“The final guest is… a goblin?!” the drunken swordsman Akira shouted, the hooded figure revealing itself to be a tiny, green creature with messy red hair. He paused, looking at the oddly familiar seeming being as she forced herself to stand up.
The goblin girl was weak, covered in dirt and grime, and various shallow wounds. What had it taken for them to arrive at this castle in the heart of the demonic empire? Despite goblins being on the Demon Lord’s side, were they forced to fight their way here?
The goblin girl blinked, her large eyes looking up at the drunk young man who was currently wildly swinging his sword around. Her large red eyes got even bigger at the sight of the man before her, and a single word escaped from her dry, cracked green lips.
“A...kira?”
“Uwaa?! I-It knows my name?! W-Why, why does it know my name?!” Akira took a step back, planting his feet on the floor in a combat stance, his sword held towards the monster that had just arrived.
The goblin girl looked away, her shoulders slumping down dejectedly after he failed to recognize her. The same strange sense of deja vu he felt looking at the albino woman Vi flooded his mind, but it was gone in an instant.
“Was wrong, ya just reminded me of someone I knew a long time ago.” the goblin girl replied, looking around the banquet hall. “If that’s ‘yer name too, it’s a coincidence is all.”
“Yeah… sure.” He said, sheathing his steel blade.
“Brave little goblin, the other guests have become acquainted with one another, but as you arrived late you are not.” Beelzebub sat down at a throne-like chair at the head of the only table that wasn’t round, a long rectangular dining table of dark oak. He motioned for the guests to join him at what appeared to be the primary feast table, and they slowly gathered.
Except the goblin girl, who stood at the foot of the table, refusing to be seated.
“I’m not here for your feast, demon.” she spat out, clenching her clawed hands into tight fists. “I came here to kill you.”
The guests laughed, Beelzebub laughed.
It was too absurd an idea.
“A goblin, kill the Demon Lord? How absurd.” Tyrael the elf scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. “She’s more likely to be declared the queen of the allied realms.”
“Little girl, why do you even want to kill him, are goblins not allied with the Demon Lord?” Vardon pushed up his slipping glasses, and addressed the goblin girl directly. “This banquet is to celebrate peace, not perpetuate violence.”
“He’s toyed with my life long enough!” the goblin girl shouted, her voice shaking as tears welled up in her eyes. “Even this is some sort of cruel trick, some sadistic new way to torment me! I won’t play your games anymore, Beelzebub!”
“There are no games here girl, just dinner and shelter from the harsh winter out there.” Beelzebub once again gestured for her to take a seat. “My fight with the humans is over, the long battle has come to an end, your long battle is over.”
“Yes, come on girl, have a seat, introduce yourself and enjoy the free food and wine!” Griffin laughed, tearing his fangs into a large shank of glazed ham.
“Fiffil, the only daughter of Mikk’al and Fimmy, of the goblin kingdom’s disgraced Ruby clan.” The goblin girl answered after a pause, and the room fell silent.
“..!”
The entire room tensed up, except for Beelzebub, the goblin girl Fiffil, and the knight in blue armor, who sipped his wine without acting any different.
“If there’s anyone in this room you should want to murder, isn’t it me?” Siegfried asked her casually, putting down his goblet. “That crimson mane of hair you got there is unmistakable, but saying his name confirmed it… never expected to meet the goblin king’s daughter here.”
“Huh? Goblin king? My father was a mushroom farmer.” Fiffil climbed atop one of the chairs and stood there, and only barely reached the height of the knight in blue. “Until he went upworld like an idiot and got killed.”
“Yes, he was quite strong for a goblin.” the knight replied, letting out a slight sigh as he remembered the past. “I even began to believe that maybe he could do it, that he could unite the goblin tribes under one banner and free them from the Demon Lord’s rule… but it was inevitable that we faced one another.”
“You’re the Cobalt Knight… the one my mother told me about?!” the reality of the situation sunk in, and Fiffil raised her voice to a shout once again. “Heh… my father’s killer is in the same room as my arch enemy, how perfect! I can kill both of you at the same time!”
“Now now, let’s not get violent.” Beelzebub calmly and emotionlessly attempted to defuse the situation, and somehow, it worked.
“I’ll kill you both… after I regain my strength.” Fiffil grumbled, beginning to stuff the food in front of her into her mouth. “This journey has made me weak.”
“Of course, there’s enough food for everyone, and the wine casks shall not run dry tonight!” Beelzebub gave a hollow smile, everything going as he planned for it to, his feast might have been attended by only ten others, but it was a success in his mind.
The night passed quickly, and the guests quickly got so hammered they forgot they were partying with the Demon Lord. As it grew late, Beelzebub had his servants direct them all to the guest rooms on the second floor of the castle. Despite her talk, the goblin girl did not attempt to slay the Demon Lord, nor the Cobalt Knight.
Siegfried and his Djiin companion retired to one room themselves, Vi’s group to another, and Akira’s to a third. Running out of guest rooms, Akki the spider offered Fiffil a bed in the servant’s quarters, which was only occupied by her at the time.
The other servants of Beelzebub were mere magical constructs, illusions with no will, Akki was the only one who actually existed of her own will, and not their Master’s. Therefore, the only one alone that night was the Demon Lord himself, who seemed unconcerned with the idea that anything could happen that night, he felt perfectly safe. For some reason, they all did. They were enemies shortly before this night, but now they all slept like babies without a care in the world.
The next morning, a sleepy goblin girl wandered into the banquet hall once again, rubbing her eyes. Akira and his lizardman companion Gox were already there, as were Vi, Griffin, Liza, the maid Akki and her Master, Beelzebub.
“Vi, Griffin… Have you seen Tyrael?” Akira asked them as they walked over to the others. “She wasn’t in the room when I woke up, and she’s not here either.”
“Actually, we were hoping you had seen Vardon.” Griffin replied quickly, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. “That idiot must have gotten lost looking for the toilet, since this place is pretty huge.”
“That Siegfried guy isn’t here either.” the errant comment of the fairy Liza set off the room, with everyone looking around worried. “You don’t think… something happened to them?”
Beelzebub stood up from his throne and walked over to the increasingly more worried group of adventurers.
“I’m sure your companions are fine, if anything happened within my walls, I would know.” he assured them, summoning several of his insect butlers. “I’ll have them found at once, so just relax.”
Before his servants could even be sent off, one of the missing members of the group returned. Tyrael walked in from the front entranceway, her face pale.
“Tyrael, there you are! I feel like an idiot being worried about you.” Akira smiled, running over to her and slapping her on the shoulder, but she didn’t react, she merely stared at the floor. “Tyrael?”
“I was checking to see if the snow had stopped… but the door...”
Seeing as she wasn’t capable of answering them properly, everyone headed towards the front entrance. As they entered, the smell of iron hit everyone’s senses, the smell of blood. Splattered across the front door was an ungodly amount of the vital fluid of all living things.
As one got closer, the splatters of blood stopped looking so random, and instead like someone had used it as paint to write a message. At the base of the door lay a single, unmoving body, his cobalt armor distinct enough to identify him, which was good as his head… was gone.
And the message on the door read:
“Only the Game-Master can end the bloodshed. Find the Game-Master to end the match.”
And below the first line, a second line ominously read.
“Twelve entered, Ten remain.”
I wonder if Fiffil will get her sword back now.