Everything boiled down to a single word. Coincidence.
"I took a quest to slay goblins," Master explained. "And while scouting out, I happened to see something similar to what you were describing."
Incredibly enough, I was lucky to run into Master when he had returned to the city for supplies and equipment regarding the quest. Right time, right place and right people.
Master had found the goblins' nest in a fortress, and realizing that he couldn't lay siege to it with the equipment and personnel he currently had, he was forced to return to the city to procure magical scrolls and gear.
He was also hoping to recruit a mage, which was why he dropped by the adventurers' guild. And that was when he ran into me.
"Sir! Wait up!"
A priestess dressed in white and blue robes ran up, clutching her staff as she panted. Her long, blond hair fell out of her cassock and she glared at Master, thumping her staff against the floor.
"You could at least wait, you know?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes, geez! You're always like that!" she stopped when she caught sight of me. "Eh? You are…?"
"Ah, ha ha…" I rubbed the back of my head and chuckled. "It's a long story, but suffice to say, I am this person's disciple."
"What?!"
"Never mind. More importantly, Master…" I turned back to the man who taught me how to be an adventurer. "You said you saw a sacred relic in this goblin fortress? A holy weapon?"
"I believe so."
I waited for more details, but Master said nothing else. He was infuriatingly indifferent, as usual. I was hoping for more details.
"What did it look like?"
"It was golden. I couldn't make out any more details than that."
"Ugh…anything else?"
"No." Master regarded me. "I was focused on the goblins. I simply caught a glimpse of the relic and deemed it impractical to slay goblins with. There are more efficient methods and equipment."
"Sorry." The priestess looked at me apologetically. "Sir has always been like this. You ought to know if you're his disciple."
"Oh, I know. He hasn't changed at all." I sighed.
"Is that so?"
"It is!" Both the priestess and I shouted. Then I shook my head and raised a hand. "Master, do you mind if I come along with you this time round?"
"I have no objections." Master studied me. "We were looking for a mage, anyway. You fit the bill."
"Thanks."
"Good. Then we set off immediately."
"Eh?! We just got back!" The priestess protested. Master ignored her as he set off. I patted her shoulder sympathetically.
"Knowing him, he's just back for supplies and a mage. Now that he has gotten them, he has no reason to delay the mission."
And so our party ended up traveling back to the fortress near the mountains, a good distance away from the nearest village.
"I'm Selina Sol." The priestess bowed her head while keeping up with me. I nodded politely.
"I'm Klein. Klein Pearson. Nice to meet you."
"Same. This is the first time we've been in the same party, isn't it?" Selina glanced at Master. "Sir doesn't talk about his past much. I don't think he has ever mentioned you."
"I haven't?"
To our surprise, Master spoke up. Selina giggled and shook her head.
"No, you haven't."
"I see."
He said nothing more than that, and Selina sent me an I told you so look. I shook my head and chuckled, having gotten used to it.
"How long have you been in a party with Master?"
"Hmm, I don't know. About a few months now. Maybe half a year."
"That's a long time."
"Yes. Sir rescued me from goblins…I was in a rookie party back then, and almost everyone died. Only another girl and I made it out…and the other person was too traumatized to continue being an adventurer. We underestimated goblins."
Selina sighed and glanced at the armored form of Master, who was tromping ahead of us.
"Ever since then, I have been accompanying sir on his missions!"
"Thank you for taking care of Master while I wasn't around." I bowed gratefully. Selina giggled and waved my thanks away.
"Not at all. What about you? Where were you all this time? Did you graduate and decide to form a party on your own? I get that sir only slays goblins, so you perhaps decided to hunt other monsters and demons?"
"Something like that." there was no way in hell I was going to tell her my backstory. We just had a flashback arc about fifty chapters ago. I wasn't wasting time on yet another info dump or flashback. Besides, Master chose that moment to raise a fist, a hand signal for stopping and being careful.
Selina seemed to have learned the hand signal too, for she quickly scampered to the side. I followed her example, but moved to the opposite side. The both of us crawled toward Master, who was perched atop the cliff.
He was watching the fortress down below, where hundreds of goblins toiled and worked.
"W…what are they doing?" Selina asked. Master was silent for a moment.
"Forging," he replied. He pointed at the red-hot metal that was being transported through carts, and the goblins who were hammering something against an anvil. "The goblins are…manufacturing weapons."
"What the hell?! That can't be good."
"No, it isn't." Master nodded at my words, but said nothing more. The guy sounded as indifferent as ever. Then again, I could tell what he was thinking. It didn't matter what the goblins did. It didn't change what we had to do.
We were still going to slay all the goblins.
While we were watching from above, I scanned the area and caught sight of the holy weapon in the middle of the courtyard of the fortress. Like a certain weapon of legend, it was stuck inside a huge rock. Occasionally, a goblin or two would come and try to pull the sword out of the rock, to no avail. Then their supervisor would smack them and order them back to their work. Said supervisor would give it a try himself, only to suffer the same lack of success as the menials under him.
"Is that what you are looking for?" Master asked. I nodded.
"Looks like we'll have to kill all the goblins to get to it. Don't worry, Master, I'll prioritize their extermination over the recovery of the weapon.'
"I see. That will be a great help."
"What is the plan, sir?" Selina asked nervously. "There's only three of us but there's hundreds of goblins."
"The goblins aren't the problem. The goblin emperor is."
Master pointed toward the center of the fortress where the goblins had fashioned a crude throne. A single goblin sat atop it, lazily resting his head on a gauntleted arm. A jagged crown had been placed on top of his head, along with a torn cloak that was draped around his shoulders. He scowled as he watched his minions bustle about, manufacturing weapons and transporting ore and products from one area to the next.
"Are those…goblin champions?" Selina gasped when she caught sight of two burly goblins, each bigger than a hobgoblin, standing on either side of the goblin emperor. They were both dressed in full armor and equipped with crude weaponry. Crude by human standards, but probably the best weapons that the primitive goblins could possibly forge.
"Yes." As usual, Master didn't mince words. He also lifted his hand and singled out another few key targets. "A goblin shaman too. A goblin paladin. This will be difficult."
"At least there's no goblin general," I muttered. Master shook his head.
"The goblin paladin serves as the goblin general."
As usual, he didn't have a sense of humor. Then again, I probably picked up a deadpan sense of humor from him.
"How are we going to fight all of them on our own?" Selina asked, horrified. "We will need an entire army…all the adventurers back at the guild…"
"Don't worry. That's why I went back to town. For these."
Master held up a bunch of explosives.
"I plan to burn down the fortress and trapped them inside there. Even though the goblins have gotten smarter, they continue to make mistakes. They have constructed their fortress out of wood instead of brick."
Now that Master had mentioned it, he was right. The whole place was made of wood. That meant it was easily flammable. The goblins might have learned to build fortresses and forge weapons, but they were far from perfecting the technology. They were still in the middle of trial and error.
"So we sneak around, plant the explosives, light them up, run away, and then watch the fireworks?"
"It won't be that simple. We need to scout out the place. I do not want any of the goblins to escape when I burn their fortress down. It is possible that they have dug underground tunnels. If any escape, they will learn from this mistake and become more formidable in future."
Master responded to my question seriously. I sighed.
"So you want to trap all of them in there?"
"Essentially, yes."
"I can do that. I have a spell that would enclose all of them in a bubble and even seal off underground passages. But I'll have to charge them from the front.��
"What?!" Selina exclaimed. "That's too reckless! There are too many of them!"
"I will cover you if necessary," Master said. "Let's go. First, let's set up the explosives. Then you can charge in from the front, cause a diversion while I light up the explosives and burn their fortress. Make sure to cast your spell before then."
"Understood. Leave it to me!"
"W…what?! Wait! Are you listening to yourselves? This is crazy! You're going to get yourselves killed!"
"You'll be on standby, save a protection spell or two. I trust you will know when to use it."
"Are you listening to me?! Geez! Ugh! Whatever! Like master, like disciple! I get it already! I'll use the protection spell when it's time, all right!?"
Despite her complaints, Selina followed us to the fortress. After helping Master sneak around and plant the explosives, I then charged through the front door. Selina gaped at me.
"What?! Are you crazy…?"
The words died in her throat when she saw the enormous ice dragon materialize before me. With a roar, he smashed through the gates and unleashed his dragon breath, freezing dozens of panicking goblins before they could respond. The goblin emperor rose to his feet, barking out orders in a guttural language. His goblin champions and goblin paladin immediately sprang to life, preparing to engage my ice dragon in combat. Meanwhile, the goblin shaman conjured spells to hurl fireballs at the titanic ice dragon, to no avail.
"That is useful," Master remarked.
"HUH!? What do you mean, that is useful?! I mean, it is, but…that is your reaction!?" Selina was waving about frantically. Both Master and I ignored her.
"Don't let them get away."
"On it. Blood Fortress!"
I plunged Blood Angel into the ground and created a boundary field that surrounded the entire goblin encampment, trapping the terrified creatures within. The goblin shaman snarled something and aimed fireballs at me, but Master stepped forward and intercepted his spells with his shield. He then tossed a knife, which impaled deeply into the goblin shaman's head. The creature gurgled and toppled over, his eyes lolling in his sockets.
The goblin emperor bellowed and closed in on us, drawing a huge sword. However, he was forced several steps back when blood blades surged out of the ground. Around him, hundreds of his minions were being slaughtered as the blood came to life and cut them apart.
"Is this your doing? Selina demanded. I nodded.
"Yup. Who else?"
"You…" she gaped at me for a moment, not believing her eyes. "What…who are you?"
"My disciple," Master replied.
"Are you serious?!" Selina waved her hands at him. "What's with your reaction?! Shouldn't you be more shocked at what's happening?!"
"I am surprised," Master admitted calmly.
"Then act like it! You're behaving as if it's normal for your disciple to summon a gigantic dragon, and then conjure what looks like high-tier demonic spells!"
"To be fair, Master's features are concealed by his helm, so even if he's astonished, we wouldn't be able to see his expression anyway."
"That's not the point!" Selina moaned and buried her face in her palm in exasperation. "Both of you are just…amazing in your own way."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't really meant as a compliment, by the way!"
Master and I ignored her and focused on the goblin emperor, who was approaching us, weaving through the blood blades and spears that I was conjuring. The guy was truly skilled. He would be a formidable foe.
I couldn't help but scoff at the sight. Of all the enemies I had faced thus far, I hadn't expected the final boss to be a goblin emperor.
Oh well…what did you expect? With a master like mine, I guess this outcome was inevitable. The gods were really fickle…but if there was one thing about my master, he didn't let anyone roll the dice.