Just One Supercar (2)
Just One Supercar (2)
I urgently called out to the horse handler leading the young Unicorn.
The moment I called, the handler came running in a flash and bowed his head deeply.
"You there, sell me that Unicorn. How much will it take?"
"Aigoo, if Colonel Marshall-nim wants it, I can just give it to ye. Unicorn meat is a delicacy in its own way, you see. Of course, compared to that meat in Marshall Stew, it's a bit gamey...."
I tossed him one can of Canned Beef Stew (3kg).
The middle-aged handler gleefully presented the Unicorn to me and withdrew.
One of the palanquin soldiers quickly broke away and took the Unicorn's reins.
For a moment, my eyes met the Unicorn's....
'Somehow, its eyes look exactly like it's crying.'
A sort of glistening, wet feeling?
Does it know I saved it right before it was about to be slaughtered?
"Piel? A Unicorn is completely useless."
"They say it's a horse that can use mana telekinesis, so I want to try raising it."
Rebecca thought for a moment, then nodded.
"For Piel, raising about one Unicorn as a pet is worth a try. If you have any questions, ask me."
"Understood. Let's get moving for now."
The palanquin resumed its movement.
The Unicorn, its reins held by a soldier, followed quietly while snorting.
It was a female foal.
***
"My mother, my maternal grandmother, and even my maternal great-grandmother all tried every possible method to utilize Unicorns as warhorses or transport horses."
Rebecca shook her head side to side.
"But the conclusion that they are useless compared to the hay they consume never changed. If only they ate a little less hay, they might have been worth trying as transport horses."
I meticulously recorded Rebecca's explanation.
First, Unicorns are remarkably intelligent compared to other horses.
Also, they can use telekinesis with extreme precision within a certain range.
"The breeding records say one even carved a wooden bowl and wooden spoon using two carving knives simultaneously."
"Isn't that better than most average sculptors?"
The more I heard, the more covetous I became.
"It can lift a heavy cart with telekinesis, but in the end, it has to walk itself to move it. But its stamina is so abysmal that it's useless for transport."
"What if you load the Unicorn onto another cart?"
"They tried that too. But it tires out quickly and can't use telekinesis for long."
"Wouldn't feeding it more hay solve that?"
"It would. But using that hay to increase the number of transport horses is far more efficient."
An explanation that it was useless both as a warhorse and as a transport horse.
Rebecca's bloodline had also tried every conceivable method to apply the Unicorn's mana telekinesis to combat or material transport, but ultimately gave up, she said.
"With the hay needed to feed one Unicorn, you could manage dozens of warhorses or transport horses. That thing has no use other than being a pet horse that does cute tricks."
Well, but as someone from the modern era, I think a little differently.
'What would have happened if Alan Turing or Ramanujan had been transported here like me?'
A great computer scientist and mathematician who never fully bloomed.
Even within their short lives, they departed leaving behind great achievements that changed the world.
But if they had been dropped here, they would have been treated as useless freeloaders obsessed with strange things.
'Can we truly say that investment was pursued to the very end, until the Unicorn's potential could be confirmed?'
"They even tried using it as an assault warhorse wrapped in thick iron plates, but it just collapsed quickly anyway, so that was useless too."
Rebecca continued speaking.
"They tried using its telekinesis like a catapult, but it was far more efficient in battle to just raise a few more assault warhorses with that hay instead."
What was curious was that every time Rebecca said, 'They tried it and it was no good,' the Unicorn flinched slightly.
Whether it understands words, or whether it reads the atmosphere.
For now, it seems certain that its head is incredibly good.
"First, I should feed it. It looks hungry."
Somehow, I felt the same as when I first met the bone-thin Luna.
Rebecca nodded without any particular objection.
"If Piel wishes. Hey, you there. Go and bring the hay this creature will eat...."
"No."
When I cut her off, Rebecca looked at me with puzzlement.
"Please have them bring a large cauldron."
【Requesting supply of one 20kg sack of soybeans.】
I prepared to boil the soybeans.
I set up a large field kerosene burner and waited for Rebecca's soldiers to bring the large cauldron.
Once the cauldron arrived, I fixed it onto the burner and poured in the entire 20kg of soybeans.
I added bottled water and also threw in 200g of salt.
And then I kept boiling it until the beans were thoroughly cooked.
Purureureung! Hiihiiing!
The Unicorn, having smelled the boiled beans, grew restless.
It seems it realized this was meant to be fed to it.
But it didn't thrash around or pester me to hurry.
Whether that's because it's intelligent and patient, or because it's been mistreated so much that it's become sensitive to the mood.
'Boiled beans are good for digestion and absorption.'
It's not for nothing that they say, 'Humans outsourced part of their digestive process to fire.'
'Since fiber is also needed to stabilize bowel movements.'
Instead of hay, I decided to add 1kg of psyllium husk.
Once the beans were fully cooked, I poured in the psyllium husk, mixed it evenly, and waited for the hot beans to cool down to a suitable temperature.
I placed a feed trough in front of the Unicorn and poured the boiled bean feed into it.
Still, it didn't eat, but kept its head deeply bowed and its eyes looking up at me, gauging my reaction.
'It seems it was heavily mistreated when it came to eating.'
Feeling a surge of pity, I gently stroked the Unicorn's horn.
It was so soft and squishy, it was confusing whether this was a horn or a tumor.
"Eat. Don't worry about what others think."
Hiihiiihing!
Only then did the Unicorn let out a single whinny, bury its head in the feed trough, and begin eating frantically.
The 20kg of boiled beans vanished in an instant.
"Wait."
I received additional supplies of beans, filled the cauldron to the brim, and started boiling again.
【Requesting supply of 5kg of PRO-STACK 6 Protein Supplement.】
I also received workout protein from the PX and shook it generously into the fully boiled beans.
"Colonel Piel, what is that white powder?"
"Protein... Just think of it as something like meat."
Hildea was appalled.
"To grind precious meat into powder!"
"This way, it's absorbed by the body very quickly instead."
"Such an evil— no, such an extravagant food...."
While I was boiling the beans, the Unicorn lay flat, not moving a muscle, only shifting its eyes to watch me.
"Here, eat."
When I poured it into the trough, it quickly raised only its upper body and buried its head deep.
It wolfed down the beans, snorting wildly, and the sight was just....
'Somehow resembles Hildea.'
But I felt like if I said that, she wouldn't give me any mana massages, so I decided to keep it to myself.
***
The two women calmly observed Piel.
Casting aside the sightseeing of the marquis' castle, he was completely absorbed in boiling beans to feed the scrawny Unicorn.
The beans were plump and had a fine color.
They were precious ingredients fit to be presented at the king's table, yet he was boiling them without reserve just to feed a single foal.
Soldiers and servants passing by also let out silent exclamations from afar.
The ears of the two female Masters heard them clearly.
"Wow, to boil such beautifully colored beans without hesitation just to feed one horse."
"As expected of the creator of Marshall Stew.... He truly is wealthy."
"I'd love to go inside Colonel Marshall-nim's subspace magic tool just once. I want to see what kind of food ingredients are stored inside."
"I'm envious of the Unicorn. I never thought I'd be drooling over horse feed."
Feeding beans to a horse.
A luxury unimaginable in the North.
Piel was watching the Unicorn eat the bean feed while personally stirring the beans in the cauldron.
"Colonel Piel, are you going to keep feeding it?"
"Yes. I'm curious to see how much it can eat."
"If you give it, it'll probably eat endlessly. A Unicorn is an animal that keeps eating while defecating right on the spot."
At Rebecca's words, Piel asked.
"Has anyone ever fed a Unicorn until it truly couldn't eat anymore?"
"Of course they have. I mean, she said they have."
"How long did they maintain that? One year? Two years?"
"...I know it was about six months at most."
"Hmm, I see."
At his nonchalant reaction, Rebecca felt a confusion over whether her ancestors had done something wrong.
"Originally, basic science isn't about putting in money hoping for a result, it's an industry where you just keep pouring money in continuously."
"What does that mean? Basic science?"
"I'm just curious where this guy's limit is, so I want to see it through to the end once."
"And after you see it to the end?"
"Then I'll just keep feeding it. It's mana telekinesis. How can I possibly resist that?"
Piel outright ordered them to bring one more cauldron.
Two large cauldrons were boiling beans simultaneously, and a palanquin soldier took charge of stirring the beans.
Squatting in front of the Unicorn, Piel watched the scene of it munching on beans with a deeply pleased expression.
Rebecca whispered to Hildea.
"Commander-in-chief, do you know what Piel's eyes look like right now?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's very similar to the look he has when watching you eat samgyeopsal."
Hildea, suddenly choked up, retorted.
"Then I suppose it can be considered the same look he has when watching Marquis Carlton-nim."
"What, how does that become the same thing?"
Piel gently stroked the Unicorn's horn repeatedly.
When the trough was empty, he spoke affectionately.
"Unicorn, I hear you can use mana telekinesis? Show me something, anything."
"Piel, no matter how high a Unicorn's intelligence, it doesn't necessarily understand human speech."
"Still, it understands the general feeling... Huh?"
The Unicorn's horn glowed faintly.
The shovel used for scooping beans floated up into the air, scooped up a generous amount of beans, and began filling the empty trough.
A precise movement that didn't spill a single bean.
Piel smiled happily and rubbed the Unicorn's horn vigorously.
"Wow, you're good at this, aren't you?"
The Unicorn raised its head and whinnied as if pleased.
Hildea suddenly felt a pang in a corner of her chest.
'Why am I acting like this?'
Rebecca smiled slyly and whispered.
"Commander-in-chief, don't tell me you're jealous right now?"
"Huh? Wh-what do you mean?"
"You're not, right? No way you'd be jealous of a mere foal."
"Why would I be jealous of a single foal? And I don't even know what jealousy is."
"Then I'm glad. But you know...."
Rebecca brought her lips close to her ear and whispered.
"I'm a little jealous."
"...Marquis Carlton-nim?"
"Just, because."
"...."
Rebecca let out a light laugh and called out to Piel.
"Piel, have the soldiers take care of the Unicorn's food and let's head inside quickly. There's so much I've prepared to show you."
"Just a moment. I need to check how much it eats per meal."
"Isn't it just that you're fascinated by the sight of it eating nonstop?"
"That too."
When Rebecca turned around and sent a slight smile, Hildea felt irrationally choked up.
***
Rebecca's words were true.
The Unicorn kept eating beans even while defecating.
'Just how much can it hold?'
The sight of it eating endlessly was so fascinating that I also had the soldiers keep boiling beans.
The Unicorn no longer used the shovel, but scooped up the beans themselves with telekinesis and placed them into the trough.
A spectacle as if handling hundreds, thousands of hands simultaneously.
'I want to test the output, speed, and control ability of its telekinesis to the extreme.'
They said it needs to be raised for about a year more to become an adult?
Still, it's worth the investment.
First of all, it's interesting.
'They say Rebecca's ancestors tried this and that, but can we really say those efforts were truly sufficient?'
Semiconductors are an industry requiring trillions in investment.
Pouring in mere billions or tens of billions will only scatter money into thin air.
Perhaps Unicorns were similar?
"Hildea-nim, isn't it eating so happily, like it's blessed?"
Crunch. Crunch.
At the sound of teeth clashing, I turned to see Hildea had at some point taken out a Calova CX and was chewing it.
She eats well, really well.
A sight for sore eyes.
As if competing, the sound of beans being eaten and the sound of the Calova being chewed rang out pleasantly.
Finally, the Unicorn flopped onto its side as if its stomach was full.
Chewing her Calova with a crunch, Hildea laughed.
"With that body, it couldn't even eat a single ton of beans. That's why it's so skinny with such a small appetite. Isn't that right, Colonel Piel?"
I nearly unconsciously scanned Hildea's upper body but barely managed to control my gaze.