Horse-Riding Practice

[The Plaza Before the Dungeon]

Since the jinba-gura, that is, the cousin of the carrier-frame, was finished, it was time for horse-riding practice. General Rāja had riding experience by nature, but a horse-beastfolk has two legs, so her gait differs from that of an actual horse.

For the record, a centaur has four legs plus hands and can run like a horse, but it would need extra body segments, and anatomically the placement of its internal organs and so on stops making sense, which is perhaps why, in this world, such creatures don't occur among ordinary beastfolk, only among dungeon monsters.

"This is the walk, a horse's ordinary pace. It's a little fast, but the foot soldiers should be able to keep up just fine."

"And how far does this cover in a day?"

"About fifteen ri, twenty if we push? It took me six days to come here from Gunma."

About the pace of a brisk human walk.

"Gunma's in the neighboring country, right?"

"North of this country, the Land of Ke."

The inhabitants of the Land of Ke are called "ke no mono," and as you can tell from this turning into "kedamono" (beast), the Land of Ke is a country with many beastfolk. The same way "ki no mono" (tree folk) turned into "kudamono" (fruit). In which case, what are the "fusa no mono" of the neighboring country to the east, one wonders.

"This is the trot, a light run. About this. I can keep running for maybe half an hour."

Jogging. Since the day uses temporal hours, half an hour is "roughly an hour or so."

"And then the canter. Can't keep this up nearly as long."

Running. About the speed of a marathon runner, but two or three ri is the limit for distance.

"On the highway you go about this fast, switching off at each post station."

Whether it's an express courier, horse-legs, or an actual horse, the speed doesn't change much.

"And now, last, the gallop. Going all out."

So saying, Haruna slipped off her straw sandals (horseshoes) and ran flat out.

"Huff, huff. This is my limit. But being able to do this is a horse's greatest strength."

A speed faster than the world record for the sprint. Overwhelmingly faster than a human, of course (whose 3000m record is about seven and a half minutes), but, naturally, slower than a racehorse (3200m in 3 minutes 12 seconds, 60 km/h).

"I thought I'd get thrown off. Feels like a worse ride than a horse."

"General, please get used to it."

[Outside the Dungeon's Sphere of Influence]

"I can't run anymore. Let's walk back slowly on the way home."

"Should I get off for the way back?"

"No, no need for that."

"We were outside the dungeon's sphere of influence in no time."

Rāja is a Named monster and Haruna is an ordinary horse-beastfolk, so both can leave the dungeon.

"A ri at a gallop is impossible. This is about my limit."

In Haruna's case she could probably finish the Tennō Shō (Spring), but the Stayers Stakes would be iffy.

"Haruna, let's rest. Tomorrow we practice running while mowing down pirates with a naginata, wearing armor."

"With heavy armor my speed'll drop, won't it. Even without armor, there's no problem as long as I don't get hit."

"… Worst case, I'd be fine even so, but Haruna, you aren't a Named monster, are you."

Rāja and Haruna opened their lunches side by side. Rāja, being an athlete too, eats a lot, but Haruna…

"You sure eat a lot."

"Me, I'm nothing yet. There are plenty of horses that eat way more, eating their fodder out of the bucket, then gnawing on the bucket itself, and finally even eating the bedding."

True, in this world's countryside straw is used for bedding, but while that's one thing for an actual horse, for a horse-beastfolk to do that…

Most likely she'd be stronger fighting weapon in hand at someone's side than being ridden, but…