novelraw Chapter 138
Chapter 138
Chapter 138
As soon as dawn broke, all the Mouse Tribe headed south.
I had already sent word through birds, so the other Mouse Tribes must be gathering in Johnson Territory by now.
After confirming the Bear Tribe’s Divine Relic there, the Mouse Tribe would have to make their own choice.
After all, their goal of reclaiming the Bear Tribe’s relic had already been achieved.
We’d have to wait and see what decision the Mouse Tribe, who had lived as wanderers for over a hundred years, would make.
‘Since I gave Butler Harold a heads-up, he’ll take good care of our squirrel friends.’
Luckily, there were still temporary shelters left from when the refugees from Hawrun Territory stayed there, so they could rest there and sort out their thoughts.
—They won’t be able to escape, will they?
‘Of course not. They deserve to live comfortably in a new home too.’
They’d suffered enough already.
If the Mouse Tribe longed so much for the Bear Tribe, wasn’t it fate that they’d end up with us?
Where else could they find companions as bear-like as we are?
This must all be Bestia’s grace.
“Alright, let’s head out too.”
After seeing off the Mouse Tribe, we packed up the camp and started heading north.
We were now nearing the Horse Tribe’s territory.
If luck was on our side, we’d soon encounter them.
‘But this journey’s been unusually lucky from the start.’
It seemed we’d find the Horse Tribe without much wandering.
“Lord Iron! Look over there!!”
After riding all day, Irene, who was leading the way while herding the goats, shouted as she spotted something.
From the distance, we could hear the thunder of countless hooves—it was a good sign.
“Oh, horses.”
Irene waved her arm in circles, pointing toward a massive herd galloping across the plains—hundreds of them at least.
A herd that large could only belong to the Horse Tribe.
We’d found them sooner than expected.
Truly, luck was with us.
“But… what are those things running alongside them?”
There was something strange running beside the horses.
—They really are the Horse Tribe.
‘That’s the Horse Tribe?’
—Is something wrong?
‘Well, yeah. That looks… wrong no matter how you see it.’
At first, I thought people were riding on the horses.
But on a closer look, that wasn’t the case.
Upper body of a human, lower body of a horse.
It was exactly what a centaur from mythology would look like.
The only difference was that their ears were shaped just like a horse’s.
“My goodness… that’s…”
Honestly, I never imagined they’d look like that.
Centaurs?
That was a whole different kind of Beastman altogether.
It was quite shocking.
And there was something else I hadn’t expected—what we saw wasn’t even their true form.
I only found that out after following the herd for about an hour until we arrived at the Horse Tribe’s village.
“So this is the Horse Tribe’s village? There are so many yurts.”
—Maybe the Mouse Tribe got their yurts from here.
‘True, nomads do use yurts.’
The plains were filled with tents as far as the eye could see.
It was quite a sight.
They said the tribe was as large as the Cow Tribe, and they weren’t exaggerating.
‘Wait, why do they all have only two legs?’
And once again, I couldn’t help being bewildered.
The Horse Tribe we’d seen galloping earlier were all centaurs, yet here in the village, every single one of them walked upright on two legs like normal Beastmen.
I couldn’t make sense of it.
—The Horse Tribe can transform their lower body into two different forms.
‘What? That’s ridiculous…’
—Ridiculous? The Fox Tribe can transform into humans, can’t they?
‘Wait, that’s what this is?’
So they walk on two legs like humans normally, and when they run across the plains, they transform into centaur form?
What kind of creature even does that?
‘Don’t tell me… the Horse Tribe’s blessing lets them turn into horses?’
—If it helps you understand, it’s something like “unity of man and horse,” perhaps?
‘No, that’s not what that phrase means at all.’
Controlling a horse as if it were part of your body and literally becoming part horse were two completely different things.
Either way, these were Beastmen unlike anything I had ever imagined.
My head was spinning from the start.
The blessings of the Beastmen really didn’t make much sense sometimes.
To think the Mouse Tribe’s “cuteness” and the Horse Tribe’s body transformation were considered blessings of the same level—it was incomprehensible.
‘Now that I notice… they’re all wearing skirts?’
Another curious detail.
Both the men and women of the Horse Tribe wore wide skirts.
I suppose that way, even if their lower bodies suddenly turned into horses, their clothes wouldn’t tear or get damaged.
Then those loops at their waists—were they for hanging shoes or something?
It seemed likely.
Even their leather shoes had small rings attached at the back, perfect for hooking onto something.
‘But wait, what do they even wear under those wide skirts? Or can they wear anything at all? Wouldn’t it just rip apart when they transform?’
They might be rather… indecent(?) Beastmen.
“This is amazing! They look so cool! This is why I’ve always wanted to meet the Horse Tribe!”
While I was still dazed and confused, Irene was completely enthralled by them.
For someone obsessed with mounts, the Horse Tribe—who could literally become their own mount—were an object of pure admiration.
Unlike Johnson Territory, which had never traded warhorses, Haken Territory often purchased them and had done business with the Horse Tribe multiple times.
No wonder she’d insisted on coming along for this trade—she must’ve already known something about them.
Her excitement now was very Irene-like.
“Humans!”
“No way, are they the ones the Lion bastards talked about—the human chief?”
“They’re not merchants. They’re strong warriors. Call the chieftain at once!”
“Oh, they brought wagons too?”
“What did they bring with them?”
“Is it salt? Or meat?”
“Damn those Imperial bastards! Because of them, all trade with human merchant groups has been cut off!”
As soon as our group entered the Horse Tribe’s village with multiple wagons, a large crowd of Horse Tribe members gathered around us.
Judging by their reaction, it seemed they had already been informed of our arrival through Rudelrof.
Originally, this was a place often visited by human merchants who came to buy warhorses.
That meant these folks weren’t particularly awkward around humans.
In fact, they looked more troubled because trade with humans had been severed.
‘Well, at least trading will be easy.’
Just by looking at them, I could tell they were running short on meat and salt—starting with a quick trade might be the right call.
“You’ve come. Are you the human chieftain?”
“Ah, that’s right. I’m Iron Johnson, Guide of the Rabbit Tribe.”
“As I’ve heard, a very strong warrior indeed. Welcome. And behind you… is that the Black Marauder?”
“Hmph, shut it, horse-head!”
A massive Horse Tribe warrior approached us.
Judging from how the others immediately stepped aside, he was clearly the tribe’s chieftain.
After a brief greeting with me, he locked eyes with Leisha, and the two glared at each other—it seemed they already knew of the Lion Tribe.
There was definitely some tension there.
‘Seriously, Leisha…’
Just like with the Cow Tribe, the Horse Tribe reacted the same way to her.
I suppose that could be considered a kind of talent.
To build such a notorious reputation among Beastmen tribes that rarely interact with each other—it was honestly impressive.
“Anyway, follow me, human chieftain. There are things we need to discuss.”
Having met the chieftain of the Horse Tribe, it was time to sit down and talk.
“Irene, Yuria. First, share the horned rabbits with our friends here.”
Of course, I didn’t forget to distribute the Horned Rabbits.
The Horse Tribe were, in many ways, nomadic Beastmen.
Their clothing alone made that clear—most of them wore garments patched together from various hides.
Of course, those leather skirts designed to allow them to transform easily into horses were quite shocking, but aside from that, their attire had a refined nomadic style.
‘They don’t herd livestock, but hunting must be good here.’
This area was one of the few in the Ribella Peninsula teeming with wild animals.
Both magical beasts and regular wildlife.
The clothes the Horse Tribe wore were made from animal hides, and they hunted and preserved plenty of meat.
‘Though most of those wild beasts are predators—not exactly good eating.’
Carnivores were rarely pleasant to eat, after all.
That was why, despite having plenty of meat, they still bought meat from humans.
The beasts they hunted here were mostly treated as emergency rations.
Moreover, aside from animals, there was little else in this land, so they relied heavily on human merchant groups.
From essential salt to fabrics and other necessities—they depended on humans for almost everything.
Human merchant groups, who bought the Horse Tribe’s warhorses at high prices, could still profit from trade because the Horse Tribe bought so many human goods in return.
They couldn’t haggle down horse prices, but they could always overcharge for human wares.
“So, we were planning to send warriors straight to Rotsy. We’ve even prepared plenty of horses.”
The Horse Tribe, being eager to trade with humans, had planned to dispatch a caravan as soon as the tunnel opened.
Ever since the Levelium Region became desolate, trade with humans had completely stopped, leaving them in a dire shortage of supplies.
“But then, a problem arose on our side.”
“A problem? What kind of problem?”
“Those black pig bastards started acting up. Their numbers grew too large—it’s hard to pull any warriors away.”
“I see.”
By “black pigs,” he meant the Black Orcs.
Just as we constantly fought the Gnolls in the Monster Mountains, the Horse Tribe had been waging an ongoing war against the Black Orcs.
Recently, though, their numbers had surged, and they were encroaching on Horse Tribe territory.
As someone who constantly suffered from the Gnolls, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of shared hardship.
“Orcs really are vile creatures.”
And even more than me, Irene seemed to truly understand how the Horse Tribe felt.
Having finished distributing the Horned Rabbits, she nodded empathetically to the Horse Tribe chieftain.
Haken had always been a front-line region that directly faced the Orcs, and here too, they were constantly troubled by Black Orcs.
“I see. Then it’ll be difficult to send warriors, huh?”
“Warriors? Why, has something happened?”
“The Cow Tribe warriors are preparing to fight the Imperial bastards. So we were hoping to ask for warriors here as well…”
Since their situation wasn’t great, it couldn’t be helped.
Dealing with the Empire was important, but protecting their tribe came first.
I was about to accept that and move on, but then an unexpected reaction came.
“What? They’re fighting the Imperial bastards? Then there’s no way we’re sitting out!”
“But you just said you’re too busy with the Orcs—”
“Yeah, yeah, the Orcs are annoying, sure. But this is different, isn’t it?”
Apparently, when it came to fighting the Empire, they were willing to send warriors no matter what.
‘The Empire’s reputation really is something else.’
—To be honest, I think killing every single one of those Imperial bastards wouldn’t even count as a crime.
At this point, the Beastmen’s unanimous hatred was starting to scare me.
Anyone who earned their enmity would definitely not die a peaceful death.