Chapter 20.2 – Primitive Hunting

But even so, they quickly pulled themselves together.

Nothing to it—they could just rampage again.

They’d already shaken the enemy, so it was all in the past.

Or so they thought.

They’d sprinted flat-out, broken contact, and were now merely clip-clopping along.

Their guard was down, but Sajitta alone sensed something.

“…Hey, you lot. Take a look behind us.”

“Huh? Ah—hold up, they’re still running our way.”

“Clomp, clomp, clomp… What a pain.”

On these gentle grasslands, pursuers and quarry alike were in plain view.

Even without a spyglass, they could see the four Nine Lives closing from the rear.

“No choice—we’ll sprint again and drop them.”

“Seriously? Run more? We’re dead on our feet.”

“If we lead them straight to the hideout, they’ll wreck it for sure.”

These centaurs used a tent camp somewhere on the steppe as a base.

They were on their way back there now, but at this rate they’d guide the enemy in.

Then their own base would be destroyed.

“Our arrows don’t get through them—probably not blades, either. So how do we stop that thing?”

“Well, yeah, but still—”

“We have to outrun them. Move!”

“Wait, hold it!”

Sajitta tried to accelerate, yet no one followed.

No—couldn’t follow.

“Because we can’t run anymore!”

“…Blast!!”

Sajitta cursed his own youth.

Looking back again, he saw the enemy had never slowed at all.

Keeping steady speed, invulnerable to their attacks, they closed in.

“Come on, what’s the rush? There’s still plenty of distance.”

“Yeah, and they’ll get tired too—they’ll stop before they reach us.”

“What if… what if!”

To his easygoing comrades, Sajitta spelled out the worst-case scenario.

“What if they don’t get tired—then what?!”

※

On Earth, the fastest land animal is the cheetah.

This big cat can run faster than any other creature on the ground, sinking its fangs into prey with that speed.

But does the cheetah’s hunt always succeed? No.

Though the swiftest of beasts, its kill rate is far from stellar.

How do herbivores escape a predator that’s faster than they are…?

By betting on endurance.

The cheetah is swift, but it can hold top speed for only a very short time.

If it fails in that brief window, exhaustion ends the chase.

If the herbivore can just keep running—keep running—it can shake the cat.

This holds true for many animals: carnivores are sprinters, herbivores marathoners.

So what about humans—omnivores who also hunt herbivores?

How do they bring down prey?

They shoot arrows or blow-darts, hurl stones… long-range attacks—surely human.

Yet humans have another hunting edge: persistence hunting.

They chase a herbivore—supposedly the endurance specialist—until it weakens, then finish it off.

Indeed, there aren’t many animals with greater stamina than humans.

Give a person a bit of training and he can run 42.195 km; we take that for granted. Horses—classic herbivores—can’t keep that up.

The idea that a horse can outrun a human over distance is mostly myth.

Yes, herbivores like horses out-endure carnivores—but compared with humans, most animals are short on stamina.

Centaurs—half horse—are the same.

They can run far faster than humans up to a point, but beyond that they’re spent.

Even if they can hit 60 kph, they can’t hold it for an hour, let alone all day.

“A normal cavalryman can swap mounts… but what about you? You and your horse halves are inseparable…”

Gaikaku flashed a feral grin.

“Meanwhile, Nine Lives is only running three of her nine heart engines. The other six rest. Rotate them three-by-three and we can roll until the nutrient tanks run dry!”

“Just driving still wears us out, y’know…”

“Not as much as running on your own legs! Sure, the elites keep a higher base speed, but the rest of them are already done for.”

Right now the centaurs were like marathoners seconds after finishing.

Even with cool-down, they wouldn’t be running again today.

Walking was hard enough.

“Even if they scatter now, exhausted bodies won’t get far. We’ve got four vehicles—if we run them down instead of capturing them, it’s an assembly line!”

“Things really did go by the book.”

“Not a single unit broke! Praise the dwarves—the parts were flawless!”

“All at cruise, though… if we’d hit top speed, something might’ve snapped.”

Gaikaku was on a high; plans unfolding perfectly felt great.

“Anyway, there’s still distance between us. If we just close in gradually, we’re giving them room—time to try something.”

“You think they’ll still pull a trick?”

“Yeah… though to be frank…”

Gaikaku’s grin turned pure malice—harm incarnate.

“Whatever tricks they have left… we’ve got them covered.”

※

Sajitta, elite among young centaurs, fumed at the situation.

An open, shelterless plain.

Terrain usually favoring centaurs now tightened round their necks.

“Dammit…!!”

If this were a battle, he could at least respect the foe.

But this was clearly a hunt.

Armored so arrows bounced, they just chased until exhaustion.

Nothing but hunting.

“To treat us centaurs like mere beasts…!”

Yet only Sajitta still had energy to be angry.

The others, watching the four approaching monsters, felt close to surrender.

“Sajitta… you run. Alone.”

“What?”

“We’re done… can’t run anymore…”

“You can still get away—leave us.”

A sound decision—because there were no others.

Arrows failed, and they couldn’t flee; centaurs had nothing left.

“…And then what? How do I live after that?!”

Ironically, Sajitta still had reserves.

Precisely because he did, he couldn’t choose to abandon them.

“B-but they’re closing in, fast…”

“I don’t know what trick moves that thing, but hoping it tires before us is futile. We’re finished…”

“—!”

Humiliating.

Hunted down like animals—and then to ditch comrades.

If I charge them… No. Maybe I could wreck one, but not four!

Elite though he was, with legs far stronger than any common centaur—

A kick might smash that armor.

Yet anatomically, kicking a moving target isn’t easy; twist an ankle and he’d break a bone—end of fight.

If it were so easy, he’d have done it earlier.

There must be something… anything…!

He racked his brain—then terrain entered his vision.

“Head for those rocks!”

He pointed to a solitary rocky hill jutting from the plain.

“Whatever gizmo powers that cart, it’s still a cart. It can’t climb rock! And if it tries, I’ll kick it off!”

Centaurs could scramble up a rocky rise—awkward, but better than wheels.

“I see… that could work.”

“Yeah, but it’s still a ways off…”

“Run somehow! Are you going to accept a beast’s death?”

Sajitta urged them toward the distant hill.

They staggered, but still moved.

Fortunately, the four carts were still far back.

Maintaining speed, they made no move to cut them off.

Is that their top speed? Or are they underestimating us? Either way, there’s hope!

Four cars closed in at leisure.

Feeling that pursuit behind them, the centaurs pushed on, crawling toward the hill just to rest.

(They really came…)

(As expected of His Lordship—good plan.)

(Not yet, not yet…)

(The chieftain weakened them; we can’t let them escape!)

But they should have considered:

If this was a hunt, and that lone hill the only haven on the plain…

Laying a trap at the sole escape route was obvious.

“Now… let’s go!”

“Right!”

Twenty Dark Elves sprang from behind the rocks.

They leveled their crossbows at the staggering centaurs.

“Wha?!”

“A-again?!”

So close to halting at last, the centaurs froze, helpless at the ambush.

“N-!”

Even Sajitta’s mind blanked—

He’d believed he could save them, yet that hope slammed shut.

The Dark Elves didn’t wait.

Twenty bolts flew mercilessly.

Half missed, some struck the same target—roughly five centaurs fell.

“Uh—ah…”

“E-everyone!”

Seeing comrades fall made the survivors halt completely—

Despair only deepened.

“Go!”

A Beastkin squad lobbed ceramic grenades.

Already spent and now watching friends die, the centaurs could only stand as shrapnel rained down.

Lightly armored at best, they suffered mortal wounds; almost all were incapacitated—except Sajitta.

“…You curs.”

They truly were beasts—mere quarry.

Bleeding from shards, Sajitta accepted that—and grew enraged.

“You bastaaaards!”

Snared by intricate plotting, he loosed arrows at the Beastkin and Dark Elves, using the bow on his back.

“Eek!”

“Get down!”

A decent shot—but only arrows.

Hidden behind rocks, the women ducked safely; arrows thudded but never pierced stone.

“Raaaah!”

Shooting from here was pointless; Sajitta roared and charged, trying to drag them out.

Again, he failed to consider that if this was a trap—there’d be literal traps.

“?!”

His footing slipped—

Like stepping into mud: they’d slicked the ground with oil.

A clownish pitfall, yet perfect for tripping the unsuspecting.

Falling at full gallop inflicts damage proportional to speed and weight—and worse was waiting.

“Aaaaugh!”

Caltrops—the ninja weapon famous for stabbing feet.

Metal spikes littered the ground; he crashed onto them with all his weight.

It was gruesome.

“Whoa…”

“Ugh…”

Even those who’d laid the trap per Gaikaku’s orders winced at the sight.

Sajitta, elite of centaurs, could no longer resist.

“G-gaaahhhh!”

Brought down like an animal—he knew it completely.

All he could do was scream in hate.

“Wow, wiped out clean…”

Gaikaku arrived at the rocky hill, pleased.

He stepped down from Nine Lives, surveyed the field in silence—then, satisfied, addressed everyone present, with all sorts of meanings:

“Good work, everyone♡”

Of course, the Conjurer Knights weren’t that tired—

They’d mostly been waiting; their action lasted mere moments.

The ones exhausted… were the centaurs.

Gaikaku Hikume, Commander of the Conjurer Knights—

The centaur bandits who’d terrorized these lands were wiped out as if by sleight of hand, under his lead.