Chapter 49: Kitasan Black Sneaks Around
Over an hour later—
"C'mon, McQueen, don't be so uptight! I said I'd let you try it after thirty minutes, and I never go back on my word!"
"—you said the exact same thing thirty minutes ago, Teio. Sigh~ You're such a child."
Casting a helpless smile at her friend, who was hugging the drone controller like it was her most precious treasure, McQueen glanced longingly at it, then shifted her attention to the tablet on the desk.
A cable connected the tablet to the controller in Teio's hands.
The controller itself was about the size of a brick. On top, it had a signal antenna; the front half was fitted with joysticks, buttons, and indicator lights, while the rear half was mostly occupied by a screen.
Displayed on the screen was an aerial view of Tracen Academy—its red-brick, blue-roofed European-style buildings, paved walkways, tree-lined paths, spotless classrooms, and lush green training fields.
The same image appeared on the tablet, and as Teio excitedly fiddled with the joysticks and buttons, both screens showed the drone zipping through the academy grounds at high speed.
"Amazing… It's hard to believe such a tiny machine can fly this fast."
McQueen's voice was filled with genuine admiration. She turned to Makoto with curiosity.
"If I'm not mistaken… the drone's flying at around 60 kilometers per hour?"
Before Makoto could answer, Teio—still not turning away from her new favorite toy—grinned like a kid showing off their newest gadget.
"That's right, McQueen! I've got it set to exactly 60."
"Makoto said it can go as fast as 72 kilometers per hour, but even in the final stretch of a G1 race, most girls don't reach that speed. It's more than enough for training."
"Hehe, just wait till you get to try it!"
McQueen let out a light sigh. After so many years of friendship, she could easily tell Teio was showing off.
Still, she quickly refocused on the footage displayed on the tablet, her expression growing serious as she studied the visuals.
Just from watching Makoto's earlier demo, she had immediately realized how game-changing this drone could be.
High-quality footage was invaluable for training and racing.
By reviewing recordings, both trainers and Umamusume could identify issues, learn from them, and adjust strategies for better performance.
Currently, there are three main ways to capture footage.
Multi-angle camera systems on racecourses, security cameras, and DIY recording using handheld or stationary setups.
Each method had its pros and cons.
Racecourse cameras provided great footage, but unless it was broadcast on public channels, the recordings were stored by the racing associations and the academy, requiring formal requests and approvals to access.
Security footage had broader coverage but was lower quality and even harder to retrieve.
Self-recording was the most common method used by trainers. But it had its limits: trainers couldn't keep up with an Umamusume's speed unless another Umamusume assisted with the filming.
Solo filming often meant using fixed cameras, which resulted in limited and repetitive angles.
Even when Umamusume held the cameras themselves, the intense shaking during high-speed running made the footage nearly unusable.
But drones?
Drones didn't just combine all the advantages of those methods—they eliminated the drawbacks entirely.
Especially if, as Makoto suggested, they could use three drones to follow and film from different angles using pre-set routes. That kind of footage would be leagues above anything they'd had before.
Realizing this, McQueen looked at Makoto with undisguised anticipation.
"Yasui-san, since you'd already thought of using this method, you must've recorded some footage during Kitasan's training recently, right? Could I take a look?"
Teio looked over as well.
She might be acting like a drone-obsessed child right now, but as someone with top-tier talent and racing experience, she'd naturally arrived at the same conclusion as McQueen.
Even while tightly hugging the controller, she didn't forget her responsibilities as student council president.
"She's right. You mentioned this to me last night, but you should've gotten at least one session recorded this morning, yeah?"
Previously, while Teio was having fun piloting the drone, Makoto hadn't said a word to dampen the mood.
In fact, this was exactly what he had hoped for—by letting the two council members experience the advantages of drone footage firsthand, it would make the next part of the conversation much easier.
Now that both of them had shifted focus to the real topic, he didn't hold back and shook his head honestly.
"Not yet. I haven't filmed any training sessions yet, because there are still a few issues with the drone—that's actually what I came here to discuss."
"Issues?"
Both Teio and McQueen asked at the same time.
Teio paused, then handed the controller over to McQueen.
"McQueen, could you bring the drone back? I'll talk with Yasui-san for a bit."
"…Now you remember me, huh?"
McQueen replied with a mildly amused sigh, but she didn't refuse. Taking the controller, she began operating it just like Makoto had demonstrated earlier.
"The most obvious issue is the noise."
Pointing to the footage on the tablet, Makoto explained:
"You can't really hear it from this video because the drone has a built-in noise suppression system. But you both heard it during takeoff. Honestly, it's still pretty loud."
"And if it flies too close, that buzzing sound—whirr whirr whirr—doesn't go away. You two have particularly sensitive hearing, so if I don't fix this, it might end up interfering with your focus during training."
He paused before continuing.
"There are also some software-related problems."
"To be honest, this drone is technically still a prototype. I only got my hands on it due to a… rather lucky coincidence."
"Actually, I didn't buy it per se—the developer wanted someone to conduct live testing, and I happened to be a candidate. That's the only reason I have it."
"So the camera controls, image processing, auto-avoidance functions… a lot of the software still needs tweaking."
"And then—there's the issue of privacy."
Makoto didn't try to sugarcoat this point.
Teio blinked in surprise but quickly caught on.
"Right. With a machine like this, you can probably film just about anything."
"And since the whole academy is full of girls—female students, female teachers, and even female trainers—if something went wrong, people might jump to the wrong conclusions."
She placed a hand on her hip, thinking aloud.
"In that case, let me think a bit…"
Makoto didn't interrupt.
He already had some preliminary ideas for resolving the issue, but from what he knew of Teio, she was sharp and decisive—if she came up with something better, he'd rather hear it first before offering his own suggestions.
But before Teio could say anything more, McQueen's voice suddenly piped up from across the room.
"Eh? Isn't that Kitasan over there? What's… what's she doing?"
Both Makoto and Teio turned their heads toward the source of her confusion.
Sure enough, just like McQueen, their eyes locked onto the drone footage displayed on the controller and tablet screen. At the center of both displays was a black-haired girl.
It was the middle of a class break, and the school grounds were alive with students chatting in the hallways, wandering the field, or playing little games together to relax.
But the girl on screen wasn't doing any of those things.
Instead, she was crouched in the grass beside the athletic field, holding up two leafy tree branches—one in each hand—looking every bit like someone trying very hard to be sneaky.
She was, quite literally, lurking in the bushes.
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