Chapter 79: Son of Nature (Edited)

"...Meow?"

Fish cocked his head to the side and looked at the Centaurs with a confused look on his cat form.

What nonsense were these guys talking about?

He understood the word "Son of Nature," but not the meaning, but literally, should it also be "Son of a Cat" or "Son of Minerva," right? Why is it "Son of Nature?" Is there a creature by that name?

"Meow, meow, meow" (My name is not 'Son of Nature', it's Fish.).

Thinking he might be mistaken for another creature, Fish explained.

But the Centaurs didn't seem to understand Fish's meow, and merely said, "The Forbidden Forest is still too dangerous for you now, Son of Nature, so let us escort you out!"

"I'm not a 'Son of Nature', my name is Fish, Meow!" ?(●ΦωΦ●)?

Fish turned human and protested loudly to the Centaur in front of him.

The bearded, black-haired Centaur froze for a moment, then smiled and nodded, "It's okay, Fish, my name is Bane and, as you can see, I'm a Centaur."

"A centaur?" Fish blinked, curiously reaching out to touch Bane's body, "So, you didn't transform into horses?"

"Yes, we were born that way, we're not human and we're not really horses."

Bane nodded, completely unconcerned by Fish's offense, and instead patiently explained.

"Although the magic ministry of human mages had classified us as 'humans', we do not wish to share the status of 'human' with the creatures of the Vampires and Veelas, we prefer to be identified as 'beasts'..."

"Besides, Centaurs don't need humans to define them, the Ministry of Magic division is a joke to us." said Bain, with a scornful look.

"Well... I don't understand, meow," Fish shook his head, completely disinterested in Bane's long speech, "I'm hungry, do you have anything to eat?"

After playing hide and seek with Hagrid and running around with the spiders, Fish had digested his breakfast and was interested in what the half-human, half-beast creatures like centaurs ate.

"I'll trade you for snacks, meow."

Fish pulled out his magic bag, grabbed a handful of candy and placed it in front of Bane.

"It would be an honor to have the Son of Nature as a guest in our tribe."

Bane reached out and took the candy from Fish, tucked it into the pouch at his waist and then leaned toward Fish with one hand on his chest.

"I said I'm not some kind of 'Son of Nature' meow!" ?(●Φ△ΦΦ●)?

Bane laughed and didn't argue with Fish, but said, "Jupiter must be bright tonight."

"Meow?"

A dumbfounded Fish didn't know why Bane would mention Jupiter all of a sudden.

And Bane didn't explain, he folded his front legs, hopped off and waved to Fish, "Hop on my back, I'll carry you, it's faster."

"Well, meow!"

Fish immediately forgot about Jupiter and jumped on Bane's back.

Just as he sat firmly on Bane's back, other centaurs approached.

A centaur with reddish-brown hair nodded slightly to Fish and introduced himself, "Hello, Nature.... Oh no, Fish, I'm Roran."

"Hello, meow."

Fish responded politely.

Roran nodded again and then joked with Bane, "Hmm? Who was it that said, 'A centaur that allows a human to sit on its back is no different than a mule'?"

"The 'Son of Nature' is different! Can the Son of Nature be considered an ordinary human being?" Bane blushed and replied loudly.

The other centaurs burst out laughing at his argument. In addition to mocking the proud Bane, the centaurs also thought carefully, that is, in case Bane could not maintain his pride, he would not be able to bear the burden. Then they can volunteer to carry Fish.

But, unfortunately, this little trick did not make Bane do anything foolish. After refuting a few words, he stopped talking and began to hurry.

As for Fish, he didn't bother to correct him about the 'Son of Nature', or even explain that the centaurs had mistaken him for a human, since those half-humans wouldn't pay any attention to him anyway, so he just ignored them.

Fish, who had ignored the centaurs' conversation, turned his little head curiously, reaching out from time to time to fiddle with the longbow Bane carried, and even turned around, mounting Bane upside down, and pulling his tail.

The centaurs were fast, even at normal walking speed, they soon reached their tribe's location.

"Primitive, meow?"

Fish got off Bain's back, observing the rudimentary "houses" and the campfire with the stone pots, and instantly remembered what he had seen on TV about primitive peoples....

Although he didn't quite understand what kind of human being a primitive was, in Fish's opinion, it was probably something like the difference between a wild cat and a domestic cat.

The centaurs were not offended by Fish calling them primitives, and Roran nodded, "It's not wrong to say that humans thousands of years ago were not so different from us in the way they lived."

"Our way of life is a bit more modest, but the food is very good," Bane added, as if he feared Fish would dislike it. "We are very good at finding good food in the forests, and good spices, and from time to time we trade the spices we gather with the humans for some provisions."

Actually, Bane's fears were unwarranted, Fish had been influenced by being a druid and was not averse to living close to nature, and before being adopted by Professor McGonagall, he had lived in much more modest accommodations than the centaurs.

So he didn't even pay attention to what Bane was saying, but crouched by the fire, staring at the stone pot in which the food was simmering.(●?﹃?●)

"Here."

The centaur in charge of the soup poured a bowl of aromatic soup and handed it to Fish.

"Thank you, Meow!"

Fish happily took the bowl, carefully put it in his mouth and blew vigorously.

Cats' tongues are very sensitive, but they can't eat things that are too hot.

"Are you the Son of Nature? I'm Palomino, nice to meet you."

"My name is Mills, and you have such a nice scent, no wonder the stars say you're a Son of Nature."

"And me! My name is Brandvarden."

As Fish 'puffed' his delicious soup, some of the younger centaurs approached curiously and gathered around Fish to chat.

"Greetings," said Fish, setting down the bowl and sticking out his slightly scalded tongue, "But I'm not Son of Nature, my name is Fish, Fish McGonagall."

"But...my father told me last night that, according to the astrological signs, the Son of Nature would be visiting our tribe today."

"Yes! Yes! Uncle Firenze told me the same thing, so everyone got out the precious spices and made the soup."

The young centaurs had not yet acquired the habit of half-speaking, characteristic of fortune-tellers, and they explained the results of the adult centaurs' divinations, one after the other.

"I don't know any astrologers, meow! My name is Fish, not Nature's Child! Call me Nature's Child again and I'll get mad!" ?(●ΦДΦ●)?

Fish protested angrily, then ignored the ponies and, after casting a rejuvenating spell on his little tongue, picked up his bowl of soup and proceeded to carefully taste the soup the centaurs had prepared.