Saving The Monster Race Starts With Breeding The Elf Village

The moment they saw Sigrid submit herself, the entire group of centaurs broke out into commotion.

”Oh my god, I totally forgot!” One gasped, clutching her face. ”Our commander has to let the Hero ride on her back right now!”

”You’ve got to be kidding me!” Another cried. ”But we won the battle! We won this duel!”

”Why can’t the commander just accept the win this time?” A third demanded. ”She can have her fight with Mavis later. At least for now, she could have just accepted the win!”

”This is the worst day of my life...I have to watch our Commander get ridden by a human...”

The reality of the situation crashed over them like a wave.

In the chaos of Mavis’s appearance and dramatic departure, they had completely forgotten about the bet.

But now that Sigrid had reminded them, they all understood exactly what was about to happen.

Their commander was about to be mounted like a common steed.

Poppy was shaking Thea’s shoulders with desperate intensity.

”Thea! Thea, do something! PLEASE! You have to save Sigrid! I don’t want her to be humiliated! This is all my fault—it’s all because of me!”

But Thea simply shook her head, her expression heavy with resignation.

”There’s nothing I can do, my lady. Sigrid herself conceded the defeat. You know how stubborn she is. If she admits defeat, she will follow through to the bitter end even if it means letting the Hero sit on her back.”

”There’s nothing anyone can do to stop her now.”

Poppy’s face crumpled with despair. The other centaurs shared her expression.

And Luca?

Luca, meanwhile, was utterly baffled by the turn of events.

”Uh—no. Actually, there’s no need for this.”

He shook his head rapidly, raising his blade-hands in a gesture of refusal.

”Even though you say Mavis lost, I still believe she was the one who defeated me.”

He added quickly, ”Sure, she used strange devices and dirty tricks, but she outsmarted me! She used her brain, executed her plan, and had a blade at my chin. I respect that.”

”So let’s just call it a draw, alright? Everyone goes home happy!”

A wave of relief swept through the centaurs. They looked at Luca with renewed hope, some even smiling.

Perhaps he wasn’t the villain they had initially believed. Perhaps he was actually a decent person after all.

But Sigrid immediately shook her head.

”No! That cannot happen!”

Everyone froze.

”As I stated earlier.” She continued, her voice firm. ”My sister most definitely lost. She used underhanded tricks that completely violated the rules of a proper duel and sword fight.”

”So, to accept a draw would be a dishonour to the centaur kingdom’s reputation.”

”But—” Luca tried to protest. ”It’s really alright. I genuinely don’t want to—”

”I said you won, Hero. There is no further discussion.”

Before Luca could react, Sigrid unbuckled her weapon harness, set it aside, and slowly lowered her front legs, sinking into a deep, subservient kneeling posture directly in front of him.

Her ears were bright, burning red, and her breath hitched in her throat, but her eyes were fiercely resolute.

”Take the spoils of your victory, Hero.” She choked out, her voice trembling slightly with suppressed humiliation. ”Ride me.”

The sight of their commander lowering herself like a common beast of burden sent the centaurs into a frenzy.

”NOOOO!”

”COMMANDER, PLEASE! DON’T HUMILIATE YOURSELF LIKE THIS!”

”YOU DON’T DESERVE THIS! LET ME TAKE YOUR PLACE!”

”I BEG YOU, COMMANDER! YOU’RE MY IDOL—THE PERSON I LOOK UP TO MOST IN THIS WORLD! I CAN’T BEAR TO SEE YOU IN SUCH A POSITION!”

Of course, Sigrid herself had heard all of her subordinates shouts.

Each word was like a dagger twisting in her heart. She felt so much humiliation coursing through her veins that she thought she might drown in it.

But still, she didn’t care.

A bet was a bet. And she had to go through with it.

—

Luca had absolutely no idea what to do.

Because honestly? From the very beginning, he had never intended to ride anyone.

The terms he had proposed were never meant to be enforced.

The plan had always been to let them win at the very end, or to forfeit gracefully, sparing Sigrid from any real humiliation.

If he had done that, everyone would have seen him as a merciful, honorable Hero.

His reputation would have soared. The centaurs would have respected him.

It was supposed to be the perfect resolution.

But who could have predicted that Sigrid would be so catastrophically stubborn that she would refuse to let him lose?

He tried to argue.

”Sigrid, please—”

”No.”

”You have to understand—I never wanted this.”

”No.”

”Please, I’m begging you—don’t make me do this!”

Sigrid’s gaze was fierce.

”No, Hero. No means no! You won this battle. You WILL sit on my back and ride me. And if you refuse...”

Her eyes blazed with determination.

”I will sit here for the rest of my life! I will never get up no matter what!”

Luca let out a nervous chuckle. ”You’re kidding, right? You can’t possibly sit here forever.”

From behind him, Thea’s dry voice drifted over.

”Do not underestimate her, Hero. Sigrid’s stubbornness is a force of nature. If she says she will sit there, she will sit there.”

”Rain, hail, starving, or dying of thirst—she will rot in that exact spot before she breaks her word.”

Luca was shocked. He looked toward the other centaurs, hoping someone else might disagree.

They all nodded somberly.

”She’s basically a boulder. She won’t move no matter how hard you push. This is a battle you cannot win.”

”Her unwilling spirit will shine bright no matter the situation.” Another added. ”It’s useless to fight it.”

Luca was trapped.

He looked desperately toward Poppy, his last hope.

”You’re her queen! Order her to stop! She’s your knight—she has to listen to you!”

Poppy opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Sigrid answered without looking back.

”This is a matter of personal knightly virtue, My Queen. It falls outside the chain of command. Even if you command me on pain of treason, I will not rise.”

The words left Poppy with a distraught look on her face. She looked at Luca helplessly, spreading her hands as if to say, What can I do?

The realization hit Luca like a bucket of cold water.

No matter what he did, Sigrid would not move. She seemed as though she would remain planted in that spot forever, a monument to her own stubbornness.

Finally, boiling with frustration, he pointed at her and shouted,

”YOU—YOU DONKEY!” He shouted, pointing at her with his blade-hand. ”YOU ABSOLUTE DONKEY!”

The words shocked everyone into silence. Even Sigrid blinked.

”Earlier I called your sister a donkey.” Luca continued, his voice rising with frustration. ”Then she called me a donkey. But the true donkey here—the most stubborn, pigheaded, infuriating creature in this entire territory—is YOU!”

Sigrid’s composure cracked.

”How dare you call me a donkey, Hero! I don’t have such a massive member like you so how can I possibly be a—”

The words died in her throat.

Her face went ghostly pale.

She had not meant to say that. She had absolutely, positively not meant to say that.

The words had simply...escaped.

Some treacherous part of her brain had connected ”donkey” to their earlier conversation and blurted out the first thought that came to mind.

The other centaurs stared at their commander with expressions of pure shock.

Sigrid scrambled to recover. ”But nonetheless! How can you compare me to a donkey?”

”Because of your stubbornness!” Luca shot back.

”You’re so stupidly, ridiculously, impossibly stubborn!”

”Out of everyone here, you are the one who most embodies the stubbornness of a donkey!”

”Why can’t you simply let this go? Why can’t you just accept the draw and move on?”

Sigrid huffed and looked away, her ears still burning red.

”My knightly virtues will not permit such a thing. You may call me a donkey as many times as you wish—it will change nothing. I am staying here. Period.”

She looked back at him, her eyes narrowing.

”And in advance of your schemes, don’t even try to have a battle of attrition with me, Hero.”

Luca was surprised. That had been exactly what he was thinking.

”No matter how much you try to elongate this and pull me along.” Sigrid continued. ”I won’t get up no matter what. So you better just get on me already and get this over with.”

Luca wanted to call bullshit. He wanted to tell her that she would definitely get up eventually.

Maybe not in a couple of hours. Maybe not even in a night. Maybe not even in a day. But eventually.

But then he looked into her eyes and saw the absolute, unshakeable, terrifying stubbornness burning there.

He realized, with crushing certainty, that this was his true defeat.

Everything that had come before—the duels, the exhaustion, even Mavis’s surprise attack—those had barely qualified as challenges.

But this? This was the moment he had truly lost.

There was nothing he could do. No argument he could make. No tactic he could employ.

Sigrid had beaten him.

He let out a long, defeated sigh.

”Fine. Fine. If you really want me to ride you so badly...then I’ll oblige.”

Sigrid’s heart hammered in her chest. The way he phrased it made her feel even more mortified, as though she were desperately begging for this degradation.

But she said nothing. She simply looked at him with an expectant gaze that was also, unmistakably, deeply nervous.

Luca himself felt as though he were in a bedchamber with a new bride on their wedding night.

The way Sigrid was looking at him with anticipation, fear and reluctant surrender reminded him disturbingly of a woman about to lose her virginity.

The thought made him horribly uncomfortable.

Still, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

”Do I...have to take my shoes off?” He asked.

Sigrid’s face flushed even deeper. ”Don’t ask unnecessary questions! Just—just get on me already!”

The other centaurs wailed in horror.

”NO, COMMANDER! PLEASE STOP THIS!”

”HERO, DON’T DO IT! I BEG OF YOU! DON’T RUIN COMMANDER SIGRID LIKE THIS!”

”SHE’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO MARRY! SHE’LL LIVE HER WHOLE LIFE IN DISGRACE!”

They were begging Luca to stop, their voices raw with desperation. Some had fallen to their knees, their hands clasped together as though praying to whatever gods might be listening.

But Luca knew he had no choice.

Meeting their horrified gazes, he slowly lifted one leg and placed it over Sigrid’s powerful body.

And then he settled himself down on her back.

Plop...

Immediately, he could feel the raw power beneath him—the coiled strength of her equine half, the steady rhythm of her heartbeat pulsing through muscle and flesh.

Even through the fabric that separated them, he could sense every contour of her form.

It was like sitting atop a living engine, something capable of going from stillness to full gallop in the span of a heartbeat.

”Hmm!” Sigrid herself shivered as she felt his weight settle onto her back.

Even though she had insisted upon it with every fiber of her being, it felt...degrading.

To have another person seated upon her like she was nothing more than a common beast of burden.

She felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes.

But she forced them back. She had chosen this path. She would walk it to the end.

Slowly, she began to rise from her seated position.

The centaurs watching this unfold lost what remained of their composure.

”No, Commander, no! Please stop it! Push him off!”

”We’ll take your place instead! Let him ride all of us instead of you!”

”Let us bear the burden!”

They were genuinely distraught. If Sigrid had been lost in battle and slain by Luca, they would have reacted far more calmly. .

They would have sung songs of her bravery and held a funeral worthy of a warrior.

But this—

This felt as though Luca were ravaging her right in front of their eyes. They shook with anguish, begged her to stop, but she ignored them all.

But Sigrid ignored every single one of them.

With every ounce of strength in her legs, she pushed herself upright.

She rose to her full height, the powerful centaur commander she had always been, standing tall and proud.

Except now, there was a human on her back.