Headless Horseman

Neighhh—

"Athena" neighed loudly with delight, then lowered her head and affectionately nudged Kino's shoulder.

"All right, all right, my mistake. I won't put you back in the book again." Kino reached out to stroke Athena's forehead and smiled.

Neighhh—

Athena gave another loud neigh, her eyes rolling as she warily looked at the other three.

"Hey, girl, easy. They're all friends."

Neigh?

After cocking her head and watching them for a while, Athena finally began clopping around the room, carefully inspecting her surroundings as she went.

"What is she doing?" Maria Hill asked.

"Territorial instinct."

"Oh."

Maria Hill nodded. Animals indeed had territorial instincts and were extremely hostile toward intruders.

"Her name is Athena. She's a girl, my first contracted companion, and the contractor of Light Power: Unicorn," Kino explained.

In truth, she was already thirty-two years old. After Kino refined the Book of Zeref in Fairy Tail, she had been his first experiment.

Before that, she had been a three-year-old horse. After forming the contract, she had become nearly immortal.

After wandering around once, Athena suddenly walked over to Rogue, then stretched out her large tongue... "Sluurp"—and licked her.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Rogue sprang to her feet. Girls liked to stay clean. Though Athena had not licked her face, her shoulder was now wet and sticky, which felt awful.

"Ha, that means she recognizes you. She's leaving some of her scent on you. From now on, you're her friend," Kino said with a smile.

Rogue looked utterly helpless. "...I'm going to wash up."

She knew that animals marked their territory with urine and such. She had never expected there to be animals that used saliva... to make friends!

"Don't! Wait ten minutes or so!" Kino hurriedly advised.

"Why?"

"If you wash it off now, she'll think you've rejected her friendship. You'll become her enemy."

"What happens if I become her enemy?"

"Trust me, you definitely don't want Athena to bite you." Kino burst out laughing.

Do not underestimate horses. Being bitten by one was no pleasant experience. Though their teeth were not sharp, their bite force could absolutely make an arm bleed. And that was before considering Athena, who had contracted Unicorn power. Steel was practically popcorn in front of her.

One bite, and she could crunch you to pieces.

"Then... then I'll sit here a little longer!" Rogue sat back down in fright. She had no desire to be chased around by a horse every day.

"What are you trying to do?"

Seeing Athena walk toward her, Maria Hill quickly assumed a defensive stance.

"If you don't want her to chase you out," Kino said with an indifferent shrug.

Maria Hill felt somewhat frustrated. If she got chased out, she would no longer be able to keep Kino under close surveillance, so she slowly lowered her hands. Unfortunately, Athena had already been angered by her. She walked over, snorted loudly, and directly sprayed Maria Hill all over. Then, leaving behind a dumbfounded Hill, she clopped upstairs.

Rogue burst out laughing.

Maria Hill stood frozen for a while, then wiped herself off in disgust and pointed at Galina Dubois. "Why didn't she get the same treatment? Are you fooling us?"

Rogue immediately froze, then looked at Kino with an unfriendly gaze.

"Sweetie, you're overthinking it. Galina is going to receive a contract. They don't need any of that between them."

"You'd better not be lying to me!"

Kino shrugged and turned to Galina. "Darling, have you chosen?"

"No, I'm dazzled by all the options. How about... you decide for me?" Galina Dubois was still flipping through the pages, even though she could not understand what the illustrations meant.

Kino was a little stunned. Decide for her?

How was he supposed to choose?

If it were up to him, he would choose Succubus directly.

Galina Dubois's figure combined with a succubus's alluring temperament would be absolutely irresistible.

"How about... letting Ben choose for himself?" Kino suggested.

"Huh? Ben can make his own choice?" Galina Dubois asked in surprise.

"Have you never bought a dog or a cat? Humans choose pets, but sometimes pets choose their owners," Kino explained.

"I see. All right... wh-what do I need to do?"

"Relax. Hold your hand over Ben, and the pages will turn on their own until the ability best suited to you appears," Kino said.

"Oh."

Once Galina Dubois had gotten into position, Kino lightly tapped Ben. The pages began flipping with a rustle. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow; sometimes advancing, sometimes turning back. It went through nearly all of Ben. Just when Galina thought the Book of Kino had rejected her, the pages rapidly flipped back.

Then—they stopped!

They stopped at...

Kino lowered his head for a look. Oh, a rather obscure one—but this ability was extremely powerful.

It was a black page depicting a woman whose figure might have been even better than Galina Dubois's, though only her back could be seen. She carried an enormous scythe, its blade nearly as long as a person and widest directly in front of her head. From behind, it did not look particularly out of place.

But Kino knew exactly what kind of ability it was.

"A woman?" Galina Dubois was dumbfounded. It was her first time seeing such a concrete image in the Book of Kino. "What is this?"

"Headless Horseman!"

Galina Dubois was startled. "Headless Horseman... does that mean she has no head?"

Looking down carefully, it seemed... she really did not have a head!

"Headless Horseman? Shouldn't that be a man?" Maria Hill asked.

"What?"

"It is said that the Headless Horseman was once a brave knight. He died tragically on the battlefield, and his head was cut off by the enemy. Thus, whenever the night is dark and the wind is high, he rides an undead horse through Sleepy Hollow, searching everywhere for his lost head," Maria Hill explained.

"That's just a folk legend. This isn't the same thing." Kino shook his head.

"C-can I choose another one?" Galina Dubois did not really want it.

"Are you sure? You should know that Headless Horseman is one of the highest-ranking abilities in Ben." Knowing what worried her, Kino smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. You'll only transform into the Headless Horseman form when you use the ability. When you're not using it, you'll still be the Galina Dubois you are now. And besides..."

"And besides?"

"Did you know? Headless Horseman is also one of the few abilities that can be used without transforming. Of course, those abilities are much weaker than when you transform..."

"R-really?"

"Why would I lie to you? It's not like I'd get candy for it."

"Then... then I'll take it... Wait, will it hurt?"

Kino smiled and reassured her, "Don't worry, it won't!"