When a person is known for his kindness or integrity, others will naturally adore him, spontaneously glorify his words and actions, and even some strange behaviors that they cannot understand will be explained in good faith - such as recruiting subordinates under the slogan that they need trustworthy people, deliberately withholding important information from them, and setting up extremely confusing access codes for the stone guards at the office door...... No, it's not alluding to anyone.

In the same way, if someone had been killing unicorns in the Forbidden Forest and gnawing their necks to a bloody pulp, it seemed very reasonable that he would start setting fires in the forest for no reason.

The centaurs' village was in turmoil.

For a long time, Dumbledore had restrained the students' movements, forbidding them from stepping into the "disputed territory" with the centaurs - Dumbledore himself was not opposed to the centaurs exercising self-government in their (unauthorized) territory, but as a headmaster, no matter how soft his stance was on the treatment of magical creatures, he could not openly cede the school's land to them.

Even so, the treatment he gave to the alien settlers was unusual, as evidenced by the fact that the merfolk who had settled in the Great Lake had no objection to this, and that they were content with the status quo of being nominally subservient to the people, and that they were able to tolerate the occasional incident of students throwing fireworks at the lake, simply because they knew that they could not find better living conditions anywhere else.

But the centaurs were not satisfied. Despite the more perilous and difficult relationship between them and the wizards, the pride of the Children of the Forest still makes them refuse to accept the reality that they are even on an equal footing with humans. Of course, these long-hoofed guys weren't so ungrateful as to attack Dumbledore himself directly, but they had been expressing their frustration by responding to "offense" in drastic ways.

In a sense, they were even secretly expecting an unknown human to come to the Forbidden Forest and cause a catastrophe, so that they could blatantly take the opportunity to put pressure on Hogwarts.

And now, a golden opportunity to intensify the contradictions...... I'm saying that an event is coming that poses a major test to the relationship between wizards and centaurs.

……

By this time, no one cared about Bayazer leaking the news to the humans, including Bane, who had been waiting for an opportunity to charge Neil with an "offending horseman" and who was so upright that he could be called Filch among horses, the sentinels were all in a mess.

It's been a long time since a conflict of this magnitude has happened, and it's the first time they've been in the Forbidden Forest, to be exact, that stupid fool Rubeus Hagrid keeps his dangerous pets in the woods, and it's just a little more effort for them to patrol so that their ranges don't overlap - but this time it's different, it's a malicious attack on centaur territory that leaves no room for defense, and combined with the frequent killings of unicorns in the past, it's clear that Something abominable has crept into their own forest.

The young centaurs demanded a counterattack, and the humans threatened the centaurs' land, so naturally the humans should pay the price, and what constitutes individual behavior is not in their consideration. The older centaurs advocated a more secure approach to the problem, at least without jumping to conclusions until the true identity of the prisoner was found. They don't want to see their proud people seen as thugs – though that may have come a little later.

But whether it is a moderate or a radical, there is one thing that is in agreement, that is, the problem of the centaurs should be solved by the centaurs themselves, and humans should not interfere.

So, naturally, Neil, who had lost the value of continuing to ask in their eyes, was driven back from the centaurs' village without even getting a "good afternoon".

However, on the basis of their last conscience, they finally did not throw the man in the middle of the Forbidden Forest and leave it alone, but symbolically sent a man to send Neil outside - the young people who had not experienced war were already about to lose control in their excitement, and everywhere they could see horsemen running around with war cries waving bows and short spears, and it was difficult to guarantee that they would not be overly excited, and as long as they saw a figure shaking in the woods, they would shoot an arrow directly at it without thinking.

Bayaze didn't really think there was anything to worry about. The boy had dodged the arrows he had shot from behind the first time they met, and it was hard to imagine what the stunned young men who thought that fighting a war was as simple as hunting rabbits could do anything to him. However, according to the tradition of the horse people, there must be a beginning and an end to a thing, and since he brought the humans to the door of the village, he should be responsible for bringing them back.

You can guess how bad his mood really is.

Humans are stupid and don't usually listen to advice about not meddling in the affairs of the centaurs, but Neil is very open-minded on this point. On the way back, he didn't mention a word about the mysterious gangster, but just talked about human history and art.

- You might as well talk to me about the gangsters.

Bayadze was forced to listen for half an hour to the story of how a Turkish emperor with his name led his troops to the Battle of Fort Niko, and then watched a classic song from Vivaldi's "Bayadze" called "The Wounded Bride", and watched a tree guard fall from a tree at the sound of Neil's singing.

Centaurs don't like to sing like merfolk, but they're not without artistic attainments. In all fairness, Bayazer didn't think the other party's singing was so ugly, but somehow, every time he started to sing a high note with emotion, Bayazer felt a sharp chill rush across his back, as if he was not hearing music, but some kind of miraculous roar that happened to have a rhythm...... It's hard to put into words, and the only thing that's certain is that he didn't like the sound at all.

And when he pointed this out, Neil's smile suddenly became a little bleak.

"Yes, I know, it's a shame that I blame my terrible Italian language." He pretended to slap himself in the mouth and said stupidly, "...... Or maybe not? Generally speaking, though, when I sing in French, my voice is easier to hear. I have a friend in Paris, a soprano singer, whom I met on my way to England. She taught me a few vocal skills in return for me for taking out the swamp ** hiding in the sewers of her house...... Seriously, this deal is a bit of a loss. ”

Bayadze did not comment. He was unfamiliar with French, Italian, soprano, and what the swamp ** was, and he had no interest in risking his neck to ask the other for the exact meaning of the terms. All he had hoped for now was to get the men to the edge of the Forbidden Forest as soon as possible, even to the point of praying to the Ancestors that the damn hunting keeper would happen to pass by on patrol - Hagrid had a million shortcomings, but he also had an irreplaceable advantage: his presence would effectively reduce the frequency with which the centaurs would have to condescend to deal with humans.

It's a pity that this time, luck wasn't on his side, until the trees on both sides gradually thinned, and the stupid big guy who usually came out of his way when he didn't want to see him was still nowhere to be seen.

"Alright, that's it." Unlike the dry and fresh breeze in the depths of the Forbidden Forest, it is a sign that an exit is imminent. Bayazer was relieved by this discovery, and he stopped, pretending to be calm and gesturing his finger ahead, "Go the rest of the way on your own - remember, don't set foot in the centaurs' territory again!" We don't want to hurt the foal, but there is a limit to our patience. ”

Neil glanced at him aggrievedly, "But you haven't heard me sing that part in French...... Or can we make an appointment? ”

Bayaz turned around and ran.