The Race (2)
It wasn't that Kalisa had enjoyed speed from the very beginning.
She had been accustomed to riding horses and driving carriages since her days as a merchant, but those were merely vehicles for transport and logistics; she had never once considered it a hobby.
There were those among the high-born, blessed with easy lives, who would don flamboyant clothes and ornate harnesses, accompanied by servants, to gallop across green meadows for a picnic. But for Kalisa, who had goals that required her to stake her very existence, such things were nothing more than luxuries.
Jamie, who had become her closest colleague and best friend, had felt sorry for her life devoid of hobbies or leisure and tried to get her interested in this and that.
But honestly? Nothing really caught her eye.
She had no interest in hunting from the start, and while she liked alcohol, it could never be a hobby.
Perhaps she liked gambling a little?
It was then that she stumbled upon it.
At first, she tried to refuse, thinking it was a bribe. But Aiden was faster.
That was how she met Aimhand's masterpiece, the Wolf. Kalisa's Wolf was a fiery red, much like her own hair. She was captivated at first sight by the unique, open-air carriage design.
From that day on, whenever she had a day off, she drove the carriage out into the wilderness. Faster, faster still. Even when it rained or snowed, she would tie her hair back and drive, and drive again.
In those moments of speed, she didn't have to think about the suffocating worries she had pushed into the dark corners of her heart. The revenge she had to achieve someday, the honor she had to reclaim—it was the only time those thoughts didn't plague her.
As she kept driving like that, Kalisa eventually became quite famous among the self-proclaimed "speed enthusiasts." Whether they were cat-folk or humans, anyone who thought they could handle a carriage wanted to race alongside her.
She didn't mind it, either.
When she was told to join the qualifiers if she was interested, she nodded without a moment's hesitation. Perhaps that was her true heart, wearing the mask of impulse.
And now.
"Ready-!"
Pwooooooo-!
The sound of a horn signaling the start of the short-distance race erupted, and—
Thud-thud-thud-thud-!
The sound of carriage wheels shook the earth.
"I took first place."
"Uh... good job."
Kalisa had managed to clinch first place in the short-distance race. It was literally a hair's breadth away from her greatest rival, the cat-folk. It was nearly impossible to distinguish with the naked eye, and if not for three professional hunters with keen eyesight acting as judges, it would have ended in a tie.
Aiden, who had offered a vague word of praise to Kalisa as she proudly held out the bronze trophy, only wanted to quit everything and return to his small, precious office.
"Go have fun. I'm heading back."
"Hey, where are you going? The real fun starts now!"
"I said I'm done."
"The obstacle course—Aimhand and Felix put a lot of work into it. Are you sure you don't want to see it?"
Aiden's steps, which had been turning away, came to a dead stop at Jamie's words. To think his secretary's name would come up here.
"...What on earth are you all doing out here, anyway."
Felix, the handy "Engineer No. 2," was particularly talented at building large-scale machinery. He could knock together massive machines for construction sites, and during the Lontes territory war, he had even developed a siege weapon of a form never seen before.
"There will be a lot of unique things this time, too. I think they were buying up mana stones, too."
"Mana stones? Where would he get the money for that?"
"Just look at the number of people here. Between the entry fees, the merchant stall fees, and the donations from Aimhand and the ranches, there's more than enough."
"......"
At the follow-up explanation, Aiden slowly sat back down. He would just watch the obstacle course, and then he would leave.
"I'll be back!"
Kalisa returned to the athlete's waiting area, promising to take first place again. Aiden finally spotted his secretary in the distance, scurrying about as if inspecting the obstacles.
'But what exactly do they do in an obstacle course?'
Since it was a race involving horses and carriages, it wouldn't be playful obstacles like at an elementary school sports day.
'Maybe something like the driving test for a license?'
T-courses, going up and down hills, that sort of thing. But somehow, calling those "obstacles" felt a bit ambiguous.
'And the fact that Felix made something using mana stones is also bothering me.'
Aiden's only flaw was a slight lack of imagination. While he was lost in thought, unable to grasp the situation, the obstacle course was suddenly upon them.
Pwoooooooo-!
"Whoa, it's starting, it's starting! Get on, Administrative Officer! We'll miss it!"
Unlike the short-distance race, this course required a wide loop around the outskirts of the village. Jamie had already brought his Wolf and was urging Aiden on. While they couldn't enter the course itself, it seemed they could watch from the sidelines while riding a carriage or horse.
"Oh, oh—."
He was flustered because he had never heard of such a way to watch a race, but Jamie was so insistent that he ended up hopping on. Unfortunately, in the passenger seat, not the back.
"Giddy up!"
Hiiiiiing-!
Following the athletes who had already disappeared ahead, the carriage Jamie was driving took off with vigor.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-.
Whoosh-!
The sound of hooves and the cold wind hitting his face. Even the blizzard caused by the athletes plowing through the snow. 'It's 4D, it's literally 4D,' Aiden thought, letting out a small laugh. He felt that no blockbuster movie could ever replicate this level of immersion.
Swoooooosh-!
Kwang!
Just then, rain suddenly began to pour down in front of the athletes, localized to that specific area. At the same time, structures that seemed to separate the athletes' course from the spectators running alongside them were erected in an instant. Structures that protected the crowd while binding the athletes' feet.
"...What is that?"
"Whoa..."
Jamie seemed just as surprised, his mouth hanging open as he let out primal exclamations like, "That's insane, that's awesome!"
Judging by the situation, it seemed that was the "mana stone obstacle" Felix had devised. The heavy rain pouring in the small space caused the snow on both sides of the course to melt into slush instantly, causing issues with the braking of the athletes' carriage wheels. From this point on, it was a battle of skill for the drivers.
"Damn it."
Kalisa cursed under her breath and bit her lip. Veins bulged on her arms as she tightened the reins, struggling to calm the panicked horses while trying to widen the gap between her and her competitors.
Screeeech!
And a sharp turn. Should she slow down, or take the risk? Her hesitation was short, and her choice was swift.
"I'm pushing through!"
Kalisa chose the gamble over safety.
Pwoooooosh!
Of all the athletes who seemed buried in the massive snow cloud, she was the first to burst out. Her hair, which had been tied back, was loose, and her wet, red curls scattered in every direction. The spectators began to grow excited again at the sight of Kalisa driving like a knight on a battlefield.
"Insane! That's amazing! Rain? Pour it on harder!"
"As expected! This is what I was waiting for!"
"Oh, oh! Front! Front! There's something in front!"
But the race wasn't over yet. The next obstacle caught the eyes of the cheering crowd.
Wriggle-wriggle-.
The second-stage obstacle was a vine moving like a snake.
"...Is that also a mana stone?"
"I think so?"
Aiden thought he was seeing a lot of strange things today, and wondered if he should try to hire a mage if the opportunity arose.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
Before he could get lost in his thoughts, new hill-shaped structures rose up between the moving vines. It seemed they had installed a device that automatically erected them when the vine, which looked like a tree root, moved. The small, hill-shaped structures were positioned to cleverly harass the horses and carriages trying to avoid the vines.
"It looks like if you try to avoid the vines, the wheels get lifted by the hill structures, and if you try to avoid the hills, the horses get spooked by the vines."
Aiden grasped immediately, even from a distance, that this obstacle was no simple task. Kalisa's expression, visible from afar, was serious, meaning she had clearly realized it too.
"What will she do now?"
"She'll do fine, though."
"How can you be so sure?"
"It seems Felix doesn't know Kalisa very well yet."
"Hm?"
"She's not the type to be scared by something like that. Heh."
Jamie, who had seen Kalisa drive her carriage countless times, laughed relaxedly, telling him to just watch.
The moment the question grew in Aiden's mind—
"Oh?"
Grind-.
Kalisa clenched her molars. As if she had become one with the horses, she stood halfway up on the carriage and accelerated as the obstacle approached.
"Oh, oh! Won't she flip over like that?"
"Her feet will get stuck!"
"The vines, the vines!"
The spectators were in an uproar, but Kalisa on the carriage looked surprisingly relaxed.
Kwah-kwah-kwah-kwah-kwang!
Now, the sound of Kalisa's carriage wheels sounded as if they were about to shatter. Three, two, one. Finally, Kalisa's horses and carriage entered the vine's territory, and so...
Crackle, crack-crack-!
"......?"
Before the vines could even wrap around the hooves and wheels, she plowed straight through with heavy momentum!
"You see, you shouldn't even think about running away from that kind of obstacle in the first place."
Jamie added, grinning.
"The moment you get scared and look for a detour—"
Kwang-!
Right on cue, one athlete's wheels were lifted by a hill structure, and the entire carriage flipped over.
"—that's how you end up flipping over."
"......"
"That's an obstacle where you just have to trust yourself and push through. Heh."
Jamie chattered on as if he were a professional commentator.
Kwang-!
Another loud roar was heard.
"What is it? Another coward... Huh? No one flipped over."
Another loud crashing sound was heard. Jamie scanned the second obstacle course with his eyes, wondering which idiot had gotten scared when the answer was already obvious, but he tilted his head when he confirmed that no one had fallen.
"...Didn't it come from the front?"
Aiden kindly pointed out the direction of the sound. They had missed the lead group, including Kalisa, while watching the other athletes. To catch up, they had to drive the horses diligently from now on.
Kwang-!
The roar was heard again.
"It's definitely in front. Since I keep hearing it, I wonder, does the third course have rocks flying at them or something?"
I guess the highlight was the very end. As he muttered to himself, expecting what kind of prank Felix might have pulled this time—
"...The last part is to check a note and find the person that matches it to bring them back."
"...What?"
Jamie's expression turned serious.
"This was hosted by the post office, after all. I wanted to include at least one transport-related thing in the course, so the third course doesn't really have any structures..."
"...Then what is this explosion sound?"
"W-well, I'm not sure about that either..."
"Switch seats."
Aiden took the reins from Jamie with a hardened expression.