"This horse’s na is Smarty."
"........."
"........."
"........."
I declared this to the four mbers of the hero's party gathered in front of while holding onto Smarty’s reins.
The na of this impressive black horse is Smarty, and the reason is simple.
Because it's really smart.
"Are you serious?"
I tilted my head slightly at Raphaelia’s question.
"Seriously?"
"I an… is that really the horse's na, Smarty?"
"Yes."
Because it is smart.
"Our mage can't na things, huh…"
"Ah, ahaha..."
What’s with their reactions?
I looked at the hero in confusion. Isn't it the protagonist's job to manage the heroines?
But even the hero was avoiding my gaze.
"Smarty, you like your na, right? Huh? ... Huh?"
Reluctantly, I turned to ask the horse directly, only to see Smarty taking a few steps back.
It was stamping its hooves on the ground and shaking its head vigorously as if trying to get free of the reins.
"… Smarty?"
Snort!
Not a voice recognition system, and as soon as I called it Smarty, it beca irritable.
I was quite shocked by this reaction.
Was this really the sa horse that had been looking at with cute eyes just a mont ago, pleading for rescue?
"Is it really that… bad?"
In the end, it turned its head away coldly without looking in the eyes.
I had no allies in this situation.
"… It’s not that you completely dislike it. But wouldn’t it be better to have multiple options to choose from?"
It seed my attempt to speak kindly was ant to show consideration, but it didn’t ease my feelings.
With my shoulders drooping, I walked past the four of them and headed back to the inn.
I sensed so surprise from behind, but I tried my best to ignore it.
For now, I needed to act as if I was sulking. I was definitely not genuinely upset.
"Lu, Louis."
Aria tried to follow after the mage, her expression filled with disappointnt.
"Aria, don’t go. Even so, Smarty was too much..."
Raphaelia grabbed Aria, stopping her.
Given Aria's kind-hearted nature, it was clear she would want to comfort the mage.
But I thought it was better to leave it cold for now.
"No… I ant I was going to tell him to put the horse in the inn’s stables…"
"........."
Was there sothing missing in that emotional response?
What would happen if you said sothing like that to soone who was disappointed?
If she had said that to Louis, he might very well shut himself away in his lab until the journey ended—an awful thought crossed my mind.
"I’ll handle that."
"If you say so, I guess it doesn’t matter…"
With that, the party temporarily disbanded. The hero and Serline set off to figure out the next destination, while Aria went to the church.
Raphaelia also had personal matters to attend to, but she grabbed the reins of the black horse that Louis had left behind, doing it for his sake.
‘What a smart horse.’
The black horse that Louis had brought was as intelligent as any of the other horses in the hero’s party.
No, it might even be smarter than that. Its black mane and coat were shiny and smooth, as if it had been well taken care of for a long ti.
What about its personality?
It seed to have a bit of a stubborn streak, but from what I gathered from Louis, it appeared to have quite high intelligence.
Combined with its sturdy build, it seed more than capable of becoming a mount for the hero’s party, which frequently engaged in battles.
"Co here."
As I took hold of the reins, the black horse looked at with an unreadable expression.
Then it snatched the reins from my hand and walked off toward the stables.
"… Huh?"
After going through all that, I stared at the black horse's retreating figure, perplexed.
Feeling dazed, I opened the stable door for it.
The black horse t the four horses that were already in the stables.
In that instant, an inexplicable tension spread throughout the stable.
The tension ca not from the solitary black horse but from the horses of the hero’s party that were gathered together.
But even though the Emperor had gifted them, they didn’t panic or flee.
"Well, let’s all get along, okay? We’re going to be traveling together from now on."
After saying that, I closed the stable door.
I saw the black horse moving toward the group of horses, the sound of its hooves echoing behind .
Before heading off to attend to my personal matters, I stood outside Louis's room.
‘Even though the horse said that… I should at least offer a little comfort, right?’
In a way, Louis was like a creator or an artist.
The magical tools he created transcended re devices, showcasing artistic functionality.
So, perhaps Louis saw even "naming" as part of the artistic process.
If that were the case, he might have felt like the entire hero party had rejected his art just a mont ago.
Carefully, I reached out to knock on the door.
At that mont, I heard Louis’s small voice from inside.
"Blackie? Or Furry? No matter how I think about it, Smarty is the best…"
"........."
I stopped.
He needed more ti to view himself objectively.
I left the inn, trying to forget the terrible nas I had just heard.
At the sa ti, I sent a silent prayer for the black horse, which might end up with a terrible fate.
"What do you think about Nightlux?"
I finally said the last na candidate after much contemplation.
"It’s nad because your eyes shine like the night sky."
I cautiously asked the subject who would bear that na.
In response, the horse gently waved a front hoof in the air.
"Is that alright? … Huh?"
I carefully approached the horse as it stood up.
When I reached out my hand to its head, it accepted my touch, different from before.
The black horse, soon to be Nightlux, seed to like the na.
Only then did I let out a sigh of relief and plop down onto the ground.
Nearby lay dozens of crumpled pieces of paper, remnants of my struggle.
From Blackie and Furry to various nas drawn from myths and stories, I had tried them all.
But in the end, the one that won was a na that captured its characteristics well.
"Lux."
It seed to like the nickna I had thought of beforehand.
I slowly stroked Lux’s head, trying to connect with it.
Its eyes, which looked like they held the night sky, began to close softly as it leaned against .
From now on, we would be companions on this journey.
When I shared Lux's na with the hero’s party, they all showed expressions of relief.
"What’s with that reaction?"
"Huh? What, what’s wrong?"
"We knew you would co up with a good na."
"........."
"Then, shall we discuss our next journey?"
I wanted to say sothing but decided to let it slide, given the subject at hand.
"First, our next destination is the large city of Abinrita. But before that, we need to stop by three places."
The hero placed three quest papers on the table.
These were requests from the adventurer’s guild that had either gone unsolved for a long ti or required higher-ranking resolvers.
The hero’s party used these requests to maintain and grow their skills while also generating additional funds apart from the royal family's support.
"Two of them are combat requests, just like we originally received. But the other one… I thought it might suit you better, Louis."
"?"
Oh, now that I think about it, I rembered we had only accepted two requests originally.
So I could say that a new branch had erged since I got involved.
I took the request that the hero handed and examined it.
[We need a mage to fix the magical watermill in the village.]
A magical watermill.
Such magical devices aren’t common but are occasionally installed in certain villages.
Most were set up to enhance the villagers' livelihoods, often commissioned by the past residents who pooled their money to request installation from a mage.
In this case, it seed like they wanted repairs.
‘But isn’t this sothing other mages could easily handle?’
[Five mages have co and gone so far, but it remains unresolved. It was installed by a high-ranking mage, and they say the spell itself is beyond interpretation… We may not have enough compensation, but we would be grateful for your assistance. We are currently facing significant inconvenience in fetching water.]
"The most skilled mage was a 5-circle mage, so I thought you might be able to handle it."
"But if it’s a high-ranking mage, I might have so difficulty…?"
It could be difficult.
Just as I was about to say that, I suddenly read the compensation section.
[Compensation: Remains of a teorite that fell in the village, 10 gold.]
teorite remnants?
A teorite is to say a fallen star.
And a teorite is an incredibly rare material that is extrely hard to co by.
Its rarity easily surpasses the moonflower the hero helped find.
"I’ll do it."
Those five mages probably accepted the request, hoping to get this.
But too bad. The remains are now mine.
I will make it so.
"Then let’s set off."
"No, we’ll be leaving tomorrow… and we’ll be stopping by the second village first."
"........."
... I’ll make it so in a few days’ ti.
I quietly sat back down at the table.
After that, the eting continued for a little while longer until it was ti for dinner.
The next day, my ti in Tras ca to an end, and our new journey began.
"Lux."
I called the new companion, Nightlux, as I held onto the reins.
Lux sat quietly, waiting for to get on.
"Wow, you’re really smart."
"Thank you."
My praise for Lux was also a complint to myself for choosing him.
I gratefully accepted Serline's praise while gently stroking his mane.
"Shall we get going?"
The hero looked at strangely.
Maybe it was because the hero wasn’t here this ti, but I felt a little emptiness.
But there was no ti to feel that, as the party started moving again.
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