Alex's Point of View
"Alex, are you all right ?"
Hex's voice pulled me back to the present.
".. Ah, I was just lost in thought"
I replied, shaking my head.
"Stay alert. We already sinde the forest"
He warned.
"Yeah.. got it"
That's right, Hex, I and three other farmers had volunteered to accompany these pigs in armor into the forest.
The reason? A report of a goblin horde hiding somewhere inside the forest.
Our job, as the expendable ones, was to help the soldiers subjugate them. But for me, it was something else entirely.
I didn't come to help, I came to kill.
My blood boiled with hatred, hatred for those monsters and for the so-called soldiers who used people like us as bait.
"Ah !"
A cry rang out as an arrow pierced through the neck of one of the soldiers.
Blood sprayed into the air as he staggered, collapsed to the forest floor.
"We're under attack! Battle formation!"
The knight commander barked the order without hesitation.
The remaining nine soldiers immediately drew their swords and raised their shields, forming a tight circle around the commander.
They left us, the farmer completely exposed.
"Oi ! What about us ?!"
One of the farmers shouted in panic, eyes wide.
Another arrow thudded into the dirt just inches from his foot.
"Ahhh !"
The three other farmers panicked and bolted, running blindly into the woods without any idea where they were going, leaving only Hex and me behind enar the soldier's formation.
Without hesitation, Hex grabbed the shield from the fallen soldier and pulled me close.
"Stay behind me!"
He raised them just in time as a hail of arrows rained on us.
"Rwwrerrgh !"
A roar erupted as a horde of goblins burst from the treeline, charging toward us from all directions. They were armed with crude daggers, rusted blades, and makeshift clubs from broken wood and bone.
I remembered them.
Dark green skin, small twisted frames, disfigured faces with long nose and pointed ears. They wore nothing but filthy rags to cover themselves, their expression wild, fearless and savage.
My hands trembled. Not with fear … but with rage.
"Ahh… help me !"
Some of the soldiers began to panic as the sheer number of enemies overwhelmed them.
There were at least thirty goblins rushing in from all sides.
I saw the knight commander draw his sword in one swift motion, cutting down the first goblin that lunged at him.
But their formation was already falling apart.
Discipline crumbled as fear spread.
Hex had already picked up a sword and was fighting alongside the others. From the way he moved, his stance, his swings, I could tell he wasn't just some farmer. He fought like someone who had been trained… someone who had seen blood before.
As for me, I leapt from the ground and charged at the goblins with nothing but my bare hands.I drove my fist into one of their faces 'Crack!' Its skull gave way under the impact. I ducked an incoming blade, twisted, and kicked another goblin in the ribs, hearing a dull snap as it flew backwards. Their warm blood splattered across my hands, And that's when something inside me snapped. My blood boiled. My vision blurred.I moved without thinking, tearing through the goblins one after another. My knuckles were bleeding, my breath ragged,but I didn't stop.
I grabbed a goblin's crude weapon and turned it against them, slicing through flesh, hacking through bone. Blood poured like rain. Screams echoed through the trees. Hex and the knight commander stared in shock. They had never seen anyone, especially a farmer, fight like that.
What I was doing… it wasn't just fighting. It was a massacre.
"Is that guy even human…?"
That was the question whispered by more than one soldier as they watched in disbelief.
But I didn't hear them. I didn't care.
My eyes were locked on the goblins; nothing else existed.
One by one, I struck them down.
I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.
Not until there were none left standing.
Blood covered my clothes and my body. My breathing was ragged.
And yet, I stood, surrounded by the mangled bodies of the creatures that once haunted my nightmares.
==========================
We returned to the town in silence.
The knight commander went straight to report the outcome of the mission.
Hex didn't say a word to me.The look in his eyes said everything,he was still processing what he had seen in that forest.
I bowed quietly to him and the soldiers, then made my way home. A small hut near the edge of a golden wheat field.
"Big brother!"
A soft voice broke through the weight in my chest.
She stood outside the hut, waving both hands with the brightest smile, Lis, my sister.
"I'm back," I said, managing a tired smile as I walked toward her.
I gave her a pat on her head and walked inside the house, there was my grandmother who was cooking something on the stove.
"Oh! You're back!" She said, smiling despite the weariness in her eyes.
I walked over and handed the small pouch of coins I had received from the labor guild.
My sister's eyes widened.
"Woah ! Big brother, five silver coins ! That's a lot of money!"
"... I'm sorry, Alex, for all the hard work that you have done for us!"
My grandmother's voice wavered, full of guilt.
But her love had always been real, genuine and unshakeable.
Even if she couldn't work, she had held our broken family together.
I knew it was absurd to receive this much.
Normally, working the fields would only earn about ten copper coins a day, barely enough to buy slime oats, milles or a few vegetables to get by.
But today.. I survived and killed those goblins.
They handed me a reward far beyond what someneon like me would ever expect.
Five silver coins, enough for my grandmother and sister to live comfortably for a little while.
My sister is fifteen now.
She had become an apprentice at the same church where she had studied for years.
I wasn't smart. I never learned to read or write.But she could. And that was enough for me. It made me happy just to see her smile and to know she had a future I never had.
Moreover, she had already reached adulthood.
All I could hope for now was that she'd find someone she could trust, someone who'd love her and stay by her side forever. Even though I promised her I'd always be there for her. The truth is, ever since we came here ten years ago, I've barely seen her face, barely spent any time with her. I was always working at the field from dawn till dusk, day after day, repeating the same routine without rest.
It was the only way to survive and feed my family.
"Big brother? Is something wrong?" My sister asked gently as she handed me a plate of oat porridge. I must have looked distant lost in thought.
"Ah… it's nothing," I replied with a faint smile. "I'll eat in the morning. I'm just going to rest." Without another word, I stood up and made my way to bed, leaving the warm bowl untouched on the table.