Kitahara felt a slight surge of excitement, but Oguri Cap didn't notice at all.
She just instinctively tilted her head, her fluffy silver-gray ears twitching as she opened her mouth.
"Ah... so you're a trainer, mmm, got it."
With an expression that said "I don't really get what that is, but it sounds legit," Oguri Cap nodded somewhat blankly, then abruptly changed the subject:
"So, do you want to eat with us?"
This question caught the somewhat excited Kitahara off guard, but Oguri Cap didn't wait for his response and turned to look at her mother:
"Mom, if the trainer eats with us, will we have enough food? I can go buy more ingredients."
As she spoke, other emotions finally appeared in Oguri Cap's somewhat simple expression.
She looked worried, and her hand unconsciously covered her stomach.
Along with this gesture, a very clear "grumble grumble" sound echoed through the living room.
"Ah, there's no need to worry about that. I made curry rice today, and there's plenty of topping, plus I steamed a whole big pot of rice."
Responding to her daughter's concern, Shirayuki looked gently at Oguri Cap and reassured her: "You don't need to worry about not having enough to eat, little Chestnut."
Then she turned to Kitahara, "I actually forgot to ask earlier, but Mr. Kitahara, you went through the trouble of coming all this way. If you don't mind, would you like to stay for dinner?"
By now, Kitahara had calmed down and was no longer excited.
After all, to people in this world, no one knew what amazing achievements Oguri Cap would have in the future, not even she herself. His excitement was something no one else could relate to.
Reading the situation, he easily noticed that aside from not knowing about her own incredible talent, Oguri Cap currently knew nothing about trainers, racing, and so on. Otherwise, she wouldn't have shown that confused expression earlier.
It looked like even after Oguri Cap joined the team, there would be a lot of work to do.
Lost in thought, Kitahara felt he could stay a bit longer.
"Well then, I gratefully accept your kind offer," he said, pressing his palms together and bowing to Shirayuki with a smile. "As long as it's not too much trouble."
"Please don't say that! It's no trouble at all. We usually cook large portions at our house, so you don't need to worry about not eating well," Shirayuki quickly explained.
Hearing this, Kitahara couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
Of course! In that other world, whether in reality or in the game, Oguri Cap was famous for being a big eater. If you didn't cook extra food regularly, you really couldn't keep her fed.
Historically, Oguri Cap really was a big eater.
The ranch where she spent her youth was pretty shabby, and to fill her stomach, this racehorse would even eat weeds and turf.
Later, when examined by doctors, they discovered that Oguri Cap's digestive system contained extremely rare digestive enzymes that could break down wood chips, giving her an incredibly diverse diet.
Simply put, what other horses could eat and digest, Oguri Cap could eat, and what other horses couldn't eat or digest, Oguri Cap could still eat.
Because of this, some people even joked that Oguri Cap literally "ate" her way from local tracks all the way to the central racing circuit.
In the game and anime setting, Oguri Cap was a beautiful girl who could really pack it away.
According to the official setting book, she could normally eat 10 servings of rice bowls in one meal and often cleaned out the school cafeteria's ingredients.
She was also the champion of various eating contests and once ate 1,000 bowls of Iwate Prefecture's specialty "wanko soba" in a single challenge.
Before his transmigration, Kitahara had found Oguri Cap's super foodie character trait quite interesting. Now that he'd met the actual horse girl, he really wanted to see firsthand just how much this horse girl, famous for her eating, could actually put away.
Soon enough, he got his answer.
"Mr. Kitahara? Mr. Kitahara?"
It took two calls to snap Kitahara out of his somewhat dazed state.
After he agreed to stay for dinner at Oguri Cap's house, Shirayuki quickly went to the kitchen and brought out two large tubs of food.
Really, two large tubs.
The cafeteria-style rice tubs that came up to about half a person's height.
One tub was filled to the brim with curry, while the other was piled so high with rice that it spilled over the edges.
Both tubs were placed next to Oguri Cap, and she didn't seem to mind having a guest nearby at all. She just picked up the large serving bowl she'd brought from the kitchen and started eating bowl after bowl without pause.
The reason Kitahara was stunned was that in just the blink of an eye, Oguri Cap could polish off a full bowl of curry rice.
Then she'd go right back for the next serving without missing a beat, literally "charging ahead like a horse."
"...Ah, ah, Ms. Shirayuki, what did you say?" Kitahara snapped back to attention and quickly looked toward Shirayuki.
With an embarrassed smile on her face, Shirayuki sighed slightly and said, "Sorry for the spectacle. Little Oguri has always been like this since she was small, her... appetite is a bit large..."
...Uh, that's not "a bit large," that's like a billion times large...
His expression turned peculiar as Kitahara realized that just in the time Shirayuki had been speaking, Oguri Cap had already finished another full bowl of curry rice and was heading back for the next one.
...That's gotta be the 5th or 6th bowl now. Even though I knew about this from the setting, seeing it in person is still pretty terrifying... She's already eaten through a third of both tubs.
Chuckling ruefully to himself, Kitahara actually felt somewhat energized.
Still, being able to eat this much was a good thing.
Even though this world operated by different rules than the other one, energy conservation probably still applied to some degree. The fact that Oguri Cap could eat this much meant she was definitely an exceptional horse girl, just like in that other world.
Feeling encouraged, Kitahara smiled and shook his head at Shirayuki.
"Please don't say that. I'm not laughing at anything."
"If anything, seeing Oguri Cap's appetite like this makes me even more determined to invite her to join the team."
Oguri Cap, completely focused on her food, didn't react much to this comment. She just tilted her head, gave Kitahara a puzzled look, then went right back to concentrating on her meal.
Shirayuki, however, was stunned.
"Mr. Kitahara... do you really think so highly of little Chestnut?" The expression on this mother's face clearly showed both hesitation and emotion.
Kitahara could understand her feelings. He figured that from the perspective of most people in this world, they wouldn't expect the current Oguri Cap to achieve much in the future, not even Shirayuki, her own mother.
But precisely because she was her mother, even knowing her daughter had "poor talent," she still hoped for a bright future for her. So facing Kitahara, who showed such strong faith in Oguri Cap, she naturally felt moved.
However, Kitahara didn't say too much. Instead, he smiled and said:
"After all, I once heard a saying: 'A horse that can travel a thousand miles might eat a whole bushel of grain in one feeding.' Since Oguri Cap can eat this much, maybe she really does have the potential to become a thousand-mile horse."
Kitahara thought this would be comforting to Shirayuki, but unexpectedly, Shirayuki looked puzzled.
"Huh? Is that really a saying?"
Kitahara had already checked and knew this world didn't have "On Horses" (the classical Chinese essay), so he simply smiled and nodded. "At least, that's what I believe."
Hearing this, Shirayuki fell silent for a long time, then suddenly seemed to make some kind of decision and took a deep breath.
"Even though I haven't heard that saying of yours before, Mr. Kitahara, I can feel that you really do think highly of little Chestnut."
"Thank you so much. I'll talk to little Chestnut about joining the team later tonight. Please wait patiently, Mr. Kitahara."