...
After another half hour or so, Lucian came over to inspect the second group.
Haru Urara was still the most entertaining. Her running posture was already quite different from Special Week, Meisho Doto, and Matikane Tannhauser.
"Urara, why is your head raised so high? Open your eyes and look ahead, don't fall."
"But...!!!" Haru Urara gritted her teeth, her head wobbling. "Urara already can't run anymore!!"
"Hang in there, just the last stretch left. If Urara smoothly finishes these few days' tasks, she'll become even stronger."
"I… I know...!!! Trainer, stop talking to me already!!!" Haru Urara's eyes and mouth had all scrunched toward the center of her face.
"Alright, alright, my bad~"
Special Week's group's training mainly emphasized breathing adjustment and stride control when changing rhythm. It encouraged the Uma Musume to actively adjust their rhythm and cultivate tactical awareness during races.
...
Soon the Uma Musume all finished the morning training tasks Lucian had arranged. Then came assembling into ranks and half an hour of cool-down stretching.
When Lucian brought them back to the lodging, the time was exactly 11:20. "Wipe off your sweat first, then change into a fresh set of sportswear and come back. Put the clothes you changed out of into the basket."
There were still forty minutes until mealtime, so of course this half hour had to be put to use as well.
By the time the Uma Musume finished changing and returned, another ten minutes had passed.
"Trainer, is it time to eat yet? Rice Shower's tummy is already super super hungry." Twin Turbo pointed at Rice Shower's belly beside her.
"Hmm? Isn't that line usually said by Urara?" Lucian thought it sounded familiar and turned toward Rice Shower, also pointing at her little belly. "I call you once—do you dare answer?"
"O… Onii-sama!?" Rice Shower curled up shyly and covered her stomach. "My tummy didn't make any sound just now."
"Twin Turbo, why are you framing Rice Shower and even stealing Urara's lines! And Trainer too!" Haru Urara, like a mother hen protecting her chicks, swatted away Twin Turbo's and Lucian's hands. "This kind of behavior, in the idiom of Yinglong Country, is called..."
Haru Urara furrowed her brows and fell into a thinking pose.
Lucian and the others all waited quietly to see what idiom she could force out.
"Tongchou-dikài...? Yes, that's it—tongchou-dikài!"
Only Lucian understood. He couldn't hold back and laughed outright, spraying a bit of the water he had just drunk onto Ines Fujin's chest.
Ines Fujin: Not amused.
"Sorry… sorry, little Ai, I'll wipe it for you." Lucian covered his mouth and was reaching for tissues when a dry cough made him regain his composure.
"Cough cough, Lucian-kun... this kind of thing is better left to someone else." Silence Suzuka narrowed her eyes and gave a "kindly" reminder.
"Suzuka is right." Lucian sheepishly withdrew his hand.
"I don't actually mind~"
"Hmm?" Lucian looked at Ines Fujin in surprise. "Uh... better mind a little."
What did Ines Fujin mean by speaking up at this moment? Wasn't she giving Silence Suzuka any face...
Lucian secretly observed. The moment the two girls' eyes met, a gunpowder smell really did fill the air.
Little Ai-nee, you can't do this... at least you shouldn't.
The next second Lucian figured out the reason: in Ines Fujin's view, only Seiun Sky was the first-comer. No matter how intimate Silence Suzuka and Lucian were in private, it still couldn't compare to her current status.
It seemed telling Ines Fujin everything as soon as possible was already urgent.
Otherwise after a few more open and hidden exchanges of fire, Silence Suzuka would definitely vent her resentment on him. She might hold back because of the Tenno Sho Autumn, but after the Tenno Sho Autumn it would be the day Lucian turned into a dried corpse.
"I mean the Trainer didn't do it on purpose, so it's nothing." Ines Fujin withdrew her gaze and wiped the almost-dried water stain on her body with a tissue.
Silence Suzuka "unintentionally" glanced at Lucian, cold light flashing in her eyes.
"Trainer! You still haven't told Urara what you were laughing at just now!" Haru Urara continued pressing.
In Lucian's eyes, Haru Urara changing the subject was like timely rain!
"I was laughing because Urara mixed up the idiom again. This 'tongchou-dikài' isn't used that way. It's a positive term with a complimentary meaning."
"Then what idiom would be better?"
"This… 'birds of a feather' or 'partners in crime' would both work."
"Don't believe it! Trainer is definitely teasing Urara again! I don't believe it—it's tongchou-dikài."
Lucian: "..."
He had good intentions and wanted to thank Haru Urara by correcting her mistake, but he never expected Haru Urara wouldn't believe him... this was the consequence of crying "wolf" too many times.
"Fine, fine, tongchou-dikài it is."
"No!" Twin Turbo protested again. "I don't want to be 'tongchou-dikài' with the Trainer! Turbo's tummy is already hungry! Trainer, I want to eat!"
"Trainer-san, my tummy is actually a little hungry too." Special Week squirmed slightly and pulled her palm out from between her thighs, looking embarrassed.
"Trainer~ I'm hungry too~ Feed me~"
How well Haru Urara had truly mastered idioms was still unknown, but Seiun Sky had already refined the technique of double entendre to perfection.
Mejiro McQueen demurely reached under her stomach and rubbed it. "To… Torena-san, the morning's consumption was a bit large."
"Onii-sama, actually I'm a little hungry too."
Lucian nodded, signaling everyone to stay calm. "I know everyone's hungry, but the kitchen is still cooking right now. From now on we'll always start meals at twelve, and one to two o'clock will be nap time."
"So everyone adapt a little. And actually the training isn't finished yet."
Lucian picked up the remote on the table.
It was a pity Dextrous Bailey wasn't here, otherwise she would definitely have shuddered all over—once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of well ropes.
"I've arranged this period for everyone to watch past races."
The projector slowly lowered. Lucian stood up and turned off the lights. Soon classic races in which previous Uma Musume had claimed victory were projected onto the wall.
"After we finish watching the recordings, I'll analyze them and ask questions."
How intelligent they were off the track, Lucian couldn't control. But their intelligence on the track was something Lucian had no choice but to help improve.
"Oh, and everyone should also thank Tang-tang. She was the one who got these historical materials from Chairwoman Akikawa."
Matikane Tannhauser hadn't expected the topic to suddenly turn to her. "It... it wasn't any trouble at all. Being able to improve our strength together with everyone is also a very happy thing for me."
...