The Hawke villa was located about an hour or two north of the borderlands capital by carriage. Our group consisted of me, Albert, and some knights acting as our guards. It was about one-third of the company who had come with us from the Salutanian capital. Since the knights needed to recuperate too, they were going to take turns on guard duty while we stayed at the villa.
The villagers lived in a settlement a little ways off from the villa. This was the location of the hot spring for knights and soldiers employed by House Hawke. Lord Hawke had told the knights accompanying us to make use of it. Consequently, a fierce battle had broken out to determine who our escort would be. I wouldn’t say we had only a handful of knights, but neither was it a very large group. It was overall fewer than I had expected.
I’d thought that perhaps Lord Hawke and his wife would join us, but unfortunately, they had a prior engagement that they couldn’t afford to abandon. Albert had been thinking the same thing, but when I watched his mother tell him why they couldn’t go, she had the strangest look on her face.
Speaking of people who were in absentia, the grand magus had also bowed out. I’d invited him along because I knew he was on break as well, but he declined. Apparently he had heard that there was a location near the villa where even stronger monsters roamed, so he’d headed there instead. I had no idea what he was thinking, going out to slay more monsters even though he had time off, but I supposed it was in line with his character.
“I’m still really surprised. I had no idea that Lord Drewes knew how to ride a horse.”
We were chatting about Yuri while we rode in the carriage toward the villa. Our company had gathered in the same spot before we left, and it just so happened that people going out to hunt monsters had gathered there as well. Yuri had been among them, wearing his usual smile as he said hello, though he had been in an unusual spot: on horseback. He’d just been right up there in the saddle, easy as you please.
He normally rode in a carriage with me whenever we went anywhere, so I’d never guessed he knew how to travel any other way. So of course I was surprised to see him sitting astride an actual, factual horse.
“Everyone in the military divisions—such as the Orders or the Royal Magi Assembly—learns how to ride at the academy,” Albert explained when I idly expressed my surprise. He was beside me in the carriage this time around, though it wasn’t just because Yuri’s seat had gone vacant.
“Lord Drewes did mention that. Is it a requirement?”
“Indeed. You can’t join the military if you don’t know how to ride. Although most people who want to work at the palace take the horseback riding courses as well.”
“I see.”
Yuri had said as much when I blurted out, “You know how to ride?” without thinking. He told me he had learned at the Royal Academy. I thought it odd that Yuri would bother, seeing as the only thing he cared about even a little was magic, but it made sense if it was required. In other words, he’d had to learn horsemanship in order to join the Royal Magi Assembly.
“Wait…” I murmured.
“What?”
“Um, so, does this mean that everyone who works at the palace knows how to ride?”
“Well, pretty much.”
If Albert said that everyone who wanted to work at the palace learned, then did that mean that Johan, Jude, and even Aira knew how to ride?
The thing was…I didn’t.
As I thought about it, a cold sweat ran down my back. This was amounting to an even bigger shock than Yuri’s horse-related expertise. I wasn’t currently taking any such class, but given everything else I was learning at the palace—should I?
Besides, on top of being a researcher at the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora, which was located on palace grounds, as the Saint I was kind of, sort of also part of the military.
“Sei?” Albert looked at me with concern after I sank into silence.
The guilt was overwhelming, and I confessed. “I’m sorry. I was just thinking that maybe I should take the horseback riding class as well. I do work at the palace, after all.”
Albert put a thoughtful hand on his chin. “It would certainly be handy if you knew how to ride, but I doubt many occasions would call for you to do so.”
“Well, it might be convenient to be able to ride back and forth between the palace and the institute.”
“I see. But if you did, then I’d have fewer opportunities to bring you home.”
“Uh, I suppose.”
Albert’s sidelong glance and crooked smile made my heart skip a beat.
I mean, side glances from any gorgeous guy are always a powerful move, but they’re especially powerful coming from someone I know and like. If he asked me for anything with that look on his face, then…I had a feeling I would hand it over no matter what. No, wait a minute, calm down, me! You can’t just go around agreeing to everything someone asks of you!
As I wrestled with my feelings, Albert chuckled and turned his face away. I couldn’t hear him, but I saw his shoulders trembling, so I could tell he was stifling his laughter.
Ugh… He was just teasing me. Sigh! I wish he’d stop doing that every chance he got.
I groaned loudly, and soon he was able to suppress his chuckles.
“I was also thinking that, you know, I’m kind of in the military myself. So that would be another reason to know how to ride,” I said to change the subject.
Albert furrowed his brow. “It’s true that horsemanship matters for ordinary soldiers.”
If the keyword here was “ordinary” soldiers, I could infer his point. I see. So the Saint is an exception.
“Moreover, I doubt you’ll be going on many expeditions from here on out,” he said.
“I suppose.”
The situation in Salutania was improving. While everyone was keeping a watchful eye out, the palace had determined that the threat of the black swamps was nearing its end. They hardly ever received reports of new swamps in regions where such things were easily spotted, like the plains. Lately, they had only needed to send me to mines and so forth—the sort of places where swamps were more difficult to locate. However, even before we arrived in Hawke’s Domain, fewer and fewer black swamps had been discovered, so the problem was regarded as largely subdued.
That being the case, Albert was right in that I wouldn’t need to go on expeditions for much longer. The knights and mages could handle taking care of the remaining monsters on their own, so there was no reason to dispatch the Saint as well. That meant that my work as the Saint would soon be over.
I also wouldn’t be able to leave the royal capital again, not like this.
Oh. That means I’ll have fewer chances to see Albert as well.
The majority of the time we spent together consisted of monster slaying. For some reason, the moment I realized that those opportunities would disappear, my heart ached. It felt like an enormous rift had ripped open between us.
Huh?
“Although the thought of being able to go out on long rides together does have merit,” Albert said.
“Long rides?”
“Yes. What do you think?”
Albert’s suggestion brought to mind galloping on horses through meadows. I had ridden on horseback while sitting in front of Albert at the palace, so we’d traveled at a relatively slow speed. If we did it one person per horse, I bet we could ride much faster. The wind would feel lovely too.
This wonderful suggestion made me forget the ache in my heart.
“I think that’s a good idea,” I said. After imagining this scene, I didn’t try to hide my feelings.
“Then it’s decided. We’ll practice together when you have time,” he casually declared.
Could I really take him up on that offer? I was sure that I personally would have free time, but wouldn’t Albert still be really busy?
“You’ll teach me?” I asked, just in case.
“If you’d like,” he replied politely.
My heart felt like it was floating. “Of course I would! Thank you!”
With that, the ache that had run through me vanished completely.