Chapter 13

When I woke up, I was on the bed.

For a while, I vaguely recalled why I was here and what had happened before I got into bed... Then, I saw a horse peering through the window next to the bed, and everything came back to me.

I hurriedly got up, got out of bed, and approached the window. There, I saw many horses gathered near the window.

And at the front... were the three horses that had been mistreated by poachers. I remembered the colors of their wings and manes, so I was pretty sure it was them.

"Are you okay?"

When I opened the window and reached out my hand, the horses nuzzled against it. Their wings were fluttering on their backs. Their injuries were properly bandaged, and there was no blood seeping through... so I guess their wounds were healing.

"...I'm glad."

I sighed in relief, and as soon as I did, the strength drained from my body.

I slumped to the floor, and only then did I realize that my body felt weak.

...Huh? How long have I been sleeping?

I stumbled out of the room and out of the house, and there was Redgard. When he saw me, he immediately looked very worried.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, somehow."

My body felt weak, but... that was all. I couldn't say I was completely fine, but I could still move.

"Did you carry me here, Redgard?"

"Yeah... sorry. If I had left it to the Pegasi, they would have tried to put you to sleep by the spring."

That's... good that I was carried here. If I had slept by the spring, I probably would have caught a cold.

"Good. Thank you. By the way, what about the poachers?"

"They've been taken into custody. They're in the town jail."

Oh, that's good. If they were still in the forest, I would have been worried about the horses.

"...But..."

However, Redgard looked troubled.

"Their crime, for now, is 'trespassing in a restricted forest.'"

"...Not poaching?"

"No. Unfortunately, we didn't catch them in the act, and they've somehow gotten smart. They're claiming, 'We weren't poaching, we just entered the forest.' They probably hadn't taken the Pegasi's wings or the Unicorns' horns yet, so we can't charge them with poaching."

...I see. The only ones who saw them in the act were me and the Pegasi, and Redgard probably just saw the three recovered Pegasi, the poachers, and me collapsing for no apparent reason. If they had hidden or discarded the wings, they could get away with saying, "We weren't poaching."

Thinking about it... I regret not doing anything before collapsing. Yeah.

"Well, it's good. At least the Pegasi and you are safe."

"Yeah, thank you."

I'm glad to know what happened after I collapsed. ...The outcome isn't great, but at least I know.

"Seriously, I was really worried. You found the poachers before I did, and you were attacked by them... and then you just collapsed and didn't move for three days."

...What?

Three... days...?

"Three days."

"Right. Three days! ...What did you do? Every time I came here, you hadn't even changed position. I thought you were dead, really..."

Ugh... that's scary.

I was unconscious for three days? Without any external injuries? That's... that's scary. Really scary. What was I in that state?

"Did you use a big spell or something? A friend of mine who's a mage did something big, and it was the same kind of feeling."

"...Probably that."

I guess healing two horses at once took a toll. If I had done them one by one, I would have been out for about six hours, but three days...

"Be careful, okay? You seem inexperienced with magic... it's worrying to watch."

"U-um... I'm sorry."

Yeah, I'm inexperienced. I'm still at the "What is magic?" stage.

Yeah, but... I'll be more careful from now on. If I draw horses carelessly, I might end up sleeping for three days.

"...By the way, about the poachers."

"Yeah, what about them?"

Putting aside the fact that I was out cold, I'm more concerned about this.

"Is there any way to charge them with poaching? For example, could my testimony help?"

"That would be appreciated... but how would you testify?"

"Huh?"

"Well, the Pegasi and you are both fine, right?"

Redgard tilted his head and said,

"There are no injured Pegasi or Unicorns right now."

...Oh.

Right... I erased the evidence. Without injured horses, there's no way to prove they were harmed.

"Well... I appreciate your concern, but it's difficult. The most you can testify to is that you saw the poachers chasing the Pegasi, but there's no evidence for that."

I see... I failed.

By healing the horses, I interfered with Redgard's work. It might not have been good for the horses either.

"...Don't be so down! The poachers will be dealt with somehow... look, the Pegasi are safe! They're happy! They're so attached to you! They must be grateful. They didn't leave your window."

As if to prove Redgard's words, a horse nuzzled against me. It tickled.

"Here, eat something. I made you drink some water, but you haven't eaten anything for three days."

...Now that he mentions it, I feel hungry. Yeah, I'm hungry.

The horses brought me fruit, as if to say, "Eat." The most amusing one was a Unicorn that had a peach impaled on its horn. Oh, that's how you carry things. Yeah.

...I was a bit down about not doing a good job, but being down won't help. For now, I decided to eat and regain my strength.

"The fruit here is really delicious. Why is it so sweet?"

I couldn't say, "Because it's Japanese fruit," so I just nodded along. I don't know what the fruit in this world is like, but genetically modified fruit is bound to be delicious.

"...Oh, right. Togo. I forgot to mention, there might be a way to deal with the poachers."

"Huh?"

I was surprised by the sudden change in topic, and even more surprised by the content. Didn't he just say they could only be charged with trespassing?

"We can't prove they caught anything. But we might be able to prove they sold it. ...If there's evidence of them selling Pegasus wings or Unicorn horns on the black market, we can take them down!"

Ah, I see. The poachers caught the horses' horns and wings and sold them. If we can prove they sold them, we can expose their poaching from that angle.

"It's okay. I'll definitely do it. I swear on the Redgard name, I, Fay Blade Redgard, will protect the peace of this forest! Got it?"

Redgard said this and smiled brightly, as if to reassure me and the horses.

"...So, I'm off."

Then Redgard stood up. He must be busy, but he probably came all the way here to check on me. ...I feel bad.

"I'll go back to town, find out where the poachers' hideout is, and search the place. If I can find even one piece of evidence, that'll be enough!"

But Redgard smiled without showing any signs of fatigue.

...But at that moment, I suddenly remembered something completely different.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

I vaguely remembered putting something in my pocket. When I searched my pocket... there was a piece of paper that had been in there for the past three days.

"Can you read this?"

I unfolded it and handed it to Redgard, who read it and then made a strange face.

"...We found what we were looking for before we even started searching."

"Huh?"

"This is the evidence. Proof of the transaction of Pegasus wings and Unicorn horns."

...I see. Yeah, that's good.

"But why do you have this? Did you find it near the poachers?"

"No. I got it from a bird."

"From a bird... You really are a strange one..."

No, it's not me, it's the bird that's strange.

Then, Redgard took the evidence and left.

...I didn't get to ask him much, but I guess he helped me. I want to thank him properly next time.

While I was thinking this, the usual giant bird appeared and started bathing. It must have been a while since I was here, and it tilted its head when it saw me.

"...You're a strange one, too."

Looking at the bird, I couldn't help but say the same thing. Yeah, this bird is really strange.