Chapter 48 : The smell of a large-sized pet from the horse market

The next morning, Hetty-san and Rebecca-san came to pick me up.
The horse market started in the morning.
I guess it was probably because most of the good horses would generally be sold out by early afternoon. As such, if one wanted to acquire good horses, it would be best to go there in the morning.

Nevertheless, I had not expected them to come at 6 a.m. If I hadn’t noticed Marina making pantomime gestures in front of the mirror, I might have taken my sweet time messing around in my room until 8 a.m. rolled around. It was fortunate that I had set the alarm for 6 a.m..

When I showed up in the mansion’s living room, the two of them seemed to have been engrossed in some kind of discussion for some time.

“It’s better to limit our choices to male horses.”

“The horses won’t be used on a battlefield, so female horses are obviously better.”

“We need to make sure to have horse hooves that are made purely of mithril.”

“What should we do about the horse’s armour?”

“Didn’t I just say that we’re not preparing the horses for a battlefield!?”

The two of them seriously got along well together.

After that we took some time with a little preparation, so it was already close to 8 a.m. by the time we reached the horse market. The reason being that I had thought we should put on suitable horse riding attire before we left. However, when I told Diana and Marina to wear the UNIQLO clothing I got for them the other time, Diana came out with the same exact clothing combination as the previous time, and since I had to pick the clothes for Marina as well, we were delayed as a result.
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The market had already begun, and there were probably no less than a hundred livestock, mainly horses, lined up.

Well, more or less, horses…I originally thought that only horses that could be ridden would be for sale, but there were also farm horses, buffaloes, donkeys and ponies available for purchase too. (Although, in my eyes, farm horses and riding horses look the same, and I couldn’t really tell the difference between donkeys and ponies as well)

There were merchants who brought nearly thirty donkeys, surprising me at the demand for donkeys in this world.

“That’s because donkeys are cheaper than horses. They can be used to transport goods, for riding, and it doesn’t take a long time to raise them. Their milk is drinkable too.” [Hetty]

Certainly, purchasing expensive horses that could run fast might be useless to the majority of people who are living a normal life. To put it into perspective, I guess it could be akin to the difference between a K-car and a sports car in j.a.pan.

At any rate, the purpose today is to purchase horses. They need to be riding horses too. Donkeys are cute, but riding a donkey around would look quite stupid.
Nevertheless, neither me nor Diana or Marina could discern between young or old horses. As such, I decided to essentially leave the task of selecting the horses to Hetty-san and Rebecca-san.

“White horses are better. Let’s get white horses.” [Diana]

I chose to look the other way.

It’s not as if we’re a group of chindonya. (1) White horses are hardly available for sale and Diana as it is, has already stood out. Hence if one conspicuous looking person were to ride another conspicuous looking horse, wouldn’t the effect be catastrophic? As her master, this was something that I couldn’t possibly permit.

While Marina, on the other hand….

.

“M-Marina is fine with just that. That one is good enough.” [Marina]

She pointed at a donkey. As I thought, I should ignore it too.
Although, I did tell Rebecca-san that I preferred a black one for myself, just in case. Then I could name it Kokuoh-Go… (2)

Even though it was said to be a horse market, there didn’t seem to be many people who were actually purchasing the horses. There were still quite a number of them available even after 10 a.m. I don’t really know what the prices of the horses are since the buyers negotiated with the merchants directly (after all, there are no price tags attached), but it was certain that the value of a horse would be incomparable to a donkey.

In fact, donkeys were actually sold like hot cakes. If there were, for example, 30 donkeys up for sale at one point, around 20 of them would be sold off within the blink of an eye. That was the extent of their popularity.

Hetty-san and Rebecca-san were preoccupied with inspecting the horses carefully one by one, as if they were purchasing it for themselves. Hetty-san, who was test riding the horses while still in her maid clothing, stuck out like a sore thumb.

“I felt like getting one too.” [Rebecca]

On the other side, Rebecca-san was bombarding the horse merchant with various questions as well.

I did not expect the two of them to be in such high spirits… On the contrary, Diana and Marina were completely uninvolved even though they were dressed in their horse riding attires.
Well, Hetty-san and Rebecca-san are like a pair of professionals in this area, so it was right to leave it to them so that no problems would arise.
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Thus, Hetty-san and Rebecca-san were, at that moment, having a discussion in front of a certain horse.

“….What do you think, Becky?” [Hetty]

“Let’s see… I think this one’s really good too, but will the budget be alright, Hetty? You did say that it was left to personal discretion, but there should still be a certain limit, shouldn’t it?” [Rebecca]

“To be honest, the budget is quite tight… But you should understand that it will not be an unwise decision to acquire valuable a.s.sets like horses even though it might be a little difficult on the budget, right?” [Hetty]

“It’s not like Jirou will be going to a battlefield, isn’t it?” [Rebecca]

“That might be true, but merchants are exposed to a lot of dangers too. If they are attacked by bandits on the road, the strength of the horses’ legs can determine the outcome between life and death.” [Hetty]

“If they really are attacked by bandits, the strength of the horses’ legs would probably be the least of their concerns.” [Rebecca]

“Oh my, scary. Knight-sama doesn’t seem to know she could handle any horse easily by utilizing the effect of her vocation.” [Hetty]

“I-It doesn’t really have anything to do with my vocation, does it-?” [Rebecca]

“It does have something to do with it. Any packhorse ridden by you will become a fine horse. For the sake of protecting their masters, they’ll be able to escape from any bandits or demon beasts.” [Hetty]

“…Umm….Aren’t all horses like that?” [Rebecca]

“Seriously, this Becky. There are indeed horses like that, but there are also quite a number of them that are easily frightened over little things and become immobilized, and ones that become uncontrollable too.” [Hetty]

“Is that so… So that’s why they’re buying expensive horses…” [Rebecca]

“Otherwise, what did you think was the reason?” [Hetty]

“Like, maybe they wanted to show off.” [Rebecca]

“Oh you.” [Hetty]

Before the two people, there were three identical warhorses that appeared as if they were siblings. Their age is roughly between two to three years old.

One of them has a grey body and metallic coloured mane and tail. This little fellow seems to be a dapple-grey horse so the colour of its body will probably turn white before long. (3) The other one has blackish body (dark brown, I guess) with black mane and tail. Strictly speaking, it is cla.s.sified as a brown coat horse, or something like that. It looks cute since only its forehead and hooves are white. There are hairs growing on the hooves too. Cute.
The last one also has a grey body albeit slightly darker, a black mane, as well as a black tail. This one seems to be a black coat horse. This fellow also has a white star shaped mark on its forehead.

There were exactly three good horses for sale and Hetty-san appeared to have decided on these three, but the prices seemed quite high.
I was personally happy about it (after all, there was a black horse available!), but purchasing such expensive ones would still cause a heartache. It was making me worried, wondering if it would really be alright for them to be taking such good care of me just to support Diana’s guidance. Rather, why was I so concerned about it in the first place?

“Jirou-sama, these horses seem like the best ones in this city. The bloodlines are good too. They seemed to have received training and there doesn’t appear to be any problem with their age either.” [Hetty]

How about it? Naturally, there was no objection from here. It was just the matter of budget though…. It would be quite a hefty sum of money to buy three of the best horses in the city…

“It’ll only be 20 gold coins. This is the final price calculated after the discount.”

“20 gold coins, is it?… Erm, is it really alright?” [Jirou]

“It will not be a problem.” [Hetty]

20 gold coins would be 3 million yen. In other words, each horse would cost 1 million yen (and that was after discount).
……No, well, I actually don’t know the price of horses in the open market, but it seemed fine… Although, if you were to think about it, even dogs or cats sold in pet shops cost more than 100,000 yen. Thus, it would be natural that fine horses were expensive as well. Or rather, they were actually quite cheap…?
Not to mention, as a set, each horse comes with a saddle and reins. As Hetty-san had said, “They were quite a bargain”.

For that reason, we decided to buy all three horses. As a service, they also included a grooming brush and oil in the purchase.

Well, although it was a promise, it was still a fantasy itself to be able to own such huge creatures!
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We brought the horses back down along the main road.
During that time, Diana, Marina and I were listening to the knowledge about horse care from Rebecca-san and Hetty-san.

“It might be fine to have someone take care of the horses, but I think it would be good to brush the horses yourself daily, at the very least. If you ride the horse just like that, without even taking some time to care for it…it might not recognize you as its owner.” [Hetty]

“That’s true. A horse is an important partner. The three of you need to properly take care of your own horses, alright?” [Rebecca]

“Yes. So to take care of it daily, I need to feed it, brush it, clean the stable….erm, what else are there?” [Jirou]

“Another important thing would be to put your horses out to pasture. There is hardly anyone who would come to our place. We usually let our horses out as well, so there shouldn’t be any problem for you to leave yours out at our place too.” [Rebecca]

“Put them out to pasture? So it’s like letting the horses out to roam freely? Should we really do that? Wouldn’t they wander off somewhere…?” [Jirou]

“It’ll be fine if you gradually teach them. Horses are smart, so they wouldn’t disappear by themselves.” [Rebecca]

“What should I do about the horse feeds?” [Jirou]

“Normally we order hay or wheat and to have them delivered from the village on a regular basis, so Jirou should do the same too. Horses feed on wild gra.s.s when they are left out in a pasture as well, so you don’t need to be that worried about their food.” [Rebecca]

“Next would be salt, right? I’ll be preparing this.” [Hetty]

“And you’ll need to prepare straw in the stable as well.” [Rebecca]

“I want a horse!” Since there are no other means of transportation here, I could easily blurt that line out without qualms. However, it is worth noting that keeping three large animals are by no means a simple thing. Far from being an easy task, it is actually a troublesome one.
Nonetheless, Hetty-san and Rebecca-san still seemed to be strangely enjoying it.

“Erm, do the two of you like horses?” [Jirou]

“”I like them.”” [Rebecca & Hetty](4)

Just as I expected.
Read the chapters at rinkagetranslation.com. The chapters for this series will NOT be posted anywhere else other than on that site itself. If you are reading this from somewhere else then this is chapter has been stolen

Read the chapters at rinkagetranslation.com. The chapters for this series will NOT be posted anywhere else other than on that site itself. If you are reading this from somewhere else then this is chapter has been stolen
We arrived back at the mansion and put the horses into the stable.
After placing the feed and water bucket for the horses, we immediately headed towards the nearby village to purchase straw for the stable.

The name of the village is…..I have a feeling that I have heard of it before in the guild, but it’s slipped my mind. Although, even if it is said to be a village, there are actually around 100 households in that area. However, its scale is still incomparable to a city like Erishe.

When I heard that it was a village, I had the impression that it was a relatively small area with numerous houses cl.u.s.tered together, but the houses in this village were scattered over quite the wide area. Well, it was probably because there was no need to force yourself to live close to other people, as the roads and towns are nearby; and security concerns are relatively low.

Now then, since I was already making a trip to the village, I guess I should finish up whatever errands I have in mind that I should do there as well.

(1) Chindonya It is also used in a figurative way to describe something that really stands out in a bad way.
(2) Kokuoh-Go (黒王号) literally “Black King” is a giant black stallion that Roah rides on from the manga/anime, “Fist of the North Star”.
(3) The colour on dapple-grey horses will turn lighter as they age due to the greying process. Some might take longer, but not all become completely white. 
(4) ED note: *Internal screaming* Two people saying something together, but each are saying it as individuals.