Chapter 116: Horse Riding
I woke up in the morning and took a walk with Rishu.
After breakfast, I prepared the meals.
Played with Rishu.
Tended to the fields and took care of the livestock.
Played with Rishu again.
Before noon, I gathered various materials. I went to the training grounds in the Forest to practice magic while breaking stone pillars to collect Silica Stones.
I had already placed orders for soda ash, limestone, tin, various iron minerals, and timber at the local sites since they were a hassle to gather. It might take some time to collect the desired amounts, but I’m not in a hurry.
And occasionally, I named the spirits in the forest.
For lunch, I joined Retze and Ash for riding lessons. Although Retze had said he would teach, it seemed that Ash and the Butler would also be participating. They had met at the Adventurer’s Guild in the morning.
“Let’s see which horse suits you best.”
“Um…”
Thus, we found ourselves at the Horse Rental Shop.
There were horses meant for pulling carts, those good at carrying loads, and fast horses. Since there were many adventurers in Kanum, they also had a few warhorses that wouldn’t be startled by loud noises.
Even I, who rarely saw horses up close, could tell their body shapes were clearly different. Ash seemed to love horses, explaining which horse was a domesticated version of a wild breed from a certain area, and how this one had a magnificent coat.
The old man at the rental shop stepped back, saying he was less knowledgeable than me.
“Considering where you’re going, a warhorse would be better, but many of them can be quite temperamental, so perhaps we should choose a calm and obedient horse this time.”
As the Butler said, if I couldn’t ride, it would defeat the purpose.
By the way, warhorses are quite expensive to rent.
Bay, chestnut, white… They looked huge up close. Some horses looked at me with curiosity, while others ignored me. Listening to the old man and Ash’s advice, I chose one horse—
“Loose?!”
A horse was trotting over.
“Ah, I’m sorry. This one has a habit of escaping and has come to us because we couldn’t handle it.”
As the old man tried to calm the horse, two other employees noticed the escape and rushed over. The horse pretended to kick, pinned its ears back, and bared its teeth.
“It looked like it was in a good mood when it came over here.”
Retze pulled me aside.
“What’s going on?”
I looked at Retze, confused about why I was being pulled.
“They’re watching.”
“They’re definitely watching.”
“They’re observing us.”
Ignoring my question, the three of them stared straight ahead. Following their gaze, I locked eyes with the horse, which then broke away from the shopkeeper trying to calm it and came right to me.
“Just as I thought.”
“Why is that?”
“Gene is liked by all sorts of things.”
Please stop with the strange, unfounded conclusions.
“I really don’t want a wild horse.”
It nuzzled against me, which was not okay.
“Stop that, or I’ll go bald.”
Now it started munching on my hair.
Ash and the others each chose their horses and headed to the back riding area. I couldn’t choose because the wild horse was following me.
“Why don’t you try riding it once?”
I gratefully wiped my hair with the towel Retze handed me.
“I haven’t even put a saddle on this horse yet…”
“You need something to hold onto, or it won’t work.”
The employees were nervously putting on the horse gear. I helped a little while learning how to put it on.
“What about the stirrups?”
“I need them.”
Stirrups are what you place your feet on when riding, and I thought they were a given, but apparently, some people here find it embarrassing to use them. It’s like treating them as training wheels for a bicycle…!
“With stirrups, you can swing your sword and draw your bow while riding, but tradition doesn’t save lives. They’re useful.”
Ash returned from a lap on his horse. He said he preferred riding without stirrups when there was no long-distance travel or combat.
“A wild horse.”
“This is Ruta.”
When I spoke to the horse, the employee revealed its name.
“Ruta, I can’t ride or control you. Please figure things out on your own and try not to shake too much.”
“Don’t give me impossible requests.”
Retze chimed in as I was asking Ruta.
“I’ll hold the reins, so please mount.”
After receiving a full explanation on handling the horse, the Butler said with a smile.
I could physically ride, but they weren’t going to teach me two at a time?
“Let’s try walking slowly.”
“Ruta, let’s go.”
Ruta began to walk slowly.
“…Let’s speed up.”
“Ruta, please.”
Ruta started to trot lightly. My perspective rose, and it felt nice to see further than usual.
“Stop! You won’t be able to ride other horses if you keep this up. Let’s learn properly.”
“Ugh…”
I felt pressured by the Butler’s cheerful demeanor and had to start over.
“Apply light pressure with your legs on the horse’s belly and let the reins follow the horse’s movements.”
I did my best. Finally, I was told it was time for a test, and I rode other horses. Ruta acted up.
“You’re learning quickly.”
“It’s because the horse is calm.”
“…”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Ruta’s stall.
“Is it smelling something that horses like…?”
Retze muttered with a puzzled expression.
“Gene, let’s go for a long ride together tomorrow.”
“Sure.”
I accepted Ash’s invitation to go out. I needed to prepare a lunch box.
“But my thighs hurt more than my butt.”
I heard from Dean that just like your dominant hand, you have a dominant butt cheek, and that one gets sore.
“Put this on.”
Retze tossed me something that looked like ointment. I’d be fine since I had [Healing], but this pain was more like muscle soreness.
[Healing] works on muscle soreness too, but if I don’t intend to heal it, it’ll hurt for about an hour. When I asked Van, he said it’s because it involves growth rather than just restoring to the original state. It’s certainly a problem if exercising doesn’t build muscle.
Still, Retze and the Butler have a lot of things. Especially the Butler, who seems to have very few belongings.