episode_0014

Emma slowly and carefully touches the gift that the owner placed back in her hands.

The jewelry made from Epona’s blessed thread was still as soft as when she had carefully finished it with her clumsy hands.

The texture naturally reminded me of the thoughts she put into tying each and every knot of those accessories.

It was still vivid in my mind why she first decided to ride the human she was currently riding on her back, her master.

When I close my eyes, the memories of that time still gradually unfold in the darkness.

——

“Ugh..ah…”

The centaur, who was still young, sat down and trembled, but could not take his eyes off the tragedy in front of him.

“Ugh…”

Her mother trembled, trying to suppress her painful moans in case her daughter heard her.

Her mother, who had always been a strong and courageous chieftain, until a moment ago her arms were like those, wielding weapons and wielding her righteous fury against the intruders.

But now, in mockery, the severed right arm was rolling around, staining the grass of the meadow where her daughter and sisters used to run, turning red.

“Tsk. That’s it. Stop the bleeding. I don’t want them to die from blood loss. Since they are strong guys, I should just lose roughly.”

Nevertheless, the man leading the attackers frowned and gave an order, perhaps broken by the sight of the chief holding back his screams.

And he kicked and rolled the severed arm.

That expression and action stopped Emma’s fear and instead aroused her anger.

How on earth could she put her mother, whom she loved and was proud of, and whom the tribe loved and were proud of, into such a state?

Does this mean that you can act like a child kicking a toy away as if it was just entertainment?

“Aaaah!”

Emma ran out in anger.

Without even thinking about why the rope binding her broke.

Although she was one of the fastest centaurs among her tribe’s peers, her legs seemed to be twice as fast as usual, and her young body quickly shot forward.

None of the people around could react in time to the sudden change.

Emma approached the leader of the men without any hindrance and attacked the startled man.

“Quaaah!”

Immediately, there was a sound of something breaking, and the moment I was about to end it by hitting the guy who was rolling on the ground screaming in pain.

“Ugh!”

One of the two silver-level adventurers who defeated her mother first stepped up and defeated Emma.

Immediately, other humans rush in together, crushing Emma even more with their numbers and weight, and no matter how much she struggles, there is nothing she can do.

“Awesome! Well, look at this!”

“Ugh… What is Daebak… It looks like a bone has come out… Huh? What is this?!”

Even so, Emma thought that she wouldn’t be able to do this on her own, so she had been prepared for this outcome from the moment she couldn’t overcome her emotions and rushed at her, but even she couldn’t understand the mood of the people who were suddenly welcoming her.

“..Heh..Hahaha! Ugh.. kkk!”

Emma even felt scared in a way when she saw him unable to stop smiling despite the pain of his broken bones.

“A rare species that can transform! It’s awesome! It will more than make up for the loss! Hahaha!”

The greed and joy in the eyes looking at her. Only then did Emma look at her body, even though she was embarrassed.

What continued below her waist was not her body, which was visible every time she lowered her head.

Half of her body below the waist was transformed into the shape of a horse.

Emma also knew this story.

A blessing given to some of them by Epona, the goddess they serve.

They are the fastest people on earth, taking on the form of a half-man and half-horse with the power of a goddess.

Is there anyone among the children of the tribe who, upon hearing that story, was not excited that they might be one of them?

But now she wasn’t excited.

This scene was supposed to show the tribe’s family and friends congratulating Emma, rejoicing together, and giving thanks to Epona.

When the time comes and she too roams the plains with her tribe’s brave warriors, it should be the victory of the goddess who will run at the forefront, trampling down her enemies.

It’s not like an unexpected windfall that will satisfy those greedy eyes for a while.

Rather than being overpowered, crushed to the ground, and judged like a valuable animal.

‘Eponasi… why… now… why?…’

“Hahaha! Couldn’t you have changed a little sooner? Then we wouldn’t have cut off your mother’s right arm.”

She knew full well that the words were just meant to mock her.

Even if she had revealed Epona’s blessing sooner, there was no guarantee that she would have done as she said in the first place.

but…

Still, I can’t help but wonder if it would have been a little better that way.

She lowered her head and cried.

——

At least it seemed like the humans were being honest when they said that Emma would be sold at a high price.

This is because her body was restrained with several times more harnesses than other captured centaurs, and she was tied up separately from her compatriots.

In particular, the leader of the human attackers, who once hit Emma and broke her bones, ordered her to be thoroughly restrained and monitored at all times.

Unable to see, speak, or move, all Emma could do was think in the dark.

‘Eponasi… why?’

Why did the blessing appear to her at this time?

Could it be that the goddess’s blessing was at best something that could not be used because it was confined to tools made by greedy humans?

Perhaps they envied something like this, holding it up as a sign of sanctity?

The unholy questions kept coming to her mind, and without hearing God’s answer to them, she could only remain silent endlessly.

However, the gloomy journey that seemed to never end ended more abruptly than expected.

In a direction that neither Emma nor her people wanted.

The first thing that changed was the sound.

I don’t know exactly how much time has passed, but in the dark, what I could occasionally hear, even with my sensitive ears, the stories humans exchanged when they took turns guarding each other, changed at some point.

A noise that was heard only when the entire tribe gathered in one place for a big feast, or rather, as if the noise had been amplified several times, tormented her ears and made her flinch.

The next thing I felt was touch.

The rough hands that had tied up Emma and made her unable to move now violently grabbed the reins around her, as if to force her frozen body to move quickly.

“Ugh…”

She had to force herself to move her body, which was not moving well due to the pain she felt in her mouth and jaw, and was terrified as she followed them, not knowing what was going on.

And when the hands finally stopped pulling her.

“Everyone has been waiting for a long time! Today’s highest priced product has finally arrived!”

Someone shouts something loudly, and the cheers and applause of countless people respond.

As her ears felt like they were going to explode, her blindfold was removed, and she was finally able to see the scene unfolding before her eyes.

A large crowd of people were looking at Emma.

Beneath their feet were only stones, not a single blade of grass from the meadow where they lived.

While she was wondering if she had trampled all the grass to death with so many steps, someone continued to shout.

“Take a look! The shape of a half-man, half-horse is the rarest among the strong centaurs of the steppes!

If you miss this opportunity, you may not be able to get it again!”

“Price! How much does it cost?!”

Another voice suddenly joins in and asks, and it answers happily.

“Ah! There are already so many passionate people, so it looks like the auction house is going to heat up! The starting price for the auction is 9,000 silver denarii!”

“Here are 9,000 100 denarius!”

“I have 9,500 denarii!”

“What about gold coins? Do you get gold coins too?! I’ll pay 400 Aureus!”

The price is equivalent to 400 aureus and 10,000 denarius. The annual salary of a decent legionary is 330 denarius, but a large amount of money exceeding 30 years’ worth is called the price of Emma.

Most of the auction participants were influential nobles from the empire’s cities close to the plains, as well as some valuable people who came from the islands.

These people raised their voices and shouted prices as if they were grabbing at the market floor.

However, she does not know how much the empire’s silver and gold are worth.

For her, she would not be particularly interested in how noble the blood of a so-and-so noble from so-and-so’s family is.

All those shouts and declarations containing bold aspirations that someone had made for 30 years were just loud noise.

Mouths screaming and spitting, greedy hands reaching out and pushing others away, gold and silver coins flashing in those hands.

The sight of all of them together is like a huge, disgusting monster with its numerous tongues lashing out and its teeth flashing.

She sat down and had to suppress the urge to vomit.

“What, why is it like that?! Hey moderator! Is that centaur healthy?!”

“Haha! Of course! It’s just that they’ve been kept hidden and treasured for so long, so they don’t adapt well to sunlight!”

While the host skillfully soothed the concerns of the auction participants, the humans guarding her side forced Emma, whose legs were weak, to stand up.

Emma, who managed to stand up again with shaky legs, made eye contact with a man who had been silent among the noisy people and looked up at the podium.

Just like Emma, the man had a stern expression on his face, as if he really didn’t like all this commotion, and was holding the spear he was holding tightly.

He looked at Emma blankly for a moment.

sympathy? remorse? Concerned?

It was such a short moment that she couldn’t clearly recognize it either.

But no matter what emotion was contained in that gaze, Emma didn’t care.

“…disgusting.”

The one who showed up here with a weapon is probably one of the dogs hired to protect those noisy pigs.

Those same dogs had bitten Emma and her people and dragged them to this place.

If she is sold and taken somewhere, and we never see each other again, we will forget this moment as if it never happened.

What is so different about a subject that is already part of that disgusting scene that makes one so hypocritical?

I just laughed at that thought.

So she really didn’t expect it at all at the time.

Not long after I had that thought.

Much closer than when I had that thought.

As if to laugh at the idea, she would see a man with his spear drawn, with her behind his back and his compatriots in front of him.

There will come a moment when she will understand why the goddess Epona gave her that blessing.

I hope to reunite with him, and the time will come when I will happily welcome that day.