Last but not least, the thing they needed to get to make their jobs a lot easier was, of course, a good mount. And in order to properly get a new one, they, of course, needed to ditch the old one.

  Currently, Miri and Anne were at the stables where mounts were sold—the same stables that Miri had bought Tusko from in the first place. And now, this was also going to be the place Miri was going to sell Tusko off.

  “Alright, Tusko. It’s been nice knowing ya,” Miri said to the boar as she patted his head of rough, coarse fur—a slight sense of sentimentality lingered between them. “But I think it’s time we part ways.” She turned to the stable hand with a nod. “Alright, you can take him.”

  “Okay, then. Off to the butcher shop you go,” the stable hand said, pulling the boar by his leash to a vacant pen nearby.

  That statement made Miri quickly turn around. “Wait, hold on! Butcher shop?! I thought you’re gonna resell him to another buyer as a mount.”

  “Nah, it's too much of a hassle,” the stable hand informed. “Thorn-tusk boars that are used as mounts are already a low-selling product as is, even with the dirt-cheap price. Boars that are second-hand are even less so. It’ll be worth more as meat for the butcher.”

  This revelation gave Miri quite a shock, causing her to re-evaluate whether she should sell Tusko. Her decision could very well be the difference between whether Tusko was going to get slaughtered for meat or not. Sure, the boar may have gotten on her nerves from time to time, but over time, she’d eventually developed a soft spot for the temperamental creature. Even now, Tusko was already oinking and squealing for help, his cries of desperation gradually tugging at the mage’s heartstrings.

  “Miri, are you sure you really want to sell Tusko?” Anne asked, gazing at the boar with a look of pity. “Sure, his temperament may not be the best at first, but it’s slowly improving. Plus, we’ve been through quite a lot together. Are you sure you don’t feel even the slightest sense of attachment towards him?”

  Miri gazed at the helpless boar as she pondered on Anne’s words. After pondering for a while, she’d come up with a decision.

  “So, are you selling the boar or not?” the stable hand asked.

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  “Actually, no. I change my mind,” Miri responded, having finally made up her mind. “I’ve decided to keep the boar after all.”

  The stable hand shrugged as he handed the boar back to her. “Suit yourself.”

  The moment Miri decided to take Tusko back, the boar squealed with delight as he practically tackled the mage—now more out of affection rather than anger. Anne was giggling with delight as she saw how the two interacted.

  “Alright, calm down there, bud,” Miri said with a warm smile, petting the grateful boar on the head. “You get to keep staying so long as you behave yourself. You step out of line for even a moment and I’ll roast you myself.”

  Even though they’d decided to keep Tusko, they still needed to find another mount for Anne as having Tusko carry two people may be too much for him to handle in the long-run. The two women looked around the stable some more to see if any mount suited Anne’s fancy.

  “So, what kind of mount do you prefer?” Miri asked.

  “Hmm, I’m not quite sure yet, but I think I’ll know when I see it,” Anne replied as she continued scouring the stables for a mount that best suited her. After looking around some more, one of the mounts managed to catch her eye—a sheep with large, curving horns and a coat of white, fluffy wool that made it look like a giant cloud. “Ooh, this one seems interesting.”

  “Great choice, miss. The rockhorn sheep is one of our most popular mounts yet,” the stable hand said. “Bred to carry a heavy load as well as having a good temperament. Plus, its coat is quite soft to the touch as well. In fact, that is perhaps its most appealing feature.”

  “My family used to own a few sheep themselves. That’s where they would get their wool from,” Anne mentioned. “Seeing this really brings back memories. In addition to being a mount, I could shear off its wool on occasion to make clothing.”

  “Ahh, you have a family who raises sheep, huh? Well, in that case, this is perhaps the perfect mount for you.”

  Anne approached the rockhorn sheep in order to check its various features—the roughness of its horns, the condition of its teeth, the softness of its wool. Miri had once heard Anne mention that she was able to tell a lot about an animal’s health by examining its various body parts, making her a sort of super-vetenarian as well as a good healer.

  “Ahh, this sheep seems to be in good health,” Anne remarked with a satisfied smile. “Alright, we’ll take it.”

  After completing the transaction, Anne gazed upon the rockhorn sheep she’d just purchased. “I suppose I should give you a name now. Let’s see…I’m going to call you Woolly, since you are so woolly.”

  Miri let out a snorting chuckle. “Really? Woolly? That’s the name you’re gonna give him. How original.”

  “Says the person who named her thorntusk boar ‘Tusko’,” Anne countered with a deadpan stare.

  “Ahh…touché.”