeve of her shirt. Her eyes slowly rose to meet his unchanging gaze.

"She's only told me to be honest. So I was." Her brief laugh broke through the silence of the forest. "I don't think she would have been mad even if I said that I do love you. Which is not to say she would be alright with the idea of polygamy." He turned around and picked up his backpack, throwing it over his shoulder before doing the same with his bow. "Come on. We've rested enough. There is a small brook further into the forest. We should find some foxes around that area." With that said, he slowly started to make his way forward, only to stop a few steps later when Elf Archer called out to him.

"W-Wait a second." She caught up to him, holding her bow in both hands whilst blushing brightly. Slayer had to admit that the image is rather cute. "There's still one thing we need to talk about..." He turned to fully face and motioned to continue. "I-It's just that... I know your name... But you don't know mine... And I was just wondering i-if you want to... You know... Hear it..." The man could only smile gently at that.

"What is your name then?"

Several hours later...

By the time Goblin Slayer and High-Elf Archer returned to the town it was already evening. Slayer was right when he said there's been a lot of foxes in the area lately, they were practically everywhere. He even theorized that there might be a goblin shaman that tried breeding them as pets as there are no wolves in the area, turning their escapade into a scouting mission for possible goblin nest locations in the area. When that was finally done, they both went to Slayer's house first to skin the ten foxes they managed to kill and get anything of value out of them too.

Paws and fangs can for example be sold for a fairly good price as a lot of people like to use them in jewelry and such. And meat naturally could be eaten, so they also cut out what can be used for that and stored for later. Even the bones would find a new usage. Lizard Priest could use them to make more of the catalysts he uses for summoning his Dragon-Tooth Warriors. It is wrongly assumed that he needs actual dragon teeth to summon one as in reality the catalysts themselves can be made out or just about any kind of bone. The warrior itself is what requires actual dragon bones to form, and when not used, it is simply stored in some sort of pocket dimension where it waits to be summoned and where it goes after being defeated.

By the time they were done with that and richer by 25 gold coins each after selling the fox hides, it was already getting dark and streets were slowly growing empty. They decided to head to the Guild House to finally get a nice meal as all they've eaten during the day were some field rations Goblin Slayer took and they were not exactly what one would call 'filling'. They did end up taking a stride through the market square before shops were closed though. With additional 25 gold coins to spare, Slayer could allow himself to buy something special for tomorrow's grand event. Literally everyone could tell that this is what he's doing by now, though for some reason the man himself still believed he's being secretive about it.

Once they were done with that and actually reached their target he was the one to enter into the Guild House first. He immediately turned to the side, searching through the inside of the building. Like every night, adventurers were gathering here to celebrate finished quests or just to hang out together, though today the place wasn't even nearly as packed as it usually was. Probably because of how little new quests there were today. there were only three tables with groups of people sitting around them. And the biggest of those groups was the one made out of their friends. Spotting an empty seat on Priestess' left, he immediately took off to take it for himself. Elf Archer was about to join follow him and join the others too but she was halted by a sudden feeling of a wooden staff touching her stomach.

Turning to the side, she saw none other then Monk standing with his back pressed against the wall with his staff outstretched to reach her. He didn't ask whether she said it or not. The barely visible redness in her eyes told him all he needed to know. "Are you feeling alright?" She didn't respond immediately, instead she simple stood there for a while with her head lowered slightly.

Eventually, her eyes moved to the side, where the rest of the group was enjoying the evening. Dwarf seemed to be overjoyed to have found a fellow wine enthusiast in Cow Girl, whom he was mercilessly filling with his fire wine along with all the other kinds of wine that were lined up around them in small bottles. The girl herself was surprisingly sober for someone who's been drinking with Dwarf Shaman for more then ten minutes. Lizard Priest on the other hand almost seemed to have reached some higher state of existence after all the meditating he did today with the way he was glowing. Or at least, it seemed like that to her until she noticed a piece of cheese and bottle of buttermilk in his hands. Guild Girl was there too, enjoying her time off by joining Dwarf and Cow Girl in drinking wine, though she was far more level-headed when it comes to the amount she was drinking then the other two.

And then there were Goblin Slayer and Priestess, happily sitting by each other's side with smiles on their faces. Though to be fair, one of those smiles was clearly wider then the other. At some point a waitress approached Slayer to take his order and not knowing she's talking to a married man who's wife was sitting next to him, started to not so subtly flirt with him. She must be new here or something... Either way, Priestess was more then happy to put the girl in her place by giving Slayer a very deep kiss, during which she kept looking over at her with a smug grin on her face as she also made sure that the ring on her finger is clearly visible. Embarrassed, the girl left as soon as she took Slayer's order with a bright blush on her face.

For some reason Elf Archer found that event strangely humorous. "Yeah... For some reason I... Feel strangely good... As if a huge weight was suddenly taken off my shoulder." As she said that, she suddenly felt a tear roll down her face, only now making her realize that she's been crying ever since her eyes fell upon Goblin Slayer and Priestess. Unsure what to do about it, or how to even make the tears stop, she resorted to continuously wiping her eyes with her hands, but that did nothing to help. Before she came up with anything else though, she felt a pair of arms on her shoulders. By the time she turned in to see who that was, she already found herself embraced by Monk. And for some reason, she didn't mind at all and before long had her arms lightly wrapped around the man lower then she was.

Which didn't mean she wouldn't voice her opinion on the event. "Don't get ahead of yourself little guy. We're barely friends for now."

"For now? Hoping for more already? And here I thought it'd take you a while to move on."

"Shut up, you know what I meant." With that said, she rested her head on his shoulder, allowing her tears to sink into his robes. They've spent a while in silence, not changing their position even a bit for all that time. If anyone noticed the scene, they chose to ignore it and allow the elf to let go of the remaining sorrows that still weighted down on her bleeding heart. She remained still even when her tears stopped to fall, simply feeling safe and comfortable in the embrace. The time for her to let go did come eventually, brought mostly by embarrassment then anything else. "A-Alright, enough of that."

Monk only smiled at that. "Sure, whatever you say. Now, come on. Let's join the others, I'm sure you're hungry. And honestly, so am I." He said as he started to make his way to the table, but was suddenly stopped when Elf Archer grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Wait a second. There's still something I want to talk about. In private." She pulled him further away from the rest of the group, eventually leading him out of the Guild House. The streets were almost empty at this hour so there was little chance of someone overhearing something they shouldn't. Before Monk could question what this was all about, she spoke up again. "Back when we were sparring, you mentioned something about Priestess having a plan or something. I didn't pay attention before, but now that I think about it, I want to know what it's all about."

Hearing that particular request has left Monk scratching his head, wandering whether he should say anything to her. The plan she was asking about was in the works for half a year at least and tonight was the moment of truth when all people involved would find out if the work they've put into making it a success pays off. And there were four people, that he know of at least, that have spent that half a year working on this, him included. He doubted that even if Elf Archer knew about it all it would cause problems if he made himself clear that this is suppose to remain a secret, but he was still hesitant. He soon found himself looking through a window of Guild House. He could see Priestess through it, enjoying her time among friends. In his thoughts he started to ask for an answer, and almost as if those thoughts have reached her, she turned her face towards him.

Somehow, it seemed like she knows exactly what he is asked to do, and with little hesitation, nodded her head. Monk stood there for a few more seconds, as if waiting for her to change her mind, but the moment she smiled at him, he understood the message completely. "Alright, I'll explain everything." He suddenly grabbed her hand and ignoring her vocal protests dragged into the closest alley where no one would be able to see them. "Listen, before I say anything, I want you to promise that you will not tell anyone about it, especially to Goblin Slayer. It's just for the rest of this day, but know that this was being kept secret for a long time by Priestess' request. She wants this to be a surprise to Slayer or something."

"Surprise? For him? But tomorrow is her birthday, not his... Anyways, I promise to not say anything."

Monk prepared himself with a deep breath before continuing. "Do you remember the time when Priestess had a miscarriage?"

Elf Archer's mood immediately fell down to the bottom. Even her ears seemed to lower themselves. "How could I not... " With a deep sigh she started holding her hand over her temple, closing both eyes. "Back when they told everyone a bunch of adventurers, us included, decided to throw them a huge party. Never saw either of them this happy before, maybe save for their marriage, but..." She sighed again. "Then the news came... Gods, they were devastated... She would barely ever leave their house and whenever she did, she wouldn't even say a word to anyone. He wasn't any better, either, he just started piling himself under one pile of quests after another. It was downright as if he went back to his old self, some adventurers, Spearman in particular, tried partying up with him to get him to talk but he always either outright refused or ignored them. One time when Guild Girl tried to stop him from this by not letting him accept quests he just started to do them without pay. It took almost a whole month for them to recover from that state and another couple of weeks before they were mostly themselves again..."

"Yeah, I remember getting worried when her letters stopped coming. I was just about to get ready to get here myself and check the situation myself when I finally got a word from her again... But did you know that this wasn't the only time they tried?" Her eyes snapped wide open in surprise. "Yeah, I was surprised when I found out too... They tried one more time after all that happened. Ended the same way. Elf medic they went to diagnosed her with some sort of autoimmune disorder. According to what he said, her immune system mistakes the baby for a foreign object and attacks it. That effectively makes her infertile. She can't have children of her own."

Elf Archer's legs felt weak all of a sudden. She almost fell over, but in the last moment grabbed onto a nearby trashcan. Infertile? She's...Infertile? She remembered how getting the news about the miscarriage made her feel and she couldn't even imagine what it must have felt like for Priestess. But to hear that you can never have a child of your own? With how highly Mother Earth's religion views parenthood, motherhood especially? With how happy she was when she thought she will have one? That was on a whole new level and she outright doubted there were even in any words in elfish languages that would describe how she felt because of it. And to think she never even gave off a hint that something like that happened...

"Well, I thought probably exactly what you're thinking about now until I got a letter from her a little over half a year ago." He rested against the wall, crossing his legs. "One would think that a diagnosis like that would make her give up, but not for her... Oh no, she was just getting started. From that point onward she started to search for a way to change that predicament. She searched through one library after another, one by one reading ancient tomes about medicine... And magic. She asked Sword Maiden herself to help her in the search, and at some point she sent back a whole tome describing ancient miracles. You see, long time ago, before you were even born, in times when elves were the dominant race in our world, when we humans were just getting off our trees and dwarfs started getting out of their caves, the miracles we can do now were not even heard of. Instead, what elves of those times did, was perform rituals that requested miracles directly from gods."

He reached to his belt, pulling out a small notebook which he held out in front of him. "In that notebook I have everything there is to know about one particular ritual, including my observations about it. Ancient elves called it the Miracle of Life. This was one of miracles granted by Mother Earth herself and the effect of it, is a blessing placed on mother and child that in essence is to ensure that during the pregnancy, nothing wrong will happen to either." Elf Archer continued to listen in silence, deeply investing herself in what he was saying as he hid the notebook back in his pocket. She just couldn't believe Priestess was willing to go as far as to delve into long forgotten ancient magic of even more ancient elves to reach her goal. The only other person capable of that level of dedication that she knew of, was Goblin Slayer.

"She also started looking into various alchemical means that would help in the miracle succeeding. Witch was helping with that. Anything from increasing sperm potency to mixtures ensuring pregnancy and others. And in the meantime, I was tasked with performing the miracle itself... You know, I didn't actually come straight here after leaving Northern Mountains. I've actually been traveling around the country, trying to figure out the way it works, what comes into play when performing it... And learning ancient elf languages... Boy, that was difficult. I think I actually broke my tongue a few times..." He scratched his jaw at the memories.

"Anyways, I've been walking around the country, searching for cases similar to Priestess and other opportunities to attempt the miracle for past three months, and after all that I have achieved a whopping... Sixteen point six percent success rate..."

"W-What!? This low!?"

"Yeah, I know. And that is only during midnight and double full-moon, the most magically strong time possible. Which is today by the way." He pointed his finger up at the sky, where they could see two fully visible faces of two moons. "And we have only one shot at this. The miracle can only be attempted once per person. This is essentially making a dice roll with only a single good outcome out of six possible... And to think over half a year of work from multiple people is hanging on that... To think it all of that is hanging on my shoulders..." His eyes turned up, to the moon. He wasn't the type that prays for every second of the day as if his fife depended on it, but for this once time, he was ready to drop down on his knees and lower his head to the ground in the deepest, dirtiest puddle in existence if that meant he will succeed.

It took Elf Archer's hand grabbing his shoulder to snap him out of it and get down to earth again. "Don't worry." She said, flashing him with some weird confident spark in her eye. "It's all going to work out just fine, you'll see." The tone of her voice hid no doubt in it, he could tell that much. She was absolutely confident in what she just said.

"... What makes you so sure?"

"Don't forget who's going to be the father." Goblin Slayer? What about him? Monk had almost nothing but respect for the man, but he honestly doubted he can somehow influence the outcome. The Miracle of Life is solely focused on the mother after all. "Remember this... Nothing is left to chance when Goblin Slayer is involved. He will never allow odds to play a role in his life. He will not let you, or anyone else, roll the dice." With those words said, she turned away from Monk and moved to leave the alley, but stopped only a few steps away. "Thank you for telling me this." Her foot started to move, but she hesitated mid-step and placed it back on the ground. "And..." She turned her head back to look at him. "Do you love her?"

". . ." He pushed himself away from the wall, slowly making his way to the exit from the alley. "I did."

Some time later...

By the time the little party their group ended up holding came to an end it was barely over an hour before midnight. For some reason Goblin Slayer and most people present didn't understand, Priestess was very insistent on staying together until this late hour. Not that anyone cared in particular. If she wanted to stay among friends deep into the night, then they were more then happy to oblige. The Guild was open whole day long in case of any emergencies popping up. The building was only handled by a skeleton staff at those hours though, so they couldn't hope for any service from Guild's bar.

This is not to say that they they all stayed together until the end. They all had different jobs to do, some at early hours. Cow Girl in particular had to leave the soonest, having become completely wasted after Dwarf Shaman pushed her into tasting dozens of different kinds of wine throughout their time together on top of already having to get up early. Poor girl was going to be cursing the Dwarf once she wakes up the next day with the largest hangover she ever experienced, even though he made sure she drinks some potions that were meant to help with that. He ended up taking her barely conscious self to the farm and only came back when the party was about to end for good.

The second one to leave was Guild Girl. While she may not have to get up early for work on the next day as she till be taking the afternoon shift for the next week, she was not blessed with a strong tolerance for alcohol, and since she was drinking with dwarf, she soon ended up hitting her limit, which prompted her to get back home and rest for the day. Lizard Priest has left at the same time as her. Having drunk nothing but buttermilk and goat milk whole night long he was perfectly fit to lead the slightly stumbling women safely back to her home. Having a bodyguard who was over two meters tall and equipped with sharp fangs and claws was sure to scare off anyone that might become a problem for her. The lizardman himself had to get up early for his everyday prayer. Timing of which he takes with utmost seriousness.

The only ones who stayed to the end were Goblin Slayer, Priestess, High-Elf Archer and Monk, though for some reason Slayer had a strange feeling that everyone who's still at the table knows something that he doesn't. The way they were talking between each other seemed almost like a code of sorts. He had no idea how to decipher it though, and after some time of thinking, decided against asking. He trusted his wife completely, if she wanted to withhold some information from him for now, he would wait patiently for her to tell him. He would only push if he saw that this troubles her, and it didn't seem like that was the case. He would even go as far as to say that whatever she was keeping a secret from him was making her happy, excited even.

Monk was the one who suggested to end the whole thing soon after Dwarf Shaman came back from the farm to his great disapproval as he still wanted to drink some more wine with them, seeing as he was the only one among them who drank anything. Priestess was known to rarely drink anything stronger then cider if anything at all and Monk was a complete abstinent so he wasn't surprised that they weren't interested, but Goblins Slayer and Elf Archer were also against drinking, which surprised the dwarf as they are usually among the more eager ones to drink with him. Slayer may not exactly be the type to drink beyond a certain point he sets for himself to 'keep his senses sharp' as he says, but he always enjoyed a glass of wine or two. Elf Archer on the other hand, was always eager to get completely wasted by trying to defeat him in their drinking competitions.

This time though, she just said that she's just not in the mood the moment she and Monk joined them earlier that night and hasn't changed her mind since. Slayer though... He simply felt like he shouldn't, a sort of gut feeling. The looks Priestess would give him every time dwarf offered him a glass of wine only served to reinforce his conviction. Dwarf Shaman could be a bit pushy when when drunk, but he didn't try convincing them for long and agreed to wrap this up along with everyone else. He couldn't help but treat himself to one more glass of fire wine though.

And with that, Goblin Slayer and Priestess have returned to their home. A fairly big property for two simple adventurers which they received as a wedding gift from the Guild as a 'symbol of appreciation for the remarkable service done to the common people and Adventurer's Guild'. A nice gesture, that had 'Guild Girl' written all over it in big red letters. The place was not used for several years, with previous owners passing away and their children living far from the city it was sold to the Guild. No one was really interested in it anyways since it was so far from the city's center, so it probably didn't take a lot of convincing to pass the ownership to them.

The building itself was just spacious enough for everything they needed it for. It had a working kitchen, enough spare rooms for them to use as storage for their equipment and workshops to maintain them, bathtub and most importantly – bedroom with a large bed, conveniently placed in the space under the A-frame roof, giving them a view on the garden, that while for now was a shadow of its former self, full of weeds and such, never failed to ignite Priestess' imagination with ideas of what it could be turned into every time she looked at it.

Once Slayer and Priestess have entered inside they were quick to head to the bathtub and get the water ready for them. Bathing daily isn't something most people did, but they were an exception to that. With how often they end up inside goblin nests and other less then clean places they usually end up quickly getting their bodies dirty to the point where people try to avoid them and the odor they give off. Not to mention the blood they often end up covered in. Goblin Slayer naturally was doing it way before Priestess ever entered his life to keep the smell he gives off to an absolute minimum, and the temple Priestess grew up in was big on personal hygiene, so it wasn't long before they started to regularly take baths together. Something that only became an everyday event ever since they started living together. Neither had a problem with that, obviously. Both enjoyed the closeness that came with this and were more then happy help each other wash their bodies. If only to have an excuse to touch the other.

That night was not an exception. Once inside of the wooden tub Priestess happily relaxed in the hot water as she laid her back against Slayer's chest. The man meanwhile was getting his hands covered in soap – a dwarf invention that was initially made for miners working in the numerous dwarf mines that was slowly becoming a common thing among the general public. He quickly placed the soap cube away and started to slowly run his hands all over his wife's body. No bit of her skin remained untouched, especially the sensitive ones. Their baths don't usually turn sexual, most of the time ending in light teasing, but today was different. There was something about her throughout the whole day that just made it hard to take his eyes and hands off her, more so then usual. Some weird aura that seemed to invite him to come closer, touch, pleasure her... Throughout most of the day he was able to resist the urge to just have his way with her regardless of where they are, with one exception he did not regret whatsoever, and now when they were alone and so close together...

They haven't even said anything since entering the tub and he was already groping her breasts, only occasionally moving his hands to put soap on other parts of her body. And to top it off, she didn't even comment on it, as if she was hoping for that since the very moment they entered their home. All she did was lightly moan and relax as he continued to touch her, resting her head on his shoulder. Soon, he felt her hands grab the sides of his head, bringing it lower for her to kiss. As that happened, he pinched her nipples a bit, making her squeal slightly while his tongue entered her mouth to enjoy a slow dance with hers.

With her whole upper body covered in soap, her breasts especially, he was just about to move his hand lower, between her legs, when she suddenly pulled away from their kiss and grabbed his hand right before his fingers found her slit. "Its my turn now." A smile appeared on her face as she said that. "Turn around." And he couldn't say 'no' to that smile. He did just as she said as soon as she got off him, exposing his back to her only to soon feel her soap covered hands on it. Slowly, she begun to move her hands, carefully sliding her fingers against all of his scars. She did this all the time, as if she was trying to ease the pain those wounds have caused in the past. And she knew how he got them all. He was at some point pushed by her into revealing everything about every single one. How he got them, what left them, where it happened... She knew all of that by memory.

Especially when it came to scars he got after meeting her. The one left on his shoulder by the ogre they fought, the one hidden by his hair on the back of his head ho got after the fight with Goblin Lord... And the one that covered half of his chest left by Goblin Champion from the ruins under Water Town. This one she could never forget, and neither could he, but both for different reasons. She remembered it for what she felt as she watched him slowly die right in front of her. The hopelessness and pain she felt when Goblin Champion almost bit her arm off. And the sadness that filled her when she realized the scar doesn't even make a difference to him. He didn't share those feelings at all. For him, that scar was a reminder of the miracle that happened because of it. Not the Resurrection Miracle she and Sword Maiden performed to save his life, but the one that happened after he regained consciousness. The miracle that was her and the love he finally realized he felt for her. Before all that, Goblin Slayer didn't care about any scar that covered his body. He considered all the adventurers that showed off their 'favorite scars' to be shallow and self centered, though he never cared about that enough to voice his opinion.

But whenever he looked at that one scar that nearly costed him his life, he always remembered the morning when his rebirth started. And he could confidently call it his favorite. The only one that mattered to him.

It wasn't long before he felt her hands touch it. She had her face and breasts pressed against his back as she sadly traced the line on his chest. No words left her mouth, but he knew that there was a 'sorry' stuck in her throat. An apology she repeated many times over the years. Shortly after that, he found himself grabbing her hand as it passed over his heart, keeping it right where she could feel his heart beating. A clear sign that he is still alive. And not going anywhere. She couldn't help but smile at that gesture. "Hey..." He heard her speak his name and slightly turned his head beck to look at her, still holding her hand in place. "Do you remember... When we wanted to have a baby?"

He felt the good mood from before suddenly fade away as he heard that word. "...I do..." Why did she ask him about it now? They agreed to never tear that wound open again. To move on and forget... So why is she doing it?

Before he could voice that concern, she continued. "I...Think I've found a way... No... I did find a way." He stared at her in silence, one question ringing in his head. Did she really? No medic they asked for help could cure her condition, how did she find anything by herself? Still, he was not the kind to dismiss words like that, especially when she is the one to say them. He only waited for an explanation. "There's a miracle... That may... will help us..." He felt her tense up as her eyes turned down.

"You don't sound so sure..."

"Maybe I don't, but..." The hand he was holding curled into a fist. "...I want to try again. Don't you?"

"...Why?"

"Why?" She fell silent for a while, slowly rising her head back up to straight into his eyes. The expression she was making was so full of confidence and faith at the same time, it made Slayer's heart skip a bit. "Because tomorrow is my birthday. And I want a baby."

". . ."

". . ."

For some time they did nothing but sit there, facing each other as the steam from the water flew into the air. No words were spoken, no gestures made. They just looked into each other's eyes in complete silence. Hesitation met determination, and slowly, one started to melt away. "What should I do?" Slayer broke the silence, suddenly feeling Priestess' heart beat increase as a smile spreads on her face. She slowly moved her mouth over to his, kissing him deeply. A few tears left her face before she knew it and fell down into the water underneath. Slayer was quick to return the kiss, though it soon ended before he had a chance to enjoy it.

"Thank you..." She rested her forehead against his back, embracing him from behind. "Thank you so much..." Soon, she returned to kissing him, far more aggressively this time. Her hands started to move all over his chest, while her soap covered breasts were sliding up and down his back. He could feel her nipples become erect again as her moans filled his ears. The sound has never failed to make him excited before, and now was naturally no exception. Before he knew it, his member was standing erect, with Priestess' hands slowly moving lower to grab it.

He couldn't help but groan when her soft fingers covered in soap finally reached their target. Not wasting time, she immediately started rubbing it. And just as he knew exactly how to touch her, she knew where to touch him. Every bit of him was like an open book to her, the exact spots she should touch, rub and stroke were all imprinted on her mind and she did not hesitate to use that knowledge. In part to pay him back for all the times he toyed with her. Barely a few seconds after she started, he was already biting his lip and holding onto the edges of the tub for dear life. His whole length started to twitch madly as he started to pant, releasing pre-cum from his tip. That didn't matter much though, his erection was already slippery with all the soap Priestess covered it in.

Her breasts sliding against his back didn't help, and neither did her moans reaching his ear. For some reason just hearing them every time her nipples moved up and down felt like the most satisfying thing in the world. Especially when his name slipped in between those moans. By now he could hardly believe he ever wanted to forget that name. Just hearing her say it was enough to make him feel great, and whenever she whispered or moaned out that name? There were times when it almost seemed like he could get off just from that. It just seemed so surreal to him that she somehow made the act of simply saying his name into that considering how little he used to think of it.

For a while he felt her body shake as she reached a small orgasm. He wished he could do something for her, but with how she was making him feel now, he could barely hold himself back from cumming in her hands, let alone turn back and do something more. And it seemed like he is not going to last long. Her moves were growing faster, her moans more frequent and the pressure he felt more and more unbearable by the second. The resistance he's been putting up until now and years of practice in holding off started to melt down on his very own eyes and then, just a second before he reached the point of no return... It stopped. All of it. Her hands no longer touching his length, pressing his weak spots or rubbing his tip, her breasts were no longer sliding against his back, no moans reached his ears anymore, instead he heard... Sound of dripping water?

As he slowly started to regain his breath, his head turned in the direction this sound came from, only to see Priestess out of the tub with a linen towel in her hands. She slowly dried herself up with it, clearly teasing him by showing off her body to him. The moment he saw her pussy flash through his vision, he immediately tried to get up and reach her so that he can pin her do any surface available to take her right here and now, but he soon found his legs were barely responding to his commands. He was still shaking and panting hard after what Priestess did to him. And to make it worse, he could hear her chuckle at his attempt. "Someone here's eager, I see..." She bent over slightly with both hand spreading her butt-cheeks open, giving him a perfect view of her pussy. He could also see something wet running down her legs, but he was sure that this was not water. "I'll be waiting upstairs... I hope you won't keep me waiting for too long." With that said, she dropped her towel on the ground and walked away, swinging her hips seductively at him and blowing him a kiss just before disappearing from his vision.

He wasted no time after seeing that, immediately getting back on his legs. It still felt as if he was walking with wooden logs instead of his legs, but he ignored the feeling and hurried out of the tub and all but run out of the room, realizing that he is dripping with water and still covered in soap only once he was passing the doorframe. Still with enough of his mind remaining intact to know that it is not a good idea to leave like this, he mentally slapped himself for wasting time and got back in the tub where he grabbed a bucket of water they prepared beforehand and poured its contents on himself.

With that done, he grabbed his own towel and hastily dried himself up as thoroughly as his unsatisfied erection allowed him to. Which was not very thoroughly at all, but acceptable for his condition. Only after that was done did he throw away his towel and got out of the bathroom, not bothering to close the door behind him as he rushed to the staircase. Grabbing the handrail at his right he all but jumped upstairs, climbing three steps at a time. In a matter of seconds he made it the door of his and Priestess' room and with no pause, opened it widely. And he was very pleased with what he saw.

She was waiting there just as she promised, which alone would be enough to put a smile on his face, but there was more to enjoy there. For once, in the time he wasted – in his mind at least – on washing the soap off his body and drying it up, she dressed up for the occasion. Now, he wasn't exactly sure why it was like that, but for some reason during the first winter since they got together he noticed that the thigh-high socks she started to wear in addition to her winter robes were strangely attractive to him. The way they emphasized the shape of her legs just seemed to work for him. She called it a fetish, but at the time he doubted it since looking at Guild Girl's legs doesn't work on him like that. That opinion has changed since then as his feelings for her took a stronger hold on him and he realized that there is simply no other woman in existence can turn him on like his wife can. She was more then happy to wear those socks from time to time as something of a reward for him or when she felt like it. And now was one of those times.

He found her sitting on their bed with her legs crossed in front of her, inviting him to come closer with a warm smile and a small glimpse at her wet slit he got when she moved her legs a bit. Feeling his erection twitch painfully as if to punish him for just standing there and admiring the view, he stepped forward, quickly approaching her with need for her written all over him. What he failed to notice though, were two empty bottles laying by the bedside. As soon as he was about to throw himself at her, she suddenly halted his moves by first grabbing his shoulders and then kicking the back of his knee, effectively bringing him down to kneel on one leg. With her face now higher then his, she grabbed both sides of his face and pressed her mouth against his. He immediately felt her tongue push past his lips, and while he did allow her entrance without arguing, he did not expect what happened the moment he did.

Something poured out of her mouth, directly into his. Some sort of liquid, slightly sweet in taste. Before he knew what was going on, she already poured a mouthful into his mouth and without realizing it, he already swallowed it. She pulled away immediately, smiling at him sweetly and not letting him question what she just did or even speak up, pushed against her breast while her legs reached down to his crotch. And once her feet started to rub against his downright painfully hard member, all of his questions suddenly evaporated and he started to happily suck on her hard nipple while rubbing her other breast with his hand.

He felt her hand rest on top his head, lightly stroking his hair as she started to quietly moan. With how sensitive he was, it didn't take long before he started to approach orgasm again, but Priestess was not going to allow all that cum to go to waste. Before he got too enthusiastic about the idea of staining her black socks with his semen, she moved her legs away and instead, placed them around his head, pulling him down to her crotch before he could even muster a word of protest. To make sure he doesn't try anything she doesn't want him to, both her legs and hands wrapped around his head, pressing it hard against her crotch. Not that he would do anything else. Acting almost on instinct, he started to lick her dripping pussy, pushing his tongue inside shortly after he started.

This is not to say he suddenly stopped dreaming about the moment he finally will get to cum, if anything whatever it was that she made him drink made things even worse. His pre-cum was outright dripping down on the floor and his balls felt like they could explode any second from overfilling. It was a torture to say the least, and before he became desperate enough to simply jerk off, she made it even worse. As her head shot back when she came, she wrapped her legs around his head even tighter, making it feel like a snake was trying to choke him. Almost immediately after her orgasm ended, he was suddenly thrown into the air and onto the bed. Before he came to his senses, he was already pinned down by her.

The move she did just now was in part taught to her by Fighter, the only other survivor from her first party. They've met the girl about a year after their relationship started in the same village that posted the quest she and the rest of their party ended up paying dearly for. Apparently she married the man that took her in and helped recover, eventually opening her own dojo in the village. She ended up giving Priestess a few lessons that she was more then happy to utilize now.

When he was able to see clearly again, he noticed that she was holding her crotch just a few centimeters above his face, all the while looking down at him with a smile. That wasn't just any smile though. He's seen it before and knew all too well what it meant. She was in the mood, the one that made him think she was a succubus long ago. Slayer couldn't help but internally slap himself for not noticing sooner, the signs were all there. He would have slapped himself for real, but he soon found it impossible as his hands were already cuffed to the bed, keeping his arms above his head. She only smiled wider at his fruitless attempts to remove the handcuffs, gently caressing the sides of his face. Then, without a word she turned around and took his length into her hand again, slowly lowering her mouth closer to it as her crotch simultaneously started to lower itself onto him.

But the relief was not yet about to come to Goblin Slayer. Just a moment before her tongue was about to touch his tip, when he could already feel her hot breath on it... She suddenly giggled. "My, my... I almost forgot about the most important thing." Confused, Slayer tried to take a look at what she's doing, only to end up outright terrified of what is to come. She was reaching for something in the nightstand and seeing what it was honestly made him wish he had to face the Goblin Champion that nearly killed him again. Partly because he just wished he could rip off it's other eye too, but mostly because what she was holding in her hand now, was... A ring. Naturally, not just any ring, this one was... Enchanted. Though he would actually call it 'cursed' instead... And he was sure he got rid of that thing, how the hell could she still have it!?

The way it worked was simple, it did not let the one wearing it cum unless the person controlling the enchantment allowed it. This was basically the same effect he could achieve by simply fingering her, except she didn't have to hold anything back. No matter how hard she would go on him, he would remain unable to cum, not just forced to balance on the edge but downright suspended in the free-fall. He couldn't help but wonder if his tendency to do this to her was what this was about? A payback for teasing her so much? That might very well be the case, she only started to use it after he got proficient enough to balance her on the edge without issues, it's very likely she just asked someone who knows how to make enchantments like that for help with that, most likely anonymously. She probably wouldn't survive the embarrassment otherwise.

Just as he was about to raise an objection, she pressed her pussy down on his face, hard. And with him unable to do anything about it, she placed the ring at the base of his length where it immediately tightened around his flesh.

He tried to brace himself for the torture that he was about to experience, he really did... But in the end it didn't matter in the slightest. The very moment when his length was engulfed by her mouth, he came. Or he would have if he didn't hit the wall formed by that cursed ring. His whole body tensed up and twitched as if he was having the strongest orgasm of his life, but nothing came out of him, not even pre-cum. And the worst thing was, that this feeling was not going to stop. He was stuck in this state until she decides for it to end. From now on, he was completely under her control, and he could do nothing about it. Feeling the turmoil his body is in, she only giggled as her hips shook above him. "Come on, you know what I want~" She said, sliding his member out of her throat but still stroking it slowly. "If you will do nicely, I might just consider letting you cum."

He needed no other encouragement, immediately getting his tongue deep into her lower lips, making her moan loudly as she slid his whole length back into her warm mouth. This was not the best option available to him and he knew it. The chance of her actually letting him cum as a reward for compliance is next to zero. It made absolutely no sense for her to let him cum now, for the simple reason that if she did, she was risking that he will break out of her control, and right now that was the last thing she wanted. Compliance would only strengthen that control, but he just couldn't stop himself. Even though there was an other option open to him, he did not take it. All he needed to do was to simply not get her off.

Even in his state he was able to tell how turned on she was. It would not take long before she gets impatient and her submissive nature starts to kick in, making her more willing to let him go in exchange for pleasure. He knew that, but for some reason he could not comprehend didn't do it. Worse, he not only did exactly what she wanted him to, but gave it his all.

Just as he thought, it wasn't long before she came, moaning and screaming as her mouth touched down to the base of his member. Her throat hugged him so tightly that he felt every vibration her vocal cords made, pushing him even harder into the wall that kept him from cumming... No that wasn't it. The ring was suppose to stop him exactly at the edge of an orgasm, with no room to spare, it shouldn't be able to do that... Unless...

His eyes snapped wide open as the realization hit him straight in the face, along with Priestess' awaiting pussy. This was not the same ring she had before. He threw that one away into a fire pit at blacksmith's workshop and made sure that no one will ever find it, there's no way she could ever use it again. He couldn't make use of it to get some payback anyways as he holds no magical potential himself and having it is necessary to control the enchantment. She must have somehow gotten her hands on a new one that not only prevented him from cumming, but also piled up the pressure this was making him feel. How she got her hands on such a torture device was beyond his currant capacity to analyze, all he knew is that he had a chance to get out of this situation and foolishly didn't take it. Now all he could do is regret that decision as she slowly pulled his length out of her mouth, sucking on it greedily as if she wanted to get the cum out of him even though she knew very well that nothing would get past the ring.

"Yes~ That was very nice... Now as for your reward~" Could it be? Was she really going to do it? Of course not. While he was getting his hopes up, she just chuckled darkly as her mouth went back to sucking on him while her finger suddenly entered his asshole where she started to rub against his prostate while the rest of her hand massaged his balls. This must have been the 'reward' she spoke of. Strange, it seemed more like a divine punishment to him.

Why didn't he realize this was going to happen? Why didn't he react properly when there was still a way out open to him? Those two questions kept playing on repeat inside his head. It was so stupid... If he had only realized this sooner, they could have had a nice bath and normal sex together. If he had more self-control he could have turned the tables on her. So why? Why was this happening... Could it be a part of her plan to get pregnant? He knew for a fact that there was no medical way of curing or circumventing her condition, that much he was able to confirm himself through his own research, and that would mean that there was likely magic involved in a way.

If she were to somehow find a way to magically protect the baby through some miracle, her actions would suddenly make absolute sense. Today is one of the most magically potent nights in a year. A double full-moon. For most mages that meant an almost three times stronger miracles and if this was combined with the increase in magic power granted during midnight, the overall increase in power could go up to six time what it normally is. Luckily the effect is not reachable for any sort of chaos creatures such as demons, otherwise they could prove to be a problem that rivals goblins. The increase in power granted by the moons lasts roughly for around two hours, but the one given at the midnight hour lasts barely a minute. If the miracle she wanted to perform needed a specific activator, such as for example her getting pregnant at the same time as the miracle is being cast, then she would need to have control over when it happens to fit into that one minute time frame.

That thing she made him drink could also be connected to this. He was very much aware that there are potions that can increase effectiveness of spermatozoids and their numbers, this could be one of those. The way his balls suddenly started to feel heavier definitely supported that theory. And for all he knew she could have drunk something that would ensure pregnancy, there were potions for that too.

If what he was thinking was correct... Then he had to play along.

He did agree to try again after all. To back down now would not be in his style, and frankly, he had to admit that there was a part of him that actually enjoyed all this. Why else would he just go along without a problem even when the way out was clearly open and waiting for him?

His thoughts were suddenly shuttered into tiny pieces when he felt Priestess speed up her moves. She was happily pushing his member deep into her throat, making a gagging sound each time. With the last remains of his strength, he managed to look aside at a clock standing by the wall. The midnight was in ten minutes and that was how long he had to endure this. If she was feeling merciful that day at least, if not... He'll have to look for another way. Feeling that his head is moving, she gladly found a different use for it. She pressed her pussy against it again and without complaining he started to lick it, quickly bringing her to another orgasm soon after he focused his efforts on her clit.

She came still not letting go of his erection, mercilessly teasing it with her tight throat and skilled tongue even as her body shook and trembled from pleasure. Her hand was still holding onto his balls too, and she continued to do so until she completely rode off her orgasm. Once that happened she finally released his member from her mouth for good, giving it one last kiss on the tip before she also moved her pussy away from him. She looked at him as she turned around, giggling but not saying anything. Not long after, she found a new resting place for her thoroughly wet and twitching pussy, namely his lap. His erection was pressed right against her crotch, giving her a perfect opportunity to stroke it and she did just that without waiting. That wasn't all though. He soon felt that she moved her sock covered foot over to his face, simply resting it there as her assault on him continued and eventually pushing it against his mouth, wordlessly ordering him to lick it.

Within just a few seconds he could already tell she was sliding her slit on his length, moaning lightly as she did that. It wasn't long before she ceased that though. Clearly feeling impatient, she moved her foot away from his face to help her stabilize herself as she placed his tip at the entrance. She pushed it in first, playing around with it a bit by moving her hips around. And then, in one quick move pushed it all down into her womb, immediately falling down on his chest as the orgasmic feeling reached her mind. He wasn't any better off naturally. The curse brought to him by the ring she put on him only continued to grow in strength with no sign of stopping for as long as she was there to use him for her own pleasure.

In just a few seconds, she was already riding him like there was no tomorrow, pushing her hips down as hard as she could with each of her moves. He was left in state of absolute stupor, panting loudly through his mouth as he lied there numbly. For a while he couldn't even see her face properly, instead being faced with a blurry image of his sex-crazed wife humping his overstimulated erection with no mercy. He attempted to glance at the clock again, but while it did seem to him that there are still five minutes left, for a while he could swear it became five hours, so he wasn't sure if he can trust his eyes in any capacity anymore. Right now all that he could feel clearly was her pussy tightly hugging his length. A little too clearly.

Soon, he wasn't able to feel anything besides that at all. Only a blurry image of Priestess and her even blurrier voice were able to reach him at all, everything else seemed to have stopped existing, including time. If he was still able to think clearly he would probably start to wonder if he was dying from his nervous system being simply unable to handle it all. He thought he saw her cum once or twice in that time, but he wasn't sure of anything anymore, except the fact that he wanted to finally release all the pressure that has piled up in him by now, to finally be able to empty his painfully swollen balls and get her pregnant.

And his wish was granted... After a few minutes.

When the midnight finally arrived, he heard her scream 'now' at the top of her lungs and with in a split second, his senses returned to him in full force. At that very moment he came instantly. No, 'came' doesn't quite cover it. He exploded inside her, tensing up all of his body and nearly screaming as the pressure was finally released. Torrents of his seed rushed into her womb in amounts so large, he at some point got worried his member may actually explode, not just figuratively. He didn't even know where that amount came from, he was certain that no male's testicles can contain this much.

Regardless of how it happened, he ended up pouring enough to slightly inflate her stomach. She came from that as well, screaming just as loudly as he was while her head shot into the air. It took a while for either of them to calm down. Slayer had continued to 'cum' even after he had completely emptied his balls, spasming in place with next to no control over his moves and Priestess was going through what was without a doubt the largest orgasm of her entire life. When they eventually started to get down from that all time high they just reached she simply collapsed against his limp body like a doll with it's strings cut. Their hearts were beating so fast it almost seemed like they were about to burst out of their sweat-covered chests.

They only snapped out of the trance like state they've entered after the area around them started to glow out of nowhere. They rose their heads and looked around. Slayer in confusion, Priestess in anticipation. Suddenly, the light started to accumulate into small orbs that slowly rotated around Priestess, gradually closing in on her with each rotation they made, and eventually reaching her stomach. They all entered it, still glowing inside of her. They could still see the lights for a few seconds before it completely dissolved, with that leaving their bedroom completely silent as they both had their eyes pinned on her stomach. "It... Worked..." Tears started to fall down on his skin. "It worked..." Her shaking hands slowly moved towards her stomach. "It worked." She looked straight into his eyes. "It worked!" Her head dropped down to his chest as her hands continued to hold onto her stomach and her sobbing intensified. "It Worked! It Worked, it worked..." Without a warning her hands shot out to his face, grabbing it as she pulled herself towards him, briefly smashing their lips together.

She had to pull away quickly from the lack of air but after one deep breath during which they both looked into each other's tearful eyes, they kissed again, this time with Goblin Slayer's recently freed hands wrapping around her to pull her closer.

At the same time...

And that was it. His task was complete. He did what he was asked to do and succeeded despite the odds stacked against him. The question was, what now? For the past half a year his only motivation was helping her and nothing else. He wanted nothing more then to make her happy... He achieved that goal, but now... He felt empty inside. As if he just took off the bandages he had wrapped around his heart only to find that the wound is still there, just no more blood left to pour out of it. The miracle he performed for her worked and was sure that she was happy beyond belief, but he didn't want to stay there and hear her voice. Her happiness was not his to enjoy, it belonged to someone else. Along with all of her, just as that someone belonged to her.

The notebook he held in his hand has landed on the ground, no longer needed and no longer wanted despite the countless hours he's put into research that it contained. He had done his job, hoping it would help him close his wound, but when he took off the bandages were he had only found an empty hole in his heart. It honestly seemed better when his heart was bleeding. He'd rather feel pain then nothing at all. Now he couldn't even bring himself to as little as shed a tear for a love he lost so long ago yet never let go of it.

In his hand rested a segment of his weapon, staff he and her made as children. A memento of old days, when they were still young and immature children, with barely a month spent knowing each other before they being separated. He couldn't let go of it no matter what happened. Even when it was broken in half by his own hand after she rejected him in a letter, he still fixed it, hoping she would change her mind, that they would be able to go back to the old days... They never did obviously. And he was only reminded of that fact as he looked at their initials engraved on the wood. Initials of their real names. "Together forever my ass..." He grabbed the piece of wood in both hands as he halted in the middle of a street, slowly putting more and more pressure on it.

He was so stupid... He should have moved on, find someone else he can love... But no. For all those years, he could never stop thinking about her. A girl he knew for just a few weeks. Girl with whom they promised eternal 'love' to each other, not knowing what the word really meant. It was the kind of love that was nothing more then a childish fantasy started by a teacher mentioning it during a lesson. They weren't even ten years old back then, why did he ever think that she would still want to play along with that game they started as kids?

The wood suddenly broke in the middle with a loud snap. Separating the two letters apart. Monk just looked at two pieces in shock. "No..." He did it again, he lost control over his emotions and destroyed the most important of his possessions. Not only that, he also broke the only proof of love he could never let go of. "No, I... I-I can fix this..." Frantically, he started to press the two pieces against each other, but that obviously didn't work in the slightest. "I need... Something to glue it together... Yes, Guild should have something in their shop... Or the local alchemist. I'll just-" The moment he turned to head back to the Guild House he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He wasn't the only one on the street.

Someone's been watching his entire freak-out. And that someone was Elf Archer. The women was just standing there, a few meters away from him with her eyes fixated on him. "...I'm pathetic, aren't I? And a hypocrite too, probably." His head dropped down as his eyes tried to look at anything that wasn't her. "Pushing you to let go of your feelings, while just keeping mine hidden so deep I can't even feel them anymore... Trying to fill the void that left me with by going after all those other women I met ever since she turned me down... I even tried to go after Guild Girl... And all that as I helped her in hope that I will finally be able to let go if I just make sure she can be happy with the one she actually loves... " He fell silent, unsure what else he should say.

There was no need for him to say anything though. Without waiting, Elf Archer just approached him and wiped his face clean of tears he didn't even realize were there. "You may be a bit of a hypocrite... But I honestly have nothing to be mad at you for. You did help me out in the end..." She held her hand over her heart. "It's kinda unfair though... I can still feel the pain in my heart while you just tucked it away before you could really feel it. So I guess..." She slowly wrapped her arms around him and pulled into a gentle embrace. "...I guess I should be the one to help you now, right? Help you feel that pain again... So that we can move on together..." She said, pushing his head down to her shoulder. He made no move to stop her. Before he knew it though, he felt his arms slowly moving around her as the two pieces of his broken staff landed on the ground.

And with that, he allowed blood from her heart to enter his.

At the same time...

Tears haven't stopped falling from Priestess' eyes throughout their whole kiss. Even after they pulled away for the second time he could see her eyes letting out one tear after another as the moonlight reflected from her wet cheeks. "I'm so happy..." He gently moved his hand over her eyes, wiping the tears away before resting it against her cheek. She happily accepted the gesture, pushing her head against his hand as her own hands lightly rubbed the base of his neck. In her euphoric state she had completely failed to remember the fact that his hands were supposed to be bound to their bed. Something that slowly started to sink into her mind as she felt his other hand against her side. "Hm?"

She took a glance at the metal bar right behind Slayer's head, only for her eyes to suddenly snap open in utter shock. The handcuffs she had used were unlocked and lying uselessly on the pillow right beside Slayer's head, along with a bobby pin she thought she had lost a few days ago. "So you've noticed, huh? Took you a while." In a quick move, he flipped them over. With him now being at the top, he had no problems overpowering her with his sheer strength, forcing her hands behind the bed and binding them together with the handcuffs.

"H-Huh?" It took her another moment to fully comprehend the position she was in.

He was quick to remove the ring from his length and throw it away. Seeing her attempt to find a way out of the situation, he teasingly slapped her slip with his length before pushing it all the way inside again. All her protests were shut down as she screamed in ecstasy, barely able to prevent herself from cumming on that very moment. She was always very sensitive even a while after an orgasm, so after one as strong as the one she just had about a minute ago, what she experienced after that single move was simply incomparable to anything he did before. "You really did a number on me this time..." He stated, looking down at her with what would almost pass as anger as his hands roughly grabbed her hips.

"I get it that I tend to tease you a lot but... That was too much. So I think I'm allowed to to get some payback, don't you think?" Before she could even open her mouth, he lowered his head down to hers. "But don't worry, I'll go easy on you. Really, I swear. I won't even make you cum." With that said, he quickly pulled out of her almost entirely, leaving only his tip inside.

She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable... That did not come. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked over at him, only to see the usually stone-faced Goblin Slayer shyly rubbing his chin as he was looking away with a small blush on his face. "Also, um..." He swallowed nervously. "I don't... Actually mind it when you get like this... Just tell me before if you ever want to do it again, okay?" She found herself smiling at that after a while. He really was the biggest- "Now, about your punishment."

"W-Wait a second I'm so- AAaaaAAAaaaaAaaaaAAAAaaaAAAAAah~!"

It was only a few hours later, when the sun started to rise that in a building in other part of the town, where Witch slept naked with equally naked Spearman beside her, that the realization hit the older women's head. She has failed to inform Priestess about how to exactly dose the potions she gave her. A teaspoon or two would be enough, but drinking all of it... Would lead to side effects. For both of them. Something that Priestess came to understand completely when as first rays of sunlight reached her eyes, she was laying limply on their bed, covered in white from head to toes and with Goblin Slayer eagerly thrusting his somehow still erect member into her mouth and down he throat while holding the sides of her face in his hands. By that point she could feel his cum leaking out of every bit of her. It was in her pussy, her mouth, nose and even her butt.

The thing was, that even after he blew yet another load of his cum all over her face and flipped her around like a rag doll only to penetrate her asshole again, she not only found herself enjoying it, she wanted more. And she knew that he was more then happy to deliver.

So needless to say, no one saw them leave their house until the next day.

Nine months later...

The day has come. With a messenger finding him as he and the rest of his party were on their way back from a quest to bring him the news that Priestess has went into labor, Goblin Slayer abandoned his companions and rushed forward to see her. He knew that they started to run after him, but none were able to catch up, or even match his speed.

The man was so close. As the ash-like ground beneath him started to crack he took off as fast as he could. He could see the sun, the women inside of it, smiling at him as he was getting closer and closer with every second.

By the time he reached the town again he was already greeted with people congratulating him on the streets, adventurers clapping their hands as he run. He ignored all of them, and just run as if his life depended in it, because it honestly seemed like that to him. He only bothered to keep his eyes for any period of time on someone, when he saw Witch passing by with her recently born son in hands.

The ground around him started to fall apart. Large chunks of it started to fall apart and sink into darkness that was below. Before long he had to jump between them to not be swallowed by nothingness that awaited below. He would not fall, not after this long, not when he was this close to her, not when his life was about to finally start to mean something more. But then, a goblin suddenly grabbed onto his shoulder.

"Not so fast, sir!" Someone suddenly grabbed Goblin Slayer by the shoulder as he was about to enter into the garden around their house. It was the doctor that was taking care of Priestess. "You don't have to worry, everything is alright. Your wife and children are all fine and healthy, but I can't let you in there in that armor. It's all covered in blood! Keep in mind that this is a very delicate case. It's rare for twins to be successfully delivered, but triplets are almost an anomaly! You have to be extremely careful when- Hey!" Before the doctor could continue the lecture, Slayer had undone the strap that held the shoulder plate doctor grabbed in place.

He was running out of time, only a few islands remained; only one path to her. His armor was just a dead weight by now, so he removed it. Bit by bit getting rid of the metal plates around his hands legs and chest. He threw away his shield and sword too, leaving him wearing nothing but his helmet and light gambeson he wore underneath the chainmail.

As he was running upstairs, he started undoing his helmet, unceremoniously throwing it aside as soon as he approached the door.

As his helmet fell into the abyss, he was already on the last remaining island. Nothing remained behind him, and that last island was already falling apart as he run. She was still there though. Just one final rush away. He run as fast as his legs would allow until he reached the edge of the island. That still wasn't enough, so he jumped. And as he did, that one remaining island of ash and death dropped into the black sea below, where darkness swallowed it. His hand shot out towards her, reaching for her hand... But it missed her by just an inch.

He hesitated for a moment as he reached for the doorknob. Seeing what awaited beyond it was bound to change his life forever even more so then marrying Priestess did already. That was just a temporary pause though. A momentary setback brought forth by his fear of change. That fear was nothing though compared to the warmth that she awakened in his heart. Before long, his hand was pushing the door open.

Right before he also fell into darkness below, he felt something grab his outstretched hand, pulling him up as the darkness around him gave way to light...

| I |

For every step, I will be there for us,
And every second, for the rest of our lives,
You will find me here, standing by you,
I will find myself...

Author's Note:

OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD! HOW THE HELL DID THIS GET SO FUCKING LONG!?

I mean, really? At first I thought it would be about as long as the first part, maybe a bit longer, but I did NOT FUCKING EXPECT it would end up being over TWICE as long...

Anyways, to those who even bother to read those notes we authors leave down here, I'll remind everyone you what I said in the note of part one. There's a link to a poll on my account. If you want to read more of my shit you can read about all my currently planned fanfics there and vote on whatever strikes your fancy.

That's all I have to say, have a nice death- I-I mean... day.

Song of the day: Dead by April – For Every Step