Chapter 121

# Chapter 121: The Witch and the Centaur Kingdom

Dorothea had quite a bit of knowledge about monsters.

Not just knowledge, she had also come face to face with quite a few of them.

That was mainly because her master, the East Witch, would throw her into the backwoods for errands every other day.

But even someone as knowledgeable as Dorothea couldn’t help but freeze like a statue in front of a creature with the lower body of a horse and a head… well, also a horse; and not just any horse, but a bizarre-looking one dressed in shiny knight armor ranting about civilization.

It felt as if her brain was complaining to her eyes and ears, “Hey, I think you’re malfunctioning! Can you check again?”

While Dorothea was stuck in this stupor, the battle between the centaur (tentatively named) and the humans raged on.

The outcome was a flawless victory for the centaur.

The humans’ crude stone axes and spears couldn’t pierce the shining armor and magical gear, while the shabby leather outfits were merely sliced apart by the well-forged steel swords.

Realizing they stood no chance, the humans tried to flee, but that wasn’t easy either.

The speed at which the centaur moved was far greater than that of the sprinting humans, and it was intentionally injuring their legs.

Dorothea frowned.

“They’re just toying with them.”

If they had fought seriously, it would’ve been over long ago. The centaur seemed to be dragging out the fight intentionally, as if enjoying it like a sport.

Though she found the scene quite distasteful, Dorothea didn’t rush in to intervene.

She was a rational witch, not someone who sought justice or righteousness.

Suddenly joining one side—especially the weaker side—without fully understanding the situation was hardly a wise choice.

“Hmm?”

That was when the centaur’s gaze turned toward Dorothea.

After casually kicking down a few nearby humans, it approached her direction.

As Dorothea pondered what her first words should be, the centaur spoke.

“Hmm. How ugly.”

With that, the temperature around them dropped slightly.

Oblivious to the chill, the centaur continued its critique, or rather, its complaints.

“Looking at the craftsmanship of your clothes, they don’t seem to be made by ignorant humans. Did you escape from somewhere? How curious. To dress inferior beings in clothes specially made for them, and to cherish them no less. What an odd taste. No matter how you dress up a flawed original, how much better can it really get…?”

The centaur only kept rambling on.

It didn’t seem to be speaking to provoke Dorothea; rather, it appeared to be unaware she could even understand.

Dorothea didn’t bother to correct that misunderstanding.

She had no desire to engage in a conversation with the creature any longer.

Thud.

Dorothea pulled a small bone fragment from her pouch and tossed it to the ground.

Then, she poured a bit more magical power into it than usual.

Crunch, crackle, pop.

With strange and eerie sounds, the bone rapidly grew in size.

Initially, the centaur watched in disbelief as if to question, “What kind of trick is this?” but upon seeing the bone expand uncontrollably, it panicked and shouted.

“What, what is that!?”

*Grrrr…!*

The undead dogs—no, dogs—didn’t respond to the centaur’s question.

No matter how much the centaur donned clothes and spoke like a person, it just didn’t hold a candle to the centuries of human affection for dogs.

The undead dogs didn’t hesitate to start biting at the centaur’s legs.

Ordinary animals would likely have their teeth harmed by the armor, but the saliva of the specially bred garden dogs had a potent corrosive effect.

As the centaur watched its armor sizzling and melting away, it got spooked and tried to shake off the undead dogs, but whether it crushed their heads or sliced them with its sword, the dogs effortlessly resurrected.

In fact, when they were chopped into pieces, the number of dogs only multiplied by the pieces!

Realizing it stood no chance, the centaur had two choices.

To flee with all its might or to strike at Dorothea, who seemed to be the source of this chaos.

The centaur chose the latter.

“Was it you!?”

The centaur charged at Dorothea.

The sword it held had long been lost to dog bites, but it swung a powerful kick that could bend even iron plates.

Just as the centaur was about to stomp on Dorothea’s head, the staff she held let out a short sound.

Bang!

“What!?”

The centaur’s attack couldn’t reach Dorothea. A circular barrier around her perfectly blocked its assault.

The centaur was shocked, and Dorothea was annoyed.

After all, she had prepared this secret technique for the Alingd Dragon and now had to use it here, of all places, which was incredibly frustrating.

As if sensing their master’s anger, the undead dogs bit down even harder on the centaur.

At this point, having made a grave miscalculation in its last choice, the centaur had no chance of recovery left.

As it was bitten on the neck, it rolled its eyes back and perished.

Looking down at the centaur’s corpse with cold eyes, Dorothea fell into quiet contemplation.

‘Is this the closest thing I know of to a centaur? But there are way too many strange aspects about it… Hmm?’

Dorothea’s thoughts halted. She turned her indifferent gaze to the humans surrounding her.

“…So, you all want to try it too?”

At that, all the humans simultaneously knelt and bowed their heads.

“※▽▼X(!@*$*!”

“※@&@&(#@*!”

Dorothea couldn’t understand what they were saying.

But by simply observing their gestures—arms raised in jubilation or bending at the waist multiple times in excitement—it was easy to guess their meaning.

*Grrr?*

An undead dog tilted its head while looking at Dorothea.

It seemed to be asking, “What should we do, mistress? Should we bite them?” and Dorothea let out yet another sigh.

***

In the square of a certain city.

Many centaurs gathered and listened intently to the discussion happening in the central square.

A white horse raised its voice from the podium.

“Recently, many young centaurs have been indiscriminately slaughtering wild humans, treating it like a sport! Humans too are living beings; it’s unacceptable for those who possess reason and intellect to regard life as mere entertainment and kill them!”

A red horse rebutted.

“I cannot just sit idly by and let that pass! Humans are inherently ugly, lazy, selfish, and also violent! They are inferior just by existing, and merely breathing consumes the resources of this island! Instead of encouraging the elimination of these parasitic nuisances, how can you scold us?”

A black horse chimed in.

“I also cannot condone indiscriminate slaughter. While it’s true that humans are foolish and ignorant, isn’t it our duty as civilized beings to lead them ‘properly’?”

The yellow horse interjected loudly.

“I think everyone is overcomplicating things. We should reclaim all the valuable lands the humans presumptuously occupy, use submissive humans for appropriate labor, and just kill off the rebellious ones! I think this could be a pretty decent compromise.”

Each horse raised their voices, discussing their opinions, while the citizens watched, licking sugar cubes or downing beer.

“Why not just kill them all? Is there really any need to spare harmful creatures?”

“Tsk tsk, so simply-minded. Aren’t they a part of nature, created by Elphaba? It’s more ethical to pursue harmony than to carelessly drive them to extinction.”

“That’s precisely why rescue efforts for humans keep failing. It might be okay for obedient ones, but do we really need to show mercy to the rest?”

“Naive and young horses have gotten hurt by wild humans multiple times. It’s best to simply eliminate them!”

“Oh dear, these friends…”

As always, public opinion leaned toward the more radical side.

It was argued that for the sake of the centaurs’ pleasant and safe living conditions, it was right to ‘expel’ the barbaric and ugly humans.

Of course, how the expelled humans would survive was none of their concern. If they didn’t like it, they could work under the hooves of the centaurs.

Or, alternatively, they could be raised as pets by the centaurs with unique tastes.

“Crisis, crisis!”

The shocking news hit the city just as the debate reached its peak.

The young stallion from a prestigious noble family had been brutally murdered by humans, shocking all the centaurs in the city.

The young stallion was a devoted follower of the great Elphaba and had been a newly appointed knight.

While several unknowing younglings had fallen victim to wicked humans over the years, it was the first time a well-equipped knight had been brutally killed.

The atmosphere in the city instantly heated up.

The few moderate voices shrank in the face of the enraged public.

Less than a few hours later, a fully armed hunting party set out.

***

The humans’ attitude towards Dorothea was nothing short of reverent.

They willingly offered her the largest and grandest (though still just a hut) house among their dwellings and presented her with various fruits and some sort of porridge.

Comfortably seated on a stone chair cushioned with leather and straw, Dorothea looked at her wrist.

There, a golden thread bracelet that Franka had given her was wrapped around, with four strands sticking out, each pointing in a different direction.

“Did Franka do something? Looks like she’s still alive.”

The strands were likely indicating the locations of her other companions.

The issue now was how to regroup with them.

Recalling the coastline she had found by following one of the directions, Dorothea covered her eyes with her hand.

“No matter how grand this workshop is, there’s a limit. Having the ocean and an island inside is just too much, right?”

Indeed.

Dorothea had fallen into an astonishingly strange place: an island.

Even if they couldn’t create a real ocean, compared to the actual ocean, it was much smaller… roughly the size of an enormous lake; but it still wasn’t much comfort.

In any case, the fact that she had to set sail to reunite with her group hadn’t changed.

“I’ve kept some parts of the sea serpent’s corpse, but the undead, made by forcibly granting physical form to fragments, don’t last long. If they collapse during the voyage, we’re in trouble. I need to find a boat somehow.”

Even Dorothea, who was good at many things, could only manage to make a raft.

Even if she wanted to use necromancy, she would need to summon a soul with shipbuilding skills first, and looking at the humans’ conditions, it seemed doubtful they could even make a dinghy.

“@#&@#$#*#!”

“…First, I need to get them to speak.”

Dorothea stretched out her left hand.

Forming her hand as if clutching something, she spun her wrist counterclockwise repeatedly.

As the chain ring in Dorothea’s hand morphed into a birdcage, the humans around her gasped in awe.

Though she accepted their reverence with some reluctance, Dorothea hit the cage with her finger and declared, “Anyone who can speak, come over. In exchange, I’ll grant you clear reasoning.”

It didn’t really matter whether the souls understood her words or not.

The magical birdcage she received from the East Witch was an incredibly powerful magical device, one of its effects being to mediate between the owner and souls.

As long as the being was a soul, even if it wasn’t human but an animal, she could convey her will.

Sure enough, several souls quickly gathered around Dorothea and entered the cage.

The souls that had taken on a skeletal form sang.

“Witch, witch, great witch! Please, give us commands!”

“Translate what they’re saying,” Dorothea requested, and the skeleton replied.

“They are calling the great witch ‘Goddess!’ They refer to her as the Crow Goddess that stands against the golden goddess Elphaba!”

“………….”

Dorothea fell silent.

After some time of gaping, she finally muttered.

“I’m going to lose my mind, seriously.”

For some reason, she felt as if the Tin Knight’s mocking message was echoing in her mind.

---