Light Novel Volume 7

'''Goblin Slayer! Volume 7''' is the seventh novel of the Goblin Slayer series.

Official Synopsis
''After High Elf Archer receives notice of a wedding back in her home village, the party sets out for the Elven motherland. Meanwhile, Sword Maiden works on deciphering an ancient lithograph she received from Goblin Slayer after one of his goblin raids. The party crosses the river into Elf territory, only to see the shadows of goblins looming... Will Goblin Slayer and his companions make it to their destination in one piece?''
 * He does not let anyone roll the dice.
 * - Yen Press

Chapters

 * Chapter 1: A Handout for Her
 * Interlude: Of How the Girls' Slow Reactions Are to Blame
 * Chapter 2: Beard-Cutter Goes to the Southern River
 * Chapter 3: The Forest of the Elf King
 * Chapter 4: The Fight with the Beast
 * Interlude: Of a Flash of Inspiration at the Library
 * Chapter 5: Jungle Cruise
 * Chapter 6: Heart of Darkness
 * Chapter 7: Cleanse the Blood
 * Interlude: Of Hell Smacking Down into the Abyss
 * Chapter 8: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Chapter 1
In the tavern, High Elf Archer announced that it was time to get married, which caused a commotion among her party and other adventurers nearby before she clarified that her sister was going to get married. After Guild Girl was persuaded to take a day off by Inspector, she accepted High Elf Archer's invitation to come with the party to the wedding.

Goblin Slayer's party later cleared a church of goblins, rescued the surviving nuns and recovered several clay tablets written in an ancient language. Priestess, using her new miracle Purify given to her after her promotion to Steel, cleaned off the dirt, blood and gore from the nuns' clothes. Goblin Slayer noted that it was a good and useful miracle.

At the farm, Goblin Slayer invited Cow Girl to the wedding. While walking with him, Cow Girl told Goblin Slayer that he promised to marry her when he grew up, to which Goblin Slayer responded that he did not remember such a promise. Cow Girl laughed off the lie, but thought to herself that they should have made that promise.

Interlude
After losing her companions, equipment and her raft, a female adventurer ran through a forest. Briefly taking comfort that her sister would be alright, she decided to follow the follow the river. The adventurer then came across a corpse impaled on a spike which went through the anus to the mouth. When the adventurer was overcome by nausea, her pursuers quickly overwhelmed her and prepared to impale her in the same manner. The body mounted on the corpse had been her older sister's, which the adventurer failed to register.

Chapter 2
Goblin Slayer's party, along with Guild Girl and Cow Girl, took a trip to Water Town. Goblin Slayer went to deliver the clay tablets to the Temple of Law, while the girls went shopping around town. At the temple, Sword Maiden was unable to decipher the text on the tablets at first glance, but offered to take them to the library for further analysis. Before Goblin Slayer left, she warned him to be careful when travelling the river, as there had been reports of boats sinking.

The next day, the group set sail on a raft up the river when they were suddenly attacked by goblin riders. As the adventurers fended them off, the goblins placed piles of trash restrained with ropes on the river in order to sink the raft. In response, Priestess used Purify to clear the river of obstacles. With the party deciding that they would destroy the goblins' nest later, Lizard Priest used Dragon's Roar to frighten the goblins away.

After the party set up shelter in the forest, High Elf Archer told the group stories about how the groom expressed his care toward her sister. Goblin Slayer, however, was irritated by the fact that there were goblins near High Elf Archer's home.

Chapter 3
At dawn, Goblin Slayer, Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest were confronted by an elf wearing a shining mithril headpiece. Having been told that High Elf Archer was with them, he first assumed they did something uncouth to her, until High Elf Archer told him that they were her friends, identifying him as the cousin marrying her sister. Before arriving to the elven homeland, the groom told them about the One That Stops The Waters. The group then spent time touring the village and learning about elf culture. Soon, Goblin Slayer and High Elf Archer encountered her sister, the forest princess. The latter asked if High Elf Archer was causing Goblin Slayer trouble, before suggesting to him cast her aside should he come across a more capable replacement. Before he could finish his refusal, Goblin Slayer noticed a serving girl kneeling nearby. Recognizing her as the elf his party rescued a year earlier, Goblin Slayer told the elf that he killed her tormentors. The elf, whose injuries had since healed, shed a single tear.

The forest princess later asked High Elf Archer to consider stopping adventuring, explaining that she was not comfortable with High Elf Archer being around her current entourage. As High Elf Archer stated her reasons for tagging along with Goblin Slayer, the sisters were caught off guard by a loud thunderous noise. When High Elf Archer and Goblin Slayer went to investigate, they discovered the beast known as Mokele Mubenbe.

Chapter 4
The party, backed up by the elves, discovered that goblins were riding Mokele Mubenbe. Because they weren't allowed to kill the beast, the adventurers resorted to disorienting the beast with Dwarf Shaman's Stupor spell before entangling its feet with a net, causing the beast to fall over and crush its goblin riders.

After High Elf Archer excused herself from a meeting, The forest princess did the same to continue their conversation from earlier. The elf princess told her sister that human lives were short, comparing them to stars that eventually die out. High Elf Archer acknowledged this fact, but stated that she would stay with Goblin Slayer nonetheless. The forest princess added that parting with him would bring her sorrow, but High Elf Archer thought otherwise; remembering what Dwarf Shaman told her once, she stated that "the hangover is part of the fun of drinking". The forest princess became disappointed with her sister's refusal to quit accompanying Goblin Slayer, but nonetheless asked her to return safely.

Meanwhile, Goblin Slayer, Lizard Priest, Dwarf Shaman and the elf with the shining headpiece discussed how to deal with the goblins near the forest, before talking about the elf's marriage. When Goblin Slayer's sister was brought up, Goblin Slayer lamented that he was only trouble for his sister and as a result of having to look after him, "trapped" her in the village as otherwise she would have left. The elf denounced his pessimism as foolishness, stating that something as simple as location would not change how happy one felt. Goblin Slayer then mentioned that his existence was part of the reason his sister never married. Lizard Priest dismissed that as all the more reason for Goblin Slayer to repay his debt to her, which Goblin Slayer agreed with.

Interlude
Sword Maiden and a cleric of the God of Knowledge were in the Temple of Law's library working to decipher the text on the tablets. They soon learned that the text told of a powerful foe that threatened all of creation. Preparing to write a letter to inform The King and the chief of the elves, Sword Maiden stated that if Goblin Slayer could save the people, they must save the world.

Chapter 5
Cow Girl told Goblin Slayer to be careful before he left to deal with the goblin hideout. Guild Girl appeared after he left, not wanting to meet him without putting her face on. She commended Cow Girl for preferring Goblin Slayer to see how she normally looked.

At the elf harbor, the party prepared to set off. Priestess cast shields around the boat and Dwarf Shaman received the blessing of the wind. The elf with the shining headpiece gave Goblin Slayer a special elixir, and Goblin Slayer asked the elf to see to Cow Girl and Guild Girl should he not return. The elf told him that the elders received news from Water Town, but even he wasn't yet mature to know what the news was. He advised Goblin Slayer to be careful of the river; there would be a mist and they would be venturing into darkness. After asking the elf to prepare another boat, Goblin Slayer asked if elves didn't have a concept of "cleaning up". The elf replied that they did, but some sisters didn't.

A group of goblins near the river attacked a boat travelling up the river; it turned out that the boat had been pulling a second one behind it and that it had acted as a signal for Goblin Slayer's party to attack. The adventurers managed to kill them all before the fog cleared.

As they were traveling upstream, the party discovered a forest of corpses impaled on sticks, before spotting an ancient structure that was the goblin fortress. They killed the goblins guarding the entrance, before sneaking their way inside.

Chapter 6
The party used their socks, with a rock inside them and covered with glue, as projectiles to help kill five more goblins. To their disgust, they discovered the remains of an adventurer under a press used for juicing, which led to the conclusion that they were poisoning the river with blood and excrement. They gave the corpse a burial in the canal before taking a moment to rest.

Referring to the burial, Goblin Slayer suggested they were acting just like the goblins, prompting High Elf Archer to tell him not to make that comparison. To her surprise, Goblin Slayer apologized for bringing up goblins. High Elf Archer responded that she wasn't fond of goblin slaying, but didn't want her sister to marry while goblins were nearby. She admitted she would normally be the one complaining. Goblin Slayer replied that it didn't bother him because he didn't know how to go on an adventure. Once the two agreed they were square, High Elf Archer noticed Priestess shaking under her blanket.

Several hours later, the party began climbing the staircase when they came across several broken steps. After making it across the gap using grappling hooks, they found an elevator. Using the key they recovered from one of the guards, they entered the elevator ready to kill the goblins.

Chapter 7
The adventurers readied themselves for combat in the elevator. An unnerved Priestess began speculating what would happen if they failed, but Goblin Slayer stopped her from continuing, which calmed her down. At the same time, the goblin shaman in charge confidently declared to his underlings that they would curse the elves and humans to drink the blood and feces of their companions. His war cry was immediately interrupted by Goblin Slayer, who had just killed one goblin. After a total of seven were killed, Priestess came to the sudden realization that she had never been in a conflict where she confronted a vast horde with so few numbers. Experiencing flashbacks of her first adventure and frozen with shock, Priestess briefly stopped praying and Protection began wearing off. Fortunately, she pushed herself to cast Holy Light, blinding the goblins and allowing High Elf Archer to land an arrow in the goblin shaman's shoulder. However, the goblin shaman had casted Sleep Cloud which rendered the adventurers drowsy and allowed them to be swarmed by goblins.

Priestess' cries for aid were met with no response and she found herself face to face with the laughing shaman. In a moment of pure instinct, Priestess used Purify to turn the goblin shaman's blood into pure water, which caused the goblin great pain. However, the Earth Mother sternly told Priestess that Purify must never be used in such a way again. Brought back to her senses and realizing what she did, Priestess broke down over her actions. Goblin Slayer, who had woken up, praised what she did, enabling Priestess to regain her composure. The rest of the party soon regained consciousness, allowing them to continue the battle until they were cornered at a tower's edge. Fortunately, the party jumped off the tower and descended safely with Dwarf Shaman's Falling Control spell. When Lizard Priest mentioned things went rather well, Goblin Slayer mentioned this was the best way to slay goblins; it turned out that Tunnel was used to break a hole in dam the goblins had made, and the resulting surge of water swept up the shaman and his goblins in a geyser and sent them falling to their deaths.

Priestess questioned if she was still worthy of the Earth Mother and her miracles. Prompted by a murmured voice, Priestess beheld the sight of a rainbow.

Interlude
In hell, Hero slaughtered countless demons and monsters. It turned out that the text on the tablets had warned of hell's gates reopening, and that she was giving Sage time to seal them shut. Hero soon found herself face to face with a spider-like monster that appeared to be a leader among the demons. Undaunted, she landed a critical hit on the monster.

Chapter 8
After the forest princess and the elf with the shining headpiece got married during the wedding, Goblin Slayer asked if High Elf Archer wanted to stay with the elves. In response, High Elf Archer stated that to the elves, it was as if she was only gone for a few days and that her sister would send her a letter when things settled down. When High Elf Archer suggested he write his own, Goblin Slayer replied that he wasn't a good younger brother; which High Elf Archer rebutted by mentioning that he was Silver ranked. After being lightheartedly told to expand his vocabulary, Goblin Slayer found the words to congratulate her sister's marriage, much to her happiness. Upon meeting Priestess, High Elf Archer suggested her to recite a prayer. Initially doubtful she was still fit to pray to the Earth Mother, she was pleasantly surprised once her prayer reached the goddess. High Elf Archer then took Cow Girl and Guild Girl to try and catch the crown of flowers; it was said that whoever caught it would be the next to marry. The forest princess tossed her crown into the crowd and a loud cheer followed.

The adventurers returned to the frontier town three days later. High Elf Archer had still not received her letter, implying that the elves were still celebrating.