novelbin Chapter 82 : Centaur Plateau! Eerie Extreme Cold!
Chapter 82 : Centaur Plateau! Eerie Extreme Cold!
Chapter 82: Centaur Plateau! Eerie Extreme Cold!
Behind them, the other horses stared at Dragon-Elephant, who was clearly a head taller than them.
They stomped their hooves one after another, revealing uneasy expressions. The overwhelming pressure brought by its size made them instinctively feel awe.
It was like an ordinary person encountering a strong basketball star on the street—
And not just any star, but one with exceptionally high looks.
One of the mares even showed a hint of shyness, letting out soft, low murmurs from her throat.
Clearly, Dragon-Elephant’s appearance served as the decisive final blow in promotion.
It merely stood quietly by the gate, yet it outperformed Leo shouting himself hoarse.
“My goodness, is this your horse, Sir Leo?” one horse-loving Knight’s Squire asked in disbelief.
Leo remained calm and simply nodded.
Very quickly, Leo secured five long-term cooperation package orders.
The package lasted one month and included two horseshoe replacement services, along with posture correction in between.
For the first payment, they charged two silver coins for horseshoe replacement plus one silver coin as a deposit.
After one month, five silver coins would be collected as the treatment fee, and one silver coin deposit would be returned.
Calculating it all, each horse brought in a net profit of seven silver coins per month.
In addition, these horses would come to his courtyard at this time every day to provide him with intelligence.
‘Beautiful.’ Leo calculated the five deals he had just closed.
This was both intelligence and money delivered to him.
Moreover, as long as there was one successful example, future business would only grow smoother and larger.
As the sun set, Leo gave his business spokesperson, Dragon-Elephant, an extra portion of concentrated feed, then prepared to return to the dungeon to continue taking care of his Beastkin friends.
Through his good brother Arthur, Leo had already grasped the basics of the Mountain-Cleaving Cross Sword. Next, he needed a good sparring partner to rapidly grind experience.
“I wonder if any Quasi-Knight brothers brought back something useful today as a sword-training sandbag.”
……
Meanwhile, on the other side, atop the vast snowfield of the Centaur Plateau.
Zoro stood under the setting sun, eyes lowered, gazing into the distance at Blackstone City, where he had lived for over twenty years.
Soon, accompanied by the sound of hooves approaching from afar, a sturdy figure rode swiftly over from the end of the snowy road.
Carlos and he had deliberately taken on two different missions, agreeing to meet here.
Carlos reined in his horse. “Zoro, you said you were bringing me to discuss a business deal—who exactly is it with? Why did we have to come this far?”
“You don’t need to ask so much, Carlos.” Zoro didn’t answer. He simply turned his horse and headed downhill.
As early spring approached, the snow atop the plateau remained solidly frozen, but the further they descended, the more the snow began to melt.
Hoofprints now seeped with melted snowwater, and occasionally stepping on rocks hidden beneath the snow made the horses stumble unevenly.
In comparison, Zoro’s horse remained steady, while Carlos’s horse staggered somewhat.
“Looks like that Leo’s hoof repair and horseshoe replacement skills are indeed quite decent.” Carlos tightened his reins while looking at Zoro ahead. The wild path itself was difficult.
And his horseshoes hadn’t been replaced for over two months, already affecting travel.
He planned to have that boy Leo fix the hooves and replace the horseshoes when he returned.
“These days I had you keep an eye on Leo. What, no news?” Zoro asked casually.
Since the previous assessment, Zoro had been paying attention to that country boy from Blackwater City.
Although the other posed no threat to his plans, he always felt there was something vaguely mysterious about him.
So he had Carlos monitor Leo, but so far there had been no valuable information.
“It’s not that there’s no news, Zoro. That kid basically stays in his courtyard every day, or goes to the dungeon—he’s never gone anywhere else.
The only things he interacts with are horses and Beastkin. I’m starting to wonder if he uses that stallion of his to satisfy his needs.”
Zoro listened coldly to Carlos’s nonsense.
To him, this big subordinate was nothing but noisy—like an annoying old dog barking endlessly by his ear, yet saying nothing of value.
“I heard that stallion of his is really well raised—so big, my god.” Carlos gestured with both hands, grinning. “But speaking of it, that kid’s backside is quite perky. When he leaves the city someday, I’ll definitely teach him a lesson.”
“Carlos, how old are you?” Zoro suddenly interrupted, changing the topic.
They had now descended the slope, and the road gradually became easier.
“Huh? I… thirty-nine.” Carlos was puzzled.
“Thirty-nine… That means you probably don’t have much of a chance left.” Zoro’s voice was low and hoarse.
Carlos looked at Zoro’s back ahead, confused. “What chance, Zoro… what are you talking about?”
As he spoke, Carlos sniffed, suddenly feeling that the surrounding environment had grown colder.
Zoro continued, “Your Breathing Technique test score this time seemed slightly worse than last year.”
“Oh, that. I’ve always heard that glass device isn’t very accurate. Being off by one scale is normal… but reaching the knight realm… sigh.” Carlos looked somewhat dejected.
He knew that after a certain age, progressing in knight Breathing Techniques became difficult.
And beyond that point, due to bodily aging, performance would even decline year by year.
The professional term seemed to be energy loss.
However, Quasi-Knights usually only began declining in their forties.
He was only thirty-nine, so he kept telling himself it was just a faulty instrument.
“The instrument doesn’t make mistakes…” Zoro continued riding ahead.
His tone was cold, his voice like an emotionless machine. “Only people do.”
Hearing this, Carlos felt an inexplicable fear.
For some reason, the surrounding air seemed to grow increasingly cold. The chill felt like it pierced through his leather armor, slicing at his body.
“Zo… Zoro, where… are you taking me…?” Carlos looked around. His teeth chattered, and his body stiffened. “Damn it… why is it… so cold…”
Though it was a plain, icy currents constantly swirled around.
Carlos felt something was wrong—as if unseen eyes were staring at him from behind.
That sensation sent chills down his spine.
If Zoro weren’t here, he would have already fled.
“We’re here.” Zoro dismounted.
Compared to Carlos, Zoro appeared completely unaffected, as if he felt no cold at all.
He tied his horse to a withered tree, then walked toward Carlos.
The sound of footsteps mixed with the snapping of dry branches as he approached.
“Carlos, if a person could see their own limit… wouldn’t that be very tragic?”
At this moment, Carlos was trembling like a sieve. Frost crystals had already formed on his body hair, and even worse—he could no longer move.
Strangely, the brown horse beneath him showed no reaction at all.
It was as if all the surrounding cold targeted only Carlos.
“Zo… Zoro… I’m… so cold… why can’t I even use my Breathing Technique…” Carlos’s teeth chattered uncontrollably.
Looking at Zoro approaching, his vision blurred. It felt as if countless icy blades pierced his body—indistinguishable between cold and pain.
“You still haven’t answered my question. I asked—if a person can see the limit of their strength, isn’t that tragic?
Oh, no, I shouldn’t ask you that. You’ve already reached your limit and are now declining, yet you’re unaware of it. People like you will never understand how I feel.”
Zoro walked up beside him.
By now, under the erosion of the eerie cold, Carlos had completely frozen into a solid ice sculpture.
The final scene reflected in Carlos’s eyes—
As his blood slowly froze—
Was that deep within the distant icy forest, at some unknown moment, three abnormally tall figures had appeared.