Chapter Twelve: Reunions and Not Alone

Kenjiro with Danno on his back and the kids forming a line while holding each other's hand walked forward with Kenjiro leading them towards the place the other group were fighting.

Kenjiro was happy with how that fight went, but it wasn't just because he won the fight, it was because he and Danno managed to make sure the kids were safe.

If anything the only reason that fight ended so fast was because of Danno, if he hadn't gotten that first deep cut in on the Goblin Lord that fight would've been a much longer and tougher fight.

And another reason the fight was easier then what Kenjiro thought it would have been was because of the speed of the Goblin Lord, it didn't have any unlike Kenjiro. It wasn't a surprise to Kenjiro that Goblin Lords would be ranked so high in difficulty, because what starting adventurer would be focusing on speed, they would be mostly working on their strength, Mana, or endurance depending on what they wanted their role to be.

He also didn't get to eat the Goblin Lord and he didn't know if he was going to get the opportunity. The reason he thought so was because he didn't know how much of the a monster he had to eat to get their stats or skills and if the villagers saw big chunks taken out of it in the shape of teeth or fingers would be pointed at someone in the village, and he was the new one, so he would be the obvious suspect.

And the reason he didn't eat it right after that fight was because of the children. He didn't want them to see him as a monster that eats monsters, and that might traumatise them.

As they were getting closer to the battle ground they saw some splashes of blood and some corpses of dead Goblins.

Danno was still barely awake at this point, probably only running on will power or something. "Close your eyes, kids. And… hold each other's hands." He paused at the start of his second sentence and coughed out some blood in a big coughing fit. He was clearly in pain, his face in a permanent grimace and him hissing and letting out small coughs.

The kids did as asked and closed their eyes, tightened their grips on each other's hands which Kenjiro could feel because of the kid holding his hand.

As they continued their journey to the centre of the fight, which had stopped as there wasn't any noises, the amount of carnage increased. Corpses increased and so did the amount of blood thrown about, some trees and parts of the ground had dents in them, maybe from an axe or another weapon they used.

Kenjiro kept walking forward looking for people or listening for any sounds incase of a sneak attack.

But they eventually near the place where Kenjiro and Danno left the villagers to cause a distraction.

The corpses were so frequent by this point that they were stepping on them every few seconds. And at the place where Kenjiro and Danno left them all of the villagers were there. They were sitting down and laying back on trees behind them.

And in the clearing of a circle that they were surrounding there was a pile of Goblin corpses.

And they were all there, alive, but banged up and wincing in pain, but smiling when they saw the kids with them.

"Seems everything worked out." Sadasue said in a jovial tone of voice, as he stood up using the tree behind him as a crutch. "Thank the Goddess." He said as he put his hands together in a quick prayer motion.

Kenjiro silently cringed at that action considering he knew what the Goddess was truly like and that the Goddess had no part in this and never would solve anything like this ever.

Sadasue looked relatively uninjured except for the claw marks on his arms and the sides of his chest, but he wasn't bleeding much and it didn't look that deep.

The rest had similar injuries except for a few who probably had a broken leg or arm.

Once Sadasue had finished his little thank you, the fathers of the kids that were kidnapped by the Goblins started calling out to them and the kids opened their eyes and ran to their fathers straight away.

Crying and hugging them tightly. While the fathers only winced in a bit of pain at the incoming missiles that were their children and played it off if they asked about it.

To Kenjiro it was a touching reunion to see. The kids didn't know if they were going to make it out alive and the adult villagers didn't know if they were going to win that fight or if their kids were alive. But it was clear to see that they were glad that they had been reunited, with the adults crying a little but holding back.

Kenjiro wondered if this was what it would be like when he got back home. Would he even get back home? He didn't know, but he would be damned if he didn't try.

Sadasue spoke up again after seeing that everyone was calming down now and it was probably a good time to mention that they should get moving. "Excuse me. But I believe it's a good time to get moving back home, any later and it will be dark by the time we get back."

Everyone agreed and started walking back to the village, the men with broken bones or that were severely injured got help from others to walk. While the children stuck to their fathers like glue, while also not looking at the corpses around them and not focusing on the smell of them either.

The trip back to the village was a long one, because of their slow movements because everyone was exhausted.

Danno was still on Kenjiro's back, but was now asleep, but Kenjiro could tell he was alive because of the feeling of his heartbeat through his body.

Some of the more relatively uninjured men had asked if Kenjiro wanted help carrying Danno, but he always shook his head no. He would speak if he could but his voice was gone and if he did try to speak all that would come out was either nothing or just a growling sound.

While they were walking Kenjiro looked at the weapons some of them used to fight the Goblins. Most of them couldn't be considered weapons, some used shovels, hoes, and some used axes, which would be the closest thing to a weapon for them.

Some of them had used swords and did well with them, although Kenjiro was guessing because most of the people with swords didn't seem to have any serious injuries. But he guessed they used farming tools because that was what they knew how to handle, so they felt more confident and comfortable with it than a sword that they didn't know how to use.

When all of them finally managed to the edge of the forest the men walking back to the village started celebrating loudly, by cheering and putting their children on their shoulders or if they were too injured they got someone else to do it for them.

The reason they hadn't celebrated before, even though they defeated the Goblins and Goblin Lord, was because they were all expecting one last Goblin to pop out of nowhere to attack them or do something worse to attack them.

Hell, even Kenjiro thought that something was going to happen on the way back even though he personally saw the Goblin Lord die. Hell he even killed it, something that he still couldn't believe.

*Earlier that day*

The people in the village awaited the return of the people sent out to get the kids back from the Goblins.

It was silent for the first few minutes after they left but it soon became obvious that the battle was starting. Sound started to pick up and then eventually the wind carried a metallic smell, which everyone in the village knew as blood, and the sounds of screeches of Goblins.

It kept on going on and didn't seem to stop and everyone who heard the sounds and smelt the smell of blood in the wind awaited the sound to stop with bated breath.

But then a louder shout was heard, instead of just being distant screeches this one sounded like it was right outside of the village. Some of them went outside and checked to see if some Goblins had come to the village, but no Goblin was there. Telling them that it was out in the forest where they were fighting and it was something big.

Inside one of the houses, Eisen sat down at the kitchen table while a part of a chicken boiled on top of a furnace he hadn't used in a while. He knows he promised Kenjiro a full meal, but the rest were also cooking with chicken as well, so it was agreed by all of them to split two chicken between all of them. Some families that were closer together we're cooking together or just comforting the one whose child or children was taken.

Eisen put his hands in a prayer position and prayed for everyone's safety. He knew Kenjiro didn't like the religion or maybe he just didn't like the Goddess Rehella, not everyone was religious or liked the Goddess for personal reasons, but he knew about Kenjiro's dislike for her because of the way he winced whenever the priest of the town said something about her.

Even though he knew this he still prayed, it wasn't just Kenjiro in this fight, it was practically half of the village's population. And most of them were religious or prayed to the Goddess in some way.

The fighting went on for a few more minutes but never did they hear that giant roar from before although there were a few sounds that sounded close to it, but it wasn't as loud and sounded in pain or frustration, although the villagers could never tell.

And then eventually it went silent, and the villagers got worried, but hopeful at the same time. Hopeful that they won and were coming back with the children, and worried that they lost because of no fighting experience and the Goblins would be coming for them next.

And although the silence was like a curse to them, making all who were praying before pray harder to the Goddess in hopes she would hear them and help them out, it turned out to be a blessing when noise started to return to the silent village.

Cheers started to come from the forest, but not Goblin cheers before they started an attack, human cheers of victory and happiness.

The women and elderly of the village looked out windows to see what it was, although they already knew. And when they saw some injured but alive people coming out of the forest with smiles on their faces along with the children who were on their backs waving at the village, the woman ran out to bring them into an embrace and the elderly took more time but eventually started to get there.

The priest, Kentaro, had of course been there as well to greet them back. He was a young man that was only starting to show his grays and had only wrinkles around his eyes from smiling.

Of course despite his happy mood that they had returned, upon seeing Danno's condition he immediately went over there, knowing that his condition was the worst of them all.

And Danno's girlfriend, Yuwami, went over to Danno seeing his condition and the priest healing him on the ground.

Kentaro did reassure her though that he would make it out alive, he just needed time to recover.

To Kenjiro though everything was silent while he looked at all of this happening around him, everyone there had someone to return to, no matter if it was a friend, family member or a lover.

But Kenjiro didn't have anyone like that, he was alone in this world. So yes, when he saw this scene it did trigger a bit of jealousy in him, but he was still happy for all of them.

Watching the tearful reunion of the children and the mothers, the husband and wife, the sister and brother, everything. But he didn't have that, not in this world.

That was until he felt a pair of arms wrap him up in a hug, somehow someone had gotten in front of him and hugged him. It wasn't a kid either that he didn't spot, he was a bit taller than Kenjiro but he still somehow didn't notice him.

Kenjiro was still in a little bit of shock at the hug that his arms didn't really move, just floating at his sides, while his mind debated whether to hug back or not.

But he was soon broken out of that slump of not knowing what to do when the voice of the hugger reached his ears.

"Welcome home, Kenjiro." Eisen said while hugging Kenjiro tighter, small tears going out of his eyes.

And with that Kenjiro hugged back immediately knowing who it was.

While hugging back he reflected back on his thinking. Yeah, he was alone in this world, but not anymore, he could build bonds in this world. He would just have to open up and let people in, something he wasn't even good at in his home world.

But still, just that thought reassured him, he wasn't alone in this world.