The outskirts of the town still had people. There were plenty of farmers here and it was sort of a village. Almost all the farms had some form of a fence to keep things or maybe monsters away?
Speaking of monsters, yes, there were actual monsters in this world but nothing too deadly near the town; anything deadly to people, even natural disasters, were considered monsters. But generally, monsters referred to rampaging beasts and when those came near the town, they ended up very dead thanks to the adventurers or mercenaries. And on a yearly basis, by the city knights.
This was particularly why farms could exist even outside the city.
But that begged the question, how come they allowed the goblins to make a nest and live? If all monsters were regularly hunted for materials and safety, then why were goblins allowed to live?
I had this question when Escalor told us about the quest. But now, now I had an answer. And although I wasn't troubled by it, someone was: Siarre. She didn't complain though.
"I see scouts," Siarre said.
We were still crossing the immense fields. Fields full of cauliflower and tomatoes. A sort of forest was in the distance.
But no, we weren't going to the forests. We were taking a detour towards wet marshes and long patches of high grass that went as high as my waist.
"How many?" Escalor asked.
Wait, what scouts? I tried focusing and- I could almost make out some smudges in the distance.
"Three," She pulled out a bow from the air.
Come to think of it, I hadn't seen them in combat. Although we moved quite a distance last night, we didn't come around any monsters. I didn't even know what monsters looked like to be honest. And I didn't have the time to learn either. I did know they were beastly and monstrous but both terms were vague.
A crude bow with a silver string. She gently pulled on it without any arrows. An arrow formed. An arrow of darkness-
Whip!
And like a small crack, the arrow went flying, piercing something in the distance. I could hear the whip from all the way here, followed by a groan.
"We've made our presence known," Siarre said. "Should give them enough time."
"Time to?" I asked.
She stared. "To not let everyone be fallen to mortal depravity."
These two were looking for money. And judging by their demeanor and conduct, they'd done this before. But at the same time-
'So that's why you two took this one…'
Not to just make money. They wanted to be the ones to make sure- no, it was probably just my imagination.
"Let's go!" Escalor started running.
He'd told me to stay behind him and Siarre and only watch. I didn't have to do anything. The goblins had no real way of hurting me, thanks to my stats. But they still wanted me to be careful and learn from them, assuming I was serious about being an adventurer which I kind of was? I wasn't sure myself. This was a new world. The aspects were like a game. But I wasn't human. And although my ideals were kind of intact, they felt somewhat… foreign, as did this world.
Was it because of this body? Or was it because of something else? I wasn't sure. And frankly, I didn't care.
The two were fast runners. I was about as fast. It took little effort to match their pace. Since I was nothing but bones, running was really easy. I didn't even feel out of breath for a second; wait, did I even need to breath? I still remember the days I tried exercising and giving up after two minutes because my lungs would be on fire but- now, I was really enjoying just running around. This wasn't so bad. Actually- Have I ever thought it was bad that I was a skeleton?
"Entrance spotted, incoming arrows, be careful!" Siarre howled.
Wet. Wet grass and mud; and occasional mud traps. The ground didn't necessarily suck my feet in but I didn't like this. If I wasn't careful, I could very well sink in one of those patches-
"Roger," Escalor quickly pulled out two big shields, shielding us from the crude arrows.
Clang! Clang!
Meanwhile, Siarre aimed and shot down whoever had been shooting us. I couldn't really track any of their movements. Particularly because I wasn't really feeling it. I was more interested in the scent that was in the air.
The scent of spilled blood.
The scent of blood.
I could almost taste it. I could almost- no-
Stay sane, damn it!
"There!" Escalor motioned to his right; we moved as a group with me always being behind Siarre and her being behind Escalor. No arrows or stones reached me. Even if some managed to slip through Escalor's defenses, they couldn't pierce Siarre's armor.
Slow. The process of killing goblins was slow. Escalor blocked everything and Siarre shot them one by one. Even so, it wasn't a long venture. Why? There weren't that many.
It didn't take long for us to just randomly slay seventeen goblins. Yes, seventeen. How did I know? By their scent. The different scents of their blood. Some scents were bewildering, others, reeked of something nasty, diseased.
"I'll go in," Escalor said, ripping off a coat of moss from the ground, revealing a chill entrance. It wasn't just a hole but rather led down like stairs? He also put one shield back and took up a long sword in one hand. A long sword with a serrated edge….
"I'm coming with you," Siarre said.
"No, it's better I go alone…" He said. "Besides, Lord Sean must be protected."
Although reluctant, she obliged.
Meanwhile- I didn't care and just found the most delightful smelling one. Although it smelled delectable, it looked horrible. Thin brawny body with some meat on it. Long nose, long ears and kind of purple looking. They were somewhat different from goblins I knew from novels and games. Namely- they appeared a bit too human. As in, their facial structure was that of a human child's. But no, not a beautiful child that was for sure. Crude teeth, jagged claws, veiny body and a loincloth- it was no child and definitely not human.
I began by tasting the blood. Sweet and salty. Almost like caramel mixed with a bit of salt. Ah- this was it. This was what I was looking for, what I was waiting for food.
Finally- food!
CRUNCH! MUNCH! CHOMP! NOM!!
Ah-
Colors. The world was so colorful. Each breath filled me with delight. Each crunch with joy and each beat reminded me: I was alive. I was still a skeleton though.
"Leave their ears please. We need them as proof of the eradication." I heard Siarre say something but I couldn't comprehend it. No, rather I didn't want to.
It was too delicious to stop. Boney? Not enough flesh? Didn't matter cause even the bones were crunchy and so juicy! So… delicious!
MUNCH! NOM!
It went on. My feeding frenzy. Before I knew it, I'd consumed three whole goblins. Where did all the food go? I didn't know. But when I finally stopped, my senses came back. No, they were always here. I was aware. And I knew what I was doing. But it was like one of those times when you know you shouldn't jerk off but you can't help but open an incognito tab and just… do it.
I couldn't help it. I knew it wasn't right. I knew it wasn't right to eat other living things but at the same time, didn't we raise things to eat them? So, what was different? How was this different?
It was different. After all, these things attacked us, these things were protecting their kin. They were… intelligent. And I ate them.
"We've captured eighteen young, and seven of their women. They will all follow us back to the city." Escalor came up with a goblin group tied up. They came out as a line, all tied up with a single rope starting from the lead goblin, all the way to the last.
Meanwhile, Siarre had already collected the ears of the deceased goblins and gathered their bodies. Once gathered, she lit them on fire with some oily substance. Only a few drops were enough to light the whole thing on fire.
"Why burn them?" I asked.
"To prevent them from rotting and in some cases to prevent spreading disease."
The group of goblins didn't protest but they watched their kin burn with tears and some even stared at us with scorn… particularly the young.
Definitely intelligent.
And I ate them… And not just them. If that bloodlust got a bit too loose, I might have even ended up eating that mother and daughter. At the time I didn't feel anything but now- now that my head was clear again.
'Holy fuck….'