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Chapter 72: Someone Is Looking for Junice

A few more days passed.

Reiner chose a fine day and went to the market with Nora and Martina to select horses.

Because it was winter, the market was almost deserted.

The horse stalls, which were usually lively, also seemed extraordinarily sparse.

Reiner glanced inside and found that only a dozen or so horses remained.

The horse dealer hurried forward when he saw a customer, and upon seeing it was Reiner, he greeted him obsequiously, “Lord Reiner, are you here to buy horses?”

“Yes, do you have any recommendations? They should be as inexpensive as possible.”

The dealer rubbed his hands and squinted, “That depends on your purpose. Pack horses are cheaper, travel horses are moderately priced, warhorses are the most expensive, and they won’t be available until spring.”

“How much would three travel horses cost approximately?”

“About 20 gold coins for the cheapest ones,” the dealer said as he picked up a brush and groomed a black horse. “It mainly depends on the breed. Take this Rossnow steppe horse for example; it has a sturdy, robust build and thick coat. It can be used for hauling goods, traveling, and even on the battlefield, but it is not cheap. One costs 15 gold coins.

And that chestnut horse is our Dyast warmblood horse. It runs fast, has strong endurance, a good temperament, and balanced attributes overall, costing only 12 gold coins.

The cheapest is that gray Eurasian Kaltblut horse in the corner. It is small in size, has strong limbs, is suitable for cross-country riding, and has a hardy constitution, making it ideal for beginners at only 7 gold coins each.”

Reiner squinted and scrutinized him carefully, “Why is it so cheap?”

“These horses are widely distributed and can be found almost everywhere in the western continent, so naturally their price is much lower. Many people who come here to buy horses prefer the Eurasian Kaltblut horse, and even some financially constrained knights choose this breed as their mount.”

Reiner stroked his chin and then asked, “You’re not going to sell me sick horses, are you?”

The dealer, sweating profusely, gave an embarrassed smile, “My lord, merchants cherish their reputation above all. If I were full of lies, this horse stall wouldn’t have lasted this long.”

Reiner conceded that he had a point.

He would buy them and observe them for a few days, and if the horses proved unsatisfactory, he could return them.

After all, this horse stall had existed since Reiner’s transmigration here.

A monk may run away, but he cannot abandon the temple.

“I want three Eurasian Kaltblut horses. Lead them aside so we can choose ourselves.”

After the dealer led the horses away, Reiner let Nora and Martina pick.

“Come on, you two pick them yourselves; keep your eyes sharp so you don’t end up with sick horses.”

Martina nodded heavily and started selecting first.

She stroked the mane on the horse’s neck and murmured in demi-human tongue, “Good horse, good horse, let me choose.”

Nora followed closely and began examining them carefully as well.

They were just like Reiner, with absolutely no riding experience.

During this time, the three of them could only learn through trial and error.

As Reiner walked past the horses, one of them gently nuzzled his cheek…

“Do you want to come home with me?”

“Huff!” The horse exhaled warm breath at Reiner and then opened its mouth to nibble his hair.

Suddenly it bucked up again and trotted around the stable as if possessed by some spirit illness.

This was rather interesting…

The dealer came over and said solemnly, “My lord Reiner, this horse is rather mischievous. I suggest you choose another one.”

Reiner stroked the horse’s head and said, “It seems quite clever. I’ll take this one.”

The dealer scratched his head, gave a foolish grin, handed the reins to Reiner, and began fitting the stirrups.

The beast-eared girls had also finished selecting their horses.

Martina’s horse was as tall and strong as she was, with visible sinewy muscles.

The one Nora chose was somewhat smaller but looked quite agile.

“Darling! Look at me!” Martina made a huge leap directly onto her horse’s back, and the sudden weight bore down on it heavily, making it take tiny, rapid steps as it flailed.

Her gear alone weighed at least 40 jin, and her body weight was close to 200 jin.

Seeing it was unruly, Martina raised a fist the size of a sandbag and shook it in front of the horse’s face, “If you move around again, I’ll show you what’s what.”

Startled by her threat, the horse immediately calmed down.

Born of the same root, why be so eager to harm one another…

“Don’t injure it.”

Martina shook her head, “No, I won’t kill it.”

In contrast, Nora was much gentler. She nimbly climbed onto the horse’s back, patted its head, and praised, “Such a good one…”

Since he didn’t know how to ride, Reiner wasn’t planning to ride that contraption for the time being.

He planned to first take them home, keep them for a while, and consider learning to ride once winter was over.

He was neither as agile as Nora nor as sturdy as Martina, so if he got thrown off, he would probably suffer a nasty fall.

After handing the bag full of gold coins to the dealer, he had almost no money left on him.

The weather seemed good over the next couple of days, so he planned to go to the Adventurers’ Guild in the afternoon to pick up some work and see if he could earn some more money.

While pondering this, the three of them were almost at their home.

Reiner saw a familiar figure from afar.

Anna was squatting at the doorway, gently rubbing her shoulders that were reddened by the cold.

It was so cold now, and yet she was still wearing that ancestral beast-skin coat.

When she saw Reiner return, she immediately ran over and said, “Reiner, you’re finally back. I’m freezing.”

“Why didn’t you wait inside?”

“I did. I just came out and saw you were back.”

Reiner led the horses into the stable in the backyard.

When he finished building it yesterday, he thought the stable was quite spacious; now that three horses were living in it, he found it far too cramped.

But since it was winter, a bit of crowding was acceptable; they would manage.

After the season passed, he would find a way to expand it for them.

“So you came to see me because you learned the chantless magic I taught you?”

Anna shrugged, “No. I’ve been figuring it out on my own for almost half a month. Although I’ve achieved some effect, I’m still far from being able to use it skillfully. What I want to ask is, have you seen Junice recently?”

“Why do you ask?” Reiner asked in puzzlement.

Junice had just bid him farewell a few days ago, and now he didn’t know where she was.

She might have already left Dyast, for all he knew.

She had been studying Barnite before, so Barnite might very well be her destination.

Honestly, Junice was one of the few friends Reiner had, and he actually missed her fairly a lot after their parting.

“Someone has been looking for Junice everywhere recently. They came looking for me, and I expect they’ll be looking for you before long.”

No sooner had Anna finished speaking than Reiner heard a clatter of hooves in the distance.

He walked to the front of the house and discovered that the approaching figures were a squad of knights fully equipped with arms.

Judging by the style of their plate armor, they probably were not from Dyast Kingdom…

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