The people behind me—Seras and the others—were overwhelmed by its presence.
However, only Pigi-maru, who was peeking out with its protrusion beside my neck, remained calm.
"Punyu~"
It had probably sensed early on that there was no harmful intent.
Seras asked.
"Touka-dono... is this really all right?"
The black horse stood with majestic dignity.
It would be difficult to describe this appearance as gentle.
Not only was its body massive, but the sharpness in its red eyes made it even more so.
It would not be strange to feel pressure just from seeing how it stood.
It was understandable that Seras and the others felt uneasy.
I reached out to the black horse.
It narrowed its eyes and rubbed its cheek against my palm.
Seras looked puzzled.
"—That is the gesture a horse makes when it is being affectionate."
"It seems only its appearance has changed. And this one might think of me as its parent."
I stroked the black horse's face.
It closed its eyes slightly and swung its tail widely.
It seemed to feel good.
"Touka-sama."
Liz spoke up hesitantly.
She seemed to have let go of her wariness.
"Um, what will you name it...?"
"Ah, a name. Right—"
A name would be necessary.
I would probably call it many times from now on.
"..."
Fantasy creatures similar to horses.
Several came to mind.
Unicorn.
Bicorn.
Kelpie.
Sleipnir.
The famous ones would be around there.
Fantasy creatures that appear in myths.
I had also come across their names in games and novels from my original world.
And when it came to an "eight-legged horse," the first thing that came to mind was still—
The divine beast Sleipnir.
It was the horse that appeared in Norse mythology.
It was famous as the horse ridden by the chief god Odin.
That was the first one that came to mind.
Well, the two horns leaned toward bicorn characteristics...
I looked at everyone.
"Does anyone have a good name candidate?"
"From the look of it, that black horse has taken a liking to you. Should you not be the one to decide?"
"I think so too," Liz agreed.
Seras continued.
"I believe this child would be happier if Touka-dono chose it."
"Understood."
I was not particularly good at giving names.
But I had no choice but to do it.
Let me borrow from the name of the divine beast it reminded me of—
"How about 'Slei'?"
I had only taken the first three letters.
I stared into the two red eyes and waited for a reaction.
"Hihiii~n♪"
The black horse neighed and swung its tail.
Seras lightly folded her arms and smiled softly.
"It seems it likes it?"
Seras approached Slei and reached out.
Slei obediently accepted her hand.
"I look forward to working with you from now on, Slei-dono—nn?"
The face of Slei, which had been rubbing against her, slipped past the hand that had been stroking it.
"Um...?"
Slei approached Seras's neck and sniffed with its nose.
Its snout sniffed along Seras's body as if licking.
"S-Slei-dono!? Th-that... that part is a little troubling—!?"
Sniff sniff sniff sniff.
"No, so—th-this is troubling..."
With agitation in her eyes, Seras looked at me.
"Touka-dono...!"
Her gaze asked if I could do something about it.
Horses have particularly sharp senses of smell.
I had heard that before.
But why only Seras...
"Hm?"
Could it be,
"The scent?"
"Sc-scent..."
While gently pushing back Slei's snout, Seras turned pale.
"Do I... smell that much?"
"No, I think it is the opposite?"
"Opposite? Ah, Slei-dono! So, that part is—"
"While we were moving on horseback and you were pressed close behind me, I thought... how should I put it, your scent is faint, Seras."
"Faint...? I am not sure myself."
Well, one's own scent is surprisingly hard to notice.
"I did sense that Seras has a scent. But it was only noticeable when we were pressed close. In other words, because your body odor is faint, Slei is checking like that."
"If that is the case, I cannot really blame Slei-dono..."
Seras, who looked resigned, ultimately let Slei do as it pleased.
But,
Lick.
"Ah, um—!?"
Slei licked Seras's cheek with its tongue.
"I will end up covered in saliva... Hya—"
The high elf princess knight was having her face licked with repeated licks.
"...It seems it has taken quite a liking to you?"
Well, it had been obvious from the reaction earlier.
After me, the one Slei was showing affection toward the most was Seras.
The licking was probably a show of affection.
"Hey, by the way, Slei."
"?"
Slei tilted its head in a questioning gesture and turned toward me.
There was something I wanted to confirm.
"Can you return to your original form?"
I made a pressing-down gesture as I asked.
In short,
"Can you return to your small form?"
That was what I wanted to convey.
Then,
"Hihii~n!"
While keeping its volume moderate, Slei neighed, and its body glowed with light.
The light grew stronger and enveloped the black horse.
The light quickly subsided.
And there—
"Pampii—"
Was Slei, returned to its first stage.
It had that white, mascot-like appearance again.
Its cry had also returned to something adorable.
"So by injecting magic essence again, it can change form in stages..."
Standing on its short two legs, Slei raised both round hands in a banzai pose.
"Pakyu~n♪"
It looked like it was saying "Correct~♪"
▽
"Here."
I held out a spotless cloth in front of Seras's face.
I had soaked the cloth with clean water earlier.
"Ah, I am sorry."
Seras reached out to take the cloth.
But I did not hand it over.
Seras showed a question mark.
"...Touka-dono?"
I twisted the corner of my mouth.
"I will wipe it for you."
"Eh?"
"Do you dislike it?"
Seras looked up at me with an inquiring gaze.
"...Is it all right?"
I said it in a joking tone.
"I have to take responsibility for what my child did."
"Fufu, is Slei your child?"
"It also has the meaning of raising my favorability with you. I need you, Vice-captain, to hold even more affection toward me."
Seras smiled elegantly and brushed her hair aside to expose her cheek.
"—Then I shall go along with that plan."
I wiped Seras's white cheek with the cloth.
I had to be careful not to apply too much force...
Right now, Slei was beside Eve and Liz.
It seemed they could get along for now.
It had an easygoing personality for a horse.
That part was a relief.
"So, what do you think?"
"Hm... about Slei?"
"Yeah."
"In its second form, it seems we could entrust most of the luggage to it. That would make us lighter. So in terms of combat, it should become more advantageous than before."
"The third form might serve as mobility in case of emergency."
We had not yet tested its mobility or various other abilities.
I also wanted to confirm its combat strength eventually.
Seras mentioned a concern.
"The moment we encounter monsters here will be the turning point."
"...Yeah."
I looked at Slei.
Its true nature was still unclear.
But it seemed we could expect it as a fighting force.
Especially—that third form.
"However... I never imagined such a magical beast would be born from that egg."
"It looks like we will end up asking the Forbidden Witch about it after all."
"Yes, it seems so."
Talking with Seras made my thoughts organize easily.
She might be an excellent listener as a close aide.
I moved my hand over Seras's skin without applying too much force.
Her smooth, soft, milky-white skin.
"...Still, you really do have beautiful skin."
"Well, that is because I was just born."
"No—I mean your skin, not Slei's."
Seras averted her gaze.
"...It is somewhat mortifying to be thought of as a dull woman because of what just happened."
I had not said anything yet.
"Is that so?"
"Muu... yes."
Seras pouted her lips while hiding her embarrassment.
By the way, elves generally had beautiful skin.
It was because the contracted spirits removed impurities from the body.
It was like the spirits automatically doing skin care.
But that required time.
It was not instantaneous.
So it did not immediately remove something like attached saliva.
With the power of wind spirits, they could at least dry it...
"There is no immediate effect."
"Yes."
And for this automatic skin care, it seemed the "purity" was even higher for high elves.
That explained the reason for her spotless skin.
However,
"..."
It seemed lotion and milky lotion would not sell well among the elf race.
▽
"Touka."
"Hm?"
"I investigated Slei and found out one thing."
Once Seras's face was clean, Eve approached with a serious expression.
"What is it?"
"Slei seems to be female."
So that was it.
"Heh, so having horns does not mean it is male."
In fact, she had investigated it.
"Pigii!"
Hm?
When I looked, Pigi-maru and Slei were facing each other.
Pigi-maru had been held by Liz until a moment ago...
"Pakyu."
"Pigii!"
"Pampii~"
"Pinyu~"
"Pakyu?"
"Punyu~?"
"..."
"..."
"Pakyu."
"Pi."
"...Pakyurun♪"
"...Puyu~n♪"
"Pakyu!"
"Pi!"
—Boing!
Somehow, Pigi-maru had jumped onto Slei's back.
It was jiggling on Slei's back.
"Pigii~!"
"Pakyu~n!"
Trot, trot, trot.
With Pigi-maru on its back, Slei walked toward us.
Seras beside me watched with a gentle, warm smile.
I let out a breath.
Good.
"It seems those two get along well too."