Kantai Collection: Winds of the West

Chapter VII: Respite

"How long do we have to keep this up?"

Kagerou could not help but complain. Her twin tails had been swaying with sweat in the wind and her rear sore from the hours worth of riding on horseback. She was accompanied by three other ship girls - Shiranui, Arare, and Kasumi. Ahead of them were their teacher and mentor, the elf archer Helena.

The five had set out earlier that morning, when they spotted the silver dragon who was befriended by Setanta's group fly off towards the North while carrying the Nowaki and the rest. Dragons were known for their ability to fly long distances, making the notion of trailing them by foot quite ridiculous. In light of their situation, Helena gave the four one horse figurine each.

"Those are called figurines of wondrous power. Put it in your hands and will for a horse to form."

Each destroyer aside from Arare was taken aback when mist came out from the figurine and coalesced to become a semi-transparent horse.

"Wow sensei. I didn't know things as convenient like that existed."

Kagerou could not help but marvel at the size of the horse. She and the other destroyers had trained horseback riding back at the camp, but the ones summoned by the figurine had larger muscles and one whole foot taller than the ones they were used to.

"Really, making us walk on foot while hiding ourselves from Nowaki and the others. Hey you garbage teacher, why did we have to endure miles of walking when we could have just used these things?"

The elf archer let out a pained laugh.

"Kasumi... you really don't mince words eh... In any case, those horses are only usable for 24 hours. The figurines take one week to gather the magic it needs to supply another 24 hours of use. The good thing about it is that we don't need to use the 24 hours all in one go. We can separate it into, let's say, three days for eight hours each."

Still keeping her silence, Arare had already mounted her steed and was giving it a try if it will obey her commands. Satisfied, the destroyer broke out a small smile.

"Apparently, Arare likes it. By the way Helena-sensei, if they made more of these stuff then people shouldn't have any trouble with overland travel."

"You see Kagerou, these things aren't exactly cheap to make. The figurine itself has to be made by an above-average craftsman, and the magic needed to enchant it with the ability to summon a horse can only be accomplished by mid-tier mages of the realms. They're often the head of their own schools or a cabal of wizards, making the price for their services worth several thousands of gold pieces. Got those way back when I was a vagabond and dungeon-raiding was the name of the game. Those are yours now by the way."

Kagerou's jaw nearly dropped. Back in the days when they were learning about the value of a gold piece, a single one was enough to lavishly feed one grown person for an entire week. The four gave thanks to their teacher for the expensive, yet handy, gift.

"Ueeeh... I guess I should take care of this..."

"I'm glad that they're well-appreciated by my students."

"I'll just hope big sister Kagerou won't get too excited and accidentally break it."

The quip squarely hit Kagerou, who started chasing after Shiranui, who had ordered her summoned horse to gallop towards the north. Not wanting to get left behind, Kasumi clicked her tongue at the two Kagerou-class destroyers and invited Arare to follow. Their teacher stayed in the back, sighing as she prayed that the otaher mentors were having an easier time handling the other girls.