Speaking of Tamamo Cross, she was also an old acquaintance of Kitahara Shinji.
Like most of the horse girls Kitahara Shinji had met, Tamamo Cross was also a child from the countryside. And like Oguri Cap, she had been promoted to the headquarters from a regional Tracen academy.
However, unlike Oguri Cap, Kitahara Shinji's friendship with Tamamo Cross was not as deep as with Oguri Cap.
He had just helped her with a small matter and then they had parted ways. They had spent less than a few days together in total, and had had no contact since. They were just very ordinary friends.
But even so, Kitahara Shinji's impression of Tamamo Cross was deeper than that of other horse girls.
The reason was very simple: Tamamo Cross's family was just too poor.
The countryside itself was not a wealthy area, and Tamamo Cross's family was considered quite poor even in the countryside.
To what extent was this poverty?
Let's just say that when Kitahara Shinji went to her house to help, he didn't even take the three carrots hanging on her door, and even left some of the food he had obtained from helping other families.
And being poor wasn't the deadliest thing.
The deadliest thing was that in such a poor family, a horse girl with excellent talent like Tamamo Cross was born.
This might sound a bit strange. After all, a horse girl with excellent talent should have been an opportunity to change the family's predicament.
After all, a top racehorse could earn a huge amount of prize money from a single race, enough to lift the family out of poverty in an instant.
But that was on the premise that Tamamo Cross could grow to that point.
Just as Kitahara Shinji had told Grass Wonder two weeks ago, horse girl racing was an extremely expensive sport.
Training equipment, food expenses, wear and tear on clothes and shoes...
All of these cost money.
Especially for the more talented horse girls, in order to fully unleash their strength, they needed more high-end equipment, more nutritious meals, and the corresponding clothes, shoes, horseshoes, and even racing silks...
But Tamamo Cross's family, forget about these things, even food and clothing were a problem.
When Kitahara Shinji went to her house, he realized that the biggest problem of this family was indeed poverty, but he was also completely helpless against this problem.
After all, he himself was still worrying about Eclipse's food expenses, let alone solving other people's food and clothing problems.
In the end, after solving the problem they had asked for help with, he could only leave some food for their family and then leave.
And also because of this, despite having superior talent, because of her family's poverty, even though Tamamo Cross worked very hard, she was ultimately only able to obtain the admission qualification for the regional Tracen academy.
Then, after enrolling in the regional Tracen academy, although the conditions in the region were vastly different from the headquarters, they were countless times better than what her family could provide, giving her a chance to show herself.
In the end, she was able to obtain the qualification to be promoted to the Tracen headquarters through her own efforts.
But the problem was that even after entering the Tracen headquarters, because of the Honkaku-ka period, she was in the same grade as Oguri Cap and could only run her debut race next semester. She currently had no race income.
And even if she had income from her races, the marks left on her by the poverty of the past were still there.
"Compared to a normal horse girl, her appetite is too small. Her development is stunted due to malnutrition, and there are also various problems and hidden dangers left over from long-term use of inferior shoes and equipment for training..."
Yui, after all, didn't have Kitahara Shinji's sharp eye, and she had just taken over Tamamo Cross. She hadn't been able to see too many problems yet, just felt that Tamamo Cross's condition was not right. So she had called Kitahara Shinji, hoping that he, who had known Tamamo Cross before and was also a "horse girl wish-granter," could help check her.
As for Kitahara Shinji's side, because of his past understanding and his current sharp eye, after arriving on the scene and casually scanning the training Tamamo Cross twice, he confirmed the problems with her.
But these were not all.
According to Yui's description, Tamamo Cross's mental state had also not been very good these days.
In the past, in order to support her running, her family had borrowed some external debt.
Although because of the existence of the Three Goddesses, the atmosphere in her home village was good, and they hadn't borrowed from loan sharks, just money from nearby villagers.
And the other party hadn't pressed for payment or anything, and hadn't even asked for interest. They all said that it would be fine to pay it back after Tamamo Cross won a lot of money in races in the future. At worst, she could just treat everyone to a few more meals as an apology.
But the problem was that Tamamo Cross's parents were very honest people. Although those fellow villagers hadn't pressed for the debt, for honest people, being in debt and not paying it back was enough to make their conscience uneasy.
Although Tamamo Cross's parents had never complained to her about this, because of their poverty, the precocious and sensible Tamamo Cross, how could she not know her parents' situation?
Especially when she thought that even in this state, she still had to take money from her parents to buy various training clothes and shoes, her heart was filled with sadness, and even her training was affected.
"It's not that I haven't tried to do something for that child. I've already helped her apply for a poverty subsidy from the director's office."
"But you should also know, Kitahara-trainer, that for a horse girl with first-class talent like her to perfectly display her strength, the amount of funds needed is far from what a poverty subsidy can support..."
If possible, Yui even wanted to pay for Tamamo Cross's various things herself, and then let her pay it back with her prize money after she won a race.
But the problem was that although Yui had been at Tracen for a few years, she had been an assistant trainer for the first few years and only had a basic salary.
And her current charge was just an ordinary mob horse girl. Although she had debuted two years ago, she had basically only run in OP-class races, with not many wins, and her share of the prize money was not high. She had also basically sent it all home, so she couldn't support Tamamo Cross much.
However, Yui told Kitahara Shinji this not to ask him to help solve these problems, but simply to vent to a friend about the difficulties she encountered at work.
But after listening, Kitahara Shinji pinched his chin and began to think seriously.
To be honest, he was actually quite fond of Tamamo Cross. Even before joining Tracen, he had once listed her on his list of potential charges.
Because she was also a very safe horse girl, and the reason for her safety was different from Special Week's and Oguri Cap's denseness, and could be summed up in one sentence.
She's a normal person.
Even a bit too normal.
She would complain about why the cafeteria was still a buffet even though there were big eaters like Oguri Cap and Special Week.
She would also be surprised at the strange atmosphere in Tracen Academy, exclaiming, "Is this some kind of matchmaking agency?"
She had even complained about Symboli Rudolf's strange hobby of telling cold jokes.
If it weren't for the later consideration that if Tamamo Cross were in the team, it would be easy to attract Super Creek over, Kitahara Shinji had even considered including her in his formal list of potential charges.
And besides being normal, Tamamo Cross's personality also very much appealed to Kitahara Shinji's liking.
Although she came from a poor background and had suffered a lot for it, Tamamo Cross had never complained about her origin and had maintained a very positive and optimistic attitude towards life to this day.
And, also because of her origin, Tamamo Cross was very mature and sensible. She was good at various household skills, knew how to take care of people, and understood how to be considerate of others' feelings.
Then, comparing such a Tamamo Cross with the little ancestors he had encountered, Kitahara Shinji was instantly so moved that tears were about to flow from his eyes.
So, after a brief thought, he felt that he could not just leave such a Tamamo Cross alone.
At the very least, he had to do his best to help her, to soothe his own heart that had been tormented by the little ancestors.
But unlike Manhattan Cafe, Tamamo Cross, after all, had a proper trainer.
And she had also promised Yui that after her debut race, she would choose her as her exclusive trainer. So this was not something he could decide on his own. At least he had to consult Yui's opinion first.
So he looked at her and said seriously.
"Yui-senpai, if you don't mind, could you let me also contribute to this?"
Sen-senpai...
Hearing this address, if Yui were a horse girl, the tail behind her would definitely have started to wag.
Actually, the reason she could become friends with Kitahara Shinji and often run to his place was not only to escape Super Creek's persecution and to exchange knowledge about being a trainer, but also because of Kitahara Shinji's attitude towards her.
Because of her appearance, Yui was basically treated as a child wherever she went.
And at Tracen, for various reasons, the workplace atmosphere was very relaxed and cheerful.
Except for those with extremely high seniority and reputation like Kudo Kazuya, everyone basically got along as friends, and there was no particularly strict hierarchy.
But this directly led to the loss of all of Yui's authority.
Although she was a senior, although her seniority and ability were not bad, although she was also very reliable and got along well with everyone, as soon as they saw her appearance, looking at the middle school, or even elementary school-looking Yui, forget about those who were already familiar with her, even the newly hired rookies found it difficult to have any respect for her.
They even often treated her as a junior, or even a child.
Although Yui was a little annoyed by this behavior, she couldn't say she hated it.
After all, she had long been accustomed to this kind of thing, and she could also understand that everyone meant no harm.
But even so, as an adult, reliable, and even a woman who was about to turn thirty, Yui also had spiritual needs and also wanted to be respected and trusted.
And then, she met Kitahara Shinji.
A being who, even after meeting her in person, could still seriously and sincerely call her senpai.
Especially when Kitahara Shinji had come over to ask her to help look after his team before, those 'senpai' and 'Yui-senpai' calls, that sense of trust in his tone, almost moved her to tears.
For how many years, just because of her appearance, forget about the trainers who were her colleagues, even few of the horse girls would treat her as a proper trainer, but more as a child and a mascot.
But Kitahara Shinji was different from others.
She could see that he didn't care about her appearance at all. He called her 'senpai' very seriously, and had also asked her for help many times.
What was this? This was the junior she had dreamed of!
So, Yui's impression of Kitahara Shinji was extremely good, and she extremely cherished this image and authority she had in front of him, and never hesitated to help or anything else.
And not only help, Yui wished he would rely on her more, let her take care of him more.
To better let her experience the feeling of being treated as an adult, and by the way, to hear him call her senpai a few more times.
And this time, although it was Kitahara Shinji who wanted to take the initiative to intervene in her affairs, which was logically a bit sensitive, after all, Tamamo Cross had not yet debuted and had not signed a charge agreement with her. She was just a team horse girl with very good talent, and it was possible that with Kitahara Shinji's help, she might change her mind.
But Yui still immediately agreed to his request the second after Kitahara Shinji spoke.
As for the reason?
He called me senpai!
Wasn't that reason enough?
She could find another charge, but there was only one person in all of Tracen who could respect her, trust her, and especially call her senpai so sincerely.
And there was another point. Although Yui also felt that Tamamo Cross was a good child, she had no confidence in whether she could train her well.
On the other hand, Kitahara Shinji's two newly debuted charges were both supernovas. There was also a heavyweight player like Agnes Digital who had chosen to stay in the team. Coupled with the proof of various deeds, his ability as a trainer was definitely unquestionable.
So if Tamamo Cross wanted to leave on her own, although she would be a little reluctant, it was not unacceptable.
However, Kitahara Shinji on the other side had no such thoughts at all.
After all, he just thought that this child, Tamamo Cross, was really good, so he thought of seeing if he could help, and by the way, repay the favor of Yui helping him these days.
And, his team now had enough people.
There were already a full eight horse girls now. If you counted Manhattan Cafe, who was very likely to join next, and even Sunday Silence, that would be directly in the double digits.
Although there were also large teams of twenty or thirty people on campus, the problem was that that kind of team usually had seven or eight assistant trainers, while he only had himself. Even if Tamamo Cross wanted to join, he would refuse on the grounds that he was too busy.
And the most important thing was that perhaps because of the increase in the number of team members, or for some other reason, Eclipse's interest in adding teammates was not as strong as before.
Several times when a young horse girl he knew from before came over to try to join the team, she didn't help at all, which was also the main reason why he felt safe now.
So, thinking like this, Kitahara Shinji had Yui stop Tamamo Cross's training and then brought her in front of him.
"Long time no see, Tamamo Cross-san."
Kitahara Shinji smiled and greeted her.
But although he said long time no see, in fact, Kitahara Shinji had always noticed that since he had included Oguri Cap in his team, Tamamo Cross would often appear next to his team from time to time.
It was just that he didn't know why she had never gotten close, and this was the first time they had communicated.
And now...
"Ah, um, Kitahara-trainer, hello..."
To Kitahara Shinji's surprise, Tamamo Cross, who in his impression had always been boisterous, cheerful, and optimistic, actually looked nervous when she stood in front of him.
Not only was her expression nervous, her gaze was evasive, and even her speech was a bit stuttering.
This made Kitahara Shinji a little puzzled.
He thought to himself, he hadn't experimented with anything on her, and they had only spent those few days together. How come she was acting like Nice Nature after a 'caring' session?
Kitahara Shinji's feeling was not wrong. Tamamo Cross was indeed very nervous now, and even the tail behind her was trembling slightly.
As for the reason...
It had been mentioned before that as Kitahara Shinji traveled more and his reputation grew, in some of the places he had been, some people regarded him as a representative of the Three Goddesses and secretly worshipped him at home. There was even a time when he was almost enshrined in a temple, and was finally stopped by him personally.
And the place where that near-enshrinement incident happened was in a town some distance from Tamamo Cross's home, but not too far.
And, even though the act of enshrining him in a temple was stopped, the spontaneous belief in him in that area did not stop, but on the contrary, intensified.
And now, in that entire area, although there was no overt belief behavior because of the words Kitahara Shinji had once left behind, almost everyone secretly recognized him as the human representative of the Three Goddesses, and many people secretly worshipped him.
And as a member of that area, and an existence who had personally received Kitahara Shinji's help, Tamamo Cross's family of course was no exception.
And, forget about her family; even Tamamo Cross herself, after hearing about Kitahara Shinji's deeds, because those things were too outrageous, also recognized Kitahara Shinji as the human representative of the Three Goddesses.
Even in some situations, such as after an exam, she would secretly mutter things like 'Lord Kitahara, please bless my ranking to improve'.
But if it were just this, Tamamo Cross might not have been so nervous, or rather, embarrassed.
What really made her feel embarrassed was that during a certain period of time in the past, because of financial constraints, her family had sold some of the things Kitahara Shinji had touched when he was helping her, as well as a portion of the food he had left, for money...
Because they hadn't had much contact, Tamamo Cross didn't really know Kitahara Shinji's personality, and couldn't be sure if he would mind this kind of thing.
And, even if he didn't mind, this kind of thing, even on Tamamo Cross's own side, was something she felt was not appropriate no matter how she thought about it.
After all, at that time, Kitahara Shinji had come to help out of the goodness of his heart. Seeing her family's poor condition, not only did he not take a single penny, he even left some food. And then her family turned around and sold those things...
No matter how you thought about it, it was very unfair to him!
So although she had heard from Oguri Cap before that Kitahara Shinji had also come to the Tracen headquarters, and had always tried to approach him and talk to him, at least to say thank you or something, as soon as she thought about the fact that her family had sold the things he had touched and the food for money, she couldn't take a step forward. She could only silently pray in her heart that the Three Goddesses would not blame her family for this.
However, she didn't intend to go on like this forever.
Although she couldn't go over and contact Kitahara Shinji directly, she thought that after she debuted, ran in an official race, won prize money, and had money, she could buy some gifts and go to Kitahara Shinji to thank him and apologize at the same time.
It was just that she didn't expect that before she could take the initiative to go and apologize, Kitahara Shinji would take the initiative to come and find her.
Although according to the deeds she had heard, Kitahara Shinji shouldn't care about such small things, and probably wouldn't even know that her family had sold his things for money.
But Tamamo Cross still couldn't help but feel embarrassed, and even worried that he was here to hold her accountable...
But then, with Kitahara Shinji's explanation, the nervousness and embarrassment on her face slowly turned into surprise.
"You mean, the trainer asked you to come and help me solve my problems?"
"Yes, something like that."
Kitahara Shinji paused, then spoke.
"But you can't say 'asked'. After all, Yui-senpai has taken care of me many times before. As a junior, I certainly can't always be taken care of by my senior. I always have to do something within my ability to repay her..."
Kitahara Shinji directly put all the blame on Yui.
This way, even if he accidentally gained Tamamo Cross's affection while helping, that affection would be added to Yui, and would not be related to him, and would not cause any problems.
It was just that he didn't know what he would think if he saw the overjoyed Yui on the side after his words fell.
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