Episode 37
“A frequency that horses can hear?”
“Yes. Horses can hear high-pitched sounds that humans cannot hear.”
“What does that mean… If it’s a high sound, shouldn’t humans be able to hear it too?”
Unlike Melliot, who was clueless, Aidan understood my words and nodded his head.
“Humans can usually hear sounds up to 20 kHz, but horses hear beyond that.”
“That’s right. So I’m going to make a whistle that produces sound in that frequency range.”
“What are you going to do with that?”
“If I blow that whistle during the race, other horses will be panicked by the sudden noise, right?”
“But Star will keep running.”
Melliot’s eyes sparkled.
“Of course, this is cheating. So if the opponent doesn’t use any particular strange tricks, I won’t use this method either.”
I pledged so, but they were the ones who used foul play first.
I pulled out the whistle I had hung around my neck.
Foul play should be met with foul play.
After taking a deep breath, I blew the whistle.
Of course, no sound could be heard by my ears. That would be the same for Star too.
“Neigh—!”
“Huh? Why is this horse suddenly acting like this?”
“Ugh!”
From here and there, the cries of horses and the panicked voices of jockeys could be heard. There was chaos, from horses flinching at the sudden loud sound, horses coming to a dead stop, to horses losing their direction.
And that was the same for Drodons and his white horse, who were cheerfully running in the lead.
“What is it, where are you suddenly going?”
A panicked Drodons forcibly pulled the white horse’s reins, but it was already after it had lost its balance. In the end, he fell from the horse and rolled across the sandy floor.
It was a time when even the spectating audience was bewildered without knowing the reason.
“Look over there!”
“Only that black horse is running straight!”
Star ran with all his might. Of course, he wasn’t fast.
“Doesn’t that horse look like it’s hurt somewhere?”
Limping on his hind leg, Star, who did not give up and ran until the end, leisurely passed the finish line.
“Victory…! This year’s winner is horse number 3, Star!”
As soon as he passed the finish line, Star slowly bent his knees and sat down, as if the strength in his legs had given out. I immediately wrapped my arms around Star’s neck.
“Star! You’re the best!”
“Are you both alright?”
“Cynthia, are you unhurt anywhere?”
The two who were waiting for us at the finish line immediately ran over.
“I’m alright! Melliot, please take a look at Star’s hind leg. It seemed like he got hurt while jumping over the obstacle.”
Melliot quickly examined Star’s condition.
“It seems he stepped on something. The horseshoe is a mess.”
Just as she said, the horseshoe meant to protect the racehorse’s hoof was bent halfway. Whether Star’s sole was scraped by the horseshoe or by something else, it was smeared with a mix of dirt and blood.
“Cynthia, since when was Star like this?”
“It was from the moment he jumped over the second obstacle. We need to examine the landing spot over there.”
At my words, Aidan lightly gestured and issued some instructions to his subordinates.
“This is foul play!”
At that moment, Drodons shouted.
“All the other horses went crazy and went wild, but only that horse ran properly!”
“Strictly speaking, he wasn’t proper. Did you not see him running with a limp?”
He flinched upon seeing Aidan, but pointing a finger at me, he began to raise his voice loudly again.
“That’s probably because the horse handler fitted the horseshoe incorrectly or made a mistake!”
“Then I suppose your horse just didn’t want to carry you either.”
“Do you call that words right now?! What kind of racehorse in the world goes wild during a race?!”
“How should I know? Perhaps he grew unwilling to carry you because you’re ugly.”
Aidan is really gently grating on the opponent. No, is he openly grating on him?
“Young Lord, we found it!”
At that moment, Aidan’s subordinate shouted.
“Several strange pieces of metal were found inside the dirt! It seems they mixed sharp pieces in so that the horseshoes could not withstand it.”
“It’s not just the second obstacle. There are some at the third and fourth as well. It seems they installed multiple in case they failed.”
“You put quite some effort into it. You should have spent that time practicing horse riding instead of devising and executing such things.”
Aidan lightly lifted the piece of metal brought by his subordinate with his gloved hand and dropped it to the floor.
The fallen metal piece stuck straight into the ground. It’s incredible; no matter if it’s a horseshoe, stepping on that would inevitably pry it open.
So that’s why Star’s foot turned out like that…
No matter how great a stamina a thoroughbred horse possessed, the moment they landed, if such pain rushed into their hoof, they were bound to cause a rejection response, stopping dead or throwing off the rider.
Yet Star kept trying to run. Even as the horseshoe crumpled inwards, he didn’t throw me off. He didn’t even walk to the finish line; he ran.
“Thank you, Star…”
Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t forget to hug Star. Finding it tough, he rested his head on my shoulder and exhaled a low puff of breath.
“The person who did such a thing must naturally be an association official.”
Aidan asked, threateningly holding out the piece of metal.
“Shall we conduct a proper investigation into who the real culprit is?”
Aidan’s green eyes curved, drawing a deep arc.
Like that, Aidan raided the house of the lord of Turtlely, using the power of the ducal house along with the pretext of a ‘Special Audit Department.’
Those guys were sloppier than expected. Whether they were confident that no one would catch them, they kept the contracts made among themselves and the contracts writing down what they did to the favorite horse and how much they received right in the study drawer, not even in a secret safe.
Upon learning the fact that Drodons had colluded and rigged the competitions for several years, the people were naturally furious.
“Did you hear that? They even made money bets!”
“Money bets?”
“In any competition or place like this, money bets are bound to happen. It seems they placed stakes on themselves winning.”
Melliot puffed up both cheeks, saying it was absurd.
“By the way, what should I do about feeling sorry? Because I used the whistle, our first place was revoked as well.”
“Well, that can’t be helped.”
Melliot comforted me, saying it was fine, but honestly, I felt sorry.
“What are you worrying about?”
At that moment, Aidan, who had gone to settle the situation, returned.
“Here.”
“What is this?”
Receiving the paper he handed over carefully, Melliot’s eyes grew wide.
“T-This is all…”
“What is it for you to act like that?”
“Drodons admitted to interfering so that your father couldn’t win all this time, and should I say it’s compensation for his leg becoming uncomfortable due to falling from the horse because of that?”
“Thank you, thank you so much!”
“Will you be fine with just that? I was thinking of extracting even more money.”
“Yes, this is enough for me.”
Along with the thoroughbred breeding rights, what Melliot received back were all the horses that had been taken away during that time.
“Since we also obtained the thoroughbred breeding rights, our family can start again too.”
“That turned out well.”
“By the way, is Cynthia really fine with just that? To think it’s just a saddle.”
“Haha, of course.”
Actually, I don’t even need the saddle, and I just need to take the cubic zirconia attached here first, though.
I want to hurry up and experiment in the carriage!
“Oh, what about Star? Is his leg treatment finished?”
At my question, Melliot hesitated before nodding her head.
“The scab has settled now, and he’s gotten better. But he probably won’t be able to run.”
“Such a…”
“If a racehorse cannot run, it has no value.”
At Aidan’s cold-hearted words, I glared at him without realizing it. Has no value, how can you say that about a living soul?
“Then what happens to Star?”
“The association took him today. Since he became unable to run, probably…”
Melliot couldn’t bring herself to continue her words. Even without listening, I could tell.
“It can’t be helped.”
“Young Lord really has neither blood nor tears!”
“They already took him, so what am I supposed to do about it?”
Answering annoyedly, he climbed into the carriage first.
“Just hurry up and get on.”
“…”
“Cynthia, Young Lord. Thank you so much.”
Melliot bowed politely to see us off. Waving my hand lightly at her, I climbed into the carriage.
“Did you try dropping the reagent?”
“I don’t know.”
“Haah. Give it here.”
Aidan took the saddle from my hand and dropped the reagent. Soon, a rainbow-colored haze of light spread out and then extinguished.
