chapter 58: The Upper Body is Human, the Lower Body is Horse (03)

We decided to follow the centaur girl to her village and help out.

"Yes, as knights, we must help a village under threat!"

Dane said this with knightly nobility, and I was realistically thinking about getting horses for this poor fellow by raiding the centaur bandits, obtaining information about the bandits and support by visiting the village.

'Normally, it would be safer to raid bandits with additional knights for support...'

But then we wouldn't be able to carry out our plan to abscond with the horses that the centaur bandits have secured, so we didn't call for other knights or soldiers. We would defeat the bandits on our own and take the horses from the ranch they were holding to ride back.

If other knights got involved in the meantime, we'd probably end up returning the horses to the ranch and maybe get a small reward. But as everyone knows, the reward given to a knight is so minimal, it's hardly enough to buy a drink, so legally acquiring horses was out of the question.

"You can put the luggage on my back."

"No, how can we burden such a delicate body?"

"Then take this."

"This little one?"

Dane glared at me, but honestly, wasn't it stupid to walk beside a horse and carry the luggage ourselves?

We handed over the food and tents we were carrying to the centaur girl, who then strapped them to her horse lower body and followed us slowly.

'Something bothers me...'

Why cover up front and back?

The connection between the human body and horse's neck was covered with cloth, and the rear was naturally covered by a tail.

Even trying not to focus, the swaying tail inevitably drew the eye, and fortunately, she wore a sort of skirt over the horse's tail part, preventing any exposure.

'Under that skirt... probably no underwear, right?'

Given the complex structure of a centaur's lower body, it's unlikely they wear underwear like humans; perhaps the skirt serves that purpose...

As the skirt fluttered with each swish of the tail, it was hard not to be distracted.

"There are lots of beautiful sisters in our village, so you can look forward to it!"

"Oh?!"

Hearing this, Dane and I instinctively exclaimed in amazement.

A beautiful centaur...? Not bad, right?

If you think about it, they are literally a fusion of horse and human, akin to the ultimate goal of a knight.

In fact, there's even a hypothesis that the birth of human cavalry was inspired by centaurs, suggesting that humans tamed horses and developed saddles and stirrups to improve mobility, making centaurs an ideal species for knights.

"We're currently on the move, but the place we agreed to meet today is..."

As we observed the stars rising in the sky to find our bearings, she navigated by the constellations, typical of a plains-dwelling species, guiding us to the village...

"Wow! It's huge!"

I exclaimed without realizing how large it was.

The tents used by centaurs were significantly larger than even those used by knights.

And the centaurs wandering among them were naturally about the size of mounted knights, so we had to look up to them as four centaur women ran up to greet us.

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'Wow... those are huge?'

Their breasts were so large they could be seen through the long embroidered cloths they used to cover themselves, almost as big as Dane's head.

The centaur maidens, adorned with flashy jewelry and covered in embroidered cloths, stood by our side like escorts and started to watch us, and Dane and I were just as surprised.

'This centaur girl who is about the height of a human really is small...'

The backside of one of the centaur maidens swayed right in front of my eyes, her horse's vulva fluttering into view at eye level...

"Ahem!"

The centaur girl had her private area covered with her tail at a height, but the maidens were flaunting their rears at us, swishing their tails not just naturally but as if teasing, seemingly trying to allure us.

'I'm not sure if this is seduction, but... it just looks like a part of a horse, so it's not really arousing...'

"Uh... ugh..."

...It seemed to be quite the sight for Dane.

With Dane awkwardly moving and me watching him pathetically, we were led by the centaur maidens to the house of the village leader.

"Welcome. You must be tired from the journey."

Fortunately, unlike the previous elder, this village leader was an elderly centaur with a human upper body.

"Are you knights?"

"Yes. For now..."

"Tsk, tsk, to come here directly even though the fee wouldn't even cover a snack. You knights are truly overflowing with justice."

We hadn't received a penny, but let's not mention that.

Revealing they have been scammed would ruin the entire human reputation.

'You know?'

I gestured to Dane, who then shut his mouth and stood quietly behind me.

It was better not to speak up and cause further issues, so I decided to speak on our behalf, and if necessary, we would communicate with coded sign language.

"In other villages, they may have forgotten their traditions, but we still hold on to ours. We will treat you thoroughly as guests, so feel free to stay."

"Thank you. I'd like to hear about the bandits."

"They haven't attacked our village for a while. They must be focusing all their efforts on raiding human ranches and stealing horses."

"Hmm?"

That struck me as odd.

"Why is that?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? It's profitable. At this time, humans are buying horses in large numbers for riding or knight training, driving the prices sky-high. Naturally, the black market price for horses also increases."

"Ah..."

I never thought that the knights' cavalry training would have an impact all the way out here.

"But this time, it's a bit odd. It seems they're not just attacking this local horse ranch, but raiding horse ranches throughout the kingdom on a large scale and stealing the horses..."

"Hmm... Is that so?"

"Yes, I'm not sure what those thieves are planning, but it seemed different than usual."

Could they be planning a big score?

With only a limited number of horses suitable for military use, not only the Mage Knight Brigade but also the Royal Guard, the Paladin Corps, and various private knight orders have to retire their horses as they age and buy new ones. If someone were to monopolize all the usable warhorses, the kingdom would have to buy horses at any cost.

Of course, we could mobilize all the knights to wipe out the Centaur thieves, but since the Centaurs, who are united with their horses, are fleeing with the horses, it would be nearly impossible for the heavily armored knights to pursue them, so they can always hold out with sheer audacity.

'After all, if we just steal the two horses we need, that's enough for us.'

"Our village has also suffered greatly at their hands. They've taken all our warriors, claiming they would sell them into slavery, leaving everyone else here without any combat ability."

'I wondered why I only saw female Centaurs... So that was the situation?'

Thinking of the Centaur warrior I saw at the black market last time, I figured the Centaurs in this village had probably been sold into slavery too.

"I'll let you know once our scout pinpoints their location. Stay here and owe a debt to these maidens for now."

"Understood."

I didn't think we'd find them right away.

Besides, we have a deadline to return, so we can't just wander the plains looking for the band of thieves indefinitely. It's best and safest to gather information from a village that uses Centaur scouts.

Of course, once we find their location, we plan to raid the band of thieves and take some horses as compensation.

'We'll just slip away with two horses after telling them we're sending the rest back to the farm.'

That's just how things go in the middle of such situations.

If it weren't for us, they wouldn't get a single horse back; settling for two would be good for both parties.

"Chief! I've brought urgent news!"

While talking with the chief, a young Centaur maiden hurried into the tent.

Her face resembled the Centaur girl who had guided Dane and me here, but this maiden had her thick, dark brown hair flowing down to the back of her horse part, and despite being wrapped in a leather chest guard, her chest protruded as much as her head.

If her lower half weren't that of a horse, she would be a robustly beautiful Centaur maiden to reckon with. She seemed uncomfortable as she noticed Dane and my presence and furrowed her brow.

She was stomping her feet in discomfort as the village chief Centaur tried to calm her down first.

"Have you figured it out? Where?"

"I'll report back later when there's time. They might move right away, so I'll go check it out alone."

"That's good. Go with these knights."

"I don't need help from outsiders."

"You alone? You saw how the other warriors were overpowered and couldn't do anything."

"If I rescue the captured warriors first, there shouldn't be any problem. You know my speed."

Appearing to be the leader of the scouting party, she was determined to handle things among themselves, while the chief seemed inclined to send Dane and me along.

"These are knights, Eileen. Plus, your sister Angelica mentioned that they took down eight Centaur marauders just by themselves."

"If I'm ready, I can take on more than ten. These trash who wander around robbing are no match for me."

"That's something I don't know."

"And these guys are too slow to bring along."

"Can't you just carry one?"

A Centaur can handle a similar weight to a horse, so it's possible for her to carry one knight.

"On my back? You of all people?"

Eileen, the Centaur maiden called by name, glared at me as if appalled, probably because my remark had struck a nerve.

"Really, if it's a crisis in the village, what's the problem with carrying someone?"

"Ha, you clearly don't understand Centaurs. If you had even a little understanding, I would have smashed your head with my hooves."

With that, I grabbed my mana saber and took off my exoskeleton as I stood up.

"I'll go alone, Dane. The village might be attacked again, so keep watch."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. If it's urgent, we'll just leave."

It seemed my first ride would be on a sassy female Centaur instead of an ordinary horse.

"You're asking to ride me now?"

"Yeah."

Before she could leave the tent, I accelerated my body with mana circuits.

Eileen felt uneasy and started to back away, but I had already grabbed her lower horse part and was about to mount her.

"Where do you think you're going!"

With a loud 'whoosh,' she shook her body violently to shake off my hand, possibly intending to smash my head for real with a back kick. However, she hadn't anticipated that I would use her kick as a lever to climb on her.

Thud.

"Ah!"

"Oh, the scream is cute... Onward!"

I grabbed her long hair like a bridle and climbed onto her back. Eileen bucked wildly trying to throw me off, but I infused my lower body with mana to clamp around her torso, and her movements began to slow.

"That's enough for now. Isn't it urgent to pinpoint the thieves' location?"

"But, Chief...!"

"Outsider. Don't worry too much and just go."

Eileen bit her lip, but she couldn't shake me off with her strength alone.

"I'll see about that when I get back...!"

"Alright, let's go. Stop crying."

"Eugh...!"

Eileen, trembling with frustration and even tearing up, finally set off towards the location she had discovered to rescue the captured villagers.

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> I want to extend my deepest gratitude to [Jose Daniel Garcia Aguilar], for supporting me on Patreon!