Chapter 13: A New Companion and a New Quest

“This horse’s name is Smarty.”

“…”

Holding Smarty’s reins, Rui announced this to the four members of the hero’s party. This majestic black horse’s name was Smarty. The reason was simple.

Because it was very smart.

“…Seriously?”

Raphilia asked, tilting her head slightly. Rui tilted her own head in response.

“Seriously, what?”

“You’re… really naming that horse Smarty…?”

“Yes.”

Because it was smart.

“Our mage isn’t very good at naming things…”

“Ah, ahaha…”

What was with their reactions? She looked at the hero, puzzled. Wasn’t managing the heroines his job?

But the hero was avoiding her gaze as well.

“…Smarty, do you like the name? Hmm? …Hmm?”

Having no other choice, she turned around to ask the horse itself, only to see Smarty backing away. It stomped the ground and shook its head frantically, trying to loosen the reins she held.

“…Smarty?”

Snort!

As if understanding her words, Smarty reacted with annoyance. Rui was taken aback.

Was this the same horse that had nuzzled her hand affectionately, begging to be rescued?

“You dislike it… that much…?”

It wouldn’t even meet her eyes, coldly turning its head away. She had no allies here.

“…It’s, not that it’s a terrible name. But maybe having more options would be better?”

Serin was trying to be considerate, softening her tone, but it didn’t make Rui feel any better. She slumped her shoulders and walked past the four of them, heading back to the lodging. She sensed their bewilderment but ignored them.

She had to commit to this act of sulking. It definitely wasn’t genuine sulking.

“R-Rui.”

Aria tried to follow the dejected mage.

“Aria, don’t bother. Even if she tries, ‘Smarty’ is just too much…”

Raphilia stopped Aria, knowing that Aria, with her kind heart, would try to comfort the mage. But she felt it was best to leave Rui alone for now.

“Huh? No, I was going to tell her to put the horse in the stable…”

“…”

Did Raphilia lack emotional intelligence? What would happen if she said that to someone feeling down? If she said that to Rui, she would probably lock herself in her lab and not come out until the journey was over. The thought was horrifying.

“I-I’ll do it.”

“Well, whatever…”

With that, the party temporarily dispersed. The hero and Serin went to gather information about their next destination, and Aria headed to the church.

Raphilia also had personal errands, but she took Smarty’s reins, feeling indebted to Rui for her efforts.

‘It’s a very smart horse.’

The black horse Rui brought back had intelligent eyes that rivaled even the other horses of the hero’s party. No, perhaps they were even more intelligent. Its black mane and coat were sleek and soft, as if meticulously groomed.

And its personality? It seemed to have a stubborn streak, but based on what Rui said, it was quite intelligent. And its sturdy build… it was more than qualified to be a warhorse for the frequently battling hero’s party.

“Come this way.”

As she held the reins, the black horse looked at Raphilia with an unreadable expression. Then, it snatched the reins from her hand, held them in its mouth, and walked towards the stable on its own.

“…Huh?”

Raphilia stared at the horse’s retreating figure, bewildered. She opened the stable door for the horse, still feeling slightly dazed.

The black horse met the four horses already in the stable. A strange tension filled the air. But the tension emanated not from the lone black horse, but from the hero’s party’s horses.

Still, they didn’t panic or flee, perhaps out of respect for the emperor’s gifts.

“Um, get along, okay? You’ll be traveling together from now on.”

Raphilia said that and closed the stable door. She could hear the black horse approaching the other horses from behind. Before going about her business, Raphilia stopped in front of Rui’s room.

‘I should comfort her a bit.’

Rui was, in a way, a creator, an artist. The magic tools she created transcended mere tools and reached the realm of art. So, Rui might have considered even naming as part of the artistic process. In that case, Rui might have felt like her art was rejected by the entire hero’s party.

Raphilia carefully reached for the doorknob. Just then, she heard Rui’s small voice from inside.

“Blackie? Or Hairy? Smarty is still the best…”

“…”

She stopped. Rui needed some time to reflect. Raphilia erased the horrifying names she just heard from her mind and left the lodging. She also offered a silent prayer for the black horse in the stable, whose future seemed uncertain.

“Nightlux, how about that?”

After much deliberation, Rui finally settled on a name.

“I named you that because your eyes shine like the night sky.”

She cautiously asked the horse for its opinion. The horse carefully pawed the air.

“You like… it?”

She cautiously approached the horse. This time, unlike before, it accepted her touch as she gently stroked its head. The black horse, now Nightlux, seemed to like the name.

She breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the floor. Around her were dozens of crumpled pieces of paper, evidence of her struggle. From Blackie and Hairy to names from various myths and fictional works, she had tried everything.

But in the end, she chose a name that reflected its characteristics.

“Lux.”

It seemed to like the nickname she had prepared as well. She gently stroked Lux’s head, trying to bond with it. Its eyes, like the night sky, slowly closed as it nuzzled against her.

From now on, they were companions.

When she shared Lux’s name with the hero’s party, they all seemed relieved.

“What’s with that reaction?”

“Huh? What, what is it?”

“We knew you’d come up with a good name.”

“…”

“S-so, shall we discuss our next journey?”

She wanted to say something, but decided to let it go.

“Our next destination is the major city of Abinerita. But we need to stop at three places before that.”

The hero placed three request forms on the table. They were requests from the Adventurer’s Guild that had remained unresolved for a long time, or required high-ranking solvers.

The hero’s party used these to maintain and improve their skills, as well as to earn extra income besides the imperial allowance.

“Two of these are combat requests, like the ones we usually take. But the other one… I think it’s more suitable for Rui.”

“Me?”

Come to think of it, she remembered them only taking two requests at this point in the original story. That meant her presence had created a new branch in the storyline.

She took the request form from the hero and examined it.

[We need a mage to repair our village’s magic watermill.]

A magic watermill. Such magical devices weren’t common, but they were installed in some villages. They were mostly installed to improve the villagers’ lives, often funded by the villagers pooling their money and requesting a mage to install it.

And in this case, it seemed like they wanted repairs.

‘But other mages should be able to handle this easily, right?’

[Five mages have come and gone, but the problem remains unresolved. They said it was installed by a high-ranking mage, so they couldn’t decipher the formulas. The reward might be insufficient, but we would be grateful for any help. We are currently experiencing great inconvenience fetching water.]

“The most skilled mage among them was fifth circle. So, I thought Rui might be able to do it.”

“But if it was installed by a high-ranking mage, I might have trouble…?”

She almost said that, but then she noticed the reward written on the form.

[Reward: Fragment of a meteorite that fell in the village, 10 gold coins]

A meteorite fragment? A meteorite was… an extremely rare material. It was far more valuable than the Lunabloom Flower the hero had retrieved.

“I’ll do it.”

The five mages probably accepted the request hoping for the meteorite.

Too bad. This fragment was hers now. She would make sure of it.

“Then let’s depart.”

“No, we’re leaving tomorrow. And that village is our second stop.”

…Her future self, a few days from now, would make sure of it.

She quietly sat back down at the table. The meeting continued for a while longer, and then it was dinner time.

The next day, their stay in Tras ended, and a new journey began.

“Lux.”

She held the reins of Nightlux, her new companion, and called out its nickname. Lux obediently sat down and waited for her to mount.

“Oh… smart horse.”

“Thank you.”

Praise for Lux was praise for her, who chose Lux. She gratefully accepted Serin’s compliment and gently stroked Lux’s mane.

“…Shall we depart?”

The hero looked at her with a strange expression. Perhaps he felt a sense of emptiness without her riding behind him.

But they didn’t have time to dwell on it, as the party started moving again.