A Day Off (1)

"Roa, you're off duty tomorrow, right?"

A month or so after we had been stationed at Liese Fortress, Frain suddenly asked me that over dinner one evening.

"Yeah. I'm off, but why?"

"I see. Then keep the whole day free. I'll take you somewhere nice."

"Oh, don't tell me you're planning to go there?" Ryuzel, who had been wolfing down a stir-fry of salty bacon and root vegetables, eagerly joined the conversation.

"Yeah. I figured it was about time."

"I see... If Frain says it's time, then it must be. All right. I'm coming too."

"Ryuzel, you're on duty, aren't you?"

"I'll get someone to cover for me. It's been a long time since I went there, too."

"All right, then it's settled. We have an early start tomorrow, so don't oversleep."

"Says you. You're the one who needs to watch out."

Frain and Ryuzel bumped fists.

"Wait! Where are you two planning to go? Don't make plans without me!"

I protested, but the two of them exchanged a brief glance and then...

"Tomorrow's a surprise," they said with matching grins.

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The next morning, when I went outside the designated fortress, two men leading horses were waiting, along with Bickhilt-san, Frain's elderly retainer. Bickhilt-san had a horse with him too.

"You're late, Roa."

"Sorry, sorry... Wait, I'm right on time, aren't I? And what's with the horses? Are we going somewhere far away? I didn't bring one."

"Of course you didn't. We're going to find you your own horse today."

In other words, there was apparently a horse ranch west of Liese Fortress that was the largest in all of Ludeck. It was close, but even so, traveling there and back was a full day's journey, even on horseback.

Normally, the horse dealers in each town bought horses trained at this ranch. The knight orders generally purchased their warhorses from those dealers.

Horse dealers were a convenient way to buy a horse at your post, but there was a drawback: the quality of the horses they stocked depended on the dealer's eye for horses.

A dealer with a good eye often had close ties with a particular knight order. When that knight order changed assignments, its preferred dealer might even follow along with it.

"At a ranch, you can choose from all the good horses without being at the mercy of a dealer's eye. Your riding has at least reached a passing grade, Roa, so why let this opportunity pass you by?" Frain said.

"A personal mount really does feel different to ride, and sometimes it will even move in accordance with its rider's wishes. After what happened, don't you think you should have your own horse, Roa?" Ryuzel pressed.

There was no doubt about that. The horse we'd borrowed this time wasn't bad, but every horse felt just a little different to ride. The possibility that a horse's quality could mean life or death had been driven home to me only the other night during the late-night rescue operation.

"But without someone who knows horses, wouldn't I have trouble telling which ones are good?" My simple question turned out, in retrospect, to be a mistake.

"Hey, Roa, what are you looking at? Look at my beloved Stanley's beautiful coat—and the power in his hindquarters! He is the ideal warhorse. Ah, black bays really are beautiful! Don't worry; I'll pick out a magnificent black bay for you too!"

Ryuzel's beloved horse certainly looked muscular, beautiful, and powerful. At the same time, it was incredibly intimidating. It snorted loudly, too. I felt as though it had been glaring at me the entire time, which was frightening.

"Hey, Ryuzel, Stanley is certainly a fine horse. I'll admit that. But calling him the ideal while ignoring my beloved Grien is going too far, don't you think? We are a knight order. We must demand elegance in appearance as well. Look at that beautiful, intelligent face. That chestnut coat practically shines, and just look at that perfectly formed star. This is what a warhorse in its perfected form should be."

Frain's beloved horse was a little smaller than Ryuzel's, but it had an air of elegance about it. At the same time, I couldn't help noticing that it seemed to be looking down on me the entire time.

"Hahaha, what an amusing joke."

"What? It's nothing compared to yours."

An ominous atmosphere settled over us. In the midst of it, Bickhilt-san spoke in his usual unhurried manner.

"Both are fine horses, but more importantly, shouldn't we be departing? The longer we wait, the less time we'll have at the ranch."

At Bickhilt-san's words, the two reacted instantly.

"That's right. This is no time for such a pointless conversation. Hurry up! Roa, ride Bickhilt's horse! I'll go on ahead!"

"Then I shall depart as well. If I arrive too early, I'll have tea by myself, so let me know when you arrive."

"Don't worry, Ryuzel. I'm the one having tea alone."

"Ha! Keep dreaming."

Arguing like that, the two of them disappeared from in front of me in no time.

"Um...?" Bickhilt-san smiled at my bewilderment.

"It's nothing unusual, so please don't worry. Now, shall we depart as well? There's no need to hurry; we'll have plenty of time at the ranch."

I rode double on Bickhilt-san's horse as we proceeded, listening to him explain what had happened.

The reason Frain and Ryuzel had originally become friends was horses. Ryuzel was such a horse fanatic that he led the Tenth Knight Order's cavalry, while Frain was such a horse fanatic that he happily set aside time every day to teach me to ride, despite getting absolutely nothing out of it.

They had hit it off over horses, quite literally, but their affection for their beloved mounts was so intense that they apparently got into arguments fairly often whenever the subject of their horses came up.

They did acknowledge that the other person's horse was a fine one, so it never escalated into lasting bad blood.

"When I heard that the two of you were going to the ranch, I suspected things might turn out like this."

According to Bickhilt-san, there might even have been another argument before we departed over which horse I would ride. That was why he had hurriedly rearranged his schedule as well.

Bickhilt-san really was capable.

"By the way, you've been keeping a close watch on our surroundings for some time now. Are you worried about assassins or something?" Bickhilt-san asked, and I hurriedly denied it.

"No, no. I was actually wondering whether the roads could be improved a little more..."

"The roads?"

I said nothing about the bottled products and explained that improving the highways might increase the efficiency of military marches.

"I see. There may be something to that. No wonder they call you a potential strategist; you certainly think differently from ordinary people."

"Um... Ryuzel called me a strategist the other day too, but I'm really not anything that grand..."

"Oh, haven't you heard? Before you joined the order, Rays-sama informed us that he was having you enlist as a 'potential strategist.'"

...That was the first I'd heard of it.

"At least for now, I think you're living up to those expectations. Ah, we're almost there. That's Hauworth Ranch."

Following Bickhilt-san's gaze, I saw a quintessentially pastoral landscape spread out before me.