A certain rest day in August, some time after that beach day.
I was once again relaxing in Abel-sama's research room, leisurely reading a book.
I sometimes wandered the city on rest days, but lately, spending time reading in this room had become my routine.
I wasn't rushing, but at this pace, I'd probably finish the books here after a few more rest days.
"Ah, so you were here after all."
Abel-sama entered the room, spotted me, and murmured with a friendly smile.
"Good morning, Abel-sama. Thank you for letting me use the room again today."
I closed the book I was in the middle of and stood up to greet him.
"Yeah, good morning, Orun-kun. I'm glad you like it here. Sorry for interrupting your reading."
Reading was one of my precious moments of peace, so honestly, it did feel like an interruption—but I obviously couldn't say that.
Abel-sama was a noble and closely connected to the top sponsor of Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky. I couldn't treat him carelessly.
"It's no trouble at all. It seems you were looking for me—did something happen?"
"It's nothing major, but… Orun-kun, can you ride horses?"
"Horseback riding? No, I've never tried."
The sudden, completely unexpected question made me tilt my head internally, but I kept my expression neutral as I answered.
"I see. Then how about trying it? Horseback riding is my second-favorite hobby after reading. I highly recommend it!"
Horseback riding, huh…
I'd planned to spend the whole day reading, but going along with Abel-sama's invitation might be nice for a change.
I was interested in riding horses anyway.
"In that case, since it's such a kind offer, I'd love to give it a try."
"Really!? Thank you! Then could you come to the main entrance at 1 p.m.?"
It was currently a little before 10 a.m.
Even taking it slow, I could definitely finish the book I was currently reading in the next two hours.
"Understood. I'll head to the mansion's main entrance at 1 p.m."
"Great! See you then!"
With that, Abel-sama quickly left the room.
After seeing him off, I sat back down and resumed reading where I'd left off.
◇
When I arrived at the mansion's main entrance, Abel-sama was already there.
"Abel-sama, sorry to keep you waiting."
"No, no—it's still a while before the promised time, so you're fine. Shall we go?"
Receiving "Take care" and "Have a good day" from the maids and butlers behind us, I followed behind Abel-sama.
We exited through the entrance and headed straight to the stables on the grounds.
I could sense the presence of nearly ten horses inside.
At Abel-sama's instruction to wait, I stood there for a moment. Soon, he and an elderly man came out, each leading a horse by the reins.
The elderly man seemed to be a groom. He gave me a lecture on the basics and the proper mindset when handling horses.
Following his instructions, I tried stroking the horse's neck area.
Its coat was glossy and felt wonderful to the touch.
You could tell it was meticulously cared for.
After enjoying petting the horse for a while, I actually tried mounting it.
My field of view suddenly rose much higher than usual, letting me see much farther.
The horse was well-trained—it didn't even flinch with an inexperienced rider like me on its back.
"Now we'll start with a slow walk. As I explained earlier, keep your posture straight and your center of gravity centered."
At the groom's cue, the horse began walking slowly.
"Ooh…"
It was a completely different sensation from walking on my own or riding in a carriage.
"How is it? Your first impression of riding a horse?"
Abel-sama asked from beside me, matching my pace on his own mount.
"As cliché as it sounds, it's amazing. It's a feeling I've never experienced before."
For the next several dozen minutes, with advice from the groom and Abel-sama, I continued walking side by side.
Eventually, I was able to ride without guidance.
I'd heard horses were intelligent, and it seemed to be true.
While I say I "mastered" it, it honestly felt more like the horse was reading my intentions and moving accordingly.
It might have been thanks to the groom's training, but more than that, I felt like this horse and I "got along" somehow.
After that, I tried trot and canter as well, and the groom gave me his stamp of approval for both.
Then Abel-sama and I left the grounds and leisurely rode along a coastal road a short distance from the city, enjoying the scenery.
"Still, you picked it up so quickly. You really live up to the rumors, Orun-kun. I thought it'd take much longer before we could ride side by side like this."
"I'm flattered. 'Quick to grasp the knack' is my only real talent. Plus, I had an excellent role model in you, Abel-sama."
"Haha, I'm actually pretty bad at it. But I'm glad I could be of help."
Abel-sama smiled genuinely happily.
When he'd called me over this morning, part of me had thought, 'I have to spend my reading time dealing with a noble?'—but in the end, I was glad I came.
Riding horseback was something I'd never have experienced otherwise.
"The breeze feels really nice."
A cool wind blew in from the sea as I murmured without thinking.
The sunlight was intense, but the sea breeze softened it.
"Really."
◇
After taking breaks along the way and enjoying the natural scenery, I followed Abel-sama's lead up a gentle slope for a while.
When we reached the top, we arrived at a hill overlooking the city of Roils, where we were currently staying.
"It's already been over a month since you arrived in this city, Orun-kun. What do you think of it from your perspective?"
Abel-sama suddenly asked, turning to me with a serious expression.
"I think it's a wonderful city. It's lively with many tourists, and the people living here are all kind—they've treated us well too. I'm really glad we came here."
That was my honest feeling, not flattery.
I hadn't stayed long-term anywhere except Tsutorail, so I didn't have much to compare it to—but this felt like a comfortable place to live.
Of course, I knew the townspeople treated us well because we were guests closely tied to the count's family.
"Thank you. That makes me happy. I love this city. Even setting aside my position as the next head of the Eddington Count family, I genuinely want to contribute to its development."
There was a certain resolve in Abel-sama's words just now.
"I think that's an admirable mindset. Having someone with such wonderful intentions as the next head means Roils—and the Reglif territory as a whole—is in good hands."
"In good hands, huh… Orun-kun, I have one question for you."
"…Yes?"
"If you knew that something you wanted to protect might be destroyed in the near future, what would you do?"
He asked again with a serious expression.
Perhaps this was the real reason he'd invited me out today.
"I'd desperately fight to keep it from being destroyed."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Then—what if you already knew that no matter how desperately you fought, you couldn't protect everything you cared about?"
"In that case… I'd set priorities. Among the things I want to protect, I'd decide what's most important—the things I absolutely can't give up—and then do everything possible to protect as many as I could while safeguarding those."
"Even if that choice caused trouble for others, could you still make it?"
"If it truly allowed me to protect what I most wanted to protect, then yes—I believe I should accept the consequences of that choice."
"…I see. You're strong."
"Not really. What I just said is only my personal stance. If I were actually faced with the situation you described, I don't know if I could stay that rational. Losing something precious is terrifying. I might just charge in recklessly without being able to calmly prioritize."
I always tried to stay level-headed in my thinking so that wouldn't happen—but when something truly important was threatened irrationally, I wasn't sure I could keep calm.
I needed to keep that in mind so it wouldn't become empty words.
"Thank you. I understand your thinking now. Sorry for asking such a strange question. —And… I'm sorry."
"No, if it was of any help to you, Abel-sama, then I'm honored."
"Well then, the sun's starting to set—shall we head back?"
"Yes."
◇
September had arrived.
Time flew—it had already been almost two months since we came to the Reglif territory.
The labyrinth investigation was progressing very smoothly; we'd completed about 70% overall.
Will and the others seemed to be at a similar pace. I'd thought we'd end up spending New Year's here, but it looked like we might actually finish before then.
Since my disciples had gotten used to labyrinth investigation, I'd started working separately from Twilight Moonbow a few days ago.
Thanks to that, progress had sped up even more.
Even without me, Luna was with them—so there was virtually no chance they'd be in mortal danger.
Personally, I continued ki training alongside the investigation, but I still felt resistance to using ki at full combat intensity.
It was gradually improving, but overall, layered buffs were still stronger.
I wanted to shift fully to ki soon.
Thinking about such things, I finished today's labyrinth investigation and returned to the entrance.
It seemed Twilight Moonbow had finished earlier—they were waiting for me near the count family's carriage.
"Sorry. I kept you waiting."
"Ah, Orun-san, good work."
"Yeah. Good work to you too."
As I approached and greeted them, Sophia was the first to respond.
Normally Carol would call out before I even spoke, but today she didn't.
When I looked at her, she seemed somehow downcast—almost frightened.
Rogue also had an unusual atmosphere.
Something had happened—I could tell.
I had a rough guess what it was, but confirmation came first.
After greeting them, the five of us boarded the count family's carriage and returned to the mansion.