Chapter One
Who Are You?
Pre-chapter note.
Just a heads up, this fic does contain graphic violence and sexual content. Typically I don't do this since they look tacky, but since this is one of my more out there stories. I feel that it should be done.
The same repetitive fields, the same old lake, the same useless trees... everything meshed together in a blob of time. Despite that, a constant feeling of dread crept into my chest — the same feeling I had since the day I was born.
"Why are you just lying around like that?"
A familiar voice that I heard before snapped me to attention. I sat up, my brown hair covering part of my face. "Huh, oh, it's you..."
My eyes wandered to the blonde girl standing over me. She wore a tattered brown dress that made her orange eyes stick out all the more.
"What kind of reaction is that?" Her cheeks puffed. "You can at least be a bit happy to see me!"
My nostrils flared. How many times have we had this conversation? Yet that feeling in the back of my head never did vanish. "Okay, Inn Keeper, what do you want?"
She ground her teeth while the wind blew through her hair. "You're a Farm Hand, so don't you think you should be helping out?"
That was...my name? When I heard it, I wanted to reject it. Not because I hated it, but because it didn't feel right.
"Whatever." I let out a defeated sigh as I dusted myself off. "By the way, have you heard anything interesting?" She was the Inn Keeper after all, so if there were anything of note, she would know it.
The blonde ran her fingers through her hair. "Well, there has been a group of adventurers that came by recently. Not your average ones either, some of them were silver ranked."
Now that was interesting. What the hell would a bunch of high ranked adventurers want to do with a town in the middle of nowhere?
Perhaps I was overstepping my bounds as a lowly Farm Hand, but if there was even a hint or a spark that would kill this feeling in my chest, I wanted to know.
"Why are they here?" I know I was presuming a lot by asking her that. At the very least, I had hoped she had overheard some of them speaking.
"W-well, you remember how the town was worried about the new goblin den that appeared? Someone tore through it and killed all of them."
I raised my brow. "Don't tell me a bunch of adventurers like that wasted their time on goblins?" It seemed like a waste of talent or at least a waste of time.
The Inn Keeper shook her head. "T-that's the thing. The goblins' corpses were half-eaten and mutilated. There was even a hobgoblin that had its intestines torn apart and hung across the den's walls."
I remained silent. "I guess it means that it wasn't a human that did all that."
The Inn Keeper shivered. "It's been happening a lot lately. So those adventurers are tracking the creature. They said it might be near here."
"Huh." That was my response. There was no fear or excitement over the idea of a bunch of adventurers killing an unknown beast. I doubt that fact will bring me to the desired feeling I sought.
Just another page in someone else's story that I had no interaction with. "That's enough. I think I'm going to do my job." I casually scratched the back of my head while dragging my feet towards the building I took my title from.
The Inn Keeper snorted while she gave a half-hearted wave before she too returned to her inn. A part of me wondered if she came out there to speak with me. If she did, then she needed more customers or something.
I traveled through the town, no one bothering to spare me a glance. Despite that, the walls of both the village and my mind seemed to have started to box me in. It mentally trapped me like a cocoon made out of wood and grass.
Who am I?
I'm a Farm Hand.
Why?
I don't know.
Do you care?
That last question haunted me. Because I didn't know the answer, the truth of the matter was, I had trouble caring about anything anymore.
Once I made it back to the farm, I sneered at the remaining work. Due to the little trip, the owner of the farm took, every single piece of work fell onto me. My eyes glanced at the sun until I finally took a deep breath.
It'd be simple. It's the same thing I did every day. First, the livestock, then general cleaning and washing, then I would handle the crops.
With that, I started on my task. The one that my name dictated me to do. The work was more monotonous than hard, but that may have been due to me having gotten used to it. Regardless I managed to finish it all before sunset, which gave me just enough time to head back into town and gather stuff for dinner.
Even though I complained, I was able to live inside the farm building for free—a small bright spot in a rather meager existence.
"Huh, I complain to myself a lot..." I checked the bag of coins I had wrapped around my waist and sauntered off. It didn't take me long to make it back into town. Unfortunately, it seemed something had garnered everyone's attention.
"I-it's the adventurers that came by earlier..." A woman whispered, her body blocking the view.
"D-did they catch the monster from earlier?" Another one shivered.
"B-but, isn't that just a woman?"
My mind told me to ignore the commotion in the center of the town, but my curiosity got the better of me. My body pushed past the other villagers, and just like they said, the group of adventures was indeed standing there. They seemed to have been dragging a woman with a chain and rope.
I couldn't care less about the adventurers, but the woman drew my eye. She had long purple hair tied in a braid and a rather curvy body, but what stuck out the most to me was her clothing and eyes. If the context were different, I would have sworn she was a priest.
Though her the tainted yellow eyes revealed something far more sinister.
I attempted not to stare, but the moment she turned her head and stared at me, my mind collapsed. Yes, because I reached it, I finally reached it.
Her gaze made me feel something, something that not even the Inn Keeper and my parents managed to make me feel. That long sought after goal that every living creature wanted.
Peace of mind. She gave me something no one else could.
"Hey!" Swordsmen standing at the head of the group called attention to the town. His armor seemed to have been of decent quality, so I assumed he was of a noteworthy rank. "Listen up. We believe this is the monster that has been lurking around the area. We tried to kill her before we got here, but none of our weapons or spells worked."
"So, you brought her here?!" One of the villagers cried out.
The swordsmen scoffed, his inflection signified more than just the dismissal of their concerns. It also meant they were looking down on them, on all of us. "Don't worry. We aren't some group of rookies. The monster will properly be sealed in a building until tomorrow morning. From there, we will remove it from the town and be on our way."
That...sort of made sense. It was probably dangerous for them to be traveling around with a monster they couldn't dispose of properly.
"This moves us to our next point. We need a large building to contain this monster. The inn has too many civilians for us to feel comfortable with keeping it there, so if any of you want to volunteer your home, we would appreciate it."
At that moment, something snapped in my head. My eyes darted to the monster in question. She was in a horrible situation, yet she had an almost doll-like expression on her face. Like she didn't care what would happen next.
"I-I'll let you use my barn!" I spoke up. Before I realized what I was saying, it escaped my mouth, but why? Why did I want them to use the barn?
Why...
Why...
Why?
"What? A farm? Blegh..." One of the female adventures stuck out her tongue. "I suppose it is the best we could do in this situation."
They could have at least pretended to be thankful. Though it most likely would have been even more condescending if the group pretended to care. If one feels disdain, then one should show their contempt.
To hide that emotion will merely cause it to erupt and bloom more violently at another time. Of course, none of that mattered at the moment.
I showed them to the barn and let the adventures do as they please. The sunset slowly faded replace by the light of the moon, all the while I lied in the bed that had been given to me. The image of the demon imprinting itself onto my brain.
"Someone is probably guarding her..." I said to myself. Of course, a part of me knew that, and that was why I told them to use the barn.
There were three entrances to the building—two above ground and one underneath. I never bothered to question why there was an underground tunnel leading from the house to the barn, regardless of the why, it worked out for me.
I exited my room and headed into the back of the house. I pulled up a small hatch that led to a small staircase. The passageway itself was made mostly of wood and stone, I rarely ever used it, but when I did, it felt like the walls would come in and smash me.
I reached my destination. I gently placed my hand on the door leading into the barn. I cracked it open first, peeking inside of it. It'd be awkward if one of the adventurers were guarding the demon.
"It looks like they are guarding the entrances." I slowly pushed the rest of my body into the barn proper. All the animals had been moved earlier that day, so only the demon should remain.
I crept through the building until I saw her. My heart shook, she was tied up, chains wrapped around her body and throat. Even still, she still had the same bored expression on her face.
My feet felt heavy. My mind went blank. That feeling of relief overtook me once again, as for the creature itself, she stared at me—the bored expression changing to one of curiosity and almost amusement.
"Ah? Oh my, who are you?" It was such a casual question. One that I didn't expect to hear from a so-called demon.
"I..." How the hell was I even supposed to respond? Why was I even there? I wanted to see her again. I wanted to see this face. Yet once that person spoke to me, I drew a blank. "I... are you okay?"
The woman tilted her head and smiled. "That's not why you're here." She then paused before chuckling. "It seems this trip wasn't a waste of time."
What did she mean by that? No, her statement didn't matter. This feeling I had in my chest was the only thing that I cared about. "Hey, I'm going to unbind you."
"Oh?" The woman tilted her head. "Even though I'm a monster, you want to do that? For all you know, I may devour you and kill everyone in the village."
I shut my eyes for a moment. "I thought about that, and I realized...I don't care." I said that from the bottom of my heart. What had I've been doing up to that point for the nineteen years of my life? It certainly hadn't been living.
Besides, everything dies sooner or later. There is no difference if everyone in the town dies now or fifty years from now. It was all meaningless, and I was willing to gamble all of that on this feeling.
The woman remained silent as I attempted to yank off the chains. "A-are these things special? I can't seem to undo them."
"They are blessed chains, something that saps the energy of those who side with the Chaos God. Of course, I'm not apart of such nonsense, so they are just regular metal chains to me."
I gritted my teeth while the rattling of the chains continued to echo through the air. I didn't realize how much noise I was making until a sound crawled through the room.
"Hey, it's pointless to try and escape!" I winced as I heard the swordsman voice. My feet attempted to move me to a hiding spot, but by the time my mind had processed everything, the man was already in front of us.
"The hell..." A mixture of confusion and anger crept across the adventurer's face. My hand twitched while I removed them from the chains that kept the woman bound.
"H-hello there." I gritted my teeth. I couldn't even use the excuse that I was looking for something in the barn since he saw me next to the woman.
He didn't even hesitate to pull his sword on me. "What are you doing here? We told you we were keeping this thing here until morning."
I pursed my lips. My eyes wandered back to the woman who merely remained silent.
"Ah, maybe you could just let her go?" It wasn't something I was doing out of the kindness of my heart. If it had been any other monster or demon, I wouldn't have cared if they cut her to pieces, but for some reason, I knew this was my one chance at happiness.
The man chuckled. "Are you serious? She could be one of the demon lord's servants! Besides, killing a demon like this will boost our rank!"
It was a very human reaction. Truthfully, if the roles were reversed, I'd probably have said the same thing. "Maybe we could cut a deal..."
He then just laughed; he laughed and laughed. "I don't think a lowly farmhand has anything to offer me. The swordsmen then paused. "From the looks of it, you seemed to have been charmed. Since I can't kill the demon here, there is only one course of action."
He pointed his blade at me. Was he...seriously implying what I think he was implying. "H-hey hold on!"
He gripped his blade and raised it above his head. He was planning on killing me or at least injuring me to the point where I wouldn't be an issue.
My vision froze, right when it seemed I would be cut down his blade stopped. The swordsmen's entire body started to shake, convulsing, almost as something had possessed him.
"W-wha-" He couldn't even finish his statement before an invisible force gripped his throat. Despite this, the adventurer had enough control to turn his head to the chained up creature.
Her once yellow eyes had turned a beautiful blue, the pupils were almost like an endless spiral one could be lost in for all eternity. She then stood up, ripping off the chains like they were paper.
"I'm not a demon..." She whispered, "but I supposed you figured that out already." She then lifted her hand as the swordsmen turned their blade on themselves. "I'm a Foreigner, something everyone fears, I assume."
The man attempted to move, he tried to let out a cry, but nothing came out. With one unceremonious thrust, he impaled himself with his own blade.
The hunk of metal erupted from his back while blood poured out of his mouth. The 'Foreigner' then made a small circle in the air as the swordman twisted his blade into his body, wrapping his intestine around the sword. Then, with one final yank, he pulled his guts out, his body slumping over.
I didn't say a word. My mind was trying to comprehend what I had just witnessed. I pressed my finger to my face, noticing the blotches of blood on my skin and clothing.
"I suggest we leave before the others check on him." The Foreigner stated. "Unless you want to explain to a group of adventurers why you are covered in their friend's blood."
"Y-yeah..." I nodded as the two of us stepped over his corpse. I should have felt more sympathy for the man, but I couldn't muster any. Truthfully, a part of me was more relieved that he was dead than anything.
We walked back out into the field. Even though we couldn't have been in the barn for long, I felt like a prisoner escaping from his cell after hundreds of years.
Yes, there was no doubt about it. I couldn't go back to my old life after that.
"Um, Foreigner... right?" That was her title. "What are you going to do now?"
The purple-haired woman tilted her head. "I shall go back and prepare for the 'celebration.' You may join me if you wish to become a Foreigner as well."
What was she talking about? No, none of that mattered. What mattered was this feeling in my chest, the feeling that I did all this for. "Will... becoming a Foreigner put me at ease?"
Foreigner's eyes widened before she started to walk into the direction of the forest. "That depends on you. All I know is that it's the closest thing to freedom one can have." The purple woman then laughed. She let out an ugly monstrous laugh as if she was laughing at both hell and heaven at the same time. "By the way, my full name is Foreigner Princess. So please call me that from now on."
She didn't answer my question at all. Despite that, I knew she wasn't lying, so there was no reason to refuse her offer. "Okay, if it means keeping this feeling, I'll do it."
Foreigner Princess nodded. "Then, please follow me. The trip is a bit long, but once we get to the 'celebration' location will become clear."
She walked ahead of me as I followed. For a split second, I turned my head back to the farm. I remembered something, or someone, for a split second, I hesitated.
"Is there something wrong?" The Foreigner Princess asked.
"No, nothing important."
When she said the trip would be long, she wasn't kidding. We walked and walked, the darkness of the night sky vanished, the soft light of dawn replacing it.
"My legs feel like they are going to break off..." I placed my hand on a nearby tree. Up to that point, my adrenaline had been keeping my going. There was no way I could go back now, even if I technically weren't the one that killed the swordsmen I was complacent in the act.
"Not much longer now, soon I'll be handing you off to an assistant of mine."
For some reason, that made me nervous. I hoped she wouldn't pawn me off to some random person and forget about me, especially not in my current situation. While we were far off from the village, we were still a bit too close for my liking.
The best-case scenario they would assume the Foreigner Princess kidnapped or killed me. Worst case, they might think I was working for her, which wasn't too far from the truth.
"We are here..." Foreigner Princess stopped in front of a small hut-like house. It was nicely maintained, with various flowers decorating the area. Despite that, there was a strong smell of blood. The scent was so strong that it even overpowered everything else.
"I do hope she had cleaned up a bit. Even if we are celebrating here, there is no reason to be careless." Foreigner Princess knocked on the door.
"Coming~." A high-pitched peppy voice came from the other side. In a matter of moments, the door swung open to reveal a beautiful blonde girl with green eyes. She had short hair and a lovely little necklace around her neck. All features I would have taken more notice of if she hadn't been entirely topless.
"Foreigner Raider." Foreigner Princess smiled as she and I took a step inside the house. Inside the walls seemed nice, until I noticed odd stains scattered around the wood, as if someone had given a half-hearted attempt to clean the walls.
"Wah? No way, no way, no way!" Foreigner Raider pressed her cheeks to her face. "The princess herself is here with me? Even though the celebration is only minutes away?" There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, despite that it was cute.
In fact, everything about her was cute. Despite her very mature body, her voice sent a shiver down my spine...in the right way. Some may have found it annoying, but not me.
"The celebration is being held in a cave near here, no?" The Foreigner Princess pressed her finger to her lips and smiled. "Sadly, I won't be making it this time. I must return to 'them.'
The blonde pouted. "Aw, what? Even though I made a ton of contributions to this one? Well more for me!" She then snickered as she turned her attention to me. "Who is this cutey?"
"Someone who wishes to cut his ties with the gods of this world."
I never recalled saying that, but it didn't matter. As long as I could keep this feeling of calmness, the princess could speak for me all she wanted.
The peppy blonde tilted her head and grinned. "Oh, so you want me to distribute the seed and take him to the celebration."
The purple-haired woman nodded, she then slipped her hand under her dress before an odd squelching sound entered my ears. She then pulled out a strange orb, no bigger than a marble. Half of it seemed to have been made out of glass, and the other half made of flesh. "I can leave it up to you?"
The blonde then snatched it from the princess and snickered. "Yes, yes, please do! Since he's so cute, I'll even show him the ropes once the celebration is finished."
The Foreigner Princess then clapped. "Then, I shall take my leave." The purple-haired woman then started to make her way to the door. I motioned to stop her, but I felt someone grab my hair.
"Hey~ where do you think you're going?" Foreigner Raider grabbed my head and slammed it between her breasts. "Ignoring one girl for another is pretty mean." She sneered while she cradled my head.
For a moment, I thought for sure I'd suffocate, but luckily the blonde let me go. Foreigner Raider then examined the ominous orb that the princess had given her. "Now, how should I put this in your body."
Foreigner Raider then snapped her fingers. Without even a hint of hesitation, she placed the orb on her tongue, then grabbed my cheeks and kissed me.
Once again, I felt like I was suffocating. Our tongues danced around until she finally forced the orb down my throat into my stomach. With a desperate gasp for air, our lips parted.
This time instead of giggling and making a joke, she merely stared at me for a while. The sudden and stark shift made me well up in fear. That was until Foreigner Raider started to snicker again. "You're still alive, that means it was a success."
"Huh?" I tilted my head.
"It means you are now a Foreigner! Congrats!" Foreigner Raider clapped.
"That's it?" I looked at my arms and legs. I didn't feel any different, maybe a bit of a tight chest, but I attributed that to all the walking I did.
"You should start feeling the effects in an hour or so. Right now, we need to hurry up to the celebration." The blonde gripped my arm, nearly dragging me out of her house.
"W-wait, I can't go like this." I was covered in blood. If I went anywhere, I would draw attention.
"Don't worry, that will be normal where we are going."
That just made me all the more confused. Though at this point it was far too late to back out now. I allowed Foreigner Raider to drag me deeper into the forest until we finally came up to a cave.
"We are here~." The blonde winked.
I could hear conversations from the inside, which told me that there were at least a few people in the cavern in front of us. What interested me was the fact they were holding a party in a cave.
"Is this... the place?" I started to question my sanity at this point. Everything from the previous night up to this morning had happened so quickly.
The Foreigner Raider pouted, tilting her head. "Huh? What's wrong, getting cold feet now is a huge turn-off. With this last step, you'll be free to make your own destiny, be it feeding your lust or your hunger!"
I opened my mouth to reply, but before she could, she dragged me deeper into the cavern. The narrow path then slowly started to open into a large room, inside dozens upon dozens of people were dancing and crying out like they were beast.
Some were doing far more than dancing...the primal scene in front of me rocked me to the core. The depravity of it all made it almost seemed like a lucid dream.
"Aw man, everyone is already fucking." The Foreigner Raider then glanced at me. "Hey, what are you doing? Hurry up and take off your clothes!"
She gripped my bloodstained shirt and tore off bits and pieces of it. The look in her eyes was no longer that of the cute girl that giggled, but rather one of a depraved beast that enjoyed every second of what was going on.
"D-damn it calm down..." I urged her, but it seemed like I was in the minority.
Drool dripped down the side of Foreigner Raider's lips as she successfully managed to strip me. For a moment, I thought she was going to jump on me then and there, that was until the sound of metal on metal echoed through the cavern.
"Huh? I-it's time!" Foreigner Raider's voice quivered as she stood up. I looked around for the source of the noise, noticing something at the back of the cavern.
Cages covered in what seemed to be tarps. Dozens of them stacked up, faint muffled cries and screams coming from their direction.
I shouldn't be here...
I should go...
I should...
In an instant, the tarps were lifted, revealing what exactly was under them: monsters, all sorts of them, sirens, mermaids, goblins. All various types and sizes, all slightly butchered and missing a few limbs. Some even missing their eyes and tongues.
"Awww, I forgot no one brought any hobgoblins with them. They always have the tastiest guts!" I heard one woman call out from the cry.
"Hey, where are the goblin babies, I heard they were going to set those on fire this time!" Another man in the crowd cried out.
Almost on cue, another cage was dragged out. This time it was a large sum of goblin children struggling to break free of the metal bonds, to no avail.
Massive chants and cries from the crowd grew louder and louder; everyone's faces were distorting in anticipation and hunger. Then, the first set of cages open.
Like wild beasts, the humans dashed towards them. Ripping, tearing, and defiling the monsters as they pleased. With their bare hands, they tore up their flesh and ground their bones.
That wasn't something humans could do, yet here I was watching limbs and torsos being thrown around. I placed my hands on my head, almost like I was trying to wake myself up.
The torso of a goblin was flung into the air, landing next to me. Before I even had a chance to look at it, Foreigner Raider snatched it up like a snake and bit into the flesh. She started to tear it apart like a wild beast drinking up every last drop of blood that she good.
While she was eating, our eyes met. "Ah, sorry, do you want some?" She ripped off a piece of green flesh and offered it to me.
My hand twitched for some reason unknown even to me. I was tempted to accept the offer. My stomach growled, and my mouth salivated.
Then, the distinct smell of gasoline entered my nostrils. My head turned to see someone pouring some onto the cage holding the young goblins. Then with one fo the torches, they set the pen and them ablaze.
Despite the brutality, all the so-called humans laughed and laughed.
"Hehehe..." Foreigner Raider let out a rather cute giggle. "Gahahaha HGAHAGHAGAGAGAGAHAHAHA!" Which turned into a demented jeer and laugh.
She kept laughing and laughing, a sharp spray of fluid coming from between her legs, showing me just how much she was enjoying all of it.
With each laugh, her mouth grew wider and wider until a thin line appeared across her cheek, revealing a lizard-like membrane connecting the two parts of her head. The flesh around her fingers ripped and tore open, exposing claws and scales while her spinal cord jetted out of her back and morphed into a long slender tail.
Her flesh stretched and exploded as she grew nearly two feet taller. My heart froze as I looked around, all the other party-goers were slowly transforming into creatures of varying shapes and sizes, their flesh and form bending and changing.
Was this hell? Did I stumble here by mistake? Was I killed back at the barn, and this was the afterlife. "A-are you demons?" I spoke that out loud while Foreigner Raider consumed the rest of the torso whole.
I opened my mouth to reply, but I couldn't get anything out. My stomach churned as a sharp pain overtook me.
I held my body like something wanted to dig out of my muscles and skin. In a matter of seconds, the ribs from my body sprouted out of my torso, exposing themselves to the air. The skin on my hands started to peel as more and more of my body ripped itself apart.
All the while, the jeers, and slaughter continued. I couldn't see most of my body, but I knew it wouldn't be recognized as human if I did look into a mirror.
My spine grew longer and longer, while my feet shattered and turned themselves into something similar to a canine. Despite the pain and weight, my stomach was telling me one thing, that it was hungry.
My eyes widened as I saw one of the many goblins trying to make its way out of the tunnel. Of course, it would. If this was hell for me, then it was far worse for them.
I licked my lips while I dashed towards the creature, tackling it. Without hesitation, I sunk my teeth into its stomach while it kicked about squealing like a pig. The sweet taste of iron filled my mouth.
And again, all the Foreigner's around me laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed...
Author note
I always wanted to make a story that explore humanity, and the consequences of a world such as Goblin Slayers where people's fate are dictated by the roll of a dice and how far people are willing to go to get away from that. I sort of wanted to make toe violence at the end both quick, like a horrid fever dream and uncomfortable as well. Sure monsters are vile and evil, but is it really justified torturing them in such a way? I actually want readers to come up with their own decision there.
I won't be spoiling too much about Foreigners, but I will give away two pieces of information.
1. They aren't demons whatsoever. They have no connection to the demon lord or the chaos god.
2. Their fate is completely severed from the gods, in a sense they decide their own fate...good or bad.
Though a Savvy reader might already know what they are given the title Foreigner.