The Rendaro all looked at Calëb for answers.
"Go on. Tell them what's what."
Calëd nodded before walking up to her people.
"It's as I said. Lord Katsíki has offered to protect us under the condition that we obey his every command." She said.
That's a little dramatic, but yes. I may have said something along those lines.
"You can't be serious!"
"It's a fucking goat! I say we kill it and eat it and that golden whore!"
"Yeah! She doesn't seem as strong as the others!"
A few Rendaro yelled, but I could tell they were the minority.
The others were deathly afraid of Yna, unlike the Ia who showed disdain, the Foph were actually afraid, but strangely enough, none of them dropped their weapons.
I looked at Calëb and realized that they were willing to risk their lives for her.
A murderer.
My vision darkened, but I managed to maintain some focus.
"The actions of your own people are what led to this. First the killing of the Ia a while ago and your leader killing an Ia elder. All that led to the circumstances you find yourselves in. Imagine what will happen if you dare to attack Yna or I again?" I asked, even though I really didn't plan on hurting anyone.
Some of the Foph lowered their weapons and it's here that I noticed several people standing atop my dark wall.
It was a mixture of Calëb's entourage and the Rendaro who had decided to call Coh home.
I looked at the Foph and saw that all of their weapons were lowered.
I nodded before looking at Gid who still glared at me.
I pointed my hoof at Coh's southern gate.
"I'm sure you're all tired. Come. Let's sit down and properly discuss our plans for the future." I said while destroying the wires that bound Gid.
I then walked up the stairs that led into Coh, but quickly noticed that the Foph weren't following.
I shot Calëb a questioning glance and she quickly gestured that the Foph follow us into Coh.
We eventually found ourselves seated in Yna's dojo, where she, along with Farin, served our guests some fresh water from the stream and unsurprisingly, no one except Calëb drank any.
Just how much did they distrust me?
Is it so strange to have your leader tortured to submission and your home ruled over by a talking goat with dark powers?
I sighed in defeat.
There was no way for me to win.
If I was too lenient, the Rendaro would all kill each other and who knows what ruling with an iron hoof would lead to.
"So, you guys were never actually serious about launching a full-scale war on mankind. Sure, you probably attacked a few towns and villages here and there, but the way I see it… you're all afraid of fighting against the knights. You can kill your own kind and normal humans, but the moment a Golden Knight appears…" I let my voice trail off as I looked at each and every one of the Foph.
"It's honestly pretty understandable. I'm sure having a common enemy keeps the Foph from infighting. However, I'd like to change all that. Not through force, but collaboration. As it stands, I really have no plans for you all. I want to make sure Coh is perfect before dedicating time to your tribe, but my ear is open. Ask me whatever you want." I said.
It was a bit awkward since the room was so silent, I could clearly hear my own voice.
I sounded like a fucking warlord or dictator or something.
All of the Foph looked at Calëb, but she simply lowered her head.
Gid then raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"What are you?" He asked.
Oh yeah!
The Foph didn't know that Kenos and I were fused.
"Ah. Great question. Give me a moment." I said.
Yo, Kenos. I need a hand. I thought.
[Roger!]
A plume of black smoke enveloped my body which underwent rapid changes all while the Foph watched in what I hope was awe.
My arms turned into small human arms and my torso turned into that of a child with light brown skin.
My head was last to change and like last time, my little goat legs remained.
I wondered why I took the form of a child?
Was this a manifestation of a younger Kenos?
That would make sense since all of the Ia recognized me as his vessel when I was in this form.
The Foph remained silent as the smoke cleared, further revealing my small self.
I quickly realized that the Foph didn't recognize me.
"You have no idea who this is, do you?" I asked and Gid slowly shook his head.
"Although I was a humble goat at first, I came across a wounded Kenos and seeing as I was equally near death's door, we decided to fuse. Hell if I know how. This means that Kenos and I are one now." I said, but everyone still had these blank expressions on their faces.
"Didn't your elders teach you about the Great Collision, the war, Kenos the Black Prince?" I asked.
"Well… we know a bit about the Great Collision and the war… but the Black Prince…" Calëb said. Her voice weak.
"I see. Well, within me resides the last prince of the Rendaro." I said and the Foph let out hums of understanding.
"Now don't misunderstand. I'm not ruling you because I think I rightly deserve it. Everything that happens from this point will be the consequence of your actions. Remember that." I said while looking particularly at Calëb, whose head was still lowered.
I let out a deep sigh before thinking about what to make the Rendaro do.
I needed to reform their way of life to make it less… violent, but that would take some time.
I also needed to continue developing Coh.
I decided to complete the latter first.
"Alright, it's time that you all return home. There, you'll inform the other Foph of the situation and await further instruction." I said before standing up.
Everyone else stood up and I accompanied them back to the Dark Expanse.
I waved the Foph off and they began their trip east.
The Foph eventually disappeared into the horizon and after taking a deep breath and staring recklessly into the rising sun, I stiffened my legs and fell to my side.
"What are you doing?" Yna asked with a giggle.
"I'm playing dead because that's how I feel," I said.
"Aww, come on. You did great. Only a handful of people died and your passivism may just work in the end." Yna said.
I wasn't sure if she was mocking me.
I looked into her bright golden eyes and even though she was smiling, I couldn't really tell what she was thinking.
"What would you have done differently- you know what? Don't tell me." I said while standing up.
I shook off the sand from my legs and made my way back into Coh where I climbed the southern wall.
I then looked out into the Dark Expanse.
Patches of brownish, clean sand could be seen here and there.
I had made some progress… but at what cost?
Several Ia had died and the Foph feared me more than anything.
I looked at my squishy human hands and watched as they reverted into their hooved forms.
I'd actually forgotten what it was like to be human.
Would the Rendaro have trusted me more if I was in my more humanlike form?
Would everyone be able to see my anxiety?
My desire to help.
My pain.
Being a goat was a fun gimmick.
I wondered if I should just stay in my humanlike form, but that presented its own challenges.
I was a child in that form for some reason.
If people didn't take me seriously as a goat, it might have been a similar or worse case if I was a child with goat legs.
Hehe. Sounds funny now that I think about it.
Yna picked me up, allowing me to take in more of Edenton.
The dark world I had transferred to via questionable means.
Part of me felt proud for making it as far as I bad, but another, much larger part of me felt scared.
It was the same fear that appeared when I came here and it had only grown stronger ever since.
At first, I didn't want to die, but now I had all these pieces to fit in place all while keeping my ever-growing fear at bay.
I guess this is where being a goat paid off.
No one ever really knew what I was thinking or feeling.
"Let's go to the others and see how they're doing," I said.
Yna then took us to the main camp where the young Rendaro could be seen playfully sparring with each other.
Shiru and the other older female Rendaro idly chatted while a certain little girl keenly watched the other Rendaro as they sparred.
They all noticed me and stared at me briefly before returning their attention to whatever they were doing.
Yna and I passed all of them on our way to Farin's cabin.
She then knocked on the side of the door, prompting Farin to raise his head.
It looked like he was documenting something on some paper.
I wondered where he got the paper and pencils from.
"Ah- Hello there," Farin said as Yna and I sat in front of him.
"Hey. What you up to?" I asked with a yawn.
"Nothing much. I just thought I'd document your recent ventures in a diary I'm keeping. I'm also etching various things onto the dark tablets you gave me."
"How?" I asked.
Farin pulled out something from his pocket.
It looked like a long and pointy rock, except it was transparent and it had a slight glow to it.
"Lady Yna made a chisel for me. It's quite effective." Farin said.
I nodded.
I hadn't realized that Yna and the Rendaro were hanging out without me.
Actually, I hadn't done much hanging out with anyone so it all made sense, I suppose.
A certain pain then assaulted my stomach.
I hopped onto my feet before exiting the cabin where I proceeded to eat away at some fresh grass.
Could I really survive off of grass alone?
Would I ever get tired of eating grass?
Maybe to the first and no to the second!
I noticed someone approaching and so I raised my head to find a certain Rendaro girl.
She wore old, patched up clothes and had a head of messy hair.
She fiddled with her fingers while looking at me.
She wanted something.
"Is there anything you need?" I asked.
"Erna! Sorry for my child's lack of discipline-"
Shiru tried saying as she placed her hands on Erna's shoulders, but I shook my head.
"No, don't worry about it. What did you want to ask, little misses?" I asked.
Erna then whispered something into her mother's ear.
Something that made Shiru gasp.
"Err…" Shiru sounded.
"What is it," I asked with narrowed eyes.
"She… she wants to hop on your back."
My eyes widened.
I then looked at Erna to find that she had a wide grin on her little face.
"Fine. Get on." I said with a deep sigh.
"Yey!" Erna said before recklessly hopping onto my back and much to my surprise, she wasn't that heavy.
That, plus my four legs meant that we were both stable.
"Go on, I'll keep her entertained for as long as she wants," I said.
Shiru looked at her daughter before looking back at me.
She slowly backed away with narrowed eyes.
Hey!
What's with that look-
"Ouch!" I cried as something tugged at my fur.
"Go!" Erna yelled.
"No!" I cried, but Erna grabbed my horns before yanking at them widely.
I turned to face Farin's Cabin with the hope that Yna and the old man would help me, but they seemed immersed in Farin's notes.
"Yna! Help!" I cried, but Yna and Farin didn't move.
They were ignoring me!
I then saw that Yna was snickering.
It's at this point that my trust for her dwindled.
She left me to suffer at the manic hands of a toddler.
Such cruelty was only surely too much!
.
..
Erna had grown sleepy and so Shiru gently picked her up and took her to the campfire where everyone had gone.
Yna prepared some food for everyone and I watched from the darkness beyond where the light could reach.
I saw that all the Rendaro were somewhat happy.
All my people were happy.
I plopped down onto the grass and sunk into the darkness of the night.
It's not that I didn't want to join everyone as they talked, ate and laughed.
I just… didn't know how.
What would I say?
Every conversation I'd had up until now was either expository or involved stakes so high, I didn't even realize that I was talking to other people.
I… no. I couldn't repeat my mistakes from before.
I stood up and approached the group.
I then set my sights on Yna, who sat next to Farin while taking eating an unreasonably large piece of meat.
I took several breaths before charging toward her at full speed.
"This is for abandoning me in my time of need!" I cried before hitting her back with my head.
This… wasn't a good idea.
Yna's bones were far harder than I expected and so I bounced off pitifully, prompting everyone to look at me.
Yna sighed before grabbing me and placing me on her lap.
She then began gently running her hands through my fur.
That was awkward and painful! I cried internally.
"As I was saying. It'd be easy enough to set up some sort of tournament once more people come."
"Yeah… we could have something like a series of fights with escalating stakes and power levels!"
"Oh my. That doesn't sound very safe. Or original."
The Rendaro all said among themselves.
I opened my mouth to speak when all of a sudden, a low, bone-shaking sound filled the air.
Everyone looked to the north and immediately gasped as a massive pillar of light shot up into the night sky.
It was as familiar to me as it was menacing.
I almost didn't want to know where it came from or what caused it to appear.
But I knew that at this point that it was inevitable.
We'd end up encountering the light's source, somehow.
TO BE CONTINUED!
AFTERWORD
Alright. I'm gonna be completely honest with you (reader)… I wrote the first six or so chapters of Goat Isekai (that's what I call it) As a joke.
My friends and I were playing Dungeons and Dragons, but I eventually got bored and created an entire world of lore overnight. Not all of it, just the foundation.
Some time passed and I eventually asked myself what would happen if someone were to get reincarnated into the body of a goat in a fantasy setting. I had the world, I had the ideas and so I randomly put together six chapters before dropping the entire project to focus on other more "serious" projects.
But, as I wrote those projects, I saw that quite a lot of people were reading those six chapters of Goat Isekai.
I wondered whether there was something more to Goat Isekai other than the gimmick of having a protagonist who's a goat and so I revisited my lore notes and saw that there was a lot of potential. I could tell a dark and ambitious story all while keeping things fairly straightforward. So… I rewrote all (most) of the lore and polished out some rough edges.
I then edited the six chapters to better fit my new narrative and here we are.
I am honestly extremely grateful and it's thanks to your support that I was able to push through and write all this.
Now, as for what my plans for this story are:
As you can probably tell, I'm building a Greater narrative while dealing with other things on a smaller scale. Those smaller scale things will be handled in the next few arcs while still building the greater narrative. Then, I don't know when exactly, we'll have a dramatic shift. A lot will change, but at that point, we'll have established a lot of the rules and so doing new things won't be so jarring.
The next arc will be titled [The Black Summer Arc] and will start after I take care of a few small stories.
These will fill out the world and set up various other things while also concluding in their own right.
So yeah. Thank you for reading and I can't wait to write more of this wacky story for your enjoyment!
Note: It's gonna take me a good long while to get arc 2 ready and I haven't locked onto a specific date. HOWEVER, I have written and plan on writing g several short stories that'll tell smaller stories in between arcs. Hopefully, that'll make the wait a little more bearable.