"William! I missed you!!"
Chris-san brought William back from the stable and I immediately delved myself into William's neck, stroking the soft fur there.
Even though it had been a while since I last saw him, his fur was as beautiful as ever!
The stable really provided a good service for the horses!
"Ren-chan.. That smile.. If only you showed me that kind of smile as well.." Chris-san said dejectedly.
Hm?
What was he talking about?
That kind of smile?
I always laughed and smiled when I was with them though ?
"Look Ren, this is my Oscar. Won't you also greet him too?"
"Ren-kun, this kid is Viktor."
The other two also brought their horses.
The horse that Sig-san brought, had brown eyes, fur and horn.
I could see why Sig-san picked him, even though William was already big, Oscar was even bigger than William.
On the other side, Fer-san's horse had pure white fur, silver horn and his eye color was pink.
The color scheme looked a little bit.. Too cute for such a big horse.
Viktor was roughly the same size as William and judging from his name.. I guess Viktor was a male? Despite having such cute color scheme.. Really, he looked like a unicorn from children's book!
I approached the two large beast and right before I touched them I asked,"Uwah.. Oscar you look really cool and Viktor looks very adorable! I wonder if it's alright for me to touch you two?"
Oscar then leaned down and rubbed his snout on me, giving me his approval.
I stroked his brown fur, it was very silky and sleek like an expensive gossamer silk.
Looking at me caressing Oscar's fur, Viktor also approached me and nudged on my hand.
Of course, I also started to stroke Viktor's fur without hesitation.
"Fufufu~ The two of you are so cute! Thank you for giving me the permission to touch you~ Viktor's fur is so beautiful, pure white like a snow! Oscar's eyes is really beautiful as well, it's glimmering like a jewel!" I said happily.
"Ren-kun's expression looks so blissful. He really likes horses huh."
"No, Fer-san. Rather than horse, it's more like I love animals in general. Ah, these two kids are just so adorable! I'm so happy!"
I couldn't contain my excitement!
From now on, I will be together with these two horses, right?
I'm so happy!
"Ah, Ren is totally forgetting about us huh. Well Ren, looking at you admiring them is good and all but have you decided which horse do you want to hop on with?"
"Eh? I thought I will go with William?"
"It doesn't have to be William. We can attach the two seat saddle on whichever horse you want. It's okay if you choose William but.. If possible I want you to give us equal treatment as well.. It won't be fair if it's only William…" Fer-san muttered shyly.
Ah I see.
Because we were already engaged huh.
But.. I couldn't choose!
They were equally cute!
I loved every one of them!
"I can't choose.. William, Viktor and Oscar , they all are so beautiful and cute!"
"Ren-kun.. You love animals to that extend huh.. Okay then shall we decide by rock-paper-scissor again?"
"Can't be helped I guess." Sig-san answered with a shrug.
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After their rock-paper-scissor competition, it had been decided I will use Oscar first, then Viktor and William the last.
"Oscar! I will be in your care wuah-!"
Oscar licked my cheeks when I was stroking his brown mane.
Since Oscar was big, his tongue was also big.
My face was covered in Oscar's spit in an instant.
"Oscar! Ah, sorry Ren. Oscar is a little naughty.. Jeez, even though you're already 4 years old why are you still acting like a colt."
"No, it's alright. [Clean]. See? I'm clean now."
But Oscar was truly a mischievous one!
His face looked like a naughty child that managed to pull a prank successfully.
I had to be careful around him..
"Okay let's get you on Oscar now. C'mere Ren."
Sig-san put both of his hands below my armpits, pulled me up and put me on top of Oscar easily.
Wow, the view up here was really different than when I was riding on William.
The difference between their heights felt so distinctive like this.
After I was safely secured, Sig-san also propped himself up.
"Whoa, Ren you're so small huh. I feel like a giant compared to you."
"The difference between our physique is too great, that's why."
Sig-san was able to man-handle me easily when he helped me get on Oscar's saddle.
When I was riding with Chris-san, I felt like I was riding with a really tall friend of mine but with Sig-san..Rather than a tall friend..
I felt like riding with my father instead.
We looked exactly like a father and son together.
"Shall we move on now? After our first break, it will be Viktor's turn okay?" Fer-san called.
We had two hours before we need to reach our first rest area so we should be able to travel leisurely and enjoyed the sight a little bit.
The four of us then ushered our horse to start walking and thus began our journey home.
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"Ah~ I can see it~ Look there, that lake over there. We will take a break there~"
I was taken aback by Chris-san's word.
Being on top of Oscar was really comfortable that I started dozing off during our journey.
I shook my head lightly and saw at the direction Chris-san pointed.
Before my eyes was a huge and beautiful blue lake.
When I first came to Alsar, I also appeared in the forest near a lake but this lake right here, it was bigger and more sparkly than the one I saw before.
"Wow! What a big lake!" I exclaimed excitedly.
"Ren we will stop here, okay." Sig-san said as he descended from Oscar and helped me down as well.
"Wuah, the water feels cool..I want to swim in it.."
The weather was already growing hotter because it was already June.
Unlike the summer in Japan, it was not humid but it was still hot, especially during lunch hour when the sun was at its peak.
And I was not good with heat as well so summer time was pretty harsh for me.
I wanted to swim but I doubt my stamina would hold up for the rest of the journey.
I didn't want to get too tired so maybe I should rethink my decision.
"Ah but on second thought, maybe I shouldn't. I don't want to get too tired and there's a lake too near the forest in Pedrell so when we returned home, let's go swim there! I didn't know how I get transported to Alsar but that lake was the first thing I saw when I came to Alsar."
I took out the tent from my magic bag as I reminiscing my past life in Pedrell.
That forest was also the place where I gathered Lulu grass as well so I went there on daily basis but I never swam in the lake before because the weather was too cold for swimming.
The water in that lake was cool to touch and very clear as well.
It must've been fun swimming in it.
"Ooh?~ So that's the place where you first met Malik-san?"
"Yes. If I hadn't met Malik-san back then.. I didn't know whether I would be able to live comfortably like this.. I'm truly lucky to have met Malik-san. [Clean]."
When the tent was already set up, I took off my boots and used 'clean' on it and went into the tent.
Truly..
If it wasn't for Malik-san, I didn't think I would be able to get out of the forest.
Ever since I came to Alsar, I was very lucky to have been able to meet with kind hearted people.
And… I also able to meet with those three..
If Malik-san didn't call out to me, I wouldn't have met Chris-san and went to Calhea together with Chris-san.
If Malik-san didn't tell Fer-san and Sig-san about me, I wouldn't have met them as well.
"It is truly fortunate you've met with Malik-san. If by any chance a slave trader found you first… I wouldn't even dare to imagine the outcome.. And also, thanks to Malik-san I was able to meet with you, Ren-kun so I'm truly grateful as well."
"Eh?? A slave trader? That kind of thing exists in here??"
The three of us relaxed inside the tent.
I was really surprised to know slave trader existed in Alsar.
"Yes it does although slave trading is illegal here. Pedrell has a good public order so I don't think you would be able to meet with one but still, it wouldn't hurt to be careful. Especially in place where the public order is not as good as Pedrell. Ren-kun is very beautiful so a slave trader might targeted you." Fer-san said with serious expression, his brow creased together as he told me about the slave trader.
"That.. I think rather than beautiful, because I'm small it must've been easier to capture me. I'm an easy prey that's why I will be targeted."
Even though I was already an adult, my physique was like a child in people's viewpoint.
I had to be careful so I won't get kidnapped!
"Well when we get you an ear cuff, they would think twice before kidnapping you though. After all if someone's spouse disappear so suddenly, their partner would search into the end of the world for them, right? You can also determine the location of your spouse through ear cuff and communicate with them. The slave trader will have to cut off the ear to dispose the ear cuff since the ear cuff for married person couldn't be taken off. There's no one that would buy a slave with missing ear like that, even if there's one the slave's price would become very cheap. Most slave trader won't want to go to that extend for damaged goods so it will be alright, Ren-chan~" Chris-san explained.
Uwah, a slave trader was really scary huh..
But I didn't know an ear cuff could also work as security measurement as well.
Eh but if you couldn't took a married person ear cuff, than what about the divorced couple?
Did they had to keep the ear cuff or ?
"So the ear cuff couldn't be taken off at all?"
"Nah, you can go to the church to take it off. A divorced couple has to go to the church to take it off and I heard the ordeal is pretty complicated. Ah but if you want to attach the ear cuff, it doesn't have to be in church, anywhere is fine as long both parties has mutual agreements." Sig-san explained.
Ah I see..
So you couldn't just say 'I want a divorce!' and had the ear cuff taken off so easily.
"Ah!~ Speaking of ear cuff, when we arrive in Pedrel let's order the ear cuffs soon!~ We couldn't get the wedding ear cuff yet but at least we can still have the engagement ear cuff for now~"
"There's a thing like wedding vow ear cuff and engagement vow ear cuff?!"
So it was like engagement ring and wedding ring?
"Yup yup!~ Wedding ear cuff is like a visible proof that you're married to someone and you put it on your left ear. For engagement ear cuff, you put it on your right ear. Both ear cuff will have gems in the same color as the companion's eye color. I never had that kind of thing before so I'm really excited to have one ~"
"Well since the engagement period is pretty short, most people doesn't bother with engagement cuff."
Ah that was right, they did say the engagement period in Alsar was short.
So they weren't tricking me then.
It would be a waste to order a cuff if the engagement period was so short anyway.
"I want to have matching ear cuff with Ren-kun. It wouldn't hurt us to order it and it would be safer for Ren-kun if he has concrete proof that he's promised to someone."
Ah, I would truly felt at ease if I had one.
But.. I didn't know whether I had enough money in hand..
I didn't know how much money I would've gained from this quest as well.
Since the three of them had plenty of money, I would felt bad if they had to order a cheaper one because of my financial situations..
"I think it would suit Ren more if he has a small ear cuff."
"That's right~ If it's too big, it would look weird on Ren-chan."
"What kind of design would be best then.. We need a cuff that is small for Ren-kun but still able to hold on to 3 gemstones."
The three of them started to discuss about the ear cuff design.
I went outside to start prepping our lunch.
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Horse Introduction!
Name : Viktor
Age : 4 years old
Fur color : white
Eyes color : pink
Horn color : silver
Fer's favourite horse. Viktor is a well mannered and docile horse.
Name : Oscar
Age : 4 years old
Fur, eyes, horn color : brown
Sig's favourite horse. Oscar is a rather mischievous and full of curiosity.