‘Hoo. I feel a little better after having a proper meal.’
For the past three days, Klisha had taken the shortest route from Schmarin territory to the capital city of Zekrit and rushed with her horse with minimal breaks in between. Because of that, she had no choice but to take the rough road that crossed through the mountains, valleys, and fields.
Naturally, sleeping under the open sky was a given. After finishing all the dry food that her nanny had packed for her, she had to hunt twice for her meals.
The nanny must have thought that she would naturally travel through major cities and take the main road to reach the capital. So undoubtedly, she had packed more money than food in her small bag!
For the impatient Klisha, a safe journey was not a consideration.
‘It was good that I learned the art of stone throwing.’
If she hadn’t caught rabbits and pheasants in the mountains with her excellent stone throwing, both she and Shukrim would have gone hungry the entire way.
Perhaps because it had been a long time since she hunted barehanded, when she failed the first two times, the disdainful look on Shukrim’s eyes was really bothersome.
“Shukrim, if I had brought a bow, I would have caught them already. Have you forgotten my nickname is the Red Archer of Schmarin? It’s just because I don’t have a bow today.”
Every time her stone missed its target, she glared at her fidgety horse in frustration, feeling humiliated a dozen times over. Shukrim even started shaking his head, and a sigh mixed with snorts was an added bonus.
‘What the hell do you think of your master? Judging by his behaviour, it seems like he thinks he is the master, not me.’
When she threw a stone feeling frustrated and angry, it successfully hit a passing pheasant.
“Oh, look over there! Shukrim, haven’t I mentioned before? I said I’d catch one didn’t I? We can’t die yet.”
Klisha gathered some dry branches and made a campfire. She prepared food for Shukrim, and settled down in a suitable place using the dark sky as a blanket.
“They say suffering chases you once you leave home. Wow, I’m really going through a rough time, thanks to someone high and mighty who doesn’t even know what suffering is.”
When I get to the capital. I’d really need to settle the score.
But currently.
“Haa. Really, properly seasoned food is much more delicious.”
Indeed, the quality of the food was as expected from a luxurious inn. Although, given how hungry she was, anything would taste delicious.
Klisha put down the bowl of soup she had scraped all the way to the bottom and patted her full belly.
‘But… I wonder if Shukrim has eaten. That guy. He wouldn’t even put hay in his mouth.’
Klisha got up from her seat and opened the large glass window next to her bed.
A cool breeze that relieved the heat of the hot summer day gently brushed over Klisha’s fair forehead.
Klisha gazed down at the cityscape of midsummer shrouded in darkness, and muttered to herself.
“A carnivorous horse… if he gets caught, it’ll be all over.”
An ordinary horse doesn’t eat meat.
Which means Shukrim was no ordinary horse.
Shukrim is a hybrid of the descendants of the continent’s famous beast, the water horses, and the dragons that rule the plains. Although he resembles a horse, he is actually a rare creature whose personal breeding is prohibited in the Empire.
Not only is it difficult to tame, but breeding is even more challenging. Just one horse can cost at least as much as ten ordinary houses, so it isn’t usually used just for simple transportation.
It is also picky about its food. Training them is also incredibly difficult. However, there is a reason why they are the dream companion of every knight and a high-status nobles as these creatures are directly managed by the Royal Family.
It has endless stamina that doesn’t tire out even after running for a hundred days.
And its lifespan is as long as a human.
Moreover, if they inherit the perceptiveness of a dragon and the communicative ability of a waterhorse beast, they are capable of handling a hundred ordinary warhorses with ease.
Well, Shukrim was a creature which is a subspecies of a subspecies. He doesn’t have any notable traits apart from being carnivorous.
‘Carnivorous should also be considered an ability, after all. It’s amazing to watch a horse eat meat.’
Klisha found Shukrim during the territorial wars on the Karion Plains. At that time, he was just an unruly foal.
The newly born cub of the famously proud beast hybrid had spent days without food after losing its mother. Enchanted by a single piece of roasted rabbit that Klisha offered, he followed her to the garrison like a fool and began staying there.
Klisha named him Shukrim after seeing his spotless, pure white fur.
[T/N: Shukrim means ‘Cream puff’.]
At the time, everyone around praised the name as fitting and complimented her naming skills, which made her feel inexplicably proud despite her young age.
‘Later, I discovered that real cream puffs were actually yellow.’
It wasn’t like they had the luxury to have cream puffs.
As Klisha recalled her old life in the garrison, the corners of her mouth automatically went up.
The devastation left by the prolonged war was nothing to be desired, but for young Klisha, the memories of the garrison and the battlefield weren’t all that bad.
As she grew older, she came to realize how difficult it was to have good memories in a warzone.
Sacrifices of countless lives and invisible consideration left behind.
Klisha recalled her ‘self-proclaimed’ relatives who risked their lives for her, and also her older soldier brothers.
‘I wonder how they are doing. I miss them.’
After the war, Klisha returned to Schmarin territory with her father and haven’t had the chance to meet most of her relatives again, except for a few.
Each had their own job to take care of, and since her father was firm in his belief that mingling with those who shared the scars of war would only delay returning to normal life, it was clear why they did not recontact.
Perhaps because it had been a long time since she was so far from home, Klisha found herself more often lost in thought than usual.
‘…I should go to bed early today. I guess I can wash up tomorrow.’
Klisha roughly cleaned up the dishes, placed them outside the door before lying down on the bed.
As Klisha lay down on the comfortable bedding after a long time, she was so quickly overcome by sleep that she had no chance to think about anything else.
‘Mmm… My Shukrim… must be hungry. I’ll bring some meat early tomorrow. Just hold on a little longer… Humm….’
Klisha’s mumbling wasn’t audible, barely a whisper.
Which was a good sign to those who were hiding in the darkness and listening.
It meant that the sleeping pill mixed into the food had started to take effect.
Those who had been exchanging hurried hand signals in the hidden space behind the partition soon dispersed in their respective directions.
* * *
「Tomma Horses」
A ‘horse management specialist’ based in the commercial city of Myuta, also well-known as the paradise for travelers.
Not only for travelers but also merchants, mercenaries, ronin, soldiers, couriers, news carriers, various errand runners, and problem-solvers.
This small gateway city, situated near the capital, was always bustling with people, events, horses, and money.
Tomma Ryuiken, the third son of one of the most prominent Ryuiken Merchants on the continent, who was praised as a brilliant merchant since childhood.
In the City of Myuta, many franchises bearing Tomma’s name were seen thriving all around. These included not only traditional businesses of the trading company, such as the horse management specialist [Tomma Horses], the bank and loan company [Tomma & Currency], also the manpower provision specialist [Tomma Personalized Guards] and many more.
Recently, there have been various stores such as [TM25], which prides itself on overnight operations, [Tomma’s Bakery], which focuses on cost-effectiveness despite its average taste, and [Tomma’s Vegetable Store], which boasts same-day delivery directly from the produced source, among others.
In the Myuta City, almost 70% of the businesses were monopolized by a single company, including at least 30% of illegal operations like money laundering, human trafficking, stolen goods trading, information trading, stock markets, horse racing tracks, and gambling establishments.
And the name was.
TOMMA HOLDINGS CORP.
Remarkably, all these changes occurred in just the span of five or six years at most. People often think the advances were legendary in the industry, and they also believed that it stemmed from the exceptional intellect and bold investments of Tomma Ryuiken, the founder and major shareholder of Tomma Holdings.
Needless to say, behind this was the enormous financial power of the Ryuiken upper echelons.
All freedom comes from wealth, and wealth breeds corrupt power.
Even the arrogant Count Martin, who has held the position of Mayor in the commercially thriving city of Myuta, which was no different from a goose that laid golden eggs, for a remarkable 13 years, was also so polite and deferential to the point of being extremely courteous to Tomma Ryuiken, a commoner.
In Myuta City, ‘Tomma Ryuiken’ was more than just a name for a tycoon; it was akin to a well-known brand that led the city.
“Master. Where are you staring at so intently? Is there a problem outside the window?”
The butler placed a cold glass of iced tea on the table as he asked.
“Something a little… strange.”
“Strange?”
“That creature over there. Isn’t that a beast hybrid horse?”
The young man with black hair and red eyes unfolded his arms and perched himself on the window sill.
From the smooth bridge of his nose beneath his elegantly arched eyebrows to his sharp jawline.
No matter how much one might exaggerate, the young man, who looked to be in his early to mid-twenties, looked devilishly handsome with a slight smile at the corners of his mouth.
“Find out who the owner is. It’s been a while since I’ve seen something interesting.”
In the direction where the young man was gazing at, stood a steed with pristine white fur. It was none other than our dear Shukrim, eyeing the dried meats displayed at the butcher shop across the street and smacking his lips.
* * *
Several hands moved busily in the darkness that was faintly brightening by the approaching dawn.
‘Have you made thorough preparation?’
‘What kind of preparations do you need for a mere kid who’s also sleeping?’
Snap.
‘Keep quiet. Have you gone crazy?’
Relying on the faint light of the table lamp, the people moving cautiously exchanged hand signals and kept glancing to check whether the excellent prey was truly asleep or just pretending, while they rummaged through his bundles.
Myuta was undoubtedly a safe city for travellers, but that was only true for those travelling in groups, those with exceptional strength, or those…. who were too impoverished to rob.
Take this rich young man as an example, who was sleeping soundly in a strange place without a care in the world. If someone were to travel alone at such a young age without any companion, it was definite that they would fall prey to dangerous people, not only in Myuta but also in the capital city of Zekrit.
[T/N: Keep in mind that the MC has taken the disguise of a young man. So I’ll be using the pronoun ‘he’ for other people’s POV but ‘she’ for herself.]
‘There’s quite a bit of gold coins in the bundle.’
‘Should I look through the undergarments too?’
‘Look at this bracelet. It’s not extravagantly decorative, but it may be worth some money if we sell it.’
‘How about that guy? He’s quite handsome… Maybe we might fetch a good price at a slave market by selling him?’
Clang.
‘!’
‘!’
As the boy was tossing and turning in his sleep, the table lamp next to the bed fell to the ground.
“Mmmnyammyan…Yummy.”
Fortunately, the boy didn’t wake up from the noise. After tossing and turning a few times, he turned his back to the wall and fell back asleep.
‘Whew, I was startled.’
‘Don’t panic. Don’t panic. With the amount of sleeping pills we put in, even an elephant wouldn’t wake up for 12 hours.’
The intruders, who continued their conversation while gesturing with their hands and feet, began to search through Klisha’s luggage with more cautious movement and stealth.
Not noticing the lazy gaze of the beast observing its prey from behind.
