Chapter 68: Beyond the Steel Body (03)

Chapter 68: Beyond the Steel Body (03)

"Is that..."

Are the Sytorax bastards not even trying to hide it anymore? Are they pushing for war?

I swallowed hard, mana saber in hand, and faced Dane with the centaurs also panicking, raising their weapons as beings of the same caliber as the grand chief rushed towards them.

Having faced them once before, I wasn't afraid of losing even though their numbers had increased to ten, but the problem was...

'Even if we can win...'

Even if Dane and I could take the time to destroy all the combat golems, how many of the centaurs gathered here would survive?

We had to be prepared for dozens, if not hundreds, of casualties.

After all the hardship and we won, they sent ten more? Do the Sytorax bastards have no sense of decency?

"Damn it, let it come what may!"

I was pumping mana into my mana saber, preparing for a final stand, when...

Tatatatatata-!

From behind the Sytorax's combat golems, a cloud of dust rose, and the ground vibrated all the way here.

"Sweep them all away!!"

Armor glowing with blue mana.

Lances burning with mana.

Warhorses clad in mana armor that enhanced their flesh, galloping into battle.

The knightly order has arrived here.

'The Order of Magi Knights? No, it can't be time-wise, and the equipment is different.'

Originally, the current Order of Magi Knights could not engage in mounted combat.

At this time, the other initiates wouldn't have received their horses yet, and there were only five horses (one of which was a mule) available, so it was impossible for dozens of knights to be charging like this.

Seeing their flags adorned with the emblem of the white rose, I turned to Dane.

"Which knightly order is it?"

Dane, being a huge fan of knight novels, knew all about other orders. Of course, he remembered them as glorified in the novels.

"The White Rose Knights!"

"I know it's the White Rose, but..."

"The knights tasked with guarding the western border, known as the Shield of the West! To think I'm seeing their battle in person...!"

The fifty knights instantly plunged their burning nova lances, quickly dispatching the ten combat golems.

A nova lance is like a mana saber but in lance form, having a solid handle with the blade formed of mana, which usually exhausts the wielder quickly, hence only the tip is made of mana.

Rather than cutting with high heat, it projects mana at high pressure upon contact, delivering a secondary shock, a type of armament we might use if we also get to train in mounted combat.

Crack!

No matter how much the combat golems dodged mana, the nova lance did not emit mana until just before contact, so its function didn't activate until it struck, smashing the flesh upon contact, making the seniors' task of clearing the golems much easier compared to my struggles.

Of course, there were differences in experience with combat golems at the border, weapon compatibility, and numbers, but it still felt somewhat anticlimactic.

Tatatatatata-!

They swiftly crushed the fragments of the combat golems underfoot as they approached us.

'Wait, could it be...'

Is this knightly order here to deal with the centaur bandits?

If that's the case, they might also be here to subjugate the centaurs gathered here...

"Why are you so tense?"

"..."

While Dane was happily watching the seniors he admired, I couldn't relax.

If they were here to subjugate the centaurs... then I had to consider what to do in that case.

"Rumble!"

With the warhorses' fierce snorting, the knights stopped their horses in front of me, Dane, and Eileen, who had approached my side.

"Are you a knight by the armor and mana saber? But no insignia. Which order are you with?"

"The Order of Magi Knights, sir."

"The Order of Magi Knights... a trainee knight?"

"Yes."

The knight from the White Rose Order, after scrutinizing us, dismounted his horse.

"It's been a long time since I've met someone from the Order of Magi Knights. I was once part of it too."

As he extended his hand to me while taking off his sweaty helmet, I reluctantly took it while still on guard.

Clack!

His grip, still powered by active mana circuits, was so strong it numbed my hand.

"Ouch!"

"Oh dear, my mistake. It's hard to turn off the mana circuits with age."

In situations like this, it's best to play up the injury a bit. Juniors often exaggerate their pain, which seniors find amusing and enjoy.

"Our juniors must have come all the way to the mountains to acquire horses cheaply, right?"

"Yes... that's one way to put it..."

I couldn't quite tell him we were trying to get them for free.

"That's commendable. Better to secure your own horses than trust the swine nobles who supply any old horse. It's good to see true juniors after so long."

He was overestimating us just because we had come down here without enough money to buy horses.

"Sir, what brings you here...?"

"We were called on a mission. There was a petition from the centaur tribes in this area asking for protection from our order. The representative's name was..."

Fortunately, since there was no intent to attack the centaurs, I could finally relax.

"I can't remember who requested it."

As the senior from the White Rose Order struggled to recall, Angelica from the group of centaurs stepped forward and spoke up.

"Could it be Uncle Bob?"

"Yes, it was Bob."

"Of course!"

Ah, then... was this Bob the one who had run off with Angelica's money?

"He tried to call us with the fee he paid, but the White Rose Knights don't move for money. So he came to return the fee to the centaur village."

The senior handed Angelica a heavy purse of money, and as she received it, she mumbled to herself.

"Why has the money increased...?"

Apparently, he had even dipped into his own savings to add more and call the knights.

'Somehow... I feel guilty about someone I've never even met.'

"I was merely suspected of swallowing that money for no reason.

Moreover, to doubt the seniors who saved our lives...

'Let's reflect.'

I, as a person, should have first reflected on making things difficult and having too much distrust in humanity.

'You even took down a combat golem, promising juniors indeed.'

'We were lucky.'

'They are usually tough to defeat even with luck on your side.'

While saying this, a senior knight of the White Rose Order handed me a voucher.

'This is proof of your achievement. If you report this to the upper ranks of the Magic Knight Order in the capital, you could receive a bounty reward.'

The amount was written on it, and it was an enormous sum that really left me speechless.

Of course, we would have to give a portion of it as a fee to the Magic Knight Order, but it was a considerable amount, just slightly less than the price of a horse.

'You guys should probably head back soon, right?'

'Yes, but...'

'Did you manage to get a horse? The Saitolax thugs tried to raid the horse farms, and with bandits swarming, it seems like there's been a shortage.'

'Ah!'

Dane only then realized that we hadn't managed to get a horse.

'Oh... our horse...'

And then the seniors, other knights, arrived, making it impossible for us to steal horses from the bandits.

'We're doomed...'

Dane was unable to shake off his despair until the seniors left.

'Don't worry, Dane.'

'...'

'Frustration is how a man grows.'

'Shut up!'

While I chuckled and teased the angry Dane, a centaur from the bandits cautiously approached us.

'Um... do you need a horse?'

'What?'

'Actually, we have some horses hidden away to sell without our boss knowing...'

Hearing this, Dane abruptly stood up and grabbed the centaur thief by the scruff of the neck.

'Hand them over... right now...!'

'Ke, kek...! We can't just give them to you for free, but we'll sell them to you cheap!'

'Oh? You thieving scoundrels...!'

'If you act like this, I'll surrender to the White Rose Knight Order?!'

'Surrender? You think you can escape from me by surrendering?!'

I couldn't tell who was the trainee of the Magic Knight Order and who belonged to the bandits.

In any case, Dane was threatening with his eyes flipped, but the centaur bandits were boldly telling him to find his own horse if he didn't like the deal.

'Oh my goodness...'

The only consolation was that a substantial reward was expected to be reported to the upper ranks for defeating the combat golem.

Could we afford a horse if we bought it cheaply?

'Wait. What about me?'

As I was pondering whether I should ask Lady Melson in the capital for a favor, Eileen, who had removed her gag, approached me.

'Do you also need a horse?'

'Huh? Oh... yes, I do. It's not like I have no other way to get one.'

'Hmm... are you openly saying you'll ride another horse in front of me?'

Ah, I then remembered that for the centaur maidens, being ridden on their backs was a very important matter... Could riding another horse be considered infidelity?

'It's a joke. Horses and centaurs are different.'

If there was a different meaning, riding a horse wasn't sexual, but mounting a centaur had a sexual implication.

'Will you take a horse owned by our sisters?'

'Weren't horses important livestock to the centaurs?'

At that, Eileen just smiled.

'If someone more important needs it, livestock is nothing.'

She took my hand and led me, saying,

'If you ever want to come back, just trust the horse. We've trained it so you can find us wherever we go.'

* * *

'Huh?'

As I was leading the horse back to the training ground, I saw Shuru.

To be exact, it was Shuru and the blue slime, Mollang, riding on her back, approaching on all fours just like I had ridden on Eileen's back.

It was as if they were one entity, coming towards me. As I opened my arms to embrace them, Shuru quickly climbed onto my lap and bit my neck.

'Khaaak!'

Moreover, Mollang covered my mouth so I couldn't scream, and the two began to kidnap me somewhere.

'Where did they learn to combine forces like this?!'

For now, my horse was being taken to the stables by Dane, but I was being dragged to a secluded place by the two of them.

'Nyaaang!'

'Ah, sorry. I've been away for too long...'

Ziiip!

Shuru immediately bit and unzipped my zipper, and Mollang then inserted her hand to take out my... well, you know.

'Right after meeting, that's where you go...?'

It had been a long time since we met, so Mollang and Shuru buried their heads in my lap and wouldn't let go.

'Ayayayaya!'

For about two weeks, I had left them in the care of Master Pandel, but Mollang and Shuru had escaped in the middle of it and had been waiting for me as they roamed around the training ground.

During that time, Shuru had been fed by other trainees, but Mollang had been starving, making her feel smaller than usual, but she returned to her original size after she was done.

Sniff sniff...

As if they were trying to sense the remnants of Eileen or Angelica on my body, Shuru and Mollang licked and sucked my lower half to their content, trying to leave their own scent.

'Ah... yes... I'm home... ugh!'

Shuru stuck out her tiny tongue and covered my lips, and Mollang used all the techniques she had learned to extract from me.

'You must have been very hungry...'

Zuuuk... Zuuuuk...

Mollang's body seemed to have ingested a cup of milk's worth of... well, you know, and only then did Mollang seem satisfied enough to get off me.

But now it was my turn.

'I'm not finished yet.'

I forcefully held Mollang down again and pressed on a part of her lower abdomen to stimulate her.

And as for Shuru, I held her buttocks with one hand while rubbing between her legs with the other.

After all, as a man, I can't just passively receive; I have to assert some pride."

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