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Chapter 173: Emergency

I went to check how things were in the Canum house. Nothing changed, and Daifuku wasn’t in the attic room. There’s a high chance he’ll be there if it’s rainy, but today’s sunny.

Ash and I didn’t set a travel appointment, but I guess it’s also fine riding Ruta alone from time to time.

「Morning, Ruta. 」
I greeted Ruta as he charged towards me as usual, then I put the saddle prepared beforehand from the uncle of the rental barn on him.

「Oh, by the way, are there any horses who get along with Ruta? 」
I asked while handing the tip to the uncle. He might be lonely if he’s alone, so I’m planning to take another one with him once the horse field is finished.

「There’s one recently… 」
A sudden crash drowned Uncle’s words. A white horse came trotting towards Ruta.

「He’s always with this guy. 」
Erm, destruction buddies?

I stared at the two — not sure if it’s biting or play-biting they’re doing. Do horses make friends by fighting? Uncle had a pained yet resigned look pasted on his face. Ugh, I apologize on behalf of my Ruta.

「Hi there. Are you Ruta’s owner? 」

………

The white horse cantered towards the newcomer and fawned on him.

「Yeah. Hello. 」
Right! Come to think of it, when horses are left here, it means they have an owner who rides them. Then, a well-cared for horse with a similar body type as Ruta can only be a warhorse type, right?

He’s handsome, but his genetic features from his chin above are way too strong! He’s obviously Chris’s lil bro. I see, so the guild isn’t the only danger zone for chance encounters, huh.

「Orfevre is my favorite horse, and he gets along quite well with Ruta. 」
Ack, he’s the typical shining knight.

If you’re asking me what’s the problem now, I guess it’s my intuition that Chris inherited his sparkly self from his parents. I remember getting put off the first time I encountered something like this, but I can’t believe I’m used to it now…!!

So, why on earth did Chris’s lil bro come with me for a ride? It’s because of the pressure from our beloved horses.

Ruta and Orfevre were competing with each other, so we didn’t exchange any words along the way. It’s better than that time with Deer, but please, Ruta, don’t speed up thinking I’m fine with this.

「You’re quite good at riding. 」
「Ah, no, I’m leaving everything to Ruta. 」
But why don’t you have a cleft chin? So, is Chris’ cleft chin the work of the spirit?

「Are you an adventurer? 」
「I did register, but I’m not active. 」
I Peek with my ‘vision’ and there it isssss, there’s a spirittttt!!!!!!!!

「My older brother is also an adventurer, and I’m assisting him for a bit while I’m in Canum. 」
「Let me guess, it’s Chris, right? 」
Will he have a cleft chin? Will Lil Bro’s chin cleave too? Will his jaw muscles get all chiseled out?

「They say I look a lot like him, you know. My Elder Brother seems to be quite famous, too. 」
「He also helps me out. 」
Ah, this spirit, it’s not obsessed with cleft chins — it’s enjoying the smooth lines of his jaw. Then, did he get a nice jaw contour because of that?

Anyway, I managed to tide over breaktime with a little bit of trivial chit chat with him. If I’m with Ash then we’ll be having lunch by now, but it’s too early plus I can’t just whip out my lunchbox, right. So, I drank some mead from the leather bag and called it a day.

Lil Bro officially introduced himself as Reid Eades, so I also told him my name properly, alright? We might see each other again in town or in the rental stable after all. I don’t really care about humans, but not seeing Ruta is a bit…

「Ruta gets along well with Orfevre so I considered taking him with me. Unfortunately, it seems like that won’t work out. 」
Oh, he was thinking the same thing, apparently.

With a sense of affinity, we went back to the rental stable and I groomed Ruta alongside him and his horse.

「Well then, I’ll see you around if we have the chance again. 」
「Yeah, if there’s a chance. 」
I parted ways with Reid at the stable.

No matter how I see it, we’ll probably go the same route if we’re both homeward bound, so I dropped by the Merchant’s Guild to deliver potions first. It’ll probably be safe if I go through the back door.

Alright, what to eat for lunch? Maybe boil or grill some huge shrimp, top them with mayonnaise and gobble them up?

With a hum, I was about to touch the back gate when the neighbors suddenly whisked me away.

「What’s up? 」
「It’s a bit of an emergency. 」
Dinosso seemed relieved.

「We’re so glad we caught up with you. 」
Shiva smiled, seemingly troubled.

「Jean! Somebody ‘plighted his troth’ to me! 」
Tina clung to me.

「What? 」
Trout? Eh, but that doesn’t make sense. Did she mean trout pout? Did they have blood-sucking monsters around here? But what about this ‘plighted’ thing?

「Knight-sama proposed to Big Sis~ 」
「Chris’s Lil Bro~ 」
The twins bombarded me with info while hugging me.

「Huh? 」
「Don’t worry, I told him properly that I like Jean and rejected him. 」

I unconsciously turned to Dinosso. Ehhh, was that refreshing handsome guy a pervert?

「That’s also an emergency, but not that. It’s about Ash. 」
「Hm? 」
No way, two-timing!?

「Ash received a decree from the Royals and the Duke ordered her to return. Chris’s brother brought it. 」
「Ehhh!? 」

I thought we can’t do anything about their family squabble since they’re too far away and Ash didn’t say anything about wanting to return, so I assumed she’d be staying here.

Tsk, that ‘fresh’ pervert, what unnecessary news he brought — what will Ash do now?