HC:Pacifist | Ch. 190 - The City Riders (Patreon)

With a radiant business smile, the lady seemed more than happy to accommodate Roth, “Very well, then. What’s your poison? Speed or power?” she asked as she came from behind the counter and started walking toward the paddock.

“Uh… I guess you’re asking me if I want a mount more suited for battle or for just traveling, right?”

She nodded in agreement.

“Well, in that case, I have to say I’m looking for speed more than anything. Although, I do want a ride that can handle some weight. I’m a merchant, you see?”

“Very well. Follow me, then.”

The lady was very kind, making Roth wonder if his high charisma and bonuses had anything to do with it. As they left the lobby, Roth inspected the sales rep as he followed her.

Greta, the Horse Trainer

Lvl. 43

Hp: 10,000/10,000

Ep: 1000/1000

Skills: [Ride]; [Domesticate]; [Oneness of Mind]; [Tailwind].

Now that there wasn’t a counter between them, Roth could see how shiny and polished the woman’s tall boots were. As she walked, the spurs in her boots jingled, and Roth didn’t miss the whip that she wore as a belt coiled around her waist.

At the sight of the pointy spurs and the scary whip, Roth recoiled. Memories of how he’d stumbled into the Beanies’ illegal operations in Tailor Street came to him, and he grimaced, imagining a similar progression of events. He took a deep breath and reined himself in. This was as good of a place as any to get a feel for how the world of mounts worked.

“Mrs. Greta, there’s something I must know before you show me around.”

“Yes?” she said, pausing her march.

“Where does your stable procure the horses? Are you slavers or contractors?”

The lady bobbed her head to the side and regarded Roth curiously. He guessed that not many people asked this question. She resumed her march toward the paddock, “We are merely an intermediary between suppliers and customers. Most horses in the market are captured in the wild and brought here by slavers. However, we do have some contracted horses as well. They are the minority, though.”

“I want to see only contracted horses.”

“You realize that contracted horses are more costly? And that you have to sign contracts with them, pay them insurance and all the works?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Very well. A man of principle. I respect that.”

The fact that she had kept walking reassured Roth that he really might find some good options here. As they left the lobby, the earthy scent of animals came back in full. It was early morning, and the sky was painted in beautiful purples and pinks.

Greta beckoned Roth to join her by the fence of the paddock, and then she called out to one of the stable boys. “Hoy! Gigi! Bring out the animals in stables H3, B2, and J9. Stat!”

The shout pierced right through the neighing of horses, clacking of horse hooves hitting the ground, laughter of soldiers and similar calls from other sales reps. Roth was starting to get a sense of why this woman seemed so comfortable with screaming. The stable boy on the other side of the paddock disappeared into the stables.

“So, how does it work with contracted horses? They just come here, and ask for a job?” The whole idea of a horse knocking on houses to find a job felt surreal to Roth.

“The Transport Guild represents contracted mounts,” she replied idly. Hearing this, Roth smirked. Dogs were the ones mediating things, uh?

“Many animals out there figure that if they don’t come of their free will, slavers will just capture them anyway, so they might as well take the initiative and get paid for carrying humans around, you see?”

“I don't know. It can't be fun for them.”

“Nonsense. Humans can provide things to these beasts they would never find in the wild.”

“Like what?” asked Roth, reluctant.

“A roof. Medicine. Treats. Just to name a few. You know that domestic animals have a much longer longevity, right? Besides, many animals enjoy a human's company and actually have fun going on adventures with them. They get attached.”

As Roth tried wrapping his head around the concept, he saw Gigi emerging from the stables. It took the stable boy less than a minute to bring out the horses Greta had asked for. He entered the paddock, and brought the three animals in tow toward them. One was a gray mare. Even though Roth was no expert in horses he could see all her ribs, and her hair looked dull. She looked starved, old and tired but meekly followed after the boy.

Then, there was a donkey who was being towed along reluctantly. It looked everywhere, startled by every sound and every movement. Its stocky figure and short legs made Roth wonder if the donkey even knew how to gallop.

Finally, there was a hunched horse with hair over his eyes. It had so many flies flying around it, that Roth guessed that its rider would gain access to some sort of skill that unleashed a cloud of flies on the opponents. The animal didn’t even bother swatting the flies away, as if it had come to terms with its annoying insect tenants.

“Here are three horses that I think will suit someone of your level,” she spoke without looking at Roth. Her full focus was on the horses. “The gray mare there is a bit old, but can gallop at a respectable speed. The donkey is a new arrival. It is a bit skittish but has some power in his legs, and you can put a lot of weight on it. As for the last one, he’s not a bad choice if you can get used to the flies. What do you think? Not too bad, huh?”

Roth had the utmost respect for this sales rep being able to keep such enthusiasm while presenting such terrible options. Had it been him, he would be urging the customer to run away.

She continued her high-spirited pitch, “All of them are volunteers looking for a human employer in exchange for food and some coin. Which one caught your fancy?”

Roth shook his head. This was so not the place where he would get a ride. “You know what. I think I’ve seen enough. I’m going to take a walk around the street seeing what else is out there.”

“Fine by me, but I guarantee you that you won’t find better beginner steeds.”

Just as Roth was turning to leave, he heard what sounded like a clap of thunder. As he looked for the source of the sound, he spotted a soldier in silver armor and red floating cape heading toward the paddock. He was sitting on a horse that almost seemed drunk, given how it zig-zagged. The horse veered to the side, signaling its reluctance to go back to the paddock, which made the soldier hit its side with a baton whip, causing another clap. Roth grimaced as he realized the source of the sound he’d heard. That had to hurt. Seeing the violence with which the soldier hit the horse made Roth shudder.

The horse was obviously unhappy to be commanded toward the paddock, but everytime it swerved, the soldier dug his spurs in the horse, and hit it, making it neigh violently. Reaching one of the stable boys near the paddock, the soldier unmounted the horse and gave him the reins. The horse tried to signal its protest and to break free from the stable boy, almost sending him flying. Quickly, more staff joined the struggling boy, and helped him regain control of the horse. The beast foaming and breathing heavily, weakened by the violent treatment the captain had inflicted on it, eventually resigned and calmed down. Roth could see the marks the rider had left all across its body.

“Excuse me, mister. Since we’re done here, let me see how I can help the captain,” said Greta, as she excused herself.

“By all means.”

She walked toward the soldier and greeted him amicably. “Captain Harris, what’s the matter?”

Seeing someone from the staff addressing him, the soldier turned a heavy scowl at her, and responded aggressively, “The matter is that you sold me a faulty horse!”

Hearing the volume at which the two communicated only shed further light on why Greta screamed every word. It looked like in Hilsford's Garrison, the adage of whoever speaks the loudest is right was taken seriously.

“A faulty horse? That’s a fine moonlight mare you have there, captain. It’s a fantastic steed. How can it be faulty?”

The soldier snorted derisively, and tightened his grip on his whip baton. As Roth looked at the man’s eyes filled with violence, he wondered whether the soldier was actually considering using it to hit Greta. “This fine mare refuses to obey orders, miss. To get her to do anything, I have to hit her so hard that I doubt I’ll have any strength left to fight enemies in the battlefield. I want a total refund.”

“A refund?” the lady answered apprehensively. “You want to return the mare after you’ve done all that to her? Look at her! She can hardly stand!”

“Not. My. Problem.”

“If we take her, who’s going to want to buy her? If I saw a horse like this for sale, I wouldn’t pay more than one gold for her, and you want me to give you back two hundred?”

“Put her down and make glue out of her, for all I care. I have no use for a disobedient horse.”

“If I well recall, captain, you were the one who said that you wanted the wildest horse we had for sale and that you’d break it yourself!”

The captain spat to the side as if he could actually spit away the memory, “I don’t recall ever saying that.”

“You…”

“Don't tell me this is an establishment that doesn't care about the city's garrison. I'd hate for you to lose all my soldiers as customers,” the captain had been speaking loudly, but he projected his voice even more, drawing the attention from a nearby group of soldiers who followed their discussion curiously.

Ms. Greta swallowed the defense she was about to make and sighed heavily. “Fine. Leave the mare.”

“That’s what I thought.” The captain turned his back and walked away.

Ms. Greta walked toward the mare. At the sight of Greta’s whip, the mare seemed to regain some of the fight in her eyes and stood on its hind legs, sending one of the two stable boys flying. She kicked the other one, and Greta took the whip out to get the horse under control. Roth had already jumped between the horse and the horse trainer.

“Careful! That mare is dangerous. She’s going to…”

Roth approached the mare with a stretched out hand, and let her smell his scent. “Easy, now. I’m your friend. I’m your friend. Hush, hush.” Feeling Roth’s scent, the mare stopped struggling and went back to her labored breaths and panting.

“You poor girl,” he whispered to her, “You must be so scared, right?”

Lua, the Moonlight Mare is touched by your sympathy.

+7 reputation with the moonlight herd.

“How much for her?”

“I-I beg your pardon? You want to buy this mare?”

“I do. How much?”

“Not even the captain was able to control her properly, and you think you can? Besides, look at her. She’s all wounded. You know that we won’t take responsibility if she has a limp or anything of the sort.”

“I understand.”

Ms. Greta looked at the horse and sighed. “A hundred gold.”

Roth pondered whether he should haggle. Hadn’t she just told the captain that she wouldn’t have given more than one gold for the animal? However, it felt wrong to haggle for this living creature. It would be too much like when the guilds had been bidding for him. Roth refused to stoop so low. “Sold.”

Ch. 189 - Addendum

INDEX

Ch. 191 - Freedom