Dream Weaver stared at Chizuru Haibara, whose face had gone ashen as she mumbled incessantly to herself.
Her eye twitched slightly in disbelief.
"Just what kind of nonsense is filling up the school forum…"
Still reeling from the shock, Chizuru responded instinctively.
"There's a ghost haunting the cafeteria, an alien Uma Musume in school who's contacting her home planet, that idiot who's always shouting 'bakushin' actually knows everything, and some people see an identical ghost next to Manhattan…"
'So the Seven Mysteries of Tracen Academy… their source is actually that mysterious forum?'
Dream Weaver thought to herself, never expecting she'd learn the origin of these legends under such circumstances.
Even after listing all seven mysteries, Chizuru showed no sign of stopping her rambling.
"They say the Student Council President roams the campus, hunting for Uma Musume she likes and then forcing them to stay by her side. I hear gray-haired ones are especially at risk…"
'Snatching gray-haired girls?!'
Dream Weaver's eyes widened in shock as she stared at Chizuru, utterly unable to believe what she was hearing.
Her impression of Symboli Rudolf was nothing like this!
Sure, Symboli Rudolf sometimes told ice-cold jokes no one understood, laughed that bizarre 'chuuni' laugh in public, and rarely listened to others… but in Dream Weaver's heart, the President had always been someone who worked hard for all Uma Musume!
"No, no, this has to be a misunderstanding, right?!"
Having fought alongside the President as a comrade, Dream Weaver chose to defend Symboli Rudolf's image in her mind.
"But someone on the forum saw an Uma Musume walking out of the President's office early in the morning. And right before she came out, there was a huge commotion inside."
"Symboli Rudolf had dark circles under her eyes the whole day after that…"
"The name 'Night's Imperial Star'… truly inspires awe and terror."
The more Dream Weaver listened, the more familiar it sounded. A few seconds later, it finally clicked.
'Wait… this rumor couldn't have started from that time I kept pestering the President with questions, could it?!'
"This is absolutely a misunderstanding!"
Realizing she might have inadvertently damaged the President's reputation, Dream Weaver grasped Chizuru's shoulders in a belated attempt to explain.
Hearing her firm tone, Chizuru seemed to waver a little.
But the forum's exposés held considerable weight in her mind.
To back her point, she continued while being gently shaken by Dream Weaver.
"The forum… the forum's leaks are pretty accurate. At least, the recent dozen or so Uma Musume who've been tailing—"
At that, Chizuru's eyes suddenly cleared. She cut herself off mid-sentence.
She clasped Dream Weaver's shoulders instead, looking straight into her eyes with earnest intensity.
"Anyway—"
"It's not like our simple, honest folks from Kasamatsu. Central Tracen Academy is dangerous! You're a delicate girl, Dream. You have to be careful!"
Seeing Chizuru's unexpectedly solemn expression, Dream Weaver instinctively summoned her system, opening her current status panel before her eyes.
--+--
[Uma Musume Training System — Stat Panel]
Character: Dream Weaver
Speed: SS [Supreme Tier] Limit Broken
Stamina: S+ [Crown Tier] Limit Broken
Power: B [Elite Tier] [Locked]
Guts: A [Legendary Tier] [Limit Broken]
Wit: D [Rookie Tier]
Compatibility: Turf A, Dirt C
Domain: [Divine Slash]
Skills: Intuition (Purple), Nirvana (Purple), Kindling Flames (Purple), Pilgrimage of Pain (Blue), False Genius (Blue)
[Hidden Skill: Tokyo Swift (Purple)]
--+--
Looking at her extravagant stats, Dream Weaver felt she was already very, very far removed from the word 'delicate.'
After all, even her locked Power stat was at the Elite level, not to mention her absurd Speed and Stamina.
With her current physical abilities, shouldn't others be the ones careful around her…?
However, under Chizuru's scrutinizing gaze, Dream Weaver could only helplessly nod to show she understood.
Seeing that her warning seemed to have gotten through, Chizuru finally let out a sigh of relief.
Unlike Dream Weaver, who never checked the forum, Chizuru was a devoted fan of the central Tracen Academy forum's exposés.
She knew all too well just how perilous Dream Weaver's current situation was.
The Uma Musume from Kasamatsu weren't an issue for now; with her around, nothing should happen.
But those other Uma Musume? That was a different story!
If it weren't for the fact that there were too many powerful Uma Musume tangled up and tripping over each other, Chizuru had no doubt Orfevre would have dragged Dream Weaver back to the Gold family already!
And that Gold Ship seemed to be stirring the pot in the middle of it all, acting all nonchalant as if she loved watching the drama unfold.
Chizuru genuinely feared the day she'd see Dream Weaver again, only to find her turned into some strange version of herself!
The mere thought of such a future made Chizuru's blood pressure spike instantly.
She took a deep breath, looking at the still somewhat clueless Dream Weaver with utter seriousness.
"Dream…"
"Have you told anyone else about this?"
As she asked, Chizuru prayed fervently in her heart—at least let Orfevre and Gold Ship not know yet. Otherwise, she'd really be out of ideas.
Perhaps her desperate prayer worked. Under Chizuru's hopeful gaze, Dream Weaver slowly uttered a few words.
"You're the first person I came to, Chizuru-nee."
It was the truth. While Dream Weaver felt there was no real need to hide it from her friends anymore, time had been too tight before, and she hadn't had a chance to tell anyone.
She'd only mentioned it now because she wanted to invite Chizuru to become her trainer.
Hearing this, Chizuru heaved a massive sigh of relief, the extra tension in her veins gradually easing.
But Dream Weaver's very next sentence sent her freshly stabilized blood pressure soaring right back up.
"As for everyone else… I'll tell them whenever I run into them."
The 'everyone else' Dream Weaver referred to was quite a list. Starting from King Halo, the number of Uma Musume she planned to confess to was at least over ten.
Chizuru didn't know the exact count, but she was acutely aware that among the Uma Musume she knew, there were two who absolutely, positively must not find out about this.
"No!"
She immediately clapped a hand over Dream Weaver's mouth, speaking urgently.
The Kasamatsu girls were one thing, but if Orfevre and Gold Ship learned of this, the situation would truly explode.
As long as Orfevre didn't know, things were manageable.
But once she discovered Dream Weaver also had those memories, given her self-centered nature, she would definitely drag Dream Weaver straight back to the Gold family.
The main reasons she hadn't acted before were not only the handful of troublesome Uma Musume around Dream Weaver, but also her belief that Dream Weaver lacked memories of that other world.
Orfevre worried that any drastic move on her part would only make Dream Weaver resent her.
However, once it was confirmed that Dream Weaver remembered, Orfevre would never let go easily.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.