In the tense atmosphere, it revealed itself.
"—Pampii—"
A cute, chirping cry.
What emerged from the cracked egg was—
"...A horse?"
It looked like a horse.
Were small horses collectively called ponies?
No...
It gave an even smaller impression than the ponies I had seen online.
Its coat was white.
Its eyes were not golden.
This was the most important factor that eased our caution.
The eyes were a dark brown.
Its appearance had a somewhat mascot-like feel.
Like a stuffed animal...
But aside from that, it could definitely be called a "horse."
Even so, I placed a hand over my mouth.
Had a body of that size really fit inside the egg?
It was hard to imagine it fitting given the size.
Even if it had been curled up.
In fact,
"Eve."
"Yes."
"After it hatched, I felt like its body size had grown a little."
"Hmm, you felt the same way? Ah... after it was born, I also thought this horse had grown slightly larger."
So Eve had felt the same sensation.
Then it was not just an optical illusion.
The horse-like "it" shook its legs unsteadily and began to balance itself.
It was steadily gaining its balance.
"First of all, horses are not creatures that hatch from eggs, right?"
"As far as I know, no."
Eve agreed.
It seemed the birth method for horses was the same in this world too.
But this foal had been born from an egg.
I asked Seras.
"So this is a type of monster?"
"By classification, yes."
"Do you have any idea about the details of this monster?"
"I know several horse-type monsters, but..."
"From your reaction, there is no matching known monster—"
"Yes, it is not in my knowledge. Well, it might evolve into the form of a horse-type monster I know once it grows, but..."
The eerie, reddish-black egg.
The loveliness was unimaginable from that coloration.
What was this?
There was a mismatched feeling.
The foal was staring straight at me.
Its innocent, round eyes.
I checked on Pigi-maru inside my robe.
"Punyu~"
It showed no hostile reaction.
It seemed to be leaving the judgment to me.
It was true that I could not sense any hostility from the foal.
Naturally, there was no killing intent either.
I could say that with confidence.
No, rather—
"Pampii? Kyuuun..."
The foal walked toward me.
Seras braced herself while expressing her intent to seek my judgment.
"Touka-dono..."
"It is fine. This one has no hostility... Also, I want to observe it a little longer. Only take action if I determine it is definitely dangerous."
When it came closer, the foal stopped.
It stretched its neck and twitched its nose.
Sniff, sniff.
"..."
Was it checking my scent?
The foal looked up at me.
"Pakyurun♪"
Its eyes were sparkling intensely.
And for some reason, Liz beside us also had sparkling eyes.
"A horsey..."
Was she feeling affection?
Next, the foal came up to my feet.
It rubbed its face against my thigh.
"Kyui~... Kyuii~♪"
Was a horse's cry something like this?
I was not very familiar with the cries of foals...
Eve pondered.
"Even if we bring horses into the Demon Zone, they eventually break down from the continued tension and agitation. That is why we left the horses behind, but—"
Eve sent me a questioning look.
"What do we do, Touka?"
"...It bothers me."
"Hm? What does?"
"When we found it, that egg had been wrapped in mysterious cloth. The color and hardness of the egg were not normal either. The same goes for the way it was born."
There was something here.
It could not be an ordinary horse.
I tried stroking the foal's cheek.
"Pakyuu~♪"
Next, Eve reached out toward the foal.
"Then let me touch it and examine—"
"Pakyu~n... Burururu..."
The foal pulled back.
It raised its hindquarters and lowered its head.
It was bracing itself against Eve.
But it showed no hostility.
If anything, it was closer to fear.
It was probably something like shyness toward strangers.
However, I had not spent a long time with this foal after it hatched either.
Was this imprinting?
The idea that it recognizes the first one it sees as its parent...
I had only heard about it with chicks.
"Muu... Muu? It seems I am being wary of, unlike you. Does this leopard face look intimidating?"
"I do not know the reason, but it will probably get used to you with time."
I moved behind the foal.
While keeping my stroking hand in place, I moved it from the side to its back.
My hand slid over its coat.
A pleasant sensation filled my palm.
It was fluffy and smooth.
"Hm?"
There was something on the back of the foal's neck...
A transparent, hemispherical orb.
It seemed half-buried in the neck.
...
I felt like I had an idea, but.
First, I would check with the knowledgeable elf.
"Seras, do you have any idea about this transparent hemisphere?"
Seras approached cautiously, moving stealthily.
She was probably being considerate not to startle the foal.
"Pakyu~n?"
Hm?
It was not as wary of Seras as it was of Eve?
Seras had been beside the egg the whole time since we found it.
Perhaps the length of time spent beside it when it was still an egg was related?
"...Excuse me."
Seras clasped her hands behind her waist and leaned her upper body forward at an angle.
She stretched her neck and began observing the hemisphere.
"This might be an organ for absorbing magic essence..."
"An organ that takes in magic essence?"
"There are monsters with similar organs. It seems to be a common feature in magical beasts and magical creatures... Monsters with such organs can apparently take in large amounts of magic essence into their bodies all at once."
Like a server that does not crash even when receiving large amounts of data at once?
"Impressive. Your knowledge is truly reliable."
Seras placed a hand on her chest and lowered her long eyelashes.
"I am very honored that you rely on me."
"I will continue to rely on you."
"Yes."
Now then... an organ for taking in magic essence, huh.
Right after hatching, I had felt like the foal's size had grown.
Had the foal grown larger by absorbing the surrounding magic essence?
Before hatching, it had been small enough to fit inside that egg.
Then, after hatching, it had taken in the surrounding magic essence and grown.
"..."
Taking the above into account, there was one thing I wanted to test.
"Everyone except Pigi-maru, can you move a little away from me and this one? Also, Eve, keep watch on the surroundings."
When I gave the order, Eve asked a question.
"What are you going to do, Touka?"
"I am going to try injecting magic essence into this one now."
Eve showed a question mark.
"Magic essence?"
I explained my hypothesis.
"Hmm... A monster that changes by taking in magic essence. If that is the case, it makes sense why its body suddenly grew larger right after being born."
I placed my hand on the hemisphere.
The foal looked up at me as if turning.
"Pakyun?"
"Do you dislike it?"
"Pakyu~n♪"
It was not a negative or disgusted reaction.
On the contrary, it was positive.
Was it because I had always liked animals?
Or thanks to my experience in the Ruins of Disposal?
Or perhaps both.
I still felt like I could somehow read the intentions of monsters.
"Status, open."
I displayed the remaining MP.
This status display was useful for grasping MP amounts.
"Now then."
How much MP would it take, and what would happen?
Magic essence injection—begin.
The orb steadily absorbed the magic essence.
The orb changed color to black.
The gem in the leather pouch.
The gem on the door in the ruins.
It seemed to work on almost the same principle as those.
The color filled up like a gauge.
And the orb became completely filled with black.
"Pakyuuu~!"
Should I call it dark-colored light?
The foal was enveloped in surging darkness.
Its silhouette began to change.
Eve spoke.
"That is—"
"Burururururu...!"
Black horse.
This one could be called the general image of a "horse."
The mascot-like loveliness from before the transformation had faded.
Its build was about the same as the horses we had left before entering the Demon Zone.
Its cry also carried a somewhat dignified tone.
Well, its round eyes remained the same.
"Pinyuu~"
Pigi-maru showed interest and surprise.
"The horsey is amazing..."
Liz had the same reaction.
Seras placed a hand on her small chin with interest.
"I see, so that is its nature."
A horse, huh.
In its current state, I might be able to entrust it with luggage.
However, there were still concerns.
Whether it would not be frightened even if we encountered monsters in the Demon Zone.
First, we would need to clear that.
I glanced at the status display.
"The MP consumption required for the transformation is 1000."
I reached out to the black horse's cheek.
"Pakyuu~♪"
The black horse rubbed its cheek against me.
Good.
It properly recognized me as "me."
Its consciousness seemed unchanged.
It had not lost its sanity.
It did not seem confused by its own transformation.
"Bururururu~"
"Hm?"
Was it appealing to me about something?
...Its back?
Ah—it was appealing about this orb?
It was dyed black now.
"...Wait. You, by any chance—"
"Pakyu~n."
The black horse took a pose close to lying down.
This was probably
To make it easier for me.
In short—
I confirmed with the black horse.
"You want me to pour in more magic essence?"
"Pakyuri."
The black horse nodded deeply—or so it seemed.
Did it understand language?
"...Understood."
For now.
If this one still had some hidden power, I wanted to confirm it while I had the leeway to do so.
Depending on the result, I might gain a powerful card.
Well, there was also the possibility that it simply liked the sensation of having magic essence poured in...
I placed my hand on the orb again.
"Here I go."
I poured in the magic essence.
The coloration began to change into a different feel again.
A spiderweb-like red faintly rose to the surface of the orb.
The pattern drawn by the red light resembled arteries.
"...Still necessary."
I checked the status.
The MP value was dropping rapidly.
The previous transformation had consumed 1000 MP.
But this time I had already poured in close to 5000 MP.
There was still no change in the black horse.
I wanted to avoid going below half my MP, but...
"―――――――"
When the consumed MP reached 10000, a change occurred.
Like deep crimson lightning.
Suddenly, around the black horse that had raised its body, red lightning-like things burst and danced.
The next instant—
The black horse's body was enveloped in red and black light.
The light began to converge.
"Barurururururu... Burururururu...!"
The figure that emerged from the scattered light.
Any loveliness had already been lost.
A giant red-eyed black horse.
Its body was one size larger than just before.
Demonic twin horns that horses normally could not have.
A powerful, muscular body with strongly bulging veins.
A dignity unthinkable for something that had just been born as a foal.
Its jet-black mane swayed gently.
What drew the eye most of all were the—
Powerful eight legs that firmly trod the ground.
An eight-legged black horse.
The black horse's gaze was sharp, like a piercing stab.
But a clear rationality dwelled within it.
There was no madness.
Rather, the light in the eyes gazing at me could be called that of a "master."
Loyalty was contained within.
A magical beast.
A divine majesty.
An ominous grandeur.
"Ah, I see."
I understood why it felt strangely fitting.
The coloration was similar to a fly.
"I see."
I could not help but twist my mouth
in joy.
"So this is your true form. This is—"
"An unexpected and interesting companion may have joined us."