Chapter 10

With the arrival of spring, the Golden Hill Manor became a little more lively. It was the first time in four years that my birthday celebration was to be held.

In the Arksia Kingdom, there are three times a year when birthday celebrations are held: after the spring field revival, from the next full moon to the new moon after the summer descent festival, and after the autumn harvest. Since I was born at the end of winter, my birthday celebration would take place after the spring field revival.

Although I have memories from my previous life and think that a birthday celebration is nothing new, the lord's birthday celebration is held throughout the entire domain, so it is an excellent event for pleasing the people. It is said that they distribute alcohol and food to the people under the guise of celebration, using it as a form of carrot and stick.

If the people can enjoy it, I am willing to endure the ordeal of being the main character, which requires me to remain still for nearly three days.

The various preparations for the birthday celebration are to be handled by Count Terezia. Recently, I have had more opportunities to observe his work up close, and I have come to wonder if I am not overworking him to the point of elder abuse. It would be very troublesome if he were to die from overwork now...

Originally, he is supposed to be my guardian and acting lord here to gain privileges after the domain stabilizes. Does he really need to work himself to the bone? If he is working out of calculated self-interest, that is one thing, but Count Terezia clearly seems to be working for the revival of the Caudia Viscounty without any ulterior motives. It seems wrong to push him to the breaking point.

However, I do not have the ability to take over his work, nor do I have the power to prepare suitable assistants, so I can only do my best with what I can do now, which is to obediently receive his education.

As a result of this education, the most noticeable result at present is my horsemanship.

In recent years, the tactics of using cavalry have been evolving rapidly on the continent. The reasons for this are likely the improvement of warhorses suitable for military use and the widespread use of simple stirrups made of leather loops. Since the establishment of large infantry tactics about seven hundred years ago, riding was allowed only to military commanders, but with the rise of nobles raising their own armies, the use of cavalry and various tactics has become more common.

Incidentally, prior to this, battles were nothing more than unorganized crowds fighting each other. Furthermore, the first to organize an army was King Ilhan of ancient Inyatrisca, over two thousand years ago. Since Inyatrisca had already fallen before the system of armies spread, unorganized group battles continued until about seven hundred years ago, when the Holy Arksia Law Emperor Kingdom created a command structure for national defense.

Let's get back to the topic.

In the Arksia Kingdom, war is synonymous with defense, and there is a tendency to avoid pitched battles. Since the kingdom is bordered by the sea to the west and north, and by the Red Mountains and Black Mountains to the southwest and northeast, there are few cavalry units. Currently, only the Yugfena Kingdom, the Junaus Frontier, the Luctfeld County, and the Fleche County, which are located on the southeastern border, have a platoon-sized cavalry unit.

For various reasons, the nobles' council is apparently advancing plans to expand the military in the Yufena region. In this Caudia domain, due to the thorough collapse of the military, there is an experimental plan to rebuild the domain army as a cavalry unit.

Count Terezia, who is enthusiastically strengthening the domain army, is likely the one who proposed the military expansion in the Yufena region and the establishment of a cavalry unit in Caudia. He is a formidable person...

Shortly after the arrival of winter, in accordance with the decision of the nobles' council, three warhorses were first allocated for the domain army. Next year, 30 warhorses are scheduled to be allocated, and the 60-strong domain army will be divided into two platoons, with half of them converted to cavalry.

One of the three horses that had already arrived was a relatively small gelding, which was for my training. The other two were given to Calvin and Azir, veteran soldiers who were to lead the cavalry. A retired cavalryman from Luctfeld was assigned to teach me horsemanship, and Count Terezia himself provided instruction when he had time. At the same time, training on the immature Rasywok was also conducted, but since Rasywok is highly intelligent, there was almost no need for training.

"Good, that's fine."

On the day of the full moon of the first month, a couple of days after it had passed, Count Terezia gave the sign of approval at the end of the day's riding training.

My sixth birthday celebration, which is to begin in about a month, will start with a grand event where I ride a horse and lead the domain army in a parade through the village. It is said that the fact that I can ride a wolf dragon will be kept secret, and Rasywok will pretend to be a tame pet in the manor this time.

"Thank you very much."

Count Terezia, despite his busy schedule, taught me horse riding with great enthusiasm. The reason he devoted so much time to instruction was to bring my riding skills to a usable level by the time of the birthday celebration. Thinking that this was a milestone, I naturally bowed deeply.

His gnarled hand briefly touched my bowed head. When I looked up, thinking "Ah," Count Terezia's back was already moving away.

When I returned to my room, Rasywok was lounging on the floor next to the bed. Recently, he had been spending a lot of time by the pond, so it felt unusual, but upon reflection, he had been intruding quite frequently.

"You, you're in here again... huh?"

This intelligent beast can easily open doors, so I am no longer surprised to find Rasywok in my room. However, today was different.

There were thin, skin-like things scattered around Rasywok.

"What, what is this? Are you sick?"

Rasywok himself looked cool, but perhaps he had some kind of skin disease. I immediately checked his smooth, scaly skin for any abnormalities. His shiny scales were flawless, and it would be ridiculous to suspect a disease without the surrounding thin skin.

At a loss, I called for Master Camille. He is the best person to ask about such things.

"When I heard that Rasywok might be sick, I came to see...! Tsari, this is shedding!"

While saying how worried Tsari looked, Camille held his stomach and tried to suppress his laughter, and I kicked the back of his knee. Although I allow disrespect, I wonder why he always stirs up people's frustration to the maximum. Even though the damage from the kick is minimal, it makes me even more angry.

Still, shedding, huh. I had completely forgotten that snakes and lizards shed their skin. Since Rasywok has a wolf-like shape, I never thought that a wolf dragon would shed like a lizard.

Now that I think about it, he did seem to be turning white recently. I had not really looked at him closely for the past few days, but I had felt a sense of unease from a distance.

"It's okay, it's okay. This is proof that Rasywok is growing properly. Wolf dragons start shedding as their bodies develop. Still... if the stories are true, Rasywok will grow to more than twice his current size. It seems difficult to use them on a large scale..."

Indeed, it would be almost impossible to keep a carnivorous animal of that size in civilian life. The cost would not justify the benefits. It would be impractical for an individual to manage. Rasywok is already large enough for me to ride without any problems.

"Even if a wolf dragon cavalry unit is really formed, it will probably be on a platoon scale."

"That doesn't seem very efficient."

"But if wolf dragons can carry people and fly, they can gain air superiority."

"Huh? What? What do you mean by 'gain air superiority'?"

Camille tilted his head in confusion, but I pretended not to hear. The word "air superiority" that slipped out of my mouth was a term I did not fully understand myself.

My memories from my previous life are gradually fading. Since my father is no longer around, it is not a big deal, but the occasional emergence of vague, ambiguous words might be a problem.