With a shock of a familiar yet unfamiliar name, Josh opened the carriage doors. His gaze immediately landed upon the filthy creatures before him.

  Their childlike height added no points of cuteness as their green-gray skin was riddled with rotting pores together with their sharp eyes resembling those of a snake, and their maws filled with rotten yellow teeth. Was more than enough to disgust you.

  The goblins' hands clutched either a rusted dagger or a small bow if they stood further apart. Around thirty goblins surrounded the carriage, vastly outnumbering the two guards and Leo.

  Overwhelmed by the disgusting sight and smell of the creatures, Josh fell to his knees. Throwing up the jerky he had been munching on earlier, right inside the carriage.

  It only took a dozen seconds for the situation to escalate. One of the guards who was defending the carriage was struck by an arrow to his hip. Seizing the opportunity, another goblin lunged forward, piercing the abdomen with his small stature.

  The guard fought as best as he could, taking down more than two goblins with him before his eyes dimmed and his lifeless body collapsed to the ground.

  Help him.

  H-h-e-elp him.

  He’s dying…

  He’s dead….

  Why didn’t you help him? Josh looked at the other guard valiantly fighting against three goblins.

  Why didn’t I help him? He looked back at his own shaky hands, and the vomit on the floor of the carriage.

  Still completely frozen out of sheer disbelief of the crude reality in front of him. He gazed upon Leo fighting a dozen of the goblins further from the carriage. His sword shined with a light blue aura as it cut through the goblins like butter.

  Flabbergasted, Josh watched as Leo cut down one of the goblins after another with such ease that the guard’s death from before seemed fake, and the one versus a dozen seemed to favor the old steward rather than the numerous goblins.

  The other guard, full of cut wounds and an arrow sticking out of his knee, moved over to Josh so he could protect him.

  With Leo busy dealing with dozens of goblins at his helm, a couple of the goblins snuck by and attacked the young guard and Josh.

  With insane fervor and no fear of death, the goblins jumped at the guard. As the guard’s lord was behind him, he had nowhere to step back. The young guard had to grit his teeth and fight a one versus three with no space and his body already being riddled with injuries. Realizing that the situation was less than favorable towards him, he shouted.

  “Sir, our lord is in danger!” A rugged shout was heard from the young guard’s lips, as he took a step towards the goblins forgetting about his dreams of living and seeing another day.

  He’s gonna die as well, isn’t he?

  He’s gonna die…

  Die?

  Why him??

  Why not me?

  Josh’s mind was in complete turmoil. He didn’t even register a shout from Leo to hold the ground so he could save his so-called ‘Milord’. His dead eyes look upon the guard fighting in front of him, watching how he's about to succumb to death as well.

  Dead. Josh thought as the guard's lifeless body collapsed.

  Now there was nothing left between Josh and the goblin that was still alive and kicking.

  One is still alive.

  Josh had no combat training. He had never needed it. The best he could do was rely on his superior reach, kicking at the goblin with all his might, the creature tumbled back but recovered far too quickly.

  Josh dove towards the fallen guard, grasping for the dagger at the man’s belt. His fingers wrapped around the hilt just as the goblin rushed forward with relentless, inhuman fervor.

  The goblin’s dagger plunged into Josh’s stomach.

  A sharp, searing pain exploded through his body. His vision blurred, breath stalling as he processed the cold rusty dagger lodged in his abdomen. He gasped but forced himself to act. With every last bit of strength he had left, he drove his own dagger forward, the blade met the goblin’s head. He felt some resistance from the goblin's skull before it finally caved in, splattering him with thick green blood.

  .

  I killed…

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  It was a beast, but still, I killed…

  In the seconds that he was trying to fathom his new reality filled with the surrounding gore, and the guard's deaths, a gentle voice brought him back to reality.

  “Milord, Get back in the carriage!” Leo shouted at him.

  Josh raised his gaze towards the shout to see his steward surrounded by another dozen goblins, with at least twenty dead goblins lying in between them. His old steward’s suit was no longer black and white, you wouldn’t be able to find a spot on it that wasn’t covered by the filthy green blood of the goblins.

  “Monster," Josh whispered as quietly as his voice could produce.

  It didn’t take longer than half a minute for Leo to finish slaughtering the rest of the goblins.

  "Milord, are you okay?" Leo asked as he returned to the carriage, his breath calm and steady, no showcase at all that he had just slaughtered dozens of goblins

  "No, I‘m not okay," Josh replied gasping for air and pointing towards the dagger still stuck in his abdomen.

  "Bert," he took a deep rugged breath. "Bart, they died." Visibly shaken, Josh quickly added.

  "Milord, I think we should forego the rest of the journey and hurry back to the Daim Village. So the priest can get you healed," Leo replied with haste as he analyzed the dagger stuck in Josh’s abdomen ignoring the deaths of guards.

  “I don’t care…” Josh shot back. “Anywhere away from this,” turning his gaze away from the battle scene.

  “Milord, I need to set the bodies on fire, and then we can go,” Leo told Josh before quickly going into the action piling all of the bodies a little bit away from the road, taking a couple of the belongings away from the dead guard’s bodies including the small coin pouched lodged on their belts. Then setting all of the bodies on fire.

  ***

  Josh was woken up from his slumber by a shaking from Leo. Accompanied by a deep searing pain coming from his stomach he remembered that in fact he still had a dagger stuck in his stomach. “Milord, we have returned to the Daim Village. We need to head inside so that the priest can see you,” Leo instructed.

  The fight was real…

  I Killed…

  Fuck this world…

  Hurriedly they entered the marble halls of the church, Josh’s mind was still in turmoil, as he couldn’t even appreciate the beauty of the various tapestries that hung upon the walls. The tapestries depicted the Goddess Sol with grace, beauty, and elegance befitting of a Goddess. Her long hair was as bright as the sun, together with her perfect face with no blemishes enhanced her beauty, and her curvy body left no room for imagination.

  Entering the main hall of the church finally burst Josh out of his turmoil as he got captivated by the statue in the middle of the hall.

  He landed his gaze upon the statue depicting the goddess beauty and instantly got captured not by lust as her beauty was so otherworldly that no mortal could desire it. Rather by blissful feeling of a motherly love.

  "Greetings, Ser Leo, Lord Josh." A priest wearing white and yellow ornaments broke Josh out of his stupor.

  What was that?

  With fear, Josh shuddered, shaking himself off the captivating feeling he got from only gazing upon the statue; he let down his sight to prevent that from happening again.

  “Bishop Loki, sorry for intruding upon you at this late hour,” Leo did a slight bow feigning forgiveness. “Milord requires immediate treatment, Could you please help us out?” Leo asked pointing towards the dagger still stuck in Josh’s stomach.

  “Now, no need for that, Ser Leo. All of us are children of Sol,” The bishop with eyes squinted and his smile up to his nose replied.

  “Follow me into the chambers where I’ll ask the goddess of the favor to treat him,” the bishop added as he marched away from the main hall into one of the numerous chambers inside the church.

  They entered a circular chamber with an altar and a small statue of Goddess atop the altar.

  The sculptor of the statue did his best but failed miserably to depict all of the otherworldly beauty the main statue showcased.

  "Could the Lord kneel before the altar?" Bishop Loki asked as he quickly ripped the dagger out of his stomach.

  With the fear of being captivated just moments ago, Josh took small steps towards the altar, the burning pain in his stomach telling him to hurry.

  After he kneeled before the altar. The Bishop started chanting a prayer in a foreign language to his ears. Not long after that, a yellow light engulfed Josh’s wound, and it began to close at a visible rate.

  What the fuck?

  Shocked at how that was even possible, he raised his gaze to look at the small statue on top of the altar. As he did that, once again, he was captivated by a warm embrace only a mother could give to her children. He would be able to spend the rest of his life in this blissful embrace.

  Sadly, it was time to go, as he was instructed by Leo, shaking him out of his stupor.

  “You are all healed, Lord Josh.” The Bishop announced while putting a cup in front of him.

  Thankfully, good man Leo came to his save, he stepped forward and dropped two small golden coins into the cup.

  "May the Goddess be with you," Bishop said as he bowed and led them out.

  What was that?

  I hope that’s the last time I have to visit the church. It was hella creepy.

  Also, I killed? I saw people being killed. How the heck I'm feeling?

  Alright?

  After no more than three hours have passed?

  This whole world is just so freaking weird…

  After returning to the carriage to ride back to the manor leaving the visit of the last village for another day, Josh asked Leo. “How much were those two golden coins worth?”

  “Milord, that was two golden coins, which are worth in turn ten silver coins,” Leo explained. “Which in turn is worth two hundred copper coins,” Leo explained the currency to him.

  After returning to the carriage and riding back to the manor, Josh asked Leo.

  “How much were those two golden coins worth?” Leo got interrupted from his job as a coachman and started explaining the currency to him.

  “Milord, that was two gold coins which are worth ten silver coins each, that in turn being worth a hundred copper coins per silver coin,” Leo explained the currency to him.

  As if that says anything.

  Josh’s confusing stare at Leo made him continue. “One bushel of grain is worth twelve copper coins,” Leo added some clarity to the currency.

  So basically, tons of grain seems pretty expensive.

  The rest of the journey back towards the manor continued in silence. Where as soon as they got back Josh washed off the gore from the goblins and fell into deep slumber.