"What's wrong, Oguri Cap? Are you impressed by that horse girl?" Kitahara asked, noticing Cap's intense expression.
"…A little," Cap admitted.
For a moment, her gaze sharpened even more, and her blue-gray eyes suddenly shone with an unusually high intensity.
"She's fast. She might be the fastest horse girl I've seen so far."
The fastest horse girl he'd seen so far…
Kitahara repeated this quietly in his mind and smiled.
"That's right. Fujimasa March is this year's special recruit at Kasamatsu Tracen Academy. She's strong in every aspect, arguably one of the best horse girls Kasamatsu has seen in recent years…"
He fixed his gaze on Cap.
"…one of them."
He wanted to tell Cap that she, too, was one of Kasamatsu's finest horse girls—and that she might even surpass Fujimasa March.
Cap, seemingly unaware, quickly relaxed her intense expression and returned to her usual cold, somewhat blank demeanor.
"Can I go run now?" she asked, pointing toward the training ground's grass with eager eyes.
Kitahara didn't expect her hint to be understood. After several encounters, he had grown somewhat accustomed to Cap's naturally airheaded personality.
"Sure, no problem…"
His words were interrupted.
"Huh? Kitahara, you're here too? Looks like you've decided to turn over a new leaf and shake off your usual lazy attitude."
It was Shibasaki Hiroichi walking over. His slicked-back hair and formal suit made him look like he'd just come from a banquet; only the stopwatch around his neck and notebook in hand marked him as a trainer.
"Ah, good morning, Shibasaki."
Kitahara replied briefly to his colleague, then leaned toward Cap and whispered:
"You go ahead to the track and do some warm-ups. I'll talk to my colleague for a bit, then come find you before you start running."
"Oh, okay," Cap obediently nodded and turned toward the track.
After Cap left, Shibasaki, who had been observing silently, finally spoke.
"So this is the horse girl you selected last time, Kitahara? Quite a unique aura…" He frowned slightly as he watched Cap walk away, hesitating on what to say next.
Kitahara anticipated his thoughts. "You want to say she's a bit airheaded, right? You're correct. Her basic racing knowledge is almost non-existent, and she's very straightforward in character. That's why she seems naturally naive."
Shibasaki, seeing that Kitahara wasn't upset, nodded with slight relief.
"Yeah, though seeing you more proactive than usual is encouraging, now that you're focused on work, we should consider things seriously."
He glanced toward Cap and furrowed his brows. "This horse girl… might be a challenge for you. From what I've seen, she doesn't seem to have exceptional talent, and… she is indeed a little airheaded."
Then he flipped through his notebook, still looking concerned.
"After you took the list of horse girls last time, I checked a bit and found she doesn't have much training experience, and her pedigree… is pretty average."
Kitahara glanced at the notebook, somewhat surprised that his colleague had taken the time to investigate. It seemed Shibasaki had done so out of goodwill, and now happened to encounter Kitahara and reminded him.
Shibasaki continued cautiously, "Most importantly, she seems to have had leg issues as a child, and her physical condition wasn't great either. Under such circumstances…"
"Can I borrow your stopwatch? I want to give her a simple test," Kitahara suddenly interrupted. He understood Cap's background but didn't want others to underestimate her.
Shibasaki wasn't offended. He calmly handed over the stopwatch.
"Looks like you're determined to make your dream happen with this horse girl," he said, waving his hand as he walked toward the edge of the training ground. "Good luck."
Dreams… Yes. Back when he first crossed over, his only dream had been to bring Cap to the Central Tracen Academy. Now, perhaps it wasn't so unrealistic to aim even higher.
The world—he was a cross-world traveler; how could he not dare to think big?
Just pursuing fame for himself would waste the advantage of his crossing.
To conquer the world for the horse girls, to give them a fulfilling career, that's how he would honor his journey and live up to a legendary name.
Although he had no concrete plan yet, thinking of his past "chuunibyou" declarations, Kitahara quietly motivated himself. Not wanting to reveal too much, he casually diverted the topic:
"Aren't you staying to watch? I mean, Cap's performance."
"Not for now. She'll join Kasamatsu Tracen soon; there'll be plenty of opportunities."
Shibasaki refused politely, turning away. "Besides, school starts in a few days. There's much to prepare. Test her quickly, then get back to your work."
Kitahara was somewhat touched. Though he usually seemed lazy and unmotivated, his colleague hadn't underestimated him, showing care instead.
Shaking off the thought, he glanced at the stopwatch and walked toward Cap.
The stopwatch screen hadn't reset; three or four numbers remained.
The numbers were all around 52 seconds.
"That must be Fujimasa March's recent test result. She just mentioned the test to Shibasaki."
Kitahara examined the track.
"No surprises; she probably ran the standard 800 meters."
He checked the sky and the track conditions. "Weather: good; track: firm; running surface: good."
"800 meters in about 52 seconds, roughly 15.4 meters per second. Cap's morning practice was 600 meters in about 40 seconds, roughly 15 meters per second."
"Both are practice sessions, their levels are similar. Looks like Fujimasa March can indeed be a formidable local rival for Cap."
In races, even a few tenths of a second difference can completely change the results—for humans or horse girls alike. Confirming that Fujimasa March's practice level exceeded Cap's, Kitahara acknowledged her strength.
"Ah, Trainer, you're here. Can I start running now?" Cap asked eagerly, stretching her shoulders as Kitahara approached.
Kitahara didn't answer immediately. He carefully observed her warm-up routine.
From afar, he hadn't seen her warm-up clearly, but up close, he was surprised at her technique.