Penny and Jaune were in a large grassland spreading out from Draupnir on a mission to search for Robyn of the Sagittarius Constellation, though the one who was mainly searching was Penny. Jaune was almost completely useless. Penny searched in every nook and cranny, leaving no stone unturned. Eventually, she picked up what she'd been looking for.
It was a single arrow. It was the weapon that had been used to kill the dinosaur before Penny's sniper round could get to it, and it'd most likely been fired by Robyn. She didn't have any need for the arrow itself, but finding out what angle it was lying at could tell her where it'd been launched from.
Penny's eyes flitted back and forth, numbers and words detailing the calculations of the direction of the arrow, the wind direction, and speed dancing through her sight. Eventually, a single area was highlighted in her sight, distinguished with a circular marker. Of course, she was the only one who could see all that. There was no physical marker there.
"There, huh…?"
It's closer than I expected, Penny thought. Robyn should have been able to shoot from much farther away… Yes, even farther than would be possible for me.
The site the evidence suggested was closer, much closer. It was basically only a stone's throw away from the audience seating for the hunting festival.
Then I'll just have to look there next. Robyn must have taken steps to erase any traces she would have left behind, but she shouldn't have been able to get rid of all of them. For example, a small shade of a footprint left in the dirt. Or some trampled grass. Or maybe even a stray hair. As long as something like that existed, Penny would be able to string each clue together.
"We're going to the next site, Jaune."
"Okay."
Penny headed for the next search area while dragging along the completely useless Jaune. All that she needed to do was follow the trail of clues one after the other until she reached Robyn. It was extremely difficult to be able to get away from Penny once she was on your trail. That applied even to a fellow member of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians.
There were small clues leading to Robyn here and there. While following them, Penny started to have some suspicions. Such misgivings only grew deeper and more serious the closer she got until it became conviction.
There's no doubt… These traces have been left behind on purpose. She left just enough so that no normal person would understand, but I would. I don't know what she's after, but it seems she's calling me. That's perfect… We can simply accept the invitation and question her in person.
There's no sign of any traps. I've been constantly monitoring passing terrain, heat maps, and sounds coming for several kilometers around me, and I can at least say that there are no traps set for us.
Robyn, the holder of Sagittarius Constellation seat, was a master at hunting. While Penny could match her in a long-ranged shooting match, her true strength lay in using the terrain to her advantage to set traps, as well as her abundant knowledge. Her role was also to compensate for Naru's inability to cast attack magic. She was best at casting attack magic that launched arrows, which meant that her act of using a real arrow despite that was clearly meant to leave clues behind for Penny to trace.
However, Penny chose not to retreat in the face of that. All her efforts would be wasted if she left and called Naru only for Robyn to have hidden herself in the meantime. Even Penny wouldn't be able to find her easily if she were to truly attempt to hide herself, and with her mobility, it'd be easy for her to leave this entire area by the time she would be able to return with Naru in tow. So the fact that Robyn had invited her was a windfall. All she had to do was continue forward.
Having decided that, Penny continued tracing the clues to her destination with Jaune in tow.
Tiny things like a slight footprint here and some traces of trampled grass there along with some hair left in trees or in grass became clues that led Penny to her goal. Like that, she continued to search, and eventually, she reached a particularly dense part of the forest. There was a lot of cover and places to hide, a perfect battleground for Robyn.
"You're here."
"Robyn."
Penny turned towards the voice and saw a single man. She remembered him as the man who'd been commentating the hunting festival, Kentaur. But that form was only something constructed with an illusion. Penny instantly saw through that.
In response, Kentaur laughed, satisfied, and waved his hand. When he did, the figure of the man disappeared and was replaced with a beautiful centaur. Her lower half was that of a horse, and her upper half was that of a tanned skinned young woman with light-blond hair that was tied in a ponytail. She has a beauty mark under her right violet eye and another one on the left side under her mouth. This was the Sagittarius Guardian's true form.
She had the presence of a seasoned hunter. She wore a robe that one would pull over their head, which was something that had been made and given to her by Naru. Its effect was nothing big. It didn't give much defense either, and it granted no ability to spurn attacks from any elements or status conditions. It was simply able to change its color to blend into the surroundings. While it was exceedingly good for stealth, it was pretty much meaningless in front of Penny, who could use breathing or temperature to determine her target's location.
"This is rare. You usually don't show your true form in front of other people like this."
Robyn remained silent.
"'Ideally, you kill your target before they realize you're an enemy.' I believe those were your words. This is seriously unlike you. You usually don't even show yourself to your friends and almost exclusively kill your targets at long-range. This is suspicious."
Even though Robyn was a long-range fighter just like Penny, they were still different. Penny was a pursuit and extermination type. She tenaciously chased her enemies to the ends of the earth and used high firepower to completely destroy them. She was a murder machine. In other words, she was very proactive and aggressively chased and pushed her enemies even though she was a long-ranged fighter. Her long-range attacks weren't to zone out the enemy and keep her distance while fighting. She used them to shoot her enemies in the back as they ran; they were there to take away their means of escape.
But Robyn was the complete opposite. Her race—the centaurs—used their mobility to constantly keep their enemies at a distance and liked to attack from dead angles. They were complete sniper types. Penny started with a warning to have her enemies recognize her so she could suppress them with fear. But Robyn would never do that. She would bury them in one hit while they were unguarded and unaware. In other words, she was an assassin. Penny was different from her; she was a pro at combat. However, Robyn was a pro at killing. Whenever she would show herself to people, she would always be disguised… she always hid her true form.
That was why Penny was suspicious. Feeling safe because she was a comrade? No. If that were actually the case, she would have shown herself to Naru at the beginning. The fact that she hadn't done that and instead showed herself to Penny first meant this wasn't a friendly gesture.
"Right now, I don't have the right to face Lady Naru. That's why I called you."
"You realize I will take that to mean that you are doing something unbeneficial to her?"
"I don't mind. But first, I'd like you to hear me out."
Sparks flew between Penny and Robyn as they stared at each other. As for Jaune, he was being completely excluded from this exchange.
The threatening atmosphere of the conversation left no room for him to assert himself, so he was lifelessly sitting up against a nearby tree hugging his knees to his chest. As always, he was a completely useless man outside of his role of a shield.
"Right now, I'm working with Sienna."
"That traitor…? Tell me why."
Before asking anything further, Penny readied her machine gun. It was a clear statement saying that depending on Robyn's answer, she'd shoot. But Robyn wasn't shaken by that. Her stone-facedness was just as strong as Penny's.
"There's almost no difference between beastmen and monsters. Even so, us centaurs are treated as monsters. Do you know why?"
"Because you aren't bipedal. The definition of humanity in this era is based off of the form of a standard human. One is considered humanity as long as their form doesn't greatly deviate from that—even with wings or other things—and they can coexist with other humans. To be more precise, humans were created after the image of the Goddess, so by deviating largely from that form, they are no longer strictly human. And centaurs do not fit within that framework. This is also the reason why mermaids and other similar species are considered monsters."
"Exactly. But we centaurs don't kidnap women like orcs do, and neither do we aggressively attack people. We simply live quietly. Centaurs can, in fact, coexist with people. But we are still viewed as enemies… just because we are classified as monsters."
For monsters, centaurs were indeed peaceful and discreet. Judging from their calm and gentle demeanors, it could be said that they were actually more cultured and intelligent than some beastmen currently recognized as part of humanity. In fact, elves praised them as "sages of the forest" and treated them with respect. They were intelligent, quiet, and kind. There were some exceptions, like Robyn, but most centaurs fundamentally prized peace. They basically posed no threat. But outside of elves, the rest of humanity viewed them as enemies. Depending on the situation, they'd even attack unprovoked. And only because in this era, they were taught that centaurs were monsters.
"I want to change this world. I have a reason to now."
"And that's why you're siding with Sienna?"
"Exactly. If she conquers the world, then she'll give monsters rights. When that happens, we centaurs will gain much better treatment."
"You've changed, Robyn. You used to not mind things like that. I remember that it just didn't fit with your personality."
"Of course I've changed… It's been one thousand years. I can't just stay as I was back then. I have something I want to protect now."
Sienna was the only nonconformist among the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians who served under Naru. She had ambition and desired to rule the world instead of the Grimm King or Naru. It was true that if she were to rule the world, monsters would gain rights. But all that awaited people under that rule were days governed by survival of the fittest, with no room for intelligence or culture. It would be a return to the mindless world of beasts and dinosaurs before humanity came to be. And that was a far cry from the world that Naru envisioned.
"Sienna is not fit to be ruler. At best, she could be employed as the chief of a horde. You should know that, shouldn't you?"
"I do know. I plan to compensate for the intelligence she lacks by staying by her side."
"No, you don't. That wild woman won't heed any advice you give her. She lives by listening only to her instincts and desires. She's basically a monster herself." Penny pointed her machine gun at Robyn as she spoke emotionlessly. "So I'll warn you. All will be forgiven if you return to our master. But if you persist in helping Sienna, I will deem you a threat, and I will remove you now."
"Sorry, but I've already decided. I'll do anything for their futures. Even if that means making an enemy of Lady Naru!"
Robyn howled as she drew her bow. She didn't use a real arrow this time. It was a magic arrow made of burning red flame. Robyn's element was Wood, so she hadn't originally been a threatening opponent for Penny. But the bow Naru had given her one thousand years ago was trouble! Its effect was to change the attribute of magic. Its name was 'Chaos Media,' and it was a one-of-a-kind bow given to her so she would always be able to strike at her enemy's weak point.
Basically, that single bow had completely crumbled the absolute advantage Penny was supposed to have had in this fight.
"That's nothing! Jaune barrier!"
"What?!"
Penny swiftly grabbed Jaune, who was nearby, and put him in front of the magic arrow that was shot at her. While Jaune was useless for anything other than being a shield, he was the strongest shield in the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians. While it may have been the wrong way to use him, Penny managed to survive Robyn's first strike undamaged thanks to her utilization of Jaune.
"Hostile intent towards Master: confirmed. Hereby designating Robyn of the Sagittarius Constellation as an enemy. Moving to eliminate."
Penny squeezed the trigger of her machine gun, spraying bullets. But Robyn had already hidden herself among the trees, dodging all her bullets. She had probably already expected her to do that.
Penny immediately switched weapons from her machine gun to a rifle, proceeding to chase after Ren with her weapon in one hand and Jaune clutched in the other.
The combination of Robyn and Sienna is a slightly troublesome one. If I don't finish her before they regroup, then they will surely become a hindrance to my master.
Penny continued advancing, heedless of the magic arrows that flew from beyond them which she had to defend against using Jaune. A ball of fire came barreling down at them from above, so she used Jaune to deflect it.
"No?!"
The Water arrow that weaved through the trees at them hit Jaune as well.
"Stop!"
Penny jumped off of a spear of earth that sprung out of the ground and threw Jaune to intercept a steel arrow that was launched at them.
"Oh my god!"
Penny retrieved Jaune before speeding up. She used him to cover up a wall of fire that appeared. Then, with him on top of it, she broke through the opening.
"Help me!"
Every time he was hit, Jaune would cry out, but this was a rare chance for him to shine. Penny told him to just suck it up before pointing her gun at Robyn. Then she fired. She sprayed a string of tracking bullets that Naru had made, which chased down Robyn. Of course, the bullets didn't travel straight for their target. Several of the bullets purposefully went off track and ricocheted or busted through trees in front of Robyn, blocking her path. But Robyn managed to dodge all the bullets and even passed through the busted trees before they fell.
I guess I should have expected that from a centaur. They're proud of their legs. It's annoying how fast they are.
I'd like to use Astraia to just mow everything down, but I can't do that without Lady Naru's permission. Meaning that I'll need to find a way to eliminate Robyn on my own, since I can't contact Lady Naru at the moment.
Penny handed off her rifle to Jaune for the moment and released the inner workings of her right arm.
"Skill Selection: Right Arm limiter removed. Release: Zuben El Genubi!" Penny declared as her right arm transformed into a cannon, which she aimed at Robyn, who was running away in front of her.
Penny was currently using infrared vision, which basically made Robyn's camouflage robe useless. In her sight, a round marker laid over Robyn's heat signature, and a message popped up signaling that lock-on had been achieved.
"Hit chance: Sixty-two percent… Fire!"
Sparks ran along the barrel of her cannon, and the aftershocks of her cannon firing blew away the vegetation behind Penny. The beam of light launched from her weapon completely blasted through trees and anything else that was in the way as it advanced towards Robyn.
But Robyn suddenly dodged to the side, avoiding a direct hit. However, that single attack completely cleared the way towards Robyn. Penny used her verniers and quickly accelerated, becoming like a bullet herself as she drew near Robyn.
Then, using her metal head, she headbutted Robyn in the face.