“Next, we’ll practice putting the harnesses on the horses. Then we’ll actually try driving the carriage. Go ahead and take it out for me.”
At the ranch manager’s request, I pulled the carriage out of my Item Box.
Whoosh. Thud.
“Oh, this is a fine carriage. Isn’t this the latest model released this year?”
“You know quite a bit about carriages too, Manager?”
“When they’re making a carriage, they usually do test runs, so I get to see them pretty often. Anyway, let’s get the harnesses on the horses.”
With the ranch manager’s help, Sue and I put the harnesses on the horses and hitched them to the carriage. Then came the test run around the ranch.
Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop.
“You’ve got the hang of it, kid. Just like that.”
Maybe it was because we’d already practiced horseback riding, but I was able to handle the carriage surprisingly smoothly. Sue took turns driving as well, and Shiro and the others had no trouble handling it either.
Perhaps it was partly because these horses were so easy to work with, but it looked like everyone could manage the carriage if necessary.
Still, I had a feeling I’d be the one doing most of the driving.
“Goodness, I never thought I’d see a slime driving a carriage…”
“Ao is a special kind of slime.”
“I suppose it is. It’s not every day you see a slime riding a horse, either.”
The ranch manager watched in fascination as Ao skillfully manipulated the reins with his tentacles and drove the carriage.
After that, we spent about an hour learning how to handle the horses.
“The horses have worked up a sweat, so now we’ll give them a good wipe-down.”
“““Okay!”””
The horses were sweating from all the exercise, so Shiro and the others grabbed stools and carefully wiped down their bodies.
Meanwhile, the ranch manager taught me how to take care of their hooves.
Sue filled a bucket with water that Ao produced using magic and gave it to the horses to drink.
“You’re all picking this up remarkably quickly. I have to say, I’m impressed.”
“What should we do when the horses sleep at night?”
“It would be best to lay down fresh straw for them, but that becomes extra baggage when you’re on the road. Fortunately, horses can sleep standing up, so you should be fine without it.”
I vaguely remembered seeing stables on horse-racing programs in my previous life. They always seemed to have straw spread across the floor.
Well, it’s probably better to have it if we can.
I decided we might as well buy everything we needed.
“Then I’d like to purchase the horses, along with two weeks’ worth of feed.”
“Are you sure you want that much feed? It’s going to take up quite a bit of space.”
“I’ll make a magic bag specifically for the horses. I’ll also keep some in my Item Box and Ao’s Item Box.”
“Hahaha. In that case, I don’t see any problem. Come on, let’s head back to the office.”
And so, I successfully purchased the items needed for the carriage journey.
That said, there is still more to be done. I am going to further modify the carriage to ensure a comfortable trip.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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