The Pegasus of the Gods
Perhaps because her stomach was full and she felt safe at last, the merchant’s young lady had nodded off, her head resting against her maid as she breathed peacefully in her sleep.
“Oh dear, she’s fallen asleep.”
“Yes. I think she finally relaxed after everything… Thank you so much. And thank you as well, Lou and Dennis.”
“No, we’re the ones who should apologize… We ended up getting caught in the end and put you in danger. We’re really sorry.”
“I’m sorry too.”
Lou and Dennis both bowed their heads apologetically to the maid.
“Oh no, not at all. You did warn us the forest was dangerous, but we insisted on going...”
“Um, by the way, why did she want to go into the forest in the first place?”
“Well, it seems the young lady overheard her father and a guest talking... she wanted to see a pegasus.”
“““““A PEGASUS!?”””””
“Yes. Apparently, the guest had heard from an adventurer that there were pegasi near the Lampail forest. And that one of them would even let a little girl ride it. Also, there was a noble’s wedding in the royal capital where a pegasus-drawn carriage flew off toward the Lampail region. So she believed riding one would bring happiness. When she heard her father was coming here to purchase goods, she insisted on coming along—to ride a pegasus. I’m so sorry... that’s the reason.”
“Jo?”
“Joaaa~an?”
“”Little Joaaaaan~?””
““Young lady Joaaaan~?””
Everyone stared at me with squinty, accusing eyes.
“Umm, so… that little girl? That was me.”
“Eh?”
“The pegasus is my familiar. I think it was about four years ago, during the direwolf subjugation. There were a lot of adventurers from out of town back then, so maybe that’s when the story started. And the wedding in the capital… was one of our family’s weddings.”
“Then… there really is a pegasus?”
“Yes. She’s actually—”
“She’s here.”
“Brother Gene, did you come on Snowy?”
“No, I came on Zex, but I was worried about you so I followed.”
“Ah, I see… Well then, yes, you can ride her.”
“R-really!? Young lady! Wake up!”
“Hmm? Morning already?”
“No, not morning. A pegasus. P-E-G-A-S-U-S.”
“A pegasus?! Where?!”
“Um, she’s my familiar.”
“What?! The adventurer’s?”
“Yup. Would you like to ride her back to town?”
“Yes!! I want to ride her!”
I had Mr. Mac sign off on the completed request, and just before heading back to town, I remembered something.
“By the way… earlier, none of you seemed surprised when we mentioned the pegasus.”
Actually, you were all giving me squinty eyes along with my brothers…
“Well, I mean… the pegasus is famous here in the Lampail region. They’ve been flying around for ages, right?”
“Ah...”
“And lately, there’s even talk about that dog.”
“Huh? Even Pearl?”
“Well yeah, there aren’t any other dogs that can grow that big. And you’re always the one riding her, Joan.”
“That’s right~! Everyone says if it’s Joan, of course she’d be riding a giant dog!”
“Ahaha…”
I’m honestly thankful the people of this territory are so understanding…
When we stepped outside, we found the girl petting Snowy, who was kindly lowering her head to make it easier.
—Thank you, Snowy.
—It’s fine. Pearl already told me the story. You want to go to town, right?
—Yeah. Please. Thank you too, Pearl.
—No problem~
“Shall we head out, then? Oh, but with this many people, how should we split up?”
“Let’s see… Jo, you take that girl and ride Snowy. The maid can ride with me on Zex. Martin, you go with Dennis, right? And Lou can go with Pearl, yeah?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even introduce myself. This is Young lady Alisha, and I’m Jiya.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Joan. Alisha, right?”
“Yes. Big sister Joan!”
“Okay then, Brother Gene, we’ll meet at the Jo Company.”
“Got it.”
—Pearl, take care of Lou, okay?
—Ro~ger~
Snowy started with a slow walk, then spread her wings and floated into the sky. She slowly circled above Mr. Mac’s house. Down below, not just my brothers, but Mr. Mac and all the nearby sweet potato farmers waved up at us when they spotted us.
“Wooow! I’m flying! I’m really flying!”
“You okay? Not scared?”
“Nope! Wow, flying feels so amazing!”
“Look, there’s the town.”
“Wow! It looks totally different from above!”
As we reached the sky above town, everyone looked up. But the only ones surprised were probably tourists or merchants from out of town. The locals smiled warmly and watched peacefully.
Mr. Mac was right, after all...
Of course, we couldn’t land right in the middle of town, so we went to a nearby open area instead. As we headed toward the Jo Company, a stout man called out to us.
“Alisha!?”
“Ah! Papa! I rode a pegasus!”
“I thought that was you, so I ran after you. And... who is this? And Jiya?”
“This is Big sister Joan, the adventurer. This pegasus belongs to her!”
The stout man was Alisha’s father, Mr. Dasher. He ran a tea shop in the royal capital and had come to Lampail to purchase black tea.
I led them toward our meeting spot at the Jo Company and explained to Mr. Dasher how we met Alisha.
“You mean… goblins!? Thank you so much! And to think you even let her ride the Pegasus of the Gods...”
“Pegasus of the Gods?”
“Yes. It’s an old tale, but... they say those who ride the pegasus-drawn carriage at a noble wedding in the capital will live a blessed marriage. That they receive the blessing of the divine pegasus.”
“Ahaha… is that so…”
I admitted the truth: that the pegasus was just convenient for getting to our family’s wedding reception.
“Wahaha! So that’s how it was! Wahaha!”
“Sorry about that…”
“No, no. I’m just grateful that you let Alisha fly on the pegasus.”
Soon after, Brother Gene and the others caught up with us.
Lou and Dennis rushed over to Mr. Dasher and bowed their heads in apology. But he didn’t scold them at all. Instead, he cheerfully signed off on the completed request and even increased their reward.
What do you think about this chapter?
