CH 145

The five transmuted beasts run out of the gate, and the audience on the side of the road cheers.

Hipopo and Charil’s pace are comfortable, and their bodies advance almost as though they’re sliding forward.

Their movements are smooth, and could even be said to be graceful. They keep accelerating, but it still feels like they’re only at 70% of their full speed.

Roa and I are used to this speed, so we can casually look around.

“Oh?”

I whisper suddenly.

Just behind me and to the right are Roa and Charil, but that’s it.

I turn around to check behind me, and see Princess Lily and her knights holding the reins, desperately trying to move forward faster.

“Aren’t they too slow? They’re a lot slower than I was expecting…”

The transmuted beasts I had a hand in developing should be a bit faster.

Did they get slower as generations changed? Is it just the riders?

I look ahead for a moment, before turning back again.

My eyes meet Princess Lily’s. She looks very surprised for some reason. I guess she really thought the cat riding beasts were faster than Hipopo and Charil.

Well, our transmuted beasts do look pretty plump, but it’s mostly muscle. Not to mention that their eight legs bring about great acceleration and braking power.

Eight-legged hippopotamus transmuted beasts have greater acceleration and greater ability to maintain that speed due to their muscles than other transmuted beasts.

Twin-tailed cats are good runners too, but their nature is more suited for three-dimensional maneuverability.

I guess they don’t know that.

The gap between us keeps increasing, and as I look back at Princess Lily and the others, it looks like they’ve made some sort of decision. Their eyes turn to the woods near the main road.

They turn the reins, and the three cat transmuted beasts leave the road.

There are still some spectators near the road, and the cat transmuted beasts jump above them.

“Well done.”

Pretty nice control of riding beasts. Apparently they’re not bad riders at all. I guess the fault of their slow speed falls on the alchemists of the royal castle who crossbred the transmuted beasts.

I look around.

The main road follows the forest, and turns right just ahead. Princess Lily and her knights have just jumped into the forest to our right.

Basically, they’re taking a shortcut by cutting through the forest.

Roa instructs Charil to speed up until they’re next to us.

“Master Rust! What are we going to do?”

“Get serious! If I remember the distance to the mausoleum correctly, we should be able to get there even if we run at full speed, without them running out of stamina.”

“Understood!”

Roa and I signal our transmuted beasts by tapping them on the shoulder, and an explosive sound is heard on the road that was silent due to their smooth steps.

The two riding beasts step hard on the ground, crush it, and make noise as their bodies advance at full speed.

The road breaks, as it can’t withstand this much force. There are holes the shape of Hipopo’s foot all over.

It’s so impactful, that it reverberates even through the strong bones and muscles of Hipopo.

This is their true power, that they don’t get to display too often.

We have to fix this later or people are going to be mad.

I lower my upper body so it’s almost clinging to Hipopo’s to withstand the headwind.

The scenery around us passes by us at an incredible speed. Among this, I see the wide open eyes of the people watching on the side of the road, as they hear the sound of the footsteps and see the speed and carved road.

So many people gathered here in such a short amount of time… Actually, a lot are probably people who were on the road and got out of the way for us.

I get a lead over Roa, and Hipopo pulls ahead. I can see the mausoleum.

I force my head up and look for Princess Lily.

“…They’re not here?”

“Master Rust! Next to you!”

I see Princess Lily and her knights jump out of the forest next to me through a gap.

At this rate, she’s going to crash into me.

The world suddenly seems to slow down. I see fear painted on Princess Lily’s face as she realizes where I am, and it looks pretty funny considering she’s covered in branches and leaves.

Then, magic elements run through Hipopo’s body, before focusing on its legs and being released all at once.

It’s like a cannonball.

We leave Princess Lily behind, and with one big jump, we reach the mausoleum.

The force of Hipopo’s jump is so great that we end up passing it.

“《Activate》. 《Manifest》 Rose!”

Rose’s vines come out of the scroll, and gently wrap around me and Hipopo. As the vines stretch, our speed decreases.

After safely stopping, I look back.

The mausoleum is a bit far now, but I see Lily, her knights, and Roa reach it.

I go back, feeling relieved that I won the bet.