Chapter 1

The most Horrid Fate for a Monster.

The sound of meat being ground up, bones breaking, and limbs snapping echoed through the hilltop cavern. Green flesh was torn into while piles upon piles of bodies of varying monsters and bandits were in the corner.

"It doesn't taste as good as usual." The winged woman sighed. Her beautiful face and features contrasted harshly with the monstrous talons that were grafted to her arms and legs. "Where did you find these goblins? In a swamp?"

Her snide comments caused the wolf creature to sneer. "You know some of those intestines are from a goblin champion that I had to kill by myself. Be more grateful. You scrapped bird!"

The harpy grumbled while she pulled more meat off the bone, more and more her blonde and white feathers were dyed crimson. "I'm done."

The werewolf raised its brow, standing up. "What? Is the Great Harpy watching her figure now?"

"That's not what I meant," the harpy sighed, pressing one of her nails against her cheek. "Doing the same thing every single day, does it not drive you insane?" The monster then flicked one of her bones and stared down from the cliffside.

The wolf merely laughed. "I'm older than you, so if I'm not complaining, you have no right to either."

The harpy gnashed her razor-sharp teeth while her golden eyes glanced over her shoulder. "Twice the age, half the brain one might say."

A rather casual insult, a weak one at that, though the wolf had to wonder what the conversation was in service to. If she wished to insult him, surely she wouldn't need such a roundabout way of doing so. "What is this all about?"

The harpy didn't respond right away. Instead, she pressed her hand to her chest and grinned. "I want a necklace..."

"What?" The werewolf stood up and crossed his arms. "If you want it then get it, there are probably plenty of humans that have that sort useless garbage around their necks."

At first, some of those items had some appeal to him, but the older the werewolf got, the more he realized such trinkets served no purpose. So, of course, the harpy wanted it.

"You don't get it, do you?" The harpy clawed at the interior of the cavern. "I want to play human. At least that is what it's called, I believe."

The werewolf laid back on one of the jagged rocks taking a scoop of flesh from the pile and tossing it into his mouth. "Tsk, if you crave excitement, then hunt adventurers. Truthfully we are slaughtering far below our grade if I'm blunt."

They should be hunting silver and gold rank adventures. Yet here they were, squandering their strength, living like animals in a cave with nothing better to do. Though since they did have nothing better to do, that wasn't too far from the truth.

"Killing stronger things won't satisfy me!" The harpy screeched. "You used to be human, no? You still can change back to that horrid appearance. Don't tell me you haven't been at least a bit tempted to delve back into the life of those fragile things."

The werewolf rubbed his snout. The horrid appearance she spoke of was his human form. A state he hadn't taken in years, mostly because he didn't particularly care for its look. "Tsk, you won't let this go...will you?"

"Of course not!" The harpy wingspan exploded. "We monsters take what we want, even if it's something as simple as entertainment!"

The werewolf sneered. "If you feel that strongly about it, then disguise yourself and wander the town. I'm sure you'll be able to make something from all the armor and clothe we have gathered."

Between the bandits and the other monsters, they had hunted and killed. They had stored up a small armory of different armor and items. If the werewolf would be blunt with himself, it was time to just toss everything out of the cavern.

"Ah, well, you see...I don't think I'd be able to pull it off." The booming voice the harpy commanded just moments earlier faded as she fidgeted with her talons. "Perhaps you could go down first?"

Despite all the talk, it seemed the harpy was rather spineless when it came to sneaking around. "So you want me to act as your source of entertainment until you work up the nerve? The answer to that is no!"

The moment the werewolf said that the avian monster bit her bottom lip, though, her frustration didn't last long as she recalled something. "Oh, I see. Is that how you treat your savior? I remember a rather nasty encounter you had with the nearby werebear. Flinging you around like a rag doll, I even tried to warn you about their strength, but he didn't listen."

The werewolf visibly cringed at her comment. "Oy, don't bring that up!"

Despite the werewolf's statement, the harpy continued. "Broken and shattered ribs, even your legs were twisted in the wrong direction. It took you two days to completely heal, and if I hadn't come and swoop you up, you'd probably have ended torn in half."

She was attacking two fronts—first, his pride and second the werewolf's sense of loyalty. "Damn...it. Do you have to bring all of that up? You are going to use that against me?!"

The harpy laughed. "If you do this simple thing for me, the debt will be paid. Unless you want to continue to lick your wounds up in these mountains while I claw my brains out from boredom."

The werewolf knew that even if he did what the harpy said, she'd continue to use his defeat against him. Of course, his pride still prevented him from refusing the task. "Fine, damn it all, damn it all!"

The monster was showing a far more childish side as he rummaged through the weapons and armor. "I'll disguise myself as an adventurer, just for you! I'll even find that worthless necklace or something."

He hated it. He hated it with all his soul. Though what he hated the most was the fact he would take a form he despised, all to appease his fickled friend.

"I don't want this half-assed either. I want you to spend at least two days in that town. Surely even a mutt like you can manage that much, no?" Now that she was in control of the situation, the dominating personality had returned.

The werewolf groaned. He had no idea where her newly found obsession with humans came from, but he merely prayed that it was a passing phase.

The wolf winced as he pressed his claws to the ground. The fur on his body receded a bit while he forced chunks of scraps and different armor onto his body. Most of it was mere leather with a couple of helmets and swords.

"You look like a complete fool, are you sure you were once human?" Another insult was thrown the werewolf's direction.

This time, however, he chose to ignore it. "Two days, right? I don't want to hear your complaints when that time is up..." With those words, the werewolf disguised as a man exited the mountainside cavern.

The town nearby was a hotspot for adventurers. There was even a farm near the location; of course, it went without saying he steered away from such places. Not out of fear, he doubted any adventurer from such a backwater place would be able to harm him, more due to convenience.

If he and Great Harpy made too much of a mess, they might start sending gold rank adventurers after them. Something that may be fun at first, but would force them to change locations again.

"I forgot how itchy this shit is..." The werewolf attempted to scratch under his armor, but in doing so, only loosened it. "Tsk, what am I even supposed to do?"

A part of him wondered if this entire situation was just so Great Harpy could be alone. Though if that were the case, she wouldn't have used up her one favor on something so trifling. Besides, despite his initial irritation, there were far worse places to be.

The moment he stepped into town, the entire place reeked of humans. The werewolf cringed, it was a smell he had been used to, but it still somewhat made his stomach churn whenever there were too many.

"What now? What would a human do when he first enters town?" The more the werewolf thought about it, the more he realized he didn't technically need to be there. He could just lie and hang out in the forest for the two days required.

Of course, that would be breaking his promise. Besides, Great Harpy would instantly know if he tried to weasel his way out of it.

He made sure the metal that covered his face was adequately set up. The werewolf then proceeded to wander through the streets, noticing the odd looks that the passing humans were giving him.

"I must smell..." The realization dawned on him when he remembered they never washed the armor. They just looted the corpses and threw it on. "Tsk, think for a moment..." Despite the memories nearly fading away, he was a human at one point. Surely he could piece together his next course of action.

"Hey, young man, you look lost!"

The werewolf winced before he turned his attention downward to see an old man walking with a cane. It almost looked like if the wind hit him too hard, he'd fall over.

"Ah shit, someone talked to me, fuck what do I say?" In his short-sightedness, he had completely forgotten that he would need to interact with humans.

"Ah, hmm?" He couldn't even get out a complete thought, which merely prompted the older man to laugh.

"Perhaps I should suggest taking a quest. You seem equipped enough. I assume that is why you are here."

The werewolf nodded, mostly due to his inability to socialize whatsoever. "Very well, I shall follow your advice, fellow human."

He was disguised as an adventurer. It'd make sense for him to be around where other adventurers were though the risk of him being discovered rose with it.

Regardless it would be an excellent opportunity to kill time. He took the old man's advice and headed to what he assumed was the Guild Tavern. Once the werewolf entered the looming building, the chattering of various adventures crawled into his ears.

Humans were a noisy bunch. Regardless even a monster like him knew how to fill out for a quest. He merely had to walk up to the front desk and ask.

There stood a blonde woman with a great big smiling face. It was at this point werewolf realized something. Human women looked strange, they didn't have any claws or feathers, and they were so short.

"Why hello there, you seem to be interested in taking a quest!" She tilted her head as cutely as possible, which prompted the werewolf to frown.

"Yes, I would like a quest in which humans participate in."

Guild Girl examined him for a moment. "Ah, you are new, right? You are going to have to fill out paperwork."

"...Eh?"

"What? Do you think that we can just let you go off accepting quests without at least filling out your class and age?" The blonde wagged her finger. "This is important because its quest you complete also goes towards your next promotion."

Guild Girl then slid the paper across the desk, prompting the werewolf to grumble. He picked the sheets along with the paper and made his way to a nearby table.

"This is some bullshit, werewolves filling out paperwork. Why do humans have to go through so many unnecessary steps?"

He sat down, looking at the two sheets and what was required. Realizing there was a lot more that needed to be filled out than just a title and age.

They needed to know where you were from, any potential family members as well as any teachers—all of which the werewolf didn't have.

So he just looked at the paper for a minute. "Shit, fuck..." He cursed, lifting the writing utensil, "Ah, title...maybe a Barbarian?" He started to write, realizing how horrid his handwriting was. "T-they should be able to read this, right?" After years of neglecting it, his poor penmanship caught up with him.

For hometown, he just popped something in, same with family members. He doubted they would double-check the information anyway.

Once he filled out the paper, 'Barbarian' returned the sheet to Guild Girl. The blonde examined the documents, and without missing a beat, smiled. "There's a lot wrong with it, but I'll let it slide."

"Eh?! Did she need to say it like that?"

"So, I can take a quest now, right?" The werewolf snickered to himself. "I'll take anything that requires the extermination of something." He was getting hungry, and a quest to kill seemed like it was simple enough.

Guild Girl pressed her finger to her lips. "Well, since you are a Porcelain rank, I can't let you go on a quest alone. Though I have some good news for you." The werewolf highly doubted Guild Girl had actual good news for him, but he remained silent as she continued her statement.

"There is a group of Porcelain that is about to head on a goblin extermination quest. If you are interested, you can kill two birds with one stone, some would say."

The werewolf groaned. He had goblin meat this morning, and he wasn't really in a mood for more. "Is there anything else in terms fo extermination?"

"Nope, sorry~." The excitement in Guild Girl's voice was far too big for her not to get some pleasure from turning him down. "They are right over there, but I suggest you decide soon."

The werewolf gritted his teeth under his leather mask and made his way to the table they were sitting at. They looked young, at least that is what the monster figured, the longer time passed, the harder it was to tell humans apart through appearance alone. They certainly smelled young.

There were four of them sitting at the table. Three females and one male, the werewolf gnashed his teeth. Not only did he have to fill out paperwork, but now he was going to play babysitter.

"Whatever, if they get on my nerves, I'll just kill them all."

"Oy, are you guys doing the goblin hunting quest?" The werewolf asked, his eyes narrowing, despite that due to his mask, no one could see his face.

"Huh? You want to join in too?" The teenage boy laughed. "Geez, didn't think killing a bunch of goblins would be such a popular job."

"I suppose it makes sense..." The glasses-wearing witch sitting next to the swordsmen adjusted her spectacles. "If it's your first quest, then it's only natural to want to bring as many people along."

The black-haired girl brushed her hair to the side. "So, what's your class?"

"Barbarian..."

Author note

Once again, something different. I often use Fanfic to test concepts for my original fiction, so think of this as sort of a proof-of-concept. If it gets popular might write more.

I wanted to take the monsters of DnD and have a story focused around them. Since it's not covered a lot, don't worry. Werewolf won't be going around with the rookies or Goblin Slayer. As I said, it's monster focused so it will most likely be a group of adventuring monsters.