The commotion was finally stopped by Minerva, who returned when she saw Ard, Eva, Beatrice, Alicia, and Milia were not following her and the others toward the stables for the horses and dragons, and then the field outside the arena for sports—all of which were still within the academy complex and scheduled stops on the facility tour. Ard and his team immediately followed Minerva, who walked back to rejoin the other team waiting in the distance.
After that, they continued the tour. Ard felt someone staring at him; he saw Irwin looking at him sharply, and when Ard turned and their eyes met, Irwin immediately looked straight ahead again.
"What is he trying to tell me... honestly, he's a little suspicious. Is he really from Fredonia? His facial structure looks like he's from the Durnhill Kingdom," Ard muttered to myself.
"What is it, Ard?" Eva asked.
"N-nothing," Ard replied, startled because Eva had broken his daze.
Then Ard turned to look at Alicia, who was also walking beside him. Alicia also appeared to be observing Irwin, and her eyebrows were furrowed. He glanced at Milia, who was walking next to Alicia, comparing her facial structure, and then comparing it to Irwin's. Clearly, they came from the same lineage or ethnic group.
"Yep, he's definitely from Durnhill... maybe from a village that lives in the mountains. He does look a bit like me, but his facial structure is clearly different... but why is he claiming to be from Fredonia... something is wrong here," Ard muttered to myself as he kept walking.
After walking quite a distance, they finally arrived at the stables. Minerva explained that there was a riding lesson and a riding club formed by the seniors.
"Who wants to try? Can all of you ride a horse?" Minerva asked.
No one answered, but suddenly Eva raised her hand. She immediately entered the stable, and a short while later, she came out leading a beautiful and majestic white horse. She casually jumped onto its saddle, then turned to look at Ard.
"Hmm... yep, that's definitely the Queen's horse," Ard muttered to myself, smiling and giving a thumbs-up.
"Hiyaah," Eva immediately spurred her horse and rode around the courtyard in front of the stable. Minerva turned back to look at the others.
"Come on, who else... you?" Minerva asked, pointing at Ard.
"Huh? Me?" Ard asked, pointing at his nose.
"Yes, you can ride a horse, can't you?" Minerva asked.
"Um... I can, I guess," Ard murmured.
"Ha... since when?" Alicia blurted out, then immediately covered her mouth, causing Beatrice and Milia to stare at her. "Ehehe... nothing," Alicia muttered.
"Fine, me too," Beatrice walked into the stable and retrieved her horse, then came out and spurred her horse to chase after Eva. Finally, Ard also went inside and looked at the horses in the stable. When he reached the end, he saw a sturdy black male horse with a cross-shaped white marking on its forehead, which was actually its white fur. "Hrrrh," the horse snorted when Ard approached it, and Ard immediately held its muzzle.
"Good horse," Ard murmured.
"Hihieee," the horse whinnied.
"You want to take a ride with me?" Ard asked.
The horse pulled its muzzle away, then turned inside its stall and pressed its muzzle back into Ard's hand, signaling yes. Ard opened its gate and pulled the reins. He put on the saddle and fastened it. Ard immediately jumped on and spurred the horse out of the stable. Once outside, Minerva, who saw Ard riding the black horse from the very last stall, was slightly shocked.
"Owh... you chose him, and he obeyed you? He's a wild horse that just arrived about a month ago, and no one has managed to tame him," Minerva said.
"Huh... really, ma'am?" Ard asked, confused.
"Hihiheeeee," the horse neighed and reared up on its hind legs. Ard, seated on its back, pulled the reins. When the horse's front legs landed, "hiyaaah," the horse immediately bolted, carrying Ard around the grounds. Minerva and the others watched Ard get further away, while Alicia was confused and shocked because, as far as she knew, Ard couldn't ride a horse at all.
"You're really fast, how about you become my horse?" Ard said to the horse.
"Brrrh," the horse replied.
Then he looked ahead and saw Beatrice trying to catch up to Eva in front of her. He casually spurred his horse, then passed Beatrice and then Eva. Ard glanced back.
"See you later, Princesses," he shouted cheerfully.
Eva, stunned for a moment when Ard passed her, immediately became serious. "Hyah," she spurred her horse until it shot forward quickly, leaving Beatrice far behind. Ard turned to look at Eva, who was now right on his tail.
"Hehe, she hates to lose, apparently. Good," Ard said.
"Hyah," Ard immediately spurred his horse again, and Eva kept following him. Minerva, Alicia, and Milia, and everyone else were amazed to watch the race between the black horse and the white horse, who circled the vast field in front of the stable, running side by side, each trying to leave the other behind.
"It's like the hero is racing the demon lord, haha," Geoffrey joked.
"True enough," Rosalind added.
Finally, after several laps, Eva managed to pull up right beside Ard, who was still spurring his horse. Ard turned to see Eva staring at him. Without realizing it, they both smiled, then looked forward again.
"Hyah," both of them immediately spurred their horses once more.
After they were satisfied with the inconclusive race, Ard and Eva finally returned to the stable to put their horses back in their respective stalls. After closing the gate, Ard held his horse's muzzle once more.
"I'm leaving now... we'll go for a ride again later... somewhere far away," Ard said.
"Brrrh... hihiee," the horse replied, pressing its muzzle into Ard's hand.
Ard turned to see Eva watching him and holding the muzzle of her white horse, whose stall was next to Ard's.
"You like that horse?" Eva asked.
"Yep, you saw how fast he was, right? I like him," Ard replied, looking at his horse.
"Alright," Eva replied with an expressionless face.
"Huh... what does 'alright' mean?" Ard asked.
"It's nothing," Eva answered curtly and looked back at her horse.
"What a weird princess," Ard muttered to myself.
Then they left the stable and continued their journey up the hill, to where the dragon pens were located. These dragons were the kind usually ridden by the dragon knights, who were elite soldiers in the Orthus Empire and the Hellios Kingdom.
Once they arrived, Ard's eyes widened at the sight of a massive building with many knights moving in and out. To the right, another building seemed to be dedicated to storing the dragons' eggs. They walked inside the dragon pen and saw many dragons of all sizes and colors in their enclosures.
"Graaah," some dragons roared when they saw Minerva and the students standing in front of the pens and looking at them.