Chapter 437: The Centaur Whisperer

Luca rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I see. That makes sense. The horses in my world don’t have mana, so they wear horseshoes to prevent damage. They receive regular care and treatment. But here..."

He looked at Riley’s hoof again. "Because mana was always there, you never developed those practices. And now that the mana is gone..."

"Now our hooves have degraded to a more primitive state." Claudia finished. "Like normal horses."

"Worse than normal horses." Luca corrected quietly. "Riley’s hooves are far more brittle than any horse I’ve ever examined. The depletion of mana has hit her harder than most."

Riley’s face contorted with fear.

"What...What are you saying?" Her voice trembled. "Are you telling me I won’t be able to walk anymore? That I won’t be able to run?"

She grabbed Luca’s arm with desperate strength.

"Please, Hero—please don’t tell me that’s true! I can’t...I can’t be like the elders! I can’t be confined to a house for the rest of my life! I can’t!"

Claudia rushed to her sister’s side, wrapping her arms around her. "Riley, calm down—"

"I can’t lose my legs!" Riley was crying now, her earlier stoicism completely shattered. "I’m a warrior! I’m supposed to protect our queen! How can I do that if I can’t even walk?!"

Nella was crying again too, clinging to her mother’s side, her earlier anger forgotten in the face of her aunt’s terror.

The entire clearing had gone quiet, the atmosphere heavy with fear and despair.

But then Luca laughed.

"No, no, no." He said quickly, holding up his hands. "Don’t misunderstand. You’re not going to lose your legs. Not even close."

Riley stared at him, tears still streaming down her face. "What?"

"This is actually a common problem in my world." Luca explained, smiling gently. "And even though it looks serious, we caught it early. Very early."

He nodded firmly.

"All we need to do is trim your hooves, disinfect the area to prevent infection, and fit you with proper shoes. Then you’ll be completely fine."

"Really? That’s...that’s all?"

"That’s all." Luca confirmed. "Honestly, it’s a simple fix. You just need to pick out what color you want—pink, blue, whatever suits your fancy—and I’ll attach them for you. Problem solved!"

Riley stared at him for a long moment.

Then, before anyone could react, she threw herself at Luca, wrapping her arms around him in a desperate embrace.

"Thank you! Thank you, Hero! Thank you so much!"

She was sobbing into his shoulder now, all pretense of toughness abandoned.

"I thought I’d never walk again! I thought I’d end up like the elders! I was so scared!"

But then she looked up.

And saw her friends watching her with knowing smiles and she realized what she was doing.

She was pressed against Luca’s chest, her arms wrapped around him, her face buried in his shoulder. She was hugging him—intimately.

Her face exploded with color!

"Ah—this isn’t—I didn’t mean to—" She tried to scramble away, but the moment she put weight on her injured hoof, a spike of pain shot through her leg. "Ow, ow, ow!"

She collapsed right back into Luca’s embrace, and this time, she didn’t even have the strength to fight it. She simply melted against him, covering her face with her hands in mortification.

The other centaurs burst into laughter.

"Look at her! Riley’s actually blushing!"

"I never thought I’d see the day!"

"To think that even a tomboy like Riley has such a girly side!"

"As expected of the Hero—he brings out sides of people they never knew they had!"

"He’s a playboy through and through!"

Riley’s face burned even hotter. She wanted to disappear. She wanted the earth to swallow her whole.

Luca, meanwhile, simply held her with gentle care. His hand moved to her back, stroking in slow, soothing circles.

It was an unconscious gesture—the kind of thing someone did to comfort a frightened animal.

But Riley felt it.

And it felt...nice.

Really nice.

The warmth of his hand seeped through her skin, calming her racing heart. The gentle rhythm of his touch made her breathing slow, her muscles relax.

All the tension from the past few weeks, the hidden pain, the constant fear, the desperate pretense that everything was fine, seemed to drain away under his touch.

She felt safe.

She felt...calm.

And somewhere in the back of her mind, she understood why Sigrid didn’t seem to mind having him on her back.

—

Sigrid, meanwhile, had come to stand beside Luca.

"What exactly do you need to make these horseshoes, Sir Luca?" She asked seriously. "Will you have to return to your world? Do you need any help?"

Luca shook his head. "Compared to what the elders needed, this is much simpler. I just need a workshop with metalworking equipment."

"We have that!" Sigrid brightened immediately. "Our armor and weapons are made in our own workshop. The forge is always ready."

"Good. I’ll also need a blacksmith to assist me."

"Of course! As for the blacksmith—"

Sigrid paused, her expression shifting to something slightly awkward.

"Well, there’s only one blacksmith in our village right now. And that would be..."

She didn’t need to finish.

Every centaur in the clearing spoke the name at the same time.

"Mavis!"

Luca’s lips curved into a smirk.

"Ah. So I finally get to properly meet the elusive Mavis again." He rubbed his hands together. "The one who’s been hiding from me all this time."

Sigrid looked concerned.

"Should I come with you, Sir Luca? Mavis isn’t...she isn’t the easiest person to deal with. And after everything that happened yesterday, she might be on guard against you."

She hesitated. "I honestly don’t even know how she feels about you right now."

But Luca shook his head.

"I’ll handle it myself. I have my ways of making even the most difficult woman listen to me."

Sigrid couldn’t argue with that. He had certainly found a way into her heart, hadn’t he? The thought made her face warm, and she quickly looked away.

Luca’s smirk widened.

"Besides, I’m pretty sure bringing you along would cause more problems than it solves. The sister who publicly broke down her younger sister in front of the entire village?" He tilted his head. "That might be a bit of an issue, don’t you think?"

Sigrid winced.

He was right. She still hadn’t spoken to Mavis. The wounds between them were still fresh, and adding Luca to that volatile mixture could only make things worse.

"Ah. Yes." She bowed her head. "I apologize. I suppose I’ll leave it to you, then."

She looked toward Riley, who was now completely limp in Luca’s arms.

"Well then. I’ll help you stand her up—"

Her friends immediately volunteered as well.

"I’ll help too!"

"Me as well! Riley’s quite heavy!"

"I’ll take her left side!"

"I’ll support her back!"

Nella bounced forward. "I’ll hold her tail!"

But Riley didn’t respond.

She was completely still, her breathing slow and even, her eyes closed.

"Riley? Are you there?" Sigrid called. "Is everything alright?"

Still nothing.

Luca gently turned her face toward the group, and everyone’s expressions shifted to immediate smiles.

"Oh my."

"To think our dear Riley..."

"I wasn’t expecting that."

Riley was fast asleep. Her eyes were closed, her breathing slow and peaceful.

The moment Luca had begun stroking her back, some dormant instinct had taken over, the same instinct that calmed horses back in his world.

Combined with the exhaustion from training all night and the relief of knowing she would heal, she had simply...drifted off.

Claudia smiled fondly. "Oh my. It’s been so long since I’ve seen Riley sleep so peacefully."

Nella was bouncing on her hooves with excitement.

"I want to capture this moment! I want to show it to her later and tease her about it forever!"

She said it on a whim, but Luca took it seriously

"Don’t worry about that. I can handle it."

He opened a small portal and reached inside, pulling out a camera. Before anyone could react, he held it up and took a picture, a selfie of himself and the sleeping Riley, her head resting against his chest.

The camera whirred, and a small photograph slid out from the bottom. He gave it a shake, then held it out to Nella.

Nella took it, looked at it and her eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

"Oh my gods!"

"What? What is it?" Three little ponies crowded in around her. "Let me see!"

"It’s—it’s them! It’s the Evil Hero and Riley, and they’re in the painting, look, there, they’re both in there, and Riley’s asleep and it’s exactly how she looked—"

"What?"

"Give it here!"

"Let me see!"

And then all of them were screaming at once.

"He can make pictures! Out of nothing!"

"He’s a mage!"

"He’s definitely a mage!"

"The Evil Hero is a mage!"

"I want one!"

"Can you make one of me?"

"Make one of me and Mama!"

"Make one of me holding an apple!"

They looked at him with even more awe than before.

Luca gently passed the sleeping Riley to Sigrid and the others, then stood and dusted himself off.

"Well then. I’ll be going to meet Mavis now."

He turned and began walking away.

"Wish me luck!"

And every centaur in that moment did wish him luck.

Because they all knew exactly how troublesome Mavis could be and they hoped, for his sake, that she wouldn’t cause too much trouble.

But knowing Mavis?

She probably would.