LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 573
The Empire’s Horse Maniac Speaks Nonstop!
‘Hmm… I think this might have turned into something a little bad.’
Mia felt slightly uneasy after thoroughly angering Xiaolei.
‘Since Xiaolei is so angry, she might demand Tofu as revenge. Ugh, I ended up making a big mistake. I shouldn’t have voiced something unnecessary like, “Victory was certain.” In any case, it was too late to regret it now. ’
Knowing that she had to plan for the worst case scenario, Mia headed to see Gorka, the man in charge of caring for the horses of the Princess Royal Guard.
Mia called out nervously to Gorka, who was in the stables next to the building where the Forest Clan was staying.
“Gorka-san, do you have a moment?”
“Ah, Your Highness Princess Mia… what can I do for you?”
Gorka greeted her with a smile but tilted his head slightly when he saw Mia’s demeanour.
‘Ah, it’s hard to say this, it’s really hard to say this,’ thought Mia, but she finally made up her mind and decided to speak up.
“The truth is, I decided to participate in a horse riding contest against a rider from the Equestrian Kingdom.”
Mia then proceeded to carefully explain the matter discussed at the Chiefs’ Meeting. Afterward, she clenched her hand into a fist and emphasised passionately that it was an unavoidable and precious sacrifice.
“However, due to my mistake, Tofu might be taken away. I am very sorry for exposing a horse that you have been taking care of so diligently to such a risk.”
After looking down despondently, Mia snuck a glance at Gorka to see his reaction. Just as she had expected, he had a bitter expression on his face.
‘Oh, of course he’d be angry. It was natural.’ Mia reflected.
The person in front of her was an important member of the Princess Royal Guard, someone she relied on. Moreover, he was responsible for taking care of the horses. If he were to get angry, it could be troublesome during her time of need.
‘Perhaps I ought to apologise once more.’ Mia thought.
However, just at that moment, Gorka spoke,
“It is Your Highness Princess Mia’s decision. I have no complaints.”
Mia thought, ‘Ah, Gorka-san is sulking. He can’t hide his anger. But, well, it can’t be helped.’ However…
“Besides, Tofu is a war horse. It could lose its life at any moment. It is a horse with that kind of fate. It is obvious for it to put its life on the line for Her Highness Princess Mia as and when required. I can understand that. But what I cannot understand or agree with is your presumption that it will definitely lose to a horse from the Equestrian Kingdom.”
From that point onwards…the conversation took a strange turn.
‘Huh? What on earth is Gorka-san getting angry about?’
As Mia tilted her head in confusion, Gorka clenched his fist and said,
“Of course, even I know that the Moonhare of the Equestrian Kingdom is an excellent horse. It is truly impressive and swift, and its appearance is beautiful. When one talks of the best horses, the first one that comes to mind without a doubt is the Moonhare. But, you know something, our Tofu and the horses of the Empire are just as good.”
Gorka said that and then lightly patted Tofu’s back as it lazily munched on the grass in front of it.
“If you are convinced that our Empire’s Terre Tortue horses are no match for the horses of the Equestrian Kingdom, I must say that you are showing a rare lack of insight, Your Highness.”
And so, Gorka, the Empire’s hidden horse maniac, began to speak passionately about the Empire’s horse situation!
It was a simple fact that Mia had forgotten to begin with.
Who exactly was Tofu? What kind of a horse was it? Why was it there?
Of course, Tofu was a war horse. It was not a horse that was just spaced out all the time. It was a full-fledged, respectable war horse of the Empire’s cavalry.
Incidentally, just as the Remno Kingdom had a war doctrine, so did the Tearmoon Empire, albeit a slightly vague one. However, the Empire’s doctrine was so basic that it was rarely referred to. The precise battle doctrine of the Empire was: ‘Prepare twice the number of soldiers as the enemy, gather supplies and crush the enemy.‘
This classical principle of military affairs formed the basic foundation of the Tearmoon Empire’s Army, and every aspect of the Empire’s Army was decided based on that doctrine.
Well, with an army that followed such a doctrine, one might wonder what they would expect from their war horses. The Empire Army’s motto was basically to outnumber the enemy. So, what did they want from their war horses? Was it for one horse to do the work of two? No, it was not that.
The Empire did not require fine horses that were famous. They did not expect one soldier to do the work of two. This was because the objective of the Empire’s military was to gather a bigger army than the enemy.
Therefore, what they wanted from their horses was for them to perform their job properly.
No matter the environment, no matter the situation or progress of the battle, the horses had to steadily carry out the work that was expected of them. They weren’t required to exceed expectations. Instead, they had to do a certain level of work properly. That was what the Empire expected of them.
The horses selected to meet these requirements were called Terre Tortue breeds.
Overwhelming toughness, dedication, stability in any environment, boldness without losing calm in any situation—these were qualities of a workhorse that the Tearmoon army could be proud of.
And Tofu was a typical Terre Tortue horse, without doubt. It would not be an exaggeration to call it an average Terre Tortue breed.
It never wavered, no matter what the circumstances, and simply got on with the job in silence—a sturdy knight-horse, with the only flaw of being a little too bold sometimes.
Mia had a really bad feeling after being made to listen to the passionate discourse on the subject in such minute detail.
‘Come to think of it, even earlier…’
It brought to mind the words of the guard who had been standing next to Ludwig during their earlier meeting.
The tone indicated that there was not even a shred of doubt that Mia could lose.
“No, but…” was how Ludwig had decided to end his sentence.
The idea that the war-horse they took pride in and the Great Wisdom of the Empire, whom they were incredibly proud of, could lose was not a possibility that they could entertain. It was inconceivable to them.
No, it was not just that.
Mia suddenly glanced at the guards escorting her. The two soldiers were having an excited conversation. From what she could hear, they seemed to be talking about horses!
‘This passion and excitement…’
At this point, Mia realised her grand mistake.
It seemed like all the guards loved horse races, and there was definitely something about competitions that got their blood pumping with excitement.
In spite of that, if she lost miserably in front of the very Royal Guards who had sworn their unwavering loyalty to her, what would it mean?
It would totally destroy their morale, and in the unlikely event that they were to end up in combat with the wolf masters, it could lead to an overwhelming crisis…
‘Ugh… This is beyond my calculations! This is completely beyond any of my calculations.’
While Mia began to think in circles, the horse maniac Gorka continued his lecture on horses.
Tofu watched the scene unfold before it with its usual blank stare.
It was indeed a peaceful scene.