Chapter 234: The Centaurs

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Race level increased. Gained 1 SP.

Job level increased. Gained 1 SP.

The level of [Eyes of Death and Chaos] skill has increased.

The race level of your familiar has increased.

The job level of your familiar has increased.

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In the end, Karl and I decided to continue exploring the riverbank until we had both leveled up. I was satisfied to have tested his physical strength and the power of my magic in battle. Although it was a bit early, I decided it was time to return to our base.

“Oh? What’s that?”

On our way back, as I looked down at the ground from above, I spotted four creatures walking through the grassland. At first, I thought they were just enemies and considered launching a surprise attack, but upon closer inspection, they didn’t seem to be mere monsters. They were various kinds of beasts gathered together, and all of them had human-like upper bodies attached to them.

These were the four-legged centaurs I had learned about from Lady Muno! They were beastmen transformed from beasts that were known to wander the fields in family units. Therefore, that group must be one family of centaurs.

“Since we’re here, let’s go greet the residents. Karl, perform some aerial acrobatics before landing at a distance.”

“Grooow!”

“Whoa! Fast! It’s so fast!”

Karl responded well to my troublesome request. He went up and down with tremendous speed while rolling and drawing figure eight in the air. The speed and unexpectedly intense movements almost made my head spin, but it felt surprisingly fun.

Karl’s huge body was quite conspicuous as he performed his aerial stunts, so he caught the eye of the entire family of the centaurs. At the edge of my vision, I saw them all looking up at us. The smaller ones who were probably children were jumping around excitedly, while the adults, more cautious, were brandishing their weapons. Yes, their reaction was exactly what I had expected.

“Groooow!”

Seemingly satisfied with his skills in the sky, Karl completed his aerial acrobatics in about a minute and landed a short distance away as instructed. Good boy, Karl.

Once we landed, we slowly and confidently walked toward the location of the centaur family. The solid sound of Karl’s footsteps conveyed a sense of grandeur, ensuring we wouldn’t be underestimated.

“Let’s show them what we’ve got.”

“Stop!”

As we approached the centaur family, a young boy brandishing a handmade spear confronted us with a threatening posture. Judging by the fur patterns on his upper and lower half, he was of the tiger-type centaur. He looked to be brave, but the trembling of his spearhead betrayed his fear of Karl.

The man and woman behind him were ready to move at a moment’s notice. However, the small girl behind the woman looked at Karl with sparkling eyes; she was obviously excited by his acrobatic flight. It was good to see that at least one spectator enjoyed our performance.

I decided that was enough observation. When I jumped down from Karl’s plodding back, the boy looked surprised. But he quickly composed himself and kept his eyes on me.

“Wait, young one. We mean no harm. I want you to look at this.”

I showed them a “Nadeus Tribe Crested Hand Print” that I was holding in my hand. This item had been given to me earlier by Lady Muno. She had mentioned that showing it would make the people on the continent who were familiar with the Nadeus tribe willing to listen. Now was the time to test its effect!

The boy continued to glare at me while ignoring the object, but the man behind him seemed convinced and lowered his weapon. He was slender but well-muscled, with distinctive grooved horns that curved slightly backward from their base. My knowledge of animals was limited, so I couldn’t tell what kind of centaur he was. Could he be related to goats?

“What is that supposed to be?”

“Calm down, Abart. This person is not our enemy, right? A friend of the Nadeus tribe, yes? Is Lady Muno doing well?”

Excellent! The young boy might not understand, but it seemed the message had gotten through to the adults.

“Yes, she looks like she could live another thousand years. My name is Isam, and this is Karnaghtul. Pleased to meet you.”

“Thank you very much for your kindness. My name is Lucirt. I am the head of this family. This is my wife Abashin, my son Abart, and my daughter Lushin.”

According to the information I just heard, they all seemed to be a blood-related family. However, each member was a different type of centaur. Lucirt, as mentioned earlier, appeared to be of the goat type, while his wife Abashin, who was taller but gentle-looking, had impressive horns that extended sideways and curved upward. She was probably a buffalo-type centaur.

Their son Abart was a tiger-type centaur as mentioned before. Meanwhile, their daughter Lushin had fluffy soft fur, rounded triangular ears, and small fangs sticking out like double teeth. She wagged her tail back and forth, which meant that she was probably a dog-type centaur.

This means that a carnivorous centaur has been born from an herbivore. That’s exactly what I had heard, but it was a very strange sight.

From the children’s names, it appeared that they each inherited half of their names from their parents. With such different appearances from their parents, perhaps this naming tradition helped signify their family connections.

“I apologize for the disturbance. My friend Karl and I, along with our companions, recently arrived on this continent and this is our first encounter with your centaur race. We tried to make it enjoyable by dancing in the sky.”

“Hahaha! So that’s what it was! I thought it was an attack at first, but I didn’t feel any killing intent at all, so I was confused.”

“Ah! Hey! Lushin!”

While Lucirt and I were having a friendly chat, Lushin could no longer contain herself and darted from behind her mother to Karl’s feet. Then she looked up curiously, and started jumping up and down cutely with her hand outstretched just like before.

“Mr. Dragon! What’s your name? Tell me!”

“Grrr?”

“Is it Grrr? Lushin is Lushin!”

Even though her parents and brother turned pale, Lushin fearlessly introduced herself to Karl. She seemed to have no thoughts of fear or that she should avoid him. I chuckled and knelt on one knee to meet Lushin’s gaze.

Even when a silver skeleton like me approached her, Lushin was not disturbed at all. She simply watched curiously. Either she lacked a sense of danger or she was a force to be reckoned with. Surely it was the former.

“Lushin, this is Karnaghtul.”

“Karyuna…? Not Grrr?”

“Karl can’t speak human language, so feel free to call him Karl.”

“Okay! Karl, let’s play!”

Lushin tugged insistently at Karl’s thick sturdy front legs. And there was an unmistakable excitement in Karl’s eyes when I looked at him. Even though he had recently shed the lesser label of his race, he was still mentally young. It was not at all strange that he wanted to play with a small child.

“Karl, go ahead and play.”

“Guon!”

Karl let out a cry, then slowly lowered his head to get closer to Lushin’s face. When she stroked his nose, he made a high-pitched sound as if he was pleased.

Lushin was excited and hugged Karl’s head before she climbed on top of it. Karl seemed to have a lot of fun with that alone and raised his head carefully to make sure she wouldn’t fall off.

“So high! Amazing!”

“Uh, Sir Isam? Is this okay?”

“Karl has no mercy towards his enemies, but he’s tolerant of allies and those without hostile intentions. As long as you don’t do something unreasonable like sticking fingers in his eyes or nostrils, he won’t get angry.”

While Sir Lucirt watched with a relieved sigh, Karl and Lushin started another game. She was actually using Karl’s long neck as a slide, turning it into an improvised playground. In case she lost her balance, Karl spread out his wings like a safety net. So Lushin played safely.

“My sister is playing with a dragon…”

“How about you, Abart?”

“I’m not that young anymore!”

When I suggested this as he watched them play, Abart turned his head away dismissively. He seemed to be at an age where being treated like a child could make him quite angry.

Well, let’s leave the children with Karl and continue our conversation with Sir Lucirt. Here, just like with the Nadeus tribe, I have to appeal to the other party that we can be of benefit to them.

“By the way, Sir Lucirt, is there anything you need or any trouble you’re facing? We’re here to help as much as we can.”

“Well… this isn’t just for my family but for our entire race, the centaurs. We would indeed like to have permanent homes, similar to the settlements the Scarred people have.”

“Homes?”

If they wanted homes, why not build them? Sensing my unspoken thought, Sir Lucirt sadly shook his head.

“Our race is quicker and can operate in rough terrain better than other races. However, we’re not skilled at fine work or construction.”

“Ah, I see.”

When I think about it, this may indeed be the case. The centaurs, being four-legged creatures with significantly larger lower bodies than other humans, are probably adept at carrying stuff. However, they are not suited for construction. Building houses would probably require scaffolding more than twice as strong and larger than normal.

Moreover, if they were to have houses, they would need high ceilings and a large area. If they were to build a settlement, they would have to protect an area too large for their numbers. This was impractical and with their strong bodies capable of living on the plains, they could just roam and live like nomads.

This meant that it wasn’t so much that they didn’t need a home, but rather that it was too difficult for them to maintain and manage a home. Ah, that’s unfortunate… but wait, what about this place that is unnecessarily large and has houses to spare?

“Sir Lucirt, you know of the Black Wall, aren’t you?”

“Yes, of course. It’s a dangerous place.”

“Actually, we have taken over the area beyond that. We have a surplus of houses, so would you like to use them?”

“H-Huh?”

Sir Lucirt looked at me with a puzzled look on his face as I invited him to the “Secret City of the Weeping Princess”.