Chapter 396: Does A Centaur Have An Ass?!
Unfortunately, once the topic of Sigrid’s body and anatomy had been brought up, it was as though a whole can of worms had been opened inside Luca’s mind.
His thoughts couldn’t help but wander in every direction at once.
The first question that struck him was whether Sigrid also possessed a well-endowed rear.
When one thought of a woman with a nice, plump, juicy chest, one naturally assumed she would have a matching plump asses to complete the set.
That was simply how these things worked.
But then he remembered that Sigrid was a centaur.
And he had absolutely no idea whether she even had a butt in the traditional sense.
His gaze drifted involuntarily toward her rear, which was currently covered by the flowing cloth draped over her equine body.
Her silver tail swished lazily from side to side as she walked, continuing her enthusiastic explanations about the village.
He found himself genuinely wondering what lay beneath that covering.
Did she possess a human-like posterior?
Or was her lower half identical to that of any ordinary horse?
And when his thoughts inevitably returned to her breasts, a new question surfaced: did she only possess them on her human half?
Or, since she was a female centaur with a female horse body, might she also have them on her lower half as well? If that were true, then logically she should have udders underneath her belly.
The thought made his brain short-circuit momentarily.
And then his imagination wandered into even stranger territory.
How exactly would a centaur become pregnant?
He was intimately familiar with the normal process, but when he tried to apply that understanding to centaur anatomy, everything became peculiar and confusing.
He didn’t know how to feel about it.
The entire subject was strange and unfamiliar, and he had no idea what he would do if he were ever forced into a position where he had to navigate such uncharted territory.
Honestly, he just wanted to strip Sigrid down.
Not for any lewd intentions—or at least, not entirely lewd intentions.
He genuinely wanted to observe her body. To clear up all his doubts. To understand the magnificent biological puzzle that was the centaur form.
Of course, there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell he could actually ask that.
He had spent the last two days building up a decent reputation with her. Sure, she was surprisingly cool with his shameless jokes.
But asking the Commander of the guard to strip buck-naked on the side of the road so he could check for lower-body udders was a fast track to getting a warhammer put through his skull.
That option was strictly off the table.
’Maybe they have a textbook on this in the library?’ He wondered desperately. ’’Anatomical Fundamentals of the Equine-Human Hybrid’? There’s gotta be a diagram somewhere...’
"Oh! I am such an idiot!"
Sigrid’s sudden outburst shattered his train of thought.
She slapped a hand against her forehead, wincing in self-pity.
"How could I possibly forget the biggest landmark in the entire village?"
They had been examining some distant tower when she turned her head to the side with renewed enthusiasm.
"Of course! The most important sight of the tour..."
"... Ivoryhorn Castle!"
Luca turned his head, taking in the towering fortress to his right.
Built from massive blocks of pale grey granite, the castle rose high into the sky with grand, arched windows, heavy timber balconies, and soaring banners snapping in the wind.
It was a classic, majestic medieval keep—the kind of place where high royalty sat on high thrones.
It wasn’t absurdly colossal, but compared to the broad, single-story homes surrounding it, it loomed like a titan.
Oddly enough, the castle wasn’t built on an isolated cliff or behind miles of barren fields. It sat right in the heart of the village, enveloped on all sides by residential streets.
Wherever you stood in the settlement, if you looked up, the keep was right there. Sigrid had literally trotted them in a massive circle around it without ever actually pointing it out.
"This is our most sacred historic site!"
Sigrid declared, her voice swelling with reverence.
"For over a thousand years, every single ruler of the Ivoryhorn bloodline has resided within these walls. It is the ancestral seat of our sovereign—the ones tasked with the holy duty of purifying the realm."
"And currently, it is where Lady Poppy makes her home."
Luca studied the castle with renewed interest, but a thought immediately surfaced in his mind, one he couldn’t quite suppress.
"I can’t help but wonder." He said slowly. "How exactly a tiny little thing like Poppy manages to live in such an enormous castle."
"I mean, look at this place. She must get lost in her own home constantly."
He had meant it as a joke. A lighthearted jab at the queen’s expense.
To his utter astonishment, Sigrid nodded solemnly.
"Unfortunately, that is entirely accurate."
Luca stared at her. "Wait, really?"
"She has, on multiple occasions, wandered into corridors she had completely forgotten existed."
Sigrid’s voice was heavy with the weariness of someone who had experienced these incidents firsthand.
"We would sometimes hear her shouting from somewhere deep within the castle, crying that the building itself was trying to kidnap her. She was convinced the castle had developed a mind of its own and was deliberately confusing her."
Sigrid’s ears drooped with embarrassment.
"There was even an incident in the past where she became so angry with her own castle that she ordered us to strike it with our weapons. Repeatedly."
Luca gasped. "And you...actually did it?"
"We had no choice." Sigrid replied, her voice heavy with resignation. "She was quite insistent."
Luca gave her a deeply sympathetic look. "You have it difficult."
There was nothing Sigrid could say to that. The truth spoke for itself.
Luca turned his attention back to the castle, and something else caught his notice—or rather, something didn’t catch his notice.
"Hey, Sigrid...I get that it’s an impressive castle, but...where are the defenses? Where are the towering outer walls? Where’s the moat?"
He pointed at the low stone fence bordering the castle grounds, a decorative barrier barely waist-high, topped with iron railings.
"A centaur could literally hop over that fence without even trying." Luca said, bewildered. "Is there seriously no security here? Anyone could just stroll right into the Queen’s garden!"
Sigrid puffed out her chest, throwing her head back with absolute, majestic pride.
"We have no need for stone walls, Sir Luca!" She declared grandly. "Because we, the centaurs of the Galloping Brigade, ARE the walls!"
She gestured dramatically to the ring of houses surrounding the keep.
"Our homes form a living fortress! Any intruder seeking to harm Lady Poppy would have to smash through hundreds of elite centaur warriors long before they ever reached the front gate! A stone wall is merely a crutch for weaker races!"
She met his gaze with fierce conviction.
"And even if an enemy somehow made it past us, reaching the castle grounds would not guarantee them access to the queen. The labyrinth is—"
She caught herself, shaking her head quickly.
"Well. The point is, walls are not necessary. At least, not in this current era."
Then she hesitated, her confident expression faltering slightly.
"Well, of course, walls truly are not necessary at all—at least in this period of time. There are no wars between the different races, and the monsters cannot invade because of the barriers set around our lands."
She pointed toward the distant highlands, where invisible barriers supposedly protected them.
"They guard us from the monsters beyond."
She smiled reassuringly. "And even if monsters did somehow breach the barrier, we have Queen Poppy’s protection over us. They wouldn’t be able to get too close to her or the village at all."
But then her smile faded, and a frown creased her features. .
"But...what you’re saying is also true, Sir Luca."
Luca looked at her in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to concede the point.
"Perhaps in the past, our arrangement would have been totally fine." Sigrid said thoughtfully. "But ever since the male centaurs split from us...tensions have been high. There have been problems and there’s also the challenge that is going on."
Her expression darkened. "Perhaps it would be better to build proper walls after all, just for Lady Poppy’s safety."
She nodded to herself, clearly already making mental plans to implement such changes.
Luca’s interest was immediately piqued.
Since arriving, he had received no proper introduction to the situation in the centaur village—the internal problems they faced, the challenges that threatened them.
But most intriguing was the mention of the males.
There were no male centaurs here. Not a single one.
He thought back to the elf village, how the male elves had also departed.
Was this the same situation? And Sigrid had mentioned some sort of bet or challenge as well.
He opened his mouth to ask about it—
"You guys! What exactly are you doing here?!"
Sigrid’s voice suddenly rang out, sharp with surprise and disbelief.
Luca turned to see what she was looking at and found himself utterly stunned.
Assembled before the main gate of the castle, standing in what appeared to be some sort of military formation, was a group of the most adorable creatures Luca had ever seen.
They were centaurs. Technically. But they were tiny—so small that they looked less like warriors and more like plush toys come to life.
A dozen or so miniature centaur girls had gathered, their lower bodies not yet grown to full size, their proportions those of young ponies rather than the powerful warhorses of their mothers.
Their hooves were small and delicate. Their fur looked impossibly soft, softer than anything he had seen on the adult centaurs.
Their tiny tails swished back and forth with uncontrolled enthusiasm, betraying emotions their stern expressions tried desperately to hide.
They wore armor made of wood—clearly toys, playthings crafted to mimic the real armor worn by the knights they idolized.
They also wielded wooden swords in their small hands, gripping them with fierce determination.
And currently they were all staring directly at Luca with faces that were set in expressions of righteous fury—
—or what they clearly believed to be righteous fury.
In reality, their chubby cheeks were puffed out and their tiny brows were furrowed.
The overall effect was so overwhelmingly adorable that Luca felt an almost physical urge to scoop them all up and hug them.
Even if they started attacking him right now, he would simply let them.
It would be worth it just to watch them play.
Meanwhile, Sigrid herself was utterly baffled as to why the children had gathered here in formation.
"What exactly are you girls doing here?" She asked again, her voice rising with exasperation. "And where are your mothers? Who put you up to this?"
She looked around for the mothers and immediately spotted them in a huddle a little farther back, watching from behind the little ones.
When Sigrid gestured toward them silently, asking what was going on, the mothers only looked back at her with helpless expressions and shook their heads, as if to say they had no choice but to allow whatever this was.
This baffled Sigrid even more.
Finally, a rather cute voice piped up.
"Big sis Sigrid!"
Then, out of the crowd, a tiny little pony stepped forward.
She had pretty green eyes that sparkled with determination.
Fluffy chestnut hair that fell all the way to her petite shoulders.
And a chestnut-colored pony body to match, making her look utterly adorable—so fluffy and soft and sweet that it was almost impossible to take her seriously.
But right now, she wore a dignified expression on her face, as though she were trying to act like a mighty warrior even though she was just a little pony.
She stepped forward like an impromptu leader and spoke in the most solemn tone she could manage.
"I, Nella, will explain!"
The tiny pony announced, brandishing her wooden sword proudly.
"We have assembled here today for a solemn purpose! That’s is to defeat the evil Hero!"
"And...to restore the very honor you lost, Big Sis!"