Chapter 48: Investigating the Competition
Vodka was taken aback for a moment.
She hadn't considered the possibility Kitasan just brought up.
All she had thought was that Makoto probably didn't want to put pressure on Kitasan. She hadn't even considered whether Kitasan herself might be worried about him.
But thinking about it more carefully now, with how enthusiastic and caring this junior of hers was, it was entirely possible she would be worried after learning about the harsh reality her trainer was facing.
And Makoto had always given her a calm and composed impression, someone who thought things through very thoroughly—maybe he really had anticipated this.
"Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, it's probably just like you guessed—Yasui-kun is that considerate."
Vodka nodded, then sighed with admiration.
"To be able to understand his trainee's mindset that deeply… it's no surprise he could predict what you'd be worried about."
"Originally, I thought since you've come this far, you can't stay ignorant of how things really work."
"You're always so eager to help others, Kita-chan, but not everything can be solved with good intentions alone."
"Like we were talking about earlier… that kind of thing, only a senior like Opera-senpai might be able to truly explain."
"But in the end—"
She chuckled lightly.
"Fujin-senpai was right. Kita-chan, you're really lucky."
"Your trainer may be young, but he's seriously talented."
"It would be good for you to stick with him. I have a feeling that he's not going to let you down."
Normally, whenever she heard words like that, Kitasan would nod enthusiastically without a second thought.
But this time, she pursed her lips and unconsciously clenched her fists. After a long moment of silence, she finally nodded, firmly and with resolve.
"Okay! I've decided!"
Her words made not just Vodka, but also Scarlet and Ines to blink in surprise.
"Decided… Kita-chan, you decided what?"
The three of them asked in perfect unison.
"I'm going to find a way to help Trainer!"
With both fists clenched in front of her chest, the black-haired girl declared with determination:
"I didn't realize before that Trainer had so much pressure too. I just thought he was busy all the time."
"But now that I've heard what you all said, there's no way I can just sit around doing nothing!"
"I have to do something to help him!"
"As for what exactly…"
She pursed her lips again, but then her eyes suddenly lit up.
"That's it!"
"Trainer already told me the list of competitors for the next race."
"They're all classmates here at the academy, so I'll find a way to investigate them quietly!"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The next day at the training grounds, Makoto showed up not only with his usual shoulder bag, but also carrying a large, square backpack.
As always, the shoulder bag contained all the essential training gear—tablet, stopwatch, binoculars, clipboard. The bigger backpack, however, held something new: the drone he had received the day before.
Drones weren't very common yet in this era, and most of the ones on the market weren't particularly high-performance.
But the one he had ordered wasn't your average model. After giving it a test run the night before, he had confirmed it was more than up to the task.
That said, no one had ever used something like this for Umamusume training before. And since there weren't any clear regulations in place, he'd have to report it to the student council first.
After all, this thing was still considered cutting-edge. If any uninformed students saw something strange flying through the sky, it could easily cause a panic.
And since all the academy students were girls, using a drone for video recording could easily be misinterpreted—as if he were some kind of peeping tom. That would be much worse.
So, for today's regular training session, Makoto only used the drone as a stationary high-speed camera. He didn't activate the flight feature.
Once training was over and he reminded Kitasan to focus during her classes, he headed straight for the student council office.
He had arranged the meeting with Tokai Teio the night before, and as he stepped inside, she was already waiting.
There was another girl in the office as well—a refined-looking Umamusume with long lavender hair and an air of grace.
Recognizing her instantly as the student council vice president and fellow Hall of Fame Umamusume, Mejiro McQueen, Makoto greeted them both:
"President Teio, Vice President McQueen—good morning."
"Good morning, Yasui-san."
"Good morning, Yasui-san."
After greeting him alongside McQueen, Teio turned her curious gaze toward the large square backpack Makoto was carrying.
"That's the drone you mentioned, right? It's that small?"
In Teio's mind, drones were basically airplanes that didn't need pilots.
And even the smallest airplanes were at least ten meters long—so when she first heard Makoto's request yesterday, she had hesitated a bit.
But once he clarified it was a small drone—small enough to fit in a backpack—her curiosity got the better of her and she agreed to meet.
In her opinion, even though Makoto was young, he was more composed than many older trainers. He wasn't impulsive like others his age, and he never exaggerated or lied.
If he said it wasn't that big, then it probably wasn't.
And if this thing really could help with training, then as the student council president, she had every reason to see it for herself.
As Teio asked her question, McQueen also glanced at Makoto's backpack with a thoughtful look.
"With that size... I'm guessing it's one of those four-rotor drones?"
Makoto had just started to take off his bag but froze at her comment. A moment later, he nodded.
"Vice President McQueen, you're really knowledgeable—it is a quadrotor drone."
Teio's curiosity spiked.
"Eh? McQueen, you know about these things?"
"I've seen them abroad a few times," McQueen nodded and gestured with her hands.
"They're about the length of your arm, with roughly the same width."
"The main body is circular or square, and there are four arms extending from the corners, kind of like helicopter tails—but much, much smaller."
"Each arm has a rotor blade at the end—basically like tiny helicopter propellers."
"I don't know much more than that, though. I've only seen them at tech exhibitions."
While McQueen gave her explanation, Makoto finished opening the backpack and began assembling the drone—connecting the body, arms, and propellers with practiced hands.
Seeing this, both council members leaned in with curiosity to watch closely.
"It's a lot smaller than I expected…"
Teio rubbed her chin, nodding thoughtfully.
"So, Yasui-san, you plan to use this flying machine to record Kitasan Black's training?"
"That's right. I ordered a custom model with low noise, high resolution, and the ability to capture high-speed footage."
Holding the drone in one hand, Makoto pointed to various parts of it with the other as he explained:
"This here is the wireless module—it allows real-time monitoring of the video feed."
"For frame-by-frame analysis, the footage is saved internally on a storage drive. I can just take it out and connect it to my computer afterward."
"As for the image quality…"
He paused, then looked toward the office's floor-to-ceiling window.
"Would it be alright to do a quick demo? I brought the controller with me."
Teio and McQueen followed his gaze to the window, then exchanged a quick glance before both nodded.
"That's a very novel idea," said McQueen. "We'd love to see it in action."
"Yeah, show us! This sounds super interesting!" Teio added.
With their approval, Makoto didn't hesitate. He gently placed the drone on the floor.
After powering it on, he picked up the remote controller, a data cable, and his tablet. Moving over to the window, he slid it open.
He plugged the cable from the controller into his tablet and booted up the drone system.
Whirr, whirr, whirr—
With a rapid spin of its four rotors, the drone rose smoothly into the air and zipped out through the window—leaving Teio and McQueen staring in awe and fascination.
<+>
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