Chapter 73: Your Name Is… (2)

“How’ve you been?”

When I visited Silence after a long time, I found him lying down and resting like a person, unlike other horses. Upon seeing me, he immediately turned his head away.

‘Is this bastard actually human?’

While one could argue his intelligence came from his owner, watching him rest like that and seeing his unnaturally perceptive gaze that seemed unbefitting of a beast, it was a truly reasonable suspicion.

Knock knock. As I rapped on the stable door, Silence let out a short neigh as if annoyed and got up.

I opened the door, grabbed Silence’s reins, and led him out of the stable. After mounting him, I said:

“From now on, I’m going to inject energy into you so you can learn to use it.”

It might seem pointless to speak to an animal that couldn’t understand words, but injecting energy suddenly without warning felt slightly less guilty than doing so after explaining first.

Apart from creatures that have transformed into magical beasts or special spiritual beings with heightened intelligence, it’s nearly impossible for animals to awaken energy on their own.

That’s why a swordsman who knows how to use energy needs to mount the animal and gradually inject energy, allowing the body to get used to it over time.

The process involves some pain, but why should I care when I’m not the one hurting?

“I’ll start right now, if that’s okay with you?”

“…Snort.”

Taking that sound as agreement, I began injecting energy into Silence’s heart bit by bit.

Starting from the heart, as the energy began circulating through the blood vessels, Silence trembled as if in pain, but that was all.

Unlike the descriptions in novels, there was no wild thrashing or collapsing from unbearable agony.

Aside from slightly furrowing his brows, Silence kept his mouth firmly shut as usual, as if nothing was wrong.

“As expected of my trusty steed!! This level of pain is nothing compared to your loyal heart’s desire to help me!!”

“……”

When I praised Silence for showing surprising loyalty for a beast, his ears folded back.

The wind wasn’t strong enough to fold his ears back, so Silence must have done it himself, but did horses folding their ears have some meaning?

Making a mental note to ask a horse trainer later, I headed towards the dormitory with Silence.

To help Silence learn to use energy as quickly as possible, I planned to keep injecting energy into him even while sleeping.

However, logically, I couldn’t sleep tangled up with horses in the stable as a human.

So, like dogs and cats, Silence would have to sleep with me in my room for a while as he learned to use energy.

“Hey! Stop right there!!”

Just as I was about to enter the dormitory with Silence, the dorm supervisor guarding the main entrance rushed over to block my way.

The supervisor who had hurriedly run over was about to snap at me, but upon seeing my face, he broke into a cold sweat and carefully said:

“Student Ian… What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m horseback riding.”

“That’s not what I meant, sigh… I’m asking why you’re trying to bring a horse into the dormitory.”

When I explained what I was trying to do, he dragged a hand down his face.

“Even so, bringing a horse into the dormitory… No, never mind. Just go in.”

Sensing the conversation might drag on, I placed my hand on my sword hilt. Seeing this, the supervisor sighed and waved me in.

Indeed, the saying that most problems in life can be solved with Baldo proved to be true.

Inwardly praising the teacher’s wisdom in yielding to the power of Baldo, I headed to my room with Silence.

The dormitory room provided by the academy could easily fit one horse, so there didn’t seem to be any issue with having Silence sleep here.

‘But how should we sleep?’

The only problem was figuring out how to sleep while maintaining contact with Silence in this room.

If I stayed mounted the whole time while sleeping, it would be uncomfortable with my body pressed down…

After thinking for a bit, I had Silence sit right next to the bed and draped my relatively light legs over him as I lay on the bed.

The more surface area in contact, the more energy can be transferred, but this should be enough while sleeping.

“Well then, it’s a bit early but good night.”

“……”

After watching Silence nod briefly, I turned off the lights.

As I felt Silence’s beating heart through my legs in the deep darkness, the first day came to an end.

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Raei  Translations
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“…Well, shall we go?”

Changing clothes without detaching any part of my body from Silence was extremely difficult, but I managed somehow.

All that’s left now is using the bathroom and showering, but I’m sure my future self will figure out a way to deal with those too.

Pushing the problems that haven’t arrived yet onto my future self, I prepared to head out.

While many students commuted by carriage or horseback, it seemed unusual to do so on campus grounds, as I drew quite a bit of attention.

“Hey, you…”

Several senior students and teachers tried to stop me, but like the dorm supervisor, they shut their mouths after seeing my face.

‘Is this what power feels like?’

It was my first time experiencing it, but it truly was an exhilarating force. Thinking that I had achieved all this through Baldo made me feel even better.

Backed by the power gained through Baldo—Baldo-power for short—I strode forward with dignity.

On my way to the S-class classroom, I ran into Hori, who unlike me, didn’t exude even a hint of Baldo-power.

“Hello, Hori.”

Hori, who had been observing the reactions around us, nodded briefly and said in a small voice:

“Oh, um… hello. But Ian, why are you on horseback…?”

“I’m currently training Silence to use aura. So I’m continuously channeling energy from above.”

“Energy? I’m not sure I understand, but does that mean you’re strengthening him?”

“That’s right. Why?”

“No, I was just wondering if you could use that Baldo thing while on horseback…”

“Of course I can.”

Looking at history alone, Genghis Khan, the Great Swordmaster and founder of the Yuan Dynasty, is widely accepted by scholars to have led many battles to victory using mounted Baldo.

He struck fear into all of Europe using Baldo without even using a Japanese sword. If the Mongol army had used Japanese swords back then, who knows what might have happened…

In reality, they were unable to withstand the storm-like Baldo using Japanese swords and failed to invade mainland Japan.

“It’s just not as strong as when used on foot, that’s all.”

“Then why are you trying to strengthen him…”

“He’s too weak as he is now.”

In his current state without mastering aura use, Silence is just a slightly superior warhorse compared to others.

However, once he masters aura, he’ll be reborn as an ideal horse that can run for days on end without tiring, surpassing the limits of ordinary horses.

“Also, it would be bad if we were attacked while riding, so I need to toughen him up a bit while I have the time.”

“Oh… I thought you were up to some crazy scheme again, but it seems you’ve actually thought this through.”

“What did you say?”

I can take that kind of talk from others, but not from Hori.

I immediately put my hand on my sword hilt, causing Hori to frantically wave her hands and exclaim:

“A joke!! It was just a joke!! Don’t take it so seriously!”

“There are some things in this world that can’t be dismissed as jokes, and one of them is you calling me crazy.”

“I’m just pursuing a bit of romance, I’m completely sane… Anyway, if you’re planning to make him stronger, would you like my help?”

“Help? How?”

“I could modify some medicine meant for humans so that horses can take it…”

“If you don’t mind getting trampled by a rampaging Silence after he takes that medicine, go ahead and make it.”

“I just remembered I have an urgent matter to attend to, so I’ll be going now!”

After seeing Silence’s thick legs, Hori fled as if escaping, and I whispered to Silence while watching her retreating figure:

“Hey, I just saved your life.”

“……”

A sensitive horse might actually die after taking Hori’s medicine.

Whether aware of this fact or not, Silence let out a short neigh, and I led him onward to the S-class classroom.

“…Hah.”

Jessica, who I happened to meet in front of the door, approached me with an expression of disbelief.

“…First, let me ask: what exactly are you doing right now?”

“Can’t you see? I’m training my beloved steed!!”

“Training…”

Jessica muttered that word, then suddenly put on a pitying expression and stroked Silence’s nose while saying:

“…You must have suffered greatly under that lunatic.”

“……”

True to his name, the taciturn Silence didn’t say anything, but he seemed to strongly agree with her words as he pressed his face closer, asking for more petting.

“Hehe…”

Jessica gently stroked Silence’s face, while I stood there dumbfounded, unable to understand the situation unfolding before me.

“What’s going on here?”

“A victims’ meeting…? But are you really planning to bring him into the classroom?”

“That’s the plan… Why, is that not allowed?”

“Of course it’s not allowed!! Do you think the headmaster will just stand by and watch such a spectacle?!”

“Well… I guess we’ll find out when we see.”

Just as I was about to enter with Silence, I heard the sound of footsteps in the corridor. I turned to look and saw Rain, who stopped walking and coldly snapped at me:

“…Lunatic.”

After saying that, Rain haughtily entered first, followed by Jessica, and finally me into the classroom.

And shortly after…

“…Ah…”

Marina, upon entering the classroom and seeing me, let out a deep sigh.

“Hah!”

Jessica gave me a look that said, ‘See? I told you so,’ but her expression began to crumble as she heard the words that followed.

“…Ian, I assume there’s a meaningful reason behind your current actions?”

“Yes.”

“…Then I’ll allow it. Please take extra care to ensure your horse doesn’t make any noise during class.”

“Understood.”

Given the current situation where the academy is being targeted by unidentified enemies, Marina would likely permit almost anything under the pretext of increasing our combat strength.

However, Jessica, unable to accept this fact, slammed her desk as she stood up and exclaimed:

“This, this is absurd!! You’re just going to let him bring a horse into the classroom?!”

“Jessica…”

“What is it, Headmaster?!”

“Just let it go… Digging deeper will only give us a headache.”

“Ah, but…!!”

Faced with that deeply resigned voice, Jessica couldn’t muster a single word of rebuttal and had no choice but to sit back down.

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