Chapter 246: Starting a New Venture (4)
“Uhhhhh!”
Ascon was face down on the ground, repeatedly being trampled by the horse.
Ignoring Ascon being joyfully trampled, Ghislaine spoke to Lumina.
“How about it? When you speak from the heart, they really listen, right?”
Lumina smiled and nodded.
“Yes, and I now know what our race needs to do.”
She was no longer the Elf who had fallen into boredom and laziness.
Through exercise, she’d regained her health and mind and had realized her race’s mission.
Ghislaine nodded with satisfaction.
“Now we’re finally seeing some Elf-like behavior.”
If the Elves regain their original form, they will be a huge help during the Age of Turmoil.
When that time comes, racial distinctions will be meaningless.
Protecting the world is akin to protecting nature itself, so even Elves who had previously hidden away joined forces with humans and fought together in their past lives.
“From now on, the representative of the Elves is Lumina. Everyone should follow Lumina and do your best to tame the horses for a while. Make it easy for others to ride. After that, we’ll proceed with the next training.”
“Ahhh!”
Ascon didn’t want to be the representative anyway, so there wasn’t much backlash. Even if he had complaints, he couldn’t voice them while being trampled by the horse.
Taking advantage of the horses calming down, the Elves rushed to Lumina.
“What’s going on? How did you do that?”
“Teach us how!”
“They weren’t originally calm, right?”
With a smile, Lumina explained the method to the Elves.
“You just have to speak from the heart.”
“…….”
It was exactly what the crazy lord had said.
‘Do these horses really understand if I speak from the heart?’
Reading the distrust and bewilderment on the Elves’ faces, Lumina continued.
“I thought the same way at first. But it’s truly easy for our race. That’s the blessing the World Tree has given us. Trust yourself and give it a try. Really speak from the heart.”
With Lumina’s confident words, the Elves moved with ambiguity on their faces.
Fortunately, since the horses had been calm after Lumina’s success, it was easier to approach them.
The Elves attempted to communicate with the horses in their own sincere way.
‘I’ll give you a carrot. Just be a little calmer.’
‘Please, at least pretend to cooperate.’
‘I’ll introduce you to my girlfriend.’
Brrrrr.
Sure, some were throwing out ridiculous conditions, but a few horses connected with the Elves, sitting down or rubbing their heads against the Elves’ cheeks.
“Wow, wow! Oooooh!”
Cheers erupted from the Elves who succeeded in bonding.
Of course, they hadn’t achieved the same depth of connection as Lumina. Thanks to her, the horses had found a bit of stability and some level of communication was now possible.
Finding a bit of stability, they could communicate to some extent.
But now that they had a sense of what to do, they would soon exhibit the elves’ unique traits.
As more and more people succeeded in bonding with their horses one by one, the retainers looked at Ghislaine with astonished eyes.
“Is this really happening…?”
“It’s not just a coincidence…”
“How did the Lord know about this…?”
They were surprised when Lumina succeeded, but there was doubt that it could have been a fluke. They thought it was just lucky that the horse calmed down.
But when so many succeeded consecutively, that was no longer a coincidence.
Just as Ghislaine said, the elves truly had the ability to commune with nature.
Of course, it would still take a little more time for all elves to regain this ability.
But regardless of the time it took, there was no doubt about their success. The elves who figured out the method could assist and teach others.
Ghislaine smiled at Lumina and said, “Training the horses shouldn’t be a problem now, right? We need to make sure the regular soldiers can ride well.”
“Of course! I’ll do my best with everyone else. You don’t have to worry!”
Realizing her elf mission, Lumina was constantly sporting a gentle smile. She no longer swore or had negative thoughts.
Finally, as was known to people, she began to display the graceful dignity befitting an elegant elf.
Ghislaine nodded vigorously and continued, “Alright, then let’s start training the horses from today. As quickly as possible. You know my style, right?”
“Yes! Just leave it to me! I promise on my honor as an elf!”
“Great, very reliable. Hey, bring the rest of the horses too.”
Dududududud!
The frenzied horses with bulging red eyes and drooling began to drag the soldiers along.
“Uh…?”
Seeing this, Lumina’s face turned pale.
She had no idea how busy this territory was, having immediately begun stamina training upon her arrival.
And she didn’t know how many horses the lord had brought back from the campaign.
Ghislaine, while shaking her shoulders that had stiffened at the unbelievable scene, smiled again.
“Hurry up. Our territory is busier than you think.”
Dududududud!
The soldiers, being dragged by the horses, screamed.
“Ahhhhh! Someone stop them!”
“The horses are too ferocious!”
“I’m sorryyyyyyy!”
Watching the incoming horses, Lumina mumbled without realizing it.
“Shit… What the hell… Is this territory…?”
She regretted saying it so confidently. The sounds of nature were gone, and she felt abandoned by nature itself.
The lord would never allow her to take back what she said with that temperament. There was no going back now.
And at that moment, Ascon was being trampled by an angry horse.
“Ugh! Damn it! Stop hitting me! You crazy horse bastard!”
The horse, having truly connected with his feelings, did not stop until the end.
*
“Wow! The cavalry is increasing rapidly!”
Ghislaine wore a satisfied smile as she observed the horses the elves had trained over the past few days.
Hee-haw!
The horses were frolicking in the training grounds with soldiers on their backs. The soldiers riding them looked completely unfazed.
“Wow, I can ride like this?!”
“They’re moving just the way I want!”
“They weren’t this docile before!”
The soldiers were well aware that the newly brought horses used to rampage viciously. Yet, after several meetings (or “conversations”) with the elves, those horses had become as gentle as lambs.
It has changed.
Even soldiers who had only learned basic cavalry techniques could now easily handle horses. This was because the horses moved well according to the rider’s wishes.
Even if they weren’t as skilled as seasoned cavalry, there was no problem wielding a weapon and moving around on horseback. This was why the number of cavalry could increase rapidly.
“Look at how the elves are slimming down!”
The elves didn’t need any separate training to lose muscle. Just wrangling with the crazy horses naturally shed their muscles.
Seeing that progress was smoother than expected, Ghislaine decided to push a little harder.
“I should get all the soldiers trained in cavalry skills while I have the chance.”
With the horses responding well, improving cavalry skills became a breeze. In just a few days, they could be used as basic cavalry.
So Ghislaine thought it would be beneficial for all the infantry in the territory to learn to ride.
“Once all the troops can ride, they’ll turn into cavalry? I can’t resist this.”
Just thinking about it was thrilling. Leading a force that could respond to any situation or terrain was every commander’s dream.
The retainers, watching this unfold, wore expressions of disbelief.
“I can’t believe real cavalry can be trained this quickly…”
“With this speed, they can be deployed for transport and combat swiftly.”
“So this is why you brought in the elves. They can handle horse breeding this easily.”
With more people learning to ride quickly, it was time to start the delivery business.
Stables, telegraph offices, and logistics warehouses were rapidly constructed in each town and city, and soldiers who had learned cavalry techniques were deployed.
The soldiers muttered gloomily.
“So you want us to manage public order, do delivery, be cavalry in wartime, infantry, and also train…?”
It was great that they were learning to ride, but there was just too much work. The soldiers, who had been eating well, sleeping well, and just training, felt as if the sky was falling.
But the extra pay was too good to refuse. They even urged their families to get on board quickly, leaving them no choice but to work with tears in their eyes.
The basic preparations weren’t perfect, but they were finished. Ghislaine gathered the retainers and announced the start of the ‘Penris Arrow Delivery’ business.
“To celebrate the opening, we will provide free service to the territory residents for a month!”
Ghislaine confidently shouted, even clenching his fists. The retainers, accustomed to the eccentric lord, just shrugged and prepared to start the business as planned.
Massive promotions began, but the reaction from the territory residents wasn’t very enthusiastic.
“Arrow delivery…? What’s that?”
“They say they send letters or items quickly and safely?”
“Isn’t that just like what the merchant groups or mercenaries do?”
Facing this unfamiliar concept, they didn’t even think to try using it.
After a week had passed with not a single person using the service, the retainers cautiously spoke up.
“It’s good that the horses are tamed and the cavalry is increasing… but is there really a business opportunity here?”
“The response isn’t great at all.”
“Why not just use it for transporting materials? At least it won’t be a loss, right?”
Even with the retainers’ words, Ghislaine shook his head.
“People just don’t realize how convenient this is yet. No need to worry. Just keep expanding.”
Ghislaine was truly confident. He knew from his past life that once someone used this service, they would never want to stop. Even if just a few people tried it, the word would spread quickly.
With the lord stubbornly pushing ahead, the retainers thought as usual.
‘It’s costing a lot of money, but… we can handle that level of loss now.’
‘The rapid training of cavalry alone is a huge benefit.’
“It’s a huge benefit as well.”
“Not everything the Lord does can go well, right? If this fails, maybe they’ll listen to our concerns.”
Everyone had gone through so much that they developed a certain boldness to brush off things like this.
Finally, one middle-aged woman walked into one of the telegraph offices that had been collecting dust.
“Welcome!”
A young man who had just started working at the telegraph office jumped up and greeted her. He had been twiddling his thumbs for over a week with no work, even though the pay was good.
Working at such a cushy job, he couldn’t help but develop a strong service mindset. He really didn’t want to get fired.
The middle-aged woman hesitated for a moment before cautiously asking, “Do you really… deliver letters and items right away?”
“Of course! Our Arrow Delivery is faster and safer than anyone else! We can deliver at any time you want—just one request is enough! And right now, it’s a free period!”
“But meat can spoil; can you handle that too?”
“Absolutely! We have refrigerated wagons at all our telegraph offices and logistics warehouses!”
“Then… I’d like to send some meat. And I heard you can write letters for us, is that right?”
Although there were now several academies in Penris and a fair number of people who could read and write, there were still many who couldn’t.
To accommodate those people, the telegraph office had staff dedicated to writing letters.
Sure enough, a man who had been dozing in a corner raised his hand and said, “I can write it for you. It won’t be too long, but… since we don’t have any other customers right now, I’ll write as much as you’d like.”
Having not written a letter in a week, he felt he could easily do this. It was a bit too guilty to be getting paid for doing nothing.
The middle-aged woman beamed and asked him to write the letter. It wasn’t too lengthy.
“I’m Ricardo from the Perdium Monster Forest Guard. I have blue hair and I’m…”
The woman was Ricardo’s mother. She had come over from Perdium with her husband in search of work after Ghislaine took over Penris.
The freedom of residence between Perdium and Penris made this possible.
While the number of territory residents determined the power of a territory in this era, in Perdium, they actively encouraged the residents to migrate to Penris.
They found it difficult to handle the rapid population increase after taking half of Digald.
The young man meticulously jotted down all of Ricardo’s details while nodding continuously.
“I’ll make sure it gets delivered.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t worry. Fast and safe delivery is our Arrow Delivery motto.”
The staff, excited to have their first customer, sprang into action. The waiting soldier looked at the items and immediately connected a small refrigerated wagon to the horse.
— Even for just one customer, we give our best. If the customer wants it, we’ll run there.
That was the motto of Penris Arrow Delivery. All delivery soldiers had drilled this into their heads.
If they didn’t do it right, they’d be threatened with a beating from the Lord.
The mentally prepared soldier, with a serious expression, loaded a letter and the meat onto the wagon.
“Let’s go!”
With the soldier’s shout, the horse set off with vigor.
The soldiers performing delivery wore blue vests so they could be easily distinguished from others.
Big letters were boldly written on the back of the vests.
[Arrow Delivery]
Finally, the first task of ‘Penris Arrow Delivery’ had begun.
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