"What is this splendid news you're willing to share?" I query Bill a question while letting my eyes wander on the congested small tavern.
Bill's sense of design brings the utmost simplicity of his house, making it dull but enough to give him a roof. No paintings or furniture can establish the house's decoration, yet, somehow, a heavy feeling pulls me closer to the floor.
My eyes spot a rubber, dusty ball resting on the corner, unused for quite some time. There are also tiny piles of pebble reclined on the damaged shelf and leaves as notebooks, with scribbles and letters written in it.
"A pack of monsters is heading to our town," He abruptly said without prior notice while pounding his fist on the wooden table. "The same as last time."
"The same as before?" I repeated, ignorant to his words.
Bill gives me a restrained stare while taking a prompt swill of his ale. After replenishing the contents of the brew, he prepares another cup, fills it up, and offers it to me.
"I don't do this often," Bill utters while drying his beating red cheeks from the remnants of the alcohol.
"What's the occasion?" I curiously asked as I spotted the several plates aligned at the table. The menu comprises curries with the limited spices he has, soup, porridge, and a roasted chicken, perfect for two people to devour. I will wager my life that Bill is not the type of guy that would invite me for dinner. He would not invite me to anything at all.
'There must be a guest coming over' I thought to myself while wiping the drool off on my mouth.
As I let myself drown in my thoughts, Bill's eyes gazed outside of the window, staring at the sublime sky. Our eyes meet with the children horsing around the grass, together with Izz, kicking the stone ball.
"The scout we sent yesterday came back; which was also the same time you had to arrive,"
"Then where is he?"
"He's already lifeless," Bill coldly answered while taking out his crumpled note from his pocket.
Upon opening the note, disfigure characters were the only symbols that I could see with smears of blood covering the space. It was as if the scout he had mentioned wrote everything on a whim, showing the number of monsters and their location before somebody took his life.
"I am sorry to hear that," I utter while peering down on the rubber sphere.
"It says here that we are expecting a thousand creatures marching from the mountain, towards our path." Bill then took out a map inside a drawer and laid it flat on the desk. He also brings stone shape layouts resembling the legends of individuals and places. "Our soldiers aren't enough to repulse their forces."
"Relocating the townspeople is a dangerous proposition, but an option to look out for." I uncomfortably suggested, conceptualising the worst outcome to happen.
We both examine the formation on the sketch, with the enemy's number enclosing us and their brute force alone. Even though we have the insight to distinguish these approaching creatures, our troops are tremendously outnumbered compared to the monsters. It doesn't matter if we add the untrained villagers in our hands; the outcome would remain the same.
We are also short with weapons and nourishments for the village. Not to mention, the other neighbouring Kingdoms might take advantage of our situation, making the Kingdom of Joker suffer more losses than what they had expected.
Bill could only nod to my advice, knowing that we can not stand up against the army of hungry monsters in the forest.
Rumours said that there had been such sightings of beasts grouping up from the other side of the mountain, but disregarded as valueless worry. However, Bill already knew what was coming, so he requested ten elite soldiers for the village to check those environments two months ago. He was preparing for the hike of these fiends as they hunt more prey living in the woodlands. Coincidentally, the village was just around the corner, waiting for the assault to happen.
"Around half of them are goblins. The rest of the horde are all wild boars, grizzly bears, and some raptors and a colony of ants joining forces to share their meals." He said as he painfully looks at my figure and meets my gaze.
"Goblins?" I ensured.
"Yes. Goblins, just like you."
I cannot imagine myself getting affected if I would kill my own kind. However, the circumstances might change if Izz, and maybe Grer, were to fight such foes, unprepared. They are not ready to face such conflicts, especially once they take part in the battle.
But then again, I ask myself the same question.
'Am I prepared to spill human blood with these hands?'
At that time, I cut down the hobgoblin's head with sheer luck and the traps laid by the cave beforehand. The enemy that I had fought against could not foresee what was coming and eventually made her die in vain.
Everything will be different now that I have included myself in saving this village and joining the war, in which I did not sign up for. All I wanted was to find human people and eventually stumbled upon the Windsor family.
"Everything is a mess!" I blurted while shuffling my hands over my head.
"Are you regressing to your senses as a ferocious perverted goblin and would now rampage in the town, assaulting the maidens you first see?" Bill coherently asks while reaching out for his honed pitchfork.
"No! And how on earth did you quickly think about that?" I quickly answered, shielding my heart with my bare hands.
"Good."
I stand up and walk over to the window, checking once more the youngsters running along with the wind and soon rolling on the muddy ground. Glancing to the side, I notice the father that kindly took us in, knocking dissonantly from the front door.
"Coming," Old man, Bill, answered and steadily made his way to his crane and opened the doors.
"It is great to see you," Bill said with a gentle yet cranky look on his face.
The guy did not flinch at Bill's annoying expression and continued to gleam brightly as the sun illuminated him from behind.
"Bill, remember that we have a hundred sheep living next door?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Well, there's an incy wincy problem that I miss overlooked,"
Bill raises his brow, suspecting some obtuseness from the guy's words. Even I, who knew nothing about the sheep, exactly understood what Bill was thinking in his mind.
"What exactly happened?" We concurrently asked, and both stared at each other in wonder.
"Let me guess, you lost one of your sheep?" I perpended, having the least expectations and interest to solve this problem.
"How did you know!" The guy ejaculated. "Are you a mind-reader?"
He then tilts his head, still in his fantasy of me having such bizarre superpowers. Now that I think about it, maybe there is a spell that can control minds? I should look that up in my arcane dictionary.
"Alright, I will help you find the sheep." The aged man vexingly states while grabbing a short blade and placing it in his waist.
"In the meantime, let yourself be familiar with the village," Bill utters while following the kind man towards the nearby fences, half a mile away from where we are. "So the villagers may rely on you more."
"Bill! One last thing!" I shouted, trying to grab his attention before he could go away.
"Yes?"
"What happened back then when you said 'it was the same thing from last time'. The monster hunt!"
"Oh, that." Bill stopped in his tracks, not wanting to reveal his stiff face from the question I had asked.
"It was my son."
___________________________________
Two native men tread the long mushy field filled with nothing but weeds growing in the ground. In all directions, they see the vast jungle bountiful with berries, domestic animals, and trees. It was one of the resources that the village consumes, especially with a little economy that they have from the Kingdom's square.
As they grow farther from the plaza, the bungalows that they meet get smaller. After a long and tiring hour, they arrived at the border's village that drives around the towering mountains.
Nobody knows what is beyond the uncharted road. Some said that the pavement has a curse that vile beasts and other entities would likely kill a wandering, innocent species. With that reason, the town's representative requests ten of his elite men to guard this entrance and eliminate those who disobeyed. Of course, if the species shows intelligence and could converse, then the official will hold a meeting and discuss their future relationship.
Today, they have a task to find their missing sheep that had escaped from its ranch. The locales saw the domestic animal running towards the wild, towards the direction, unable to chase because of their difference in speed. The guards had thought that the villagers had set the sheep free and did not dare to capture the animal. Bill, one of the pursuers, did not want to scowl at the diligent servicemen, so he decided it was time for them to go.
"But, Bill, the sheep might not have ventured that far?" The father-like bloke said, pleading to extend their search.
Having to face such appeal, Bill reluctantly agrees and continues their hunt for the lost sheep. However, as they march towards the unknown thoroughfare, a trail of blood invites their eyes, which came from the same sheep they were desperate to find.