Chapter 745

"Witches of the Fifth Era are not all keen on horse riding."

Taking advantage of the Lemaire family's maid going to register for Xia De, and the groom going to prepare the saddle and other supplies, Xia De stood in the stable and said to Tifa.

The black-haired girl's hands were clasped together and hung naturally in front of her chest; she was so elegant and charming at any moment.

"You also know about this kind of thing?"

"Yes."

Two different witch echoes not only gave Xia De interesting knowledge but also let him understand some customs of the Fifth Era. He hoped to use this kind of chat to dilute his uneasiness:

"Powerful witches can fly by themselves or use alchemical props like flying carpets. Witches who like mounts also have alchemical puppets or very imposing spirit horses. Witches who truly like biological mounts prefer unicorns or four-winged pegasi."

"But even in the Fifth Era, unicorns are a precious species. And although four-winged pegasi are not rare, the price is also very expensive."

Tifa said curiously; Xia De nodded and touched the head of the jujube-red horse again, hoping it wouldn't throw him off later:

"So, low-level witches and witches who need long-distance travel actually like chocobos the most."

This point was also mentioned in "Feilianna's Notes"; Miss Feilianna liked to ride sideways on a chocobo to travel, and this creature's cargo capacity was also quite good. The notes had a separate half-page mentioning the food recipe for chocobos; unfortunately, in the current Sixth Era, Xia De had not seen this creature yet.

As if seeing through Xia De's thoughts, Tifa said with a smile:

"I heard from Miss that the Sexes Medical Academy and the Holy See of the Church of Nature have large chocobo populations, and other sorcery academies and churches also have a small amount of breeding. It's just that to prevent being seen by ordinary people, chocobos are not traded and can only live in the area. If you really go to Saint Byrons in the far north, you should be able to see ring sorcerers riding chocobos traveling through ancient castle building complexes and academy cities."

This kind of imagination and sense of picture instantly pulled this world, which was in the steam wave, back to the medieval fantasy era.

"Hope there are individuals among chocobos with the same hair color as Mia."

Xia De thought, and then recalled the elf knowledge obtained after completing the time key of the Divine Banquet.

Those vast knowledge was only stored in his head and was not all mastered by Xia De at once. And at this time, recalling it, the knowledge about elf horsemanship jumped in front of his eyes.

"Oh?"

He suddenly sighed and turned to ask Tifa:

"Can you lend me a strand of your hair?"

"Of course, what do you need to do?"

"I think I have a way to briefly learn how to ride a horse."

Not long after, a brand new round of horse racing started again. Xia De rode on the back of the jujube-red horse, holding the reins and appearing on the second track. It seemed that some busybody had spread the news that "Lei Jiede's Hamilton" was also participating in the horse race; when Xia De appeared, applause actually came from the sparse auditorium.

The sun in the suburbs in late autumn was a bit dazzling; Xia De raised his hand wearing anti-wear gloves to shade the sunlight.

At this time, in his left-hand glove was the "Animal Docility" charm Tifa gave him, and hanging at his waist was an amulet, which was the "Lucky Rider Amulet."

This was the craftsmanship of the elves, using women's hair, elf tokens, and stones from the stable, combined with simple rune carving, to make an amulet that helps riders control their mounts. Of course, elf riders usually use this kind of amulet to tame more powerful mounts, not ordinary horses.

Xia De didn't have an "elf token," but he had the 【Youthful Eternal Leaf】. Using Tifa's long hair, using special weaving techniques, he tied the leaves and the stable stones he picked up together, and then used a small knife to carve elf runes on the surface of the stones—the runes were carved by Tifa; Xia De didn't have such fine craftsmanship.

At this time, that amulet was hanging at Xia De's waist, and it was also by relying on this simple amulet that Xia De could have the confidence not to lose face in the upcoming competition.

【It's really interesting.】

"She" chuckled.

The bearded referee in a red shirt had already walked over, and the riders got on their horses one after another preparing to set off. On the track to Xia De's right, the brown-haired young man who looked slightly older than Xia De actually raised his middle finger at Xia De.

Xia De frowned and turned to look at Tifa beside the track. The maid nodded; she had found the target for the delayed 【Limp Curse】.

"What's interesting?"

Xia De held the reins nervously.

【Remember the content of the God of Gamblers' blessing "Mortal's Luck"?】

The referee blew the whistle lightly, signaling that the race was about to start. Then, he raised the revolver toward the sky.

"In any gambling game, I can show unusual luck."

【Then, does this horse race have a bet?】

Boom~

The gunshot exploded, and Xia De set off immediately.

"Yes."

【So, what are you worried about?】

The horse race Xia De participated in didn't need to leave the racecourse to go around the nearby path, but just needed to finish the full three laps of the racecourse.

There were a total of 9 contestants participating in the competition. At the start, the two horses on track 9 and track 8 actually collided. Then, when taking the first turn, something like a water bottle was actually thrown down from the auditorium, disturbing the No. 3 contestant who was running in the front.

Thus, when the first lap ended, Xia De's position was actually at the end of the first echelon. There were only three horses in front of him, and the leading one was only two and a half horse lengths faster than him.

The first lap was safe and sound; the power brought by the amulet allowed Xia De to control this docile mount very well. Although this jujube-red horse didn't run the fastest, it was definitely the steadiest, to the point that it almost made Xia De think that he could really ride a horse.

The second lap proceeded to the middle stage, and Tifa's delayed 【Limp Curse】 took effect. The No. 4 track contestant, who was half a horse length ahead of Xia De, exited the first echelon directly after a panicked scream, and cheers and whistles also came from the auditorium at the right time.

Thus, Xia De inexplicably became the third place.

The race entered the final lap; Xia De, who was increasingly adapting to the activity of horse riding, became more handy at maintaining a steady forward movement. He slightly lowered his body, thinking only of maintaining the third place until reaching the finish line.

But unexpectedly, on the last long straight track, this jujube-red horse actually accelerated by itself. It ran very steadily in the front, and the final acceleration was also very steady.

When finally crossing the finish line, Xia De actually slightly surpassed the second place—this was a result confirmed after repeated verification.

Thus, Xia De, who couldn't ride a horse at all, achieved a good result of second place in this horse racing competition.

Afterwards, when he returned to Miss Galina's side, Miss Galina smiled and encouraged Xia De to continue the competition. According to the race schedule, if Xia De could participate in five consecutive competitions and have the highest total score, not only could he get a very commemorative medal, but there was also a not-so-small bonus.

Xia De naturally refused.

But at least Miss Galina's purpose of changing the topic was achieved; after Xia De returned to the auditorium, Wang Hou Diana did not mention the princess again, but became interested in Xia De's horsemanship.

She even wanted to invite Xia De, a young man with a knight title, to participate in the "Tobesk Equestrian Grand Prix" next spring. The "Tobesk Equestrian Grand Prix" is a regional event inherited from the old era, initially to show the bravery of knights; in the steam era when the knight class declined, it was to enrich the cultural life of citizens.

The "Tobesk Equestrian Grand Prix" requires riders to carry out long-distance horse racing in the wild according to the designated route, and use longswords and bows and arrows to attack the targets erected along the way. Based on the number of hits and the final arrival time, the ranking is comprehensively carried out; the winner can exceptionally obtain the "Delarion Honorary Knight Medal" and make the headlines of the Delarion Evening News that day. Of course, the winners every year are almost all nobles; ordinary people don't have time for such professional training.

This is the most well-known official activity in the Tobesk area in spring, except for His Majesty the King inspecting spring sowing.

"I will consider it."

Xia De prevaricated, but in his heart, he didn't want to participate in such activities at all.

In short, for the rest of the afternoon, Xia De spent it sitting beside Miss Galina holding Mia. Near 4:30 in the afternoon, Wang Hou Diana prepared to return to the city.

Miss Galina did not follow, but took Tifa and Xia De back to the manor, inviting Xia De to have dinner together.

In the dining room for dinner, the crystal lamp overhead was brightly lit, illuminating the gold and silver utensils on the white tablecloth. And in the center of the long table was a porcelain vase, in which two wilted roses were inserted, which were the two Xia De gave; the witch naturally noticed Xia De's small action of passing flowers to the maid, but she seemed not to care at all.

The cat lay beside Xia De's hand waiting to be fed, Tifa poured wine for the two with the fruit wine Xia De just made, the witch looked at the manor courtyard outside the window, while Xia De played with the ring in his hand.

After the horse race ended, he received Wang Hou Diana's feather fan and Miss Galina's golden ring as promised. Just as he thought, that was indeed an alchemical item made by the witch herself.

"It's not an important thing, just can detect malice. When eyes full of malice look at you, you can have a slight perception. I will carry it when I participate in parties with many people, but the effect on ring sorcerers is not very good; you just take it as a toy."

Miss Galina introduced, and then saw Xia De pass the ring to the cat beside him.

Little Mia, lying on the table, moved her position like a wriggling worm, sniffed the ring with her pink little nose, then turned her head away with some disgust, not interested at all.

"Hmm? Doesn't she like rings very much?"

Now Xia De also didn't understand.