"You can only learn as much as you're willing to put in yourself."
Lancelot couldn't spend a lot of time teaching a complete beginner how to ride. He could only give her a quick explanation and demonstration. The rest would depend on her.
This excellent warhorse, combined with the riding technique he taught, was already more than enough to repay the repeating crossbow.
That was how Lancelot saw it. He didn't want to take advantage of Cyan. After all, these outsiders weren't part of their group. They had only joined the war because they were dissatisfied with the evil Archduke Garibaldi.
Even though they shared a common enemy, they were ultimately not the same kind of people. In the end, they would go their separate ways.
"Alright."
Cyan thought for a moment and agreed.
It's that easy to build a good relationship with a story character?
Orlov watched Lancelot teaching Cyan how to ride and was a little stunned.
One of the knights cleaning up the battlefield took the opportunity while checking the corpses to glance at Lancelot and Cyan. A trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Some story characters become harder to approach the more you try to get close to them.
Orlov had been working hard to build a relationship with Lancelot but had never received a friendly face from him. Seeing Cyan so easily gain Lancelot's favor made him feel quite frustrated.
As the saying goes: "When you deliberately plant flowers, they may not bloom. When you casually plant willows, they grow into shade."
"Riding a horse isn't just about sitting on it. You need to understand the horse's movements and let it understand yours. Only then can you control it and make it your ally on the battlefield."
As Lancelot spoke, he leapt gracefully onto the back of the枣-red warhorse.
The warhorse snorted and shook its head. Its strong, long-haired hooves struck the ground, as if expressing its displeasure.
This was a Friesian horse — high endurance, decent speed, thick mane and coat, and strong resistance to damage. It could maintain good mobility even during long campaigns and was one of the most popular breeds on the battlefield.
The Friesian horse the horned knight had been riding was an excellent warhorse. Its coat was well-groomed and clean, showing that its previous owner had cared for it deeply.
Lancelot squeezed the horse's belly with his legs, and the somewhat unruly warhorse immediately calmed down.
"Wait, aren't there stirrups? Why aren't you using them?" Cyan walked over, picked up the stirrup, and examined it, thinking it might be broken.
"Uh…"
Lancelot was momentarily speechless. He didn't know how to answer. He couldn't exactly say it was an old habit of his. Arthur and Percival were the same — they always mounted by jumping.
"Ah, only people who are already skilled at riding can mount like this. It's a fast way to get on the horse. On the battlefield, using stirrups would expose a fatal opening."
Cyan suddenly understood and said sincerely, "I see. As expected of Lord Lancelot, even this was taken into consideration."
Hearing Cyan's sincere words, Lancelot felt a little embarrassed. After demonstrating the riding posture and explaining the basics of riding, he jumped down from the warhorse.
For some reason, even though there were stirrups, he refused to use them and always jumped down using only the strength of his hips.
Hmm… this must also be to avoid exposing an opening.
Cyan, who had been carefully watching Lancelot's movements, guessed.
After landing, Lancelot walked over to his own white warhorse and stroked its chin.
Nishi and Asama Ai came to Cyan's side. Asuka stood a short distance away, looking enviously at the枣-red warhorse. Since her weapon was a lance, she could only display her full strength while riding.
"Master, this horse is yours now?"
Nishi reached out and touched the strong枣-red warhorse.
"You could say I traded the repeating crossbow for it."
Cyan stared at the warhorse, replaying Lancelot's riding movements in her mind.
The warhorse snorted and shook its head, startling Nishi into taking a step back, afraid of being kicked.
"It doesn't mean to hurt you."
Cyan glanced at Nishi, walked up to the warhorse, looked into its eyes, and said seriously, "I'm your master now. Do you understand your current situation?"
The warhorse snorted and lowered its head, showing that it understood.
"It seems you already understand." Cyan nodded in satisfaction.
"Then your name will be Unabi. Do you have any objections?"
Cyan imitated Lancelot's action of stroking his horse's chin and gently rubbed Unabi under the jaw.
Although Unabi wasn't happy with the name, it still chose to submit. It felt that if it disagreed, an even worse name might be waiting for it.
Master, how are you even communicating with it?
Nishi looked completely confused as she watched Cyan and the warhorse have their strange conversation. She couldn't understand it at all.
"Horse…"
The black widow spider poked her head out from the fur of Cyan's collar. Her wine-red eyes curiously observed Unabi. She jumped out and landed on the horse's neck, right on its soft beige mane.
What is that? A spider woman?
Asuka stared in shock at the black widow spider standing on the horse's neck.
What is that? Jorōgumo?!
Asama Ai's eyes widened as she looked at the half-human, half-spider black widow spider standing on Unabi's neck and stroking its soft mane. She thought of the youkai called "Jorōgumo."
Unabi turned its head and saw the black widow spider. It let out a frightened neigh and suddenly reared up on its hind legs. Its front hooves flailed twice as its eyes filled with terror.
(Huh? What the hell is that?! Holy shit, it's a giant spider! I'm gonna die! This was probably what was going through Unabi's mind.)
"Unabi, calm down. She won't hurt you."
Cyan pulled on the reins to soothe the horse and reached out to remove the black widow spider from its neck. She placed her on her shoulder and lightly tapped her small head as punishment.
The little one puffed up her cheeks in dissatisfaction, opened her mouth, and bit Cyan's finger before quickly hiding back inside the collar fur.
It seemed Unabi understood Cyan's words. It gradually calmed down, but still looked warily at the black widow spider peeking out from the fur with a curious expression.
Unabi's large eyes stared at Cyan, as if saying, This thing won't bite me, right?
"She won't hurt you. Don't worry."
Cyan stroked the soft mane on Unabi's neck to calm it.
The neigh attracted everyone's attention. Fortunately, the black widow spider had already hidden, so no one else saw her.
Of course, this unusual black widow spider was still noticed by the knight who had been observing Cyan and by Orlov.
What is that? A pet?
Orlov only caught a glimpse of the palm-sized creature earlier, but he realized it might be a venomous spider. His evaluation of Cyan's strength went up another notch.
Unlike Orlov, the 'knight' observed much more carefully. Even though Cyan's hand had partially blocked the view, he still managed to see the general appearance of the black widow spider.
Half-human, half-spider? A pet? A venomous spider?
Looks like I'll have to be careful of the venomous spider on him when I fight him.
"Lord Cyan, are you alright?"
Lancelot looked worriedly at the now-calm Unabi. Realizing he had asked a pointless question, he smiled and said, "It seems I asked a foolish question."
"It's fine. Unabi is well-behaved." Cyan leapt up and landed steadily on Unabi's back.
Compared to the armored knights, Cyan's weight was so light that it felt almost weightless. Unabi turned its head to check and, after confirming it wasn't the black widow spider on its back, let out a small sigh of relief.
"Unabi? Is that its name? You can already ride on its back. Lord Cyan, your learning speed astonishes me!"
Lancelot praised her. Learning to ride in such a short time couldn't be described as just "talented" anymore.
"It's because Lord Lancelot taught me well."
Cyan imitated Lancelot's way of speaking and replied modestly.
"No, it's not because I taught well. It's because you have excellent talent, Lord Cyan."
"It's because Lord Lancelot taught me well."
The two of them continued being modest with each other…
Can you two just stop being modest already?!
Nishi and Asama Ai, who were standing nearby, couldn't help but complain in their hearts.
Was the historical Lancelot like this?
Asuka's worldview was shattered. This was completely different from what was recorded in the history books. Then she realized that the development of this world might be different from what was written in the records. After all, this was a survival game world. It was different from the history she knew, so there was nothing strange about it.
After cleaning up the battlefield, three knights carried bundles of repeating crossbow bolts while one carried the repeating crossbow itself.
This deadly weapon would be very useful once they reached Arlon Castle. Lancelot instructed the knights to take good care of both the repeating crossbow and the bolts.
The knights who had witnessed the power of this weapon patted their chests, almost solemnly swearing to protect the repeating crossbow and bolts with their lives.
Cyan rode Unabi leisurely at the very back of the army. She looked at Nishi and Asama Ai walking beside her and asked, "Want to ride together?"
"N-No, no, no! I'm not riding. Master, you ride. Don't worry about me."
Nishi shook her head and took two steps back. She was afraid Cyan would pull her onto the horse. She didn't have good memories of riding. The last time she rode a horse, her butt hurt for a long time afterward.
"I'll pass too…"
Asama Ai forced a smile. She really didn't want to try riding. Just looking at the horse's strong legs made her a little nervous.