Chapter 122: The Witch and the Land of the Centaurs (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 122: The Witch and the Land of the Centaurs (2)
Once upon a time, long, long ago. So long ago that their grandfathers did not yet know their own names.
There lived the gentle, kind, mighty, and fearsome Goddess Elphaba and her servants.
The winged servants, the many-legged servants, and the mighty servants lived happily by the goddess’s side.
But one dark night, a many-legged servant accidentally stepped on the goddess’s foot.
The goddess roared in anger.
“Who stepped on my foot!”
The many-legged servant was frightened and told a lie.
“It was the mighty servant!”
The winged servant, who had always been jealous of the mighty servant, added,
“That’s right! The mighty servant did it!”
The mighty servant, startled, replied,
“No! It wasn’t me!”
But Elphaba did not believe the mighty servant’s words.
The enraged Elphaba took the mighty servant’s sturdy armor and weapons and gave them to the many-legged servant. She took away his mysterious magical powers and gave them to the winged servant.
The many-legged servant became strong, and the winged servant became clever.
The mighty servant was left with nothing and was abandoned in the fields.
Even after that, the descendants of the many-legged servants would bully the descendants of the servant with nothing at every opportunity, and the descendants of the winged servants stayed by Elphaba’s side, covering her ears to the truth.
And so, the descendants of the mighty servant came to live a life of suffering.
*
Dorothea, who had been listening to the myth passed down among the humans, spoke up.
“Wait, then what’s all this about a Crow Goddess?”
The skull in the cage answered.
《You wield mysterious powers like the Goddess Elphaba and command servants with powerful teeth, so they call you a goddess, too, Witch!》
《And since you wear the feathers of a crow, you are the Crow Goddess!》
“You’re just making things up as you go.”
Dorothea was dumbfounded.
To her, who suspected that the Golden Goddess Elphaba was actually the Witch of the West, the sight of these people seriously believing such a ridiculous myth was so absurd she couldn’t even bring herself to laugh.
‘This whole island is bizarre to begin with.’
The fact that those creatures, whether they were horses or centaurs, were running around talking about civilization wasn’t the real issue.
There was no law stating that only humans could advance technology and build civilizations, after all.
But it was unnatural that while they had developed to such an extent, the humans on the same island had only managed to build crude huts and wield stone spears.
It might have been different if the island were so enormous that the two species were isolated from each other, but it wasn't that large. By a rough estimate, one could walk its entire circumference in about a week.
In a situation where they constantly met, clashed, and influenced each other, the developmental speed of one side was bizarrely fast.
‘More importantly, if those self-proclaimed civilized horses really built their civilization on their own, there’s no way I should be able to understand them.’
Everything felt contrived.
It was an unpleasant feeling, as if the roles of horses and humans had been deliberately inverted.
If the Witch of the West had intentionally orchestrated this situation, then it was truly…
“…What awful taste, really.”
Dorothea left the hut and walked to the nearby coast.
There, people were faithfully following the ‘Crow Goddess’s’ words, struggling to build a boat.
However, their progress was pitiful.
Gazing at the piles of wood that looked like they would sink the moment they met a single wave, Dorothea sighed.
Seeing this mess, it seemed it would be faster to borrow the hands of those civilized horse creatures after all.
It was then that the people suddenly grew agitated.
The skull, having overheard their chatter, translated for her.
“##&^##$!”
《Witch! Enemies! The horses are coming with an army!》
*
A host of troops was moving across the plains.
Their gleaming armor, robust physiques, and glossy coats seemed to prove just how prosperous and powerful they were.
However, their procession was not orderly, nor did their discipline seem strict.
The soldiers chattered nonstop even as they walked on their four legs, and their eyes were far too relaxed for those about to enter battle.
Even seeing this, their commander, the Red Horse, did not bother to reprimand them.
Had this been a proper battle, it would be a different story, but what they were about to do was closer to a hunt or pest extermination.
“Still, a young and mighty knight was brutally murdered. The humans might have a hidden card up their sleeves. Shouldn’t we be a little more cautious?”
At his adjutant’s words, the Red Horse snorted.
“Why are you so afraid of mere humans? The Goddess will protect us, so have no fear.”
“But judging by the state of the armor—”
“Enough.”
“—My apologies.”
The adjutant bowed his head with a somber expression. The Red Horse spoke, as if to change the mood.
“You’ve confirmed all the destinations, I presume?”
“A total of five. None are far from the locations we had previously identified.”
“Tsk, tsk, foolish humans. To commit such a heinous act, not knowing that we were aware of all their nests and simply left them be.”
The Red Horse clicked his tongue.
“You should never show mercy to beasts. You must beat them and discipline them relentlessly until they can’t even breathe, only then will they know their place and bow their heads. Now that those environmentalist riffraff have all shut their mouths, we will either wipe out all the humans or at least make them piss themselves and tremble at the very sight of us! Do you all understand!”
“Yes, sir!”
Just as the Red Horse, satisfied with the thunderous reply, was about to increase their marching speed, a report came.
“General! There is a group of humans ahead. But their appearance is rather peculiar!”
“Hmm?”
At the adjutant’s report, the Red Horse’s gaze shifted forward.
There were about a dozen humans there. Most of them had the familiar appearance he knew—crude attire, covered in leather or leaves.
It was the typical habit of the human beast, but the Red Horse did not like the sight of it.
It looked as if mere beasts were daring to imitate civilized horses.
However, the attire of the human female standing at their head was different from the others.
It was far more intricate, luxurious, and above all, it exuded ‘technology.’
“Hold on, I’d like to talk.”
When fluent ‘civilized horse language’ flowed from the human female’s lips, a great commotion erupted among them.
The Red Horse shouted.
“Everyone, quiet!”
The Red Horse moved forward and pointed his sword at the black-clad human.
“What are you? How can you speak?”
“What do you mean, ‘how’? I learned, so I can speak.”
“Learned? A mere human?”
The Red Horse repeated, as if in disbelief.
“More importantly, what are you planning to do, leading a menacing army here?”
“Before that, I must confirm one thing. Are you the representative of the humans?”
The human female frowned but eventually nodded.
“Well, let’s just say I’m something like that.”
The Red Horse turned his mount toward his adjutant.
“What do you think?”
“You must capture her.”
“We came here to punish the humans. Is there really a need for that? It seems like just killing them all would prevent any future trouble.”
“It is to investigate the circumstances. Judging by the clothes she’s wearing and how fluently she speaks, it’s clear that one of the city-dwellers has lent a hand. If there is a traitor spreading dangerous knowledge to the humans, we must capture and punish them.”
“That is true.”
The Red Horse nodded his head sharply, then spoke to the human female.
“You said you understand our language? Stay quiet until this is over. If you do, I will spare your life.”
“…You expect me to obey after I just heard that conversation?”
“Hah. It seems that even if it can speak, its fundamental stupidity can’t be helped.”
The Red Horse lamented quietly, then swung his sword.
He wasn’t aiming for the female who called herself the humans’ representative, but for the other humans nearby.
‘If I cut off one or two of their heads and yell at them, she’ll quiet down.’
In truth, the Red Horse had felt a deep-seated displeasure from the moment he first saw the human female.
He could sneer with contempt at the crude weapons and clothes the humans made, but seeing her in attire that was not far behind the technology of civilized horses filled him with an unbearable disgust.
Above all, the female’s eyes were infuriating.
The other humans clutched their stone axes and spears, unable to hide their fear, but the female at the front wasn’t frightened in the least. Instead, she was watching them with cold, indifferent eyes.
The very act of a mere human daring to converse with civilized horses as an equal was, in itself, a great sin.
The sword of the Red Horse, a warrior of outstanding prowess even among civilized horses, swung to slice through a human’s neck—
Clang!
—but it failed.
Seeing the translucent barrier that had blocked his path, the Red Horse’s eyes widened.
No matter what knowledge he drew upon, he had no way of explaining the bizarre phenomenon that had just occurred before him.
“…Not sword energy. No, do they not even know what mana is? Then again, I suppose that would make it easier to control this laboratory.”
The human female’s voice reached the Red Horse’s ears.
For a moment, the Red Horse couldn’t comprehend the emotion that pierced his heart.
He had always been the one to inflict that feeling, never the one to receive it.
The incomprehensible phenomena continued.
Black smoke suddenly appeared from nowhere, blanketing the area. The civilized horses that inhaled it all began to foam at the mouth, writhing in agony.
The civilized horses panicked and tried to distance themselves from the smoke, but skeletal hands burst from the ground, gripping their four ankles tightly and refusing to let go.
“Wh-what is this! What is happening!”
Amid the Red Horse’s confusion, the witch’s voice continued to echo in his ears.
“I don’t particularly care whether you’re right or wrong.”
“Whether this place’s ecosystem or social structure is bizarre or not, that’s none of my business.”
“If you hadn’t needlessly picked a fight, if you had just talked when I offered to talk, if you had at least stayed quiet until I left this place, it would have been better for you.”
From within the black smoke, a pair of blue eyes flashed with light.
The features on her pale white skin twisted into a strange expression.
The Red Horse realized it was a human smile.
The human, the female, no, no, the thing that now looked no different from a monster, smiled.
There was one piece of unfortunate news for them, something they had failed to realize.
Here, there were no prying eyes to worry about.
The necromancer’s eyes gleamed.