Goblin Slayer/Synopsis

Background
Goblin Slayer was once an ordinary boy in a village, who wanted to be an adventurer when he grew up. One day, his best friend left to go to the city for a few days, and the two fought because he couldn't go with her. Later that night, his village was attacked by goblins and everyone he knew was killed.

He hid in his house's basement until nightfall, while watching what was happening through a crack in the floorboards. At nightfall, he sneaked out of the house seeing all of the corpses, but was attacked by the goblins who hadn't left yet. He was saved from death by a rhea; whom he spent five years training with before parting ways.

Year One Volume 1
After his training with the rhea, he made his way to town and walked past his childhood friend, Cow Girl. Upon entering the Adventurer's Guild, he met the receptionist and requested to register as an adventurer. He takes a goblin slaying quest despite her attempts to dissuade him from going alone. After filling out the adventure registration sheet, the newly registered porcelain-ranked adventurer then goes to Smith's shop and purchases equipment, including his helmet, before setting off.

His first quest was the extermination of goblins in a cave. He managed to scrape by with a victory despite facing a hobgoblin, goblin shaman, and having been poisoned. He survives the poison by sucking his bag, moist with the spilled antidote that had been smashed during his fight. Afterward, he is reunited with Cow Girl, who spotted him beforehand. The girl convinces him to stay at the farm with her and her uncle.

While assisting another party (that included an adventurer who registered the same day he did) during a goblin slaying quest, he dissected a goblin, much to that party's disgust. Word got out about the incident, so Guild Girl advises him not to do such things again, as they could create a misunderstanding.

The adventurer is tasked with defending a village from goblins. While setting up defenses, a young girl approaches him, curious about what he is up to. That rainy night, Goblin Slayer began slaying the goblins that made their way through the defenses, but is overwhelmed. He still comes out victorious, but his injuries resulted in him having to be sent to the Temple of the Earth Mother, where a young acolyte healed him. Having recovered, he finishes his quest report and comes across the leader of the party he helped earlier. He learns that the people had given him the nickname "Goblin Slayer". He returned to the farm, where Cow Girl invited him to eat stew.

Year One Volume 2
After killing a group of goblins and rescuing their captives from an abandoned fort, Goblin Slayer found a magic ring. To identify it, he asked around the Adventurer's Guild, but to no avail. However, Witch suggested he seek out a person who lived at the bank of a river on the outskirts of town. At that location, he met Arc Mage, who identified his ring as one that enabled him to breathe anywhere.

The next morning, Arc Mage asked him to slay goblins and retrieve one so that she could revise the Monster Manual. In the tomb that functioned as the goblin nest, the two were confronted by wolves and goblins. After killing the goblins, along with a shaman and hobgoblin, Goblin Slayer talked about goblins with Arc Mage. The latter suggested that he study goblins to help with his hunting, but Goblin Slayer refused.

For several more days, Goblin Slayer worked to bring Arc Mage goblin-related items. After delivering her goblin droppings, he was rewarded with one of the scrolls Arc Mage had collected. He asked Witch to identify the scroll, which she explained was a Gate Scroll that allowed him to travel anywhere after writing a destination. Goblin Slayer is asked to spend time with Cow Girl by her uncle, to which he agreed to help Cow Girl with her delivery to the guild. Shortly after arriving, Arc Mage appeared and asked Goblin Slayer to get provisions.

Two days after leaving town, Goblin Slayer and Arc Mage went to a goblin-infested dark tower. After entering, Goblin Slayer and Arc Mage went through a series of floors with locked doors that left him exhausted, having killed over 119 goblins and using his gate scroll which had flooded the tower. They reached a door that led beyond the edge of the world. Before Arc Mage walked through the door, she gifted Goblin Slayer her Spark ring as a reward for everything he did. After the Spark ring reverted to a normal Breath ring, Goblin Slayer used it to escape the flooded tower. Back at town, Goblin Slayer wondered about what was beyond the "board" and if Arc Mage wanted to become one of the players, but concluded that Arc Mage achieved what she wanted.

At Arc Mage's home, Goblin Slayer and Cow Girl loaded the cart with books and items to be donated to places like the Temple of the God of Knowledge. When Cow Girl asked him about Arc Mage's fate, Goblin Slayer replied that she went somewhere far away and that she may not return, but noted she's likely not dead. The two then headed back to the farm.

Year One Volume 3
After some more Goblin Slaying Quests, Goblin Slayer had accrued enough experience points to be promoted to Steel-Rank, something he admittedly didn't care about but noted how excited people were for and jealous of him. However, his sole hunting of the Goblins was so confusing and out of the ordinary, the Capital Offices of the Adventurer's Guild decided to send in an expert to evaluate him, Examiner. He is instructed to get a night's rest before he is to be evaluated and informs Cow Girl and her Uncle of the possible promotion, exciting Cow Girl and shocking the Farmer that he was being examiner for Steel, not Obsidian. Cow Girl orders him to give her his armor so he can at least look presentable for the examination much to his confusion.

The examination the next day, does not go well. As previously mentioned, Goblin Slayer doesn't care about the ranking system as he only wishes to hunt Goblins, one of the lowest ranked quests in the system, while Examiner states they simply cannot ignored his accrued experience points and not consider him for promotion even if they find his experience doesn't match how they feel the ranks should go.

Goblin Slayer Volume 1
Goblin Slayer appeared in a cave to save Priestess from being killed by goblins, before killing the remaining ones. From there, the two formed a party and underwent several missions. They were eventually recruited by High Elf Archer, Lizard Priest, and Dwarf Shaman into slaying the goblins that had taken over an abandoned ruin. After killing the goblins, they encountered their leader Ogre, who proved to be quite formidable. However, Goblin Slayer used a Gate Scroll linked to the bottom of the ocean to slice the monster in half before stabbing him in the head repeatedly.

Sometime after, he became aware of the goblin horde approaching the farm and informed Cow Girl to run with her uncle to the town. She refused, knowing he would throw his life away to kill as many as possible, and thus convinced him to ask for help at the guild. With the help of Guild Girl, Spearman, and High Elf Archer, he managed to convince them to assist him with a reward for one gold per goblin head and instructed them on how to prepare ahead of time. During the battle, he eliminated the Goblin's nest, before working with Priestess to kill the Goblin Lord. At the tavern, Goblin Slayer took off his helmet at Priestess' request, which quickly gained the attention of everyone around him.

Goblin Slayer Volume 2
Sword Maiden enlisted his help to kill the goblins in the sewers. After three days of exploring the sewers, the party fought and sunk a goblin boat and lured the other boats to be eaten by a large alligator they encountered earlier. This led Goblin Slayer to conclude that someone was bringing goblins to the sewers.

The party ended up venturing into an ancient mausoleum. They entered a room to free a captive bound by chains, but as soon as they discover the captive was long dead, they were locked in by the goblins. Goblin Slayer's canary detected poison gas, prompting the party to seal cracks in the walls and to block the door with a coffin. As the goblins began slipping through the door, a goblin champion broke it down completely. Goblin Slayer went to deal with the champion, but ended up getting critically injured. When goblins began to overwhelm the rest of the party, an enraged Goblin Slayer moved in to strangle the goblin champion.

This than allowed the party to regain the upper hand and drive the goblins away, but Goblin Slayer loses consciousness from his injuries. He and Priestess recovered in the Temple of Law thanks to Sword Maiden's Resurrection miracle. After recovering, he and the others found the source of the goblins in the form of a Gate Mirror and defeated the goblin champion by burying him under tons of rubble, before encasing the Gate Mirror in concrete and tossing it in the river to prevent anyone else from using it.

He approached Sword Maiden and revealed he knew that she was the one who framed the original incident on the goblins to bring attention to them. Understanding her reasoning, he promised to help her deal with goblins if they returned, earning her gratitude.

Goblin Slayer Volume 3
After slaying goblins in a mine and rescuing their captives with Priestess, Goblin Slayer reported to Guild Girl that it was unusual for goblins to target such a location, and that all three captives were mostly unharmed. With the Harvest Festival coming up, Guild Girl and Cow Girl asked him out to the upcoming festival, with the former asking for the noon and the latter for the morning. Goblin Slayer accepted both.

He went to the blacksmith's shop to buy supplies for traps, where he came across Female Knight looking at an underwear-like plate armor wishing to get Heavy Warrior's attention. She asks him for advice, to which he advises she wear civilian garb. Afterwards, he began setting up traps meant for goblins around town. At night, Hero's party confronted him thinking he was an undead, but left upon discovering otherwise.

During his date with Cow Girl, Goblin Slayer gifted her a ring and won a carnival game. While he and Cow Girl drank lemonade, he put the ring on her finger at her request. On his date with Guild Girl, they observed hundreds of lanterns float into the sky and Priestess' ritual. Rhea Scout, seeking revenge for his demotion, attempted to kill them but is killed by Goblin Slayer who feigned death to launch a surprise attack. With this, Goblin Slayer concluded that a goblin attack was imminent, so he meets up with the rest of his party, explaining his suspicions. The party then split up to deal with advancing goblins who had not fallen into Goblin Slayer's numerous traps.

The night after the Festival, Goblin Slayer and his party confronted another goblin advance, this time led by Dark Elf. When the elf grew five arms from his back, Goblin Slayer was unable to pierce Dark Elf's defense, so Priestess cast Holy Light to blind Dark Elf, allowing Goblin Slayer to cut the elf with a poisoned blade. As the enraged Dark Elf conjured another spell, Goblin Slayer threw his southern-style throwing knife to lop off Dark Elf's arm before finishing him off.

Goblin Slayer Volume 4
In an unusual venture, Goblin Slayer teams up with Heavy Warrior and Spearman in a quest posted by The King to investigate and end the threat coming from a mysterious white spire people dubbed as the "Demon Spire". Upon arrival he suggests they climb the spire using stakes he brought as pitons. They are attacked by Gargoyles on the way up but are easily dispatched thanks to Spearman's spell which sends them tumbling to the ground. Upon reaching the top they are met with an Evil Wizard who states that he can not be killed by "those who have words", so Goblin Slayer proposes they throw him off a cliff to let gravity do the work.

Goblin Slayer Volume 5
Goblin Slayer receives a letter from Sword Maiden requesting the search of a noblewoman who ran away to begin life as an adventurer and took a goblin-slaying quest. Thus, the party has headed north to where the noblewoman's quest location was, but find the village who requested the goblin extermination under attack. After saving the village, they receive information on the noblewoman and take a quick rest at the village before setting out toward a goblin cave further out in the mountains.

Inside the cave, Goblin Slayer discovers that the goblin who had an arrowhead embedded in it has had it removed and the wound healed, causing suspicion. He also discovers that the goblins had adapted his tactic of using loose arrowheads, something High Elf Archer ends up having to suffer from. After he performs a painful extraction of the arrowhead from her leg, the party discovers a temple and the noblewoman they were looking for.

He returns to the village with the woman, but suspected the goblins have another base. The likely location of it was a nearby abandoned dwarven fortress and thus the party made a plan to infiltrate the fortress by means of disguising themselves as members of the evil sect with female 'offerings' in tow. He allows Noble Fencer to come along as she insists that she be able to participate in the plan despite the objections of High Elf Archer.

Once inside the fortress, the group frees the captives and destroys the spare goblin equipment. The party's cover is blown when the mark on Noble Fencer causes her to scream in pain. Goblin Slayer splits the party so they may escape with the prisoners while he, along with Priestess and Noble Fencer, distract the goblins.

The goblins and the paladin corner them, but they escape down the fortress wall. Reuniting with the other half of their party and the captives outside the fortress, they make a run through the snow from the pursuing goblins lead by a now enraged goblin paladin. Goblin Slayer stops to stand his ground and duels the paladin. Upon winning, he prompts Noble Fencer to cast lightning on the mountain, causing an avalanche to wipe out the remaining goblins. Goblin Slayer survives the avalanche with a ring of breathing. He recovers the noblewoman's aluminum sword from the paladin and hands it to her, which leaves her in tears.

Later, while his party is celebrating the new year back in the Frontier, he takes watch out in the cold alone. Priestess brings him a meal and lightly scolds him for his overt vigilance and seriousness, saying he should be enjoying himself with his friends. He, to Priestess' surprise, doesn't disagree but expresses that it simply isn't who he is, though he looks forward to more adventures with them.

Goblin Slayer Volume 6
After completing another Goblin Slaying Quest, Goblin Slayer came across Wizard Boy when he went to give his report. When he noticed the boy taking notes, he told him to stop, suggesting the possibility that his notes would be taken by Goblins. Upon learning Wizard Boy had no party and no place to stay, Goblin Slayer took him to stay at the farm, but settled for the shed after objection from Cow Girl's Uncle. Upon arriving at the guild the next morning, Goblin Slayer learned that Priestess did not pass for a promotion, since she hadn't contributed enough to her silver-ranked party. After watching a confrontation between Wizard Boy and Priestess, Goblin Slayer, Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest decided they would take Wizard Boy on an adventure to see what he was capable of, as well as observe Priestess' leadership capabilities.

The party, along with Wizard Boy ventured into a mausoleum where a previous party fell. However, Wizard Boy ends up being cornered by goblins and a troll, forcing the confused Priestess to give leadership back to Goblin Slayer. He and the party manage to incapacitate the troll, before moving on to kill the goblins. Once the quest was completed, Goblin Slayer feasted with his party in the tavern. Just then, a drunk Wizard Boy revealed that he had an older sister who was killed by goblins with a poisoned blade. The revelation that both of them had older sisters who were killed by goblins upset him enough to step outside and vomit in an alleyway.

In the adventurer's training grounds, Goblin Slayer taught Apprentice Cleric and Druid Girl how to use a sling in combat, observing them along with Guild Girl. However, Guild Girl noticed that he was being rather blunt with his teaching and promptly told him to choose more banal and inoffensive words. Not long after, Goblin Slayer accepted an invitation from Spearman to go for a drink with him and Heavy Warrior. That night in The Friendly Ax tavern, the three adventurers toasted to the town, the gods' dice and to adventurers, before heading outside to reflect on their dreams and party members.

Goblin Slayer later took a quest with High Elf Archer to slay goblins and rescue their female captive. After being given fried treats, Goblin Slayer commented that her presence made things lively. When they came across a goblin child wearing a necklace adorned with the fingers of the captured woman, Goblin Slayer declared that they would kill the remaining goblins.

Later at the farm, Goblin Slayer was troubled by the fact that the training grounds were being built on the site of his and Cow Girl's home village, prompting the latter to suggest that they need to accept change. Goblin Slayer realized he could choose any direction in life he wanted after reflecting on his past adventures, but dismissed the idea. Recalling that goblins were appearing near the training grounds, Goblin Slayer left, certain that he had to fight the goblins.

Three days later, when he was giving a lecture on how to kill goblins, Goblin Slayer and the attending adventurers were alerted to a goblin attack at the training grounds. Once they arrived, Goblin Slayer deduced that the goblins had tunneled their way there and Priestess figured out that the goblins were also after the rookies who left training before dusk. The adventurers decided to split up; Priestess took the rookie adventurers, Goblin Slayer and the rest of his party went with Spearman and Witch into the tunnel and Heavy Warrior stayed to defend the training grounds. In the tunnel, Goblin Slayer, knowing a lake was above them directed Dwarf Shaman to create a hole in the ceiling to flood the area. He directed Witch to freeze the water to destroy the tunnel, before labeling the goblins' nest their next target.

At the town entrance, Goblin Slayer was told by Wizard Boy of the latter's plans to travel and watched as he got into an argument with Rhea Fighter, who wanted to join Wizard Boy. In reaction to Wizard Boy's frustration with talking to a rhea, Goblin Slayer broke into laughter, before telling Wizard Boy to mention him should he come across a rhea named Burglar. He then walked home with Cow Girl, who pointed out that he seemed happier.

Goblin Slayer Volume 7
Along with his party. Goblin Slayer was invited to the wedding of High Elf Archer's older sister. He and the party later slayed goblins inside a church, and recovered several clay tablets, which they delivered to Sword Maiden in Water Town. As they were sailing their way to High Elf Archer's home, they were attacked by goblins from the river; deciding that they would have to destroy their nest later, Goblin Slayer directed Lizard Priest to scare them off.

Shortly after being escorted to the elf forest by an elf with a shining headpiece, Goblin Slayer began weaving leather straps into rope. It was then that he met High Elf Archer's sister, who suggested that he immediately replace High Elf Archer should he find a capable replacement. Before Goblin Slayer could completely respond, he noticed a serving girl nearby; recognizing that she was the elf they rescued a year ago, Goblin Slayer told her that he killed her captors. When a loud tremor later occurred, Goblin Slayer and High Elf Archer went to investigate and found the ancient beast Mokele Mubenbe, which was being ridden by goblins. After Dwarf Shaman cast Stupor on it, Goblin Slayer and the party entangled the beast's legs with the straps he was working on. This managed to topple the drowsy beast and kill its goblin riders.

During a discussion about the wedding with Lizard Priest, Dwarf Shaman and the elf with the shining headpiece, Goblin Slayer lamented that he was only trouble for his own sister, adding that he essentially confined his sister in the village and that he was the reason why she never married. The two adventurers and the elf denounced his pessimism as foolishness; Lizard Priest, in particular, dismissed it as all the more reason for Goblin Slayer to repay his debt to her, which Goblin Slayer agreed with.

Before Goblin Slayer and the party set sail to the goblin fortress, the elf with the shining headpiece gave him a special elixir, and Goblin Slayer asked for another boat. The party used the second boat to lure out a group of goblins, before killing them and making their way inside the fortress. Hearing the voice of a person below, Goblin Slayer and the party made their way toward the source in case the person was a captive. To their disgust, they found the body of an adventurer crushed under a juicing press, indicating the goblins were poisoning the river with blood and excrement. When Lizard Priest figured it was a form of a curse, Goblin Slayer concluded that the one who captured Mokele Mubenbe was a spell caster. After giving the corpse a burial in the dammed up river, Goblin Slayer suggested they were doing the same thing as the goblins were. When High Elf Archer rebuked him for making that comparison, Goblin Slayer apologized for bringing up goblins again, surprising the elf.

When the adventurers battled the goblins and their shaman leader, Goblin Slayer and the others (save for Priestess) were incapacitated when the goblin shaman cast Sleep Cloud. Fortunately, after Priestess used Purify to stall the Shaman, Goblin Slayer and the others woke up and fled before water flooded the fortress, killing the goblins.

At Forest Princess' wedding, Goblin Slayer asked High Elf Archer if she wanted to stay in her home, but learned that from the elves' perspective, she was only gone for a few days and that Forest Princess would write back after festivities were over. When she asked him to write his own letter, Goblin Slayer replied that he wasn't a good younger brother, which High Elf Archer denied. After being told to expand his vocabulary, Goblin Slayer found the words to congratulate High Elf Archer for her sister's marriage. He and the others returned to the frontier town three days later.

Goblin Slayer Volume 8
Goblin Slayer and his party took a quest to deal with "sea-goblins", but he is disappointed to learn that the sea-goblins were actually a race of fish people. After being forced to slay a sea serpent regardless, Goblin Slayer expressed his frustration toward Guild Girl upon returning the Adventurer's Guild. Nonetheless, he takes one of the shells rewarded by the Gillmen and gives it to Cow Girl as a gift. He is later summoned to the Guild, and meets Sword Maiden, who informs him of the appearance of tattooed goblin riders on a highway near the capital. As he, Sword Maiden and the party take a carriage to the capital, they are ambushed by goblin riders. Once all the goblins were killed, Goblin Slayer and Lizard Priest cut open the goblins' stomachs and discover they were full of food despite being a wandering tribe traveling without provisions. At the gates of the capital, Goblin Slayer reveals that he cut off a piece of goblin skin with a tattoo on it.

Upon arriving at the capital, Goblin Slayer goes to eat with Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest at the Golden Knight tavern. He admits that their battle with the sea serpent and acting as bodyguards for Sword Maiden were fun, but suggests adventures like those weren't his duty as Goblin Slayer. He is then told by his two friends in different ways that there is never a perfect way to live life, and he admits that they're right. When the group learned that Priestess' chain mail was taken, Sword Maiden requests him to console her, which he declines. He follows up by stating all things become lost, like the knife his father promised to give him when he grew up. Despite this, he responds with assent when Sword Maiden says she would bring up the theft during her meeting with The King. While examining a book of symbols associated with the Dark Gods, he is unable to find one that matched the tattoo on the goblin skin. The next day, Noble Fencer brings him and the party to find and rescue The Princess, who was recently kidnapped by goblins.

Goblin Slayer and party find the location of the kidnapping on the way to the Dungeon of the Dead, and deduce that the princess was taken alive to be sacrificed. When they arrive at a fortress city near the dungeon, he and the party climb its walls, Goblin Slayer in particular with relative ease. They run along the top of the walls before dropping themselves off to enter the dungeon. When a large horde of goblins ambushes them, Goblin Slayer has the group take cover before using a Gate Scroll connected to the sky to suck them away. He and the party then take the elevator to the fourth floor, where they find the captured princess and begin their ambush. As soon as Priestess identifies the enemy leader as a goblin priest, Goblin Slayer notices lines running along the floor to the altar and deduces that the goblins were bleeding corpses to fuel their dark magic. Once all the goblins save for the priest were killed, Goblin Slayer makes his way up to the goblin priest and smashes his skull with a club.

The party does not have time to rest, as a greater demon's hand erupts from the goblin priest and assaults the adventurers with a blizzard spell. As the arm was different than all his previous opponents, Goblin Slayer thinks hard about what to do next and eventually resolves that in his pocket, he had a hand. He throws a bottle of gasoline at the hand to prevent it from gaining footing and loops a grappling hook around it; once Priestess opens the elevator doors, Goblin Slayer pulls and slides the hand into the elevator. This allows Priestess to use Protection and raise the elevator chamber to crush the greater demon's hand. Goblin Slayer and his party head back to the first floor, but are attacked by goblins once again. However, Sword Maiden and a group of warrior-priests burst through the fortress and kill the rest of the goblins. Goblin Slayer reveals that he had alerted Sword Maiden, but adds that everything else was up to her. He would later accept a reward, but only for goblin slaying.

While walking back to the farm, Goblin Slayer decided that after completing the quest, nothing had changed; he had gone to the location, killed the goblins, rescued the captive and went home, and he recognized that as his duty. He remembers High Elf Archer telling him to look only at what was in front of him, and recalls Burglar mentioning something similar. He then finds himself thinking he could not believe in the gods like many of his friends, but he was impressed by them for that same reason. As Cow Girl welcomes him home, Goblin Slayer muses that going on adventures and killing goblins was who he was, and that nothing has changed.