Lord of Caldera

Chapter 16 Fetching A Pony

While the mercenaries were busy pillaging, Sylas and Roderick stayed at the village chief's house. It was the best house in the village. After examining Roderick's wound, Sylas spoke up.

"The wound has almost healed, so it won't take long until you're fully recovered."

In fact, there was no need for medicine anymore. Just leaving it to natural healing would be sufficient for a full recovery in about a week.

"That's a relief. Now we can take you along, my lord."

Roderick replied with a noticeably brighter expression. He seemed to feel much more at ease after finding his prized horse and equipment while searching through the village. It was fortunate that the village chief had not been able to sell the expensive items quickly.

At that moment, Roderick seemed to remember something and turned to Gaiden.

"By the way, Gaiden, do we have a cart?"

"A cart?"

"We can't have my lord walking like this."

Gaiden looked at Roderick as if he were dumbfounded.

"Am I supposed to be a fortune teller? How was I supposed to know to prepare a cart before even finding my lord?"

"Well, that's true."

After all, they were searching for Sylas. There was no way to have a cart ready to drag around beforehand. However, Gaiden's true feelings were a bit different.

"Damn it, I was actually planning to make him walk."

Originally, he had intended to give Sylas all sorts of humiliation on the orders of the Countess. But now, it seemed they had to treat him with all due respect. The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. Roderick uttered a comment that made Gaiden even more frustrated.

"There's no helping it. You have to get a cart."

"What?!"

"A cart, I said. We need it right now."

"Why do I have to...?"

Gaiden looked at Roderick in disbelief. But Roderick responded with a demeanor that seemed to ask what the problem was.

"I can't go myself due to my injury, and my lord is out of the question from the start. So you have no choice but to use the mercenaries to bring one."@@@@

As he was speaking, a scheme popped into Gaiden's mind. If things went well, he might be able to embarrass that unworthy bastard he disliked.

"What, sir? You want a cart?"

"No, not a cart. Get a pony from somewhere nearby."

"A pony?"

"Yeah, preferably a gentle one."

The mercenary, bewildered but accepting the note, nodded. He didn't fully understand why, but since it was his employer's request, he had no choice but to comply. Watching the mercenary walk away, Gaiden smirked.

'That guy has been running wild until now. Let's see how he handles this.'

There was no need to show any malicious intent. A few "mistakes" would embarrass him without raising any inquiries. Even if something went wrong, the bastard and Roderick wouldn't be able to question him.

***

The next morning, Roderick's eyes widened at Gaiden's suggestion.

"Teach the young master how to ride a horse?"

"Yes."

Caught off guard by the unexpected proposal, Roderick was puzzled. Horse riding was an essential skill for nobles. It was something that had to be learned whether one liked it or not. So why was he insisting on teaching it now?

"I told the mercenary to fetch a cart, but who knows if he'll find a suitable one. So, I told him to at least get a horse if he couldn't find a cart."

"If there's no cart, shouldn't we go elsewhere to find one?"

"Sir Roderick, we're not planning to stay in this remote place forever, are we? How much time would we waste just trying to find the right cart?"

"Hmm."

Faced with a valid argument, Roderick fell silent. Indeed, they couldn't spend over a month searching for a single carriage. If the supplies in the village ran out, the mercenaries would start grumbling too.

"Even if it's not a cart, a horse would still present a dignified image. As long as it's not for long distances, teaching him light riding should be enough."

"That's true, but..."

"If it really concerns you, he can ride the horse only for short distances, and we can find a cart in a nearby town. For now, let's at least teach him to ride, just in case."

"...All right."