Newland and Sigefin still followed those three centaurs.
They left without hesitation, left in high spirits. Just one look at their excited expressions was enough to tell that there wasn't the slightest trace of resentment in their hearts.
Of course, with their intelligence, it wasn't that they couldn't think of the possibility that Link might be using them to test potions.
They simply didn't dare think in that direction, and didn't dare harbor any complaints.
After all, they didn't believe Link would really be willing to kill them.
Besides, it was said that Link's mastery of Legilimency was astonishing.
However, despite how heroic they appeared, the task Link had assigned them was far from easy.
The centaurs who had been invited to serve as guides treated Link with indescribable respect, but treated the two of them with equally indescribable hostility.
The entire way, they simply refused to talk to Newland and Sigefin at all, keeping their heads down and hurrying onward.
Every time Newland and Sigefin forced smiles and went up to greet them, the three centaurs would only snort disdainfully at them through their nostrils, then turn to their companions and say a few words in the centaur language, words Newland and Sigefin couldn't understand, but could easily guess were nothing nice.
Winter paths were hard to travel.
Although the snow in the Forbidden Forest wasn't deep, even that thin layer of snow still buried countless hidden pits, tree stumps, and stones on the ground…
These things didn't bother the centaurs at all.
They had thick hooves and were long accustomed to moving through dense forests, having trained themselves to traverse mountains and ravines as if walking on flat ground.
But Newland and Sigefin were another matter entirely.
On top of that, the centaurs had no intention of waiting for them, nor of letting them ride on their backs. So even though Newland and Sigefin were already exerting themselves to the limit, they were still quickly left far behind.
While sprinting forward at full speed, Newland suddenly stepped into a hidden snow pit. His calf slammed against the pit's edge, hard as iron, and he instantly lost his balance, his body carried forward by momentum as he pitched ahead.
"Careful!"
Sigefin, who was right beside him, shouted and yanked hard with his right arm, barely managing to pull Newland back before he fell.
At that moment, a branch stripped of its leaves by ice and snow, its tip as sharp as a dagger, was less than ten centimeters from Newland's face.
"Th-thank you!" Newland said shakily, his heart still pounding.
"Now's not the time for that!" Sigefin said, helping pull Newland's foot out of the snow pit while shaking his head.
"Your leg's not hurt, right? If it's not injured, then keep moving!"
Newland rotated his ankle, nodded, then shot a venomous glare toward the centaurs weaving nimbly through the forest ahead.
Sigefin glanced at the wand clenched tightly in Newland's hand, already beginning to flicker with dark light, and shook his head.
"Don't do anything stupid. I'd bet that Lord Flamel is observing our every move from somewhere not far behind us right now!"
After what had just happened, Newland clearly had no intention of continuing to hide his thoughts from Sigefin. Hearing this, he chuckled softly, "Mr. Flamel doesn't care whether those three centaurs live or die. I think you can see that too."
Sigefin didn't deny it. After a moment of silence, he said, "Still… try to kill as few living beings as possible."
"I'm not planning to kill them," Newland said.
"I just want those stupid beasts to know that we aren't something they can humiliate at will! And to force them to guide us properly!"
"That group of centaurs are all lunatics. They won't submit. Your 'lesson' will only make them feel humiliated, and then they'll start retaliating against us. In the end, we'll be forced to kill them all anyway. So tell me… how is that any different from killing them from the start?"
"Then what do you suggest we do?!" Newland shouted angrily.
"Those centaurs won't cooperate at all! Wake up, Sigefin, subduing those centaurs was one of the trials Mr. Flamel gave us! We have to do it!"
Sigefin had no intention whatsoever of carrying out Newland's suggestion.
He transfigured the wooden sword in his hand into a machete, then walked ahead alone and began hacking through the obstructing undergrowth.
"Then I'll clear the path. You just stay behind me!" Sigefin muttered.
Newland was so angry he actually laughed, baring his teeth as he cursed, "Are you brain-damaged? We still have to fight a giant later, and now you're wasting your strength on this?"
Sigefin didn't even turn his head as he shouted back angrily, "A filthy dog like you just stay obediently behind me! If I get left behind by the centaurs because I'm too slow, or if the mission fails because I spent too much strength on the road, then all the responsibility is mine! I don't need a shameless poisonous snake like you interfering!"
After that, Sigefin buried his head in clearing the way. The swings of his machete grew more and more violent, as if what he was hacking at were Newland's dog head itself.
Newland said nothing more. The mocking smile on his face didn't fade, but just as Sigefin had said, he followed behind him.
This wasn't because Newland was afraid that pushing Sigefin too far would make him turn around and split his head open with one swing.
It was because Sigefin had saved him not long ago.
To repay that debt, Newland didn't mind listening to Sigefin this once, even though, in his view, Sigefin's idea was unbelievably stupid.
The two of them continued forward like this, slowly but resolutely.
Meanwhile, the centaurs' figures ahead grew more and more distant.
The mocking expression in Newland's smile was nearly overflowing.
He was already waiting impatiently for the moment when the centaurs completely disappeared, so he could immediately open his mouth and ridicule Sigefin.
Of course, after mocking Sigefin, Newland wouldn't just let the mission fail.
He would firmly carry out his original plan, find and kill the giant, then place the giant's corpse in front of Link and Sigefin.
Newland believed this was the perfect approach, one that balanced both repaying kindness and completing the mission.
Yet at this moment, Sigefin seemed to have erupted with some kind of inner power.
Every time the centaurs were about to pull too far ahead, Sigefin would suddenly roar and speed up his clearing of the path. Once they closed some distance, he would weaken again.
The scene looked as if he were using some special burst spell.
At first, Newland didn't care. After all, such burst spells consumed enormous energy, and Sigefin wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.
However, in the very next moment, when they passed through an especially dense thicket, the view before them suddenly opened up.
A wide road, broad enough for two carriages to travel side by side, appeared in front of them.
The road wasn't smooth at all. Broken trees and leftover stumps were everywhere. Judging by the uneven fractures of the trunks, it was as if some massive monster had swept straight through this place, smashing every tree along its path.
Sigefin stopped, panting heavily, and pointed at a massive footprint stamped into the ground.
"Looks like we're close."
After saying that, Sigefin shot a provocative glance at Newland, then slowed his pace and continued forward.
There was no longer any need to hurry.
Because they were nearing the giant's territory, the centaurs had already stopped moving. Newland and Sigefin could now keep up at a normal walking speed.
Newland remained silent as he followed behind Sigefin. His face was dark as a storm cloud, but his gaze was fixed on a nearby tree stump.
Compared to the others, this stump's break was also uneven, but it was charred black.
This kind of mark didn't look like it was caused purely by brute force or snapping, it looked more like it had been blasted apart by some spell.
For example, Blasting Curse.
———
When Sigefin and Newland caught up to the stationary centaurs, they discovered that the centaurs were observing a unicorn.
More precisely, a unicorn's corpse.
A dead unicorn wasn't much more dignified than an ordinary creature.
Its silvery-white coat was already filthy with dirty blood and broken branches. Its once sapphire-like eyes were clouded with dust. The blood that should have glowed with silver light had reverted to dark red, having lost all its magic.
The cause of death was a massive wound in its chest and abdomen.
The gash ran from its chest all the way to its hindquarters. The internal organs, along with part of the rib cage, were completely gone.
Strangely, the unicorn's most valuable part, its horn, was completely intact.
This cast a sinister shadow over its death.
If a hunter had killed it, there was no way they would have left behind the priceless horn.
And if it had been done by beasts in the Forbidden Forest, it was even less likely they would eat only the organs and waste so much fat and protein.
"It was killed by a giant!"
One of the centaurs pointed at the jagged wound in the unicorn's chest and abdomen and snarled.
Hearing this, both Newland and Sigefin looked at him in surprise.
Of course, they weren't surprised by the centaur's judgment.
They were surprised because this was the first time the centaurs had spoken to them in human language.
The centaur ignored the expressions on their faces, which, in centaur culture, carried a slight hint of disrespect, and waved his hand. The two centaurs beside him stepped forward to help collect the poor unicorn's remains.
Newland and Sigefin could tell that the centaurs were very practiced at this.
First, they straightened the unicorn's twisted neck. Then they carefully closed its gaping chest. Finally, they began digging a pit with their hooves.
The frozen winter ground was hard, so the digging was difficult.
Sigefin didn't hesitate at all. With a flick of his wand, he helped them open a square pit in the ground, then worked together with the centaurs to bury the unicorn's body.
Only after the pit was completely filled did the leading centaur turn to Sigefin and Newland.
"As human foals, you are indeed quite good."
Sigefin smiled broadly at this. Newland, however, curled his lip in disdain.
Looking at the newly made grave, the centaur said, "Unicorns are the darlings of heaven and earth. Most living beings in this world cannot even conceive of harming them, except humans, and giants, those evil creatures whose hearts are full of desire."
"Compared to humans, giants may be even more evil."
"Humans, as higher beings with intelligence, at least possess reason. Giants do not. There is nothing in their hearts to restrain their desires. And so…" the centaur pointed at the mound of earth, "this scene appears."
The centaur's eyes slowly reddened as he looked around at the surrounding devastation and spoke sorrowfully.
"There is no such thing as a good giant. Slaughter and plunder are the main themes of their lives. Even the half-giant you once stationed at the edge of the Forbidden Forest was no exception!"
"If you ever have the chance to visit our tribe, you will see nearly a hundred graves like this one. Those centaurs all died in the jaws of the Acromantulas raised by that half-giant!"
"Fortunately, the Morning Star Lord arrived!"
"Like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, He completely eradicated those hateful crawling creatures! From that moment on, our foals were finally able to run peacefully through the forest again!"
"I dare say that was the most beautiful sight in the world!"
"To protect that sight, I am willing to give my life!"
The centaur's expression suddenly became resolute again as he pointed in a certain direction.
"Now, a pure-blood giant has entered the Forbidden Forest. Over the past few days, it has slaughtered more than two hundred living beings without restraint. If we allow it to continue, the disasters of the past may once again fall upon the centaur tribes."
"We can only accompany you this far."
"So, little foals, or rather, messengers of the Morning Star!"
"Please continue forward bravely!"
"Although we do not know why the Morning Star Lord sent you to do this, since it is His command, we sincerely wish you victory!"
After speaking, the centaurs all turned toward Sigefin and Newland, clenched their right fists, and struck them hard against their chests in unison, producing a deep, resounding thud. Then, wrapped in flying snow, they began to retrace their steps.
Sigefin, already boiling with excitement, his blood surging and his whole body trembling, immediately copied the centaurs and bowed toward the direction they left. When he finished, he viciously yanked Newland, who was standing there distracted, forcing him to do the same.
Only after Newland, under half-coercion, half-reluctantly returned the salute, and the centaurs had disappeared into the distance, did Sigefin finally lower his arm in satisfaction, hoist the machete over his shoulder, and continue forward in the direction the centaurs had indicated.
"Idiots. They're just afraid we won't go, so they're tricking us," Newland said gloomily as he caught up to Sigefin.
"That's impossible," Sigefin said firmly. "Centaurs are children of nature. They don't lie."
Newland scoffed, "Children of nature, sure. But that's the centaurs of the past. As for the centaurs of today… heh. Today's centaurs are all the ones who survived by surrendering to wizards during the war. Do you really think trash that learned to betray still deserves to be called children of nature?"
Sigefin didn't bother responding at all and kept walking forward as if he hadn't heard a word.
This enraged Newland.
He took several quick steps forward, grabbed Sigefin, and roared, "Drop your saintly mindset! You can't keep trusting others so easily! That'll get you killed!"
"My life is my own. What does it have to do with you?" Sigefin said coldly.
"I already told you, if we lose because of me, you can run away without worrying about me. And even if those centaurs really were lying to us, what can we do about it? Not complete the mission Lord Flamel assigned us? You and I both know that's impossible!"
Newland was momentarily stunned.
He hadn't expected Sigefin to see the situation so clearly as well.
And just then, Sigefin's expression suddenly changed. Lowering his voice, he said, "Shh! Stop talking. I can smell the giant, it's nearby!"