Chapter 44

A new guard hired by Lord Nazel arrived at the lord’s manor in the Sutrena frontier.
Apparently, he came with a recommendation from Lord Julian. It’s quite rare for someone to actually request an assignment on the frontier. Since I tended to wander off on my own, Lord Nazel assigned him to accompany me whenever I went out.

“I am Torre Tolbert, ma’am!”

He had dark brown hair, green eyes reminiscent of a deep forest, and a massive body covered in muscle!

…He looked incredibly strong.

“Agnes, Torre was a distinguished knight in the Royal Capital. Whenever you wish to go into town, please be sure to take him with you.”

Sensing a certain pressure from Lord Nazel, I gave an honest nod. I suppose he was very worried because I had been walking around the nearby areas without permission until now.

And so, while Lord Nazel was busy with work, I decided to head out immediately.
The truth was, there was a place I had been wanting to visit for a while.

“Today, we are heading to the riding beast stables!”

In the center of town—right near the fortress—stood the stables for the riding beasts we usually utilized. The cute wyvern that helped me every time was there as well. We traveled down the road in the carriage without any issues and arrived at the stables. Since we had sent word in advance, the keeper guided us inside.

Torre apparently had experience with riding beasts, as he was happily peeking into the corner where the pegasi were kept. I headed toward the usual blue wyvern. This girl’s name was Sharite; she was a female and was paired with a male red wyvern. The male was reportedly named Caprice.

“Oh, that reminds me. I have a delivery for Lady Agnes from an acquaintance in Taran Village. They said it was a thank-you gift for fixing their fence a while back. When I mentioned you’d be coming here, they insisted I hand it over…”

With that, the keeper pointed toward the back of the stable.

“This way. Please, accept it.”

“Um, and who is this…?”

Standing before me was a young, pink-colored wyvern. Its eyes were cobalt blue, and depending on the light, its tail shimmered with a lemon-yellow hue.

“It’s a wyvern that just finished its training. It’s actually Sharite’s offspring.”

“How cute…”

“You’ve taken a liking to Sharite, Lady Agnes, but she is a fortress mount, and we cannot separate a mated pair of wyverns.”

I nodded at the keeper’s words. I had no intention of taking away a mount used by everyone else, and I was well aware that due to their ecology, once a male and female wyvern pair up, they cannot be separated. Besides, Sharite bobbed her head up and down, urging me toward the pink wyvern herself.

“Is it really okay?”

“Yes, please give him a name if you’d like. He’s a male, by the way.”

“In that case… how about ‘Geni’?”

Approaching the pink wyvern, I peered into his face to see his reaction. The wyvern let out a chirp and moved his head up and down. I’m told this signifies agreement; wyverns are incredibly intelligent mounts.

“I’m glad. Geni, I look forward to working with you.”

Geni bobbed his head vigorously once more.

“I’ll need to prepare the stables at the manor, so could you look after Geni here until then?”

“Of course. If you’d like, shall I arrange a riding instructor for you?”

“Eh?”

“Here in Sutrena, it’s quite common for women to ride mounts as well.”

That was a proposal I hadn’t even dared to hope for. Truth be told, I had been wishing for a long time that I could fly a mount myself.

“I’d love that! Thank you so much.”

“Wyverns have more particular habits than pegasi when it comes to riding, but you’ll be fine once you get the hang of it.”

The keeper let out a hearty laugh. Naturally, he must be a rider himself.

“I have just the right instructor in mind. He should be out behind the stables walking a pegasus right now…”

With that, the keeper stepped out the back door of the stable. I followed close behind him.

“Hey there! I’d like to ask you to act as a riding instructor for a moment.”

The person walking with a pegasus in the clearing was…

“Wait, Tony?”

It was Tony Fawne—the same man who had been so mean to Lord Nazel when we first arrived at the frontier.