Descendants of the Shepherd
“Oh, this is… ” Mia cautiously approached Aima. Mia wished to observe the wolf up close, as it was enjoying having its neck stroked. So, Mia drew nearer just to see it up close, about twenty steps away! Mia got close, in her own way.
Well, at this distance, Mia could easily fall prey to the wolf should it wish. Despite this, Mia mustered up her courage to get closer and observe the wolf once again. Mia’s vision was relatively good.
‘Hmm… it seems to be quite attached to her. I’ve wondered about this before, but is it possible to tame a wolf to this extent?’
As Mia tilted her neck and stared, Aima noticed her gaze and her expression softened slightly.
“Hmm? What, are you interested?”
“That guy… won’t attack?”
“Ah! This guy is family. I have raised him since childhood.”
And then Aima looked at the wolf and said “These people are scared of you. Go hide yourself.”
The wolf snorted in response to Aima’s words and then disappeared into the forest.
“I see. That’s quite something. Wolves can listen to commands so well .. huh?”
At that moment, Mia suddenly noticed that the expressions of the women from the Equestrian Kingdom were slightly tense.
‘Oh my? What is it? Somehow, their expressions seem awfully stiff. Are they still wary of the wolves from earlier?’
However, the two women weren’t looking in the direction that the wolf had left. Instead, they were looking at Aima cautiously. Just as Mia began to find it suspicious, the female guards said
“ Let’s head back. The wolves might return.”
“Eh? Yes, that’s right.”
While tilting her neck slightly, Mia got out of the river and began getting changed. After that they managed to pass through the forest without incident and returned to the village of the Forest clan.
“But, looking at it again, it’s a magnificent sight.”
Beyond Mia’s line of sight, a seemingly infinite number of tents were set up on the grassland. When looked at from the side, the tents appeared to be square, but when viewed from the top, they looked circular.
‘It looks just like cheese. Yes. cheese tents.’
In Perujin, there was a cake castle and in the Equestrian kingdom, there were cheese tents. In Mia’s head, all the foreign countries looked very delicious.
Although Mia called it a cheese tent, it was as big as a village or perhaps even a large town. Of course, it wasn’t as large as the Imperial Capital, but Mia was deeply impressed by the sheer number of people who were living and moving with these tents as they travelled. What was even more surprising to Mia was the large number of livestock that they owned.
A simple wooden fencing was erected at a short distance from the numerous tents. Riders on horseback were guiding the sheep inside. The moving flock of round and fluffy sheep looked like the clouds floating in the sky.
Faced with the overwhelming droves of sheep, Mia thought
‘Well, this definitely seems worth counting. Since they are moving, it might take two or three days to count. Seems perfect for killing time.’
Mia’s tragic saga was that when she saw a large number of things, she ended up wanting to count all of them as a way to pass time.
Furthermore, sheep weren’t the only livestock. In another enclosure, there were giant goats with impressive horns, and their numbers were extremely high as well.
‘Can we get milk from goats? I wonder what it would taste like?’ Mia couldn’t contain her heart-pumping, heart-throbbing excitement.
“At any rate, from horses to sheep, and even goats… The people of the Equestrian Kingdom sure love living with animals.”
The Tearmoon Empire also had livestock, but one didn’t often hear of people leading a nomadic life migrating along with their herds of animals. Moreover, the concept of living such a life as a tribe, as a country seemed like a whole new world that Mia couldn’t even imagine. Apparently, even Rafina felt the same way.
“To think… that there was this kind of way of living. I heard that they are the descendants of the Shepherd clan mentioned in the holy scriptures.”
”I see. That’s right.”
The shepherds depicted in the Holy scriptures played an important role. According to the scriptures, when God manifested on earth, they were the first to rush to worship and offer sacrifices, and thus received great blessings. In the Equestrian Kingdom, it was taught that the founder of the nation, a shepherd, married the lady, who was the messenger of God, and their country was born. The legend of the founding of the nation was linked to the Holy scriptures. Since the time when the lady divine messenger rode a horse, the tradition of valuing horses began in the Equestrian Kingdom.
“And the natural enemy of such shepherds is the wolf. ” Suddenly, Rafina’s tone turned serious.
“Eh?”
Mia was about to question her further but lost the opportunity.
“Mia-sama, the Chief of the Forest clan is waiting for you.” Ludwig came over, bowed, and conveyed the message.
“Yes, I understand. Let’s go.”
Mia glanced briefly at Aima. Aima nodded slightly, continuing her sullen silence.
