Chapter 103: Chapter 89: Horseback Riding

“Good morning.”

“Ou, morning, Takumi. You don’t seem to be hungover.”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

I drank quite a lot last night, but I didn’t become hungover. The alcohol was considerably strong though. Whether it’s thanks to the body Syl made or the Abnormal Status Resistance skill, that I don’t know......

Well, at any rate, I won’t be showing a disgraceful behavior anymore after drinking, so if you ask if I feel relieved, then yes.

“Wald-sama seems to be fine as well. Even though you drank so much......”

“I could easily do double of that.”

Wald-sama drank so much alcohol I couldn’t even compare myself to him. And yet, he’s without any signs of a hangover.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning. Takumi-san, Captain is a bottomless drinker, so it’s not necessary to worry about him.”

I see. Wald-sama is “someone who can drink like a fish” huh......

While not to the extent of Wald-sama, Cedric-san and Isaac-san should have drunk quite a lot too. And yet it seems that they don’t have any problems. These two must be rather strong with alcohol too.

No, the current me is not an exception. Far from being able to drink like a fish, I “might” be a fish.

“Here, you two sit down on a chair.”

“”Muu~””

On the other hand, Allen and Elena whom I have separated for the night have been clinging to me from the moment they opened their eyes. And presently, they are glued to my legs. Solidly at that.

I might have separated from them after putting them to sleep, but I have returned while they were sleeping though~ It seems even that was no good.

“Oh? From the looks of it, they must have been quite lonely last night.”

“Looks like it. Allen-kun, Elena-san. We have prepared French toasts, so cheer up please.”

“N? Furench toasts?”

As if Isaac-san has been expecting this situation, he was somewhat able to loosen the children’s expressions.

It appears he discussed this smart move with Cedric-san and had the two’s favorite French toasts prepared for the breakfast.

Rather, Isaac-san seems to be showing a greater interest in the French toasts than the children though......

After Allen and Elena ate the French toasts which were matched with fruit jelly, their moods somewhat returned to normal.

Taking such two with me, I went with Wald-sama and Isaac-san to the practice field.

I was asked about today’s plans during the breakfast, but when I replied with “nothing in particular,” we have decided to practice the horseback riding at once.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

When we arrived at the practice field, I decided to summon Joule and others for the future’s sake and introduce them to Wald-sama and Isaac-san. Of course, everyone except Bolt were in their small forms.

“Oh, those are Takumi’s contracted beasts?”

They immediately caught Wald-sama’s interest.

“Joule and Bolt!”

“Kyan.”

“Pii.”

Allen introduced Joule and Bolt,

“Feat and Vector~”

“Naa~”

“Garu.”

while Elena introduced Feat and Vector to Wald-sama and Isaac-san.

The introduced contracted beasts cheerfully replied in turns.

“If I’m not mistaken, they are Fenrir, Celestial Tiger, Scarlett King Leo, and Thunderhawk, right...... They might not be adults yet, but to gather so many monsters of such ranks......”

“O, ou...... they seem extremely smart and considerably obedient too. It’s my first time seeing contracted beasts, but are all contracted beasts like that?”

“By no means. Even though they are contracted, they are still monsters, so they will threaten anyone who approaches them with the exception of their contractor. Otherwise, they will show no interest and stay indifferent. Showing such a friendly attitude like this should be quite unusual.”

“Our children are very smart, so I don’t think they would threaten people we introduce them to. Well, playing pranks is a different thing though.”

If unknown people approached our children without permission, I do think that they would threaten them.

Besides, they would play pranks on them and I can’t deny the possibility of counterattacking a threat.

(Everyone, the red-haired man is Wald-sama and the silver-haired man is Isaac-san. They will be moving with us from now on, so be sure to remember them.)

(Un, got it~)

(Yes~ Niisama, Bolt and Vector are saying they ‘Understood~’ too.)

When I tell everyone to remember Wald-sama and Isaac-san via telepathy, Joule and Feat who are able to use telepathy replied. Feat even conveyed Bolt’s and Vector’s words.

“If the other party does something first, it will be taken as legitimate self-defense and there won’t be a need for Takumi-san to bear any responsibility, but in cases like these, I request you not to kill the other party.”

“I understand. Everyone does too, right?”

“Kyan.”

“Nnaa~”

“Pii.”

“Garu.”

I think it will be all right as I have told them to act without killing during the bandit subjugation, but when I reminded them just in case, all four animals replied in acknowledgment.

“...... They really understand what we are saying, don’t they?”

“Yeah, they properly understand.”

Isaac-san started seriously examining Joule and others.

“Uoh!”

At that time, Vector started playfully coiling between Wald-sama’s feet.

Surprised by Vector’s actions, Wald-sama raised his voice.

“Hey, Vector. Come back and be obedient, alright?”

“Garu~”

“Uoh~ that startled me~”

“Sorry about that.”

“No, I don’t mind. Rather than that, Takumi. We should begin soon.”

When Vector separated from Wald-sama’s feet, Wald-sama called for a stable boy? that was holding the reins of a Dapple-gray horse, and he received the reins from him.

“We will use this horse for practice.”

“She’s a mare, isn’t she? Wald-sama, what is her name?”

“She seems to be called Caterina. She is apparently this mansion’s most docile horse.”

I made eye contact with Caterina and stared. Then, Caterina lightly lowered her head.

Because I somewhat felt like Caterina was telling me “pet me,” I approached her and when I tried to gently pet her forehead, Caterina let herself be petted without disliking it, so I apparently met her demand.

“I heard that she’s a docile horse, but to let her guard down this quickly...... if it’s like this, you might manage to get on her quickly too.”

“Really? That would be nice.”

Wald-sama presented me the reins, so I received them and moved to Caterina’s side.

“Fufu. Does it feel good?”

Caterina was a really friendly horse as she told me who moved to her side to pet her neck some more.

“Alright! Then, Takumi, try getting on.”

“......”

No, try getting on, you say...... I don’t know the way of getting on though......

“Captain...... you would normally explain the way of getting on here.”

It seems that Isaac-san who was observing Joule and others heard Wald-sama’s words, so he interrupted while looking at Wald-sama exhaustedly.

I know, right? There’s no way the explanation would end with “then, try getting on” right?

“Ohh, that’s right. Well, that. Put one of your legs in the stirrup and get on with a heave-ho feeling!”

“”......””

Ehh? Is that all? Is the explanation over? Wouldn’t it be impossible to get on with just that? It’s not that my comprehension is insufficient, right?

When I turned towards Isaac-san intending to confirm, Isaac-san placed his hand on his forehead as if his head was hurting and hung his head. Wald-sama’s explanation was completely no good, wasn’t it?

Yeah, asking Wald-sama to teach me might have been a failure in itself.

“Takumi-san, I will be guiding you from here on out.”

“Isaac-san, please.”

Isaac-san who recovered told me he will be instructing me now, so I gratefully accepted.

“What!? Why!?”

“Everyone, Wald-sama said he will play with you, so be sure to keep him company with all you’ve got, okay~”

“”Yes~””

“Kyan.”

“Nnaa.”

“Pii.”

“Garun?”

After that, we ignored Wald-sama who was shouting in protest and the children who were slightly further away started charging at Wald-sama as soon as they were told.

“Whoaa! Wa, wait a moment~!”

The children would be bored just by watching my horseback riding practice after all. They would have fun if Wald-sama played with them.

“Like this, the children won’t be bored. We will get in the way of the children’s playing here, shall we move away a bit?”

“Let’s do that.”

Isaac-san nodded to my good judgment too, so we moved out of the way a little after urging Caterina.

After that, I have received Isaac-san’s guidance and his coaching was very easy to understand. How to mount a horse, where to hold the saddle, to be cautious not to pull on the reins, he gave me precise instructions. Thanks to that, I was able to safely obtain Horseback Riding skill.

Next, I tried riding while placing the children in front of me and we were able to safely ride together if it’s only one of them. If I practice several times more, I will be able to receive an authorization to move on the horse all the way to the capital.

That being the case, we have decided to move to the capital not on the carriage but on horseback instead, but as I thought, letting both Allen and Elena on would be impossible. I have to think measures for that, but...... would it be all right if it’s Isaac-san~?

Well, let’s think about it carefully.