Wizard: I brought the wrong system.

Chapter 212 Scaled Horse

Today is one of the few sunny days before winter begins.

Yaro really didn't want to give up that warm, dazzling sunlight.

It's not about indulging in pleasure.

He wanted to use the dazzling sunlight to cleanse the abyssal power within his body.

It doesn't require much trouble; just lie flat on your back and quietly bask in the sun.

This is also the most common way to suppress the power of the abyss.

However, when the light shines everywhere, you can clearly see the distribution of shadows around you, thus avoiding being ambushed by shadow creatures.

Today is also the best time to investigate.

Without much hesitation, Yaro made his decision—to set off immediately!
Although there will be fewer sunny days like this in the future, Yaro has manipulated the power of the abyss many times and used purification potions to resist the power of the abyss several times. Just like he has been vaccinated many times, he has developed a certain resistance to the power of the abyss.

There's no rush to remove the power of the abyss, but good opportunities for exploration don't come often!

Even—if we confirm that there aren't any overly powerful shadow beasts inside, we can clean up the castle today and move in immediately.

You don't have to live under someone else's roof, and there's no inconvenience in doing whatever you want.

But when Yarrow told Claire his thoughts and asked her to lead the way, he was unexpectedly rejected.

Claire pushed the gold coin over, saying apologetically, "I'm sorry, Mr. Yarrow, I can't leave the manor recently."

“However, I can have Bard lead the way for you.”

Yaro glanced at it.

Thirteen pieces.

The quantity is correct.

Casually stuffing the gold coins into his pocket, Yaro smiled understandingly and said, "It's alright, anyone can lead the way."

Yaro wanted Claire to lead the way because he thought that if they were to be eliminated today, the Cavaliers would be a good teammate.

However, Claire refused, and Yarrow couldn't force her.

After putting the map away again, Claire stood up and said, "Since Mr. Yarrow is in such a hurry to check in, I'll have Bard come over right away."

Seeing this, Yaro naturally could not stay in the study any longer, so he followed him out.

Claire didn't need to do the notification himself. He stopped a passing maid and instructed her, "Go and tell Bard to bring two scaly horses to the manor gate."

"Yes, Master." The maid bowed and took her leave.

Claire turned around and said politely, "Mr. Yarrow, let me see you out."

Yaro bowed slightly: "Thank you very much."

……

Da da da--!
Horse hooves pounded on the brownish-yellow dirt road, leaving behind deep, circular pits and stirring up wisps of dust.

The heavy clatter of hooves echoed through the mountains.

Yaro had ridden many horses, but this was the first time he had encountered such a strange horse, and in his excitement, he spurred it into a gallop.

The Scaled Horse is very large, with a shoulder height of almost two meters.

As its name suggests, it is covered in scales and horns.

Its body is covered in lizard-like scales, and it feels cold to the touch.

If you ignore the scales, its overall appearance is like a magnified goat with two sickle-like horns on its head.

Looking at its goat-like pointed face, Yaro couldn't help but wonder if this scaly horse was a product of a wizard mixing demon blood with his own.

The feeling while riding is even more wonderful.

At first, the speed was a bit slow, but no matter how much it was urged, the Scaled Horse maintained a steady pace and ran evenly.

But after running for a while, Yaro, who was riding on top, could clearly feel that the temperature of the scales beneath him was gradually rising.

Meanwhile, the Scaled Horse's movements became faster and faster.

Feeling the powerful muscular ripples of the Scaled Horse, Yaro couldn't help but feel a surge of pride.

With such a mount, who would dare to stand in my way!

After riding for a short while, the burly man with a horse face who had been following behind Yaro reminded him in disappointment, "Sir, it's time to let the horse stop and rest."

"Needing another break?"

Yaro probed the back of the Scaled Horse's neck and found it was indeed quite hot. He couldn't help but complain, "This kind of horse has such poor stamina!"

The scaly horse is somewhat like some cold-blooded lizards. It needs to warm up its blood before it starts running, but when it engages in strenuous activity, it has difficulty dissipating its body temperature.

Bard dismounted and skillfully took the huge water bag, feeding the two scaly horses a good amount of water each. He then poured some water onto their hind legs, flattering them as he said, "Your riding skills are amazing, which is why you can bring out the scaly horses' speed to the fullest. That's why they get tired so quickly."

"Sniff!"

The two scaly-horned horses kept snorting, exhaling hot, smoky breaths.

Ha ha.

My riding skills were learned from ordinary horses; I had no experience riding such a huge, scaly horse.

If someone's riding skills are truly amazing, can you keep up?
Yaro rolled his eyes, carefully memorizing Bard's methods, too lazy to pay attention to his flattery.

Looking at the tall, goat-like, scaled giant horse, Yaro suddenly realized that this kind of horse was called a scaly-horned horse, rather than simply called a 'horse'.

Just like fish, you wouldn't call them scaled fish.

Normal horses are not usually called 'hairy horses'.

Does this mean that there are many other types of horses?
"By the way, why don't you raise other kinds of horses?" Yaro asked casually, without mentioning any specific breed.

If there were only one type of horse, others would only think that Yarrow was asking: Why are there so few horses on the estate?

Yaro's purpose in asking questions was naturally to understand the details of life on this continent. Although he could speak the local language, he still didn't know enough about many aspects.

With war looming, Yaro certainly didn't want to be labeled a spy because of these issues.

Bard was standing on tiptoe, carefully applying cold water to the scaly horse's belly, and explained without any suspicion: "Other horse breeds are too expensive to raise. Scaled horses are better. They eat less, grow faster, and when they are not active, one meal can even last for half a month."

Alright, there are indeed other horse breeds.

"Why not raise ordinary horses?" Yaro asked this seemingly neutral question again, wanting to know what the common horse breeds were, and whether the horses he had learned about in his previous life, similar to those in his previous life, existed on this continent.

While tending to the two scaly horses, Bard said obsequiously, "Ordinary horses can't support a fully armed Baron. When the incident happened in Perrin's territory, all the ordinary horses died, and we didn't have time to raise new ones."

Are there really common horse breeds?
Judging from what Bard said, the Scalehorn Horse was a mount specifically prepared for formal knights?
If I haven't misunderstood.

If you think of an ordinary horse as a regular car, then isn't that horse a dedicated war tank?
Good quality ordinary horses are not cheap, so Claire was so generous as to give him two warhorses for transportation.
It seems Claire is indeed in a hurry.

Yaro nodded secretly, keeping this information in mind.

"Alright, sir, we can go now."

After finishing his preparations, Bard stood up respectfully and said, "My lord, the water bag is empty. If you still intend to ride, at the fork in the road ahead, we can only go left and refill our water in the village over there. If we want to go directly to Perrin's territory, we can take the small road on the right. But you can't continue riding, my lord."

"Sir, which way should we go?"

Yaro waved his hand: "Go directly to Perrin's territory."...

There's joy in galloping on horseback, and there's elegance in strolling leisurely in a courtyard.

The horse's strong legs trotted steadily with each step, and the alternating movements of its hard back muscles supported its dark brown scales, causing them to shimmer with rings of light.

It has a solid, steel-like feel to it.

Sitting on it, it felt stable and reassuring.

Even the glaring sunlight seemed to slow down.

Several grapevines struggled to grow from the cracks in the stones on both sides of the dirt road.

It's unclear whose handiwork it was, but it has now become a paradise for several red-billed finches.

Large patches of dark purple wild berries lay untouched on the ground, fermenting and releasing a rich fruity aroma that was carried by the breeze, making Yaro feel slightly tipsy.

Yaro, swaying his head back and forth, was like riding an old donkey, rocking back and forth, yet he had no fear of losing his way.

"My shoes are torn, my hat is torn, my robe is torn... Hey! Torn my ass!"

As Yaro lay on his side, he suddenly felt a bit unlucky.

In the prime of my youth, why did I suddenly think of that bald monk's song?

But... speaking of which, was that monk a bald monk?
I don't think he was bald?

but,

Aren't all monks bald?

In the hazy sunlight, Yaro couldn't help but nod.

It was as if it were answering itself, or as if it had received a summons from the daughter of the Duke of Zhou.

……

In a daze, Yaro inexplicably heard a noisy commotion.

"Halt! So you're trying to evade military service! And you're even smuggling wartime contraband!"

A voice that was so annoying that it finally woke Yaro up.

Yaro, lying on his side, lazily opened one eye and saw a checkpoint.

Before the checkpoint stood several soldiers carrying weapons and dressed in tattered leather armor. They were carrying large and small bags, laughing and joking as if they had made a considerable fortune.

Behind them were a group of civilians in hemp clothing, bound by straw ropes, all with bruises and swelling on their faces, looking as if they had recently suffered torture.

Bud spurred his horse forward and shouted angrily, "I am Baron Perrin's personal guard! What do you mean by evading military service! What do you mean by smuggling wartime contraband! Who are you! You have no manners at all!"

At this moment, Bard was no longer the humble and obsequious person he had been before; instead, he possessed a strange arrogance.

"We? We are the logistics guards of the Second Battalion of the army in Viscount Corey's territory! By order of Viscount Corey, we have gathered our people to protect the Viscount's territory!"

A blond, blue-eyed man sized up the two scaly horses with a greedy look on his face, then turned to Bard and sternly rebuked him: "What you are doing now is the Viscount's territory! No one is allowed to enter or leave without the Viscount's orders! Especially these wartime contraband items, they must be handed over!"

"Dismount immediately!"

Faced with the gleaming swords and spears, Bard had no choice but to dismount, shouting to the leader, "I am a nobleman's private soldier, let's talk things over."

Yaro watched all of this with a cold eye.

Even when they saw others trying to steal the Scaled Horse, they obediently dismounted without any desire to fight back.

The others saw that Aro was wearing a brand-new robe and noticed the magnificent cross-shaped sword at his waist. After seizing the Scalehorn Horse, they ignored Aro.

Yaro was happy to have some free time.

What's the point of retaliating?
The scaly horse belonged to Baron Claire.

The guide was sent by Baron Claire.

Judging from the solemn atmosphere at Perrin Manor and the use of bows and arrows to guard against humans last night, Baron Claire may have anticipated this situation.

"Is it a boring test, or a gamble undertaken with some wishful thinking?"

Yaro glanced at Bard, who was still trying to get back the two unicorn horses with his pale words.

"The possibility of a wishful thinking mentality is slightly higher."

Along the way, Yaro did not see any other forks in the road.

Looking at Bard's pleading expression, he probably hadn't anticipated this situation either.

By summarizing the known information, Yarrow roughly pieced together some recent developments.

"Viscount Corey must have issued a conscription notice. Judging from the words of the guards at the checkpoint, his target may be Baron Claire's former lord."

"Baron Claire wanted to help, but their former castle was right in the middle of the road he had to take."

"And inside the castle, there may still be a large number of monsters that prevent them from passing through."

"Judging from their previous atmosphere of despair and sorrow, they had recently attempted an attack, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries."

"They might even have sneaked over at night."

Some of the key information in this story came from Baron Claire, but whether it is true or not is still open to debate.

For example... does that castle in the middle really belong to Baron Claire?
Even if it really is his, does he still have the right to make decisions now?
Even if he still had the right to make decisions, once he ran past the castle, and Viscount Corey knew that this road was passable, wouldn't he lead his army to follow?
Baron Claire originally said that he would let me live there after the cleanup was done. Wasn't that implying that he was left to cover the retreat?

Just then, a thin, bound civilian suddenly cried out in anguish, "Save us! They killed our whole village! They are demons! Demons!"

"Who's calling!"

The soldiers guarding the area glared menacingly at him, then quickly turned their attention to the thin, frail civilian.

"Pull it out!"

Several soldiers, as fierce as jackals, dragged the small, thin body out.

"I'll teach you to yell! I'll teach you to yell!"

The screams grew fainter and fainter.

The soldier's blood-stained face looked particularly ferocious. He spat on the ground, then looked at the bound group of people again, as if they were lambs to the slaughter: "You really think I'm good-natured? Let's see who dares to make a sound!"

Yaro lowered his eyes, pretending not to notice.

Thieves pass by like combs, soldiers pass by like fine combs.

That's just how things are in this world.

How many armies can truly pass through without disturbing the people, traversing ancient and modern times, and seeing all corners of the world?
The world is so vast, and wars of all kinds break out one after another, affecting countless people.

How many people can one person manage on their own?
More importantly... if I really make a move, won't I fall into a trap?
……

The soldier examined the twitching body on the ground, looked up and shouted, "Boss, this one is too badly injured, there's no point in taking him back."

The leader was still entangled with Bard. Hearing this, he turned around and shouted impatiently, "Then just chop him up and throw him out! What's with all the fuss!"

Yaro raised an eyebrow slightly.

The soldier grinned bloodthirstyly, raising his long sword high: "Almost done!"

(End of this chapter)