Chapter 527

Chapter 527

"Clean the stables again—no, cleaning magic won’t work; it’ll remove the hay. Use water magic to rinse them first." Lorant directed the workers to combine two stalls into a medium-sized one while overseeing the process. "Find some soft materials—cloth, leather, anything—and wrap all the protrusions to prevent injuries."

For Lorant, this first-time experience demanded his personal involvement to ensure everything went smoothly.

Though the manual didn’t elaborate on precautions for Windbreaking Horses during reproduction [mating], it certainly didn’t mean simply tossing two together would suffice.

Their behavior showed these unpredictable, aggressive creatures would likely fight rather than peacefully navigate their heat cycles if left unchecked.

Until their habits were fully understood, extreme caution was necessary—not a single step could be overlooked.

The two Windbreaking Horses were released and, as Lorant expected, immediately began attacking each other. He quickly had Fa Meng forcibly separate them, too risky to continue further. The intensity of their clash made it clear they were intent on serious harm.

After some thought, Lorant had the two horses released in an open field. With space to maneuver and choose, their behavior improved compared to the previous pair.

Unfortunately, the attempt still ended in failure. Over half an hour, the female Windbreaker grew increasingly impatient, eventually bolting from the field altogether.

Several subsequent pairings all met the same disappointing outcome.

The two beautiful Windbreaking Horse mares appeared quite selective—none of the four available stallions were suitable mates.

This forced a complete halt in research progress regarding their breeding cycles.

Fortunately, by the time Windbreakers began breeding, Blue Star Pet Shop was in better shape financially. At the very least, the required live beasts were now barely sufficient for supply.

Back then, Blue Star could produce a new batch of Windbreakers roughly every one to two days.

This relatively ample quantity, combined with the fact that their heat periods weren’t strictly fixed—only occurring within a general timeframe after maturity—meant the timing varied.

Thus, aside from this original batch, subsequent groups were also approaching the age where they might enter heat.

Special mention must be made of the first generation of Windbreaking Horses.

Those foals had been grown via time-acceleration spells, resulting in slower physical development from the start. Even after reaching adulthood, Lorant had assumed they’d normalized—but now, it seemed they showed developmental differences. At the very least, as the earliest batch, they showed no signs of entering heat.

Currently, Blue Star’s mage team was running full checkups on them.

After Thorn Knight Order reported the issue, Blue Star branches gradually received similar feedback. Individually owned Windbreakers, lacking companions to influence them, exhibited delayed heat periods—emerging days later than those in the knight order.

The problem was, once symptoms emerged, individual beastmasters were unequipped to handle it. Many mistook it for illness and sought external treatments like those from the Church—which couldn’t resolve the actual problem.

Thankfully, while the horses’ condition seemed concerning, it wasn’t an immediate emergency. This was a lengthy process, not something requiring instant solutions.

Blue Star promptly contacted all beastmasters in each region with Windbreakers of similar ages, informing them of the situation and arranging a large-scale gathering at a designated time.

Thanks to the horses’ speed, most affected beasts were brought to Molando by their owners within the specified period.

Thorn Knight Order hosted this event, providing ample space after days of preparation as the horses arrived in Molando.

Lorant arrived early with Lancelot to watch the proceedings.

To avoid affecting their own horses, the two borrowed young Windbreakers from the shop instead.

The gathering’s entrance was by Molando's famous Knight Academy.

This place was just a street away from the Saint Shield Grass forest near the Knight Academy. Passing through a few residential houses, Lorant arrived at an open area he hadn't even known existed.

This was the Thorn Knights' territory. The surrounding houses, which completely encircled the grassland, belonged to the Thorn Knights and their families, ensuring security and seclusion. It had always been an area the knights used exclusively for conducting basic training during recruitment periods.

For many years, this was the first time it had been opened to outsiders.

Lorant and his companion casually stabled their Windbreaking Horses in the Saint Shield Grass forest across the street, then threaded through a narrow gap—barely wide enough for three people to walk side by side—and between two windows to enter the gathering site.

To call this a 'grand event' was no exaggeration. The Thorn Knights had made thorough preparations in advance, assigning a dedicated knight to handle each Windbreaking Horse. Though Lorant and his companion thought themselves early arrivals, they were no longer among the first batch—by then, over a hundred beast tamers had already arrived.

The Windbreaking Horses brought here were segregated by sex, each isolated individually to prevent conflicts.

While this was the first time people had seen tamed beasts in heat, adventurers were no strangers to monsters in such a state. After learning about the issue with the Windbreaking Horses, the beast tamers handled them with exaggerated care.

Monsters in heat were orders of magnitude more dangerous than usual. Some would even chase intruders for hundreds of miles without giving up, ranking among adventurers' most dreaded encounters.

The survival rate for adventurers who encountered a monster in heat was less than ten percent.

Thus, after discovering the reason for their tamed beasts' unusual behavior, all beast tamers treated them with utmost gentleness and patience, fearing they might upset them.

Fortunately, after bringing them all this way, the next steps no longer required the beast tamers' involvement.

The Thorn Knights and Blue Star’s professionals would take charge, guiding each Windbreaking Horse one-on-one to find a suitable mate and help them weather this mating season.

Since the tamed beasts were still young, experiencing their first heat shortly after reaching adulthood, Blue Star officially recommended against allowing Windbreaking Horses to become pregnant too early to avoid unknown risks.

While the idea of having a foal sired by their own Windbreaking Horses was tempting, most beast tamers with female Windbreaking Horses were unwilling to gamble with their companions' health.

The first to eat a crab might enjoy its freshness, but they could also get pinched by its claws.

Perhaps they would allow their Windbreaking Horses to bear offspring in the future, but certainly not now.

On this matter, Blue Star appeared highly democratic, merely explaining the pros and cons and leaving the choice of whether to implement protective measures to each beast tamer.

However, in reality, if a beast tamer insisted on forgoing protective measures despite knowing the potential harm to their Windbreaking Horse, Blue Star would secretly implement the measures and place the beast tamer under "priority observation mode."

This so-called "priority observation mode" was essentially a discreet watchlist.

Without the beast tamer's knowledge, their every move would be closely monitored by Blue Star. If they took any action harmful to the tamed beast, Blue Star would intervene immediately.

These individuals were potential candidates for treating their Windbreaking Horses as breeding machines—something Blue Star absolutely forbade. Thus, from the first instance of a tamed beast's heat, before people even realized the hidden stakes, Blue Star had already mobilized its resources, nipping all potential issues in the bud.

For now, beast tamers only needed to hand over their Windbreaking Horses to the Thorn Knights or Blue Star’s knights, collect a claim ticket, and then relax in the rest area set up by the Thorn Knights, enjoying a cup of hot cocoa or aromatic tea while waiting for the process to conclude.

Of course, Blue Star also provided various snacks for the beast tamers, even setting up a temporary food truck to offer more choices.

The Thorn Knights were willing to host this event not only to solve the issue for their own Windbreaking Horses but also because there was clear profit potential involved.

First, every beast tamer participating in this "matchmaking event" had to pay an entrance fee—not expensive, just a mere few dozen points, but collectively, it added up to a considerable sum.

These points covered the Thorn Knights’ expenses for providing the venue, manpower, and resources, all of which required significant investment. Charging an entrance fee was perfectly reasonable, and the beast tamers had no objections—after all, no one expected charity.

Second, the beast tamers would stay for at least a day. If their Windbreaking Horses were particularly picky, it might even take longer, during which they would naturally need food and drinks.

The Thorn Knights would earn a portion of the revenue from these sales.

All in all, not only would the event not cost much, but it stood to turn a tidy profit—something the Thorn Knights were more than happy about.