Talk:Goblin Slayer/Relationships/@comment-44936820-20200126235003

Of all the girls shown to have interest in GS, Priestess is obviously Kumo Kagyu's favorite. While GS's relationships with the other girls remain largely stagnant, his relationship with Priestess grows and changes over the series. He also shows interest in Priestess that is different from how he thinks about and treats the other girls of the series. As early as volume 3 of the light novel when an old man shows interest in Priestess at the Guild, he tries to brush it off as being fine (as this is nothing unnatural or unusual in their world), but is unable to. The text reads:

(The guffaw from the old man behind him didn't even elicit a glance back. Maybe the senior was interested in the girl.

That wasn't--shouldn't have been--a bad thing.)

There are little hints like this all across 8 volumes that are currently out. Another profound moment was in volume 6 when GS and Priestess are split up and fighting off the goblins' attack on the training grounds. High Elf Archer asks GS "Aren't you worried about her?" referring to the fact that Priestess had left to fight alone, and GS replied, "If my worrying would help things go well for her, then I would."

This seems at first like a normal, throw-away, GS line, but you have to understand that GS only says things he 100% means. GS refuses to worry about things not in his control during battle becasue it's not productive. Worrying about Priestess (or anything else) in that moment would be a distraction that coud get him killed. But he admits here that if his worrying could help her, he would risk his concentration and put himself and their operation in danger for her safety.

You might argue that GS would feel this way about any of his friends, but when you examine his actions in their battles, he's always particularly attentive to Priestess over any of his other party members. He constantly checks in with her and seeks assurance that she's both physically and emotionally well. Yes, she's the weakest, but 8 times out of 10 when she's in crisis about something, even if it's just in her own thoughts, he's the one who notices and helps/reassures her.

Now, all of the little moments between the two of them can be explained by "Well, they're just close. There's nothing romantic there." To which I would agree to some extent, but taking into consideration the types of flags and tropes that are used in Japanese media, Priestess is very obviously being set up as the choice pick for GS. There isn't anything overtly romantic there currently, but Kumo Kagyu has made it clear that Priestess is special in a way that Cow Girl, Guild Girl, Sword Maiden, etc. aren't. Kumo Kagyu is a very intentional writer. He is purposeful with how he writes scenes and about the lines he includes. At the end of the day, Cow Girl, Guild Girl, and Sword Maiden aren't characters so much as harem tropes. They are minimally developed and their relationship with GS doesn't evolve.

All this being said, there's a very real possibility that this series will follow the formula of other harem series where the protagonist never gets together with any of the girls so that the fans can continue to root for their chosen "best girl" forever. However, if he does choose a girl, get ready for it to be Priestess.