Chapter 56: The Upper Body is Human, the Lower Body is Horse (01)
Not just me, but the expressions of most of my classmates were hardened as we watched the senior knight and the five horses.
The horses were clearly not in a rideable condition.
Among them, a white horse seemed to be in decent shape, but even it was gasping for breath due to its age, and the others were limping or leaning to one side. They might be used for farming or pulling carts, but they were useless for knights who required precise equestrian skills.
Among the horses, the mule was the only one that seemed decent, which meant the situation was dire.
"Why are you all looking like that?"
"Are you really asking because you don't know? You expect us to ride these?"
I was so incredulous that I confronted the senior knight myself.
"These horses weren't brought here for us to ride. Do you think a knight in full armor could mount one in this condition? They might carry a rider, but maneuvering would be impossible."
That was obvious to us all.
"They were brought here simply to demonstrate the state of the horses."
"Then how are we supposed to have our equestrian lessons?"
"We need to bring proper horses."
This sounded like something out of the ancient times, conscripting cavalry.
"Don't you know why we hold fundraising events? The patrons who attended last time have procured horses for us, which will arrive next week."
"Oh…!"
I remembered that patrons not only cover equipment like mana savers but also the training costs!
In a situation where individuals need to procure their own horses, patrons would naturally help, or else those like Jake from wealthy families would have their clan's support.
"Of course, those without patrons need to find their own."
Hearing this, 148 out of 150 students sighed in relief, while Dane and I went pale.
During the fundraiser, while others subtly sought sponsors and ladies' support, Dane and I had caused a scene and fled after rejecting the ladies who offered sponsorship.
"I'll say it again, it's two weeks. Right now, the knight orders are buying horses for training en masse, so it's not hard to get one in the capital."
The problem was money.
From what I knew, a warhorse suitable for a knight could cost as much as a few houses, and even the horses used for labor would need a knight's several months' salary.
Dane and I, even with extra pay from a recent mission, were far from affording one.
'Should I go beg Lady Melson even now?'
While I was pondering whether to seek a sponsor at this critical time, Dane, intended as Lady Elidein's charge, was absolutely against receiving any sponsorship.
"Dane, you're also out of options?"
"It's only natural, isn't it? After that mess, what kind of sponsorship do you expect us to get?"
I was seriously considering if Lady Melson might accept my plea, while Dane was determined not to accept any patronage and racked his brain for alternatives.
'Should we take out a loan? Or ask Frederica if we could get a discount on homunculus horses? We'd have to replace them every 24 hours, though…'
"Let's go catch one."
"What?"
Dane's suggestion was completely unexpected.
"If we capture our own horses, wouldn't that solve everything?"
Clearly, he was desperate to avoid begging Lady Elidein.
These days, instead of buying, people are capturing wild horses directly…
"Sounds good?"
* * *
With that, we obtained travel permits and headed to the western plains.
The area, known as a paradise for horses with its dry climate and short grasses, still had many horse ranches in operation.
"Welcome, we sell horses cheaply here~"
The senior knight explained that this place sold horses cheaply, often fooling tourists with subpar breeds or arthritic horses near death due to poor management.
Moreover, during a time like this, poor knights like us often came here to buy directly, and the high-quality, well-bred horses were usually reserved for noble families, leaving the market flooded with low-quality stock.
'Though they look much better than the four horses we saw at the training center, as knights' mounts, there'd still be issues.'
Honestly, Dane and I weren't planning on finding purebred wild horses and bringing them back. How long has it been since the western plains were developed? Would wild horses even still exist here?
It would be more surprising if wild horses were still around since the indigenous people would have tamed them long before the kingdom was established.
It would be like digging in a metropolitan area and finding ancient ruins.
"Realistically, we might find horses that have escaped from a ranch or got lost without any ranch markings. Maybe we can take those for free?"
Dane clapped his hands in admiration at my suggestion.
"This guy... is a genius in such matters."
However, with more than three large horse ranches and dozens of medium ones in the area, how likely is it that wild horses would still be around?
Moreover, Dane might not realize, but domesticated livestock are generally more useful to humans than wild animals. The meat from wild boars we caught during training was tough, smelly, and risky due to parasites, whereas properly raised pigs were fatty, tender, and relatively safe and tasty.
The same went for horses; breeds improved for knights were raised to be bigger and stronger, while those bred for labor were meant to pull weights. Wild horses typically lacked the stamina of labor horses and the strength and speed of war horses and were more prone to spooking, making them less desirable.
Even an older horse that wasn't afraid of people would be preferable.
"We have two weeks, but if we think about riding back, we should allow about ten days."
It had taken us three days just to get to the western region.
That left us about a week, and while we had traveled by carriage until now, we would have to start running across the vast plains on foot.
"Then shouldn't we only search for about four days instead of the full seven, considering the time it takes to return? If we don't find anything, we should head back, right?"
Dane's suggestion was entirely sensible and realistic.
The problem, however, was...
"Well, I might manage. I could visit Lady Melson, pay my respects... She wouldn't refuse me a horse, right? You, of course, are already under the protection of the Duchess..."
"If we can't find any horses, I'd rather desert!"
He seemed to forget that the fear was his, not mine.
Lady Melson... well, she was old enough to be my aunt, but still at an age where her beauty was intact, and she had maintained herself well. At the time, I was flustered, but on reflection, she was a decent woman.
But Dane would absolutely hate it.
I didn’t remember seeing Duchess Elidein naked, but I did remember the ordeal was painful enough to crush my eyes with Mollang.
"Let's... let's find a horse..."
We told the coachman to take us into the plains, where there was nothing and no water, and we could die if anything went wrong, but we reassured him and asked him to take us deeper inside.
The coachman agreed to take us only as far as a day’s travel back to the city, took 30% upfront, and left, promising to come back in a few days to the same spot. From there, we walked deeper into the plains.
"It's vast."
Usually, near the capital, there are dense forests or buildings, so a plain where you can see to the horizon with nothing in sight was a first for me.
'There's nothing.'
Beyond the horizon, there were only dried grasses, short trees, and swirling dust.
'With such visibility, the horses might see us and run away...'
I was starting to worry if we could actually catch any horses, but Dane was frantically looking around, his eyes red and intense.
After about five hours of walking, we saw a cloud of dust rising in the distance.
'Is it just a dust storm caused by the wind? Or maybe...'
Rumbling...
The ground vibrated under our feet, and Dane and I instinctively crouched down, pressing our cheeks to the ground to feel the vibrations through our faces.
'It's the vibration of hooves. And not just one or two, but dozens... They're about 10 minutes away by our speed, about 5 minutes at the speed of a galloping horse...'
It was horses.
If it were simply wild horses (whether purebred wild or escaped from a ranch), catching two would be enough for us.
"Charge!!"
I was okay with either outcome (honestly, I was more interested in teasing Dane), but Dane was desperately rushing to catch a wild horse as if his life depended on it.
'Wait?'
But something was off.
The horses' necks seemed thick, and as we got closer, the obscured view of the horse herd became clearer. As we got even closer, I realized that they weren't just horses but cavalrymen riding them.
"Dane! Something's off!"
"Huh?"
Hearing my call, Dane quickly looked ahead and sensed something was wrong, but even if we hadn't charged, the horses... no, the cavalry was already charging towards us.
'No, they're not cavalry...'
If they were cavalrymen, they would naturally have saddles and stirrups.
Even if they were riding bareback, at least the legs of the riders would be seen hanging beside the horses' bodies, but there was no such sign; the bodies were sleek like those of horses, and the riders sat without any visible support.
That meant...
"Damn, they're centaurs!"
The true nature of the horse herd we encountered was centaurs, with the upper bodies of humans and the lower bodies of horses!