Kiro’s eyes lit up the instant she saw Torrent.
She looked at the spectral steed—its sleek coat, its soft saddle—then glanced down at her own mud-stained boots and arrived at a conclusion almost immediately.
“Hey. Let me ride that.”
The way she said it sounded less like negotiation and more like a formal announcement. Even as she spoke, she had already reached out toward Torrent’s reins.
Torrent seemed to sense something unfriendly in her approach. It took a cautious step backward, avoiding her hand, and let out a low rumble from its throat.
Loran sighed.
Just as expected.
“Torrent can only carry one person at a time,” he stated flatly.
“I know,” Kiro replied without the slightest shame. At the same time, she shot the uncooperative spectral horse an irritated glare.
“That’s why you walk and I ride. Sounds perfectly fair to me.”
“How is that fair?”
“Because I’m weaker than you!”
Kiro puffed out her chest proudly, completely unbothered by how shameless the argument sounded.
“You’re a guy. Your stamina’s obviously better. I saw how easily you killed those soldiers earlier—you’re clearly not tired at all.”
“As for me, I’m a distinguished Prophet build. Future main DPS. Why should I waste my precious energy on something as pointless as walking?”
[Affinity: -91 → -94]
[Status: Self-Righteous / Demanding / Contemptuous (Toward Physical Labor)]
Loran looked at the panel above her head and no longer felt any desire to analyze the psychological process behind this bandit-tier logic.
Instead, he simply asked:
“If you ride off alone, aren’t you worried about running into danger?”
“Why would I be?”
Kiro snorted dismissively.
“If something dangerous shows up, I’ll just run faster. Besides, your legs are shorter anyway. You can stay behind and cover my retreat while drawing aggro. Two birds with one stone.”
Loran fell silent.
He wasn’t considering whether to let her ride.
He was evaluating the consequences of letting her ride versus refusing.
If he agreed, he would have to travel on foot. His stamina would be drained, and his reaction speed during emergencies would suffer.
But the upside was obvious: Kiro would stop arguing for the time being, saving him a massive amount of time and energy otherwise wasted on pointless bickering.
If he refused, however, then the next hour—or longer—would almost certainly devolve into endless arguing and tug-of-war. Given Kiro’s personality, she might even escalate into grabbing the reins by force or outright collapsing onto the ground and refusing to move.
That would delay their progress far more severely.
A classic choice between long-term pain and short-term pain.
Loran chose the short-term pain.
“Fine,” he said.
“I knew you’d— huh?”
Kiro froze mid-sentence.
All the arguments she had prepared, along with several backup plans involving dramatic tantrums and shameless theatrics, jammed directly in her throat.
She stared at him blankly, wondering if she had misheard.
“I said fine,” Loran repeated calmly.
He patted Torrent’s neck, soothing the spectral steed.
“You can ride.”
Kiro narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Her entire expression screamed:
What kind of scheme are you plotting now?
To her, Loran compromising this easily felt even more suspicious than arguing back.
[Affinity: -94 → -90]
[Status: Confused / Guarded / Slightly Pleased]
“You’re… serious?” she asked cautiously.
Loran didn’t answer.
He merely stepped aside and made a simple gesture.
After a brief hesitation, Kiro immediately rushed over to Torrent. She awkwardly grabbed the saddle and climbed up with an embarrassingly clumsy combination of limbs.
Torrent pawed uneasily at the ground, but after seeming to receive some silent instruction from Loran, it ultimately allowed her to settle onto its back.
“Hmph. That’s more like it.”
Kiro adjusted her posture proudly and grabbed the reins, a victorious grin spreading across her face.
From atop the horse, she looked down at Loran like a noble addressing a servant.
“Then keep up, okay? Don’t fall too far behind.”
With that, she lightly squeezed her legs against Torrent’s sides.
The spectral steed immediately broke into a trot toward the Weeping Peninsula.
Loran remained where he stood, quietly watching Kiro’s figure grow more distant.
Her silver twin tails bounced smugly in the wind.
He made no move to follow immediately.
Instead, he calmly opened his inventory.
Inside the left-side menu, alongside the [Faded Lilac] and the [Whetstone Knife] he had just obtained, there was now an additional item.
[Item Name: Rowa Raisin]
[Type: Consumable]
[Description: Dried Rowa fruit prepared through sun-curing. One of the materials that can be crafted into useful items. Feeding it to the spectral steed Torrent while mounted restores its HP.
Humans cannot digest it properly.
Torrent seems quite pleased with it.]
He had looted it from one of the soldiers while clearing the ruins earlier.
Loran selected [Gift Giving] and targeted:
[Torrent]
Then, without hesitation, he dragged the [Rowa Raisin] into the gift slot.
[You gave “Rowa Raisin” x1 to “Torrent.”]
[Torrent Affinity +10.]
[Torrent Affinity has increased to: Friendly.]
[New Ability Unlocked: Remote Summoning
(You may now summon Torrent from a greater distance and issue simple commands.)]
Far ahead, Kiro—currently enjoying both speed and superiority from atop the horse—suddenly felt her mount come to a stop.
“Huh? Move!”
She yanked hard on the reins and squeezed Torrent desperately with her legs.
Torrent ignored her completely.
The spectral steed remained motionless, turned its head toward Loran’s direction, and let out an excited whinny.
Then—
Right before Kiro’s horrified eyes—
Torrent suddenly reared up violently.
“WAH—?!”
Kiro was thrown clean off the horse and slammed onto the ground flat on her back.
Her head collided intimately with the dirt.
Pain exploded behind her eyes.
Before she could even crawl back up, Torrent had already dissolved into a streak of blue light and vanished from where it stood.
The next second, it reappeared beside Loran, affectionately rubbing its head against his palm like a dog proudly asking for praise.
Loran calmly took another Rowa Raisin from his pocket and fed it to the horse.
In the distance, Kiro struggled upright while clutching the back of her head.
Grass clippings and dirt covered both her hair and clothes. She looked utterly miserable.
The number above her head instantly plummeted from [-90] straight into the abyss.
[Affinity: -150]
[Status: Fury / Humiliation / Sense of Betrayal / Killing Intent]
Loran mounted Torrent in one smooth motion.
Then he looked toward the petrified girl in the distance and spoke evenly:
“Now then.”
“I think we can finally discuss what ‘fair’ means.”