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CHAPTER 14: THE GOBLIN SLAYER (END)
“GUGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Blowing away the pile of goblin corpses, the Goblin Lord made his appearance.
He most likely hid behind his subordinates and used them as meat shields to evade my Magic Arrow bombardment.
I’d expect no less from the chief of a goblin tribe. His imposing figure stood up to two meters tall, and he held a massive battleax in his right hand.
“BUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
He intimidated us with a glare.
However, his right arm limply dangled without any strength. He approached us steadily, but his movement lacked gusto, tottering left to right.
Looks like he couldn’t get out unscathed.
An injured Goblin Lord.
Garcia raised his voice in excitement after seeing an opportunity.
“HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! Fantastic, simply fantastic! This is wonderful! This is my chance to be named a Goblin Lord Slayer!”
Garcia readied his sword and closed in on the Goblin Lord.
“You all! Don’t butt in! I, the great Lord Garcia, will personally slay this bastard! It’ll be a one-on-one!”
Once he finished exclaiming, Garcia slashed at the Goblin Lord.
He was surprisingly skilled with the sword. While hopping left to right, he swiftly cut at the Goblin Lord.
“GUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
The Goblin Lord raised his voice in a rage. He waved his hatchet with great force, but because of the confusion brought by the abrupt change in the situation and his grave injuries, he was unable to hit his target whatsoever.
“HAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA! Victory goes to the great Lord Garciaa! It’ll be an easy promotion with your head! What a piece of cake!”
Garcia pierced the Goblin Lord’s stomach with his sword.
However, the Goblin Lord didn’t fall.
His hatchet tumbled to the floor with a loud clank. The Goblin Lord then proceeded to seize Garcia by the shoulder using his thick, log-like right arm.
“Urgh, W-What the hell, you bastard!? You plan on struggling until the very end!? Die already! JUST COLLAPSE ALREADYYY!”
Garcia gouged out the Goblin Lord’s wound with his sword.
Even so, the Goblin Lord refused to let go of Garcia.
And then—
Bang!
A noise vibrated throughout the room. The Goblin Lord landed a direct headbutt onto Garcia’s head.
“Guga.”
Those were Garcia’s last words.
Garcia’s head was crushed with enough force that it caved into his armor—utterly pulverized. He shook violently and fell backward to the floor.
“GIGEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
The excited Goblin Lord raised a victory cry and pulled out the sword stuck in his stomach. Without paying any heed to the blood gushing out of his wound, the Goblin Lord directed his gaze at us.
His eyes were brimming with the resolve to die—the resolve to drag us to the afterlife with him.
“Hya!”
Crushed by the Goblin Lord’s gaze, the soldiers let out a scream and fell to the ground.
Together with a war cry, the Goblin Lord rushed at the soldiers.
The soldiers raised their swords and attempted to block, but the difference in physical strength was overwhelming.
While the four soldiers didn’t flat out die, they were all effortlessly sent flying and tumbled to the ground.
The Goblin Lord held the sword he stole from Garcia up high.
His cruel blade was swung downwards, aimed at the head of an ill-fortuned soldier—
“Magic Arrow.”
The next instant, the Goblin Lord’s head was blown to bits.
I was waiting for this exact moment.
The soldiers in front of the Goblin Lord were an obstacle. It’s not that I didn’t aim because I couldn’t, but
 It’d be troubling if the soldiers moved strangely and I hit them.
The sword scattered to the ground from the hand of the now headless Goblin Lord, making a clanging noise.
The moment after, his gigantic body wavered back and forth, then fell to the ground together with a loud noise.
Phew
 Guess it’s over

“A Goblin Lord fell with a single shot
? 
Impossible
”
I heard the soldier’s mutterings.
Another banquet was held that night.
We were celebrating the annihilation of the goblins.
The only participant that wasn’t a villager was me since the surviving soldiers turned tail and left after collecting Garcia’s remains. I couldn’t blame them for leaving after what happened.
I was bad around strangers, so I really wanted to refuse, but—
“What’ll we do with a banquet without the main guest!”
“That’s right, that’s right! I insist you participate!”
After being constantly egged on, I reluctantly participated.
Everyone had the wrong idea.
I was just some good-for-nothing guy who could only use Magic Arrow

I was shy around strangers, but it seemed like everyone was grateful to me—or rather, they had some sort of esteem for me, so they went out of their way to look after me. Even I couldn’t help but begin enjoying myself in a get-together like this.
The village mayor sat next to me and spoke without a hint of reserve.
“You sure are something! I’ll trust you with Laura at the academy! This girl isn’t as splendid as you, but she has the makings of an impressive magician!”
“N-Not in the slightest
 Someone like myself
 Someone like myself doesn’t even compare to the soles of Albert’s feet!”
Sitting from the opposite side of the mayor, Laura shook her head with considerable force.
I spoke.
“No, not at all
 Laura is already superior to me, you know. I’m the one who doesn’t compare to Laura’s soles.”
“There’s not a chance that’s true!”
“Gahahahahaha!”
The mayor burst out laughing.
“Nevertheless, your humility is a great merit of yours! I’m pleased!”
The mayor said that while slapping my shoulder.

I wasn’t really trying to be humble, but

The mayor sharply turned his head and spoke to someone.
“I’ve taken a liking to him, Lydias. He’s a good young man with talent—but never boasts about himself in the slightest. How about escalating the conversation?”
“
I suppose so.”
After he agreed, that someone said “Excuse me” and moved over to my front.
The moment Laura saw that person, she opened her mouth.
“Ah, Father.”
“I hear my daughter seems to be quite indebted to you.”
The person in front of me bowed his head.
So this is Laura’s father. I can definitely see the resemblance in looks. His hair is ash-gray, though.
I stayed at the mayor’s house yesterday, so this was my first time meeting him.
“I heard all about you from Gardo. You played quite a large part in the extermination.”
“Luck happened to be on my side.”
“That mayor of ours has a good eye for people, you see. He said you’re a good-hearted man. I’ve only just met you, but I believe you’re someone I can trust.”
“Is that so?”

What was this person trying to get at?
I couldn’t tell where the conversation was going. I could tell from his way of speaking that he wanted to entrust me with something, though.
“So with that said and done, Albert.”
“Yes.”
“I’m trusting you with my daughter.”
“Yes. We plan on supporting each other as school friends.”
“No, no, no, no.”
After disagreeing, Laura’s father shook his head.
“That’s not what I meant by that.”
“That’s not what you meant?”
“That’s right. What I wanted to say was this.”
After a short pause, Laura’s father continued.
“I want you to take my daughter in marriage.”
“HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!? W-WAIT A SECOND, FATHER! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!?”