And just then, as if on cue—for better or for worse—Matthew walks into the guild.
Since I’m the one making the request this time, I suppose it’s good timing, but I still sort of wish the gatekeeper had offered to teach me instead.
“Matthew!” Lena calls him over.
Agh… Time to brace myself!
“What is it?” Matthew asks, tilting his head as he looks at me and Lena at the counter.
“I’d like you to take on a request from Ms. Zoe.”
As she speaks, Lena hands Matthew the request form she’s just filled out.
“Huh? Horse handling? Not horseback riding?”
“Well, it would be good to learn how to ride, too, but she says she wants to learn how to care for the horse, how to put on a saddle, and how to hitch and drive a wagon before all that.”
Matthew looks a little surprised but gives a nod.
“Yeah, alright,” he agrees, and we head outside the guild together.
“You can go now!” I say to the boy who was watching my horse, giving him another copper penny.
“Hey, that’s a nice horse,” Matthew remarks, gently patting its neck. “Why isn’t it wearing a bridle?” he asks, noticing the simple rope around its neck.
“That’s the first thing I need you to teach me.”
I thought he’d make fun of me for not even knowing that. Instead, he just says, “It’ll be hard to do it here. Let’s go to my boarding house,” and starts leading the horse by its rope.
He’s not a bad person!
But I still don’t like the feeling of being indebted to him. I’m paying him for the request, but still.
Besides, the horse looks way happier trotting along with Matthew than he ever did with me.
“Can you ride, Matthew?”
“Sure, I can ride just fine.”
Is it because he’s the village chief’s son?
“Most farm families have at least one horse,” he explains. “They use them to pull wagons or plow the fields.”
So poor farmers don’t have them?
Well, the apprentice of the Great Forest Witch certainly hasn’t needed one until now.
“This is my boarding house. There’s a stable out back, so I’ll teach you there.”
It’s a pretty impressive house. I figured he wasn’t staying in one of those cheap inns where all the other adventurers stay, but I guess this is what you get for being the village chief’s son.
“Alright, first let’s put on the saddle and bridle. They’re in the basket, right?”
I pull the full set of tack—saddle, bridle, and all—out of my wicker basket.
“Wow, that’s a nice saddle!”
I can’t tell good tack from bad, but Selina’s the one who bought it, so it’s probably high-quality.
“Zoe, are you planning on making this horse pull a wagon?”
“Yes, that’s why I bought him. Wait, is that bad?”
Matthew leads me into the stables and shows me a proper draft horse used for pulling wagons. He’s so brawny!
“I think your horse is a fine riding horse. He’s not a warhorse like a knight would ride, but he’s the kind of horse a noble or a rich person would have for pleasure riding. I’m guessing he must’ve been expensive.”
“So he can’t pull a wagon?”
“He couldn’t do it for long hours, but I think he’d be fine for a trip from here to Lang Village. It’s a bit of a waste, though.”
Selina! A cheaper horse would’ve been just fine!
“If he can pull a wagon, then that’s all that matters!”
I’ll be teleporting to a town near the Royal Capital, so it’s not like he’ll have to pull it for long distances.
“The saddle is easier, so let’s start with that!” Matthew says.
“Wait, not the bridle?”
“Getting the bit into their mouth is tricky for a beginner.”
I leave that part to him.
He’s right, the saddle just seems to involve placing it on the horse’s back and tightening the girth around its belly.
Then, he begins his explanation of the headstall and the bit for the bridle.
“First, you drape the reins over the horse’s neck from the side. Then you hold the horse’s face, slip the headstall over its head, and put the bit in its mouth. You pull the ears through the headstall, pull out the forelock, and you’re done!”
He makes it look so smooth, but that’s probably just because he’s used to horses.
Sticking your fingers in a horse’s mouth seems terrifying.
“Look, see here at the corner of his mouth? There are no teeth… if you put your finger in here, he’ll open up.”
I see! I think, but when I fumble around with it, the horse gets nervous and starts to fidget.
“Halt!” I blurt out without thinking.
“Zoe, was that magic?!”
Matthew’s eyes are sparkling.
Oops! I’m not supposed to use magic carelessly in front of people.
“Keep it a secret, okay?” I ask him.
By the end of the half-day, I’ve managed to put on the saddle and bridle, but I’m still a long way from being able to ride. And apparently, hitching a wagon is a whole different process.
I spend the rest of the day learning how to care for the horse. Learning how to drive the wagon will have to wait until tomorrow.
What, is that taking too long? This is my first time even touching a horse!
And besides, he’s perfectly calm when Matthew handles him, but he fights me every step of the way.
“Zoe, you have to brush him properly and show him some affection!”
Tomorrow, we’re going to hitch him to the boarding house’s wagon and take a drive to Lang Village. It seems like it’s impossible to learn without actually trying to drive a wagon.
Twenty pennies for today and tomorrow! It’s a pretty painful expense, but it can’t be helped.
When I think about it, it’s better this way than accidentally using magic in front of some gatekeeper I don’t even know. Matthew is the better choice.
“And you have to give the horse a name!” he adds.
“What? But I decided not to name the livestock.”
Matthew’s face darkens a little, as if he’s remembering a time when he named one of his own farm animals as a child.
“A horse is different from livestock! If you don’t get along with him, he won’t obey your commands.”
Apparently, people only eat horses if they’re on the brink of starvation.
Yeah, no thanks… I’m not about to eat a horse either.
“Oh. In that case, maybe it’s okay to give him a name!”
We agree to meet the next day, and I somehow manage to clamber onto the horse’s back and ride him to the edge of the Great Forest.
My bottom is sore, but I guess I’ll get used to it. I teleport us near the cabin.
This horse really does hate teleporting; his ears are pinned flat against his head.
“I think teleporting is an easier way to travel for you, too!” I tell him.
I manage to dismount using a stone as a step. Getting on is easier with a mounting block, too. Matthew just hops on and off so effortlessly.
Matthew gave me an old brush, so after I put the horse in the cowshed, I take off the saddle and bridle and try to groom him.
I thought it would be easier to just use Purification, but if he says this will help us bond, I guess I oughta try.
“Hey, Selina! Can I give the horse a name?”
Selina looks as if she’s become one with the sofa. Probably hasn’t even eaten lunch.
She thinks for a moment before answering.
“Yes, I suppose it’s fine to give a horse a name. And you’ll have to train him to come when you call. It wasn’t in the textbook… but I think there was a book on taming somewhere.”
Oh, great. This just keeps getting more and more complicated!
I tell her what Matthew said about the horse. “Oh, and by the way, I’m told that horse is a high-class riding horse. He’s apparently not suited for pulling a wagon?”
It seems Selina didn’t know that either.
“That boy has no sense at all! Since I bought a used wagon, he should have provided a horse to pull it! Is that any way to manage a household? He’s so absent-minded! Don’t young people these days ever use their heads?”
It sounds like she’s bad-mouthing the heir to her family estate. It must be her nephew’s generation, not her sibling’s.
Compared to Selina, I guess almost everyone is a “young person.”
“Maybe he thought you were going to be the one riding him?” I suggest.
“That might be,” she concedes, ceasing her tirade. “You can decide on a name, Zoe. But shouldn’t you read that taming book first? If you give him some long, complicated name, you’ll have trouble calling him.”
Nope. I’m not gonna give him a long, complicated name.