...
"Trainer-san." Ines Fujin waved her hand in front of Lucian's eyes. "Scarlet-chan has already walked far away."
"Sorry, I spaced out." Lucian awkwardly pulled his gaze back—he had accidentally let his thoughts wander too far.
"I could tell Trainer was spacing out."
Ines Fujin had been watching for a moment herself.
She never expected that the impressive assets she was so proud of would one day be outshone—by an active underclassman, no less.
But Daiwa Scarlet's "threat" was truly negligible, so small she could basically ignore it.
Lucian grew a bit more embarrassed. "I was just sighing that I didn't recruit Scarlet into my team sooner."
"Ohhh." Ines Fujin nodded, covering her mouth with a laugh. "Trainer doesn't need to explain—I wasn't asking about that."
Lucian cleared his throat twice and switched to his usual topic-changing tactic. "Little Ai, about that gift for you—it's still in preparation."
"Trainer actually prepared one?" Ines Fujin was a little surprised.
"I said it long ago—you're part of 'Dream' too."
This time Ines Fujin didn't try to decline; she accepted it happily. "Then thank you in advance, Trainer."
...
Training continued.
In the second half, Lucian recorded the current 1000-meter times for the team members.
First up were Seiun Sky and Silence Suzuka.
Seiun Sky: "Suzuka, you're not feeling too weak today, right?"
Silence Suzuka: "Weak? That kind of thing only happens between Lucian-kun and you."
Seiun Sky crossed her hands behind her head. "Oh? Then who was it last time lying on Trainer for a full minute before getting up?"
Silence Suzuka: "My waist was a little sore—is resting for a bit not allowed?"
...
Though their pre-race trash talk lacked seriousness, it still carried plenty of competitive fire.
But to the watching crowd, the scene just looked like friendly banter.
Haru Urara: "What are Seiun and Suzuka mumbling about?"
Rice Shower: "Probably... encouraging each other. Seiun has been looking forward to racing Suzuka since last year."
...
Lucian saw Ines Fujin at the finish line blow a whistle, cutting off Seiun Sky and Silence Suzuka's conversation. "You two—get ready. If there's anything you're not satisfied with, talk to me later."
He felt his body recovering better and better—perhaps the rest was working, or perhaps it was a blessing from the Three Goddesses.
Anyway, that old fatigue and backache had completely vanished. For the first time, he saw a pleading expression on Silence Suzuka's face.
Silence Suzuka and Seiun Sky both let out muffled hums and quieted down.
"Ready—beep—"
The instant the whistle sounded, the two shot off with equally explosive starts.
Lucian pulled his gaze back and looked at the cluster of horse girls on the grass. "Next group—Teio and McQueen, hurry over and get ready."
"McQueen, after training ends, wanna go get dessert? That shop released a new honey cake today." Just thinking about it made Tokai Teio drool.
Mejiro McQueen swallowed. Her expression was unnatural. "Th-That can wait until after we run desu."
"We can decide now~"
"Better not—I have a race in two months desu."
"Oh~ So that's how it is."
The moment they stood at the starting line, the fighting spirit hidden in Tokai Teio's eyes overflowed.
It was clearly just a test, but Tokai Teio's heart felt tense—she knew the gap in strength between herself and her opponent was huge.
"Ready—beep—"
A full 1000-meter sprint required perfect start, speed, and burst—no weak links.
Midway, Tokai Teio was still pulled more than a body length behind Mejiro McQueen.
But this was the closest Tokai Teio had ever come to Mejiro McQueen in all their intra-team simulations.
Clearly, Tokai Teio had improved tremendously.
Twin Turbo shaded her forehead and looked into the distance. "From this view, Teio's level has already surpassed mine."
Matikanetannhauser, with her natural airheadedness, was often teased with "dumb-dumb" jokes.
But she herself was unaware of such things.
If she knew, she could probably understand the joke—because right now she was looking at Twin Turbo with the eyes of someone staring at an idiot. "Turbo, can you say something everyone doesn't already know?"
Nice Nature was blunt. "No-laugh challenge? Kinda interesting, but not much."
"Aaaah—you two!" Twin Turbo angrily stood up from the grass, hands on hips, standing ramrod straight. "I will definitely beat Teio—the future best rookie will be me, Twin Turbo!"
Nice Nature retorted. "Turbo, is that kind of title self-awarded?"
"Hmph, Nature doesn't understand anything!"
At that moment, Lucian's voice came over. "Next group—Nice Nature, Twin Turbo."
Twin Turbo's chin lifted toward the sky. "Hmph hmph—before beating Teio, I'll warm up on Nature first."
But it was like punching cotton. Nice Nature stood up and stretched a bit. "Hehe~~ Being defeated by Twin Turbo would be my honor~"
"Ready—beep—"
...
In the end, Twin Turbo almost won—Nice Nature narrowly took it.
Don't let Twin Turbo's petite build fool you—her burst and speed were incredibly strong. If her stamina could improve too, without the dramatic "reverse jet" moments, she could go much higher and farther.
"Unforgivable!" Twin Turbo rolled back and forth on the grass.
Nice Nature had intended to step over her but couldn't bear it and sat down instead. "Turbo, you're already amazing. Maybe you really can beat Teio."
"But I lost to Nature!" Twin Turbo whined tearfully.
"Is losing to me really that shameful..." Nice Nature's forehead darkened with lines. She sighed. "Back at the dorm, dessert's on me—deal?"
Twin Turbo sniffled. "Any flavor okay?"
"Of course~"
"Hehe, Nature you're the best!"
...
The following groups were Rice Shower and Haru Urara, Special Week and Dextrous Bailey, Matikanetannhauser and Meisho Doto.
Lucian didn't emphasize rankings. After recording the data, he didn't announce it immediately but led everyone back to the rest room.
Lucian gave a brief review of today's training results. "Drink some water, rest up—then you can clock out early~"
Like free birds, they scattered in all directions.
Lucian finished filling in the data, packed up, and was about to leave when he suddenly noticed a horse girl standing at the rest room door.
...