BAD ENDING 004 — The Tamed Mare
"I lost it in Alubi Dungeon… I was running from the monsters and just… dropped it."
A frail voice faintly disturbed the soundproofed silence of the luxury limousine.
Inside the vehicle, every trace of outside noise had been sealed away completely. Only the faint scent of air freshener and the low hum of the climate-control system drifted between the artificial leather seats.
She came from a distant region where military horses were simply a fact of daily life — and now she was Sky City's top mare-racing idol trainer. The owner of a glamorous title that clashed wildly with her small, youthful looks: the paperboy-capped girl named Riri.
She was the girl who had taken a particular interest in the second pair of ears that had sprouted atop Sonia's head — brown ears that looked for all the world like a real horse's. In truth, Riri had been concealing her real identity, posing as a rich young lady while prowling the back alleys of the mare market.
In her search for a hidden gem, Sonia's appearance had been nothing short of rain after a long drought.
The fragments of the story Riri was telling connected, in a strangely precise way, to the incident that for Sonia had felt like more than a month — though in reality not even a full day had passed.
Meeting the Horse Spirit, enduring the brutal training, and saying goodbye — that short yet endless stretch of time. Everything had begun with the treasure this little girl claimed to have lost.
At the words I lost a treasure passed down through generations in Alubi Dungeon…, Sonia found herself interjecting before she could stop herself.
She could have pretended not to know. But she couldn't ignore the fact that this treasure was the very cause of the strange changes that had overtaken her body.
"That treasure… it wouldn't happen to be a medal like this, would it? Shaped like a horseshoe, with a U-shaped design engraved on it… gleaming gold all over… something like that?"
"S-Sis… h-how… how do you know about that…?"
It wasn't merely that she'd correctly identified it as a medal. Sonia had described the shape of the engraved design and the golden color with perfect accuracy — and Riri's pupils trembled violently.
At her employer's intense reaction, even the female android silently gripping the steering wheel turned her head with a faint whir of servo motors to look back. The android's eyes glowed with a dim red sensor light.
When Riri waved her hand as if to say everything was fine, the android faced forward again. Sonia merely shrugged at the two of them.
"Ahh… it's a long story…"
Thinking of the being she could no longer meet — the Horse Spirit with whom she had spent what felt like a full month — Sonia cast her gaze out through the limousine's bulletproof window.
She hadn't meant to, but the wistful expression that crossed her face only stoked the genius trainer's curiosity even more fiercely.
"P-please tell me anyway, Sonia! I'm begging you…! We're home now, so please…! Oh — right! Of course I'll pay you! You're a hero, aren't you? Because of me, your 'infiltration mission' basically failed… so I'll hire you instead! This is an official commission! The job is to tell me about the experiences you've had as a hero! So… please!"
Riri hurriedly raised her communication terminal and thrust the commission-application screen in front of Sonia's eyes.
The bright light of the display illuminated Sonia's face. It wasn't uncommon for heroes to be hired as short-term instructors at hunter training centers, day teachers at local academies, or private tutors for influential families.
From that perspective the request was a little unusual — but tell me about your experiences as a hero was still something that could perfectly well be registered as an official commission.
"…W-well… I suppose so…? You don't need to worry about the infiltration mission or anything… More importantly, since you called it a treasure — just to confirm — you remember the color of the ribbon that was attached to the medal, right?"
Even she found it odd that she was thinking of such a thing in this situation, but Sonia was unconsciously recalling one of Sky City's civic education guidelines: Never let your guard down!
Of course, if she were actually following that guideline, she never should have hopped into a limousine offered by a girl of unknown identity in the first place.
Naturally, when it came to that particular point, Sonia had long since finished rationalizing it away with a quiet that's that, and this is this…
"Of course! That was a medal our family… my hometown had enshrined as sacred for generations. A vivid red base with a single white stripe down the middle. If I hadn't abandoned everything and run away back then… by now… *sob*…!"
Listening to Riri's confident answer, it was unmistakably the red ribbon Sonia remembered.
As if recalling the terrible past when she'd first set foot in Sky City as an adventurer and nearly become spider-monster food, Riri shuddered and wrapped both arms around her distinctly un-voluptuous chest.
"We have arrived, young miss. Please call again when you go out."
The limousine glided slowly into the quiet underground parking garage of the apartment complex. Receiving the security android's mechanical farewell, Riri pressed the security key for the shared apartment lobby with practiced ease.
As her employer walked inside, the android climbed back into the limousine and drove off — leaving Sonia with a puzzled look.
"Uh… isn't she coming in with us?"
"No, Sis. The security service only goes this far. Surprised? I applied for it last month just in case, and it's actually pretty useful!"
Having answered that way, Riri firmly pressed the elevator button.
"You said Sonia, right? I'm Riri. Just call me Riri. Before I came here, I had one of those long, weird names — like 'the whatever-th daughter of the Such-and-Such Mane'…"
With a cheerful ding, the elevator doors opened smoothly. Riri stepped out first and led Sonia toward her home.
The hallway was silent, thick carpet swallowing even the sound of footsteps. Riri entered the digital door-lock password with familiar ease, and with a bright electronic chime she flung the door wide open and beamed at Sonia.
"Come on in, Sis!"
Sonia murmured a quiet "Uh… excuse me," and stepped into Riri's home. The living room just past the entryway had a layout similar to Sonia's own nest, but it was far cleaner and decorated with cute little knickknacks. Riri led her into the living room and headed straight for the kitchen.
"I-it's a little embarrassing, but I'm the genius trainer Riri! Looking forward to working with you on this commission, Sonia!"
Riri declared this as she pulled two drink cans from the refrigerator. Taking the ice-cold can, Sonia pressed it lightly against her flushed cheek as she answered.
"Mmm… I think being comfortable is… a good thing…?"
"Alright — now tell me your story, Sonia!"
Riri pointed to a plush sofa nestled in the corner where the walls met at a right angle.
"Uh… it's not a difficult request, so…" Sonia murmured, settling into the space. It was quite roomy for someone living alone, with a layout not unlike her own home.
"It's fine! Just tell me whatever comes to mind, however you like. Please."
Facing Riri, who was urging her on with sparkling eyes, Sonia took a moment to choose her words.
As if recalling the day she'd lost everything in Sky City and barely survived the dungeon, Riri gently closed her eyes and prepared to listen.
"Uh… where should I start… mmm… so… a month ago… no — since the flow of time was different there… hmm…"
The time she'd received a pile of miscellaneous junk from her adventurer friend Luce after a run through Alubi Dungeon.
The time she'd gotten bored and scrubbed a rusty medal that had been sitting in a corner with cola — only for it to transform into a gleaming golden medal.
The time she'd rubbed it like a magic lamp from a fairy tale, and the Horse Spirit had appeared. That first meeting had been just yesterday, the D-class hero of Sky City carefully began.
"The Horse… Spirit…?! Th-that's impossible…! But… those ears on your head, Sonia, and that brown horse tail…! I can tell you're not lying or mistaken… ugh…! I'm so frustrated and disappointed I wasn't there…! Please continue!"
Unable to hide her excitement, Riri brought paper and pen and asked Sonia to draw the Horse Spirit — but unfortunately, what Sonia produced was a stick-figure doodle wearing strange armor, with nothing but a pair of sparkling eyes.
In the end, Riri gave up on the drawing and began writing down every word Sonia said.
"And… uh… she said she came from a place called Floren, where being a military horse is considered a natural and honorable profession… and that she'd been enshrined there as a guardian spirit."
"A guardian spirit…! That's exactly like the stories passed down in my region… ugh…"
"She said her descendants who served her had died out, so she had to return to the spirit realm soon… Originally the condition was becoming a military horse for life, but she took pity on me and agreed to just pass on the 'military horse' special traits. So I entered the spirit's personal space and… uh… nn…♡"
Having to run with her chest bouncing while wearing a full-body restraint suit. Drinking water on all fours. Even being forced to run barefoot and completely naked all day long. They were memories far too embarrassing to spill entirely to another person.
