“What? He can’t ride a horse?”
Frederik, Lieutenant-General and Commander of the Heavy Cavalry of the 24th Regiment from the Kingdom of Ardenberg stared at Sunhyuk with an astonished face.
“Well, he had never ridden a horse before…”
Clarke, who was responsible for the third squad of the new recruits replied with a grim face.
“Why is that kind of guy in the cavalry?”
“Well, I checked on his title and it says Dragon Rider, so I assumed that a Rider was indeed cavalry.”
“Then he should have some skills! The reason why those Strangers can run like that is because of their skills, right?!”
Frederik, who wouldn’t stop shouting once he got angry, was truly angry as Clarke bowed his head down.
“He has no skills.”
“No skills?”
“There is no skill that is related to the most basic horse riding. I truly think that there was a mistake from the top.”
What he was trying to say politely was that it was not his fault as he attempted to shift the blame towards the administrative head.
“What were they thinking to assign him to us?! Well, considering the bastards that just roll their pens while sitting on their chairs, they wouldn’t know a damn thing about the scene.”
Frederik who was pouring curses incessantly at the management office was able to barely calm down after some time.
“Teach him.”
“Yes?”
“If he has never ridden a horse, then make him ride one by teaching him.”
“Don’t you think we should transfer him somewhere else?”
Taken aback from the unexpected words, he asked confusingly.
“The Strangers are the bastards that are specially managed by the Kingdom. It’s shitty, but there is nothing I can do. So teach him, and bring him along with us.”
“Ugh. It’ll take a long time before we can use him in actual fighting.”
“Until then, make sure to teach him well, without having him die.”
“Do I have to protect him?”
“It can’t be helped since that’s his title, but if he were to die suddenly, there will be an interrogation from the top. So take care of him.”
There were none as stressful as the command ‘take care of him.’ However, Clarke did not dare to oppose orders from the hot-tempered Captain, so he did not argue back and promptly left the barracks.
“What did they say? Are we supposed to send him somewhere else?”
One of the riders that was waiting asked nervously.
“No. We need to teach him how to walk, piss, and take a dump, all of it.”
The horseman with a shocked face asked troublingly.
“Does that even make sense? It’s not like this is a recruitment cramp, if we were to be his babysitters, we might die.”
“Orders are orders, do we have any authority to resist?”
“Anything else? Are we supposed to feed him as well?”
“Grunt. Making sure that he doesn’t die a ridiculous death as well.”
After listening to those words, the horseman exploded in the end.
“What, as veterans we might die at any moment, and now our orders are to take care of this bastard that can’t even ride a horse.That’s basically asking us to die in his stead!”
“Exactly!”
Clarke replied full of contempt.
“Roll him hard. So much so, that he’ll want to run away with his own feet. If he were to attempt desertion, it’ll be good for us. You know how Strangers are famous for their weak-ass mentality.”
As such, Sunhyuk’s fate was unknowingly decided here at that moment. After barely enduring hell-like training in one training ground, little did he know that another was waiting for him.
“Mm, why does it feel so ominous…”
He did not know of his fateful destiny, as he tried to sleep that night.
“Ah, this fucking useless bastard! I’m basically spoon-feeding you, and you can’t even eat it?!”
Starting then, a load of abuse and mistreatment had begun. As a rider that couldn’t even ride a horse, he was the center of ridicule and persecution by all. Being in a situation he had never been in before, he clenched his teeth as he continued to train.
However, as someone that was groaning in pain while trying to ride the horse, he felt grief and despair of why he had to listen to such verbal abuse.
“Why? Do you feel angry for your lack of ability? Then do it properly!”
“I’m trying!”
“Are you talking back? Huh? Just because you smashed Hansen, are you looking down on the cavalry regiment?”
The riders when they were on horses become vastly different from when they are on foot. Even that brief status of beating Hansen in a fight had quickly disappeared. He couldn’t help but lower his head against the superior statuses of Riders on their horses.
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it, alright?”
“Alright. Please succeed. Even a shawl from the dirt would be hundred times better than you.”
He continued to endure against the pain, verbal assaults, and the neverending training through sheer perseverance. But even then, it barely made him feel that everything was alright.
“Listen to me for once! Listen!”
Is it possible to receive the resentment of the horse species as a whole? Whenever he rode on top of one, they were frightened out of their wits that they were determined to push him off using whatever means possible. With his lack of horse riding proficiency, it was extremely difficult to barely stay on the horse.
“Ah. You cursed bastard. It seems that you were just cursed by the horses.”
“I can still do it!”
At this time, the rider that was in charge of teaching him had already given up.
“Even if you can, the horse won’t. I can’t harm the horse while trying to train a bastard like you.”
One could say that it feels cavalry-like, considering how they care about their horses more than the riders themselves. Or should he be in sorrow. Sunhyuk, with a troubled heart limped back to his residence.
“Oh! Sunhyuk!”
While he was walking absentmindedly, someone had called for him. As someone that had been sworn at for what felt like an eternity, it was truly uncomfortable hearing his name be called for in a friendly manner.
“Ah, Jungtae hyung.”
“It’s been a while. Is that a cavalry uniform? The colors are different from before!”
With his uniform soiled of dirt and mud, he wasn’t sure what colors were different.
“Did you notice? Hyung has been promoted. It’s only ten people, but I have subordinates now as well.”
“Congratulations. That’s great.”
After giving off a soulless congratulatory remark, he turned and continued walking.
“Stay strong, cutey. It’s not an easy task to become a real man.”
Only Jonathan, who had a peculiar fetish approached him and gave him comforting words.
“You should take your hand back first?”
If he hadn’t slipped his hand, grabbing his butt, he would have been somewhat comforted. However, whether or not he was initially being truthful in his words, he didn’t have the strength to delve into it.
What had he done wrong exactly? Is a Dragon Rider not a rider?
Even an obedient horse; would change into a wild horse whenever he gets on, as it crazily runs out. So much so, that it was quite an anomaly.
After having these disconcerting thoughts for some time, he attempted to go to sleep. It was then, he heard a voice.
[Stupid guy.]
He thought that they would leave him alone, but it seems to have started up again. Trying to appear as if he hadn’t heard the voice, he turned his futon over his head.
[Pathetic guy.]
He continued to dig deeper into his futon, but the sound was still clear. It was as if it was talking to him directly in his head.
[Can’t even ride an inferior low grade animal like that…]
“Hey, stop!”
Stressed out, he stood up and screamed aloud, as the other riders were individually organizing their gear stared at him wondering ‘if he ate something wrong.’
[I was intending to just observe, but seeing how you are behaving, I have no trust whatsoever, leaving me with no choice but to come forth.]
“Who are you!”
Aside from the furtive glances that thought he went crazy, he continued to shout against the voice in his head.
[Although it’ll prolong the time before we can meet, but there is no other way around it.]
At this time, he could precisely know what was happening. No one was talking to him. Rather, this one voice was mysterious compared to all the others around him.
“Who, who are you?”
At this time, a few riders were making circles with their fingers beside their heads. Seeing them click their tongues, they must assume that he was totally crazy. But Sunhyuk was rather happy with that.
With this unfounded expectation, his heart began to race crazily.
[I am…]
“What are you doing?”
With all of the subordinates giving up one by one, eventually Clarke had to step forward. After unwillingly coming out, he saw Sunhyuk who was already outside doing some weird actions.
“Please, please wait.”
He was staring at the horse and locked in an intense battle using his eyes with all his might it seemed.
“ Do what you want. I too have already half-given up.”
Clarke didn’t necessarily stop him. Although he was Captain of the squad, it wasn’t like he was in a distinctive corner himself. No, rather the subordinates below him were rather better than him at horsemanship.
Assuming that was the case, in truth, he did not have a lot of expectations.
“How am I supposed to make a man out of that…”
Sighing, he lay down and continued to look at Sunhyuk..
“I am your master. I am your master.”
Sunhyuk had put forth so much strength into his eyes that they had turned red while he continued to mutter, making him appear like a crazy man, should one look into his eyes.
“Hey, bastard. That’s a cavalry training horse. If you want a horse, buy one separately like us.”
Seeing his pathetic state, Clarke couldn’t help but make a remark.
But it seemed that Sunhyuk wasn’t reacting at all to the ridicule. He never stopped giving up, and continued to mutter that he was the master, and even began to growl later on.
As such, after a long time had passed, as if he was tired, Sunhyuk was slowly stepping back, which made Clarke rise.
“Mmhm. Alright. Let’s try having you sit on the horse and do about ten strides.”
As he said that, Clarke was approaching to hold onto the bridle, but something unexpected happened in front of him.
The horse that was so proudly raising its head previously had lowered it. Not only that, it had put forth his front legs and bent down. Its appearance was as if a servant bowing down in front of a King.
“Huh?”
That was only the beginning. The real surprise had just begun.
Sunhyuk, who patted the bowed head of the horse a few times, raised his leg on its back. Then, he jumped on. Normally, the horse would cause a torrent of furious shaking, but the military horse allowed him on as it quietly waited.
“Let’s go.”
With Sunhyuk’s one sentence, the war horse started to walk.
“Huh? Huh?!”
Clarke couldn’t help but become shocked. Despite his awkward posture and rhythm, Sunhyuk had succeeded, although clumsily, on riding on top of a horse.
“Ohoh! Wow, it seems that not anyone can be a captain! Clarke has succeeded!”
Whether they were apologetic of handing the task over to the captain, or if it had hurt their pride of having given up training him, a subordinate witnessed this and began exclaiming.
“Huh? Huh.”
Hearing his subordinate’s words, Clarke couldn’t help but think.
What is that guy?
TL Afterword:
Wow, finally, sounds like the pace is really picking up!
Comment: Time to resume and kickstart this novel!
Notice: Will post two this week, and one more later in the week! It is a fantastic novel, and is quite longer chapter-wise than the other two novels I’ve worked on. Enjoy~